KISS unleashes fall 'Alive 35' tour dates
KISS has revealed tour dates for the band's fall US tour in support of "Sonic Boom," the venerable rockers' first new studio album in 11 years.
The North American portion of the group's "KISS Alive 35" tour (the number refers to the band's 35th anniversary) kicks off Sept. 25 and 26 in Detroit, and continues through early December, with highlights including stops in New York City (10/10), Atlanta (10/26) and Los Angeles (11/25) before the tour concludes Dec. 6 in Dallas. Dates for the 39-city outing are included below.
Tickets for the opening pair of Detroit shows are currently on sale, while an initial batch of pre-sales have gone up at the band's website. KISS Army members are also eligible to purchase VIP Meet & Greet packages through the group's site.
Last week, the band announced that "Sonic Boom," the first new KISS studio album since 1998's "Psycho Circus," will be sold in the US and Canada exclusively at Walmart, Walmart.com and Sam's Club stores.
The new album will be part of a three-disc set scheduled for release Oct. 6. Filling out the package, which will sell for $12, will be a re-recorded greatest hits CD and a live DVD shot in Argentina during the band's recent "KISS Alive 35" South American tour.
"Sonic Boom" was produced by KISS co-founder Paul Stanley in Los Angeles. Filling out the band's lineup are fellow co-founding member Gene Simmons, along with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who replace departed original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, respectively.
"'Sonic Boom' may be the best new record we've done since 'Destroyer'!" Simmons said in a press release. "It is 'Rock And Roll Over' meets 'Love Gun.'"
The first single from the set, "Modern Day Delilah," reached radio airwaves earlier this month. The track is the band's first single since 1999's "You Wanted the Best."
September 2009
25, 26 - Detroit, MI - Cobo Arena
28 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
29 - London, Ontario - John Labatt Centre
October 2009
1 - Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
2 - Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
3 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
5 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
9 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
10 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
12 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
13 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
16 - Hampton, VA - Hampton Coliseum
17 - Greenville, SC - Bi-Lo Center
19 - Pensacola, FL - Pensacola Civic Center
21 - Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
22 - Sunrise, FL - Bank Atlantic Centre
24 - Birmingham, AL - Birmingham Jefferson Arena
26 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
28 - Nashville, TN - Sommet Center
29 - Little Rock, AR - Verizon Arena
31 - New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Experience
November 2009
6 - Chicago, IL - United Center
7 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
9 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
10 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Credit Union Centre
12 - Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome
14 - Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place
15 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
17 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden
20 - Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
21 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
24 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
25 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
27 - San Diego, CA - Sports Arena
December 2009
1 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena
2 - El Paso, TX - UTEP Special Events Center
4 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
5 - Houston, TX - Toyota Centre
6 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Centre
Melanie Laurent: All the hoopla hardly fazes French star
NEW YORK — Most folks would get starstruck around Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Not Mélanie Laurent, Pitt's French co-star in the war flick Inglourious Basterds.
Being on the red carpet at the film's premiere with the couple was "completely crazy," concedes the slightly standoffish actress. "But you don't feel like, 'Oh my God.' Everybody is crazy, hysterical, but it's not real. You just have fun. They are so cool. They always say to me, 'Hi, you look great.' "
She's also doing pretty great. In Basterds, Laurent, 26, plays one of the film's pivotal roles. She's the young Jewish girl Shosanna, who witnesses the massacre of her family by Nazis and flees to Paris, where she runs a cinema and develops her own revenge plan.
"I'm very close to her," Laurent says of her character. "You need to be strong to do that job, to have an actor's life. And you need to be fragile. I'm a little bit French and rebel sometimes, a little bit like Shosanna, and I'm Jewish."
Basterds might be the first time domestic viewers see Laurent, but she's an established actress and director in her native France. She directed 2008's De moins en moins, which was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, and in 2006, Laurent won the most promising actress César, France's version of the Oscar, for her film Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (Don't Worry, I'm Fine). And she's been acting since 1999's Un pont entre deux rives (The Bridge), where she starred opposite Gérard Depardieu.
So the hoopla surrounding a starring turn in a splashy war drama, directed by Quentin Tarantino and co-starring Pitt, leaves her a little flummoxed. She says she has no intention of making Hollywood movies just to be famous, or generate quick cash.
"It's not that I do not care. I have amazing parts in France. The dream was just to make a movie with Tarantino," she says.
The experience, Laurent says, was "so beautiful. Shosanna was a great part and very important. I was stressed out for the first meeting, and Quentin told me he was more stressed out than me. He's been looking for his Shosanna for eight years. She's so typically Tarantino's heroine. She's strong and fragile at the same time. She wants to kill Hitler. She's my favorite woman in the world."
Back home in Paris, Laurent is a workaholic. "Holiday? Is like, what? I'm a hyperactive girl, so it may be boring for me to be on the beach doing nothing. I just need to find a place for three weeks and work but sleep in the morning, maybe write a little bit, have a glass of red wine," the single actress says. "That's my perfect holiday. But it's not in my plan right now."
She's recording and producing a rock music CD. Plus, she plans to complete another screenplay in September but doesn't reveal the title. In the future, "I want to direct again. The perfect life would to be have an amazing part every year and to spend all my free time to just write," she says.
Surely, she has down time for something fun? "I'm dreaming of a day off, with my friend, shopping for my apartment. I just need to have time to buy little details. Oh, and my cat is here. Do you remember me, baby? He doesn't want to talk to me again."
AP Source: Coroner rules Jackson's death homicide
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, a finding that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died.
The coroner determined a fatal combination of drugs was given to Jackson hours before he died June 25 in his rented Los Angeles mansion, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released. Forensic tests found the powerful anesthetic propofol acted together with at least two sedatives to cause Jackson's death, the official said.
Dr. Conrad Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson's personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. According to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston, Murray told investigators he administered a 25 mg dose of propofol around 10:40 a.m. after spending the night injecting Jackson with two sedatives in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to sleep.
The warrant, dated July 23, states that lethal levels of propofol were found in Jackson's system. Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner's toxicology report found other substances in Jackson's system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer's death, the official said.
Murray has spoken to police and last week released a video saying he "told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail." His attorney, Edward Chernoff, had no immediate comment but has previously said Murray never administered anything that "should have" killed Jackson.
A call to the coroner's office was not returned Monday.
Murray did not say anything about the drugs he gave to Jackson.