Green Day to give '21 Guns' a theatrical makeover

Liked Green Day's "21 Guns" but thought it lacked a certain -- how shall we say? -- pizazz?

Then you are in luck, as Green Day will re-release the cut later this month with the cast of Berkeley Rep's "American Idiot." The musical, based on the 2004 Green Day album of the same name, made its debut in the Bay Area earlier this fall, where Times theater critic Charles McNulty found it more positive than negative, writing, " 'American Idiot' translates Green Day's generational angst into a moody theatrical fantasia. If it doesn't spin an entirely satisfying yarn, its roar is still irresistible."

An official release date wasn't given for the newly recorded single, but it will be made available for purchase at all major digital outlets. Green Day will perform this Sunday on the American Music Awards on ABC, and "American Idiot" just finished its run in Berkeley.

The next stop for the musical? Likely Broadway. 

Rihanna, Green Day added to American Music Awards lineup

Rihanna will take a break from the interview circuit to promote her upcoming "Rated R" at this month's American Music Awards. The pop star, on the verge of releasing her first album since last February's pre-Grammy incident with Chris Brown, was among of host of new performers unveiled Friday morning.

Green Day, Shakira, Mary J. Blige and Keith Urban were also added to the AMA lineup. The AMAs will take place Nov. 22 from the Nokia Theatre and downtown's L.A. Live complex, airing live for the East Coast at 8 p.m.

Tickets for the AMAs, which range from $70 all the way up to $1,000 VIP packages, not including Ticketmaster surcharges, of course, are on sale now. There is a four-ticket minimum when purchasing a VIP package, bringing the total cost to over $4,100. 

Grammys 2010: An early look at album of the year (Part 2)

GRAMMY AWARDS 2010

 

For the first time, the Grammy eligibility year has been moved up from the end of September to the final day of August. In making the change, the eligibility period for the 2010 Grammy Awards was shortened to 11 months (the Grammy year will be back to a 12-month cycle, with the new qualifying dates, for the 2011 awards). 

Ultimately, this means that heavy hitters such as Mariah Carey and Jay-Z will now have to wait until 2011 to see their albums get Grammy recognition. An album now must be released no later than Aug. 31 to be in the Grammy running.

That means it's time to look at the albums most likely to be lauded by Recording Academy voters in the album of the year field, Grammys' biggest prize. Note, however, what follows is not a reflection of the year's best albums. No discussion of that sort could happen without mention of Metric's "Fantasies," Lily Allen's "It's Not Me, It's You" and on and on and on. 

For now, however, get your pencils and scorecards ready. Here's an early look at some of the works most likely to receive album of the year attention when Grammy nominations are unveiled at the end of the year.

This is Part 2 of the installment. Click here for Part 1 to see what you missed. Pop & Hiss will be back to see how wrong we all were in December.

Live review: Green Day at the Forum

The pop-punk veteran group spreads its message of secular humanism in an age of 'static and contraband' before a mass of screaming Southern Californians.

"Look at where we live!" Billie Joe Armstrong, the frontman of Oakland pop-punk veteran Green Day, exclaimed Tuesday night at the Forum, where he spent considerable time extolling the virtues of life in California after spending two months on the road.

The show capped the band's North American tour in support of its latest album, "21st Century Breakdown," the follow-up to its Grammy winning epic "American Idiot."

"We've just gotta get rid of Arnold Schwarzenegger," Armstrong continued, riling the already enthusiastic crowd. "We're bankrupt! But tonight we're not bankrupt of hope, or of belief."

At the Forum, business in belief was booming. Over three action-packed hours, Green Day proved that the arena-rock concert -- usually a venue for chest-beating bravado and shallow bombast -- can be a meaningful experience, an opportunity for a band with something to say, to say it.

Road trip alert: Tickets for Green Day's 'American Idiot' on sale Friday

Green Day will be back in Los Angeles with a date at the Forum on Aug. 25, and those who want to further explore the theatrical side of the band's last two albums -- 2004's "American Idiot" and this spring's "21st Century Breakdown" -- may want to take a trip up to Berkeley the following week for the premiere of the "American Idiot"-inspired musical. Tickets, writes our sister blog Culture Monster, will be on sale Friday. That's supposedly earlier than the Berkeley Repertory Theatre had originally planned.

"American Idiot" will open up north on Sept. 4. Here's some more details, as reported by David Ng:

Ticket prices start at $32 – and will be sold for half that for anyone under 30 years of age, according to the theater.

"American Idiot," which runs through Oct. 11, will feature music from the band's Grammy-winning album of the same name, plus selections from their album "21st Century Breakdown." Directed by Michael Mayer, who also staged "Spring Awakening," the show will have a live onstage band and a youthful cast of 19 actors, including Tony-winner John Gallagher Jr.

The theater says that phone and in-person sales for "American Idiot" will  begin Aug.16 at noon. The numbers are (510) 647-2949 or (888) 4-BRT-Tix.

Of course, Green Day fans are probably already aware of this, but pre-sale tickets are available now if you purchase through the band's site and enter a promotional code. 

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

MTV VMAs: The network is ready to name its new star

While the cursory nods where there -- Britney Spears and Eminem were both recognized multiple times -- this morning's MTV Video Music Award nominations were about christening a new star. Synth-pop newcomer Lady Gaga was nominated nine times, tying Beyoncé with the most nods.

Yet whereas Beyoncé's nominations went solely to her relatively minimalist "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," a stark celebration of choreography, MTV spread the love for the '80s-inspired songs of Lady Gaga, who was recognized for the videos for "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi," both exercises in excess. 

Gaga's "Fame" has now sold more than 1.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and should top 2 million units by the time Grammy nominations are announced in December. Don't be surprised if the industry's new star scores an album of the year nomination, and goes against Kanye West, her upcoming tourmate and competition in this year's MTV video of the year field.

The MTV VMAs are, of course, little more than promotion for the network. How else to explain the multiple nods for Eminem's "We Made You"? The clip is notable only for featuring Eminem and Dr. Dre dressed as Spock and Captain Kirk, but otherwise is full of out-of-date jokes targeted at the obvious. 

The "breakthrough video" category features some quick studies for Grammy voters unsure of where to place their best new artist nominations this year. Though not her introductory clip, Bat for Lashes' "Daniel" is the best of the bunch, in terms of a winning video/song merging. It's a bit spooky, a bit sexy and a bit more exciting than Passion Pit's vintage collage collection ("The Reeling") and Matt and Kim's streaker nightmare ("Lessons Learned"). 

The rock field is especially weak. Green Day hasn't made a video to match the grandeur of "21st Century Breakdown" yet, Coldplay was shown up by its iTunes commercial, Paramore's "Decode" is an extended teaser for "Twilight" and only Fall Out Boy has some fun with "I Don't Care." 

A surprise, perhaps, was to see only one major nomination for Taylor Swift. She was recognized for best female video in high school drama "You Belong With Me." But no matter, Swift will perform on the telecast, and her sophomore album, "Fearless," is on its way to a bevy of Grammy nominations this fall.

Fall nominations after the jump.

MTV Video Music Awards show taps Green Day, Pink

MTV has ramped up the lineup for its Video Music Awards, set for Sept. 13 in New York. The station announced that Green Day and Pink will appear on the network's multi-hour commercial-with-trophies program.

The two have been added to a program that already includes Taylor Swift and Muse. Green Day will perform a cut from "21st Century Breakdown," an album that has sold 703,000 copies since its release this spring, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Pink, who appeared last year, will again perform a tune from her "Funhouse," an album that has sold more than 1.2 million copes since its release last October.

An initial list of presenters has also been unveiled by the network, and they include Chace Crawford, Katy Perry and Ne-Yo. As previously reported, Russell Brand will return as host.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. Credit: Getty Images

Happy All-Star Game Day: Green Day sings the 'stretch'

Some of us at P&H HQ believe today should be a national holiday -- a midsummer moment to pause and reflect on baseball's halfway point. However, despite the Los Angeles Dodgers being in first place and on a collision course for a rematch with the Chicago Cubs in October (there's a lot of baseball left, St. Louis),  our superiors shockingly disagree. Alas, this blog post is the best we can do to make the workday go faster.

The final Major League Baseball game heading into the All-Star break saw the Cubs splitting a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Since the broadcast was carried on ESPN, viewers missed Green Day singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch.

But apparently the Bay Area punk rockers had such a good time at Wrigley Field that they added the tune to the repertoire. Hey, if there's room for a rock opera, there's room for a little baseball ditty. YouTube user "dingster89" has been kind enough to upload a clip of Green Day performing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" before "Brain Stew" at Chicago's United Center. Not sure if Green Day was root-root-rootin' for the San Francisco Giants or the Oakland A's here, as the band was drowned out by the pro-Cub crowd.

-- Todd Martens

Grizzly Bear roars onto the pop chart, as Eminem holds at No. 1

Despite leaking to the Web in March, the latest from much-hyped Brooklyn indie-rock quartet Grizzly Bear has made a top 10 debut on the U.S. pop charts. The band's first-week sales of 33,000 copies are in a distant universe from the numbers tallied by the likes of Eminem and Green Day, but in today's depressed sales climate, that's more than enough for the chamber-pop of "Veckatimest" to land at No. 8.

Since hitting the file-sharing networks, Warp Records' "Veckatimest" has been hyped as one of the year's stronger indie rock efforts, receiving rave reviews from this publication, the Chicago Tribune, popular Web-zine Pitchfork and  Rolling Stone, among many others. The band members pleaded with fans to buy the album, despite admitting on their blog that they had "conflicting opinions" about file-sharing.

"Veckatimest" gives  Grizzly Bear its best sales week by far. The group's sophomore effort, "Yellow House," was released in 2006 and has sold 55,000 copies to date. Of the 33,000 copies sold of "Veckatimest," a relatively high number came in the form of digital download purchases -- a reflection of the band's Web-savvy fan base or perhaps Amazon.com's loss-leading first-week price of $3.99. A total of 13,000 digital albums were purchased.

A strong number of "Veckatimest's" first-week sales came from the independent sector. Billboard's chart analyst Ketih Caulfield writes that 24% were made at independent and small chain outlets. Not unexpectedly, Grizzly Bear also performed well in the ever-burgeoning vinyl market, selling 4,000 LPs  in the first week.

At the top of the chart, it's all Eminem, Green Day and Miley Cyrus. It won't be known until next week whether Eminem will receive a sales-boost from his MTV Movie Awards appearances. For now, he's   withstood a major second-week drop-off to hold at No. 1

Eminem scores 2009's best debut, and who's the fairest 'Idol' of them all?*

Eminem hasn’t had any trouble generating headlines since he announced that he’d be unleashing a new album late last year. On “Relapse,” he’s taking shots at Mariah Carey and getting graphic when rapping about “Hannah Montana,”  which almost guarantees that the rapper will continue to be a media obsession.

But does his pop culture outlaw act still generate album sales? First-week returns for Aftermath/Interscope’s “Relapse” indicate Eminem’s audience has diminished slightly, but it’s still a sizable one. “Relapse” sold 608,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, giving the artist the largest debut of 2009 and best first week since AC/DC’s “Black Ice” arrived with 784,000 copies last October, according to Billboard.

Overall album sales have diminished significantly from Eminem’s height in the late ‘90s and the start of the new decade, when it was expected that an album bearing his name would top first-week sales of 1 million copies. Lil Wayneaccomplished the feat last year with his Cash Money/Universal album “Tha Carter III,” and Eminem can still generate plenty of attention, but not that kind of heat.

When last we heard from the rapper, his late 2004 effort  “Encore” was able to sell 711,000 copies in just three days. The album was released off-cycle on a Friday, and in its first full week in stores it went on to sell 871,000 copies. The album’s 10-day total topped 1.5 million copies sold, a tally Eminem probably won’t reach in the coming weeks.

To date, AC/DC’s “Black Ice” (Columbia) has sold about 2 million copies. As for 2009’s other blockbuster albums, they’re still struggling to top the 1 million mark. U2’s “No Line on the Horizon” (Interscope) opened strong, tallying 484,000 copies in its first week, and is getting closer to the seven-figure mark, having sold 902,000 copies to date.

Kelly Clarkson’s “All I Ever Wanted” (RCA) won rave reviews and debuted with 255,000 copies sold but has petered out at around 581,000 copies. Disney’s soundtrack to “Hannah Montana: The Movie” opened lower, with 139,000 copies sold in its first week, but has since taken off, and now stands at 952,000 and should top 1 million sold in the next two weeks.

Last week’s topper, Green Day’s Reprise set “21st Century Breakdown,” brought in 166,000 copies in its first full week in stores. It sold 215,000 copies in a shortened sales week, having been released on a Friday, and stands with a 10-day total of 381,000 copies sold.

Aside from Eminem, the other big sales news this week comes from “American Idol.”  In the battle between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen fans, both sects can claim a victory of sorts this week.