Entertainment News
Deftones Celebrate White Pony 20th Anniversary with Listening Party and New Merch Collection
Deftones are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their White Pony album with a global listening party and a new capsule of commemorative merch. The band’s landmark 2000 album turned 20 years old this past Saturday (June 20th), and we’ve already listed 20 reasons why we still love the stellar LP, in addition to examining the album’s enduring impact. Today (June 22nd), fans can join the band at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT for a global listening party on Deftones’ YouTube channel, with band members taking part in an online chat as the LP plays. In addition to soaking in songs like “Change (In the House of Flies)”, “Digital Bath”, and “Passenger” again, fans can also rep White Pony with some new apparel issued in conjunction with the album’s 20th anniversary. A new capsule on Deftones’ merch s...
Doves Return with “Carousels”, Their First New Song in 11 Years: Stream
College rock darlings Doves made a name for themselves in the 2000s by churning out poppy alt-rock fit for indie film soundtracks like (500) Days of Summer. After an 11-year-long silence, the Manchester-based trio have finally returned with their first new song in over a decade, “Carousels”, and it doesn’t disappoint. According to a press release, “Carousels” is a standalone single from the original members of Doves: singer-bassist Jimi Goodwin, singer-drummer Andy Williams, and guitarist Jez Williams. Armed with looped drum patterns and grizzly synthesizers, the band forfeits its usual guitar-driven sound for an experimental style that’s built around a sample by the late drummer Tony Allen. “It’s a reminiscence of the times that we’d go to places like North Wales on holiday as kids,” said...
Animorphs Film Adaptation in the Works
Animorphs, the popular ’90s children’s book series by K.A. Applegate, has a plot that’s as engrossing as its legendary book covers. The sci-fi collection follows five teenagers — Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias — who can morph into any animal they touch, a secret ability that helps them fight in an ongoing alien invasion. Now, seemingly unprompted, Scholastic Entertainment has announced they’re teaming up with Erik Feig’s Picturestart to adapt those Animorphs books into a feature film, according The Hollywood Reporter. Animorphs will be a live-action movie co-developed by Scholastic and Picturestart. Scholastic Entertainment’s Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman will co-produce alongside Picturestart’s Feig and Lucy Kitada. Development of the script will be handled by Scholastic’s F...
Kid Rock’s Nashville Bar Has Beer Permit Suspended for Violating Pandemic Rules
Earlier this year, Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk and Steakhouse was one of a handful of Nashville establishments that refused to close despite Mayor’s orders as the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the city. Now, the very same tavern has had its beer permit suspended for violating social distancing guidelines upon re-opening. According to the Tennessean, Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk and Steakhouse, along with Broadway Brewhouse and Nudie’s Honky Tonk, were spotted serving patrons alcohol at their bars this past weekend. As part of Phase 2 of Nashville’s re-opening plan, a public health emergency plan bans people from sitting at bars. “They were in violation of two points of the order that states bar areas must remain closed to the public,” inspector Melvin Brown explained. “No interaction with the pub...
600 Artists Sign Letter Asking Congress to Support Independent Music Venues
A recent survey conducted by the National Independent Venue Association found that 90% of independent music venues face closure if the coronavirus shutdown lasts six months or longer and there’s no federal support provided. Now, a group of 600 artists have signed an open letter calling on Congress to provide the necessary funding and support to keep these venues afloat. A who’s who of prominent musicians have put their name to the letter, everyone from Dave Grohl to Billie Eilish to Willie Nelson to Robert Plant. Other notable signees include André 3000, Billy Joel, Lady Gaga, Kacey Musgraves, Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Trent Reznor, Patti Smith, David Byrne, Earth Wind & Fire, Vampire Weekend, Alice Cooper, Jack Black, Josh Homme, Ozzy Osbourne, Mitski, Maggie Rogers, Conor Oberst, Beach ...
Jeff Tweedy Proposes Industry-Wide Donation to Black Lives Matter Organizations
As protests against police brutality following George Floyd’s death continue, Jeff Tweedy has penned an essay calling for the music industry at large to donate to Black Lives Matter. The Wilco frontman shared his thoughts in a lengthy Instagram post today, writing, “Thousands of us committing to a reparations initiative could change our business and the world we live in.” It’s not an exaggeration to say the modern music industry was built almost entirely on Black art. Tweedy begins his essay by acknowledging so and explaining how no single artist could “come close to paying the debt we owe to the Black originators of our modern music.” As such, he calls for an “industry-wide plan” hat allows songwriters and musicians to direct a percentage of their “writer’s share” revenue to organizations...
Justin Bieber Denies Sexual Assault Allegations
Justin Bieber has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a 21-year-old woman in 2014. The alleged victim, identified as “Danielle”, posted about her assault on Twitter over the weekend. In a since-deleted tweet, she said she met the pop singer, who was then 20, at SXSW in March 2014. She recounted how Bieber invited her and her friends back to his hotel room at the Four Seasons, before allegedly taking her to another room where they had sex. Danielle said she became uncomfortable and asked Bieber to stop, but he ignored her. Explaining why she decided to come forward now, Danielle said she was motivated after reading about a similar assault alleged against actor Ansel Elgort by a girl named Gabby. In response, Bieber has emphatically denied the allegations and provided evi...
Comedy Central Grabs Daria Spin-Off Jodie Starring Tracee Ellis Ross
The Daria spin-off series Jodie has been in the works for literal years now, but it looks like the episodes have finally found a home. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the adult animated TV series has officially been picked up by Comedy Central. Jodie follows the life of Jodie Landon — Daria’s friend at their fictional high school Lawndale High and the suburban town’s token Black girl thanks to her intelligence, self-awareness, and poise — as she graduates from college only to enter a confusing, tangled world. Grace Edwards of Insecure is the series creator and head writer, MTV Studios is producing, and Jodie will be voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross. According to THR, the spin-off show aims to explore “the trials and tribulations of a first job for a new generation and will satirize wo...
Noname Responds to J. Cole With “Song 33”, First New Song In Over a Year: Stream
Noname has returned with her first new song in over a year. It’s called “Song 33”, produced by Madlib, and references both the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Toyin Salau. What’s more, the minute-long track serves as a timely response to J. Cole, who appeared to throw shade at the Chicago MC earlier this week with his own new single, “Snow On Tha Bluff”. “Wow look at him go/ He really ’bout to write about me while the world is in smokes?” Noname asks, cutting right to the core: “When his people in trees, when George was begging for his mother saying he couldn’t breathe/you thought to write about me?” She’s not finished, though, and hammers the point: “Little did I know all my reading would be a bother/ It’s trans women being murdered and this is all he can offer?” Clearly, J. Cole’s twee...
Roger Waters Performs “Two Suns in the Sunset” in Quarantine: Watch
Roger Waters has uploaded another socially-distant performance of a Pink Floyd classic. The time around, Waters and his touring band connect virtually to play “Two Suns in the Sunset”, the closing song off Pink Floyd’s 1983 album, The Final Cut. Watch below. The performance is prefaced by a screen of text warning viewers that “We’re at one hundred seconds to midnight on the doomsday clock. This is the the closest the Human Race has ever been to nuclear catastrophe.” In a corresponding video caption, Waters spoke about the dangers of nuclear weapons: “That we allow [them] to exist in a world controlled by deranged sociopaths is, in itself, a deranged arrangement. We are many they are few. We could just say no, to the whole MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) insanity. It makes zero...
Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Arcade Fire Take Part in Preservation Hall Livestream Benefit: Watch
On Saturday night, as Donald Trump tried and failed to boost his own ego in Oklahoma, several of music’s biggest names got together virtually to support a cultural institution. New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band held their ‘Round Midnight Preserves livestream benefit to raise funds for the Preservation Hall Foundation. The event was highlighted by a “headlining” performance of “When the Saints Go Marching In” featuring many of the night’s participants led by Paul McCartney. Macca actually played trumpet during the song, leaving much of the singing to the likes of Dave Grohl, Irma Thomas, Dave Matthews, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and Nathaniel Rateliff and members of The Night Sweats. A video of that all-hands-on-deck rendition can be seen below. The rest of ‘Round Midnight P...
AMC Theatres to Reopen in July, Won’t Require Face Masks to Avoid “Political Controversy”
Update – June 19th: AMC has reversed course and will require movie-goers to wear face masks. Bankruptcy be damned: Like Cinemark and Regal Cinemas earlier this week, AMC Theatres has now announced that they, too, will begin reopening their theaters across America beginning in July. Face mask, anyone? According to The Hollywood Reporter, the world’s largest theater chain will open 450 of its US locations on July 15th followed by the remaining 150 on July 24th, all in anticipation of Disney’s Mulan and Warner Bros.’ Tenet. “After a painful almost four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus, we are delighted to announce that movies are coming back to the big screen at AMC. Our next 100 years of making smiles happen officially begin at approximately 450 theaters across the Uni...
