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(For those of you that don't know what a "Memory Leak" is, read here.)
Credits: I took this photo of my friend Ashley, but my photographer friend who goes by The Rocketeer actually was the first to make the joke....
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Silent since 1999, U.K. rock act the Verve is reuniting for a new album and fall live dates.According to a post on the group's newly launched Web site (http://www.theverve.tv/), Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Pete Salisbury were in a London studio last week laying down tracks for the album, which will be completed in the fall.
The Verve will then return to the stage for six U.K. shows in November: November 2-3 at Glasgow's Academy, November 5-6 at Blackpool's Empress Ballroom and November 8-9 at London's Roundhouse. It appears guitarist/keyboardist Simon Tong, who was last heard from in the Good, the Bad and the Queen, is sitting out the reunion.
The Verve rose to fame internationally in the early '90s with a sound psychedelic enough for adventurous listeners but palatable to commercial radio as well. Internal tensions finally splintered the band in the wake of 1997's U.S. breakthrough "Urban Hymns," which has sold 1.34 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and spawned the megahit "Bittersweet Symphony."
Ashcroft has since released three solo albums but has frequently played Verve songs in his live sets.
Reuters/Billboard
After 945 days of uninterrupted mechanical joy, my Canon Rebel is showing signs of age. This past week, with little fanfare or cause, the automatic focus just stopped working. I've tried a few different lenses and such, but to no avail. I've cleaned off the contacts, gently cleaned the interior of any dust or hair, etc. and I still can't get it to focus properly.
Not the end of the world, since manual focus still works ok, but I shoot a lot from the hip, over crowds, in dark clubs, etc., which I'm only able to do in auto focus. I tried shooting a few bands in manual mode last night, at the Drunken Unicorn. Ug. As if trying to focus in the dark isn't hard enough, my eyes aren't totally perfect either, so I don't really trust anything I'm shooting. Looking at the photos from last night today just made me groan....
Anyway, I still recommend the Rebel. I'll need to send it off to Canon to see if it can get fixed cheaply. Fingers crossed.