Live Music News: Bon Jovi & U2 Dates on Sale; More Springsteen Full Albums

Here's a special live edition of our semi-irregular music news. Three heavy hitters in arena rock are in the news with live dates this week:

* Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band continue their string of New York shows at Madison Square Garden, and they've announced that this weekend's shows will feature albums performed in their entirety. On Saturday, November 7th they will perform the whole The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, Springsteen's second album, for the first time ever.

The next night, November 8th, Bruce and the band will give the full-album treatment to 1980's The River, also for the first time.

Tickets may still be available for these shows.

* Bon Jovi tickets for the first-ever concerts at the new Giants Stadium (May 26 and 27) went on sale earlier this week; visit the band's Web site for information.

* U2 continues its series of presales for its 2010 concerts. This is the second week of the presales, which are open to U2.com subscribers, and include shows in Anaheim (June 6th), Denver (June 12th), Chicago (July 6th ), Miami (July 9th), and New York (July 19th).

Tickets for these dates go on sale to the public Monday, November 9th.

CMJ Wrapup: What Were the Highlights of CMJ 2009?

The five days of frenzy known as CMJ 2009 have ended in New York, and the music critics and bloggers are weighing in on what what notable about this year's indie rock fest.

(Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to any CMJ events this year. Oh well, sometimes the timing just doesn't work out.)

The New York Times says there was no one standout at this year's CMJ, as there was when R.E.M. and Arcade Fire made their names. But the paper gave a lot of ink to Florida's Surfer Blood, and also liked New York bands Cymbals Eat Guitars and The Antlers, among other bands.

Alisa Ali of The Alternate Side, the fine alt/indie channel of Fordham University's radio station WFUV, liked The Shackeltons as well as Drink Up Buttercup, Real Estate, Apache Beat, and Local Natives. Her article has videos from the latter two.

The latest edition of NPR Music's All Songs Considered features several live songs from CMJ, as well the entire show performed by Patrick Watson. Show host Bob Boilen raved about Watson, as I wrote on the Canadian music blog North by East West (www.nxew.ca), calling him "hands down the best performer all week. His band was stellar."

Fortunately, Patrick Watson's show was recorded and is now available as a free podcast download (it can also be streamed online). To download the concert, you may have to use iTunes or a similar program.

"Believe," New Album by Australian Guitarist Orianthi, is Out; Get Her New Single Free

I've written before about the young guitarist Orianthi, who was to be part of Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour. She's played with a lot of her guitar heroes, from Santana to Steve Vai, and after getting a lot of attention for her rehearsals with Jackson and her stint playing in Carrie Underwood's band on the Grammy Awards, Orianthi now has her own full-length album out.

Orianthi's "Believe"drops on October 27th and is available on CD and in digital format.

The 24-year-old Orianthi (full name: Orianthi Panagaris), who's been living in Los Angeles the last few years, is currently doing promotion for "Believe," and has been announcing the latest developments on her Twitter page. As of midnight on Oct. 26th the CD is ranked #165 on Amazon's music bestsellers list (for CDs), but that is sure to rise with some high-profile appearances, such as going on "Good Morning America" on Oct. 27th. She and her band will be going on tour soon to support "Believe."

Orianthi's first single from the album, "According to You," is free on iTunes as its single of the week starting on Tuesday, October 27th.

CNN Entertainment has a story on Orianthi in which she discusses working with Jackson on his tour.

2009 WFMU Record Fair - This Weekend!

As if you weren't already suffering from musical overload with the CMJ Music Marathon in full swing, this weekend is another annual Fall attraction for New York-area rock fans: the WFMU Record Fair.

Once again the "free-form station of the nation" in Jersey City will put on its extravaganza of vinyl (including LPs, 45s, and 12"s), CDs, DVDs, and even VHS tapes. There will also be special WFMU records on sale for a dollar, and a number of live music events as well.

The fair will be held at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 W. 18th St. (between 6th & 7th Avenues). One-day admission is $7, or you can buy an early-bird admission for $25 that gets you in a few hours early on Friday and allows you unlimited entry the entire weekend. And, of course, it gives you first crack at the merchandise, including rare and hard-to-find items.

If you're ready to take a break from the live music in the clubs for CMJ, head on over to the WFMU Record Fair and pick up some choice recordings to take home.