Their self-titled album was released in August 2009 on Young Turks Records and received critical acclaim from such luminaries as the NME in the UK and Rolling Stone magazine in the United States.

Another admirer is Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama, who has personally chosen The XX to perform at this summer’s All Tomorrow’s Parties he is curating in May in Minehead.

The XX debut album has so far spawned four singles: Crystalised, Basic Space, Islands and most recently VCR which was released in January 2010.

Their music is intense and low-fi, sparse and brooding. Their appeal may be the quality of the songs, coupled with the fact that they sound so distinct in a world of carbon copy music.

The XX use analogue synthesizers and drum machines alongside bass and guitars and have been likened to Hot Chip and Four Tet. The whispering vocal delivery also reminds me of Massive Attack.

Last year they supported the likes of The Big Pink but 2010 looks like it’s going to be their year as they set off in March to headline their first UK Tour.

Concert tickets for The XX tour are now on sale.  The dates include Brighton, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh.

The XX UK Tour Dates

1 March
Komedia Theatre
Brighton

2 March
Shepherds Bush Empire
London

3 March
Shepherds Bush Empire
London

5 March
O2 Academy
Birmingham

6 March
Manchester Academy 2
Manchester

8 March
The Cockpit
Leeds

9 March
Studio 24
Edinburgh

viagogo is an online ticket exchange that allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and guaranteed way.

In the past 15 years they have only released six albums but sold an amazing 30 million records worldwide; and only The Beatles managed to out-sell them in the United States in the past 10 years!

Their most recent album Dark Horse was released to critical acclaim in 2008.

Nickelback – Dark Horse Tracklisting:
1.”Something in Your Mouth”
2.”Burn It to the Ground”
3.”Gotta Be Somebody”
4.”I’d Come for You”
5.”Next Go Round”
6.”Just to Get High”
7.”Never Gonna Be Alone”
8.”Shakin’ Hands”
9.”S.E.X.”
10.”If Today Was Your Last Day”
11.”This Afternoon”

plus a limited bonus track:

12. “This Afternoon”

From the Dark Horse album, this is the Burn It To The Ground live.

Nickelback will be playing live in the UK on Friday 14 May at the Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita. Concert tickets sold out minutes after they were released.

Nickelback Live Tickets
At viagogo, every concert ticket transaction is 100% guaranteed to be safe and secure. As well as making it easy and simple to buy or sell Nickelback tickets, viagogo ensure their safe and prompt delivery with online tracking.

Alan Wilder replaced Vince Clarke in 1981 and eventually left the band in 1995, leaving Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher to continue working together as a trio.

Their success has continued non-stop over the past three decades with forty-seven singles in the UK Charts. They have also achieved number one albums in UK, US and throughout Europe, selling over 75 million albums worldwide in the process.
Such success might be comparable to was replaced by Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums, production) with Gore taking over song writing. Wilder left the band in 1995 and since then Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher have continued as a trio.

According to Q Magazine, “[Depeche Mode are t]he most popular electronic band the world has ever known”.

To be honest I felt their early material was pretty weak and thin. Throw away synth pop in a time where New Romantic image allowed boys and girls to indulge in a post-punk glam rock nonsense. But with each album Depeche Mode moved away from their synth pop roots and began making deeper, darker music; and listening to their albums over the years, it’s easy to see how they managed to keep their original fan base where other bands from that era became stagnant and dissolved.

It was with Black Celebration, their fifth album, released in 1986 that I really started to take notice of how much their sound had changed. And by the time they released their ninth album and my favourite, Ultra, in 1997 the band and its members has quite literally been to hell and back.

Vocalist Dave Gahan had struggled with heroin addiction in the 1990’s which resulted with him literally losing his life before being brought back to life. I believe the drugs and other excesses that surround Depeche Mode around this time influenced their music. Classic tracks like Useless, It’s No Good and the awesome Barrel Of A Gun reflect this period of the band’s history, as much as their personal lives.

Depeche Mode have continued to play to huge sold out audiences and return to London next month to play two concerts at The Royal Albert Hall on 17th February and the London O2 Arena on 20th February. And one thing is for sure Depeche Mode concert tickets will be difficult to comeby.

No doubt they will be playing a selection of their most popular songs and giving a great live performance to a sold out audience. Here is a performance of It’s No Good & Barrel Of A Gun live on French TV from 1997.

Depeche Mode Concert Tickets

At viagogo, every Depeche Mode transaction is 100% guaranteed to be safe and secure. As well as making it easy and simple to buy Depeche Mode tickets or sell Depeche Mode tickets, we ensure their safe and prompt delivery with online tracking.

Eric Clapton has announced five live shows here in the UK: three in May with Steve Winwood and two in February with another rock legend, Jeff Beck.

These days, concert tickets for any UK shows are difficult to purchase, especially with someone who has had worldwide hits over the past five decades.  As well as solo, he has had success with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek & The Dominoes.

Clapton is the only musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame three times: as a member of The Yardbirds, Cream and also as a solo artist; and was ranked fourth in The Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.

Here’s a clip of Eric Clapton playing Layla live at Madison Square Gardens in 1999.

Eric Clapton Live UK Dates

Saturday 13 February 2010
Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck
O2 arena, London

Sunday 14 February 2010
Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck
O2 arena, London

Tuesday 18 May 2010
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood
LG Arena, Birmingham

Thursday 20 May 2010
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood
Wembley Arena, London

Friday 21 May 2010
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood
Wembley Arena, London

Eric Clapton Tickets

At viagogo, every Eric Clapton transaction is 100% guaranteed to be safe and secure. As well as making it easy and simple to buy Eric Clapton tickets or sell Eric Clapton tickets, we ensure their safe and prompt delivery with online tracking. Every Eric Clapton ticket transaction is supported by our customer service team which can be contacted by phone and e-mail.

The Beatles – Hey Jude

This is one of my favourite Ian Dury tracks, Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt.3, this clip is from a performance in 1979.

Ian Dury & The Blockheads – Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt. 3

Bob Dylan – It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer – Live 1993

The song is a painful reference to the phenomenon of morphine addiction among US war veterans as a result of its use to treat injuries in the Vietnam war.

This is John Prine performing Sam Stone in Dublin in 1989.

“There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes,

Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose,”

John Prine – Sam Stone – Live 1989

There have been many covers of this classic song, many great versions, this is my favourite.

P.P.Arnold – The First Cut Is The Deepest