Ed Kowalczyk Live

Ed Kowalczyk, former lead singer of Live, has confirmed a national tour this November.

Live went on a permanent hiatus after releasing 2006’s Songs from Black Mountain album. There are reports that Kowalczyk’s former bandmates are suing for unpaid royalties and claiming that he was demanding a $100,000 “lead singer bonus” to play at festivals. Accordingly it seems highly unlikely that there will be any more Live recordings or tours in the foreseeable future.

Kowalczyk made a short, successful tour of Australia last year and he will return to play songs from the Live back catalogue and from his debut solo debut Alive.

Dates:

Sydney: Enmore Theatre – Sunday October 31
Brisbane: The Hi-Fi – Tuesday November 2
Melbourne: The Forum – Friday November 5
Adelaide: Thebarton Theatre – Saturday November 6
Perth: Metropolis Fremantle – Monday November 8

Tickets go on sale Thursday August 19.

Ed Kowalczyk’s new album Alive is out now.

Ed Kowalczyk Solo Tour

The lead singer of Live Ed Kowalczyk will perform a solo acoustic tour in Australia in August.  While Live continue to play live Kowalczyk is now playing an increasing number of solo acoustic shows.

The stripped down shows encompass his entire career from the first Live album Mental Jewelry and their subsequent half dozen or so releases. These included Throwing Copper which provided the hits Selling The Drama, I Alone and Lightning Crashes. Later albums included Secret Samardhi and The Distance From Here.

Live formed in Pennsylvania in 1985 and sold more than 20 million albums.

In their early days Live were seen as an “alternative band” with Kowalczyk drawing comparisons to Michael Stipe. Later they became staples of Triple M which  got the hell played out of their songs which just about killed their “cool” factor.

But Kowalczyk’s solo shows should be interesting. He has become a very active blogger and seems to be really keen to be in touch with his audience.

On a recent blog he wrote about being honoured to headline a Layne Staley tribute show in Seattle and his comments make him sound like a good bloke.

“I count Alice in Chains as a significant influence/inspiration of mine in the early 90′s. Layne’s voice had a quality that was pure rock soul. You couldn’t listen to him sing and not be immediately compelled and drawn into a realm of deep emotion. To me, Alice in Chains will always be the “heaviest” band that I’ve ever heard or felt. I got a chance to meet Jerry Cantrell about a month ago in Los Angeles. He was kind enough to indulge the super fan in me by detailing his influences and how he got to that incredible place musically that was at once gothic chant, led zeppelin and the beatles wrapped up into one…incredible story. Needless to say, in Socal surfer parlance, I am STOKED to be a part of the show.”

Tickets for Ed Kowalczyk go on sale on July 10.

Dates are:

August 9, Brisbane, The Tivoli
August 12, Perth, Octagon Theatre
August 15, Melbourne, The Forum
August 18, Adelaide, Norwood Concert Hall
August 19, Sydney, Enmore