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  • MASSIVE ATTACK MAKES DEBUT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL FOR FIRST LOS ANGELES APPEARANCE IN EIGHT YEARS
  • Sep. 24, 2006
  • TV ON THE RADIO PERFORMS IN SUPPORT OF NEW RELEASE; GANG GANG DANCE OPENS THE SHOW

    SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 at 7 PM

    Media sponsor: KCRW

    Touring the U.S. for the first time in eight years, Massive Attack performs in Los Angeles - at the Hollywood Bowl - for one-night-only on Sunday, September 24th. This is the band's last West coast performance before heading east for the final leg of the tour. Joining Massive Attack in its debut is TV On The Radio, also on tour supporting their recent release Return to Cookie Mountain. Experimental art-rock quartet Gang Gang Dance opens the show, marking their Bowl debut. This evening's host is KCRW on-air personality and DJ Jason Bentley.

    Massive Attack defined the trip-hop genre 15 years ago with the release of Blue Lines. Met with huge critical acclaim, Blue Lines was the first of four full-length albums Massive Attack would release over the course of their stellar career. With over 9 million total copies sold, Massive Attack altered the popular musical landscape, launching an evolutionary era of down-tempo music. London's New Musical Express describes the Bristol, England group as "perhaps the greatest English group of the past 10 years." In April, 2006, Massive Attack released Collected, a two-disc set containing the band's own selection of tracks representing their musical legacy to date, and a bonus disc of previously unreleased material including a complete collection of all of their groundbreaking videos. Massive Attack are currently working on their fifth studio album, Weather Underground, with long-time musical partner and co-producer Neil Davidge and members of TV On the Radio.

    Experimental avant-rock group TV On The Radio does not look or sound like anybody else. Eccentric and electric, their songs are explorations of sound with a visual appeal that is counterbalanced by an instantaneous, charged, organic listening experience that cannot be squeezed into any convenient pigeonhole. They draw on post-rock, gospel, New York new wave and the deepest dub, but mark everything they use with their own unique signature and instinctive use of melody, lightening even the darkest passages. The band's full-length debut, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, won the Shortlist Music Prize, which was founded in 2001 to honor the most adventurous and creative albums of the year across all genres of music. The Independent (London) describes TVOR's newest offering, Return to Cookie Mountain, scheduled for release on September 12, as "a revelation that marks the band out as the U.S. answer to Radiohead: intelligent, enlightening rock music that thrives on experimenting with ideas, forms and recording techniques." Jon Pareles of The New York Times says "Return to Cookie Mountain is simply one of this year's best albums." TV On The Radio counts among their many devoted fans Mr. David Bowie, who sings backing vocals on the single "Province."

    The tribal-futurism sound of Gang Gang Dance yields unconventional music born equally out of composition and improvisation. Comprised of five musicians with strong ties to the New York art community, Gang Gang Dance is a definitive group of individuals, each pushing the other, challenging the boundaries of modern music. For their 2005 release, God's Money, the group utilized whatever means were available to craft their sound: drums of all shapes, sizes, and circuits, various keyboards and synthesizers, MIDI-triggering guitar scenarios, reconfigured vocals, and even the occasional aluminum chair. Gang Gang Dance continues to explore the palette of sound, and is currently hard at work on their next full-length release.

    GANG GANG DANCE is the sound of Brian Degraw, Liz Bougatsos, Josh Diamond and Tim DeWitt. In addition to being a world-renowned painter and illustrator Brian Degraw is a founding member of the D.C.-based band Cranium, Ssab Songs (with director Harmony Korine) and the art/metal band Angel Blood. Tim DeWitt was in all of those groups as well and he has also played with Neil Haggerty, Cass McCombs and White Magic. Josh Diamond was another member of Ssab Songs and has played with an endless number of rock, jazz and experimental musicians. Liz Bougatsos is known for her visual works in addition to her playing in Angel Blood and the legendary NYC art provocateur band Actress.

    MASSIVE ATTACK was formed in Bristol, England in 1990 when members of the hip-hop collective The Wild Bunch, Grant Marshal and Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles, teamed up with graffiti artist 3D, aka Robert Del Naja. That same year, the group signed to Virgin Records and released their first single, "Daydreaming" featuring the distinctive voice of Horace Andy. Two additional singles were released in 1991, the group's biggest U.K. hit "Unfinished Symphony" and "Safe From Harm," both featuring vocalist Shara Nelson. Massive Attack's groundbreaking debut Blue Lines established the group as trip-hop pioneers. Their second album, Protection, was released in 1994 featuring vocalists Tracey Thorn, Horace Andy and Nicolletee, followed by Mezzanine, their biggest selling album to date produced by Neil Davidge and Robert Del Naja, featuring vocalists Horace Andy, Elizabeth Fraser and Sarah Jane. Massive Attack's fourth full-length release, 100th Window, was released in 2003. The 2003-2004 tour never made it to North America, and their current U.S. tour is their first stateside endeavor in eight years. The tour coincides with the release of Collected, a two-disc set containing hand-picked tracks, previously unreleased material, and a complete collection of Massive Attack's innovative videos. Their fifth studio album, Weather Underground, is scheduled for release in early 2007.

    TV ON THE RADIO founding member David Sitek produced albums for the Liars and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but he'd be the first to say that TV On The Radio are something else altogether. He met singer and lyricist Tunde Adebimpe - an NYU film student specializing in stop-frame animation - back in 2000 when they became neighbors in a Brooklyn apartment building. The pair began exchanging their stockpiles of home-made four track recordings and, shortly afterwards, they ventured onto local stages as an improvisational two-piece. Gradually, songs emerged from these explorations, and the live side of things was bolstered by the arrival of guitarist Kyp Malone - who also supplies sweet falsetto harmony vocals - bassist Gerard Smith, and drummer Jaleel Bunton. People started really taking the band seriously when their debut EP, Young Liars, appeared in the summer of 2003. Their debut album raised the musical stakes further. Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes combines cosmic jazz (sax and flute), amped-up electronica, twitchy, danceable beats and swaths of treated guitar into rich and endlessly surprising folds of sound. October 2004 saw the release of the non-LP single "New Health Rock," which was declared Single of the Week in NME.

    One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; it is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 at 7 PM

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

    In order of appearance:

    GANG GANG DANCE

    TV ON THE RADIO

    MASSIVE ATTACK

    Jason Bentley, host

    Media sponsor: KCRW

    Tickets ($20 - 93) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, 213.972.3034; Lisa Bellamore, 213.972.3689; For photos: 213.972.3034