18 dead in German Music Festival stampede (Telegraph - UK)
Officials and eyewitnesses spoke of a mass stampede in which people were trampled under foot. At least 40 others were injured, some seriously, and many police and ambulance personnel were seen giving the kiss of life to victims. What should have been a celebration of techno-music and dance turned into horror near the field where hundreds of thousands gathered during the afternoon. Many continued to party even as the air was filled the noise of police sirens, unaware of the tragedy taking place behind them. A state of emergency was declared in the city by the local authority as the extent of the horror unfolded. Officials estimated that between 500,000 and a million people descended on Duisburg for the day-long techno music festival, that was first held in Berlin in 1989 but moved to the Ruhr area, Germany’s former industrial heartland, in 2007 following disagreements with the capital’s authorities over logistics and security. Police said the victims were trampled to death in an underpass connecting a railway goods yard where the partygoers assembled to the parade ground itself. “It was hell,” said Karl Lowenstein, 21, from Bielefeld. “The tunnel was dark, it was full. Something happened - whether someone tripped or someone fell I don’t know. But there was a stampede to get to the other end and those who fell… well, many of them never got up again.” Another witness who gave his first name as Fabio said he tried to warn police before the stampede occurred that a catastrophe was building. “A friend and I got out as hundreds more poured in,” he said. “We tried to tell them to close it down, but they didn’t listen. This was about 45 minutes before people were killed.” Police and ambulances raced down the neighboring A59 motorway to try to reach the dead and dying but complained that thousands of youngsters meandering over the carriageways hindered the rescue effort. Helicopters also landed on the autobahn to ferry the seriously injured to hospital. Crowds of people going one way through the underpass had “totally overfilled it,” according to police. But there were reports that others had also tried to force their way in the opposite direction. “They met in the middle and there was a tragedy,” reported Radio Bayern. More than 1,200 police officers were on duty but officials said they had been powerless to prevent the accident. “It is a catastrophe that we are struggling to cope with,“ a police spokesman shortly after the disaster at 5.00pm on Saturday.
Bret Michaels Busted for Pot (AP)
Bret Michaels and his touring crew were caugh with possession of marijuana and other controlled substances on Wednesday night in Dekalb County, Indiana, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reports. Police discovered the contraband after pulling over Michaels' two buses for a routine traffic violation. No arrests were made, although officers on the scene filed a report with the DeKalb Prosecutor's Office, who will determine whether to bring charges against Michaels and his crew. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Michaels' rep says, "Mr. Michaels allowed an open search of the buses and everything was handled in a professional manner." According to the News-Sentinel, Michaels and his crew were pulled over just before midnight on July 21st due to a "lighting violation" on one of the buses. After checking both bus drivers' license and registration, a DeKalb County sheriff used a K9 unit to search the first bus, which Michaels was not on. The dog received a positive hit, uncovering both marijuana and other controlled substances. The K9 unit then searched the second tour bus, which Michaels was on. The dog received another positive hit for marijuana, which was also discovered on-board. TMZ reports that controlled substances found on the first bus were illegal drugs, however, no arrests were made after the discovery and both buses were allowed to continue on to a show yesterday in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Michaels suffered a massive brain hemorrhage back in April and spent several weeks recovering and rehabilitating from the injury before heading back out on the road in late-May. (He told RS he suffered the hemorrhage Busty Cops 3 .) Michaels is expected to make a full recovery. Despite the hemorrhage, the Poison rocker still managed to be victorious on this season's Celebrity Apprentice, though his hopes of becoming Simon Cowell's replacement on American Idol were dashed earlier this week.
Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese working on Rock ‘n Roll drama for HBO (Spinner)
After working together on the 2008 Rolling Stones documentary 'Shine a Light,' it looks like Mick Jagger and director Martin Scorsese are teaming up once again on a new project. This time, the two will be collaborating with writer Terence Winter on "a rock 'n' roll' epic" for HBO, according to Deadline. The story will follow two friends as they go through 40 years working in the music business "from the early days of R&B to contemporary hip-hop." Jagger was originally planning a feature about this with Disney but he moved the project to Paramount three years ago when Scorsese and 'The Departed' screenwriter William Monahan signed on. Jagger, his Jagged Films partner Victoria Pearman and Scorsese will produce the show. Instead of a movie, the team will turn it into a series for HBO based on Jagger's original idea with Monahan and Sopranos' alum Winter in. Should the pilot get the green light, Scorsese will most likely direct it, just as he did with the forthcoming HBO drama, 'Boardwalk Empire.'
More rock and roll memoirs released – Pat Benatar and Belinda Carlisle (examiner.com)
Two new rock and roll memoirs are out, just in time for the summer reading list. One is Belinda Carlisle's Lips Unsealed. Ms. Carlisle was the lead singer of the 80's girl band, The Go-Gos, and later a solo artist. Lips Unsealed is a raw, unapologetic, and sometimes a bit painful, look at the life and career of the singer who struggled with substance abuse and found her way back. Hardly a "poor poor pitiful me" story with yet another drugged out musician, there is a refreshing honesty here. Married for 24 years to husband Morgan Mason, she has a son--James Duke, who is 18 and politically active in the Gay Rights movement. Ms. Carlisle also details her private life with her son and husband, as well as returning to recording this fall and starting her online boutique, Carlisle Mason. Pat Benatar's Between a Heart and a Rock Place has a clever title but lacks in her writing style. She writes great lyrics but her prose is a bit awkward. Her story of women in the rock work place brings nothing new to the table other than it happened to her. Yet it's still an intriguing story for anyone wanting to see the uglier side of rock and roll, especially when it pertains to women artists. The male chauvinism and sexual harrassment tends to run rampant, even today. Benatar's story is unflinching.
Both of these books are available through Amazon and other online booksellers. Or you can find them locally through Joseph-Beth Booksellers in the Lexington Green Mall or Barnes & Noble at the Hamburg Pavillion Shopping Center
KISS Front Man Paul Stanley Rocks Art World (AP) Los Angeles
KISS front man Paul Stanley may want to rock and roll and party everyday but you what you may not know about this rocker is that he is an accomplished artist as well. He may want to rock and roll and party everyday, but what you may not know about this KISS front man, he is an accomplished artist as well. "As soon as I put something up in my house everybody would want to know who did it - that was a revelation to me. If once again I follow something I love doing, it seems to follow suit that somebody else likes it," said Paul Stanley. And like it they do. For the last ten years, Paul Stanley's pieces are known for their bold colors. Each canvas is a representation of this rocker's life. "When I started painting, the whole idea was to have no rules. As far as color goes, somebody said, 'you're fearless with color' - it doesn't bite me. So, I just do what feels right," he said. And the one message this artist wants everyone to know is that "art is for everybody whether you have a van or a villa hang a piece of art and it will make it nicer."