Wall of Sound: June 4, 1997

No Doubt, Beck, and Metallica Featured on PBS's On Tour PBS has jumped into the live-concert fray with On Tour, a new show featuring a slew of live acts. Sting, Steve Earle, Nil Lara, and Amanda Marshall all kick off the premiere one-hour episode, with No Doubt, Metallica, Beck, Blues Traveler, Smashing Pumpkins, and the Cranberries to follow soon. Armed with twelve cameras and a forty-eight-track audio system, the On Tour crew traveled across the globe from April to August in 1996 to record concert footage as well as interviews and glimpses of backstage life. "We want viewers to have the feel of being at a live concert," says On Tour producer John Diaz. "We really feel the vitality of this vastly eclectic range of talent is going to come right through the television screen as no previous filmed concerts have ever done before." The footage comes from all over: the first episode features a Sting show from Vancouver, B.C.; Steve Earle in London, Ontario; Nil Lara's 1996 HORDE performance in Buffalo, N.Y.; and Amanda Marshall playing at the First Avenue in Minneapolis, M.N.. Thirteen episodes are in the can right now, so check your local PBS listings for days and times and set your V.C.R.s!

Scheduled On Tour Guests:

Episode 1: Sting, Steve Earle, Nil Lara, Amanda Marshall
Episode 2: No Doubt, A Tribe Called Quest, Spearhead, Phunk Junkies
Episode 3: Metallica, Devo, Satchel, Melvins
Episode 4: Beck, The Refreshments, Lustre, Cibo Matto
Episode 5: Blues Traveler, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Rickie Lee Jones, Rusted
Root, Nil Lara, Medeski Martin & Wood, Super 8, Leftover Salmon, Son Volt Episode 6: The Cure, Morphine, Dogs Eye View, Scheer
Episode 7: The Fugees, G. Love & Special Sauce, Four Tops, Low & Sweet
Orchestra Episode 8: Ratdog with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box, Hot Tuna, Alvin
Youngblood Hart, Flying Karamazov Brothers, Samba Nova Episode 9: Smashing Pumpkins, The Verve Pipe, Satchel, Lustre
Episode 10: Common Sense, Big Mountain, Dennis Brown, Capleton, Judy Mowatt, Sugor Minott, Skill Band, Tommy Cowan
Episode 11: The Cranberries, Tears for Fears, Marry Me Jane, Jann Arden
Episode 12: Bruce Hornsby, Meat Loaf, Los Lobos, Maria McKee
Episode 13: The Cure, Goo Goo Dolls, Meat Loaf, Seven Mary Three, Smashing Pumpkins, Sting