Clevershoppers.com

04/01/2008
SKILLET LAUNCHES ‘COMATOSE’ HEADLINE TOUR WITH PACKED HOUSES & SELL OUT CROWDS
NASHVILLE, TN….

4/1/08…..Atlantic/LAVA/Ardent/INO rockers Skillet launched their “COMATOSE” headline tour this past weekend to packed houses and sell out crowds. Both Minneapolis (1609/Club 3 Degrees) and Kalamazoo, MI (2850/Wings Stadium) shows were SOLD OUT, with packed houses in Des Moines (1656/Val Air Ballroom) and the band’s hometown area of Chicago (1142/House of Blues).

“As long as you don’t mind answering the phone, you’re gonna love bringing the Skillet tour to your town,” remarked WAYK Station Manager Rich Anderson, promoter of the Kalamazoo show. “First it was dozens and dozens of calls from people begging for tickets because we sold out 8 days in advance of the show; Then it was calls and e-mails from the ecstatic 2,850 who got to experience the tour.”

Here’s a few comments from some of the e-mails WAYK received:

‘SKILLET ROCKED!!!! Thanks, WayFM for bringing them here to West Michigan. It was so awesome to see so many kids and parents totally rockin’ out and having a great time. I have seen many concerts in my day and let me tell you, they are definitely on top of my list and I can’t wait to see them again. I am a fan for life!’

‘The concert WAS AWESOME!!! My son, daughter & their friends were down in front of the stage and are still saying “huh? I can’t hear you.” Wow, it was LOUD, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Will said it’s the best weekend he ever had! Isn’t that great? Each band probably talked about 2 minutes about how they loved Jesus and Rock & Roll in that order. It was really awesome.’

Hitting approximately 30 cities, including New York City,’s Grand Ball Room, also features Thousand Foot Krutch and special guest Decyfer Down, the tour will run through May 11, 2008. Tour dates are listed below and more information can be found at http://www.skillet.com and http://www.myspace.com/skilletmusic.

Criss-crossing the country over the past year and a half with other bands like Flyleaf, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace and on Winter Jam, Skillet is excited to be out on their own tour. As their GRAMMY-nominated COMATOSE continues to be one of the best-selling projects in Christian music, still in the top 10 after 77 weeks of release and 320,000 units scanned, Skillet is also nominated for a GMA Dove Award for ARTIST OF THE YEAR and ROCK RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR (“Comatose”).

Skillet’s current rock hit is already #2 on the Christian rock chart with a bullet on their song from the COMATOSE Deluxe Edition, “Live Free Or Let Me Die,” and they’ll be releasing “Those Nights” to CHR this month. In addition, Skillet will headline several rock stages and pre-closing slots at top summer festivals including Creation East and West, Kingdom Bound, Soulfest, Cornerstone, Icthus, NewSong, Rock the Universe, Spirit West Coast, Sonshine, LifeFest Alive, Red Letter Rockfest, and many more.

Skillet’s explosive 2006 Lava/Atlantic/Ardent/INO Records GRAMMY-nominated release, Comatose follows 2004’s Collide, which launched the group into the public eye and garnered the band their first prestigious Grammy nomination. A critical fave, Comatose has become their best-selling project to date, doubling the sales of Collide in half the time. In follow up to packed out headline club shows, a tour with FlyLeaf, and summer festivals Skillet spent last fall opening for mainstream rockers Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace. In the process of becoming one of the hardest working, most rocking, and broadly appealing acts of its generation, radio welcomed Comatose with open arms, as the first single, “Rebirthing” spent seven-weeks at No.1 on Christian Rock. Their second single, “The Last Night,” also took the top spot, this time at both Rock and CHR (CRW/R&R), while their latest singles, “The Older I Get” (CHR/Rock) and “Comatose” have become their third and fourth consecutive No. 1 singles. At the end of 2007 the band was lauded with R&R’s No. 1 Christian CHR Song of the Year for “The Last Night”, which was also R&R’s No. 2 Christian Rock song of the year. In addition, Skillet was named 2007s No. 2 top artist on both the CHR and ROCK year end lists.

04/01/2008
TiVo ALERT! AMERICAN IDOL CHOOSES SONG BY THE AFTERS FOR SHOW PROMO!
NASHVILLE, TN….4/1/08….As you’re watching TV over the next few weeks, watch out for AMERICAN IDOL commercials featuring The Afters’ song “We are the Sound” from their brand new CD, NEVER GOING BACK TO OK. Fox’s top-rated show picked the song to use with commercials and other promotional opportunities over the next few weeks. To listen to “We are the Sound” go to myspace.com/theafters.

NEVER GOING BACK TO OK entered the Billboard Top 200 at #41 and the Contemporary Christian SoundScan charts at #1 selling 15,856 units. In digital sales, the project entered at #1 for Christian SoundScan album and track sales plus hit as high as #14 on the iTunes® overall digital chart and #4 on their digital Rock chart.

The radio single “Never Going Back to OK,” returned to #1 at Christian CHR this week while “Keeping Me Alive” continues to emerge as their next hit single at Christian AC radio.

The Afters are touring across the country throughout 2008 including headlining their own dates this spring and hitting the major summer festivals. All tour dates are available at www.theafters.com and myspace.com/theafters.

Releasing their debut project “I Wish We All Could Win” in 2005, The Afters received top attention from their fans and media outlets. The Afters’ music has appeared on the networks of MTV, mtvU, ABC Family and E! News as well as on HOT AC and VH-1 radio along with outlets such as Billboard, BOP and Popstar. The MTV college network and mtvU have been strong supporters of the band as their music video for “Beautiful Love” was awarded with an mtvU Award for Best Streaming Video in 2005. The Afters were awarded the Dove Award for “New Artist of the Year” (2006), and has had over 250,000 downloads to date. The foursome composed of Josh Havens, Matt Fuqua, Brad Wigg and Marc Dodd, met while working at a Starbucks in Mesquite, Texas.