“MP3.com tour moved to Township; Goo Goo Dolls still on"
It isn’t often that a legalistic disclaimer accompanies a press release for a rock concert, but the MP3.com Music And Technology Tour is not just a concert, according to the sponsors. If you’re Internet-deficient in your knowledge of computer technology, you’d be forgiven for not knowing about MP3. Simply put, it is a technology that allows for the digital transfer of sound files on the Internet, a capability that has the potential to change the way the music business does business. MP3.com is a website that claims to “contain more than 160,000 songs from more than 27,000 artists.” This is all free for now, until they can figure out some way of getting us to pay for it. The Internet is not a sure bet for anything, of course, and that disclaimer mentioned above includes references to “The Company’s new and uncertain business model, uncertainty regarding acceptance of the Company’s products and services, “ and so on. There was supposed to be an all-day MP3.com village outside the concert’s original venue, the Carolina Coliseum, but the event has been moved to the much smaller Township Auditorium, and the accompanying events around the show- a music and technology tent with various vendors participating and prizes available as well as local bands that have done well on the MP3.com site- are uncertain as of press time. Not that it is MP3.com’s fault, mind you- there was just a lack of advance sales for a general admission event. The big show will go on, however, and it promises to be a good one. Headliners The Goo Goo Dolls have come a long way in their decade-long career, from the heirs apparent to the Replacements’ ragged rock robes to their current status as MTV darlings and Top 40 staples. With their first albums in the late 1980’s, the Buffalo, NY trio were brash, belligerent, and a heck of a lot of fun. Their live shows were raucous affairs, and the albums were prized for both the nutty original tunes like “Up Yours” to the punked-up covers of popular artists like Blue Oyster Cult, Prince, and The Rolling Stones. In 1995, the band achieved their million-selling commercial breakthrough with “Name,” an atypical acoustic pop song off of the Boy Named Goo (Warner Brothers) album. Decried by some as a blatant Replacements rip-off (but then, that’s an apt description of their whole career to that point), it was the hit Paul Westerberg should have had but never did. Since that initial chart success, the Goos have returned to the top with the ballad “Iris,” first featured in the City Of Angels soundtrack, and then on their most recent album, Dizzy Up The Girl (Warner Brothers). That CD has also spun off the hits “Slide” and the new single, “Black Balloon,” both of which rely heavily on the upbeat acoustic formula of their first hit song. Tonic will be opening the show. An unavoidable presence on rock radio a couple years ago with the hit song, “If You Could Only See, “ the band’s postmodern take on Led Zeppelin’s pop-stomp style will be at the foreground again with the release of their new album this fall. Movie audiences got a taste of the record recently when the song “You Wanted More” was featured in the soundtrack to American Pie.”