Odds & Ends: Go-Go’s, OM, & U2

A Go-Go’s member is on the disabled list, OM announces rescheduled dates, and Guatemala wants to celebrate the end of the world with Elton John, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and pretty much everyone on the country’s bucket list.

Valentine Not On The Go-Go

You won’t see Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine on the band’s upcoming shows. The bassist recently underwent surgery for a broken wrist.

Photo: Rod Tanaka / TanakaPhoto.net

Ogden Theatre, Denver, Colo.

But broken bones aren’t something you can necessarily schedule. So when the Go-Go’s began rehearsals for the band’s tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their gold Vacation album, Valentine gave her comrades the bad news, but insisted the group keep on keeping on.

The result is a new face temporarily in the band – Abby Travis, a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist that has worked with everyone from Beck to KMFDM, to The Bangles to Spinal Tap. Travis has also performed with Valentine on several occasions.

“I’m so disappointed that I won’t be on stage with my fellow Go-Go’s” Valentine said. “But I will be there in spirit and know that Abby will fit right in.”

And Valentine? Word is she will rejoin her bandmates on the road upon recovery.

OM Back On The Road

Fans of psychedelic rock band OM got some good news this week when the band announced rescheduled shows.

The band was supposed to tour in August and September in support of its new album Advaitic Songs. But that was before drummer Emil Amos suffered a skateboarding accident in July, effectively pushing back kthe band’s tour dates.

Now OM has released its revised schedule, showing the band getting back on the road for a round of dates during the last half of November:

Here’s the new routing:

Nov. 17 – Chicago, Ill., Empty Bottle
Nov. 18 – Toronto, Ontario, Great Hall On Queen Street
Nov. 19 – Montreal, Quebec, Il Motore
Nov. 20 – Boston, Mass., Brighton Music Hall
Nov. 21 – New York, N.Y., Bowery Ballroom
Nov. 23 – Philadelphia, Pa., Johnny Brenda’s
Nov. 24 – Baltimore, Md., Ottobar
Nov. 25 – Carrboro, N.C., Cat’s Cradle
Nov. 26 – Atlanta, Ga., 529
Nov. 27 – Nashville, Tenn., The Mercy Lounge
Nov. 28 – Bloomington, Ind., The Bishop

Head on over to OM-band.com for more information.

Last Night (The Mayan Way)

With the Mayan calendar coming to an end Dec. 21, many have speculated the date might mark the end of the world as well.

Although no one can prove that the third Friday of December will turn out to be the last Friday in history, that hasn’t stopped Guatemala’s Culture Ministry from inviting some of the biggest names in music to observe the occasion.

How big? How about U2, Elton John, Neil Young, Sting and Bruce Springsteen? Those are just a few of the acts on the list as Guatemala leaves no stone unturned in its attempt to present the biggest end-of-the-world bash … ever!

The ministry also invited opera tenor Placido Domingo, System Of A Down and Janet Jackson, Tico Times reports, along with “world leaders, thinkers, philosophers [and] scientists.”

Photo: AP Photo / NTB scanpix, POOL

City Hall Square, Radhusplassen, Oslo, Norway

But Guatemala’s Culture Ministry isn’t playing up the apocalyptic notions many have attached to the last day on the Mayan Calendar. While noting that Dec. 21 is the last day of the Mayan’s “Grand Cycle,” Cultural Minister Carlos Batzin also said the date is day No. 1 “of a new era of 5,200 years.”