Michael Jackson Accusers Detail Road to ‘Leaving Neverland’

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Wade Robson and James Safechuck didn’t know what to think once the lights went up following the first public screening associated with “Leaving Neverland” past due last month at the Sundance Film Festival. In the documentary that will air within two parts on HBO and Britain’s Station 4 in March, each describe, in harrowing details, how they say Michael Jackson sexually abused them as boys. It was the second period they’d seen this and the first with viewers. At intermission director Dan Reed actually wondered whether or not they were likely to be able to make it through the Q&A they’d guaranteed to do. Safechuck said it had been like being “punched in the face.” But they remained, and watched, and as the particular credits rolled the few hundred people in the market stood and applauded solemnly. Robson, thirty six, and Safechuck, 40, produced their way to the phase, a little shell-shocked still through reliving it all again, yet overcome with emotion. This took them a minute to understand why: It was the first time they’d ever experienced community support for telling their own stories. It’s been a turbulent few years for both guys, ever since they came forwards as adults to state abuse after Jackson got died in 2009 and after getting previously said at various points that there was not one. Robson testified in Jackson’s defense at the 2006 molestation trial that using the superstar’s acquittal. Legal cases against Jackson’s property detailing the abuse possess been  dismissed just for procedural reasons, although an appeal will be pending. Jackson’s estate continues to  attack their trustworthiness  , and they’ve encountered disbelief and also threats from fans. Upon Thursday the  property filed a lawsuit against HBO. Alleging the film violates a contract to demonstrate a 1992 Jackson live concert that requires that the network not really disparage the singer later on. When Reed, a U.K. filmmaker who is more accustomed to addressing war and terrorism, contacted the men separately within 2017 about telling their own story through a documentary, these were understandably reticent, but made a decision to meet with him out of interest. “I used to be concerned about somebody just sensationalizing the story,” Safechuck informed The Associated Press the morning after that first screening, along with Reed and Robson with his side. “Is person out to just merged a piece for people to watch since it’s Michael? Or even is it somebody who is likely to tell the story of survivors and abuse and what that’s like? ” Robson, a mentioned choreographer who has worked with other brands Britney Spears and ’N Sync, had a lot more experience with the media plus was especially cautious, yet agreed to a lunch. I felt quite comfortable pretty quickly which he was a man of condition,” Robson said. Reed didn’t have an agenda or a strategy. He was just generally there to listen and document. So that they agreed. Robson was evaluated across three days, and Safechuck for two. “I wanted to keep a totally open mind,” Reed said. “In the end, there is absolutely no video of Michael Jackson abusing Wade and James. There is no cache of pictures. So what you’re performing is listening to the person plus making a judgment about regardless of whether there is any truth delete word.” The particular film details how Robson, Safechuck and their families found know and trust Jackson at the height of their fame in the 1980s plus early 1990s, the claimed abuse, which Robson states started at age 7 plus Safechuck says began at 10, and the trauma that will emerged as adults if they both started to understand what occurred to them. Both of their moms are also interviewed, as are their particular wives and two associated with Robson’s siblings. Reed found this individual didn’t have to inquire many questions, but this individual did give them some guidance: Don’t offer comments or try to process instantly, just say what happened. It had been cathartic for Robson. “I had currently come up against so much pushback and adversity in relation to informing the truth and trying to inform the truth that it had turn out to be instinctual to me and regular to me to constantly feel as if I have to explain myself plus explain the story and describe the conflicting feelings. Lalu giving us that path to not do that ended up becoming an extremely powerful experience for me. This enabled me to be very much more present in the informing of the story, which wound up being so therapeutic,” Robson said. “Simply going through the interview procedure was an extremely healing encounter.” That will wasn’t the case meant for Safechuck, however. “Yeah, no,” Safechuck said with a reluctant laugh. “I don’t think it was since therapeutic for me. It was hard. ” Yet both are glad that will their stories are going to be out there soon, even though the pushback is just getting stronger from supporters and Jackson’s property. The property has vehemently denounced the particular documentary, attacking the reliability of Robson and Safechuck, as well as the filmmaker for not which includes other voices who understood Jackson. “It’s the story of such two families and not of all of the other people who were or weren’t abused by Michael Jackson,” Reed mentioned. “How is interviewing an individual who was friends with Knutson who saw nothing likely to help me tell the story? The truth that Jackson for many hours within the day was not abusing kids doesn’t mean that for a number of hours a day he wasn’t. ” The estate has said Robson sought work on a Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil display and raised the molestation allegations only after this individual wasn’t hired. “It’s just completely inaccurate,” Robson said. “I used to be hired three times for different iterations of that Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show, in order to choreograph it. I was never ever denied a role. I was taken out from the project 3 times because of the nervous breakdowns I was going through.” Robson said the particular nervous breakdowns led him to speak to his therapist the first time about the abuse, and began the journey he’s on now. An iconic figure during death, Jackson’s social resonance remains as effective as ever. A phase musical, “Don’t Stop ’ Til You obtain Enough,” is set to spread out on Broadway in the summer associated with 2020 and his songs continue to be a fixture on the stereo. Neither Safechuck nor Robson has any guidance meant for how audiences should watch Jackson or his songs after watching. “That’s to allow them to decide,” Safechuck mentioned. For each, it’s about losing a light on sexual misuse, and not about Jackson’s legacy, although it’s likely the film may have an impact on that too. “Jordan was an extremely complex shape, like many people are, plus there are aspects to your pet that are good and you can find things he did in the life that were good. And was also a sick guy who sexually abused all of us and I believe many others,” Robson said. “It’s just not black and white. These items exist at the same time. Hopefully everyone can just open our thoughts about that.” “Leaving Neverland” may air in two components on HBO at 6 p.m. eastern on March 3-4.

Philip Frampton Announces His Ending – The Farewell Visit 2019

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© Amy Harris

Philip Frampton offers confirmed that he’ t only got one more main tour left in your pet before he decides to hold it all up.

Peter Frampton Ending — The Farewell Trip presented simply by SiriusXM will kick off this particular June 18th in Tulsa, OK and continue through the entire summer and fall, inviting Jason Bonham’ s Led Zeppelin Night to open upward and special guests prepared along the way (including Julian Frampton). Tickets will go on sale towards the general public beginning next Fri, March 1 at 10am local time at LiveNation. com (check local entries for pre-sale information). VIP packages will also be available at www.frampton.com .

Check out the dates beneath.

PHILIP FRAMPTON LIVE

June 18— Tulsa, OK— Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa+
June 20— Little Rock and roll, AR— Robinson Performance Corridor
June 22— Montgomery, AL— Wind Creek Casino & Hotel+
June 23— Chattanooga, TN— Tivoli Theatre+
June 26— Memphis, TN— Orpheum Theatre+
June 27— Nashville, TN— Ascend Amphitheater*
June 29— Salamanca, NY— Seneca Allegany Vacation resort & Casino*^
June 30— Bethel, NY— Bethel Woods Center for your Arts*
This summer 2— Pittsburgh, PA— Benedum Center for the Performing Artistry
July 3— Syracuse, NY— St . Joseph’ s Health Amphitheater with Lakeview*
Come july 1st 5— Montreal, QC— Montreal Jazz Fest- Place kklk Arts: Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier+
July 7— Gilford, NH— Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion*
Come july 1st 9— Boston, MA— Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion*
July 10— Philadelphia, PA— The Met Philadelphia*
July 12— Cincinnati, OH— Riverbend Songs Center*
This summer 13— Stayner, ON— Roxodus Music Festival+
July 23— Traverse Town, MI— Interlochen Center for your Arts-Kresge Auditorium+
July 25— Detroit, MI— DTE Energy Music Theatre*
July 26— Morgantown, WV— MountainFest Motorbike Rally*+
Come july 1st 28— Chicago, IL— Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island*
Come july 1st 29— Cedar Rapids, IA— McGrath Amphitheatre
July 31— Morrison, CO— Red Rocks Amphitheatre
August 2— Minneapolis, MN— Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater*+
Aug 4— St . Louis, MO— Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre*
August 5— Kansas City, MO— Starlight Theatre*
August 8— Cleveland, OH— Blossom Songs Center*
Aug 11— Atlanta, GA— Ameris Bank Amphitheatre at Encore Park*
Aug 16-21— Keeping the Doldrums Alive at Sea Mediterranean+
August 30— Charlotte, NC— PNC Songs Pavilion*
Sept 1— Albany, NY— Saratoga Performing Arts Center*
September 2— Uncasville, CT— Mohegan Sun Arena*
September 4— Jacksonville, FL— Daily’ h Place*
Sept 6— Miami, FL— Coral reefs Sky Amphitheatre at the S i9000. Florida Fairgrounds*
September 7— Tampa, FL— MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds*
September 10— Simpsonville, SC— CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park*
September 11— Wa, DC— The Anthem*
September 13— Nyc, NY— Madison Square Garden*#
September 14— Raleigh, NC— Coastal Credit score Union Music Park from Walnut Creek*
September 21— Houston, TX— Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman*
September 22— Based in dallas, TX— The Pavilion with Toyota Music Factory*
September 24— Albuquerque, NM— Sandia Resort & Casino*+
Sept 26— Phoenix, AZ— Comerica Theatre*
Sept 28— Las Vegas, NV— Reddish Rock Resort Spa & Casino+
Sept 29— Temecula, CA— Pechanga Casino-Pechanga Summit*†
October 2— San Diego, CA— Cal Coast Credit Marriage Open Air Theatre on SDSU*†
Oct 3— Paso Robles, CA— Vina Robles Amphitheatre*† +
October 5— Los Angeles, CA— The Forum*†
October 6— Tuolumne, CA— Black Walnut Casino Resort-Westside Pavilion*† +
October 9— Seattle, WA— Paramount Theatre*†
October 10— Portland, OR— Ilani Holiday resort & Casino-Cowlitz Ballroom*† +
October 12— San Francisco, CA— Concord Pavilion*†
*with Jerrika Bonham’ s Led Zeppelin Evening
† with Julian Frampton

ENTERTAINMENT ONE STRIKES EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH NASHVILLE-BASED, GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER/SONGWRITER, AARON PEARCE

Entertainment One (“eOne”) has signed an exclusive music publishing agreement with Nashville-based, Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter, Aaron Pearce. Under this partnership, Pearce will bring his impressive song catalog to eOne. In addition, eOne will support Pearce in signing songwriters to his newly formed publishing venture, Vintern Songs.

Best-known for his work with Justin Bieber, Fifth Harmony, and Jill Scott, Pearce has produced and written on records that have sold over 20 million copies. He has worked on nine Billboard Top 200 #1 albums across the pop, R&B, country, gospel and dance genres. The deal was announced today by Chris Taylor, eOne’s Global President of Music.

Aaron-Pearce-Music Industry Weekly
Chris Taylor (L) and Aaron Pearce (R) – Music Industry Weekly

“We are so excited to welcome Aaron to the eOne family. He is an incredible talent with an amazing track record of working on so many hits over the years. We also love the fact that this gives us a strong foothold into the Nashville songwriter community,” said Taylor. “I am thrilled to partner with Chris Taylor and this great company. eOne is a visionary for this new age in music and entertainment, and the perfect place to launch the next phase of my career. I am also very excited to discover and develop the next generation of great song writing talent together in Music City, USA,” said Pearce.

eOne has been making a big push into the music publishing world, most notably by securing rights to the Chuck Berry catalog, signing Grammy-winning songwriter/producers The Stereotypes, and hiring top-level, executive creative talent in its London and Los Angeles offices over the past year. eOne’s current music publishing catalog includes songs from Mariah Carey, Death Row publishing, hard rock/metal artists including Within the Ruins and The Contortionist, hip hop producers Vinny X and Tre Mission as well as a vast catalogue of film and television audiovisual rights, including rights for Designated Survivor and popular kids TV show, PJ Masks.

About Entertainment One

Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a global independent studio that specializes in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. The Company’s diversified expertise spans across film, television and music production and sales; family programming, merchandising and licensing; digital content; and live entertainment. Through its global reach and expansive scale, powered by deep local market knowledge, the Company delivers the best content to the world.

Entertainment One’s robust network includes international feature film distribution company Sierra/Affinity; Amblin Partners with DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, and Reliance Entertainment; Makeready with Brad Weston; unscripted television production companies Whizz Kid Entertainment and Renegade 83; live entertainment leaders Round Room Entertainment; world-class music labels Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang; and award-winning emerging content and technology studio Secret Location.

For more information, contact:
Giovanna Melchiorre / gmelchiorre@entonegroup.com

Rocketman Trailer Provides Bigger, More Colorful Glance Into Elton John’s Career

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A second truck for the Elton John -produced musical biopic Rocketman has arrived. Taron Egerton stars within the Paramount Pictures film that will follows John’s personal plus professional trajectory, beginning with their days at the Royal School of Music through their musical partnership with Bernie Taupin. The 2nd preview teases more of Egerton as the singer as well as the range of events the biopic will cover. Starting with John sitting in a piano, he tepidly works “Your Song” as their family looks on. The particular song continues playing within the background as an African-American music performer tells John, “You have got to kill the person you were given birth to to be in order to become the individual you want to be, ” spurring their transformation as a “fat young man from nowhere” named Reginald to the soulful man Elton John. “Benny and the Jets” serves as the particular soundtrack for the next group of scenes, which feature Mark changing everything from his name in order to his wardrobe, performing within studio and glimpsing a stunning man before he’s informed: “Just don’t kill your self with drugs. ” As the music changes to “Tiny Dancer, inch the trailer takes a use focus on the more difficult components of John’s musical journey. Hw grapples with self-doubt, their identity and drugs whilst dealing with his relationships along with Taupin (Jamie Bell), their mother (Bryce Dallas Howard) and former manager Sara Reid (Richard Madden). “Maybe I should possess tried to be more ordinary, inch John says as videos of Egerton in some from the singer’s most iconic clothes are sprinkled in amongst flashy dance sequences. The trailer finishes with a brief look at the film’s re-creation of John’s 1975 Dodger Stadium performance, because the singer takes the phase to a crowd chanting call him by his name. Directed simply by Dexter Fletcher and authored by Lee Hall, Rocketman is going to be released in theaters upon May 31.

Fruit juice WRLD Announces North American Visit: See the Dates

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Juice WRLD is hitting the road to get a spring North American tour. The rapper will be hitting schedules across the U. S. plus Canada this spring, starting in Vancouver, BC, upon April 25. Tickets go on sale towards the general public on Feb. twenty two, but fans can entry a pre-sale by pre-ordering the rapper’ s forthcoming second LP,   A Deathrace for Like , or by purchasing merch from his four collabs with VLONE, Lyrical Lemonade, Half Evil and Ransom. See the Instagram announcement and the tour times below.
Apr 25 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum April 26 – Portland, OR @ Experienced Memorial Coliseum April 28 – Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theater April thirty – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium May two – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre May 3 – Vegas, NV @ The Mutual May four – Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre May 5 – Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum May seven – New Orleans, UNA @ UNO Lakefront Industry May nine – St . Augustine, FLORIDA @ The St . Augustine Amphitheatre Might 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy May 14 – Richmond, VA @ Va Credit Union Live May 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage at The Mann May 17 – Washington, DC @ The particular Anthem Might 20 – New York, NEW YORK @ Hammerstein Ballroom May 21 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom Might 23 – Boston, MOTHER @ Agganis Arena May 24 – Hartford, CT @ XFINITY Theatre Might 25 – Toronto, UPON @ Coca-Cola Coliseum May 26 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre May 27 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion At Nautica May 28 – Maryland, PA @ Stage AE May thirty – Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom May 31 – Milwaukee, wisconsin, WI @ The Silver eagles Ballroom 06 1 – Minneapolis, MN @ Armory June 2 – Self-reliance, MO @ Silverstein Vision Centers Arena June 4 – St . Louis, MO @ Chaifetz Arena 06 6 – Houston, TEXAS @ Revention Music Middle June seven – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theatre 06 8 – Dallas, TEXAS @ Bomb Factory

PHISH RIVIERA MAYA 2019: FANS START ARRIVING, BAND SOUNDCHECKS KASVOT VÄXT & MORE

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Phish fans started arriving down in Mexico today for the start of the Phish Riviera Maya 2019 run, three nights at the Barceló Maya Resort and the band’s third time doing an event like this at the same location. We’ve already observed a great collection of photos begin to hit social media, and this period fans each got their very own towel and Fishman donut floaties, which you can see with this great image below thanks to the band. No more combating for these bad boys. 📸 @alivecoverage The soundcheck these days featured (we’re told) a few of the composed sections of “You Enjoy Myself” and a wonderful crowd gathered and provided it a listen. Additionally they did the Kasvot Vä xt classic “Turtle in the Clouds” and the normally welcome and all-too-rare nevertheless “Plasma”. Check out the Phish setlist beneath. Looks like we’re set for a treat this weekend.

Phish @ Riviera Maya Soundcheck Setlist second . 20. 19

Turtle in the Clouds > Jam > Plasma It was Mike Gordon’s see of soundcheck: LOOK AT THAT DRINKING WATER! 🌊 🌊 🌊 Once again, everything will be webcast live via the band webcast platform LivePhish plus you are able to head over to their site to pre-order and obtain yourself locked and packed for the stream when every thing starts on Thursday. We’ll possess setlists and videos and everything that good stuff from the Phish run as it happens therefore check back here for more since the weekend progresses.

Ashley Tisdale Signs With ICM Partners

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She could be represented for songs by an international team associated with agents led by Paul Hayes.

Vocalist and actress Ashley Tisdale has signed along with ICM Partners for globally representation for music. She could be represented by a global team of agents directed by Paul Hayes . “We are proud in order to welcome Ashley to ICM and excited to support the girl in this new chapter associated with her career, ”mentioned Hayes in a release. “Ashley is a talented artist and clever self-promoter — she has created a terrific brand new album (her first within 10 years) and a massive online presence to support this. ” Tisdale rose to prominence within 2006 when she pictured Sharpay Evans in Disney’s Senior high school Musical. Tisdale reprised the role in sequels to the smash hit and was seen in the spin-off Sharpay’s Fabulous Experience as the titular character. Within 2006, Tisdale signed along with Warner Bros. Records as well as the following year released the girl debut LP, Headstrong . That concept album debuted at No . five on the Billboard 200 plus went on to earn the gold certification from the RIAA. Tisdale’ h debut was followed upward by studio album Guilty Pleasure , which reached No . twelve on the Billboard 200 graph. This springtime, Tisdale will release the girl third studio album entitled, Symptoms , via the newly launched report label Big Noise. Her latest individual, “ Love Me & Let Me Go, ” continues to be featured on Spotify’ t New Music Friday playlists within 12 countries and the girl track “ Voices Inside my Head” garnered over 1 ) 5 million YouTube views plus 1 . 6 million channels worldwide. Tidsale is represented by Sarah Jabbari and Jonathan Shank at Red Light Administration.

Brand new Website Template: Pulse

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Our latest website design template is eye-catching and efficient. With animated effects, it’ s a super modern appear that will wow your website visitors. Let’s take a look at Pulse!

Loading Animation

To set this particular template apart, there are brand new loading animations. You can pick from a number of options, and they will have an effect on how your site title (typically your band name) is available in as the page loads. It’s a nice, modern contact that will make your website look refined right off the bat.

You can try out all of the designs to see what works. Choose from Smoke in, Flip in, Slip from back, Blur within, Wipe in, or Package highlight.

Want even more animation? Guarantee the Menu hover animation choice is switched on. Then a package will draw around your own page name in the menus as someone moves over the top of it.

Full-width header area

The area at the top of this particular template is full-width. Which means it’s perfect for a substantial band image, or a creative movie header.

Have lots of content material? The inner pages come with an adjustable header area elevation. You can make your image smaller sized on those pages enabling more information below.

Coordinated colors

To create a cohesive feel, your site title, menus, and social media icons upward top are the same color.

To make that will color really work, add areas throughout your website. One of the area backgrounds can be that exact same color to really tie elements in. Your section game titles, links, and buttons may also use that color.

Website Template color ideas

Funky new fonts

These brand new fonts are perfect for your own band name, and your area titles. Although they are newly added, and one is certainly preset per template, you are able to choose any font for every template.

Increase the font size or even spacing to create more whitened space within your content. You can even adjust the section cushioning for more or less area above your section game titles.

Create an exciting, mobile-ready website with the Pulse design template in minutes. Try Bandzoogle totally free today!

Music website design template font choices

Clear areas

Using the clean lines of the header area, this is also a properly streamlined template for areas.

Whether or not you go with a one-page web site layout or multiple webpages, make use of styled sections to draw attention to the various features on your website.

Music website template example along with sections

Here’s a walk-though so you can see all the animation and everything else this particular template has to offer!

All the variations

As a hectic musician with lots of balls up, we’ve got you covered along with four different versions of the template. Just pick one plus go, or customize this more to suit your style of songs.

The particular playful version would be ideal for a singer-songwriter , with the nice font and touches associated with bright color. It’ g look great for an indie pop music group as well.

Music website template for a vocalist songwriter There is also an elegant version, filled with cream and grey area backgrounds. This would be easy to customize for a country music website. It’d also work properly for an americana or root base band.

Music website design template for a country band Up next is the 3rd variation. This one has demure colors by default and would certainly suit a jazz singer’s website. A traditional musician could also try this one particular on for size.

Music website template for a jazz music artist Finally, edition four is neutral — with its black, white, plus grey options, it could be utilized for pretty well any kind of music website. It’d particularly fit a DJ or even is better than producer having a great header image.

Music website template for a DJ Every version of the template is easy to apply aimed at your website, giving your current content a brand new new look. Feel free to customize this as you wish, picking the particular fonts, colors, and area options that work for you.

If you need a lot more inspiration for your music website, please check out all of our beautiful band web page templates for some suggestions. Have fun designing!

ROB ZOMBIE AND MARILYN MANSON CONFIRM THEIR NOTORIOUS TWINS OF EVIL 2019 TOUR DATES

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Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson have just confirmed a massive 2019 tour called ‘Twins of Evil: Hell Never Dies Tour 2019’ that kicks off this July in Baltimore. They’ll also be doing the Rock Fest in Cadott, WI. The duo introduced the tour in this quick little snippet today on YouTube:
See the dates below. Ticket information quoted below as well:
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, February 22 at 10am local time atLiveNation.com. Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson will run artist presales beginning Wednesday, February 20 and fans can access a presale through Blabbermouth.com starting on Thursday, February 21. VIP packages will be available starting Wednesday, Feb 20. Citi is the official presale credit card for the tour. As such, Citi cardmembers will have access to purchase presale tickets beginning Wednesday, February 20 at 12:00 p.m. local time until Thursday, February 21 at 10:00 p.m. local time through Citi’s Private Pass program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

ROB ZOMBIE & MARILYN MANSON HELL NEVER DIES TOUR 2019

July 9, 2019, Baltimore, MD, Royal Facilities Arena This summer 10, 2019, Allentown, PENNSYLVANIA, PPL Center July 12, 2019, Huntington, WV, Big Sandy Supermarket Arena This summer 13, 2019, Cincinnati, OH YEA, Riverbend Music Center July 14, 2019, Evansville, IN, Ford Middle July sixteen, 2019, Rockford, IL, BMO Harris Bank Center July 17, 2019, Bonner Springs, KS, Providence Medical Center Amphitheater July 19, 2019, Oshkosh, WI, Rock USA** July 20, 2019, Cadott, WI, Rock Fest** July twenty one, 2019, Council Bluffs, IA, WestFair Amphitheatre* July 23, 2019, Sioux Falls, SD, Denny Sanford PREMIER Center July 24, 2019, Bismarck, ND, Bismarck Event Middle July twenty five, 2019, Billings, MT, Rimrock Auto Arena August 4, 2019, Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena August 6, 2019, Saskatoon, SK, SaskTel Center August seven, 2019, Winnipeg, MB, Bell MTS Place August 9, 2019, Fargo, ND, Fargodome August 10, 2019, Planks Rapids, IA, U. H. Cellular Center August 11, 2019, Fortification Wayne, IN, Allen Region War Memorial Coliseum August 13, 2019, Grand Rapids, MI, Vehicle Andel Arena August 14, 2019, Greater london, ON, Budweiser Gardens August 16, 2019, Ottawa, ON, Canadian Car tire Centre Aug 17, 2019, Qué bec City, QC, Centre Videotron August eighteen, 2019, Gilford, NH, Financial institution of New Hampshire Pavilion

OTEIL BURBRIDGE POSTS LOVING MEMORY FOR KOFI BURBRIDGE

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Oteil Burbridge has posted a letter on his website called IN MEMORY OF MY BIG BROTHER following the passing of his brother Kofi Burbridge this past weekend.

Kofi was my first and biggest hero. He still is. Even though I know all of his human frailties, and even things that used to frustrate me, I will never be any less in awe of his superpowers. They were discovered at a very early age. I thought he was normal as a kid. I didn’t realize how advanced he was until I started playing in high school bands and saw the difference. Trying to keep up with him made me a better player more quickly than most kids my age. I never did catch up to him. There are so many things that I still wanted to learn from him. He was my teacher. I so wanted Kofi to be the one to teach Nigel how to play keyboards. But just as much, I wanted to watch Nigel crawl in his lap as he watched his cartoons like he does with me. I wanted him to see Nigel ride his big boy bike without his training wheels. I wanted Nigel to grow up just knowing and be influenced by the sweetness of his Uncle Kofi. My mom told Jess, “Kofi lived a full and rich life from a very early age.” He started sitting in with jazz legends by age nine. He was making the newspapers in Washington D.C. by that same time. He traveled to Russia with a Washington D.C. theatre company at age 14. He was composing amazing jazz, jazz-rock fusion and classical music by high school. Later on he recorded many records with Derek Trucks Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band and so many others. He got to play and record with his biggest hero, Herbie Hancock. He got to play one of the inaugural balls for the first black president ever elected. He won two Grammys. He traveled the world many times over. He played all the jazz festivals that we dreamed of playing as teenagers. He made almost all of his dreams come true and some we didn’t even know we had. His cup certainly ran over. His death has revealed to me what an indelible mark Kofi made on the music world. The outpouring of love and support from the community has meant so much to me and my family. In the last couple of weeks we had made so many plans about things that we were finally going to get to. His solo record, things that we were going to do under the banner of the Burbridge Brothers, things that we wanted to do with our nephews Kamau and Khalil, and whatever other flights of fancy flew through our heads. Lucky for me, he did get to play his first full set of Jerry Garcia Band and Grateful Dead music with Oteil & Friends in Santa Cruz and Buffalo last year. I was looking forward to watching him discover the great beauty of the rest of that catalogue as he learned more and more songs. He really loved it as you can hear on those shows and his flute playing was particularly inspired those nights. You could hear the reaction from the crowd that they felt it too. Those were my last two shows with him where we played together all night. I have to accept that he is gone. It gets a little harder each day but there are some things that give me comfort. Kofi loved to fly and he often talked about getting his pilot’s license. I picture him in my head giggling to himself that now that he is unencumbered by a body, he can fly so fast and to so many places. Maybe all at once. He’s got to be digging that. People are posting all of these jams that they caught of us together. I can’t even remember them all but that telltale hand-in-glove fit that we had together makes itself evident so quickly that I can’t help but laugh out loud. I laugh through tears mostly of course. But it does make me feel better. It truly does. Because most musicians will probably never know what that’s like. Even if you grow up playing together, unless you’re sharing that much DNA it’s just not the same. I’ll never forget when jazz drummer Billy Drummond said to Kofi and I “I think it’s time that the Burbridge Brothers met the Wooten Brothers!” We said, “Who are the Wooten Brothers?” Haha! I had an idea one day that I talked to Kofi about. I wanted to do a stage at a festival that was dedicated to brothers. The Wooten brothers, the Wood brothers, the Evans brothers, the Dickinson brothers, the Trucks brothers… you get the idea. And we weren’t going to leave out our sisters either. I hope somebody out there will do this in memory of Kofi and I hope that they call it the Kofi Burbridge Memorial Brothers and Sisters Stage. And I hope they will let me get up there even though my brother is gone. All of you musician brothers and sisters out there please play as many shows together as you can. You just never know how much time you have left together. One beautiful thing that has come out of this horrible nightmare is that we now have a new family member to whom we are so greatly indebted that there couldn’t be any way to repay her. Her name is Laura Holl and she was by Kofi’s side through his aneurysm, surgery and recovery in 2017 and again this second time. She spent every day in the hospital with him for two months straight. She never left his side. She gave him strength and love and hope for a new future. And I am so heartbroken for her because Kofi was finally going to settle down with her, and know for the first time in his life what it was like to build, cultivate and enjoy a happy home. She was not only there for Kofi but also for me and my entire family. She is our sister now and forever more. I’m so sorry Laura. You did the hardest things any wife could ever be asked to do without any of the credit or privileges. I am so sad that you never got to experience a new beginning with him. I have Kofi’s laptop and three external hard drives with who knows how much music that he composed on them. Anyone that knows Kofi knows what a computer geek he was. I am going to try my best to record all of the tunes he wrote. I hope I can find the ones that he wrote in high school. They are still some of my favorites and in my opinion some of his best ever. I guarantee that you have only heard the tip of the iceberg of what was floating around in his head. If I am lucky enough to find them I will record as many of them as I can. He has jazz, latin, fusion, funk, heavy metal (for video games), classical, and hybrids blending all of these and more together all at once. He had such a beautiful mind. You couldn’t help but love Kofi if you got to spend any time with him. From just meeting him casually you could hardly realize what a genius he was. He was so laid back and humble. I wish he knew how much he was really appreciated and loved and respected in our community. The tributes on the marquees of the Beacon Theatre, The Capitol Theatre and the Warner Theatre in our hometown of Washington D.C. made me cry so hard. I’m sure that he knows now but that is small consolation for me still on this side of the veil. I know that he knows how much we’re hurting down here. But it also makes me smile when I think about how much he loved planets, solar systems, constellations, galaxies, universes, extra terrestrials and aliens because I know he is flying, and exploring, and seeing all of it for himself. Fly free, Kofi. Fly free my sweet brother. I love you so much man.