Lollapalooza tickets are now available on Stubhub.com!

In the early ‘90s, music in America went through a palpable change. For years, individual music scenes had remained isolated and developed independently of the mainstream music trends. But in the 1990s, the alternative music scene became more available to the general public. True, it was marketed to them, and as a result, much of the independence that defined it disappeared. But it also opened many doors to budding musicians who didn’t know this world existed.

Lollapalooza was the answer to the music festivals of the day. Created by Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, it became a gateway for mainstream music listeners to find new bands and genres they weren’t aware of, and revel in the ones they did. It also provided a major source of exposure to bands that were still fighting tooth and nail to gain exposure in both the music press and through word of mouth.

What made the music festival so revolutionary—besides the lineup—was the fact that it would be a touring festival, which could travel across the country and bring music to the public, rather than demand they fly across the continental United States to enjoy the festival and the bands there.

In the first year, the lineup was much, much smaller than the dozens of bands playing today. Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, and the Violent Femmes ensured that those buying Lollapalooza tickets were certain to have a diverse and great time.

In 2008, Lollapalooza tickets will get you into Grant Park in Chicago, a beautiful venue for an open air music festival. Headliners include Radiohead, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, The Ranconteurs, Love and Rockets and Gnarls Barkley.

Other bands attending range from the post-punkish Bloc Party to Irish punkers Flogging Molly; to the moving indie rock of Broken Social Scene to the frenetic gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello. The list goes on and on, with more bands than you can expect to see at most music festivals at one time. Even Perry Ferrell, the founder of the festival, will be performing there!

Don’t miss out on seeing this great festival!

Join fellow activists, media makers, educators, journalists, policymakers and concerned citizens in calling for real and lasting changes to the nation’’s media system at the National Conference for Media Reform, June 6-8 in Minneapolis. Bill Moyers will deliver the keynote address. On June 7, the Alameda Writers Group in Glendale interviews humorous author, screenwriter, and producer Eric Garcia, best known for his novels, Anonymous Rex, Casual Rex, Hot & Sweaty Rex, Matchstick Men, and Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys. Eric Garcia’s Matchstick Men which was made into a 2003 film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Nicolas Cage. The annual Webby Award Competition, open to all organizations and individuals involved in designing, building, managing, maintaining, marketing or promoting Web sites for business, consumer of general audiences, takes place this year in New York, June 8-10. BANFF World Television Festival 2008 combining an international program competition, the Banff World Television Awards, with a comprehensive conference agenda, will be conducted June 8-11 from its always scenic location of Banff in the Canadian rockies.

This year, the Music 2.0 Summit has been combined with the Sixth Annual Digital Media Summit, in New York on June 9, to create one conference designed to put you at the center of the oncoming battles over digital content. The annual Maui Film Festival, kicks off June 11-15 in Wallea, Maui, and among the venues for screenings, Celestial Cinema has seating on the grass. This year’s North By Northeast Music and Film Festival covers three nights of performances, with about 400 showcasing bands performing at over 25 live music venues in downtown Toronto, from June 12-15. The NXNE Film Festival offers a unique program of music related feature films, documentaries and shorts. In the beachside resort village of Saugatuck, the Waterfront festival showcases many award-winning and critically acclaimed films. This year, June 12-15, they add a NewMedia Television Festival as a sidebar of the 10th annual Waterfront Film Festival, providing a platform for independent producers, directors, writers, and actors to share their pilots that could be aired via network and cable television, webmedia and other future forms of broadcast. Human Rights Watch’s International Film Festival, a venue for fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a human rights theme, showcasing the heroic stories of activists and survivors from all over the world, has a June 13 launch date at New York’s Lincoln Center.

At Beyond Broadcast Conference 08, on June 17 in Washington, DC, the panelists examine the role of media in informing and mobilizing publics, and the rise of both citizen and data-driven news. The Los Angeles Film Festival / LA Film Festival Submissions Orientation, conceived as a platform for launching a film, will include the free annual Diversity EXPO that offers filmmakers access to more than 40 film companies and media arts organizations, during its run from June 19-29. Cinema Expo International 2008, in Amsterdam, June 23-26, guides its participants to competing in the European movie theater industry by displaying products and services, previewing upcoming cinema releases for the European market, and revealing what the movie studios and distributors have lined up, as well as many other activities. “Music in Films” held June 23 in Santa Monica, seeks to give its attendants an explanation of music rights, ownership vs. licensing issues, and even nuts and bolts on how a movie soundtrack is put together. Intro to Studio Production will cover basic use of all television studio equipment, including camera operations, lighting theory, color, and audio mixing, as well as control-room equipment and more, in a session conducted by Denver Open Media, on June 28. In addition to free open air screenings parties and concerts, The Brussels European Film Festival is hosting Film Workshop 2008 to give fledgling directors an opportunity to make a film with professionals during that week of the festival, which runs June 28 to July 6.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at most popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist video blog, a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will see trailers and sample clips of Indie mystery feature, The Collective, entered in the Brooklyn International Film Festival, has a screening date set for June 5 at Brooklyn Lyceum Theater. Experimental rock, electronica , drum band, Sandbox — “Everything Starts In The Sandbox.” Comedic video entertainment from ACTORSandCREW, a networking and employment service for entertainment professionals in all categories. coldwave, industrial and hard rock band Mankind Is Obsolete (MKIO) with tracks from new album “Trapped Inside”. The Actor’s Checklist now lets you check the latest musical artists song releases on Apple’s iTunes, updated on an hourly basis.

Ras Nas aka Nasibu Mwanukuzi, a musician and poet from Tanzania, is one of the artists at this year’s Oslo World Music Festival. The Festival, one of the biggest in Scandinavia in World Music genre, takes place in Oslo, Norway from 30th October – 04th November.

This year’s Oslo World Music Festival theme is “Strong Women Voices” and female artists from different corners of the world are well represented. The Spanish flamenco artist Estrella Morente opens the festival

Among other artists are Cesaria Evora, Seun Kuti & the Fela Egypt 80, Rachid Taha and the fast rising South African jazz singer, Simphiwe Dana. “It feels good to be part of Oslo World Music Festival this year”, says Ras Nas, whose real name is Nasibu Mwanukuzi. Ras Nas will also be releasing his long awaited follow up CD “Dar-Es-Salaam”. The CD contains nine tracks with a mix of reggae, afro and dub poetry.

Other African artists that have taken part earlier include Salif Keita, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Oumou Sangare, the late Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diobate.

Ras Nas with an eight piece band plays at Belleville in Oslo, Saturday 03rd November.

Check out Ras Nas live video – Dar Es Salaam here!