Apple 3G Iphone to hit the Market June 16th Apple wants your tax rebate $$$

3G IPHONE is being rushed to market sooner than most people think as Steve Jobs wants everyones Federal tax rebate to be spent on the new cool phone. ( yes i heard this from a VERY GOOD SOURCE) Cupertino is really worried about the consumer and want this launched asap before we spend our tax rebate on something else ...look for release in the next 2 weeks! my guess is June 16th 5pm EST

the launch includes 7 film crews across major cities filming the release for apple

Trump Marina to become a ‘Margaritaville’ casino

Trump Marina to become a ‘Margaritaville’ casino in $316M. sale
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff Writer, 609-272-7258
Published: Thursday, May 29, 2008




A New York gambling company is buying Atlantic City’s Trump Marina Hotel Casino for $316 million, and will rename it “Margaritaville,” the companies said Thursday.
Edward Lea




2 p.m. Update - ATLANTIC CITY — Trump Marina Hotel Casino is being sold in a $316 million deal that will transform the poorest performing property in Donald Trump’s gaming empire into a “Margaritaville” casino of singer Jimmy Buffett fame.
The buyer is Coastal Marina LLC, an affiliate of Coastal Development LLC, a company headed by former Trump friend turned enemy Richard T. Fields. As part of the Marina sale, Trump has agreed to end a four-year legal battle that accused Fields of cheating him out of developing the Hard Rock casinos with the Seminole Tribe in Florida.

“They’re getting a terrific building in a great location and a wonderful, potential redevelopment site,” Trump said in an interview Thursday morning after the sale was announced.

Fields plans to rebrand the Marina into a Margaritaville concept in partnership with Buffett, the singer-songwriter whose career has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. Buffet’s 1977 hit song “Margaritaville” reflects the ultimate laid-back lifestyle in a tropical climate.

“Together with Jimmy Buffett’s team at Margaritaville, our plans are to create an exciting new property that we believe will tap its full potential and make it one of the most successful destination gaming resorts in Atlantic City,” Fields said in a statement.



Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., owner of four Atlantic City casinos, is developing the Margaritaville Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Miss., also featuring a Buffett-inspired theme.
Trump Marina has been the subject of sale talks for a number of years, but owner Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. and its predecessor, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc., were never able to reach a deal. The bayside casino has been under Trump’s control since it opened in 1985.

“We’ve had many offers for the Marina,” Trump said.

With the underperforming Marina now off his plate, Trump noted that his company will be able to concentrate on the flagship Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and sister Boardwalk property Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

“It’s good to have one less,” he said. “This way, we can focus on the other two.”

Trump said he has no intention of selling the Taj Mahal or Plaza at this time. However, all of the Trump casinos were on the block last year during an aborted sale of the entire company.

“We have been focused on this deal for a while and we’re not thinking of that,” Trump said of the possibility of selling the Taj Mahal or Plaza after the Marina deal is completed.

The Taj Mahal is undergoing an expansion that includes a new $255 million hotel tower. The nearly 800-room addition will open in stages beginning Labor Day weekend, with the full 40 stories ready by the end of the year. The aging Plaza is still awaiting major redevelopment.

Mark Juliano, chief executive officer of Trump Entertainment, said cash from the Marina’s sale strengthens the company’s finances and provides flexibility for development projects in Atlantic City and perhaps elsewhere.

“We are closely evaluating the variety of options before us to create value for our shareholders, including additional development in Atlantic City, reducing the company’s debt, and potential projects to diversify our interests outside of Atlantic City,” Juliano said.

Justin T. Sebastiano, a gaming analyst for Morgan Joseph & Co. Inc., said the sale equates to nearly $20 million per acre for the Marina property. He speculated that the Fields group paid such a high price to rid itself of the Trump litigation in the Hard Rock deal.

“Any way you slice it, Coastal Marina has overpaid for Trump Marina,” Sebastiano wrote in an investment report.

Sebastiano noted that the deal will help prop up Trump Entertainment’s sagging finances and stock price, but he cautioned company shareholders not to expect a dramatic turnaround.

“This is a move in the right direction, but Trump Entertainment still has a long way to go,” he wrote.

In the first quarter this year, Trump Entertainment reported a loss of $18.6 million, or 59 cents per share, compared to a loss of $8.1 million, or 26 cents per share, in the same period last year. At Trump Marina, slot winnings sank 10.6 percent in April.

Hilton Hotels Corp. built the Marina casino in the 1980s, but was denied a gaming license, so Donald Trump personally bought it. He owned it until fall 1996, when he sold it for $485 million to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.

Trump Marina, once known as Trump Castle, has been overshadowed by its Marina District neighbors, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Harrah’s Atlantic City. Lacking major improvements, the property is essentially the same one that opened 23 years ago. Trump had talked of giving the Marina a facelift following the company’s exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2005.

The Marina’s sale is pending regulatory approval by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. Sebastiano said regulators are likely to approve the deal because the rebranded casino should generate more business for Atlantic City than the old Trump Marina.

“I’ve enjoyed it for many years and I know they will also,” Trump said of the change in ownership.

See Friday's edition of The Press for additional coverage.

Tom Waits 2008 tour dates & ticket information here

Here are Tom Waits' tour dates:for tickets go to www.tixx.com

June 17-18: Phoenix, Ariz. (Orpheum)

June 20: El Paso, Texas (Plaza Theatre)

June 22: Houston (Jones Hall)

June 23: Dallas (Palladium)

June 25: Tulsa, Ok. (Brady Theatre)

June 26: St. Louis (Fox Theatre)

June 28: Columbus, Ohio (Ohio Theatre)

June 29: Knoxville, Tenn. (Civic Theatre)

July 1: Jacksonville, Fla. (Moran Theatre)

July 2: Mobile, Ala. (Saenger Theatre)

July 3: Birmingham, Ala. (Alabama Theatre)

July 5: Atlanta (Fox Theatre)

Madonna Tour Dates 2008

Madonna tickets go to www.tixx.com
Print
Limit Date Range: to




Date City, ST Venue
Sat 08/23/08 Cardiff, UK Millennium Stadium

Tue 08/26/08 Nice, FRA Stade Charles Ehrmann

Thu 08/28/08 Berlin, GER Olympiastadion

Tue 09/02/08 Amsterdam, NET Amsterdam Arena

Thu 09/04/08 Dusseldorf, GER LTU Arena

Sat 09/06/08 Rome, ITA Olympic Stadium

Tue 09/09/08 Frankfurt, GER Commerzbank Arena

Thu 09/11/08 London, UK Wembley Stadium

Sat 09/20/08 Paris, FRA Stade de France

Sat 10/04/08 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center

Mon 10/06/08 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Arena

Tue 10/07/08 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Arena

Wed 10/15/08 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden

Sat 10/18/08 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

Wed 10/22/08 Montreal, QC Bell Centre

Sun 10/26/08 Chicago, IL United Center

Thu 10/30/08 Vancouver, BC BC Place Stadium

Sat 11/01/08 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena

Tue 11/04/08 San Diego, CA PETCO Park

Thu 11/06/08 Los Angeles, CA Dodger Stadium

Sat 11/08/08 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena

Tue 11/11/08 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

Sun 11/16/08 Houston, TX Minute Maid Park

Wed 11/19/08 Philadelphia, PA The Wachovia Center

Sat 11/22/08 Atlantic City, NJ Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall

Mon 11/24/08 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

Wed 11/26/08 Miami Gardens, FL Dolphin Stadium

Yankee Stadium prices are insane!

Yankee Stadium prices are insane!
Sunday, May 4th 2008, 7:51 AM

Sipkin/News
Yankee Stadium.

There is a very good reason why most Yankee fans don't care how much their team spends on baseball players. One of the best reasons is that their team keeps asking them - at least the most well-heeled of them - to spend more and more to help pay the freight.

There is a guy I know who has tickets behind the Yankee dugout, has had them for awhile. Last season each seat cost $150 per game. This season, because it is the last season at the old Yankee Stadium, the cost went up to $250. Next season, if he wants to keep the same seats when everybody moves across 161st St. to the new Yankee Stadium, the cost will go to $850 per seat.

If he wants to keep his current seats, he has to sign a minimum four-year contract, and they want a third of the cost of the first year up front. If he goes for that deal, they say the most they can increase him over the term of the contract is 4% a year.

"I told my friends who are going this season, ‘Enjoy yourselves, because you'll never be this close again,'" my friend said Saturday.

Now this isn't the old Lawn Tennis Association out of the 1950s, where everybody was just supposed to play for the love of the game. The Yankees are the biggest baseball business in the world, and running the business costs money. The Mets aren't going to be giving away their "premium" tickets at Citi Field, either. But they haven't set next season's ticket prices yet, perhaps sitting back and tracking the baseball market in the Bronx.
Well, it's either a market or a shakedown.

I have on the desk next to me a color-coded seat "Premium" plan for the new Yankee Stadium that a rather amazed Yankee fan sent me. It is pretty as a rainbow, just with pots of gold everywhere. We have always been told that walking into Yankee Stadium is like walking into some sort of baseball cathedral, and it is clear now that the Yankees don't think the new place is merely a cathedral, they think it is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

"They call you in for an appointment," my Yankee season-ticket holder said to me yesterday morning. "And they say, ‘The old Stadium is The House That Ruth Built.' The new place is going to be the house you guys build."

Start with the best seats in the house, first row, dugout to dugout. At the Garden, these are known as the Spike Lee seats. At the Stadium, I still like to think of them as the Rudy Giuliani seats. The plan is to sell these for $2500 next season.
Per seat.

Front-row seats in the first couple of boxes beyond the dugouts, in 14A and 14B on the home side and 26 and 27A on the visitors' side, are supposed to go for $1250. Right behind them, the Yankees are looking for $600 a ticket.

Front-row seats that extend from there toward the foul poles? The Yankees want those to go for a thousand.

Five hundred for the ones behind them.

Even seats in the very first row of the upper deck behind home plate will cost $135. Which, if you've been tracking the math, is just 15 bucks less than a seat behind the dugout cost season-ticket holders just one season ago. It is a good thing that these "premium" seats are going to make up only 10% or so of the new ballpark. Because there are also "non-premium" seats at field level that go for $325. There are at least 3,400 of those and 500 more that go for $200 a seat.

"They tell you that the price of the ticket includes all the food you want except alcoholic beverages and parking," the Yankee season-ticket holder said. "But they do tell you that if you don't want to pay for the premium seats, they can't guarantee you where you're going to end up."

The price of the whole world, especially in the Bush economy, keeps going up. The Yankees aren't breaking any laws here. Again: This is the cost of doing Yankee business, or so they say. Believe me, when the Mets set their new prices, they will go right into the newspaper, too. And the Giants' prices and the Jets' prices the next time they go up. The Yankees, though, are out front on this, telling their subscribers that a lot of corporations have wanted the best Yankee seats for years and now have a chance to get them.

Why do they think they can get away with this for next season? Because they just announced that they have four million tickets sold for this season, that's why.

For now the Yankee season-ticket holder says to me, "It's going to change the atmosphere. You're going to see that same sterile atmosphere close to the field like you see in the best seats in the Garden."

You wonder why Yankee fans don't care what Johan Santana or anybody else on the field costs?

The seats closest to the field are as good place to start as any.

Metallica concert Tour 2008 www.tixx.com

Metallica play club show, eye fall tour

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Metallica tickets will launch a tour in October, a month after the rock titans release their first album in five years, drummer Lars Ulrich revealed during a rare club show in Los Angeles Wednesday.

The charity show saw the veteran quartet shred through such hits as "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Fuel," "Master of Puppets" and "Enter Sandman" during a nearly two-hour stand at the 2,300-capacity Wiltern theater.

The group didn't unveil any new material. Nevertheless, "it feels good to play live again," said singer-guitarist James Hetfield.

The concert was pulled together on short notice to help raise funds for the nonprofit Silverlake Conservatory of Music. The organization was co-founded by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who joined Metallica onstage for "Fight Fire With Fire," from the band's 1984 album "Ride the Lightning."

Money raised from the concert will go toward the Silverlake Conservatory of Music's programs and operations, along with scholarships for low-income students who can't afford instruments and music lessons.

Metallica's as-yet-untitled album, the follow-up to the 2003 disappointment "St. Anger," is scheduled for release in September. Ulrich said earlier on Wednesday that Metallica is "a couple of nips and tucks" away from completing the album.

Upcoming gigs include a Saturday stop at Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM's annual Weenie Roast festival and a June 13 stand at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

Reuters/Billboard

Bruce Springsteen Tour Dates 2008 Madison Square Garden

Aug 30 Roadhouse at the Lakefront, Milwaukee, WI
Sept 2 Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
Sept 4 Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI
Sept 6 Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
Sept 7 Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept 9 Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, NJ
Sept 12 DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Sept 13 Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
Sept 17-18,
21, 24-25 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Sept 27 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
Sept 29 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD
Oct 1 Colonial Center, Columbia, SC
Oct 4 New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
Oct 5 Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX
Oct 7 AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Oct 8 Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Oct 11 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Oct 13 Pepsi Arena, Denver, CO
Oct 16 Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, AZ
Oct 19 MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Oct 22 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
Oct 26, 28 Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA
Oct 31 Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA

Madonna Tour dates 2008 from Tixx.com

Madonna Tour dates 2008

Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour itinerary:

23-Aug Cardiff Millennium Stadium
26-Aug Nice Stade Charles Ehrmann
28-Aug Berlin Olympic Stadium
2-Sept Amsterdam Arena
4-Sept Dusseldorf LTU Arena
6-Sept Rome Olympic Stadium
9-Sept Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena
11-Sept London Wembley Stadium
20-Sept Paris Stade de France
03-Oct E. Rutherford Izod Center
06-Oct New York City Madison Square Garden
07-Oct New York City Madison Square Garden
15-Oct Boston TD BankNorth Garden
18-Oct Toronto Air Canada Centre
22-Oct Montreal Bell Centre
26-Oct Chicago United Center
30-Oct Vancouver BC Place Stadium
1-Nov Oakland Oracle Arena
4-Nov San Diego Petco Park
6-Nov Los Angeles Dodger Stadium
8-Nov Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
11-Nov Denver Pepsi Center
16-Nov Houston Minute Maid Park
19-Nov Philadelphia Wachovia Center
22-Nov Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall
24-Nov Atlanta Philips Arena
26-Nov Miami Dolphin Stadium

Add new comment Email this

Tina Turner tour dates 2008

Tina Turner tour dates

October 2008
1 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
3 - Chicago, IL - United Center
6 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
13 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
14 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
19 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
22 - Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
24 - Phoenix, AZ - Jobing.com Arena
30 - Miami, FL - American Airlines Arena

for tickets go to www.tixx.com
November 2008
2 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - BankAtlantic Center
5 - Orlando, FL - Amway Arena
9 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
13 - Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
16 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
23 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
26 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center

December 2008
3 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
8 - Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre

Discount Broadway Show tickets 2008 from Tixx.com the source for NYC Broadway show tickets

Discount Broadway Show tickets 2008
Tixx.com has the following theater ticket specials
Gypsy tickets for this weekend just $20.00 each
to purchase the tickets go to www.wwwtixx.com and click on the link to gypsy under theater tickets


Gypsy on Broadway
Stage legend Patti LuPone stars in a flashy new production of this classic musical.

Set during the vaudeville era, Gypsy is about a relentless stage mother, Rose, traveling the country with her two daughters, June and Louise, and their manager, Herbie. While June and Louise wish their mother would settle down and marry Herbie, Rose continues to pursue dreams of stardom for her girls. When June deserts the act, Rose turns her attention to the shy Louise, whom she hopes to fashion into a star. When the act is booked into a burlesque house by mistake, Louise is forced into the spotlight and Gypsy Rose Lee is born.

This staging of Gypsy was first seen as part of New York City Center's new Encores! Summer Stars series.
Gypsy Discount Tickets
Please check today's discount Broadway ticket listings to see what discount ticket offers we have for this Broadway show

Stan's Review Springsteen from Red Bank NJ show Count Basie theater

Wednesday night's benefit show for the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank was one of those real special Bruce Springsteen performances. One that will go down in the history books as one of those great, great shows.
For the first time, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed a whole album from start to finish, in the order the songs appear on the album.
But it wasn't just one album, it was two. Fans were treated to the entire "Darkness on the Edge of Town" album, then the entire "Born To Run" album. To cap off the night, Bruce played four fun, fun encores.
Before the show started, Patti Scialfa came out to talk to the audience. She said she goes back more than 25 years with the Count Basie Theatre. She told the crowd that she grew up in Deal, just north of Asbury Park and the movie theater she remembers was the Mayfair Theater in Asbury Park. "It was so beautiful. It has this arched ceiling with the stars and the sky. And they had little love seats in the balcony that everyone got their first kiss in. Not me though!," said Scialfa.
She said how it was so sad when the tore down the Mayfair in the early 1970s and she wants to make sure what happened to the Mayfair Theater doesn't happen to the Count Basie.
Scialfa then introduced Brian Williams of NBC News. Williams, a native of Middletown and a graduate of Mater Dei High School, said he goes way back with the Jersey Shore, to the Stone Pony and to the Tradewinds. Said he spent many a night seeing the band Fresh and hitting those places after hearing rumors that Bruce might show up and play.
He talked up Jack's Music Shoppe in Red Bank, as "they sold more rolling papers than records in the 1970s."
Williams said: "I've been all over the world and there's no better place to be than right here."
Williams then introduced Bruce who came on at 8:39 p.m.
"Good evening" Bruce said to the packed house. He said: "We're going to do some different tonight. We're going to take the Darkness and Born To Run albums and play them in sequence for you.
"So that should be interesting."
Bruce said he was going to play the Darkness album first, so "we don't send you home suicidal."
He talked about writing the Darkness album. How in 1977 he was livining in a house on farm in Holmdel and it was a tough period in his life. "
When the band broke into "Badlands" the first song from the album, things were a bit messed up and Bruce said: "We ******* it up already."
The setlist:

1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

They took a 15-minute break and came back to play the "Born To Run" album.
Bruce talked about how it took him six months to write and record the song "Born To Run" and another six months to finish the rest of the album. He said it was make or break time for the band, as they were in danger of being dropped from Columbia Records.

.

11. Thunder Road
12. Tenth Ave Freezeout
They brought out a four-pience horn section for the song. Mark Pender, La Bamba, Jerry Vivino and Ed Manion played.
Bruce jumped into the crowd during the song. He jumped off the front of the stage in front of Little Steven, then walked over, past N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine, to the left side and jumped up on seats. As the crowd swarmed him, they lifted him up a bit. It was like a 1976 show again!

13. Night
14. Backstreets
15. Born To Run
16. She's The One
17. Meeting Across The River
Beautiful trumpet on this song by Mark Pender.

18. Jungleland

Encores:
19. So Young And In Love
Bruce had a lot of fun in this. He told the band to remind him that there was an instrumental part in there some where.

20 Kitty's Back
All the horn players did solos.
21. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
22. Raise Your Hand

Show ended at 11:14 p.m.

from live daily Bruce Springsteen fourm

Bruce Springsteen set list from Red Bank NJ show Count Basie theater

Here we go!!! Speakers & Intros @ 8:30 (Basis Board Members; Patti & Brian Williams)
Gov. Jon Corzine is in the house.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band!! 8:40

Bruce anounces they will play Darkness in sequence!!
Starts with Badlands... messes up... lots of laughter... starts again!

1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

They're taking a break. setting up horns...

9:50 Bruce is talking... "here we go"

11. Thunder Road
12. Tenth Ave Freezeout
13. Night
14. Backstreets
15. Born To Run
16. She's The One
17. Meeting Across The River

thats as of 10:30pm ...and they are still playing
Horns sound amazing.
_________________________

David Cook Homecoming Visit Tickets on Ebay

David Cook Homecoming Visit Tickets on Ebay
The tickets are only good if David makes it to the final three.
Last Edited: Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 1:06 PM CDT
Created: Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 1:06 PM CDT

Stories
David Cook Homecoming Schedule, Maps & Parking
American Idol Prediction: David Cook In, Jason Castro Out
Fans Vote For David Cook To Ensure Visit Home
Fans Search For David Cook Concert Tickets On Craigslist
Tickets Gone for David Cook Homecoming Appearance
David Cook Speaks of American Idol Perks
David Cook Goes to Bat for Kids & Royals
David Cook's Childhood Home for Sale


Videos






Poll
Do you care that American Idol contestant David Cook may be coming to Blue Springs?


Yes - It's so exciting to be highlighted on a national show.

No - What's American Idol?

David Cook poll & video




KANSAS CITY, MO. -- Just one day after 10,000 tickets were given away for David Cook's homecoming to Blue Springs, Missouri, tickets are showing up on the online auction site Ebay.

Cook will take part in a parade and concert in Blue Springs if he makes it past Wednesday night's elimination on American Idol.

The tickets for the show were free, but a $5 donation was being requested for the American Cancer Society in honor of David Cook's brother, Adam. Adam Cook is suffering from brain cancer.

As of Noon on Wednesday, about 10 bids had been made for the David Cook tickets. The bids range from $10-$26.

Tuesday afternoon, fans were already searching for tickets for sale on another site, Craigslist.

If you don't have a ticket to Cook's Blue Springs performance, you can also see him during an 11:30 a.m. mini-concert in the Power and Light District in downtown Kansas City. Cook will also make an appearance during the FOX 4 Morning Show on Friday.

FOX 4 and myfoxkc.com will live stream as much of David Cook's day as possible on Friday.

THe only live show thats worse than The Cars ...come to an END ...The Police tour to end

Police to play final show in New York
By SARA KUGLER – 19 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — The Police will cap their reunion tour with a final concert this summer in New York, where they started out 30 years ago.

At a news conference Tuesday in Times Square, frontman Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland also said they wanted to make a lasting contribution to New York, and announced they will donate $1 million to a city program that aims to plant 1 million trees by 2017.

"We have a long history here," Sting said. "We wanted to leave a gift with our last performance that would keep on giving year after year, decade after decade — the gift of trees does do that."

The Police split up in 1984 but reunited for an anniversary tour last year. They said details about the date, venue and tickets for the final show will be released soon. Proceeds will benefit public television.

The group said in a statement: "We kicked off our very first American tour at CBGB's in 1978, and this summer, 30 years later, our journey will come full circle as we play our final show here in New York City." (CBGB closed in October 2006 after 33 years in downtown New York.)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the group's donation to the tree program, plus $1 million in matching money from the city, will pay for the planting of 10,000 trees citywide.

In a nod to one of the Police's hits, Bloomberg said the gift helps "ensure that every breath we take is cleaner and greener."

Bloomberg also praised the Police as a group that has set a philanthropic standard.

But Sting's charitable organization, the Rainforest Foundation, has come under criticism recently for the percentage of contributions it spends on programs.

The independent philanthropy watchdog, Charity Navigator, said the Rainforest Foundation spent less than 61 percent of its revenue for the 2006 fiscal year. The organization, which tracks the 5,000 largest charities in the country, rates Rainforest Foundation with zero stars.

Charity Navigator spokeswoman Sandra Miniutti said most charities spend 75 percent or more, and that only about 2 percent of the charities it follows get a zero star rating.

Asked Tuesday about the claims against his foundation, Sting noted that in the charity's 20-year history, it has raised $25 million and spent more than $21 million, or 84 percent.

"That's a very good record," he said.

It is unfair to look at the organization's yearly expenditures, he added, because it operates on a two-year cycle.

"It's not only misleading but irresponsible to reflect our numbers in any other way," he said.

PNC Bank Arts center , the home of the HIGH service charge

Toby Fans get taken at the Arts Center

take a look at the service charge $12.50 per ticket for a $70 CONCERT TICKET THATS A 20% SERVICE CHARGE FROM TICKETMASTER


Seats
Description

FULL PRICE TICKET Ticket PriceUS $69.75 x 4
Convenience ChargeUS $12.85 x 4
Building Facility ChargeUS $4.25 x 4

Stone Temple Pilots Tour 2008

Stone Temple Pilots are about to embark on a reunion tour that launches May 17, and have added more dates to the outing. The upcoming run, which will be the band's first in almost six years, is scheduled to touch down in nearly 50 cities


for tickets go to www.tixx.com

Current Broadway Show listings

Broadway

★ ‘ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S THE 39 STEPS’ An absurdly enjoyable, gleefully theatrical riff on the 1935 Hitchcock movie, directed by Maria Aitken and featuring a cast of four that feels like a cast of thousands. This fast, frothy exercise in legerdemain is throwaway theater at its finest (1:45). Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Ben Brantley)

★ ‘AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY’ Tracy Letts’s turbocharged tragicomedy about an Oklahoma clan in a state of near-apocalyptic meltdown is the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years. Fiercely funny and bitingly sad, it somehow finds fresh sources of insight in that classic staple of the stage, the disintegrating American family. And the cast, from the Steppenwolf Theater Company, is beyond sublime (3:20). Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood)

‘A CATERED AFFAIR’ John Buccino and Harvey Fierstein’s short, slow and somber depiction of a blue-collar family planning an expensive wedding, inspired by the 1956 movie, is so low-key that it often seems to sink below stage level. John Doyle directs a scrupulously subdued cast led by Faith Prince, Tom Wopat and Mr. Fierstein (1:30). Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

‘CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF’ Anika Noni Rose and Terrence Howard deliciously embody those eternal adversaries, irresistible force and immovable object, as the battling husband and wife in the first act of this otherwise flabby revival of Tennessee Williams’s melodrama. Debbie Allen directs, none too certainly, a cast that also includes James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad (2:45). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

‘THE COUNTRY GIRL’ The sole source of suspense in this inert revival — directed by Mike Nichols and starring Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher — is whether three of the finest actors around can ever make you care about what their characters are going through (2:10). Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

‘CRY-BABY’ Tasteless, though not in the way you would expect from a show adapted from a movie by John Waters, the king of cinematic vulgarity. This bad-boy-meets-good-girl 1950s spoof has all the flavor of week-old, prechewed gum. Mark Brokaw directs a forgettable cast. (2:20). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley)

‘DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID’ The motto for this charm-free musical blunderbuss, based on the charming 1989 Disney movie, might be “You can’t go broke overestimating the taste of preschoolers.” Francesca Zambello directs an overwhelmed cast (2:20). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley)

‘GREASE’ A limp revival of a musical set in a high school that feels like a musical put on by a high school. Kathleen Marshall directs and choreographs a charisma-free ensemble, whose leads (Max Crumm and Laura Osnes) were cast via reality television (2:15). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley)

★ ‘GYPSY’ As the dangerously obsessed Momma Rose, Patti Lupone has found her focus. And when Ms. LuPone is truly focused, she’s a laser, she incinerates. Directed by Arthur Laurents, this wallop-packing incarnation of the great musical showbiz fable, also starring the superb Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti, shines with a magnified, soul-revealing transparency (2:30). St. James, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the bubbly Latin pop score for this musical about barrio life, also gives a captivating performance as the owner of a bodega who dispenses good cheer along with cafe con leche. Zesty choreography and a host of lively performers are among its other assets; its fundamental flaw is a vivid streak of sentimentality (2:20). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4100. (Isherwood)

★ ‘MACBETH’ Patrick Stewart brings fearsome insight to the title role in Rupert Goold’s good and nasty production of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Though the show has enough flash, blood and mutilation to satisfy Wes Craven fans, it’s Mr. Stewart’s brilliance that makes it a must-see. With Kate Fleetwood (excellent and original) as his stained trophy wife (2:45). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

‘THE NEW MEL BROOKS MUSICAL YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN’ This tiring adaptation of Mr. Brooks’s 1974 movie, directed by Susan Stroman and starring an amiable but overwhelmed Roger Bart, never seems to stop screeching at you. This means that: a) it soon wears out its voice, and b) it leaves you with a monster-size headache (2:45). Hilton Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, (212) 307-4100. (Brantley)

‘NOVEMBER’ David Mamet’s glib, jaunty comedy about a corrupt, unpopular president seeking re-election suggests a “Saturday Night Live” sketch retro-styled as a Sid Caesar comedy sketch. Joe Mantello, in his Neil Simon mode, directs a cast led by Nathan Lane (as the quipping president) and Laurie Metcalf (as his doormat speechwriter) (1:35). Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘PASSING STRANGE’ The rock ’n’ roll autobiography of Stew, a singer-songwriter who grew up in bourgeois black Los Angeles and trekked to Europe to find himself as an artist. The portrait of an artist in search of himself is an old story; Stew’s unique perspective, exuberant music and witty lyrics — and the show’s uniformly delightful cast — give it a vivid new sheen (2:10). Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood)

★ ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ Bartlett Sher’s rapturous revival of this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic recreates the unabashed, unquestioning romance American theatergoers once had with the American book musical. Kelli O’Hara and Paulo Szot are the revelatory stars of a pitch-perfect cast (2:50). Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE’ A glorious revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1984 musical about art according to Seurat. Making enchanting use of 21st-century technology to convey a 19th-century Pointillist’s point of view, this production also shimmers with a new humanity and clarity Daniel Buntrock directs a revelatory cast, led by Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell. (2:15). Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street, (212) 719-1300. (Brantley)

★ ‘XANADU’ An improbably entertaining spoof of the majestically awful movie from 1980 about a Greek muse (Olivia Newton-John, roller-skating into oblivion) who inspires a young artist in Venice Beach, Calif., to chase his disco dream. Kerry Butler mimics Ms. Newton-John’s Aussie accent and sports her signature skates-and-leg-warmers look, but also puts her own affectionate stamp on a seriously silly role. The impish playwright Douglas Carter Beane, who wrote the adaptation, also supplies great material for the domineering comic actresses Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa. Blissfully idiotic, practically sublime (1:30). Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Isherwood)

Springsteen gives Lynchburg man time of his life

Springsteen gives Lynchburg man time of his life
Photo


SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bruce Springsteen (center), poses for a photo with Roger Rudder (from left), Jeff Maxwell, Mike Ion and Joe Esposito. Rudder’s friends set up the meeting with Springsteen earlier this week.


By Catherine Chapman Mosley/THE NEWS & ADVANCE
Published: May 2, 2008

Roger Rudder was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis nearly four years ago. At the same time, several masses were also found on his pancreas. The 48-year-old, however, doesn’t like for people to feel sorry for him.

“Now that I am getting closer to the end,” Rudder said, “I want to make the most of what time I have.”

He got some help from his friends this week to do just that.

Rudder and several friends drove to Greensboro on Monday to see Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Rudder wasn’t feeling well after five songs, so his friends urged him to leave, taking him to the emergency facility at the coliseum.

Upon reaching Rudder’s truck in the coliseum parking lot, his friends discovered it had been broken into, and 96 of Roger’s CDs, many Springsteen ones, had been stolen.

Rudder, of Lynchburg, has shopped for years at Plan 9 Music (formerly The Record Exchange) at Candlers Station. “Just by seeing what he buys and conversations we’ve had, I knew he was a huge Bruce Springsteen fan,” said store manager Adam Lee.

Lee knew Rudder and his friends were going to try again on Wednesday to attend Springsteen’s concert in Charlottesville.

“You could tell that he (Rudder) thought this was his last concert or the last time he would see Bruce Springsteen.”

On Tuesday, Lee said he walked out of the store with Rudder, put his arm around him and prayed for him, his health, and God’s will.

“My heart was stirred,” Lee said. After a series of phone calls, he sent an e-mail Tuesday afternoon to Sony BMG. Subject line: “Urgent Bruce Springsteen fan request.”

Wednesday morning arrived with a call from a Sony BMG representative who said, “Let’s make this thing happen.”

Rudder still didn’t know anything about it, and throughout the day, plans were put in place for him to meet Springsteen, his “lifetime hero.”

And Rudder did exactly that — along with friends Mike Ion, Jeff Maxwell and Joe Esposito — shortly after the concert Wednesday night.

“He met us and signed things for us,” Rudder said on Friday. “He went out of his way to treat me as a friend, with familiarity. He gave me a stack of CDs and gave me the set list he wrote up before the concert. He made sure I had an experience I would remember forever.

“I felt like I knew him forever, and I was not just meeting him.”

Springsteen recently lost a friend and longtime member of the E Street Band. Danny Federici, organist and keyboard player for 40 years, died on April 17 after battling melanoma.

Rudder recalled the concert’s opening tribute to Federici in Charlottesville. The band played “Blood Brothers” in darkness with a huge screen showing images of Federici.

“It choked me up,” Rudder said, “… knowing where I am in my life. Knowing that Bruce made the effort to meet me.”

“(This experience) has touched my heart,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better gift.”

Or better friends.

“Roger said it was the highlight of his life,” Lee said. “The smile on his face is all I wanted.”

“What it all boils down to is friends,” Rudder said. “(Mike Ion) didn’t care about missing the concert (Monday night). He cared about getting me home. To have Mike get to meet Bruce — that meant the world to me.”

“I still have a smile on my face. I feel terrible, but I have a smile on my face that just won’t go away.”


bruce springsteen
springsteen tour
Turbo Tagger

Tina Turner tour dates 2008

Tina Turner says she's hitting the road again

Apr 30 07:54 PM US/Eastern
Write a Comment


for tickets go to www.tixx.com

View larger image

CHICAGO (AP) - entertainmentminute Tina Turner says she's hitting the road again for her first tour in the United States in seven years.
The 68-year-old singer announced on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that it will begin Oct. 1 in Kansas City. Tickets for Turner's tour go on sale May 12.

The R&B legend appeared with singer-actress Cher, 61, on an episode taped Saturday in Las Vegas before a crowd of 4,000 people. The broadcast is scheduled to air May 8.

Winfrey asked both women how they feel about getting older in show business, according to remarks released Wednesday in advance by Harpo Productions.

"I think it sucks," said Cher.

for tickets to see Tina Turner go to www.tixx.com Starting Monday

"That number doesn't mean a thing. It just doesn't," said Turner.