On Stage: Boy George is Back

Yes, Boy George, the lead singer of Culture Club, a new wave pop band from the 1980s which is also going to tour this year, will be coming to a venue near you, unless you live in rural Kentucky.

The show which caught our attention is his scheduled April 21st performance at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, which will assuredly be attended by Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Va), which reminds of the old Frank Zappa saying: "When God invented Republicans, he showed he has a sense of humor."

Culture Club, which is known for a number of top ten hits including "Karma Chameleon," has actually toured as well in recent years, including a 2011 concert in Dubai!

Boy George also sang with Bono, the lead singer of U2, on "Do They Know It's Christmas Time at Home?"....amazingly enough, both singers cite David Bowie as a major influence on them.

The lead singer of Culture Club is actually on tour with solo shows in Europe, we think he played somewhere in Belgium last night.

And, in addition to his 9:30 Club show, which costs $35, he will be at Irving Plaza in New York on the following night, April 22nd.

http://www.culture-club.co.uk

http://www.930.com

http://www.boygeorgeuk.com

Google/Bing Question of the Day: How Many Top 40 Hits Did Huey Lewis and the News Have?

The 1980s band Huey Lewis and the News is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of their biggest-selling album "Sports," which featured "I Wanna New Drug," "Heart and Soul" and "The Heart of Rock N Roll," by touring North America.

So, we decided to ask one of the major search engines (we don't play favorites here, well......I guess there are times when we do): How Many Top 40 Hits Did Huey Lewis and the News Have"?

As it turns out the San Francisco-based band had 16 top 40 hits, including three number-one songs: "Jacob's Ladder," "The Power of Love" and "Stuck with You," none of which were on "Sports."

Huey Lewis and the News are now swinging through the east coast. They play at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., just outside of Washington, DC, tomorrow night. Their competition will be '80s new wave pop singer Adam Ant ("Goody Two Shoes") who will be playing at the 9:30 Club in the nation's capital.

The band then plays Atlantic City, NJ, (Aug. 16th), Nashville, Tenn. (Aug. 25th) and Boston (aug. 28th).


http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com

http://www.wolftrap.org

http://www.930.com

For a link to see where another '80s icon Pat Benatar is performing, go to our sister blog:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Where's Josh Ritter?

For starters, we should point that our title is not to imply that singer/writer Josh Ritter is a missing person; it is rather a take on "Where's Waldo?"_ we are also going to explain where Ritter is performing in the coming weeks.

I have seen Ritter at Cat's Cradle three times in the last six years, and he is absolutely amazing in concert. Of course, now that I'm in my early forties, I'm glad I know the difference between Ritter and Andrew Bird.

Alas, the titles of his songs and records escape, but that's why we have Wikipedia right?

Here is where Ritter will be playing soon; and we are including a link to WXYC-FM, the student-run radio station of the University of North Carolina as he will be performing at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC, a  community which literally borders Chapel Hill:

May 8 State Theatre Portland, Maine

May 9 Calvin Theatre Northampton, Mass.

May 11th and 12th 9:30 Club Washington, DC (both shows are sold out)

May 12 Cat's Cradle Carrboro (Chapel Hill), NC

May 13 The Orange Peel Asheville, NC

http://www.joshritter.com

http://www.930.com

http://www.catscradle.com

http://www.wxyc.org

http://www.whereswaldo.com

At the 9:30 Club in Washington DC- Cowboy Mouth

Since we periodically like to keep folks in the know as to who is playing at the hippest concert venues (we know of) within 200 miles of the swank hamlet of Boones Mill, Va., in rural Franklin County where we are blogging from on this very late Friday night (he's lying!), we thought we'd mention that the New Orleans rock band Cowboy Mouth will be at the famed 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, on Sept. 4.

The band, which took its name from a '70s Sam Shepard and Patti Smith stage play of the same name, are perhaps best known for their 1997 hit song "Jenny Says," but fans also like "Love of My Life" and "Everybody Loves Jill," in which audiences throw red spoons on stage.

The doors for the concert open at 8:00 p.m., and tickets are $25. The venue is located at 815 V. St. in the nation's capital and it seats up to 1,200 people.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.930.com or by calling 1-877-9849.

The web site urbandictionary.com is offering 9:30 Club trucker's hats for $19.95!

The club also hosts Big Head Todd and the Monsters on Sept. 23 and Teenage Fan Club on Oct. 2.

SIDEBAR: One of our favorite west coast bands Mates of State, based in San Francisco, is performing at The University of Utah on Sept. 17 before heading to New England for shows at The Paradise Rock Club in Boston on Sept. 26 and The Met in Pawtucket, RI, on Sept. 27.

Lorretta Lynn @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC

Country singer Loretta Lynn, aka "The Coal Miner's Daughter" will be at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC- of all places (this is a place where one would see a band like Cold War Kids) on Sat. And, the legendary singer has been known to perform at county fairs in places like Front Royal, Va., in recent years.

She will be performing with The Lynns and Justin Jones. Doors open @ 6:00 p.m. The show is $55. 202-393-0930.