The Dave Matthews Band, in a message to their fans, announced they will take a road break in 2011. The band announced on May 14, as they felt this summer’s excitement building, that after 20 consecutive years of touring that they would be taking the year 2011 off. We feel very lucky that our tours have been part of many people’s lives. We want to be able to give as much notice ahead of time as we possibly could. We are excited to make our tour this summer one of our best yet, and are looking forward in 2012 to getting back out on the road.

Rocker Dave Matthews not to long ago ran across “Kenny.” The film was a mockumentary of a man installing portable toilets. Dave Matthews loved the movie from Australia and told his friends about it. However no one had heard of it. That’s not surprising given that the gross in domestic theaters for the 2008 film was under $70,000. In an interview Matthews said it was a real gem. It people had known about it, it would have had an audience.

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that The Dave Matthews Band, Billy Joel and Elton John will be performing at Wrigley Field in Chicago this summer despite concerns from some of the residents of the neighborhood of Lake View that have been expressed in prior years. Reportedly, Alderman Tom Tunney is planning to introduce at one of the City Council meetings an exception for the ordinance covering Chicago Cubs night games, which would allow for the concerts to take place.

Kings of Leon, riding high on their Grammy Award wins, will be performing in June at Bonnaroo Festival joining a crew of headliners including Dave Matthews Band, Jay-Z and Stevie Wonder. In addition The Flaming Lips will be performing “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd. In a very clever, although time consuming stunt involving Twitter and MySpace, A.C. Entertainment and Superfly Productions, promoters of Bonnaroo, announced their lineup an act a time on Tuesday every six minutes starting at noon East Coast time.

The Dave Matthews Band is kicking off their 2010 summer tour in Connecticut with a pair of shows over Memorial Day weekend. They will remain on the road after that through the middle of September. The outing of three plus months will kick off in Hartford, CT on May 28-29, visiting a total of 40 cities before wrapping up the trek in St. Paul, MN on September 15.

The Dave Matthews Band latest album, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s US album chart after selling 424,000 copies in the first week out in stores. It was this year’s third highest first week sales, behind “Relapse” by Eminem which sold 608,000 copies and ”No Line on the Horizon” by U2 which sold 484,000 copies, based on retail figures from Nielsen SoundScan reported by Billboard.

The album doesn’t grab your attention immediately. The songs on a first listen for the most part pass on by, which didn’t happen too often on the band’s earlier albums. The claws, and there are some, do take time for digging in deep. Although electric guitars have been added, something missing from a lot of the band’s work both in the studio as well as live, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” registers as the most subtle album for the Dave Matthews Band yet.

The Dave Matthews Band, with a spring and summer tour that is already quite extensive underway, is giving their fans an online free preview of their upcoming set “Big Whiskey and The GrooGrux King.” Currently, the entire album is streaming via Pandora. The band kicked a run of dates off in Darien Center, NY on May 27. “Big Whiskey and The GrooGrux King” will be released on June 2. It will mark the band’s first studio album in four years as well as the first since saxophonist LeRoi Moore’s passing last summer.

Austin City Limits Festival, after roster rumors that went on for month, has announced their official lineup. It includes Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Beastie Boys and Pearl Jam. The eighth edition for the three day event will take place at Zilker Park in Austin on October 2-4. The festival will feature 130 bands playing on eight stages.