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CEO Gabe Dalport wants to focus on their “core customer”: the “serious” musician.
Guitar Center to Prioritize “Premium Product” Over “$300 Guitars”
Eddie Fu
Guitar Center’s new CEO Gabe Dalport has revealed his plans to prioritize “premium” products over “$300 guitars” because he believes stores no longer feel like the “right place” for “the serious musician.” In an interview with Music Inc Magazine (via Guitar World), Dalport claimed the company has gotten away from their roots…
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“I almost think Barbara Broccoli should do it as a prank”
The post Nish Kumar wants to play James Bond “as a prank” appeared first on NME.
Nish Kumar has shared that he would like to play James Bond in an “elaborate prank”.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the comedian said that he thinks “it would be very cool” to be named as the iconic secret agent.
When asked if he would like to star in a Hollywood movie, like his colleague James Acaster in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the stand-up comic responded: “It would be very cool if I was named the next James Bond, because the collective meltdown it would inspire in a section of the British press would be so profoundly hilarious that I almost think Barbara Broccoli should do it as a prank.”
Kumar added: “They’ve made enough money from the franchise, why not make the next casting of James Bond an elaborate prank?”
This follows recent rumoured developments in the casting of 007, after Daniel Craig stepped down from the role in 2021 with No Time To Die.
It was reported last month that Kick-Ass and Tenet star Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been offered the role by production studio EON Productions, who were awaiting his response. Taylor-Johnson has neither confirmed nor denied the rumour.
Kumar took the opportunity to throw a jokey remark at Acaster in his response, adding: “I think it’s a longer journey obviously to imagine me as a spy than it is to Acaster as a Ghostbuster because, let’s face it, the guy is a fucking nerd.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Kumar opened up about some of the best and worst advice he has received in his career.
He explained how he was “once given some pretty horrendous advice by a comedy agent,” sharing: “They told me I should do a broad, racist Indian accent in an audition. I would hope things have moved on for younger acts from ethnic minority backgrounds but it was truly awful advice.”
As for the best advice, he cited a lyric in the Outkast track, Rosa Parks: “You’re only as funky as your last cut.” Kumar interpreted it as “a cooler way of saying you’re only as good as your last gig.”
He added: “But I prefer to hear it in André’s voice.”
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“Horrible, really”
The post David Gilmour says he found The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ documentary “a hard watch” and he’s “surprised Paul McCartney allowed it” appeared first on NME.
David Gilmour has admitted he found The Beatles‘ Get Back documentary a “hard watch”.
The Pink Floyd guitarist made the comments in a new print interview with Uncut (via Guitar.com), where he spoke about the Peter Jackson-directed documentary released in 2021. Get Back was constructed from over 60 hours of footage when they recorded their final album, 1970’s ‘Let It Be’.
In the interview, he shared that he frequently watches documentaries of bands from the 60s and 70s, including The Beatles. He called Get Back a “hard watch”, specifically noting “Paul being domineering and and John ducking back because of the moment he was in at the time and George leaving and coming back.
He added: “Horrible, really, I mean it’s lovely for us to watch, but I’m surprised Paul allowed it.”
In a review of Get Back, NME praised the documentary as worthy of five stars, writing: “For diehards, the slower moments may even end up giving the most enjoyment. Who wouldn’t want to watch Macca piece together the melody for ‘Let It Be’ over 15 minutes of canned choruses and rejigged refrains? Or glimpse Ringo, after a long period of fuck all, sheepishly plodding out ‘Octopus’s Garden’ on the piano, looking up to check if anyone’s listening? What about Linda and Yoko laughing in a corner, decimating five decades of sexist tabloid nonsense in one frame?
“It is precisely because of Get Back‘s lax editorial policy that it succeeds. You might not be able to say anything new about The Beatles in 2021, but Jackson hasn’t tried. He’s shown us instead.”
Gilmour recently announced the details of ‘Luck And Strange’, his first solo album in nine years. He shared its first track ‘The Piper’s Call’ on April 25, releasing its music video the next day. The record will be released on September 6.
His upcoming fifth studio LP was produced by David and Charlie Andrew (Alt-J, Wolf Alice), of whom Gilmour said: “We invited Charlie to the house, so he came and listened to some demos, and said things like, ‘Well, why does there have to be a guitar solo there?’ and ‘Do they all fade out? Can’t some of them just end?’”
“He has a wonderful lack of knowledge or respect for this past of mine,” continued the musician. “He’s very direct and not in any way overawed, and I love that. That is just so good for me because the last thing you want is people just deferring to you.”
In other news, Gilmour recently contributed to a star-studded cover of Mark Knopfler’s ‘Going Home’ for Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America.
The post David Gilmour says he found The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ documentary “a hard watch” and he’s “surprised Paul McCartney allowed it” appeared first on NME.
“We cannot morally host a stage and turn a blind eye at a festival whose sponsor aids such an atrocity”
The post Future Bubblers drop out of hosting stage at The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine appeared first on NME.
Future Bubblers have dropped out of hosting a stage at The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine.
The talent discovery and development programme took to its official X/Twitter account to reveal that they will no longer be hosting a stage at the Brighton Festival. The reasoning behind the decision to drop out of the festival is due to The Great Escape being sponsored by Barclays, which has been a source of controversy amid the current events in Gaza because of the bank’s financial investment in companies that supply arms to Israel.
“We will not be hosting a stage at The Great Escape Festival 2024. In solidarity with the BDS movement, Palestine solidarity UK and artists who have also made the difficult decision to dropout, ” began their statement.
It continued: “Divestment is a very important part of the BDS movement, as funds going towards arms sales result in the suffering of the Palestinian people.” They also added a link in their bio where people can go and sign the petition for the festival to drop Barclays as a sponsor.
— Future Bubblers (@FutureBubblers) April 29, 2024
They went on to add: “Barclays bank invests over £1bn in, and provides financial services worth over £3bn to, companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel, used in its attacks against Palestinians. That statistic alone is shocking
“Future Bubblers supports Palestinians who are currently undergoing a genocide in an apartheid state, due to the Israeli government. We cannot morally host a stage and turn a blind eye at a festival whose sponsor aids such an atrocity.”
Previously, two record labels – Alcopop! and Big Scary Monsters – have confirmed they are joining the boycott of The Great Escape over its ties to Barclays bank.
The issue was first highlighted by a petition started by the promoter How to Catch a Pig and the band The Menstrual Cramps, and has since been signed by artists including Kneecap, Lambrini Girls, Alfie Templeman, Lip Critic, Wunderhorse and Mary in the Junkyard who have urged the festival to drop Barclays as a sponsor. Altogether, 208 of the 440 bands who had originally been booked for the line-up have signed the petition, which has 977 signees in total.
It reads: “A bank that is involved in Israel’s genocide has no place at The Great Escape, which is a fixture of the independent music scene and has a prized place in the industry. We refuse to let music be used to whitewash human rights violations. We cannot let our creative outputs become smokescreens behind which money is pumped into murdering Palestinians.” The petition can be found here.
Lambrini Girls and Cherym have pulled out of the festival in solidarity with Palestine.
Speaking about their decision not to play the festival, Lambrini Girls issued a statement saying: “We will not be appearing at The Great Escape festival this year. This is a targeted approach of a cultural boycott, considering Barclays sponsorship.
“Barclays provide financial services of over £1BN pounds to companies supplying military technology and weapons to the IDF, perpetuating the horrors unfolding in Gaza.”
NME has contacted The Great Escape for comment.
The move comes a month after swathes of artists refused to play Austin’s SXSW Festival, due to its connections with the US Army and weapons companies amid the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Gruff Rhys, Kneecap, Sprints, Lambrini Girls, Gel, Rachel Chinouriri, Cardinals and NewDad all eventually pulled out from SXSW, as well as every Irish act on the bill. Many of the artists expressed that they had made the decision out of solidarity with the people of Palestine.
In light of the withdrawals, SXSW released a statement regarding all of the bands and artists who have been pulling out of the festival, saying: “We are an organisation that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.”
Explaining its sponsorship with the US Army, SXSW wrote: “The defence industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today. These institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies, and we believe it’s better to understand how their approach will impact our lives.”
The post Future Bubblers drop out of hosting stage at The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine appeared first on NME.
The two-disc special edition will be available on July 2nd.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Getting 4K Blu-Ray Release for 20th Anniversary
Eddie Fu
Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s comedy classic Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy turns 20 this summer. To celebrate, the movie has received a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release hitting shelves on July 2nd. The anniversary set features two Blu-ray discs containing a remastered theatrical version of Anchorman in 4K Ultra…
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The gripping new series premiered last week
The post This new horror series has a 100 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating appeared first on NME.
A new horror series currently has a 100 per cent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The second season in the Them anthology series, titled The Scare, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 25, and has received a generally positive reception.
The series stars Luke Cage and True Detective’s Deborah Ayorinde, as well as Jackie Brown’s Pam Grier, and singer/songwriter Luke James.
Ayorinde, who also starred in the first season as a different character, plays an LAPD Detective investigating a gruesome murder, set in 1991. As Dawn Reeve gets closer to uncovering the truth, something evil begins to take over her life and her family.
The Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes “represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show”, and for Them: The Scare, it’s currently at 100 per cent.
One review of the eight-episode series read: “Bolstered by its incredibly gifted actors, Them: The Scare is a terrifying supernatural slasher that moves the anthology to the right track.”
Another review described the series as “deeply unsettling” while another noted the deeper themes in the anthology: “Like the first season of Them, the horror in Them: The Scare is as much about institutional racism than it is about some sort of apparition or monster.”
The first instalment in the anthology was titled Covenant, and was released in April 2021. It starred British rapper Ashley Thomas, as well as Us star Shahadi Wright Joseph.
Them: Covenant is set in 1953 and follows a black family who move to an all-white Los Angeles neighbourhood from North Carolina, during the Second Great Migration.
The first season currently has a 58 per cent rating on the Tomatometer, and was met with mixed reviews upon its release.
All episodes of Them: Covenant and Them: The Scare are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
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“Holy cow. It’s actually happening”
The post Frank Turner’s 3000th gig will be a massive show at London’s Alexandra Palace appeared first on NME.
Frank Turner has announced the details of his 3000th gig, which will be held at London’s Alexandra Palace – find out more below.
The musician took to social media to share the incredible achievement, writing: “Holy cow. It’s actually happening.”
Carter’s 3000th show will take place on February 22, 2025, where Ally Pally will host over 10,000 potential concertgoers.
To access pre-sale tickets, you can pre-order an album in any format from Turner’s web store until May 1, 11:59pm BST. If you have already pre-ordered an album from the store, you will automatically have access to the presale.
Codes will then be sent out May 2, 10am BST, with the presale running from May 3, 10am BST for a week. General sale tickets will then commence on May 10, 10am BST – get your tickets here.
For his 2000th show, Turner took to Nottingham’s Rock City in 2020 with a live-stream for fans stuck in self-isolation during lockdown.
The singer also recently announced his attempt to break the record for most shows played in 24 hours for Music Venue Trust. In celebration of his upcoming 3,000th show and the release of his 10th album ‘Undefeated’ on May 3, Turner will attempt to play 15 shows of minimum 20-minute sets on May 4 from Liverpool to Southhampton.
Turner added: “We’re working with 13 independent record shops and 15 independent grassroots music venues for the shows, highlighting two bits of the infrastructure of the underground that I care about most. It’s going to be tough, but hopefully fun too. Come down for a show!” Find tickets for the tour here.
Meanwhile, Turner announced details of his new record in January this year, sharing it was about “survival and defiance, but also one with a sense of fun and self-deprecation.”
“19 years into my solo career, I’m still standing up and putting out some of my best work. It feels good.”
He also spoke to NME about the importance of going to gigs after Covid-19, saying: “We’re trying to remind people that going to independent gigs is fun, and teaching the kids who came of age in 2020 or 2021 that this is a cool thing to do. My role in this is twofold – to shout about it whenever I can and be positive and say it’s a really fucking cool thing to go to indie gigs.
“Don’t fucking go to an arena gig where you get charged nine quid for a beer!”
The post Frank Turner’s 3000th gig will be a massive show at London’s Alexandra Palace appeared first on NME.
The festival is set to take place on September 21 for one night only as a special 25th Anniversary Event
The post Slipknot announce line-up of homecoming Knotfest Iowa 2024 with Rammstein’s Till Lindemann, Knocked Loose and many more appeared first on NME.
Slipknot have announced the line-up of homecoming Knotfest Iowa 2024 with Rammstein‘s Till Lindemann, Knocked Loose and more.
The band’s annual homecoming music festival is set to take place on September 21 for one night only as a special 25th Anniversary Event at Water Works Park in Des Moines, IA. Along with Slipknot, Till Lindemann and Knocked Loose, the likes of Hatebreed, Poison The Well, GWAR, Vended, Dying Wish, Zulu, Twin Temple, Holy Wars, Swollen Teeth, Spine, and Dose are also set to perform.
A ticket pre-sale for Knotfest will commence on Tuesday April 30 at 10am CT (4pm BST). General ticket sales will begin on Friday May 3 at 10am CT (4pm BST). VIP packages, ticket upgrades and excursions are all available. More information can be found via the Knotfest official website. Visit here to purchase tickets.
In a four-star review of Knotfest Melbourne 2023, NME shared: “Clown told NME that Knotfest would debut in Australia this year so that Slipknot could “burn down [our] brainwashed philosophy” and indoctrinate us with their own. If any of those among us weren’t already devout members of the Church Of Slipknot (aka Maggots, sometimes Heretics), they surely walked away last night as fresh converts. Considering all three editions sold out, it seems inevitable that Knotfest will return Down Under in 2024 – we’ll start stretching now.”
In other news, Slipknot recently co-headlined Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas on April 27 with a career-spanning setlist for which they donned their classic original masks and red boiler suits.
The Nine had also played in their classic outfits for an intimate club show last night (April 25) at the Pappy + Harriet’s barbecue bar in Pioneertown, California. The surprise gig had been announced one day prior to the show date on April 24.
The intimate gig marked Slipknot’s first concert with their new drummer – who is still unnamed – following the shocking firing of Jay Weinberg late last year. Their new drummer is heavily speculated to be former Sepultura percussionist Eloy Casagrande, thought the band have yet to confirm his identity.
The post Slipknot announce line-up of homecoming Knotfest Iowa 2024 with Rammstein’s Till Lindemann, Knocked Loose and many more appeared first on NME.
Bonobo, I. Jordan, Joy Orbison, Girls Don’t Sync and more are set to appear
The post Charli XCX, Romy, Kelly Lee Owens, Shygirl and more added to Glastonbury as Silver Hayes line-up revealed appeared first on NME.
Glastonbury‘s dance music area Silver Hayes has announced the lineup of its four stages including Charli XCX, Romy, Kelly Lee Owens, Shygirl and more.
Silver Hayes, which will host four stages across four days, will “unite future-facing design with musical talent” with the field’s first indoor venue.
It will see over 150 artists take to the stage, with the likes of Charli XCX, Romy, Kelly Lee Owens and Shygirl set to make an appearance. They will be joined by acts such as Bonobo, Joy Orbison, I. Jordan, Skream and Benga, Eliza Rose, Girls Don’t Sync, Sammy Virji and Casisdead.
Meanwhile, Fabric, Body Movements, Metalheadz, Foundation FM and more are all set to present takeovers at the festival. Silver Hayes will also see B2B sets from Dr Dubplate and Todd Armada, Groove Armada vs Eats Everything, Jyoty, Lil Silva and Sampha, along with SG Lewis and a secret guest.
Check out all the names set to play at Silver Hayes below:
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) April 29, 2024
This year, Silver Hayes has also establishes a number of non-musical spaces “to create change, combining forward-thinking electronic artists with positive action, debate, technology & design.” They will host ‘The Information’ for dicussion and debate, with “a theme focused around imagination & a positive future.”
There will also be a dedicated artistic space called ‘The Hayes Pavilion’ with a visual arts programme to showcase the UK’s emerging talent for immersive design, and a brand new ‘Room’ for “sound baths, breathwork, guided meditation, yoga and other activities”.
So far, the Worthy Farm festival has unveiled Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA as its Pyramid Stage headliners, while Shania Twain will perform in the legends slot on the Sunday.
The festival also announced a brand new stage dedicated to South Asian talent as part of the Shangri-La area, with Bobby Friction, Anish Kumar, Nabihah Iqbal and Nikki Nair as part of its lineup.
The entire Shangri-La lineup was also revealed recently, with Kneecap, Bob Vylan, Lambrini Girls and more set to feature.
Other stage lineups revealed include news of the artists set to headline the Acoustic Stage, followed by details on those who have joined the Field Of Avalon line-up and artists to appear on the West Holts stage.
In other news, Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant has revealed the “worst moment” of his life at Glastonbury.
The post Charli XCX, Romy, Kelly Lee Owens, Shygirl and more added to Glastonbury as Silver Hayes line-up revealed appeared first on NME.
The former producer is due to appear in court on May 1
The post Harvey Weinstein is “train-wreck health-wise” as he’s admitted to hospital appeared first on NME.
Content warning: this article discusses rape and sexual assault.
Harvey Weinstein is in poor health, according to his lawyer.
The former movie producer was found guilty on February 24, 2020 after being convicted of first-degree and third-degree rape, and was sentences to 23 years in a New York state prison.
Last week, The New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for rape, deeming that the judge at the trial gave improper rulings.
However, Weinstein remains imprisoned, serving a 16 year sentence following a 2022 California rape conviction.
Now, Weinstein’s lead attorney, Arthur Aidala, has shared that the 72-year-old is in poor health, telling reporters (as per Associated Press) that his client was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.
Aidala began: “They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically.”
“He’s got a lot of problems,” Aidala shared. “He’s getting all kinds of tests. He’s somewhat of a train wreck, health-wise.”
Weinstein is still set to appear in court in New York on May 1. As reported by Associated Press (via Screen Daily), Manhattan District Attorney’s office said: “We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault.”
In February this year, Aidala argued that the judge at the 2020 New York trial allowed three women to testify against Weinstein’s character, despite not being directly involved in the allegations for which he was being charged.
“This is major prejudice,” Aidala argued. “It’s saying, ‘He’s a bad guy. He’s a bad guy. He’s a bad guy.’”
This is a developing story. More to follow.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
The post Harvey Weinstein is “train-wreck health-wise” as he’s admitted to hospital appeared first on NME.
