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Kanye West, The Strokes and The Killers are among the acts topping the bill for this year’s Governors Ball. This year marks the sixth instalment of the annual event, which takes place in New York and will be held from June 5th to 7th.

Kanye West is set to headline this year’s Governors Ball.

Other acts which have been announced for the bill include, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Haim, Of Monsters and Men, Robyn, Miike Snow, Two Door Cinema Club, Gary Clark Jr., Bloc Party and Father John Misty. Over 60 different acts will take to the stage over the course of the three days.

Continue reading: Kanye West, The Strokes And The Killers To Headline 2016 Governors Ball

Following surprising reports that Las Vegas rockers The Killers invited British comedian Jimmy Carr to join them onstage at V Festival, Contact Music looks at five of the most unlikely pairings from the worlds of comedy and music:

British comedian Jimmy Carr joined The Killers onstage at this year's V Festival

1) The Killers and Jimmy Carr

Continue reading: Unlikely Pairings - When Comedians And Musicians Come Together

Alabama's sun-soaked, sold-out Hangout Music Fest begins officially today (May 16th 2014) following yesterday's kick-off party - and there's almost too much fun to take in.

Set against the glorious backdrop of Gulf Shores' pure white beaches, this festival truly is the place to 'hang out' this weekend with top headliners The Black Keys, The Killers, Outkast and Jack Johnson leading the talent-studded bill. Acts such as Jack Antonoff's latest project Bleachers, CLASSIXX and Bonobo's DJ set went down a storm at the Discover Great Thursday Kickoff Party, but don't worry if you missed it because things are getting even better over the rest of the weekend.

Headliners The Black Keys open the festival today

Continue reading: Experience Sun, Sand And Sensational Sounds At Hangout Festival 2014

Possibly the only major festival where you can enjoy fine gourmet cuisine while rocking out to an eclectic variety of international artists, Outside Lands has now unveiled the 2014 line-up as it prepares to return to San Francisco this August.

We just can't express our excitement enough at the newly revealed line-up for Outside Lands this year. Topping the bill are the likes of Kanye West, The Killers and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers; three very different artists which see the latter become the first act ever to headline twice following their incredible set in 2013. Now in its seventh year, Outside Lands are showing signs of development every single summer, and at much benefit for the city with a percentage of every ticket sale going to San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department.

Continue reading: Outside Lands Brings You The 2014 Line-Up! Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Duck Sauce, Jagwar Ma And More

The sun is shining, the line-up is terrific; T In The Park 2013 is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary with thousands of fans and seven stages. Performers during the three day festival will include Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, The Killers, Ke$ha, Kendrick Lamar, Emeli Sandé, The Proclaimers, and many more massive mainstream names. The recently revived German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk will also be making their festival debut in a hotly anticipated set that is rumoured to include 3D visuals, as well as My Bloody Valentine.

Kraftwerk To Bring Their Machine-Like Electronica To T In The Park.

T must surely rival similarly huge English festivals Glastonbury and Download for the strongest line-up of the year, with Mercury Prize winning Alt-J, New York's Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Frank Ocean, Paloma Faith and Icelandic newcomers Of Monsters and Men also playing across the weekend to celebrate two decades of the Scottish event. Festival director Geoff Ellis said, according to BBC's Newsbeat, "It doesn't feel like 20 years since we started and it's a milestone." The festival, which has been held annually since 1994 has been held at Balado airfield in Kinross-shire since 1997 and now attracts 85,000 fans and 35,000 campers to the second largest greenfield event in the UK.

Continue reading: As Fans Gather For 'T In The Park,' Police Crack Down On Drugs

Many consider Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' the last true Christmas song to be released; it's hard to believe that was back in 1994! Since then, there's been a sputtering of jovial Christmas releases, but nothing that seems to stand the test of time. 2012 has actually delivered a handful of relatively acceptable additions - both cover of classic tracks and original tracks. Here are a few of the tracks you might be hearing more of over Christmas. 

Continue reading: Stocking Fillers: Best Christmas Songs Of 2012

Albums of Note... It looks as though Bruno Mars has stepped things up a gear on Unorthodox Jukebox. From straight-up pop songs, to disco and funk stylings, and a nod to reggae in there too, Mars very rarely fails to hit the mark with these new tracks. “Unorthodox Jukebox is a rich pick and mix of different and colourful elements. His lyrics sometime fall short, but a likeably mischievous personality shines through nonetheless, and so on the whole this is a real step up even from the songs that broke him so hugely two years ago.”

Adding a fresh slant to the out-dated genre of twee-duets, Adam Green & Binki Shapiro release a self-titled album of brief ditties, which may appear cutesy at first glance but soon reveal their darker side, with lyrics such as “I can't be the first to say you're the worst, surely there's one or two? / I care more if you act as though you like me than if you really do.” Adam Green is probably the better known of the two, from his work as part of Moldy Peaches and of course his solo work, too. Binki Shapiro already has indie cred from her other band, Little Joy. “Like everything the pair have done individually, together they have made a record that's short, sweet, and maturely macabre; a late contender for an album of the year.”

Continue reading: A Week In Music: Bruno Mars Steps Up A Gear, Ke$ha Delivers Bonkers Pop, The Killers Release Bizarre Xmas Video And Much More!

Muse, a band whose live shows are getting so big and ostentatious that we can’t but think they’re compensating for something, have announced another slew of the blighters. The space-rocking, crotch-thrusting, tune-misplacing British group have been doing the rounds of Europe’s arenas this Autumn, whilst they also have trips to Asia and North America lined up at the beginning of the new year.

However, they’ll be back in the corporate domes of Europe come the summer, taking in shows in such salubrious surroundings as the Stade de France in Paris, the Emirates Stadium in London and, err, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The band announced the dates on their official website, with the shows taking around a month and a half to complete, starting in their native UK and finishing in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

They’re most critically divisive album yet, The 2^nd Law nevertheless managed to top the charts in more than 20 countries globally, fully cementing their reputation as one of the world’s biggest rock bands – for better or worse. The Killers certainly think it’s for better; they’re huge fans of Muse and would love to work together. Grief. “We’ve become good friends with Muse” the Las Vegas group’s Brandon Flowers said to The Sun. “We get along so well, so I’d never rule out working together. We would be trying to outdo each other. It would be spectacular, the choruses would be huge.”

Continue reading: Muse Announce European Stadium Tour; Is A Killers Collaboration On The Cards?

Las Vegas rockers The Killers were forced to cancel their performances at Manchester's MEN Arena this week after frontman Brandon Flowers lost his voice mid-set. Fortunately though, The Killers have never been a band to let their fans down and have since rescheduled the performance for ticket holders for February next year and even announced that they will perform at London's Wembley Stadium next summer too.

The band took to their official Facebook page to issue an apology for the disruption, which occured five songs into their show when Flowers' voice went kaput, posting: "Manchester, we started something we couldn't finish and we're so, so sorry."

The band's scheduled shows at London's O2 Arena will still go ahead, taking place tonight (Nov 16) and tomorrow (Nov 17). The rescheduled performances will take place on February 17th and 18th whilst the Wembley Stadium gig will take place on June 22nd. Tickets for the Wembley show went on sale earlier today, and tickets for the Manchester shows were issued to those in possession of tickets for this week's shows. Refunds have also been made available by the band for those unwilling or unable to attend the February shows.

In a particularly disappointing anti-climax to a show that thousands of people had been looking forward to, The Killers were forced to leave the stage, apparently due to front man Brandon Flowers' illhealth, reports the BBC.

At last night's show at the MEN Arena in Manchester, UK, Brandon Flowers stopped the gig saying "I'm sorry, we've never done this before, but we've got to stop," reports Gigwise. "I don't know what to tell you guys. It's frustrating for me. I'm sorry." One disgruntled fan told the BBC quite the opposite, "We queued for hours. I'm an avid fan. I've been to 18 or so concerts. But he's done this before" she said. "It happened a few years ago in Brixton and he had to cancel Dublin. You could tell he was going. You could tell he was skipping bars out of songs and if you're a fan you just know it." In a statement from the Arena, they said that Flowers complained of a sore throat and simply could not go on. 

The band apologised to their fans via Twitter and Facebook, with a message that read "Manchester, we started something we couldn't finish and we're so, so sorry. Working on rescheduling tonight and tomorrow's shows. Will let you know new dates ASAP. K."  Those with tickets have been advised to keep hold of them and get in touch from the original vendor for details of future and rescheduled shows.

"I'm sorry. I've never had to do this before. We've got to stop," were the words of The Killers' Brandon Flowers in Manchester last night (November 13, 2012) after cutting short the band's arena concert just 4 songs in. The singer, 31, lost his voice and was forced to tell 15,000 fans to, well, go home.

"I'm sorry, we'll come back, I don't know what else to tell you.it's frustrating, I'm sorry, this is the town that we look forward most to coming to. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say," said Flowers before sloping off-stage with the rest of the band. The group has also been forced to cancel tonight's concert in Manchester, owing to Flowers still having trouble with his vocals. The band issued a brief statement on Twitter and Facebook, telling fans, "Manchester, we started something we couldn't finish and we're so, so sorry. Working on rescheduling tonight and tomorrow's shows. Will let you know new dates ASAP." 

Though Manchester fans will undoubtedly been frustrated at the cancellation, followers of the band have a potential Muse collaboration to look forward to. Two bands were hanging out together at the MTV Europe Music Awards, with Brandon saying, "We've become good friends with Muse. We get along so well, so I'd never rule out working together. We would be trying to outdo each other. It would be spectacular, the choruses would be huge."

Continue reading: "I'm Sorry, We've Got To Stop", The Killers End Manchester Gig After 4 Songs

Not only was there disappointment for fans of The Killers in Manchester last night, but there was for those hoping to see the Las Vegas band perform tonight in the UK city as well, with the group announcing that they were having to reschedule both shows.

As has been widely reported, The Killers return to Manchester – their first shows there for three and a half years – went with rather a whimper after the group’s front man Brandon Flowers was forced to quit the stage at the Manchester Arena after just five songs complaining that he’d lost his voice. Last night (November 13) on Facebook, the group then wrote a status update that read: “Manchester, we started something we couldn't finish and we're so, so sorry. Working on rescheduling tonight and tomorrow's shows. Will let you know new dates ASAP.”

The response to the message has largely been positive, however there were a few disgruntled comments, with some fans clearly having traveled quite some distance – from as far away as Dubai in one instance. One ranted “You really should have come out yourselves to apologize !' Not good enough to send that guy who was shakin!!! So do the right thing please !!!” after the group had sent someone out to inform the sell-out 18,000 crowd that the band wouldn’t be coming back on. Someone else commented “I traveled all the way from South Wales to come see you tonight. Brandon, I hope you step on a plug and you've run out of strepsils.” Ouch. The group have two days to be ready to play the O2 Arena in London on Friday (November 16).

If you think that The X Factor is weird now (what with Rylan’s increasingly bizarre, camp stage productions, a grown man that apparently cannot stop shaking whenever Dermot O’Leary speaks to him and a weekly parade of non-entities, warming up for the one contestant that has anything even vaguely regarding any star quality)… just wait until we get to the final stages. According to The Metro, a heady mix of celebrity singers is being concocted for the final rounds, which may include Cher, Beyonce and The Killers.

If Cher seems like a strange choice, then cast your mind back a few weeks, when Ella Henderson performed a riveting version of the fish-netted wonder’s hit song ‘Believe,’ which had the X Factor judges in a state of rapture. It was such an astonishing transformation, that you almost couldn’t ‘believe’ that it was ‘Believe,’ in the first place. Perhaps the fact that she transformed the song so much suggests that she didn’t really like it in the first place, though? We wonder if the producers have considered that at all? Somehow, the thought of Ella and Cher duetting just feels a little… wrong. The Mirror have previously claimed that Beyonce would be joining Ella onstage. All of this is highly premature, of course, because we don’t even know who’s going to be in the final rounds just yet.

It seems highly unlikely that Ella won’t be in the final of course because – as we just suggested – she’s pretty much the only contestant in the live rounds with any solid, discernible talent. Having said that, though, there’s no accounting for taste, is there? After all, Rylan’s still in with a shot at the title, despite his apparent inability to hold a tune.

Since Contact Music spoke to UK band The Chevin, their highly anticipated first album 'Borderland' has been released and they have returned to the US to continue touring with various other American bands.

It seems America has become their second home, yet it's their first home for success as, in a reverse turn of the standard fate, their popularity grew infinitely more rapidly over there than at in their native England. This is due, in large part, to their appearance on the massively popular David Letterman Show earlier this year, which bolstered their exposure enormously. But why have they found so much more success over there than at home? Why have neither Jonathan Ross nor Jules Holland given the young Yorkshire lads a little look in?

While we can't vouch for the decisions of Ross or Holland, but the mere sound of The Chevin is far more suited to the Amercan indie scene than what's going on in Europe. The Chevin really do sound a lot like The Killers, or, more precisely, lead vocalist Coyle Girelli really does sound a lot like Brandon Flowers. It's not merely the range that's similar- which the band themselves put the comparison down to- it's Girelli's tone, as well as the set up of the band. Comparing the opening of The Chevin's 'Drive' to Flower's 'Only the One' and the similarity is laid bare- in absolutely the most positive way.

Continue reading: The Chevin- Why Is This British Band Is Better Known In The US Than At Home?

The Killers paid tribute to legendary crooner Andy Williams during a concert on Wednesday night (September 26th) by performing a rendition of his classic song Moon River. The band took to the stage at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles just a day after the veteran entertainer had sadly passed away at the age of 84 following a year-long battle with bladder cancer and, in a nod to the late star, frontman Brandon Flowers serenaded the crowd with the band's own take on the Oscar-winning song.

This isn't the first time that the Mr. Brightside hit makers had performed the seminal Williams track; indeed they first played it last year at London's Hard Rock Calling festival, but it took on a special reverence last night in the wake of the passing of one of the most recognisable voices in music. Williams had been allowed home to Branson, where he'd lived for many years, by doctors in July, so that he could be allowed to spend his final days in familiar surroundings.

The star was at his commercial peak in the 50s and 60s when, in addition to his singing career, he also enjoyed a slot on American TV between 1959 and 1971 where he hosted a weekly variety show.

An additional 20,000 tickets for this year's Glastonbury Festival sold out quickly on Sunday morning, to the delight of successful music fans who missed out in the main sale three weeks ago.

Today's tickets constituted those from the April 1st sale which were returned or where payment for the £145 tickets failed to process properly.

A total of 137,500 of the festival's 177,000 maximum capacity were sold three weeks ago using organiser Michael Eavis' new registration system, designed to beat ticket touts.

Previous ticket sales for the festival have been blighted by tickets appearing on internet auction websites soon after the annual sell-out is completed.

This year 400,000 applicants passed through the festival's online pre-registration process, which required them to provide photo identification.

Most of those will have failed to get tickets to the extremely popular festival, which returns after taking a break in 2006.

Headline acts already confirmed for this year's event include the Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, The Who and Dame Shirley Bassey.

Continue reading: Extra Glastonbury Tickets Snapped Up