Just weeks after revealing “I think I will sing again” in a TV interview, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe took to the stage Monday night in New York City as the unannounced opening act for Patti Smith at Webster Hall, performing a six-song set that included two numbers by his old band and four covers.
The Cure delivered a marathon 40-song set tonight at London’s Eventim Apollo that included a full performance of 1984′s The Top, the live debut of rare B-side “A Man Inside My Mouth” and the reintroduction of songs not played live in decades. The band will perform again Monday and Tuesday nights.
Perhaps fittingly, The Replacements capped off last night’s triumphant hometown gig — their first in 23 years, and the band’s first non-festival date since reuniting last summer — with a performance of fan favorite “Unsatisfied,” the first time the Let It Be classic has been dusted off since the ‘Mats got back together.
It took 35 years for Kate Bush to follow up her lone tour, but she returned to the stage in London last night for her first full performance since May 14, 1979, performing a highly theatrical, 22-song set that featured nearly all of her classic LP Hounds of Love, the second side of Aerial and a few other selections.
Last weekend, ’80s jangle-pop favorites Let’s Active reunited on stage in Carrboro, N.C., for the first time in 24 years, performing an 11-song set at Be Loud! ’14, a benefit for the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation in memory of 15-year-old Sophie Steiner, who died of cancer last year.
Morrissey returned to the road Wednesday night as his U.S. tour opened in San Jose, Calif., with a show that found the former Smiths frontman debuting three new songs off World Peace Is None Of Your Business during a 20-song set that ended abruptly as Moz was forced to flee the stage.
The Cure played their first of two shows Friday night at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall as part of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust concert series, treating fans to a marathon 45-song set that featured some true surprises, including the live debut of Disintegration-era B-side “2 Late.”
The Cure returned for its second headlining slot at this year’s two-weekend Austin City Limits Music Festival, and this time shook up its standard festival set to inject some of the rarities that Robert Smith and Co. dredged up for shows this past week in Moterrey, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
Before rain snuffed out today’s final day, the Austin City Limits Music Festival ramped up for a second consecutive weekend, this time with many of the performances being webcast. Watch the full 90-minute set by Depeche Mode, an abbreviated version of the band’s standard Delta Machine tour set,
Steve Kilbey of The Church and The Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli — who have been writing new music together over the past year — made their live debut together Wednesday night with an intimate show in Los Angeles, where they performed selections from each other’s projects and premiered at least one new song,
The Cure returned to Mexico last night for the second time this year, and while the band’s set didn’t quite match the epic length of its show on Robert Smith’s birthday in April, it did feature more surprises, including a heavy dose of The Top and the live debut of Head on the Door-era B-side “Stop Dead.”
The Replacements took the stage tonight at Riot Fest in Chicago for the second of at least three planned reunion gigs (“We haven’t played in 3 weeks, but fuck it,” Paul Westerberg told the crowd before launching into “Takin’ a Ride”), and managed to play mostly the same set as their big comeback gig.
The Pixies have been rehearsing for their upcoming tour with new bassist Kim Shattuck of The Muffs in Los Angeles this past week, so perhaps it’s no surprise the band headed out last night for a last-minute, surprise warm-up show at the Echo — where the band debuted six of their new songs.
A little after 8:45 p.m. EDT tonight, the long-sought, little-believed reunion of The Replacements — in this case, Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, plus Josh Freese and David Minehan — took the stage at Riot Fest in Toronto, delivering career-spanning in the band’s first performance in 22 years.
The Cure wrapped up its short “Great Circle Tour” with a headlining performance at the Lollapalzooza festival in Chicago on Sunday night, delivering a 2-hour, 26-song set — and for Robert Smith and Co., that’s a pretty gig — heavy on the band’s more poppy material. Check out the full webcast here.
Trent Reznor went full circle Friday night in Chicago, bringing his resurrected Nine Inch Nails back to Lollapalooza some 22 years after the band played the then-traveling tour’s inaugural year. This time, instead of landing a daytime slot under the hot sun, NIN headlined the festival’s first night.
Siouxsie returned to the concert stage for the first time in five years tonight in London, performing the first of two nights at the Yoko Ono-curated Meltdown festival with a 20-song set that included a full reading of 1980′s Kaleidoscope plus Banshees favorites like “Cities in Dust” and “Israel” as well as tracks off MantaRay.
Since reuniting last year, The Stone Roses have been somewhat consistent in their setlists, sticking to a core group of songs based, not surprisingly, around their classic 1989 debut. But in Paris last night, the band played 1988′s “Elephant Stone” and “Made of Stone” B-side “Going Down” for the first time since 1990.
Depeche Mode opened its massive Delta Machine world tour tonight with a 23-song set that featured a healthy dose of material off the new album, the usual crowd pleasers (“Enjoy the Silence,” “Personal Jesus,” set closer “Never Let Me Down Again”) and some welcome callbacks.
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