MusicMonday: Concert Updates

Last week, The Beastie Boys announced the cancellation of a slew of summer dates and the delay of their forthcoming album due to Adam Yauch being diagnosed with cancer. Replacements have been made for two upcoming festivals:

• Jay-Z will make his festival debut as the new headliner on the first night of All Points West in Jersey City, NJ -- this Friday, July 31.
• The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have joined the Lollapalooza festival line-up as the headliners for Saturday night, August 8 in Chicago.

Meanwhile, the end of October is shaping up to be a big concert period. In fact, so much live music is happening, Halloween weekend needs to start early! If you're a baseball AND concert fan, you have some decisions to make. MLB has scheduled the World Series a week later than usual this year, so these dates are game nights. Details:

25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts - a pair of massive concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden will trace the entire history of rock. Proceeds go to the endowment for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

• October 29 - performances will include Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills & Nash
• October 30 - performances will include U2, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton and Metallica
• Ticket information: American Express cardholders can get advance tickets starting today through August 2 on Ticketmaster.com. Tickets will be available to the general public starting August 9 at 9am ET. Information on VIP ticket packages: http://www.rockhall25.com/.
  

Festival 8 with Phish - the jam band is headed to the Coachella Valley for a three-day music festival all its own. The Vermont-based group announced the location of its first big event since reuniting earlier this year. It will take place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, home of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

• The band teased the October 30 to November 1 gig on its Website for weeks with this cryptic message: "Save the Date."
• Festival 8 will see two Phish traditions: enormous outdoor festivals featuring marathon sets, and Halloween shows during which they put on a musical "costume" - playing an entire album by another band.
• Ticket information: Tickets go on sale today at 1pm ET via the band's Website: http://www.phish.com/festival8/tickets.html

Pearl Jam Closes Down the Spectrum - After 42 years, Philadelphia's sports and concert arena will be demolished later this year to make room for a new entertainment complex. Sports teams the 76ers and Flyers have long moved over to a sister venue, but a ton of bands have decided to make stops at the Spectrum to say goodbye. The Dead, who played the Spectrum more than any other band (50+ times), visited this spring. And another frequent guest, Bruce Springsteen, will play his final shows there October 13, 14, 19 and 20. But it's Pearl Jam who will close the Spectrum down with two late October shows on a brief tour to introduce its 9th studio album, Backspacer (due out September 20).

• Ticket information: the October 28 and 30 shows are sold out. Yours truly is lucky to be holding tickets to both nights!
• Rumor mill: stay tuned for news on the possible one or two shows that could be added.
• Learn more about the Spectrum's history here.