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Owners of the London Astoria insist its location has has a future as a venue, despite confirming its final night, hosted by Ibiza’s Manumission club, will take place on January 15. The concert hall in central London will be demolished to make way for a new railway station as part of the Crossrail project that will install a new line linking the capital’s east and west. However speaking to NME.COM, Melvin Benn managing director of the Astoria’s owners Festival Republic insisted the iconic venue will be replaced.
(More about London Astoria to be ‘replaced’ after demolition…)

Some dudes just want to rock, and that’s exactly what a couple of guys that make up The Black Keys do. In support of their fifth full-length LP Attack & Release, The Black Keys recorded their April 4, 2008 concert performance at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. Produced and directed by Lance Bangs (R.E.M.’s Road Movie, Nirvana: With The Lights Out), Live At The Crystal Ballroom captures the gritty blues flavor the band (Dan Auerbach - vocals, guitar; Patrick Carney - drums) is known for.
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Cheap Trick, an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, officially formed in 1974 with Rick Nielson on guitar, Tom Petersson on Bass, Bun E. Carlos on Drums, and Robin Zander on Vocals. They spent the next few years primarily touring the Wisconsin and Northern Illinois/Chicago areas and recording a pair of well reviewed, but low selling albums.

In 1978 the band released their third album; Heaven Tonight, which contained the song “Surrender.” This was the band’s first song to make the Billboard singles chart, peaking at #62.

(More about Music Review: Cheap Trick - BUDOKAN!: 30th Anniversary Edition (1 DVD/3 CDs)…)

I’m opening myself to criticism here, but since I dole out criticism, it’s only fair that I should take it. But I'm not sweating it. Very few will honestly disagree.

Joe Bonamassa is the best young guitarist in music today.

Damn the rotten tomatoes! Full speed ahead! [Apologies to Admiral Farragut.]

Joe’s abilities aren’t just a screaming guitar, although he certainly is capable of it.

(More about Music Review: Joe Bonamassa - Live From Nowhere In Particular…)

We get it. You can’t get enough of “Twilight” or Britney Spears. And if the producers of the teen vamp flick had cast the Circus ring-mistress in their movie — we could have all gone home early every night instead of staying here and racking our brains to figure out how to give you more of what you crave.

But, based on our list of the most-viewed MTV News videos of 2008, those weren’t the only hot topics of the year.

(More about Our Top Stories Of 2008: Britney Spears, Heath Ledger, Chris Brown And More…)

DJ AM (born Adam Goldstein) filed suit on Tuesday over the fiery plane crash that killed four people and seriously injured him and Travis Barker in September. AM claimed in the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that as the private Lear jet reached takeoff speed, the pilots realized that one or more of the tires had blown and that they aborted the takeoff, causing the plane to overrun the runway and crash into an embankment.

(More about DJ AM Sues Over Plane Crash…)

T.I. is set to perform a New Year’s Eve show in Miami, FL, just a couple of month’s before starting a one-year prison sentence.

He will perform a private party hosted by actress Chloe Sevigny at the Gansevoort Hotel on South Beach.

The �Whatever You Like’ singer, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr, will go to prison in March for weapons charges involving illegal possession of three machine guns.
(More about T.I. to perform pre-prison show on New Year’s Eve…)

Gallows, Black Tide and Bad Religion are among the bands that will headline the 2009 Warped Tour. Also on the bill for the travelling US festival which combines veteran and up-and-coming rock acts are 3OH!3, Anti-Flag, Bayside and NOFX, among others. Additional bands and “special guests” are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The tour, which celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2009, is set to kick off on June 26 in Pomona, California.
(More about Gallows to headline US Warped Tour…)

Under the Greatest Hits Live banner, Eagle Vision Classics presents Paul Simon at Philadelphia’s Tower Theater on October 7, 1980, which was previously released in 2003 as Live at the Tower Theatre. While a good set of easy-listening soft rock is played over the 53 minutes, almost half the tunes are not part of what are generally considered Simon’s “greatest hits.”

This concert was actually part of Simon’s tour in support of his 1980 album One-Trick Pony, which had been out for about six weeks.

(More about Music DVD Review: Paul Simon - Live From Philadelphia…)

Fans of modern jazz should seek out SaltmanKnowles’ newest release, Return of the Composer.  The Washington, D.C.-based jazz group includes Mark Saltman (bass), William A. Knowles (piano), Lori Williams Chisholm (vocals), Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson (drums), Rob Landham (alto saxophone), and Alvin Trask (trumpet).  The band cites Billy Strayhorn, Horace Silver, and Charles Mingus as major influences.
(More about Music Review: SaltmanKnowles - Return of the Composer…)