The Black Keys, West Akron blues/rock duo and professed lifelong Devo fans, will be the opening act for Devo’s upcoming Duty for the Future benefit concert October 17 at the Akron Civic Theatre.

The concert, a benefit for the Summit County Democratic Party, will be Devo’s first performance in Akron in 30 years.

Additionally, according to Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, fellow Akronite and Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde may also make an appearance at the show.

Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin (Tina Fey) go head to head.

Akron new wave legend Devo will be making a very rare concert appearance in the band members’ hometown October 17 in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Proceeds will benefit the Summit County Democratic Party. The “Duty Now for the Future” concert, which will be the band’s first performance in Akron in more than a decade, will be at the Akron Civic Theatre. Tickets go on sale today via Ticketmaster (http://www.ticketmaster.com or 330-945-9400) and at the Civic box office.

Ticket prices will range from $25 for the upper balcony, to $150 for VIP seating and an after-party with the band.

Barack Obama continues to enjoy his Hawaiian family vacation in advance of the Democratic National Convention. Thursday the candidate for president went body surfing at Sandy Beach in Honolulu, as seen in the image above. Regardless of your political leanings, you gotta admit, Obama has some damn good technique.

More Images of Obama Bodysurfing HERE.

Source: The Huffington Post

Q-Tip’s sophomore solo release “The Renaissance” will finally be hitting stores Oct. 14 via Universal Motown after undergoing numerous delays. According to various reports, the album will feature live instrumentation, scratching and samples, much in the vein of A Tribe Called Quest. The album’s possible opener is a track called “Shaka,” which features an excerpt of a speech by presidential candidate Barack Obama over guitar strumming. The track is not yet official, as the sound byte has yet to be cleared.

“I start the album off with the Obama speech not just because I’m African-American, but because I really feel like he’s a fresh new voice and alternative from what we’ve seen in the political scene in some time,” said Q-Tip earlier this year. “I see similarities in his way of thinking and my way. I really like him a lot.”

Also featured on the album is the piano-based lead single, “Getting Up,” the Raphael Saadiq-featured “Fight/Love,” which is about a girl in a difficult relationship and a man fighting in Iraq, and “Life Is Better” featuring Norah Jones, which has Q-Tip paying tribute to all of this favorite rappers, including Biz Markie, LL Cool J, Leaders of The New School, Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Brand Nubian and Pimp C. Other tracks on the album include the 60’s-inpired “Won’t Trade,” “ManWomanBoogie” with Amanda Diva, and “Believe” featuring D’Angelo. Currently, Q-Tip is on tour with his group A Tribe Called Quest for this summer’s Rock the Bells tour.

Source: Street Hop Magazine

Whether or not Barack Obama would make a good president, it’s clear that he makes an excellent muse. It’s hard to think of a political candidate in recent memory who has, in real time, inspired so much creativity, exercised free of charge and for the campaign’s benefit. Perhaps this suggests something about Obama — or maybe it suggests something about his supporters.

The examples are many. One of the most prominent is the limited-edition print created by the Los Angeles artist Shepard Fairey in January. Fairey is best known as the creator of the “Obey Giant” imagery that, beginning in 1989, spread on city streets around the world by way of posters, stickers and stencils. (Disclosure: I contributed an essay to Fairey’s 2006 book, “Obey: Supply & Demand,” an extensive survey of that project and of his career so far.) Fairey made a brief statement when he unveiled the portrait, noting his “great conviction that Barack Obama should be the next President.” Poster sales, he added, would underwrite “a large statewide poster campaign.”

In addition to popping up on many streets, the image later made its way onto a T-shirt, created in collaboration with the San Francisco street-wear brand Upper Playground — and apparently onto the radar of the Obama campaign. The candidate himself sent a thank-you note, and his campaign had Fairey create a new poster that became the inaugural offering in an “Artists for Obama” section of the barackobama.com online store. Fairey told Creativity Online that while he has been politically active, there’s something new in the enthusiasm he now professes to feel. “I just thought it was time to stick my neck out,” he said. A variety of other artists apparently feel something similar. A California art duo known as the Date Farmers created an Obama screen print in an edition of 300; add the pro-Obama prints by Sam Flores, MAC and Munk One, and you’re on your way to a hipster gallery show.

By: Rob Walker

Source: The New York Times