Odds & Ends: Drake, U2, Eddie Vedder, The Rapture, Ke$ha

Drake will be sharing the love with Houston sometime soon in the form of HAW – Houston Appreciation Weekend.

A March 9 post on the rapper’s Instagram account promises that dates are coming soon. We’re also waiting on a venue and lineup.

So far, the only thing we know is that the event is being presented by October’s Very Own, which is behind Drake’s annual OVO Fest. The festival is named after the Toronto-based label Drake co-founded, OVO Sound.

The 2014 edition of OVO Fest is scheduled Aug. 3-4 at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre with performances from Drake, Outkast and special guests.

A representative for U2 has responded to reports that the band’s new album and tour are being delayed until 2015.  

“U2’s album is planned for this year, is still on track and touring plans haven’t been confirmed yet,” the act’s representative told the Guardian.

The newspaper noted that talk about the band booking extra studio time with producers Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder, in addition to central producer Danger Mouse, “is yet to be addressed.”

U2’s most recent studio album is LP No. 12, 2009’s No Line On The Horizon.

Eddie Vedder will take the stage in Brazil in May for a handful of solo shows. The gigs are scheduled May 7-8 in Sao Paulo at Citibank Hall and May 11 in Rio De Janeiro at Citiband Hall Rio.

A Ten Club presale is scheduled March 12 for active members of the fan club. Tickets go on sale to the public March 17 at 10 a.m. local time.

After Brazil the next stop on Vedder’s itinerary is Amsterdam for Pearl Jam’s June 16 show at Ziggo Dome. Pearl Jam has European shows scheduled through mid-July.

Looks like The Rapture split up but forgot to make the news official.

Self-titled magazine decided to get in touch with the band’s label DFA Records for some clarification after receiving a press release for Red Bull Music Academy Festival in New York listing Luke Jenner as “formerly of the Rapture.”

Here’s what label manager Jonathan Galkin had to say about the matter: “I kept thinking it might blow over, but that might not be the case. Feel free to go to press with this headline: ‘Did the Rapture Break Up and Not Tell Anyone?’”

Self-titled points out that the breakup isn’t too shocking “considering they’ve been largely inactive outside of DJ gigs for the past year, bassist/singer Matt Safer quit in 2009, and Jenner left briefly the year before to deal with his mother’s death and the recent birth of his son.”

The Rapture’s last tour took place in 2012. The dance-punk/indie rock act put out its third (and final?) album, In The Grace Of Your Love, in 2011.

After leaving a rehab facility last week the artist formerly known as Ke$ha checked in with fans on Twitter and Facebook using a slightly different name. Her social media sites are now simply listed under her birth name.

People confirmed her trademark dollar sign is gone.

Kesha entered treatment for an eating disorder in January.

The pop star tweeted March 6, “Happy to be back! Feeling healthy & working on tons of new music. I can’t thank my fans enough for all the love & support u have given me.”

*Update*
Vector Management told Pollstar March 11 that we should leave Ke$ha’s name in our database “as is for right now” because “nothing [is] official.”