An African music star who ignited worldwide controversy among fellow Muslims with one of his albums was in the city Saturday to perform at an arts festival aimed at spreading a deeper understanding of Islam. “I want to show the true face of Islam — a religion in which people can dance, even enjoy,” Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour said over lunch in Harlem, where children mobbed him with adoration in the streets. “People don’t have to associate Islam with fear and sadness. Why is that the only image of Islam in the media?” A new documentary film about N’Dour’s struggles and victories plays in theaters across the United States starting June 12. It was screened Saturday evening before his hourlong sold-out live show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, capped by a frenzied dancing ovation from the audience. Over the years, the 49-year-old singer has sold millions of albums and performed with Western stars including Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Sting, and Bono. N’Dour insists on performing religious-themed music in his vibrant, African rhythm-driven shows — despite a boycott of his 2004 album “Egypt” in his native Senegal that lasted almost two years. The album initially was banned in Egypt, with Muslims accusing N’Dour of “desecrating” Islam by mixing it with secular pop culture; some even spread false rumors that he used naked women in videos. On Friday in Brooklyn, the best-selling pop artist opened the “Muslim Voices: Arts And Ideas Festival” of 100 artists from 23 countries. Their 10-day program ranges from Arabic cinema, Indonesian dance and African music to film and other visual arts. The documentary “Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love” follows the controversy that tagged N’Dour after the release of “Egypt,” which won a Grammy in 2005. The next year, N’Dour and his band filled Carnegie Hall. “When I listened to ‘Egypt’ I was moved, because he grew up listening to the (late) Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum, the voice of the Muslim world,” said Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who directed the documentary. “And he wanted to celebrate Islam in Senegal as a peaceful, tolerant culture.” At the time in N’Dour’s native West Africa, some stores returned copies of the album, radio stations refused to play it and sales were poor compared with those of his previous releases. He persisted, winning over many of his detractors as an official UNICEF goodwill ambassador who is working to stop malaria in Africa on behalf of the U.S.-based nonprofit Malaria No More, distributing free mosquito nets to families on the continent while entertaining them. N’Dour said he hopes the documentary will help him “to break a taboo subject — that Islam is what the extremists do.”

In response to fans’ overwhelming demand, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and The Meadowlands have announced fourth and fifth shows for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium. These shows will take place Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9. The latter date will be the final concert at Giants Stadium. The concerts on September 30, October 2, and October 3 sold out briskly. In a cover story on stands now, Q Magazine called a Springsteen concert “the greatest show on earth.” Tickets for these dates go on sale Monday, June 8 at noon Eastern via Ticketmaster. (The fourth and fifth shows will be posted on Ticketmaster.com at 1 PM Eastern today.) ‘Working on a Dream’ (Columbia Records) debuted at #1 in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and New Zealand and received exemplary reviews in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, People, and elsewhere.

http://www.brucespringsteen.net
http://www.meadowlands.com

PINKPOP, Landgraaf, Holland, 30 May-1 June Rock festival Pinkpop celebrates its 40th instalment this year. Set in the town of Landgraaf, also home to the largest indoor ski piste in Europe and 134 miles from Amsterdam, thedemocratic festival invites its 100,000 guests to have a say on three of the acts. Booked to headline this momentous year are Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, The Kooks, Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen and Placebo and many more.

Festivalbus coaches depart the UK on 29^th May, cross the channel on a late night ferry and arrive in the morning on the 30^th, meaning you’ll have plenty of time to sort your camping area out before the music starts.

This year Festivalbus is running coaches to Pinkpop from Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, London, Manchester and Southampton so it’s even easier to get to Pinkpop!

Head over to www.festivalbus.co.uk/booking.asp to get your tickets

A star-studded medley of musical guests played tribute to Pete Seeger at a benefit concert for the legendary folk singer’s 90th birthday. Bruce Springsteen , Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Ani DiFranco and John Mellencamp were among the 40 musicians performing in Madison Square Garden for the Sunday night show, a benefit to raise awareness for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an organization Seeger started to preserve and protect the Hudson River. A lone light shone on Seeger as he opened the show playing a flute solo called “Menomonee Love Song.” As the lights came up, they revealed the outline of a sloop, fitting for an event dubbed the Clearwater Concert after the organization’s vessel, the gaff sloop Clearwater. The crowd ranged from teens to octogenarians and perhaps even older. Springsteen brought them to laughter as he introduced Seeger. “He’s gonna look a lot like your granddad that wears flannel shirts and funny hats. He gonna look like your granddad if your granddad can kick your ass,” the Boss said. “At 90, he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself.” John Mellencamp came out early and performed, “If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song).” “It was the very first song I learned how to play on guitar,” he said. Most of the evening consisted of multiple artists performing together with one highlight coming before the intermission. Pete Seeger joined by Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, and others for a spiritual version of “We Shall Overcome.” Arlo Guthrie, son of folk legend Woody Guthrie, was joined by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep.” Tom Morello was the evening’s interloper, performing four numbers with different artists. The most impressive was his duet with Springsteen near the end of the show. The pair traded verses on Springsteen’s “the Ghost of Tom Joad.” The former Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist also performed “John Henry” with Tom Paxton, and “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” with Taj Mahal. Dave Matthews told the crowd: “The first concert that my mother took me to was Pete Seeger.” Then he launched into a searing version of “Whiskey Rye Whiskey.” Seeger and the rest of the evening’s performers came on stage for an extended cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is My Land.” They came back on for several encores and at the end brought out the entire Seeger family. Proceeds from the event will go toward preserving and protecting the Hudson River.

Kasabian have finally been confirmed to play this year’s Glastonbury, putting an end to months of speculation. In what will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the year, Kasabian were made an offer they simply could not refuse - playing as special guests to Bruce Springsteen’s Saturday night (June 27th) show on the main stage at Glastonbury. The Glastonbury show sits in between Kasabian’s 20-date UK tour and those massive stadium shows with Oasis, in what is set to be an epic summer.

Their eagerly awaited new album ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ is released June 8th. Preceding this is their blazing new single ‘Fire’ (June 1st), which was premiered on Radio One by Zane Lowe when he covered for Chris Moyles’ Bank Holiday Monday breakfast show. Kasabian also play Radio One’s Big Weekend, May 9th.

With tickets selling fast for their two shows at the Slaughtered Lamb next month, and with a much bigger London date currently being scheduled for June, THE LOW ANTHEM have just announced news of numerous UK festival appearances this summer. The Low Anthem will be performing at Glastonbury, Hard Rock Calling, Wireless, End Of The Road and Bestival, info below,

Wednesday 13 May – LONDON - The Slaughtered Lamb
Thursday 14 May – LONDON – The Slaughtered Lamb
Saturday 16 May – BRIGHTON – Horatios @ The Great Escape

Friday 26 June – GLASTONBURY – Glastonbury Festival (Q Stage)
Saturday 27 June - GLASTONBURY – Glastonbury Festival (Park Stage)
Sunday 28 June – LONDON – Hard Rock Calling

Saturday 4 July – LONDON – Wireless Festival

Friday 11 September – DORSET – End of the Road Festival
Saturday 12 September - DORSET – End of the Road Festival
Sunday 13 September – ISLE OF WIGHT - Bestival

THE LOW ANTHEM look set to be one of the success stories of 2009, Their sublime music ranges from evocative folk ballads sung in gorgeous falsettos to garage-roots rockers in a Tom Waits bar-room style, The Low Anthem are a folk rock trio from Providence, Rhode Island, United States. They formed in 2003 and consist of multi-instrumentalists Ben Miller, Jeff Prystowsky and Jocie Adams. The Low Anthem began as a contemporary folk duet from Providence, RI. Member’s Ben Miller and Jeff Prystowsky met playing in the wood-bat leagues of rural Connecticut in 2003. They began a collaboration with classical composer Jocie Adams in November 2007. Their landmark 2007 release “What the Crow Brings” was independently produced by the band and has received great acclaim from major press across the country. Their rapidly expanding fan-base spans all ages remarkably, as the duo appeals to hipsters, housewives and grandparents equally. Writers have typically drawn comparisons to Tom Waits, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan, but you will hear strains in their music from remote Appalachia to the Delta; an urban immediacy, and a timeless grounding in the great American roots music traditions. Rolling Stone says the music on Charlie Darwin feels “homemade” and “solemnly beautiful,” and NPR Music called the song “To Ohio” a “tender stunner” in choosing it as a Song of the Day, saying, “At times languid and haunting, but with detours into Tom Waits-esque stomping and hollering, The Low Anthem’s music seems equally informed by Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, The Band and a late-night ride home in Joni Mitchell’s car.” The band recently performed six sets at SXSW, where the BBC called them “stunning” and said, “Expect much flowerier words of praise thrown on this band in the future; they deserve everything said about them.” Mojo describe their set as “heartbreaking” and called the band, “truly startling songwriters and instrumentalists. Theirs is a gloriously romantic vision of America that sits somewhere between Dylan and Waits.” The New York Times wrote: “At the Central Presbyterian Church, the Low Anthem, from Providence, R.I., harmonized on slow, sustained songs — often waltzes — using instruments like harmonium, clarinet, some kind of small euphonium and a set of metal
discs played with a bow for eerie high tones, perfect accompaniment for lines like “Oh, my God, the water’s all around.” Most of the music was stately and mournful, with lyrics contemplating faith, loss, destruction and self-destruction in visionary imagery: “They say the sky’s the limit/The sky’s about to fall.” Every so often, making the quiet songs sound even quieter, the Low Anthem played something electric, bluesy and distorted, but equally serene in its desolation.” The Low Anthem, which recently signed to Nonesuch, has shared the stage with Rachael Yamagata, Lisa Hannigan, Ray Lamontagne and Elvis Perkins in Dearland. This summer they will re-release Oh My God Charlie Darwin with Nonesuch and Bella Union in Europe, and will play Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, and Hyde Park festival in London with Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band.

http://www.myspace.com/lowanthem