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Led Zeppelin Roller Coaster May Ride Again: Hard Rock Park Rescued By New Owners

Photo: Clary/AFP/Getty The Shake, Rattle & Roller Coaster may soon ride the rails again: South Carolina’s Hard Rock Park was saved from bankruptcy and liquidation yesterday after a new ownership group stepped in to buy the beleaguered amusement park, MyrtleBeachOnline reports. FPI MB Entertainment purchased the shuttered park for $25 million, just months after Hard Rock Park failed to find a buyer when it first went to bankruptcy court in September 2009. The new owners hope to reopen the park by Memorial Day 2009. Hard Rock Park opened to great fanfare in April 2008, boasting rides dedicated to Led Zeppelin and the Moody Blues and featuring a park-opening concert by the Eagles. As the recession kicked in, however, park-goers became scarcer, ultimately forcing the park to close a month early and lay off most of its employees. Even the licensing deal that allowed the park to be named “Hard Rock Park” was jeopardized. While FPI MB Entertainment said the location would remain “Hard Rock Park,” they likely won’t sell any merchandise relating to the restaurant chain. Considering even Disney was forced to make some layoffs today, you might be thinking now isn’t the best time to be getting into the amusement park business. But part of the Hard Rock Park’s problem was its high ticket price of $50. The new ownership has hinted that park-goers will be much “happier” with the price of admission this year. Plus, anytime you can buy a less-than-one-year-old amusement park that cost $400 million to construct for $25 million, it seems like a good deal. As for all the rock memorabilia the park was harboring, for the most part all that stuff had been cleared out after it filed for bankruptcy. However, some memorabilia has gone missing, leading officials to think that either “the company’s list of memorabilia was wrong or some of it had been stolen.” So if there’s some guy from South Carolina on eBay right now claiming to own a Jimi Hendrix guitar, it might be worth bidding on.

Published: 2009-02-19
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News

Tour Tracker: Death Cab For Cutie, Bruce Springsteen and the Moody Blues

Photo: Walter/Getty Death Cab for Cutie embark on a spring tour, Bruce Springsteen begins mapping out Working on a Dream dates and the Moody Blues entertain West Coast audiences with “Nights in White Satin.” The dates for all three treks await after the jump. Death Cab for Cutie March 7 - Miami, FL @ Langerado Festival April 7 - Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre April 8 - Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall April 9 - Davidson, NC @ John Belk Arena/Davidson College April 10 - Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace April 11 - Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre April 12 - Tulsa, OK @ The Brady Theater April 13 - Omaha, NE @ Holland Theatre April 15 - St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkings Auditorium April 17 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom April 18 - East Lansing, MI @ Breslin Events Center April 19 - Waukesha, WI @ Van Male Fieldhouse April 24 - Spokane, WA @ McCarthey Athletic Center April 25 - Boise, ID @ The Morrison Center April 27 - Sacramento, CA - Memorial Auditorium April 29 - San Diego, CA @ RIMAC Arena May 1 - Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall May 2 - New Orleans, LA @ Contemporary Arts Center May 4 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium May 5 - Birmingham, AL @ BJCC Concert Hall May 6 - Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre Bruce Springsteen April 1 - San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion May 5 - Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena May 18 - Washington, DC @ Verizon Center May 19 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mellon Arena The Moody Blues March 27 - Rancho Mirage, CA @ Agua Caliente Casino March 28 - Prescott, AZ @ Toyota Center Theatre March 30 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Arlington Theatre March 31 - Bakersfield, CA @ Rabobank Theatre April 1 - Primm, NV @ Star of the Desert Arena April 3 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre April 4 - Reno, NV @ Silver Legacy Casino April 6 - Thousand Oaks, CA @ Civic Arts Plaza Performing Arts Center April 7 - Santa Rosa, CA @ Wells Fargo Bank Center

Published: 2009-01-26
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, On Tour

Rare Motown, Stax, Decca Albums Hit the Web at New Lost Tunes Store

After a year in the works and countless debates over what albums and tracks should make the cut, Universal Music Catalog has launched Lost Tunes, a U.K. download store with a seemingly bottomless catalog and rare, exclusive and “overlooked” tracks (one caveat: people in the U.S. won’t be able to purchase anything until later 2008). The site will tap into artists on the Trojan, Fiction, Decca, Verve, A&M, Motown and Stax labels. Individual tracks are priced at $1.96, with albums starting at $11.85. “Think of us as your small local record store run by a team dedicated to helping you find the very best music,” a statement from the store reads. “Alongside the rarities, we’ve also picked what we think are unmissable albums for you to add to your collection, and we’ve pulled together articles and reviews to help you discover music that we know you’ll love.” In all, Lost Tunes has eight categories including rock, pop, dance, reggae, soul, jazz/blues, roots and spoken work, plus an extensive 28 sub-genres. So far, in the rock category, most played includes Decca’s The Moody Blues: Live at the BBC 1967-1970 and the Tubes’ self-titled debut album. Under the punk banner, A&M released the Go-Gos’ Talk Show and Mercury’s New York Dolls’ Too Much Too Soon. Another popular release out today from British-based Jamaican music company, Island Records — one of the most popular and successful producers of the ska and rock steady eras — is Jimmy Cliff’s Wonderful World Beautiful People. Stax’ most popular release was Booker T & The MG’s/ The Mar-Keys’ Back to Back. Decca coughed up some 1960s paisley psychedelia with Leaf Hound: Growers of Mushrooms. Under Jazz/Blues, Motown rolls out Rick James’ Street Songs, and A&M releases Nine Below Zero: Live at the Marquee. There are 829 albums currently available on the site, and 129 are exclusive to Lost Tunes and unavailable elsewhere.

Published: 2008-07-31
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Digital Music