SKILLET
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2010-05-07
SKILLET TO JOIN CREED ON “THE 20-10 TOUR"
AWAKE RETURNS TO NO. 1 ON BILLBOARD’S CURRENT CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN SOUNDSCAN CHART
SKILLET has just been confirmed as a special guest for select dates on CREED’s “20-10 Tour” dates (specific Skillet dates listed below in full tour schedule).
“The 20 -10 Tour” kicks off on July 28th in Washington D.C., and was named because the first 2,010 reserved seats are $20 all-in. This means fans pay a flat rate with no added service charges, and the remaining seats will be priced at $20 or $10, plus applicable ticketing fees. A full itinerary and lineup can be found below.
GRAMMY ® nominated recording group SKILLET is set to take their explosive live show on the road once again in support of their highly acclaimed album, AWAKE, which made a blockbuster debut on the Billboard 200, entering the chart at #2. The album continues to reign as a favorite, ascending the upper half of the Billboard 200. Even after 36 weeks since AWAKE’s release, the album has returned to the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Current Contemporary Christian Soundscan Chart. AWAKE is highlighted by the Top 5 Active Rock smash, "Monster" and the electrifying, "Hero," which is now top 20 at mainstream Active Rock radio after only six weeks.
SKILLET just finished their hugely successful co-headlining AWAKE TONIGHT tour with tobyMac last month, and is currently touring under their headline run for the AWAKE & ALIVE tour through late May.
The band’s latest Christian radio single “Awake & Alive” is currently No. 1 at Christian Rock and Top 5 at CHR.
“The 20 -10 Tour” will feature new songs from CREED such as “Rain,” “Overcome” and “A Thousand Faces” from Full Circle, the bands 2009 release and first new album in eight years, as well as hits such as “Higher,” “My Sacrifice,” “With Arms Wide Open,” “One” and “What’s This Life For.” Creed has sold close to 35 million albums and has performed live in front of millions since forming in 1995. Creed has received numerous accolades, including several American Music and Billboard Awards, and the band won the GRAMMY ® for Best Rock Song for “With Arms Wide Open.”
Citi(R) cardmembers will have access to pre-sale tickets through Citi's Private Pass(R) Program beginning in select markets. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
Tickets for “The 20-10 Tour” concerts will be available through all Ticketmaster outlets, through LiveNation.com, or charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 (except the show on August 20th in Gilford, NH). Dates and times are subject to change without notice.
Tickets for the August 20th Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion concert in Gilford, NH will be available through the venue's Box Office, by calling 603-293-4700 and at select ticket locations. Check http://www.meadowbrook.net/?page=ticket_info for additional information.
About Skillet:
Skillet’s latest, "AWAKE," continues to propel the incredible momentum the rock outfit has going for them with a blockbuster debut at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200, selling over 67,000 units and peaking at No. 1 on iTune’s “Top Albums” chart and “Top Rock” chart. Already over 300k in scans in just 20 weeks (more than double that of the GOLD selling COMATOSE), "AWAKE" was Amazon.com’s best selling Christian CD of 2009, and boasts the No. 4 mainstream Active Rock single in the country with “Monster,” which was also AOL Music’s No. 4 mainstream rock song of last year, and the No. 1 Christian CHR & Rock single, “Hero,” which has been used all season long by the NFL in their, Sunday Night Football and NFL Weekend Kickoff promos.
Skillet has toured with the likes of mainstream megastars Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Seether and Flyleaf, and headlined a slew of major Christian festivals, all followed by solo tours that ranked within Pollstar’s Concert Pulse Top 50 Tours. Along the way, the two-time Grammy®-nominated alternative rockers also scored seven consecutive number one Christian radio singles, a 2008 GMA Dove Award for “Rock Song of the Year,” and a 2009 nomination for Artist of the Year. Along with a trio of singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock charts, a pair of BMI Songwriting Awards, and being chosen as Reader’s Poll favorites on several top ccm websites, they also released their first ever concert CD/DVD combo pack “Comatose Comes Alive.”
For up-to-the-minute news and information, visit www.skillet.com or www.myspace.com/skilletmusic.
# # #
Tickets are on sale now for the following concerts:
-July 31st Darien Lake Performing Arts Center concert in Darien, NY
-August 2nd at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT
-August 9th Tyson Event Center/Gateway Arena concert in Sioux City, IA
-August 13th Riverbend Music Center concert in Cincinnati, OH
-August 15th at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Chicago, IL
-August 17th Susquehanna Bank Center concert in Camden, NJ
-August 20th at the Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion in Gilford, NH *
-August 25th at SPAC in Saratoga, NY
-August 3rd at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA
-August 6th at the Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, OH
-August 14th at Verizon Wireless Music Center in Indianapolis, IN
-August 18th at Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, PA
-August 21st at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ
-August 24th at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY
-August 31st at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, FL
-September 1st at the Ford Amphitheatre at the Florida State Grounds in Tampa, FL
Tickets go on sale Friday, May 7th at 10:00 AM for the following concerts:
-July 28th at Jiffy Lube Live (formerly Nissan Pavilion) in Washington, D.C.
-August 27th Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek concert in Raleigh, NC
-August 28th at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, VA
Tickets go on sale Friday, May 7th at 12:00 midnight for the concert on July 30th at
Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, MI *
Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 15th at 10:00 AM for the concert on August 29th at
Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood in Atlanta, GA
Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 22nd at 10:00 AM for the following:
-September 3rd at the Superpages.com Center in Dallas, TX
-September 4th at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Houston, TX
Tickets go on sale Friday, June 18th at 10:00 AM for the concert on Saturday, August 7th
at Constitution Park in Ft. Macoy, WI *
“THE 20-10 TOUR” Itinerary
* SKILLET dates bolded and listed in red.
WED 28-Jul Washington, D.C. Jiffy Lube Live # ^
FRI 30-Jul Mt. Pleasant, MI Soaring Eagle Casino * ^
SAT 31-Jul Darien, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center ^
MON 2-Aug Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena # ^
TUE 3-Aug Mansfield, MA Comcast Center + ^
THU 5-Aug Orillia, ON Casino Rama Entertainment Casino*
FRI 6-Aug Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center + ^
SAT 7-Aug Ft. Macoy, WI Constitution Park * ^
MON 9-Aug Sioux City, IA Tyson Events Center / Gateway Arena # ^
TUES 10-Aug Sturgis, SD Rock N the Rally * # ^
FRI 13-Aug Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center # ^
SAT 14-Aug Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center # ^
SUN 15-Aug Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre # ^
TUE 17-Aug Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center ^
WED 18-Aug Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion # ^
FRI 20-Aug Gilford, NH Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion * # ^
SAT 21-Aug Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center ^
TUE 24-Aug Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater # ^
WED 25-Aug Saratoga, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center # ^
FRI 27-Aug Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek # ^
SAT 28-Aug Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach Amphitheater + ^
SUN 29-Aug Atlanta, GA Aaron s Amphitheatre at Lakewood # ^
TUE 31-Aug West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre # ^
WED 1-Sep Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre # ^
FRI 3-Sep Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center # ^
SAT 4-Sep Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion + ^
*These select shows do not include specially priced tickets.
# with special guest Skillet
^ with special guest Theft
+ with special guest Red
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Since Skillet last hit the studio for 2006’s breakthrough project Comatose, the group’s toured with the likes of mainstream megastars Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Seether and Flyleaf, and headlined a slew of major Christian festivals, all followed by solo tours that ranked within Pollstar’s Concert Pulse Top 50 Tours for 2008. Along the way, the two-time Grammy®-nominated alternative outfit also scored six consecutive number one Christian radio singles, a 2008 GMA Dove Award for “Rock Song of the Year,” and a 2009 nomination for Artist of the Year. Along with a trio of singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock charts, a pair of BMI Songwriting Awards, and being chosen as Reader’s Poll favorites on several top ccm websites, they released their first ever concert CD/DVD combo pack “Comatose Comes Alive.” Thus, calling the last three years a whirlwind would certainly be an understatement.
Aside from the commercial accolades, the twice-Grammy-nominated rockers are rapidly approaching RIAA certification, backed by both public adoration and critical praise, making the brand new Awake (Atlantic/Ardent/INO) the band’s most anticipated album to date. Not only does Skillet continue in the tradition of bone crunching rockers and melodic power ballads that comprised the last trip to the studio, but there’s a noticeable evolution sure to connect with longtime listeners and open the floodgates of its mainstream fan base even further than ever before.
“We found Comatose scoring the most acceptance in terms of album sales, ticket sales and radio airplay out of any of our albums so far, so there’s certainly a continuation of that direction,” unveils singer/songwriter/bassist John Cooper of the current collection. “But we never want to make the same record twice and that’s why Awake keeps it fresh and surprising. We’ve built off several of the epic elements, orchestration, piano parts and male/female vocal trade offs on several songs, but there’s also a balance of straight up rock stuff and tunes that are a little bit stripped down in comparison.”
In addition to the increasingly cohesive chemistry by the famed front man, keyboardist/vocalist Korey Cooper, guitarist Ben Kasica and their new UK import, drummer/vocalist Jen Ledger, having all-star producer Howard Benson (Daughtry, My Chemical Romance, P.O.D.,The All American Rejects) behind the boards helped the band reach its most compelling conclusion to date.
“He’s been a favorite producer of ours for quite a long time and we’ve talked about working with him in the past, but this time all the pieces finally fell into place,” affirms Cooper. “Howard is a broad stroke painter where he casts a vision, but then incorporates that into what a band is already all about. He really has a knack for the elements an audience enjoys the most, which often times are the vocals and the lyrics, and then he gives the band a chance to be themselves and be proud of the artistic output.”
And that’s the exact result on all accounts, as the foursome’s overwhelmingly satisfied with the entire sonic and spiritually-centered thematic palette throughout Awake, which is loaded with plenty of anthems in the making destined to be smash singles and concert sing-a-longs. Even though Skillet possesses undeniable accessibility to this latest batch of tunes, there are still plenty of sophisticated arrangements, unpredictable chord arrangements and mounds of musical integrity all across the board.
“It’s a turning of the page for us because this album is even more immediate than Comatose, but there’s also a noticeable maturity,” contends Cooper. “Some of the songs are complex, others are just really intense rockers and overall there’s a real sense that we’re opening a new chapter. There are definitely some classic rock elements on the record, some very melodic moments with orchestration and piano, along with a lot of today’s heavier rock influences as well. ”
Take for instance the hook heavy lead single “Hero,” a boldly delivered song about Christ giving us a reason to live; being the “Hero” who’s fighting for us in the midst of oppression and injustice. Other outpourings include the first Mainstream and Active Rock single “Monster,” the militant “It’s Not Me,” and the hopeful “Forgiven.” There are also a handful of gripping ballads and crossover songs like the loss-centered “Lucy,” the melodic “Don’t Wake Me” and “One Day Too Late.” “Never Surrender” came from a conversation with a fan about their eating disorder, and what is sure to become a live show favorite is the rocker “Awake & Alive.”
Skillet’s massive fan base (who affectionately refer to themselves as “Panheads”) are sure to agree, though they’ll likely be even more impressed with the lyrical outpouring, which remains a top priority for the players. Mixing socially conscious topics with deeply personal narratives and unabashedly hopeful expressions, Awake is just as emotional as it is provocative.
“We’re living in crazy times right now between the news that seems to get crazier every day and all the uncertainly throughout society in general,” concludes Cooper. “Sometimes it doesn’t seem like there’s hope, and sure you can choose to give up, but why not face it ‘Awake and Alive’? Life is full of challenges, and sometimes when you look deep into yourself, you can feel weighed down by sin and the ‘Monster’ that lives inside us all. But the more you realize your need for Christ, the less you focus on that, and on Him instead. Why let what’s going on around you keep you down when there’s so much hope that a new day can bring? Everything we sing about on this album is something someone can relate to, and if anything, the songs will let you know you’re not alone.”
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