The Cliks:Our Pick to Click

With gold ears and one new pair belonging to Ryan the rookie, the Anthill contingent was out in force alongside a very good sized crowd of industry vets, scribes, and yes, they still exist... music fans to see the Manhattan debut of Tommy Boy Records' newest signing Toronto based four piece The Cliks at the always intimate Mercury Lounge.

With no fore knowledge of what to expect last night's forty five minute set not only rocked, but rolled from song to song with such polish it was hard to call this a developing act, so emerging makes more sense. As did the lyrics, double guitars, harmonics, amazing rhythm section and overall personality of the group.

Big sound from the stage, well mixed from off. Cool vibe from all in attendance, especially strong reaction to the single,. Debut CD ships April 23 or so.

Congrats to manager Jake Gold on this latest project, and a reminder that he was there first when Anthill was still an idea. His new bag of tricks = The Cliks! Cheers

Blimey! Bryan in Brighton = Brilliant

Four days in a frigid Britain, but flying back and reflecting on the nonstop meetings and runs through the Park the highlight was absolutely getting down to Brighton to take in the sold out Bryan Ferry show.
With memories of mods heading down to Brighton by the Sea and famous gigs by all of the seminal bands, stepping into the Dome, a gem of a theater where the audience is virtually on top of the performers was a treat. Joined by manager Steven Howard and longtime agent Neil Warnock, the night began with Crew Meal and a pudding backstage and a lobby rendezvous to check out the swag and meet Anthill's newest kiwi and road manager extraordinaire, Bryce Hartnett. Having confirmed the merch selection was what the doctor ordered, it was down to the business at hand. Throughout his career Mr. Ferry has been the epitome of style, composure, swoon, and croon. Tuesday's show was nothing short of perfect. In front of a cracking ten piece band that spans generations, Bryan delivered a beautiful set of songs from his vast repertoire as a solo performer with the emphasis on the newest, his classic interpretations from already gold in the UK cd, Dylanesque. Gates of Eden, Positively 4th St, The Time's They are a Changing, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, and the original Dylan cover from way back when, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, were given a fresh approach that the audience devoured and would have made Mr D proud. With smiles all round backstage from Bryan and the band it was obvious that the tour will be adding more dates throughout the year.
And another reminder that it's always all about the music.

Whoa Nelly ! What a Night

Just days after completing her biggest European tour ever which included a stop in London to accept her International Female Singer of the Year award at the prestigious Brits Awards, our tireless Ms Furtado chose hometown Victoria in beautiful British Columbia to start her triumphant return to Canada.
While Anthill never confirms a client's age, waist size, or merch gross, we won't deny that opening night's results yielded double digit per caps. As confirmed by frequent flyer and knower of all things Nelly, Anthill road rep Kimberley Bierley raved about the reaction from the legion of young fans who see Nelly as both role model and inspiration.
With an audience this connected, Konrad from NMR was the first licensee to hop on board in the retail environment. With dates about to be confirmed for the US late spring/summer others should get on board.
Nelly Furtado takes a short break on her cross Canada trek to host the national telecasts of Canada's No 1 night for music- the Juno Awards on April 1st. No fooling that she may just have to present herself with an award that Sunday in Regina!

Hanging with the Hatton Gang

No trip to the UK is complete without nonstop meetings with the folks that have helped make Anthill Rockware the product to covet in Europe. Steve Hatton's heavy hitters were out in force to share breakfast, beers and and a lot of b.s.

Happy to see Mordy from Pyramid Posters who was happy to brag about new accounts on the continent and a Mucha program to be proud of. As always, Pyramid on the hunt for great art for the 08 calendar program. Their work last year on Il Divo was exemplary.

Always good to meet Gurdev Mattu and his sidekick, Brian who were pleased to report over 80,000 units sold this quarter by their team @ Fashion UK Inc., a great order for Blondie, and trending to almost double last year's results. Nice one, guys.

Equally pleasing to see the fabulous Police submissions by Nic Wastell and Chris Hodgson of CID who are predicting a 15% increase in '07 for their Anthill range. Go for 20!!

Nothing nicer than to be back in business with Mo Khan who has been a true pioneer in the sale of licensed merchandise starting back in the Brockum days. Mo will be concentrating on the next generation with his line of sleepwear aimed for department store distribution coming later this year.

A proper sit down with Peter Thompson from Half Moon Bay gave much insight into the rapidly expanding collectibles market in Europe. With cool Stones and AC/DC goods performing so well, Peter, was in from the lovely countryside of Bath to lobby for more groups to add to the mix. Unanimous.

No shortage of gab when Amplified head honcho and rabble rouser Lee Craze is around. With plans for two new collections to launch early summer and some amazing sales #s for March to report, a good time and meal was had by all. Not to mention overdue congratulations to his entire team including Mark, Shara and Laura on having generated the biggest sales so far anywhere in the world for RUN DMC. We should all Walk This Way!! Cheers.

Lastly, the most encouraging thing was hearing from so many companies about organic products in development and overall commitments to less wasteful packaging and more eco friendly ways of doing business. This is the way all Anthill's family of suppliers and distributor/licensees must evolve. Green is not a fad to jump on. It's the right way to make the green.

Everyone Loves a Good Review!

We urge you to check out the latest issue of Rolling Stone ( The one with South Park on the cover) inside you'll find a four star review for Neil Young's latest archival release " Live at Massey Hall 1971" and a three and a half star review for The Stooges first new album in 34 years, " The Weirdness". As well there's a fashion spread featuring up and coming new artists including our own KT Tunstall.

The Police Storm UK and the Continent

It was a huge Friday for The Police tour as the other territories on their world tour began to experience the same fan frenzy as we in North America have seen these past three weeks. Today’s sell outs were nothing short of spectacular – over 150,000 tickets sold for the stadium shows in London, Cardiff and Amsterdam, and the arena shows in Birmingham and Manchester. Congratulations to the band and the fans.

The Anthill product development team has not stood by idle during the flurry of on sales, some excellent submissions have been presented; many designs are now in the sampling stage, and we are thrilled to announce the opening of the official Police online store at www.thepolicetour.com/store which will debut new products early and often, as well as feature exclusive offerings that won’t hit the tour or stores.

Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome back The Stooges

Anthill Trading wants to congratulate The Stooges (http://www.iggypop.com) on the release of their first album in 34 years. " The Weirdness" produced by Steve Albini was released on March 6, 2007. In the March 10, 2207 issue of Billboard Magazine , The Billboard Review says " The Stooges don't reinvent their particular sonic wheel on their first all - new album in 34 years - and that's just fine. " The Weirdness" offers more of the Iggy Pop-led band's prototypical cro-magnon raw power, with Scott Asheton's muscular drum attack propelling brother Ron's arsenal of guitar riffs. It's a tightly woven scheme whose anthemic simplicity is deceptive and leaves room for sophisticated ( but still fierce) arrangements such as the doo-wop style swing of the title track, the Bo Diddley groove n' roll of " Mexican Guy" and the jazzy dynamics of " Passing Cloud". Pop lets loose with plenty of sociopolitical beat poet commentary on tracks like " Free and Freaky",
" Greedy Awful People" and " The End of Christianity", but that will register mostly after you stop stomping and pumping your fists to the likes of " Trollin", " She Took My Money" and " I'm Fried".

Merchandising Money Makers

According to the March 3, 2007 issue of Billboard Magazine ( Money Makers - pages 30-31) - "The Rolling Stones Bigger Bang Tour has taken in more than $450 million - the top grossing tour ever - The Stones' estimated 2006 income omits their merchandising fees. The band routinely generates per capita spending between $16 and $20 at its shows, and the band's retail, online, direct - to - consumer and third party licensing worldwide make them far and away the world's top - grossing merch band."

Anthill Trading is very proud to have it's efforts recognized and as always will continue to champion all of our artists.