U2 And Christina Aguilera Will Not Be Riding Their Wild Horses This Summer
U2 and Christina Aguilera have both postponed their summer tours, thus reducing the number of big-name tours with headliners who don't have to be referred to as "nostalgia acts" to an even-smaller number. (No, really, have you looked at the roster for your local shed? Scorpions, Foreigner, Yes, Chicago — it's like 1983 never ended up.) U2's jaunt, which included a headlining stint at the Glastonbury Festival, has been moved to 2011 because of frontman Bono's back surgery; the Aguilera tour has been ditched until next year because the singer "needed more time to rehearse the show," according to a statement from Live Nation, the concert megapromoter that's putting on both those shows. (I wonder how that corralling of the entire large-scale live-music market is going for them? Eh, whatever, they'll probably just add a few "facility charges" to make up for the lost U2 revenue.) In related Aguilera news, her forthcoming album Bionic leaked last night; the record is 18 tracks and includes cameos from Nicki Minaj, Lil Jon (really?), Le Tigre, and Peaches. "My Girls," which features the latter two, is embedded after the jump.
I'm still giving Bionic a first spin, but one thing that's marked its best tracks so far is Christina's willingness to rein in her super-sized pipes and have fun with her voice. "I Am," a collaboration with the deliberately oddball singer Sia, is particularly satisfying on this front.







U2 isn't a nostalgia act?
I would say that any band who has million-selling albums that have come out in the last five years isn't solely a nostalgia act.
That benchmark would make the Beatles not solely a nostalgia act, so, erm, yeah.
I'm sorry, did the Beatles reunite and record new material when I wasn't looking?
I always considered Memory Almost Full the lost Wings record.
Damn, it's 10 years since "#1s" came out, so I fail. Where'd the time go? I'd still rate the Beatles in 2005 as both meeting your criteria, and being solely a nostalgia act, though.
Except they aren't and weren't touring.
And not recording ENTIRELY NEW ALBUMS OF MATERIAL (that are sorta subpar overall, but still)
It is nice to hear that Christina Aguilera is so prepared to fill that void once Cher passes.
I think someone should tell Gwen Stefani about this…
In Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves, the townies played "too-la-roo-la-roo-la" music in order to chase tourists out of the bar … then they switched to U2.
Maybe I grew up listening to too damn much of it, but U2 is usually what chases me out. Bono is such an insufferable shitheel.
+1 for perfectly capturing essence of Bono in 2 words.
These guys could perform and you wouldn't know the difference.
http://www.uf2.com
I was kinda looking forward to what her stuff with Ladytron was gonna sound like, but apparently that's on the non-leaked special edition or whatever.
"I Am" is the only non-disappointing track on Aguilera's record. I'm holding off final judgment until the deluxe edition leaks, but it's not looking good.