|
Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2014 1:50:35 GMT
Chart-toppers One Direction had the biggest selling album in the world last year - the sixth year in the last seven a British act has topped the global sales chart, according to new figures. The group's third album, Midnight Memories, sold four million copies in just six weeks, data from the music industry trade body BPI shows. Home-grown acts accounted for one in every eight album sales around the world in 2013.
Robbie Williams' Swings Both Ways was the 18th biggest seller, while David Bowie's comeback album The Next Day came 35th. Adele's 21, now more than three years old, and Babel by Mumford and Sons also notched up strong sales.
Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for the BPI, said: "For home-grown talent to have recorded the world's biggest selling album six out of the last seven years is a phenomenal achievement that says a great deal about the popularity of British music around the world.
"Aside from the obvious contribution to British exports, this success underlines the vital role our music and artists play in promoting the appeal of British culture around the world." In the UK itself, British artists accounted for just over half (52%) of all album sales in 2013.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 6, 2014 5:12:23 GMT
No fancy costumes. No fast-moving backup dancers. No fantasy action sequences. None of the common trappings of modern, mega-budget pop shows had any place at One Direction's MetLife show on Monday. This may have been the cutie-pie fivesome's biggest tour to date — moving from last year's shows at 20,000-seat arenas to 50,000-capacity venues like MetLife (for two nights, no less). But even in this looming setting the guys stuck to the classic K.I.S.S. acronym — Keep it simple, stupid. As was evident from the first number — "Midnight Memories" — the songs connect by countering the prevailing teen trends in R&B, dance or hip-hop. Instead they stick with pure pop-rock. It's lighter than a potato chip, and, for the besotted, nearly as irresistible. The group's second number, "Little Black Dress," showed the group's relative ambition. It suggested The Rolling Stones with training wheels. While the group has made noise about growing their sound, their handlers have been careful to move them in baby steps. The tone of the show wasn't any more risque than their earlier ones, though the members certainly look more mature than they did at the start. The audience also retains its special love for Harry Styles. Though each of the guys made the girls yell hard enough to go hoarse, the reaction to Harry threatened to bring on as serious case of strep. Despite all the worship, O.D. still revel in their essential, aw-shucks character — paling around with each other on-stage, regaling the crowd with endless thank-yous, and dutifully playing their rigid roles to a tee. Their opening act — 5 Seconds of Summer — wasn't quite as accepting of their assigned part. The Aussie foursome's drummer sported a Sonic Youth T-shirt, while their bassist modeled a Green Day shirt, making clear their oft-stated aspirations to be seen as a legit punk band. To stress the point, they play their own instruments and write (some of their own) songs. In the meantime, enough of their essential qualities dovetail with their audiences' needs to help them click. (To wit: Their debut album became the number one seller in the land last week). They've got exquisitely jelled quaffs, some great melodies and a sense of humor that charms more than one generation. Their opening song "18" had them pining for older women (i.e. 19-year-olds), while their insanely catchy hit, "She Looks So Perfect" finds them lusting after a girlfriend who looks ideal in guys' underwear. They also slipped in a cover of The Romantics '80s hit "What I Like About You," for a wink to the parents. At the same time, they weren't above covering Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," perfecting their sly mission to have it both ways.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2014 6:25:14 GMT
It may not have been the perfect situation: two teenage girls and their dads at the Aug. 5 show of One Direction’s “Where We Are” tour at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. But after three years of fangirling over one of my favorite bands -- owning all their music, following them on Twitter and connecting with Directioners all over the world -- I knew I’d have to see them one way or another (yes, that’s a reference to one of their songs). While tailgating before the show, Sarah and I (and our dads) couldn’t help but notice the fans more obsessed with One Direction than either of us. Car windows were painted with messages to the group. Faces were painted with the names of group members: Niall on one cheek, Liam on the other. Moms and daughters wore matching “I (heart symbol) 1D” shirts. Fans in One Direction shirts stood in line to buy more One Direction shirts. The best we could do was our package of Oreos in the car with One Direction’s picture on it (Dad mentioned Nabisco is presenting the tour). It was showtime. 5 Seconds Of Summer’s superb opening set included not only the hits “She Looks So Perfect” and “Amnesia” but also a rocked-up version of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” I think my dad liked them because one of their guitar players, Michael Clifford, was wearing a Metallica shirt. You feel like you know an artist, but the second they come on stage, you still experience that moment of "I can’t believe it’s really them." Now, while I thought all five members of One Direction looked perfect, Dad said he couldn’t get past Harry Styles wearing a bandanna -- or whatever it was on his head -- for the entire show. Each member took turns interacting with the crowd and leading sing-alongs to hits such as “The Story Of My Life” and “One Thing.” The night was really all about the music. From the show’s opening song “Midnight Memories” (the title track of their latest album) to its perhaps fitting closer “Best Song Ever,” every song was met with shrieks of instant recognition (including mine). Performances of the more upbeat songs such as “Rock Me” and the one that started everything for One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful,” featured fireworks and animation. Meanwhile, during ballads like “You And I” and “Little Things,” the crowd looked like a sea of waving phone lights. When phones weren’t lit up, there were still all the fan-made signs adorned with blinking lights (mine was more simple). Niall and Louis at MetLife Stadium on 8.5.14 in East Rutherford, NJ
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 13, 2014 23:58:02 GMT
Fans in D.C. had been waiting months to see Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis in concert. Tickets for the D.C. stop in their "Where We Are" tour sold out, less than three minutes after they went on sale last November. Nine months later, the wait was way too much for fans to handle. Some greeted the band as they arrived at the Mandarin Oriental hotel where they stayed. Some fans learned lead singer Harry Styles was hitting up a D.C. spin class, and waited for him to exit. Others waited outside Nats Park more than 12 hours before the show got underway. The band's casual style continued throughout their nearly two-hour set. The group walked around the stage, singing and flirting with fans, but there were no choreographed dance moves and no special costume changes. After the only break in the show, Louis Tomlinson returned wearing the same jean shorts and white T-shirt he wore during the first half of the show. The set list covered the usual radio staples from their two albums, including, "What Makes You Beautiful," "Story of My Life," and "Kiss You." Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the ballad, "Little Things." The entire stadium of 50,000 lit up, with cellphone flashlights, as the group performed the acoustic love song. The show wrapped just shy of 11 p.m. with another hit, "Best Song Ever." A fitting ending for many D.C. fans who just had the best night ever.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 21, 2014 0:32:43 GMT
As One Direction emerged on stage at Nashville's LP Field Tuesday night, they took in a view that's become fairly routine to them over the last four months: a stadium filled with teenage girls, all screaming their heads off. That same sight has greeted them night after night as they've taken their tour from their native England and Ireland to South America, Canada and now the United States. "How are we doing up top, people?" Liam Payne asked, casually waving to fans in the stadium's upper deck, who leapt out of their seats in response. "Nashville, Tennessee, make some noise!" said the group's most famous member, Harry Styles (as if he needed to ask.) "We're One Direction," he added with trademark nonchalance. "Nice to meet you." It may have been just another gig for them, but with their latest Music City appearance, the "boy band" joined a very exclusive club. Apart from the annual CMA Music Festival shows, you can count the other artists who've headlined a concert at Nashville's NFL football stadium on one hand: George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and One Direction's boy band ancestors, *NSYNC. The city braced for approximately 50,000 to attend Tuesday's concert – enough of a concern for Metro Police to set up special "drop-off" zones for parents transporting their kids. Rush hour traffic crawled on the bridges crossing the Cumberland as fans (and some brave-faced chaperones) descended on the stadium from all sides on Tuesday afternoon. The size of this show probably didn't matter much to the fans filling the seats. Seeing "1D" and red-hot openers Five Seconds of Summer in the flesh was a historic event for them, no matter where they were. They marked the occasion with homemade t-shirts and signs, emblazoned with messages like "The future Mrs. Styles" or odd inside jokes, presumably ones that only true "Directioners" would get. While One Direction are now veterans in the teen-pop world, Openers 5 Seconds of Summer are just hitting their stride. The Australian quartet puts the "band" in boy band as a traditional rock combo churning out snappy pop-punk tunes, including a cover of The Romantics' "What I Like About You." They're clearly a major attraction on this tour, and probably won't be anyone's opening act for very long. "It's so hot here," said frontman Luke Hemmings, and the masses shrieked in agreement. "Thank you for listening to us, if you are. It looks like you are."
|
|