My Window To The World…

Sad, but true - it is now official: Steve Hewitt is no longer Placebo’s drummer!

Here is the press release from Placebo *:

“PLACEBO PART COMPANY WITH DRUMMER STEVE HEWITT

Placebo have parted company with drummer of 11 years, Steve Hewitt, due to personal and musical differences.

Brian Molko commented “Being in a band is very much like being in a marriage, and in couples - in this case a triple - people can grow apart over the years. To say that you don’t love your partner anymore is inaccurate, considering all that you’ve been through and achieved together. There simply comes a point when you realize that you want different things from your relationship and that you can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak.”

The split is amicable and a sad time for both parties. Steve Hewitt replaced Robert Schultzberg behind the drum kit in 1996 whilst the band were promoting Placebo’s eponymous debut album and went on to record the following 4 studio albums ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, ‘Black Market Music’, ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ and most recently ‘Meds’.

Placebo have just returned from the USA where they were part of the high profile ‘Projekt Revolution Tour’ alongside Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. The band are now taking a well earned break.

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal will begin work on Placebo’s 6th studio album next Spring and are in no rush to find an immediate replacement for Steve.”

* sources:

Placeboworld.co.uk

Placebo MySpace Blog Entry

Technorati Tags: Placebo, Steve Hewitt, Placebo drummer, Placebo drums, Brian Molko, Stef Olsdal, Stefan Olsdal

Live at the Werchter Festival in Belgium. A looooooong time ago.

Robert Smith himself posted today on The Cure’s website that they will probably be playing in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore (July and August), then possibly head to Australia.

Anyone who knows me also knows that I do not only hate, but detest the current drummer (don’t even want to write his name; he’s been with them since 1994), because he is useless. So talentless, in fact, he should almost receive an award for it.

If I am in Asia come July/August, I might however make an exception, since I have never seen them as a four-piece, never without keyboards - and the one thing to look forward to is seeing Porl Thompson back on guitar. He is one of the most-underrated guitar players.

Robert: why don’t you save on some travel expenses and get me to do your Asia shows with you? Willing to do it for free. You won’t regret it. Remember: a competent drummer makes any band sound better.

My favourite The Cure albums:

Pornography
Disintegration
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Seventeen Seconds
Faith

All of them - plus tons more - available from Amazon.com.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: The Cure, The Cure Live, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Music, The Cure Asia Tour

Way back in 1988 at Eastbourne School of English (UK), my great teacher Iain McAdam Clark introduced me to Mancunian band The Fall. I used to run around in various The Cure t-shirts, so he was sure I knew The Fall - but I didn’t. (Lucky Iain had seen The Cure live when they were the supporting act for The Fall!)

Anyways. Read today that a collection of short stories that are based on The Fall’s song titles is soon going to be published. Mark E. Smith, the legend, the inspiration. He deserves this “tribute”.

To this day, I adore The Fall and their music.

I am the carry bag man…
Wrong place, right time…

The following The Fall albums are the ones I can recommend:

The Frenz Experiment
I Am Kurious Oranj
Extricate

Available from Amazon.com.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: The Fall, Mark E. Smith, Music, Literature, The Cure