Lorde Returns With Single “Green Light”

With her signature, quirky dance moves, Lorde has returned with the single “Green Light”, the first release from her highly anticipated sophomore album, Melodrama. It’s fun, upbeat and definitely danceable. Check out the video below, directed by Grant Singer, which was filmed during Grammy week in Los Angeles.

The young Kiwi already has a slew of festivals booked in the coming months including Coachella, the Governor’s Ball in NYC, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Bonnaroo in TN, and the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of solo dates for Lorde. The tickets are sure to be snapped up instantly since it’s been nearly 4 years years since the release of her debut album Pure Heroine. Melodrama is expected to be released this summer.

Follow this link to buy “Green Light” on iTunes or add it to your Spotify playlist. #Greenlight #Lorde

Guns N Roses Set To Tour North America In 2017

Updated: Early this morning Guns N Roses unleashed the rumored dates we spoke of last week. Here is the latest:

The thirty five additional dates start on May 27th  in Dublin, and will see the band visiting most of Europe before heading to Israel and returning to North America in late July. The band had previously announced early 2017 shows in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and southeast Asia.

Tickets for the newly added shows will be going on sale Friday, December 9th for the dates in  Canada and Europe, and a day later on Saturday, December 10th for shows in the United States.

Guns N’ Roses Added 2017 Tour Dates:
5/27 – Dublin, IE – Slane Castle
5/30 – Bilbao, ES – San Mames Stadium
6/02 – Lisbon, PT – Passeio Martimo De Alges
6/04 – Madrid, ES – Vincente Calderon Stadium
6/07 – Zurich, CH – Letzigrund
6/10 – Imola, IT – Greenfield
6/13 – Munich, DE – Olympiastadion
6/16 – London, UK – London Stadium
6/20 – Gdansk, PL – Stadion Energy Gdansk
6/22 – Hannover, DE – Messe
6/24 – Werchter, BE – Classic
6/27 – Copenhagen, DK – Telia Parken
6/29 – Stockholm, SE – Friends Arena
7/01 – Hämeenlinna, FI – Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto
7/04 – Prague, CZ – Letnany Airport
7/07 – Paris, FR – Stade de France
7/10 – Vienna, AT – Ernst Happel Stadion
7/12 – Nijmegen, NL – Goffert Park
7/15 – Tel Aviv, IS – Hayarkon Park
7/27 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome At America’s Center
7/30 – Minneapolis, MN – U.S. Bank Stadium
8/02 – Denver, CO – Sports Authority Field at Mile High
8/08 – Miami, FL – Miami Marlins Stadium
8/11 – Winston-Salem, NC – BB&T Field at Wake Forest University
8/13 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
8/16 – Buffalo, NY – New Era Field
8/19 – Montreal, QC – Parc Jean Drapeau
8/21 – Ottawa, ON – TD Place Stadium
8/24 – Winnipeg, MB – Investors Group Field
8/27 – Regina, SK – New Mosaic Stadium at Evraz Place
8/30 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
9/01 – Vancouver, BC – BC Place Stadium
9/03 – George, WA – The Gorge
9/06 – El Paso, TX – Sun Bowl Stadium
9/08 – San Antonio, TX – Alamodome

Last week Guns N Roses began teasing North American fans again with subtle hints of a potential tour in 2017 as well. Axl, Slash, and Duff are currently down in South and Central America as they wrap this part of their Not In This Lifetime Tour.

Early in 2017 they’ll be heading to Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, and Dubai and running until March. That leaves their spring and summer 2017 schedules open to pencil in additional North American dates for cities that didn’t get stadium shows in 2016.

Promo videos began running on television stations over the long Thanksgiving weekend along with billboards popping up in places like El Paso, TX, Minneapolis, MN, Vancouver & Montreal, Canada and Lancaster, PA among other places.

Last week this video arrived on their YouTube channel proclaiming Guns N’ Roses – #GnFnR2017 … The Machine Is Back At It! It looks like after a year-long reconciliation on the road, the band are back to their old ways of touring like a machine.

Time to ask Santa for those Ticketmaster gift cards kiddos! Save up those 2017 vacation days because all evidence points to a 2017 North American arena tour for Guns N Roses.

Have you seen a billboard pop up in your city? Send us a photo of it in the comments below. Share your memories of seeing Guns N Roses in the past or your excitement for these potential 2017 shows.

Life On The Scene has enjoyed Slash & Duff in their side projects like Velvet Revolver, Loaded, Camp Freddy and other charitable events over the years so here are a few photos to tide you over.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

HIM to Headline 20th Anniversary Tuska Festival

HIM by Ville Juurikkala

Iconic Finnish metal band HIM have been announced as a headliner for the 20th anniversary of the Tuska Festival. The festival runs from June 30 – July 2, 2017 in Helsinki, Finland. American punk band, now turned thrasher metal, Suicidal Tendencies, along with Mexican American extreme metal band Brujeria have been announced so far.

This will mark the first time that HIM has played the long running Tuska Festival and their first outdoor gig in their hometown of Helsinki. “Early-crow” tickets are now on sale for the festival. You can visit Ticketmaster Finland to grab the 3-day tickets. Additional ticketing options and other artists will be announced soon.

It looks like 2017 will see the return of HIM to the live stage after the band went on a long, well deserved break at the end of 2014. During that break, drummer Gas Lipstick decided to leave HIM and pursue other musical interests. Singer Ville Valo appeared on the track “Knowing Me Knowing You”, an ABBA cover he did with guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite. The rest of HIM have been busy in their on again side project, Daniel Lioneye, and will do a small tour of Germany and England this December in support of their latest release, Volume III.

We here at Life On The Scene eagerly await the return of the Finnish metals gods to the world’s stage! Who’s up for a trip to Helsinki at the end of June 2017? Global HIM fans, check in and tell us where you’re from, where you’ve seen HIM perform or where you’ve traveled to see HIM perform.

Carousel Live Presents Sammy Wilk and the Solutions at the Troubadour

Sammy Wilk at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA

Sammy Wilk at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA

Social media star and pop/reggae singer, Sammy Wilk, kicked of the Halloween weekend Friday night at the Troubadour in West Hollywood as part of the Carousel Live series which also included South Korean indie-pop band the Solutions, Sophia Kameron and Found Vegas. The Solutions have been playing clubs around southern California during October promoting their latest release, “Ticket to the Moon”, including gigs at the Wayfarer in Costa Mesa and Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles to the delight of area K-POP fans. The Solutions will wrap up the Carousel Live series later this week on November 3rd at the Roxy opening the show for EDM phenomenon, PROXIMITY. Grab your tickets while you can by visiting ticketfly

Wilk performed songs from his debut album, Ready For War, to an enthusiastic crowd of mostly female teenage fans. The audience also included Wilk’s family, friends like fellow social media stars Nash Grier, Mahogany Lox, DJ Rupp and Jake Miller. Wilk also brought special guests on stage including Mac Marley to perform their song “That’s Wild” along with high school friends and fellow social media sensations, best friends Jack Johnson and Jack Gilinsky who perform as Jack & Jack to tear it up on their hit, “Throw Signs”. Jack & Jack are currently putting the finishing touches on their own album which is expected to be released in the new year.

Carousel Live is a new live music event brand bringing up & coming Asian and Asian American musical artists to the global stage by pairing them up with more established US-based artists creating a unique entertainment atmosphere that exposes each artists fans to a variety of incredible new music. Keep your finger on the refresh button and watch the social media spaces for Carousel Live to see what’s next on their music discovery platform.

If you attended the show, we’d love to hear your thoughts, see photos or videos from the night in the comments below!

To purchase music from these artists, please visit:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sammy-wilk/id900129226

http://happyrobot.co.kr/release/ticket-to-the-moon/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jack-jack/id944171951

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/connected-single/id1115233688

#SammyWilk #JackandJack #CarouselLive #theSolutions

Shawn Mendes Releases Illuminate

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Canadian pop star Shawn Mendes released his second album, Illuminate, last week. The 18-year-old singer stopped by a pop-up store near the Grove in Los Angeles last night to greet fans who purchased a copy of his latest CD. Life On The Scene caught the singer arriving and posting a Snapchat of the long line of mostly young ladies waiting to greet the pop superstar. The Mendes Army has been out in full force as Mendes has been hopping around the country greeting fans in New York City, Los Angeles and his hometown of Toronto.

While in Los Angeles, he will also perform for an intimate crowd at the Grammy Museum, and make the rounds of the local talk shows including Ellen, The Talk and the Late Late Show with James Corden which we can only hope will produce another hilarious Carpool Karaoke. He will also visit KIIS-FM for a morning interview with Ryan Seacrest and an evening visit with Jo Jo Wright.

Mendes will be heading out on a world tour with most dates on sale now. His CD is available now so go visit his website to get the CD and some concert tickets for your local city. You can follow him on Snapchat at shawnmendes1.

My Chemical Romance To Reunite?

Let’s face it folks, 2016 has been a supreme bitch so far. The Grim Reaper has been running rampant stealing away precious lives like David Bowie, Alan Rickman, The Eagles’ Glenn Frey and Prince among others. Violence and terrorism has circulated the globe non-stop from attacks on gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando to trucks crashing into Bastille Day crowds in Nice, France. That asshat orange-colored buffoon is being allowed to run for President of the United States.

Then, today, my cold, black, heart began rapidly beating a crimson color filled again with hope and joy after My Chemical Romance posted a 30-second cryptic video teaser on their newly revamped website at the same time their social media pages were updated with the new logo and video post. The video concludes with the date 9.23.16. New merchandise is available online and of course at Hot Topic. The new logo featuring a cross, MCR and the letter X, or Roman numeral ten were quickly interpreted as a sign of resurrection to celebrate the 10th anniversary of My Chemical Romance’s iconic 2006 album  Welcome to the Black Parade.

The only other solid news that came out today from major news outlets is that the band will re-release the Black Parade along with some previously  unreleased material. No other word on what else may be in store for this deeply missed band.

For those lucky enough to attend Comic Con in San Diego this week, I would bet you won’t get much more than a sheepish grin from Gerard Way as he signs for both Dark Horse and DC Comics on Friday, July 22nd. Here’s a little flashback to my time at Comic Con 2009 when I literally got stuck in a human traffic jam as security halted us to allow Hall H to empty out. When I turned around to see who else got stuck I found Gerard & Mikey standing behind me.

Gerard & Mikey Way, Comic Con 2009

I count myself extremely lucky to be an Angeleno, because I know if shows do happen, they will happen in Los Angeles. Like the rest of you, I don’t know exactly what My Chemical Romance has in store for us for the last half of 2016 but my best guess would be some tour dates to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Welcome to the Black Parade. Will it be a one-off tour to honor this album? Will there be new music? Only time will tell but you can bet if Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero and Ray Toro are reuniting for some shows, my happy ass will be camped out on the sidewalk!

Killjoys, make some noise!

Edit: An update after yesterday’s cryptic teaser video. Today, the band made the following statement on their Facebook page, “We’ve been really touched and blown away by the response to the teaser trailer. We are not touring and there is no reunion planned – only a release for the anniversary of The Black Parade.

Thanks so much for continuing to keep MCR in your minds and in your hearts.”

So, at this point killjoys, the only noise is the sound of hearts around the globe breaking again…

Jack & Jack and Melanie Martinez Pump Up the Wango Tango Village

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

by Cindy Robinson along with Contributor Sydney Robinson

102.7 KIIS FM in Los Angeles held their annual Wango Tango concert last weekend at the Stubhub Center in Carson, CA. So let’s do a little wrap up from the weekend! Life On The Scene attended the Wango Tango Village, the FREE daytime festival and concert featuring up & coming artists such as Jack & Jack, Melanie Martinez (from season 3 of The Voice), Daya, Laura Marano and more. There was a ferris wheel, food & beverage tents from Coca-Cola, Sprite, Guerrero Tacos, Magnolia ice cream and a fabulous pink primping tent from Soap & Glory.

Did I mention ice cream? Magnolia had amazing flavors like avocado, purple yam, lychee, guava, coconut and mango. Super delicious and well worth the wait in line for a free ice cream cone of your choice. Right now it looks like their ice cream is only available at Ralph’s locations across Southern California (as far as the West Coast is concerned anyway) so make sure you stop by and pick some up this summer.

 

Soap & Glory’s Body Butter and Pillow Plump Lip Gloss

Then there was the Soap & Glory pink primping tent. They provided a great little break from the hot sun where you could sit & relax for a few minutes while primping ladies touched up your make up, applied fake tattoos and gave out some great cosmetic samples like The Righteous Butter Body Butter and their Pillow Plump Lip Gloss. The body butter leaves my skin soft and I’ve received compliments on the nice fresh scent. The Pillow Plump lip gloss leaves your lips tingling as it gently plumps them up while providing a super shine with a hint of color. Recommended for those age 15+! Soap & Glory is availble at a variety of your favorite retailers like Walgreens, Target and Ulta. This hot UK brand is set to take over the USA this summer so go grab some of their fun products to try on your next shopping trip.

The highlight of the day was for sure the music! The day kicked off with internet superstars Jack & Jack and judging by the screams and mayhem their adoring fans loved hearing fan favorites like How We Livin’, Like That, Wrong One, Shallow Love and California. These guys put on a fun concert and it’s great to see how their stage show is growing and evolving. Their 2nd album is expected to be ready for a fall release so check back for more information on that. They also have some additional shows coming up this summer including Milwaukee’s Summerfest on June 30th, a special performance at BeautyCon LA on July 9th, the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA on August 20th with Shawn Mendes and tons more to come from these adorable guys!

Melanie Martinez sent her legions of fans into a frenzy performing hits like Crybaby, PityParty, Dollhouse, and Carousel with lots of look-a-likes dressed like her in the crowd. Melanie will be on tour for all of June & July across the United States so the Wango Tango Village was just a warm up for her. Check out all of her dates on her website.

It was great to see the power of Jonas is still strong as Joe Jonas stopped by the Wango Tango Village with his new band DNCE to host a quick meet & greet with a lucky handful of fans and took to the stage to pump up the crowd. Sadly, they didn’t treat us to their massive hit Cake By The Ocean but judging the by the throng of girls following Joe’s every move during the brief appearance DNCE is headed destined to become a smashing success.

There were also fun performances from Laura Marano, Shawn Hook and Daya. Friends of ours who attended the evening Wango Tango concert with artists like Zayn, Ariana Grande, DNCE, Demi Lovato and Gwen Stefani said it was an amazing concert and Gwen rocked the house.

If you’ve never attended a big iHeart Radio event like Wango Tango, the iHeart Radio Festival or a Jingle Ball concert – do yourself a favor and go to one of these fun events! It’s a long, long, day (or weekend depending which one you go to) but it’s such a great opportunity to see your favorite artists in a festival setting and check out some new emerging artists. All in one day you get to see more than a dozen acts and it’s just an incredible experience.

 

Troye Sivan Taking Over The World

Blue Neighbourhood is the debut full-length album from international chart-topping Australian artist Troye Sivan. “It’s all autobiographical,” says Sivan. “It takes place in both the suburbs of Perth where I’ve grown up, which I consider to be my blue neighbourhood, but then also in this fast-paced, crazy, whirlwind life that I’m now living in hotel rooms and planes.”

For fans of the South African-born Troye Sivan it’s just the next amazing step in all the success he’s had to date. With more than 4 million fans on his YouTube channel and another 4 million on Twitter he’s set to explode worldwide in 2016 as his fan base just keeps growing at a phenomenal pace.

Troye has a packed schedule ahead of him as he has a performance at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas this Sunday, May 22. Last week the young artist was announced as the recipient of “Kia’s One to Watch,” an honor established last year to support and highlight emerging artists. You can visit the Billboard site daily to see new clips of Troye preparing for the performance and talking about what it means to have this opportunity.

Troye will also be stopping by The GRAMMY Museum’s Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles on May 24th for an intimate conversation surrounding his debut album, and rising career, moderated by Scott Goldman, Vice President of the GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares. The conversation will be followed by a special performance.

On top of that, he also announced plans The Suburbia Tour of the United States with dates running through October and November. Go visit Troye’s site for a full list of concert dates and links to buy tickets. Grab them quickly, they will be gone in a flash! Life On The Scene looks forward to covering Troye’s events and watching his star explode globally! #TroyeSivan #BlueNeighbourhood #GrammyMuseum #BillboardMusicAwards

Wango Tango Village 2016 Lineup Announced

Wango Tango recently announced the lineup for their 2016 daytime village concert. The lineup includes Daya, Jack & Jack, Melanie Martinez and more!

Here at Life On The Scene we’re a little perplexed as to why KIIS FM has Jack & Jack and Melanie Martinez kicking the day off. I don’t think KIIS is familiar enough with their teenage audience to realize the frenzy these artists will cause. A brief 40-second appearance by Jack & Jack at last year’s iHeart Radio Festival in Las Vegas drowned out the DJ announcing their arrival and clearly overshadowed George Ezra’s set. We were really surprised they haven’t been confirmed as performers for this year’s iHeart Radio Festival! They have millions of rabid followers and their debut album is on the way.

KIIS FM’s Wango Tango Village stage lineup has been announced! You can see Daya, Shawn Hook, Laura Marano, Jack & Jack and Melanie Martinez live outside StubHub Center on May 14th at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.

The Village will be open from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and it’s FREE to the public! Don’t miss your chance to see them all live. And who knows… Maybe you’ll have a chance to win tickets to Wango Tango.

You can read more here and enter for chances to win tickets to Wango Tango, backstage passes for both the daytime village and the nighttime concert: http://www.kiisfm.com/features/wangotango-2021/articles/15/497484/wango-tango-village-lineup-14646175/#ixzz47XHRsywt

Who are you most excited to see at this year’s show? Life On The Scene can’t wait to bring you coverage from the event! #Jack&Jack #WangoTango #KIISFM

Remembering David Bowie

David Bowie performing in Los Angeles 2004

It’s taken me a long while to be able to put my thoughts into words since David Bowie’s death in early January.

I’ve tried to describe how I feel and the best explanation I can come up with is that I feel as though a martial arts master has come at me full force, kicked me in the chest with both feet and sent me flying through walls and crashing to the ground. My chest physically aches, the world, at times, seems to be moving in slow motion, my brain goes in and out of a foggy coherence as I process the loss of David Bowie, one of, if not, the greatest influence on my life.

Yes, I’ve long lived in that delusional camp that always believed he was so magical he had to be immortal. In life, one generally only meets a handful of people (famous or not) who exude such charm, humor and genuine talent that they seem to sparkle to those around them. You rarely come across a person who is so innovative and willing to constantly try new things just to see what they come up with. He touched so many facets of art – music, theater, acting, painting, and producing.

My first memory of David Bowie is hearing the song “Changes” when I was about 8 or 9, the year I lived in upstate New York with my biological father. I have an image in my brain of sitting in the living room of this big, old, white house and the song is playing. I think the ch-ch-changes bit along with the phrase “and these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds…” stuck in my young mind. What? Spitting on children? That was it. I’ve loved him ever since.

He is literally a part of me as I had his initials tattooed on my ankle (as part of a bigger tattoo) nearly 20 years ago. I was “detained” once, a long time ago, so he is also part of my permanent, legal record, a means by which I can be identified. I take him with me everywhere I go.

As Carrie Brownstein (@Carrie_Rachel) mentioned on Twitter, “It feels like we lost something elemental, as if an entire color is gone.” As if suddenly helium or aluminum is no longer part of the periodic table, yellow doesn’t exist anymore – lemons, bananas or the sun are void of color.

David Bowie and I in Arizona 1995

I was fortunate enough to have a couple encounters with him over the years in addition to the times I saw him perform live. Once, when he was on tour a friend and I got to meet him and take photos with him. A couple years later in Los Angeles, another friend got us VIP access for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno when David was going to be a guest. For some reason I got the idea to try and take our 8×10 photos with him into the studio. They usually made you check everything at the door and retrieve it when filming was over. I decided to stick them inside a Vogue magazine hoping they’d let me take the magazine in as something to glance at during the downtime in between takes. It actually worked. We had been placed in the front, center seats. During the commercial break, when most TV hosts and guests usually pretend there is an invisible wall between them and the audience, Jay asked David something then turned to the audience and asked if we had any questions we’d like to ask them. I quickly grabbed our photos and held them up. Jay sent a stagehand to collect them. Then it became a bit humorous. In the photos with David, my friend has her natural red hair and I had my natural medium brown, mousy hair. But sitting in front of David and Jay in the audience there was now a platinum blonde (my friend) and a nearly platinum blonde (me). They looked at the photos, looked at us and looked at each other with quizzical expressions and asked if it was really us. They were quite surprised and it made for a funny interaction. David signed our photos and then had them returned to us. I also lifted up my pant leg in an attempt to show David his initials which had recently been branded upon my ankle. He obliged by turning his leg toward me, and lifting up his own pant leg to show me the tattoo he had on the back of his calf.

Oh, and the fact that I’d called in sick to work so I could go only added to the humor when the next day 3 coworkers told me they saw me on TV the night before. Oops!

For me, watching a band I adore perform live is one of the very few things in life that truly makes me happy. I thrive on the energy and chaos of a live show. I marvel in the bumps & bruises obtained through frenetic dancing and singing. A My Chemical Romance show where my ribs still hurt nearly a week later after being in the front of the happy mob counts among my favorite memories. But seeing David Bowie perform was simply on another level. It transcended me into a euphoric state unlike any other. He always surrounded himself with amazing musicians who were so well suited to his sound & style. He was so beautifully handsome with an amazing smile and fantastic sense of humor and so immensely talented.

An artistic shot of David Bowie and I in 2004

 

For one show, my friend Kim and I spent an entire cold, rainy, February day waiting in a line to see him perform a rare general admission show in Los Angeles on a tour that was mostly seated venues. I recall us being woefully under dressed for the weather while we huddled together under one umbrella for about 9 hours until they let us into the venue where it all paid off and we managed a coveted spot in the front row. The frozen toes & fingers are long forgotten. I don’t recall much of the set list, only that I was able to play with the strings coming off his purposefully frayed jeans; touch his beat up black Converse while he sang on the high stage above us. My friend Alison took this “artistic” photo of David & I because that’s all we could manage due to the height of the stage. We were close enough that when he held a long note I could actually see the texture in the roof of his mouth. It was magical & memorizing and one of my favorite nights.

To some degree I have been able to share him with my kids. When my son was about 8 I was able to take him to a few shows on the Earthling tour. At the time, he actually liked the seats that were farther away because he could better see when David launched this giant eyeball balloon into the audience where it was instantly pulled to pieces. My daughter is much younger and never had the honor to see him perform live but Labyrinth has always been one of her favorite movies and she understands how magical he was.

On January 8^th, I happily downloaded Blackstar when I got into work and made my annual Happy Birthday post about David on my Facebook then gleefully plugged an ear bud into my ear to absorb the new music without any clue he was about to leave us shattered and heartbroken.

I’m blessed to have many international friends who graciously gathered up newspapers from around the world to send to me.

I’ve always been so biased in my opinion of great admiration and love for David Bowie, that I never really stopped to think about how many other people might also feel that way in varying degrees so it was mind blowing to the senses when he died to see the world react the way they did. My own life has been in flux the past couple years and the majority of my belongings currently reside in two storage units. I’m hoping soon I will be unpacking everything and perhaps, then I’ll have a Bowie fest and create a gallery of cherished items to come back and share with you.

My heart goes out to his family and friends. I thank them for sharing the public version of him with the rest of us. I’m grateful my time on this planet coincided with his.

I will always love David Bowie. He will always be my hero and one of the greatest influences and inspirations in my life that shaped who I am as a person.