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  U2 Crowned The New King Of Touring
  LOS ANGELES -- After a sold-out April 10 performance at Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Irish rock legends U2's '360 tour' has broken the previous record of tour grosses set by the Rolling Stones.The previous record, held by the Stones for their 2005 - 2007 'Bigger Bang' outing, was substantial, with gross ticket sales of more than $554.
  
  ADVERTISEMENT Moreover, U2's '360' still has an additional 26 dates on the books and Live Nation is expecting that when all is said and done, ticket sales will have topped the $700 million mark.Thus far, U2 360 has been seen by more than 5 million fans with performances across Europe, Russia, North America, South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. By the time the tour wraps up on July 30, another 2 million people will have been added to the totals.
  
  "These numbers are staggering, a fantastic result. U2 have invented a new style of rock show and they continue to deliver their fans the best possible live experience. An in-the-round transportable stadium production is something that the touring industry has been trying to figure out for some time. The extra capacity that the U2 360 creates also allows for a large number, several thousand in fact, of low priced tickets at every show," said Live Nation's Arthur Fogel, the tours promoter/producer."That dollar figure for the gross looks enormous! Of course I can't tell you what the net is, but I can tell you that the band spend enormous sums on production for their audience. Fans all over the world agree that a ticket to U2 360 is good value for money. We're really proud of this tour and this achievement is great news, coming as we head back into North America." added U2's manager Paul McGuinness. - CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
  
  
  Coachella To Boost Concert Experience With Tech
  
  NEW YORK (AP) -- When Coachella starts on Friday, headlining acts like Kanye West, the Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire and others might find themselves upstaged by the stage itself.The 80-foot-tall, 140-foot wide structure -- a cube of lights that will "interact" with the thousands in the audience -- won't just be in the background, but is expected to play a major role in the performances of many of the acts. It's part of big push by the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to infuse the annual extravaganza with flashy, trippy tech features that are aimed at redefining the concert experience."I think it will shock people," said Matt Clark of the United Visual Artists, the firm that designed the stage, which he described as "architecture."
  
  "This is really a quite unique moment for festivals," he added. "I think it will just make other festivals feel like they have to up the ante." The Coachella festival begins on Friday in the desert of Indio, Calif., and marks the unofficial kickoff of the summer music festival season. Dozens and dozens of acts -- including Lauryn Hill, Mumford & Suns, Wiz Khalifa, Robyn and the Strokes -- are slated to perform until the early morning hours on a variety of stages and tents. While Coachella has brought innovative artistic elements to the festival in previous years, this year, its producers called on The Creators Project -- a year-old art initiative developed by the media company Vice and tech giant Intel -- to give its festival a tech-infused boost.
  
  "We felt that we wanted to give the people going to the event something new, just to keep that show moving," said Paul Tollett, president of concert promoter Goldenvoice, which is putting on Coachella. "I believe people are going to love it."
  Perhaps the most ambitious project is the main stage, which consists of a huge, square light fixture that will be closed during performances, then open to reveal even more lighting. The lighting will be coordinated with certain performances, and when the stage is "dark," it will still be lit during the evening hours, responding to audience motion with light patterns of its own.
  
  "It transforms and changes shape in order to really create a personality for itself," said Clark, "but it also functions as a regular stage for the artists. ... It acts as a dynamic canvas for the acts."Several artists and groups have already planned for elaborate theatrical components that will play off the huge stage, all to be kept under wraps. Arcade Fire is planning something with Chris Milk, who directed their interactive "The Wilderness Downtown" video; Interpol is also planning something special that guitarist Daniel Kessler didn't want to reveal, but teased: "Visually, I think we're presenting something that we haven't done before."
  
  The main stage won't be the only one touched by The Creators Project. In one tent, there will be a huge light installation; in another, there will be numerous spotlights that once entered will play the Spiritualized song "Ladies and Gentleman, We Are Floating In Space" (the band won't actually be at Coachella, however). "This is taking performance to a whole new level, where lighting and the visual experience is as powerful in some cases as the music," said Deborah Conrad of Intel.
  
  "The whole convergence isn't just about music," she said. "It's a convergence of art and technology in a way that's truly a first."
  Shane Smith, co-founder of Vice, said many bands are already tapping into technology for the videos and shows, and Coachella's revamp this year is another extension of that. "You really want to keep taking things forward. You don't want to say music is a static things let's just keep it there," said Smith. "As a big festival, you either embrace it or you run the risk of being left behind." Yet while Spiritualized frontman Jason Pierce is excited over the light installation -- calling it a kind of beautiful "planetarium" -- he also said that adding new bells and whistles wasn't critical to enhance music's connection with its fans.
  
  "Kids have always interacted with music, that's nothing new," he said. "I don't think it's a new level for music. ... maybe people are not pushing themselves in other areas if they're looking for a little light box as some kind of panacea to it all, or some kind of step up." Kessler also said technical wizardry wasn't necessary to get fans excited about Coachella, but commended its promoters for attempting to create a new artistic space."I give Coachella a lot of credit that they try to do something different this year," he said. "For them to try and do something different, I think it shows a great character of the people behind the festival."
  
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  VitalSigns: The Industry Beat
  
  
  The Agency Group Ltd. - London
  Ace Of Base have signed with Neil Warnock for exclusive UK & European representation.
  
  APA / Agency For The Performing Arts
  Engelbert Humperdinck have signed with Keith Naisbitt for exclusive representation.
  
  The Billions Corporation
  Scattered Trees have signed with Andrew Morgan for exclusive representation.
  
  CAA / Creative Artists Agency
  Blondie have signed with Mario Tirado & Chris Dalston for exclusive representation.
  
  Ground Control Touring
  Jonny Corndawg has signed with Sarah Mroue for exclusive representation.
  Widowspeak has signed with John Chavez for exclusive representation.
  
  ICM / International Creative Management
  Kid Ink has signed with Mitch Blackman for exclusive representation.
  
  Madison House Inc.
  Creep have signed with Jake Schneider for exclusive representation.
  Rubblebucket have signed with Alicia Karlin & Jake Schneider for exclusive representation.
  Sole have signed with Jake Schneider for exclusive representation.
  Sole & The Skyrider Band have signed with Jake Schneider for exclusive representation.
  
  Monterey International Inc.
  Emerson Hart (of Tonic) have signed with Brodie Becker & Ryan Owens for exclusive representation.
  Jeff "Skunk" Baxter have signed with Paul Goldman for exclusive representation.
  John Denver A Rocky Mountain High have signed with Garry Buck for exclusive representation.
  Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers have signed with Jerry Lima for exclusive representation.
  Staff Benda Bilili have signed with Brian Swanson for exclusive representation.
  Sunny War have signed with Patrick McAuliff & Ron Kaplan for exclusive representation.
  Tonic have signed with Brodie Becker & Ryan Owens for exclusive representation.
  Tribal Seeds have signed with Patrick McAuliff for exclusive representation.
  
  WME Entertainment - Nashville
  Blessid Union of Souls have signed with Ember Tanksley for exclusive representation.
  
  
  MANAGEMENT SIGNINGS:
  The Consortium
  • Billy Joe Walker Jr. has signed with Stan Moress & Al Schiltz.
  
  Earnest Management
  • Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion have signed with Lee Smith.
  
  Hard 8 Management
  • Sleeper Agent have signed with Rich Egan & Jeffrey Azoff.
  
  Legend Entertainment Corp.
  • Blessid Union of Souls have signed with Mark Liggett.
  
  Manage This!
  • Boston Spaceships have signed with David Newgarden.
  
  Media Consultants Inc.
  • Adam Barta has signed with Gehrig Peterson.
  
  Ricochet Management
  • Life On Repeat have signed with Jim Present.
  
  
  LABEL SIGNINGS:
  BEC Recordings
  • Jessa Anderson
  
  Century Media Records
  • 7 Horns 7 Eyes
  
  eleveneleven
  • Savannah Robinson
  
  Tropical Recordings
  • No-Limit
  
  Vagrant Records
  • MonstrO
  
  
  PUBLICITY SIGNINGS:
  • MSO PR / The Mitch Schneider Organization
  • Chris Lake have signed with Alexandra Greenberg & Bari Lieberman.
  • Golden State have signed with Angela Villanueva.
  • Kristeenyoung have signed with Alexandra Greenberg.
  • Sander Kleinenberg have signed with Alexandra Greenberg & John Ochoa.
  • Taryn Manning have signed with Alexandra Greenberg & Angela Villanueva.
  • Whooznxt have signed with Libby Coffey.
  
  
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