MICHAEL BUBLE has started a run of 18 sold-out arena shows in Australia, only five years after he played a one-off showcase at the Basement near Circular Quay. Buble performed at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Friday and Saturday night (March 30/31) and will return for further shows in Sydney throughout this month. His tour also takes in other capitals, including Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth. For this tour he has sold more than 140,000 tickets.
IAN THORNLEY has signed to Toronto-based SRO Management: After releasing two albums on Atlantic Records, Thornley went solo and released Come Again on the 604 label and spun off three hit singles – So Far So Good, Come Again and t Beautiful and earned him a pair of Juno nominations. A sophomore album, through Vancouver-based 604 Records, is anticpapted late this year. Thornley is now completing the project with with producer Nick Raskulinecz.
GAROU is making good his promise to become an English star. Montreal-based artist Garou’s first English language album is earning impressive results. The album debuted behind Madonna on the album chart and has followed with a #3 debut in France, #4 in Belgium, #7 in Poland, #8 in Switzerland and #13 on Billboard’ s pan European Top 100 chart. The album is either on release or about to be in 20 territories.
The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest is still tinkering with its lineup and has announced the addition of Snoop Dogg, as well as Michael Franti & Spearhead and Sean Paul. Meanwhile, the festival announced Thursday that Dr. John has pulled out due to illness.
HipHopCanada Inc., Canada’s largest national hip-hop website, has signed a distribution agreement with Koch Entertainment Canada for forthcoming product available through its newly created record label, HipHopCanada Digital Inc (HHC Digital). Signings and release information to follow.
