The Eagles coming to Saskatoon
They've toured the world extensively, and now for the first time, rock legends the Eagles are coming to Saskatchewan.
Organizers announced Monday that the band will be putting on two shows at Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre on March 10 and 11. It's a huge act with prices to match — tickets going on sale this weekend will range from $99.50 to $199.50.
Still, organizers are confident the two dates will sell out — perhaps in a matter of minutes.
"The Eagles are one of the hottest shows in North America and, indeed, the world, selling out wherever they go," said Credit Union Centre spokesman Scott Ford.
Formed in the early '70s, the band had a series of hits like Lyin' Eyes, Hotel California and The Long Run before breaking up in 1980. It got back together in 1994 and has since been one of the rock world's biggest moneymakers.
Tickets for the Saskatoon shows go on sale online Saturday at 10 a.m.
New CD Releases, December 9: Common, Maroon 5, Musiq Soulchild, Brandy, Justice, and more.
Common "Universal Mind Control" (Geffen)
The Chicago hip-hop star is set to drop his eighth album, "Universal Mind Control." The record follows last year's gold-certified "Finding Forever," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200.
The first single from the album is its title track. The set features a number of big-name guest stars, including Pharrell Williams and Kanye West. Williams' Neptunes and West also contributed production work to the record.
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Maroon 5 "Call and Response: The Remix Album" (Octone)
The pop-rock combo unveils its first remix album. "Call and Response" features newly mixed versions of hit singles and tracks from the band's two prior studio records: 2002's "Songs About Jane" and 2007's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long."
The collection includes guest appearances by Mary J. Blige on one version of "Wake Up Call," David Banner on a second version of "Wake Up Call," The Cool Kids on "Harder to Breathe" and Rihanna on "If I Never See Your Face Again."
Featured producers/remixers include Pharrell Williams, Of Montreal, Deerhoof, Cut Copy and Paul Oakenfold.
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Musiq Soulchild "OnMyRadio" (Atlantic)
The popular R&B vocalist is back with his fifth studio album, "OnMyRadio." The work follows 2007's chart-topping "Luvanmusiq," which has sold more than 700,000 copies to date.
The album's first single, "Radio," has already found a home on R&B radio.
"OnMyRadio" also features the track "If You Leave," which is a collaboration with Mary J. Blige.
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Brandy "Human" (Epic)
B-Rocka returns with a follow-up to 2004's "Afrodisiac." "Human," the R&B singer's fifth studio release, marks Brandy's debut for Epic Records. The first single from "Human" is the track "Right Here (Departed)." The album also features several collaborations, including the song "Fall," which Brandy co-wrote with Natasha Bedingfield.
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Justice "A Cross the Universe" (Atlantic)
The Grammy-nominated French electronic music duo, consisting of Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge, releases a CD/DVD set. The CD portion was recorded live at a concert in San Francisco back in March, and the DVD offering features a documentary on Justice's 2008 North American tour.
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More new releases:
Avant, "Avant" (Capitol)
Collective Soul, "Afterwords" (El Music Group)
Marianne Faithfull, "Easy Come Easy Go" (Naïve)
Flipper, "Album--Generic Flipper" (Water)
Flipper, "Gone Fishin'" (Water)
Mark Kozelek, "The Finally LP" (Caldo Verde)
The Maine, "... And a Happy New Year" (Fearless)
Pavement, "Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition" (Matador)
Diana Ross, "Surrender" (Hip-O Select)
Alice Russell, "Pot of Gold" (Six Degrees)
Stereophonics, "Decade in the Sun: Best of Stereophonics" (Fontana)
Thrice, "Live at the House of Blues" (Vagrant)
Various Artists, "The Complete Motown #1s Box" (Motown)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Defiance" (Sony)
For now, Nolan and Batman will rest in 'Dark' glory
LOS ANGELES — Since he took over the Batman franchise in 2005, Christopher Nolan has produced two No. 1 movies, generated $1.4 billion in worldwide ticket sales and created the second-highest-grossing film of all time in The Dark Knight.
So what's stopping him from making a third installment?
For starters, most third acts in Hollywood stink. Look at the disappointing threequels for The Godfather, Superman and the original Batman. The conclusions weren't much better for the more recent Shrek, Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean.
"I don't know why they're hard to do," Nolan says. "Maybe there's so much expectation to them. But I wouldn't want to do one if it weren't going to be as good as the first or second. That's not respectful to the fans."
Nolan says that reverence informed the making of The Dark Knight DVD and Blu-ray, out Tuesday. Then on Jan. 23, fans get another chance to see the film on the big screen as it's re-released the day after Academy Award nominations arrive.
Many consider Heath Ledger, who died of a prescription overdose on Jan. 22, a shoo-in for a supporting-actor nomination. But fans won't find much more of Ledger's Joker in DVD extras. There are features on the staging of the film's elaborate stunts, alternate angles and a segment on the technology behind Batman's gadgets, but not a single deleted scene or outtake from Ledger's performance.
Nolan says he wasn't keeping deleted scenes from fans. "For my past three films, I really haven't had scenes that didn't make it in the movie," he says. "If it's in the final script, I tend put it on screen."
Any outtakes, however, were intentionally left off the DVD. "I don't like outtakes or gag reels," Nolan says. "I don't think it's respectful to the actors, who signed on to have their performance on screen, not the takes that didn't work out. It discourages actors from going all-out if they think every mistake is going on the disc."
Nolan says he is jotting notes and doing some rough outlines for a third story, but he hasn't yet found anything he's willing to commit to film, despite Warner Bros.' eagerness to get a new film underway.
"It was obvious when the box office was so big ($530 million domestically) that we had underestimated how ready fans were to reboot the franchise," he says. "The worst thing you could do now that you've gotten the plane back in the air is mess up the landing."
Diana Krall to release Brazilian jazz record
Diana Krall describes her first record in three years as intimate, sensual — and erotic.
"I'm not coy single girl singing 'Peel Me A Grape.' I love that song but I don't love it for me any more," Krall, 43, said from her Vancouver, British Columbia home in an interview last week. "I feel more womanly, I guess, and I think this record is a love letter but very sensual, more on the erotic side. It's definitely late night."
"Quiet Nights," to be released on March 31, is Krall's CD of new material in three years. The sultry jazz vocalist and pianist known for her crossover appeal had twin sons with husband Elvis Costello in 2006; they turned 2 Dec. 6. Krall said she's never been happier, and the record reflects that.
The 10 songs include ballads, three recordings of songs by bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, and standards such as "Walk On By" by Burt Bacharach.
"It was just the greatest recording experience I've had to date," said Krall, who was inspired to make the record following a trip to Brazil last year.
A two-time Grammy winner, Krall is surrounded by familiar faces on "Quiet Nights." In addition to her longtime quartet and producer Tommy LiPuma, who worked with her on nine previous recordings, arranger Claus Ogerman returns. He last worked with Krall on her 2001 record "The Look of Love."
Ogerman was the arranger on many of bossa nova's first wave of recordings in the 1960s, working with Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz and Bill Evans. Ogerman came out of semiretirement to once again work with Krall.
LiPuma, who first worked with Krall in 1994, said the record shows how she has matured as a singer.
"She approaches her vocal phrasing much more like an instrumentalist than a straight singer," LiPuma said. "It's in her reading of the lyrics, and the timbre of her voice, much more misty like Peggy Lee in her mature period."
In addition to finishing "Quiet Nights," Krall is producing a new Barbra Streisand record that is slated to be completed in January and released sometime in 2009. Krall intends to tour North America in April following the release of "Quiet Nights."
"I think I've reached the best time in my life," Krall said. "I really went through some rough spots with the death of my mother (in 2002). ... But now that I have my own family, I'm working as hard as I ever worked, but I feel like I have it all."
'Milk' earns Stanley Kramer prize from Producers
LOS ANGELES – Sean Penn's film biography "Milk" is receiving the Producers Guild of America's Stanley Kramer Award, which honors pictures taking on provocative social issues.
The prize, announced Monday, will be presented at the guild's awards show Jan. 24.
"Milk" stars Penn as San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, who in 1977 won a seat on the board of supervisors to become the first openly gay man elected to major public office in the United States. The film is directed by Gus Van Sant.
The following year, Milk was slain along with Mayor George Moscone by a board colleague.
The Kramer Award is named after the legendary filmmaker whose works include "The Defiant Ones," "Judgment at Nuremberg" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."