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14 Aug 2011 11:23

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Music, U.S.: Indiana stage collapse follows Flaming Lips, Cheap Trick incidents

  • We are all right. We are praying for our fans, and the people of Indianapolis. We hope you’ll join us. They need your strength.
  • The members of Sugarland • In a tweet sent out soon after last night’s devastating stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair, where Sugarland was performing last night. There has been a spate of these lately — just last weekend, The Flaming Lips suffered a bunch of damage to their gear after a similar stage collapse in Oklahoma which took out a massive video screen. And prior to that, Cheap Trick had a stage fall to the ground in Canada, nearly injuring the band and thousands of spectators. The Indiana situation was clearly the worst, however — five lives were lost and 40 people were injured, and those numbers could go up. Devastating. source

08 Feb 2010 10:06

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Culture: Audi’s “Green Police”: A great joke people don’t seem to get

  • The second-best ad on last night’s Super Bowl is a huge talker – an Audi ad that takes the idea of political correctness to a stupidly high degree. Problem is, it hits a little too close to the bone for a lot of people. Why? Because it takes political correctness to a level that many people have suspected already existed for years, whether or not the “green police” really existed. Reason Magazine (who you figure would be all over this) nail the comparison: This is Mike Judge‘s vision of the future. Satire at its best makes you feel most uncomfortable. (The use of Cheap Trick in the ad is also pitch-perfect and completely non-controversial.)

13 Jun 2009 22:19

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Music: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Cheap Trick Band hopes you will enjoy the show

  • Cheap Trick goes Beatles in Vegas this Fall. With the apparently diminishing returns of Tinted Windows not being nearly enough to keep drummer Bun E. Carlos busy, the meal ticket power-pop band he provides backing to will go to Vegas this September to play a series of “Sgt. Pepper”-themed shows, complete with orchestra. Don’t they have enough of their own hits to play that they don’t need to play another band’s? source

23 Feb 2009 21:32

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Music: Know Tinted Windows, that kinda-supergroup? Here’s a photo.

Who looks most out of place? Our vote is for James Iha’s wig. There’s music, too, BTW. source

18 Feb 2009 22:00

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Music: Put random musicians in a blender, get Tinted Windows

  • A sorta-supergroup Remember Hanson? Betcha thought Taylor was dreamy. And how about that Asian guy from Smashing Pumpkins whose guitar parts Billy Corgan replaced with his own? What about the guy from Fountains of Wayne who writes all the songs but doesn’t sing? Put them together with the drummer from Cheap Trick, and you have, uh, a band of some kind.
  • An album’s already done Tinted Windows is already far along in their band-life process. Not only do they have an album recorded, but they’re going to play a Billboard showcase at SXSW next month. In case you’re wondering why this bizarre combination makes sense, here’s the connection: Adam Schlesinger (who wrote “That Thing You Do!”) and ex-Pumpkin James Iha co-own a studio together. source