Live Nation has dropped the “Fillmore” Name from Philly’s TLA. A while back, I was pretty critical of Live Nation’s move towards re-branding well-established venues with new brands like the Fillmore. As it turns out, that didn’t work so well for the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philly, as they’ve gone back to the good old TLA original naming. I said it a year ago and I’ll say it again: let’s leave the well-established venue names alone. If we want to set up new venues under the Fillmore, HOB or other venue brands, that’s fine. A new Fillmore East could actually be really cool. But if it’s an established venue like the TLA or Irving Plaza, the re-naming is simply a marketing ploy. How about we focus our “re-vamping” on the things that fans actually see and care about: the bands that are booked, the prices of tickets and drinks, and the physical facilities (bars, bathrooms, stage set-up, webcasting/recording functionality, etc.)?

Eliot at Listening Post seems pretty impressed with FanPrice, the new name-your-own-price site for concert tickets. I do like the idea that unsold tickets can help bring the price down…remember, not all secondary ticketing raises the price.

Last.fm, has partnered with Bowery Presents for concerts. Pretty cool to see more online partnerships between venues and music-oriented social networks. Expect to see more of these kinds of deals in the future.

JamBase is now syndicating its concert database to imeem and Fuzz.com. Good stuff. After all these years, JamBase is still one of my go-to sites for checking concert listings. Nice work, JamBasers.

Ticketmaster debuted its “Paperless Ticket,” allowing for fans to enter concerts with an ID and a credit card rather than dealing with paper tickets (that can be stolen, sold, or lost). Good to see Ticketbastard doing some innovating of their own.

Live Nation has teamed with AT&T Blueroom for concert webcasts. Better later than never. Schedule for June:
– June 6: John Mayer
– June 13: Coheed & Cambria
– June 20: Seether
– June 27: The Black Crowes

“Playable Search” site, Seeqpod, has launched playable event guides for festivals, concerts, and other events with audio. Here’s an example for the upcoming Bonnaroo festival, featuring festival headliners:

Hat tip to Listening Post for the link.

Any other concert industry news we should be reporting? Drop a comment and let us know.

• Pearl Jam to Headline Lollapalooza 2007!
  Chicago Sun-Times’ Pop Music Critic, Jim Derogatis, is today reporting that Pearl Jam will headline this year’s Lollapalooza, which is set for August 3rd – 5th in Grant Park…
• Langerado 2007 Preview | Checkin’ Out the New
  Yep, that’s right folks, I’ll be headin’ down to Florida for the festival extravaganza that is Langerado! One thing I’m especially exicted about is the possibility of checkin’ out a bunch of bands that I’ve never experienced in the live setting.

Full roundup after the jump…

Continued…

• The Duo’s Latest Doings | Marco Tour, the ‘Zeppelin Experience,’ and Indie Props
  Been wondering about the Benevento-Russo Duo? They had a rather huge 2006, dropping a stellar album, doing a summer tour with Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon, hitting Lollapalooza, and wrapping things up with a solid fall tour.
• Bonnaroo 2007 | Artists Additions, Round One
  So Bonnaroo quietly announced two more additions to their initial line-up that was leaked and subsequently confirmed a couple weeks back. The two new additions are: The Roots and The Wild Magnolia Mardi Gras Indians
• Chk Chk Chk (!!!) Makes Me Dance Dance Dance [video]
  This band with the name nobody’s sure what to do with have recently been really grabbin’ my attention. Perhaps I’m just in a dancey/groovy mood this week, but the tracks I’ve been hearing from their forthcoming album are hot hot hot!
• The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne Believes…
  Yesterday, NPR listeners were treated to a little soliloquoy by Mr. Coyne when he added his commentary for the NPR series of personal stories, “This, I Believe.” Coyne discussed his experience realizing ways to achieve personal happiness…
• The Police 2007 Tour | Sell-Outs and New Dates
  The recently re-united Police have created quite a stir in the concert world since they played the Grammys. They’ve recently sold out a bunch of the initial stadium dates they announced a couple weeks back, which included a headlining slot at Bonnaroo…
• Feist | New CD and Tour Dates
  She’s been labeled everything from a modern torch singer to a retro indie rocker. Her MySpace lists her genre as indie/folk/alternative. And reportedly you can hear all of these facets of Feist and more on her newly announced 2007 CD, The Reminder.
• Joshua Tree Music Festival | 2007 Line-up
  California music festivals are popular for a number of reasons. The Joshua Tree Music Festival is no exception to the norm. The festival takes place May 18th – 20th…
• Toubab Krewe | Spring 2007 Tour Dates
  Toubab Krewe — who I recently tagged as one of the bands I’m excited to see for the first time at Langerado — starts its Spring tour tonight at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC.
• The Slip | 2007 Spring Tour Dates
  The Slip — perhaps the band that best exemplifies the term “post-jam” — had a big 2006. But, to be honest, I think they may be slated for an even bigger year in 2007.
• The Whigs | 2007 Tour Dates
  Ever heard the Whigs? Plain and simple, these guys rock…
• Phish Friday | Fall ’97, Not Just the Cow Funk Era
  There are various “eras” of Phish history that get a lotta play, but I’d venture to say that the band’s Fall 1997 tour is one of the most popular and often given the label “Epic!”
• Heady Links | New Album Edition
  …so what better way to spend the time than to sip on a beverage and whip up a bunch of ‘heady links’ for all ya’ll. I thought I’d mention a few album items from this past week…
• Podcast #054 – The Best of the Bays
  Last week, I wrote a little round-up of some of the key bands that play some form of live, electronic dance music. But I realized that I neglected to mention a band that I really should have discussed: The Bays

Unless he goes buck-wild and decides to stay in Maui, Justin will be back on the site this week. On Thursday, I will be heading down to Florida for Langerado, and should have a couple updates for all ya’ll. So stay tuned for an awesome week…

Radiohead is back at work in the studio (apparently “rebuilt” after the massive wind storms of Europe); speaking of Radiohead, Rock Music Daily has some solid live Radiohead MP3s from 1997.

Looks like the Pitchfork Music Festival is returning to Chicago in 2007, and is now slated for July 14-15th
….So who do you think’s gonna be there? TV on the Radio? The Knife? Are those too obvious?

The next Wilco album has a name and a release date: Sky Blue Sky will be out May 15th (this, according to coverage of a recent Tweedy solo show. Sounds good to me Jeff, but more significant news might be: what’s going to be on that album?)

LCD Soundsystem may finally be adding some U.S. dates to that European schedule…they’ve got 2 nights at the Bowery in NYC (and the 1st night is already sold out?!?). Hopefully, they’ll bring their disco-punk madness nationwide.

Glide has a nice feature on a Live Music Blog favorite: Toubab Krewe

and last but not least…

Still got some old gems on tape that just HAVE to be on your iPod? Well, bust out those old XLIIs and zip them onto your computer system with this thing.

Got any random tips or juicy tidbits? Drop us a line in the comments.