Cherie Currie Playing NYC in November; Tickets on Sale Friday

It's been a long time coming but Cherie Currie, who gained fame as the lead singer of The Runaways, is touring again, and will play New York's Gramercy Theatre on November 6th. Tickets are $33.50 with fees and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

 Cherie Currie (holding microphone) at a promotional appearance for the movie "The Runaways" with (left to right) Floria Sigismondi (the film's director), Dakota Fanning (who plays Curie in the movie), and Kristen Stewart (who plays Joan Jett). Photo: Jon Lebkowsky (weblogsky) on Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Runaways were a trailblazer for having an all-female lineup, and after Currie left the group she released a few albums on her own, including one with her twin sister Marie. And she gained attention for her acting in the movie "Foxes," opposite Jodie Foster.

But Currie spent limited time in the public eye after that, save for occasional roles in TV in film (including the "Twilight Zone" movie and episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" and "Matlock"). She re-emerged in people's consciousness a few years back when doing appearances and interviews in connection with the movie "The Runaways." Other than that, she's been content to lead a relatively quiet life, creating wooden works of art with a chainsaw... until now.
Fortunately for music fans, Currie is hitting the road again. She played a few dates in May and will be touring throughout the U.S. during August. She may well have other dates in November in addition to the New York gig.

It's not known if has been recording any new music to play on this tour, but in any case it's great to see one of the pioneers in female rock playing out again. Welcome back, Cherie Currie!

______________________

Other notable New York concerts going on sale soon:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Restavrant at Warsaw, Fri., Oct. 4th. On sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck at the Beacon Theatre, with Al Jardine and David Marks, Tues., Oct. 15th. On sale Friday at 12 Noon.

On sale now:
The Both (Aimee Mann and Ted Leo) at Warsaw, Wed., Sept. 11th.

"Cherry Bomb" - Performed Live by Cherie Currie, Kathy Valentine, and Others

Here's a great video of female rockers past and present: Cherie Currie, lead singer for The Runaways, singing the band's hit "Cherry Bomb" live in concert with a band including Kathy Valentine and Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Go's (Valentine to Currie's left; Caffey to Currie's right).

This performance was part of a concert in L.A. last week to benefit MusiCares.

Cherie Currie hasn't been doing much in terms of music these days, as far as I know. She's made appearances to promote "The Runaways" movie and her recently reissued memoir, "Neon Angel," but other than that has been pursuing her current work as a chainsaw wood-carving artist.

Kathy Valentine is now gearing up for what is billed as the Go-Go's farewell tour. She also plays with the all-female Texas band the BlueBonnets, and works as a producer with other female musicians, most notable the trio Adrian and the Sickness.

Music News: Lilith Fair Returns, The Runaways Movie, Joan Jett Greatest Hits

Dakota Fanning singing "Cherry Bomb" from the movie, "The Runaways."

This look at music news has a definite female cast. First off, Lilith Fair returns in 2010, after an absence of about a decade. As with the original Lilith Fair, Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan will headline every show, with a rotating cast of 11 other performers at each concert.

The lineup includes from veterans of the first Lilith Fair tours (Suzanne Vega) and some newer acts (Sara Bareilles, Zee Avi, and Kelly Clarkson). I'll definitely try to catch Lilith Fair's New York City show, and maybe one or two others, depending on dates and lineups.

The long-awaited movie about The Runaways, the pioneering all-female rock band, has been out for more than a week, and seems to be doing OK at the box office. It's made about $1.5 million - not bad considering it's only playing on about 300 screens - and since it only cost $10 million to make, it's got a better return on its money than a lot of much bigger films.

"The Runaways" has a 64% score on RottenTomatoes.com, with the consensus calling the film "as electric as the band's music, largely thanks to strong performances from Michael Shannon, Dakota Fanning, and Kristen Stewart." You can learn more about the Runaways movie at its Web site, Twitter page, MySpace page, and Web site. I'll have more to say about The Runaways and the movie in a later post.

The movie has as executive producer one Joan Jett, the most successful Runaways alumna. Not coincidentally, there's a new remastered Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Greatest Hits package just out. It's a two-disc set, but only seems to have 21 songs on it.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Greatest Hits includes an unreleased track, and there are a couple of tunes by The Runaways on it (though I'm not sure whether these are by that group or remakes by JJ & the Blackhearts).

From the reviews I've read online, the CD set doesn't include much in the way of liner notes, although a lot of this kind of material can be found online at www.greatesthits.joanjett.com, along with background on each song and videos for many of them.