Steve Miller Band Launches Major North American Summer Tour

http://www.wwwtixx.com/steve_miller_band_tickets.html


Band Launches Major North American Summer Tour on May 24th
Miller To Receive ASCAP Golden Note Award This April; Live From Chicago DVD Out May 20th; PBS Special Set For June


HOLLYWOOD, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the original jam bands, the Steve Miller Band emerged from San Francisco's summer of love with a distinct sound that has proven to be timeless. Still a mainstay of the summer concert season, the band will launch a 37-city North American tour on May 24th in West Palm Beach, FL. (The band recently played three amazing shows at San Francisco's Fillmore, which sold out in under an hour.) As fresh and vibrant as ever, the Steve Miller Band melds rock, blues, jazz and pop in its own inimitable style, attracting a fervent, multi-generational audience that knows that, in addition to hits from its extraordinary catalog -- "Take the Money and Run," "Rockin' Me," "Jet Airliner," "The Joker," "Fly Like An Eagle," "Livin' in the USA" and "Abracadabra," to name but a few -- the band always comes through with numerous surprises in concert such as obscure fan favorites, classic blues standards and breathtaking improvisations. The legendary Joe Cocker, whose Classic Cocker was released by EMI last year, will be the supporting act.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/LAM025 )

Miller will receive the prestigious ASCAP Golden Note Award at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' (ASCAP) 25th Annual Pop Music Awards, which will be held April 9th at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. On May 20th, Coming Home Media will release Live From Chicago, the Steve Miller Band's first-ever DVD release. The DVD captures the band's 2007 two-night stand at Chicago's Ravinia Festival in 5.1 Surround Sound and state-of-the-art high definition. In conjunction with the release, PBS will broadcast Live From Chicago during the month of June.

One of the cornerstones of classic rock, the Steve Miller Band has sold a cumulative 25 million albums since Capitol Records released its debut album, Children of the Future, in 1968. A series of Top 40 albums followed, and 1973's The Joker reached #2 on the Billboard 200 while its title track was a #1 single. Fly Like An Eagle, with four Top 40 singles including the #1 hit "Rockin' Me," was released in 1976. Now quadruple Platinum, it is the band's top-selling studio album. Book of Dreams (1977) was a massive success as well. In 1978, Capitol released Greatest Hits: 1974-78, which is currently certified 13x Platinum.

The hits continued -- including "Abracadabra" (from the album of the same name), which was the #1 selling single in 1983, and "I Want to Make the World Turn Around," from Living in the 20th Century, which topped the AC singles chart for five weeks. In 2003, Capitol released a comprehensive collection: Young Hearts -- Complete Greatest Hits, which traced the Steve Miller Band's 35-year affiliation with the label. A special 30th anniversary edition of Fly Like An Eagle followed in 2006, prompting the San Francisco Chronicle to observe: "He [Miller] presaged a generation of heartland rockers, from John Mellencamp to Tom Petty to Widespread Panic." The Steve Miller Band's songs have been covered by a diverse group of artists, including Smashing Pumpkins, deftones, Seal, Run-D.M.C. and k.d. lang.

Upcoming tour dates are as follows:

Steve Miller Band -- 2008 North American Summer Tour
(With Joe Cocker Supporting)

5/24 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
5/25 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheater
5/26 Atlanta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
5/29 Oklahoma City, OK The Zoo
5/30 Dallas, TX Superpages Center
5/31 Houston, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
6/1 Austin, TX The Backyard
6/26 Muskegon, MI Summer Celebration
6/27 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Theater
6/28 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Center
6/29 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
7/2 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theater
7/3 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
7/5 Chicago, IL Jason Wright
7/6 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
7/10 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
7/11 Long Island, NY Jones Beach
7/12 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
7/13 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center
7/15 Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheater
7/17 Washington, DC Merriweather Post Pavilion
7/18 Foxwoods, CT MGM Grand @ Foxwoods
7/19 Boston, MA Tweeter Center
7/20 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Center
7/30 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheater
7/31 Denver, CO Red Rocks
8/2 Seattle, WA The Gorge
8/3 Medford, OR Lithia Motors Amphitheater
8/6 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre
8/7 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl
8/8 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
8/9 Las Vegas, NV Orleans Arena
8/15 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Pavilion
8/16 Reno, NV Reno Events Center
8/17 Murphys, CA Ironstone

2008 concert tour Nationwide schedule

Concert tixx Artists A - C
3 Doors Down tixx
Academy of Country Music Awards tixx
Ace Frehley tixx
ACM New Artist Party tixx
A Concert for Compassion tixx
A Fine Frenzy tixx
Airbourne tixx
Alan Jackson and Brooks and Dunn tixx
Alan Jackson tixx
Alan Parsons Live Project tixx
Alejandra Guzman tixx
Al Green tixx
Alicia Keys tixx
Al Jarreau tixx
Allman Brothers Band tixx
All Points West Festival tixx
American Idol tixx
America tixx
Angie Stone tixx
Ani DiFranco tixx
A Night of Broadway Stars tixx
Anne Murray tixx
Anti-Flag tixx
A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor tixx
Aretha Franklin tixx
Arlo Guthrie tixx
Asha Bhosle tixx
Asia tixx
Atmosphere tixx
At The Gates tixx
Augustana tixx
Avril Lavigne tixx
B.B. King tixx
B-52s tixx
B96 Pepsi Summerbash tixx
Baby Bash tixx
Back Door Slam tixx
Backstreet Boys tixx
Bad Religion tixx
BamaJam Music and Arts Festival tixx
Bamboozle Left tixx
Barry Manilow tixx
Beach Boys tixx
Beale Street Music Festival tixx
Ben Folds tixx
Ben Harper tixx
Bette Midler tixx
Big and Rich tixx
Big Head Todd and the Monsters tixx
Bill Gaither tixx
Billy Joel tixx
Billy Ray Cyrus tixx
Black Crowes tixx
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club tixx
Blind Melon tixx
Blue Man Group How To Be A Megastar Tour tixx
Blue Oyster Cult tixx
Bobby McFerrin tixx
Bobby Vinton tixx
Bob Weir and Ratdog tixx
Bon Jovi tixx
Bonnaroo Music Festival tixx
Bonnie Raitt tixx
Bouncing Souls tixx
Brad Paisley tixx
Bret Michaels tixx
Brian McKnight tixx
Brian Wilson tixx
Brooks and Dunn tixx
Bruce Hornsby tixx
Bruce Springsteen tixx
Buddy Guy tixx
Buzzfest tixx
Cake tixx
Candy Dulfer tixx
Caribou tixx
Carrie Underwood tixx
Cassandra Wilson tixx
Casting Crowns tixx
Cat Power tixx
Celine Dion tixx
Celtic Woman tixx
Charlie Daniels Band tixx
Cheo Feliciano tixx
Cher tixx
Chevelle tixx
Chicago Connection tixx
Chicago tixx
China Forbes tixx
Chiodos tixx
Chris Botti tixx
Chris Isaak tixx
Christian McBride tixx
Citizen Cope tixx
City and Colour tixx
CMA Music Festival tixx
CMT Music Awards tixx
Coachella Music Festival tixx
Coheed and Cambria tixx
Colbie Caillat tixx
Colin Meloy tixx
Collective Soul tixx
Counting Crows and Maroon 5 tixx
Counting Crows tixx
Creedence Clearwater Revisited tixx
Crosby, Stills, Nash tixx
Crowded House tixx
Cyndi Lauper tixx
Cypress Hill tixx
Artists D - G
Daniel Odonnell tixx
Dan Wilson tixx
Dar Williams tixx
Daughtry tixx
Dave Brubeck Quartet tixx
Dave Koz tixx
Dave Matthews Band tixx
David Crosby tixx
Death Cab for Cutie tixx
Decemberists tixx
Def Leppard tixx
Devil Driver tixx
Devo tixx
Diana Krall tixx
Diana Ross tixx
Dianne Reeves tixx
Dickey Betts and Great Southern tixx
Dierks Bentley tixx
Disco Biscuits tixx
Dolly Parton tixx
Donna Summer tixx
Donny Osmond tixx
Doobie Brothers tixx
Dr. John tixx
Dream Theater tixx
Duran Duran tixx
Eagles tixx
Earth, Wind and Fire tixx
Eddie Vedder tixx
Edgefest tixx
Eels tixx
El Monstero y Los Masked Avengers tixx
Elton John tixx
Elvis Costello tixx
Emmanuel tixx
Emmylou Harris tixx
Engelbert Humperdinck tixx
Eric Clapton tixx
Erykah Badu tixx
Escape The Fate tixx
Essence Music Festival tixx
Etta James tixx
Explosions In the Sky tixx
Fab Faux tixx
Fabolous tixx
Fabulous Thunderbirds tixx
Feist tixx
Filter tixx
Fire and Rain tixx
FM106 Countryfest tixx
Foo Fighters tixx
Foreigner tixx
Frankie Valli tixx
Frank Sinatra Jr. tixx
Funky Meters tixx
Galactic tixx
Gary Allan tixx
Gary Louris tixx
Gavin DeGraw tixx
George Jones tixx
George Michael tixx
George Strait tixx
George Thorogood and the Destroyers tixx
George Thorogood tixx
Ghostland Observatory tixx
Gipsy Kings tixx
Gladys Knight tixx
Glenn Miller Orchestra tixx
Gloria Estefan tixx
Goldfrapp tixx
Good Charlotte tixx
Goo Goo Dolls tixx
Gordon Lightfoot tixx
Gospelfest tixx
Govt Mule tixx
Gretchen Wilson tixx
Greyboy Allstars tixx
Guitars and Saxes tixx
Artists H - K
Hall and Oates tixx
Hanson tixx
Herbie Hancock tixx
HH Gregg Country Music Expo tixx
High School Jazz Ensembles tixx
Hootie and the Blowfish tixx
Hot Chip tixx
Huey Lewis and the News tixx
Indigo Girls tixx
Ingrid Michaelson tixx
Iron Maiden tixx
Jack Johnson tixx
Jackson Browne tixx
James Taylor tixx
Jammy Awards tixx
Jason Mraz tixx
Jay-Z tixx
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra tixx
Jazz at the Bowl tixx
Jens Lekman tixx
Jesse Cook tixx
Jethro Tull tixx
Jimmy Buffett tixx
Jimmy Eat World tixx
Joe Ely tixx
Joe Jackson tixx
Joey Ramone Birthday Bash tixx
John Densmore tixx
John Mayer tixx
Johnny Mathis tixx
John Prine tixx
Jonas Brothers tixx
Jonny Lang tixx
Josh Ritter tixx
Joss Stone tixx
Journey tixx
Juanes tixx
Julio Iglesias tixx
JVC Jazz Festival tixx
K.D. Lang tixx
Kansas tixx
Kanye West tixx
Kate Nash tixx
KCRW World Festival tixx
Keiko Matsui tixx
Keith Sweat tixx
Keith Urban tixx
Kenny Chesney tixx
Kenny Loggins tixx
Kenny Rogers tixx
KFMA Day tixx
Kid Rock tixx
KIIS FM WANGO TANGO tixx
KISS 108 Concert tixx
Kokua Festival tixx
Kraftwerk tixx
Kris Kristofferson tixx
Kronos Quartet tixx
KT Tunstall tixx
Artists L - O
Ladytron tixx
Laurie Anderson tixx
Lenny Kravitz tixx
Leonard Cohen tixx
Levon Helm Band tixx
Lifehouse tixx
Lil Wayne tixx
Linda Eder tixx
Liquid Tension Experiment tixx
Lollapalooza tixx
Los Lobos tixx
Los Temerarios tixx
Lou Reed tixx
Lupillo Rivera tixx
Lyle Lovett tixx
Lynyrd Skynyrd tixx
M.I.A. tixx
Macys Music Festival tixx
Mae tixx
Mandy Patinkin tixx
Mannheim Steamroller tixx
Marco Antonio Solis tixx
Mariachi USA Festival tixx
Mark Knopfler tixx
Marshall Tucker Band tixx
Mars Volta tixx
Martina McBride tixx
Marty Stuart tixx
Matthew Good tixx
Megadeth tixx
Melissa Etheridge tixx
Merle Haggard tixx
Michael Buble tixx
Mike Ness tixx
Mile High Music Festival tixx
Mindless Self Indulgence tixx
Ministry tixx
Miranda Lambert tixx
Moody Blues tixx
Morcheeba tixx
Mudcrutch tixx
MxPx tixx
My Chemical Romance tixx
My Morning Jacket tixx
Nada Surf tixx
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival tixx
New Pornographers tixx
New Riders of The Purple Sage tixx
Newton Faulkner tixx
Nine Inch Nails tixx
Nofx tixx
O.A.R. tixx
Oasis tixx
Old 97s tixx
One Night Of Queen tixx
Original Stars of Rock and Roll tixx
Ottmar Liebert tixx
Outside Lands Music Festival tixx
Artists P - S
Panic At the Disco tixx
Pat Benatar tixx
Patrizio Buanne tixx
Patti Labelle tixx
Paul Anka tixx
Paul Simon tixx
Pearl Jam tixx
Pepe Aguilar tixx
Pepper tixx
Peter Frampton tixx
Phil Lesh and Friends tixx
Pink Martini tixx
Pitchfork Music Festival tixx
Playboy Jazz Festival tixx
Pointfest tixx
Poison tixx
Presidents of the United States of America tixx
Puddle of Mudd tixx
Queens of the Stone Age tixx
R.E.M. tixx
Radiators tixx
Radiohead tixx
Rain - The Beatles Experience tixx
Randy Owen tixx
Randy Travis tixx
Rascal Flatts tixx
Raven Symone tixx
Ray Davies tixx
RBD tixx
Reba McEntire tixx
REO Speedwagon tixx
Richard Marx tixx
Rick Braun tixx
Rick Springfield tixx
Rilo Kiley tixx
Ringo Starr tixx
Rippingtons tixx
Robert Cray Band tixx
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss tixx
Robin Trower tixx
Rocklahoma tixx
Rock on the Range tixx
Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival tixx
Rod Stewart tixx
Roger Waters tixx
Rogue Wave tixx
Rothbury Music Festival tixx
Rufus Wainwright tixx
Rush tixx
Ryan Adams tixx
Sammy Hagar tixx
Santana tixx
Sara Bareilles tixx
Sara Evans tixx
Sasquatch Music Festival tixx
Saves the Day tixx
Say Anything tixx
Seether tixx
Serj Tankian tixx
Sheryl Crow tixx
Sin Bandera tixx
Sly and The Family Stone tixx
Smokey Robinson tixx
Snoop Dogg tixx
Sonic Youth tixx
Soulja Boy tixx
Spoon tixx
Spyro Gyra tixx
Stagecoach Country Music Festival tixx
Starting Line tixx
Steely Dan tixx
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks tixx
Steve Earle tixx
Steve Miller Band tixx
Stevie Nicks tixx
Stevie Wonder tixx
Strathmore Swings tixx
Styx tixx
Sugarland tixx
Sully Erna tixx
Sunfest Music Festival tixx
Superfly at Jazzfest tixx
Switchfoot tixx
Artists T - Z
Taj Mahal tixx
Taste of Chaos tixx
Tech N9ne tixx
Tegan and Sara tixx
Temptations tixx
The Art Laboe Show tixx
The Ash Grove tixx
The Black Keys tixx
The Breeders tixx
The Cribs tixx
The Cult tixx
The Cure tixx
The Hives tixx
The Kooks tixx
The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim tixx
The Lemonheads tixx
The Police tixx
The Raconteurs tixx
The Roots tixx
The Rowdy Frynds Tour tixx
The Swell Season tixx
The Verve tixx
They Might Be Giants tixx
Third Eye Blind tixx
Three Days Grace tixx
Thrice tixx
Tiger Army tixx
Tim McGraw tixx
Toby Keith tixx
Tokio Hotel tixx
Tokyo Police Club tixx
Tom Jones tixx
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tixx
Tony Bennett tixx
Tower of Power tixx
T-Pain tixx
Trace Adkins tixx
Travis Tritt tixx
Umphreys McGee tixx
V100 Superfest tixx
Vampire Weekend tixx
Vanessa Williams tixx
Van Halen tixx
Vans Warped Tour tixx
Vicente Fernandez tixx
Victor Wooten tixx
Video Game Live Tour tixx
Vince Gill tixx
Virgin Festival tixx
Warren Hill tixx
Wayne Newton tixx
Widespread Panic tixx
Wilco tixx
WMMR BBQ 40th Birthday tixx
WMZQ Fest tixx
Wu Tang Clan tixx
Wynton Marsalis tixx
Yaz tixx
Yellowcard tixx
Yes tixx
Zombies tixx
ZZ Top tixx
Upcoming Concert Tours
American Idols Live tixx
Black Eyed Peas tixx
Britney Spears tixx
Christina Aguilera tixx
Coldplay tixx
Dixie Chicks tixx
Garth Brooks tixx
Green Day tixx
Gwen Stefani tixx
Hannah Montana tixx
Justin Timberlake tixx
Led Zeppelin tixx
Madonna tixx
Mariah Carey tixx
Paul McCartney tixx
Red Hot Chili Peppers tixx
Rolling Stones tixx
Shakira tixx
U2 tixx








tixx

``Passing Strange'' The Broadway Musical

Broadway's Rock Musical Makes `Strange' Bedfellows (Update1)

Commentary by [bn:PRSN=1] Jeremy Gerard []

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- When theater owner Gerald Schoenfeld saw ``Passing Strange'' last spring at the Public Theater, he liked the new show so much he called artistic director Oskar Eustis and said he wanted to move the rock 'n' roll musical from the East Village to Broadway.

These days, Broadway's landlords are in the catbird seat: With long-running hits like ``The Phantom of the Opera,'' ``Wicked'' and ``Jersey Boys'' playing in the most desirable houses for years and even decades, independent producers are often left cooling their heels, or mounting shows in less desirable theaters.

Nevertheless, Schoenfeld was a day late, Eustis replied. He'd already fielded a call from independent producer Elizabeth I. McCann, who also wanted to move ``Passing Strange'' to Broadway. Like Schoenfeld, she felt the Candide-like tale of a young man's journey to self-knowledge, set to a driving score performed by an onstage rock band, deserved a longer life.

As chairman of the Shubert Organization, which owns 17 Broadway theaters and three more outside New York, Schoenfeld, 83, is the most powerful executive in the commercial theater.

With more than $220 million in assets, Shubert frequently invests quietly in shows but rarely signs on as a producing partner. After all, collecting rent from independent producers is much less risky than gambling in a business where eight out of 10 shows fail to recoup their capitalization costs.

Co-Producers

Schoenfeld's enthusiasm for ``Passing Strange,'' however, resulted in a partnership with McCann. In addition to being longtime colleagues, both are skilled at finding common ground when they need to. What they needed now was $5 million to finance the move uptown.

``I thought the show would have appeal beyond the audience at the Public,'' Schoenfeld said in an interview from his office at Shubert headquarters atop the Shubert Theater in Shubert Alley. ``And I thought these young people were very, very smart.''

Schoenfeld and McCann quickly struck a deal to co-produce the show.

``I wasn't quite sure what I was watching,'' McCann, 78, said in an interview, about her reaction to ``Passing Strange'' at the Public. But the younger staff members she'd brought with her had no such qualms. ``They were completely blown away.''

Schoenfeld said he'd put up $675,000 of the $5 million budget for ``Passing Strange,'' making Shubert the single biggest investor. And the show would move to the Shubert-owned Belasco Theater on West 44th Street. One of Broadway's smallest (and most beautiful) straight-play houses, the Lyceum has just over 1,000 seats, half of them in the orchestra, where the most expensive seats are. With Broadway's best theaters already spoken for, there wasn't much choice.

Diverging Interests

This is a perfect illustration of the diverging interests of landlords and producers. Theater owners want to ``lock up'' their houses with long-running hits; independent producers want to replenish the pool of new shows.

Late last fall, the ticket-buying public saw just how acrimonious things can get when a strike by union stagehands against the theater owners and producers shut down most of Broadway during the holiday season.

What appeared to be a typical labor-management conflict over wages and work rules had in fact begun as a standoff between the two management camps.

In the past, labor negotiations were dominated by the theater owners (which include, along with Shubert, the Nederlander Organization, which controls nine Broadway theaters, and Jujamcyn Theaters, with five). They could afford to sign off on costly deals with the union because ultimately it was their tenants --the producers -- who paid for them.

This time, the younger independent producers were determined to break that decades-old cycle. They were at war as much with the landlords as they were with the union.

Costly Strike

One result was that the strike ran three weeks, costing producers and workers far more than they won in the new contract. (Both sides claimed victory, with producers winning work-rule concessions, though fewer than they sought, and stagehands getting raises at the cost of some jobs.) As usual, the faction least hurt by the strike was the theater owners.

It was during the stagehands' walkout that McCann had the unenviable task of raising the rest of the budget for ``Passing Strange,'' a show she knew would need time to build an audience.

``Trying to raise $5 million, especially during the strike, was brutal,'' she said.

Among the show's 15 co-producers are veteran Broadway investors Bill Kenwright, Chase Mishkin and Boyett Ostar Productions. The nonprofit Public Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California, which first produced the show, are listed as associate producers and will share in any profits.

The transfer marks the first time Eustis has participated in such a move since becoming head of the Public, he said in an interview. He added that the Public has been a ``fully active partner'' in the show.

Promote, Promote

The two largest expenses after moving the show into the Lyceum, McCann said, are advertising and, not surprisingly, the rent the producers have to pay -- to Shubert. McCann knows the going rate for each of Broadway's 39 houses. ``Passing Strange'' got a fair deal on the Lyceum, she said, but no special break.

Advertising accounts for $2 million, or 40 percent, of the show's budget, McCann said. It opened Feb. 28 to some of the most enthusiastic notices of the season. But it had no stars, no advance ticket sales and no name recognition.

Promotional Cost

The producers spent more than $300,000 over the first two weekends on full-page advertisements in the New York Times. They've spent another $45,000 on promotion through the Internet, searching for the audience that matches the material.

``Young writers who don't necessarily want to write -- dare I say it? -- `Mary Poppins,' are now finding their way to Broadway,'' McCann said. ``So the most fascinating challenge for me is promoting it not the old traditional way but with people who know how to get to this audience.''

Despite the sometimes competing interests that have occasionally found Schoenfeld and McCann on opposite sides of the fence, they're using all the wisdom gained in their collective 161 years on the planet to persuade 7,200 people a week to buy tickets to ``Passing Strange,'' their rock concert cum Broadway musical. It won't be easy, but Schoenfeld seemed almost giddy at the challenge.

``You know,'' he said, ``I'm on the cutting edge.''

(Jeremy Gerard is an editor for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)