The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed, Moe Tucker and Doug Yule all shared a stage together in New York on Tuesday (December 8), answering questions about the band's history in front of a live audience.

The talk, which was not attended by John Cale, took place at the New York Public Library, and saw Reed pay personal tribute to Tucker and the band's mentor Andy Warhol.

"Warhol was one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life," Reed said of the pop art impresario. "Without him, [The Velvet Underground were] kind of inconceivable. When they hired us to make a record it wasn't because of us it was because of him. They didn't know us – they thought he was the lead guitarist or something!"

Reed added that he's searched for a drummer with Tucker's style throughout his post-Velvets career, but that nobody can match her, reports BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

"I've tried since then to get a drummer to do what she did, and it's impossible. They can't. If we sped up, she sped up. Instead of having a drummer who'll sit there trying to hold the beat down, our songs speed up and slow down all over the place."

Source UNCUT

Groove Armada have announced details of three UK gigs set to take place next year.

The band, who release new album 'Black Light' on March 1, kick off the tour on the same day at Glasgow's ABC venue.

Groove Armada will play:

Glasgow, ABC (March 1)
Manchester, Ritz (2)
London, HMV Forum (3)

Tickets for the tour go on sale tomorrow (December 11).

To check the availability of Groove Armada tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

Source NME

High Voltage is the must-see rock event of 2010 – a two-day festival featuring the very best in classic rock, progressive rock and metal, with over 40 acts hand-picked by the UK's fastest-growing music magazine, Classic Rock.

Topping the bill are the legendary Emerson, Lake & Palmer and ZZ Top with many more acts to be announced.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer are reuniting especially for High Voltage. This will be ELP's one and only live performance of 2010 – and possibly the last show they will ever play together, the culmination of a spectacular career that has seen the trio sell over 30 million albums worldwide.

This marks the first time that ZZ Top will be headlining a UK rock festival in 25 years. The superstar trio, known far and wide as that little ol' band from Texas, are celebrating their 40th year with the same personnel intact.

The group has sold in excess of 40 million albums over the course of a career that saw them inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards in 2004. The Birmingham Mail cited their recent Wolverhampton appearance as "a barnstorming boogie blitz that pretty much blew the roof off the Civic Hall."

Says Classic Rock Editor-in-Chief Scott Rowley: "High Voltage is the festival all true rock fans have been waiting for – custom built by rock fans for rock fans. The High Voltage team have been to every rock festival imaginable – we're taking what we've learned to build a festival unlike any other.

"First of all there's the music: two amazing headliners AND three unique stages specially curated to cater for different sides of the rock audience, and a brilliant supporting cast playing special must-see sets.

"Then there's the festival itself. The facilities will be second to none: great food, proper beer, clean toilets, deluxe hospitality packages, designated hotels, free shuttle transport. This is somewhere you take the whole family."

High Voltage offers a new and unique festival experience for rock fans of all ages. Only High Voltage gives ticket buyers the freedom to design their own bespoke festival package – which can include accommodation, transport, parking and VIP bar access. Early bird ticket purchasers will be able to upgrade their tickets with a host of options from January 2010.

"If you can think it up, we can do it," says Scott Rowley. "We asked our readers what they'd like to see and we're taking the best of their ideas and making them happen. It's 30 years since the first Monsters Of Rock festival, and now, at last, rock fans have finally got a quality festival they can call their own."

Early bird tickets priced £120 (for weekend tickets) and £65 (for day tickets) will be on sale from 9am on Friday 4 December 2010. The early bird tickets will end on 31 December 2009. Standard tickets are prices £130 (for weekend tickets) and £75 (for day tickets).

Classic Rock subscribers can purchase early bird tickets from Wednesday 2 December 2010. The subscribers early bird tickets will include free festival laminate and the ability to fast-track queues on the day…

There is no booking fee for Classic Rock Presents High Voltage tickets.

Tickets are available from www.highvoltagefestival.com or 24hr cc ticketline 0871 230 5582.

Please check the websites below for further updates:

www.highvoltagefestival.com
www.classicrockmagazine.com

Source musicradar

Simon Cowell has branded the Facebook campaign to get Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' to the Christmas Number One slot ahead of this year's winner of The X Factor "stupid" and "cynical".

Over 550,000 people have joined the Facebook group, which urges members to download 'Killing In The Name' on Sunday (December 13) to prevent the Christmas Number One being held by the show's winner for the fifth year in a row.

Watch the press conference here:

"If there's a campaign, and I think the campaign's aimed directly at me, it's stupid," he said in a press conference in London today (10), reports The Independent.

Cowell went on to suggest that the campaign was unfairly being detrimental to the contestants in the show rather than harming him. "Me having a Number One record at Christmas is not going to change my life particularly," he said. "It does however change these guys' lives and we put this opportunity there so that the winner of The X Factor gets the chance of having a big hit record.

"I think it's quite a cynical campaign geared at me which is actually going to spoil the party for these three [contestants]. I also think it's incredibly dismissive of the people who watch and enjoy the show… to treat our audiences as if they're stupid and I don't like that."

Jon Morter, who started the Facebook group with his wife Tracy, defended the campaign, telling NME.COM it was a "rallying cry" for people who didn't want to see the show dominate the charts again this Christmas.

Source NME

Seminal British synthpop legends The Human League, who have sold over 20 million records worldwide, have been confirmed to headline GuilFest 2010 on Saturday July 17th.

The Human League have released nine studio albums since 1978, four of which were top ten chart successes, including 'Dare', which hit number 1 in the UK and achieved triple-platinum status. The band have released twenty six singles , including eight UK top ten hits and two US/UK number ones.

GuilFest is this year offering a Christmas Early Bird ticket offer – 1000 weekend and Camping tickets are available at a reduced rate, with adult tickets reduced by £10 and Kids tickets reduced by £5. As well as this, a group discount offer is also available – For every 8 weekend/weekend with camping tickets purchased, festivals goers will receive an extra one for free! These offers are only available until Christmas Eve.

The award winning family-friendly, relaxed vibe and atmosphere by which other festivals have come to be judged will, as usual, be a major focus of this year’s GuilFest. Tickets are now on sale and are available on-line at www.guilfest.co.uk or by calling See Tickets on 0871 230 1106

Source music-news

Pop royalty Westlife celebrate their triumphant return to the top of the charts with the announcement of their first live concerts in two years,..

Revered for their spectacular live shows, created with visionary William Baker (Kylie, Leona, Bjork) Westlife are thrilled to be returning to the stage two years since their last concert tour.

The band will travel to arenas across the UK throughout May, including stops at London’s O2 and the Manchester Evening News Arena. The show will include fan favourites, the band’s biggest hits and brand new tracks taken from their first new album in two years, 'Where We Are,’ which was released on November 30th 2009.

WHERE WE ARE - TOUR DATES:

May 2010
THURSDAY 06 Nottingham Trent FM Arena
FRIDAY 07 Liverpool Echo Arena
SUNDAY 09 Sheffield Sheffield Arena
WEDNESDAY 12 London O2 Arena
SUNDAY 16 Birmingham LG Arena
THURSDAY 20 Cardiff CIA
MONDAY 24 Glasgow SECC
FRIDAY 28 Manchester Evening News Arena
MONDAY 31 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena

Source music-news