Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Foo Fighters have gone metal. Well, sort of.
Dave Grohl and company have shared a new song called “March of the Insane,” released under the moniker Dream Widow for the band’s upcoming horror-comedy movie Studio 666.
The tune is credibly thrashy, and gives you a glimpse of what Foo Fighters might’ve sounded like if Grohl had grown up a Bay Area metalhead instead of in the Washington, D.C. punk scene.
You can listen to “March of the Insane” now via digital outlets.
Well, at least one member of Pearl Jam at one time liked Mötley Crüe.
Speaking to Revolver‘s Fan First podcast, guitarist Stone Gossard recalled buying the “Kickstart My Heart” outfit’s first album, 1981’s Too Fast for Love.
“At the time, it was punk-like,” Gossard said of the record.
Normally, a rock artist saying they once bought a Mötley Crüe album wouldn’t be news, but Gossard’s comments arrive in the middle of a tiff between band mate Eddie Vedder and Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx.
As previously reported, Vedder told The New York Times Magazinein a interview that he “despised” Mötley Crüe, a declaration to which Sixx responded by calling Pearl Jam “one of the most boring bands in history.”
Vedder seemingly returned fire during a recent live solo show, when he noted how the drum kit in his band “does not need to elevate or rotate to do its job,” which was interpreted as a jab at Crüe drummer Tommy Lee‘s elaborate drum roller coaster.
Should any other Pearl Jam members share their opinions on Mötley Crüe, we’ll let you know.
So far, 15 shows have been confirmed for the trek, which has been dubbed “The Boy Named If & Other Favourites,” spanning from an August 6 concert in Huber Heights, Ohio, through a September 3 performance in Las Vegas.
Opening most of the shows will be Elvis’ old pal and collaborator Nick Lowe, who will be performing with the wrestling-mask-wearing surf-rock band Los Straightjackets. This will mark the first time since 1989 that Costello and Lowe have toured together. Singer/songwriter Nicole Atkins, who lends guest vocals to The Boy Named If track “My Most Beautiful Mistake,” will be the support act at the Huber Heights concert and an August 9 show in Buffalo, New York.
Lowe’s association with Costello dates back to the 1970s, and Nick produced Elvis’ first four studios albums and co-produced two others. Elvis also famously covered “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” which Nick wrote in 1974 for his early band, Brinsley Schwarz.
Playing with The Imposters on the upcoming trek will be guitarist Charley Sexton, a longtime member of Bob Dylan‘s touring band. Sexton also joined Costello and The Imposters on their 22-date “Hello Again” tour in 2021.
Tickets for the upcoming concerts is year’s outing go on sale to the general public starting this Friday, February 18. Pre-sale tickets for many of the shows also will be available. Visit ElvisCostello.com for more information. More dates will be announced soon.
Two dates on Eddie Vedder‘s ongoing solo tour are being postponed due to a positive COVID-19 case.
“We have been following COVID protocols but still had a positive test in our touring party,” reads a statement posted to the Pearl Jam frontman’s Instagram. “The appropriate response is to postpone the next two shows. Everyone, please take care.”
The affected dates include stops in San Diego and Los Angeles, originally scheduled for February 15 and 17, respectively. The shows will now take place February 25 in LA, and February 27 in San Diego.
Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates. Refunds are available for those who can no longer attend.
The tour is expected to continue February 21 in Seattle. Vedder has been supporting his new solo album, Earthling, with his Earthlings solo band, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, and guitarist and producer Andrew Watt.
Stevie Nicks is among the artists who will headline the inaugural Sound on Sound festival, taking place September 24-25 at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The other headliners for the event are Dave Matthews and The Lumineers. Matthews will be performing as a duo with his frequent collaborator, Tim Reynolds.
The bill, which features more than 20 acts in all, also includes Ziggy Marley, Spin Doctors, Gary Clark Jr., Brandi Carlile, Jenny Lewis and The National.
Sound on Sound is being put on by Founders Entertainment, the same company behind New York City’s annual Governors Ball Music Festival. For the full lineup and ticket info, visit SoundonSoundCT.com.
Nicks also is confirmed to perform at three other U.S. festivals this year — on May 7 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; on June 19 at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee; and in early September at the JAS Aspen Snowmass event in Snowmass, Colorado.
Billy Joel‘s mother Rosalind Nyman Joel would have been 100 years old today, and a restaurant where she and Billy used to eat when he was a kid is marking the occasion in a unique way.
DiMaggio’s Pizza of New York is a pizzeria across the street from where Billy was raised in Hicksville, New York, and when Billy was a kid, he and his mom would stop there to grab food after she took him for his music lessons. At noon today, the restaurant will dedicate the “Roz Pie” in honor of Rosalind, who was born February 15, 1922. The inspiration for Billy’s song “Rosalinda’s Eyes,” Rosalind passed away in 2014 at the age of 92.
DiMaggio’s will also host a singalong with civic and community leaders on Hicksville’s Village Green, which Billy immortalized in the lyrics of his song “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”
There’s no word on whether Billy himself will stop by, but there’s a good chance he’ll be in the area: His next concert date isn’t until February 26 in Las Vegas.
Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder is among the nominees for the 2022 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards.
As its title suggests, the GMS Awards celebrate the best music supervisors, who select the music for visual media including films, TV, video games and trailers, along with the best songs written for such media.
Vedder is nominated in the Best Song Written and/or Recorded for a Film category for his song “My Father’s Daughter,” which he co-wrote with Glen Hansard for the film Flag Day. The track notably also marked the musical debut of Eddie’s daughter, Olivia Vedder.
Other nominees in the category include JAY-Z and Kid Cudi‘s “Guns Go Bang,” from The Harder They Fall; “Dos Oruguitas,” from Encanto; Anderson .Paak‘s “Fire in the Sky,” from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; and Beyoncé‘s “Be Alive,” from King Richard.
Meanwhile, Flag Day music supervisor Tracy McKnight is nominated for Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Under $25 Million. The film’s soundtrack includes a number of original songs from Vedder, Hansard and Cat Power, as well as a cover of R.E.M.‘s “Drive” by the “Even Flow” rocker.
The 2022 GMS Awards take place March 20. For more info, visit GMSAwards.com.
Vedder just released his new solo album Earthling last Friday, and is currently touring with his Earthlings solo band, which features Hansard, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, and guitarist and producer Andrew Watt.
Journey is gearing up for a lengthy U.S. trek with Toto dubbed the 2022 Freedom Tour that kicks off on February 22 in Pittsburgh.
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain tells ABC Audio that the two bands have a familial connection, because his daughter Madison is engaged to Toto guitarist Steve Lukather‘s son Trevor. The couple is slated to be married early this year.
“It’s all in the family now,” Cain jokes.
Meanwhile, Jonathan notes that this will be the first time that his group and Toto will hit the road together, and he says he feels the two acts are a good pairing.
“We did one show with Toto years ago,” Cain recalls. “And, you know, both crowds seemed to dig each other’s music, so we thought, ‘Why not?'”
Journey and Toto both feature virtuoso rock guitarists — Neal Schon and Lukather — and Cain says there’s a good chance that the two musicians will hit the stage together to jam during the trek.
“I’m sure that will happen a bunch,” he notes. “Been buddies for a long time and looking forward to it.”
The 2022 Freedom Tour will mark Journey’s first full-length tour since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
“We are pleased as heck to be in the arenas [again],” Jonathan declares. “It’s a risky deal, but we’re going to follow the [COVID] protocol precautions for safety for the crew and the band.”
The tour is plotted out through a May 11 show in Hartford, Connecticut. Billy Idol originally had been announced as opening act for the first portion of the trek. However, sinus issues forced Idol to bow out of the tour, so Toto now is opening the entire trek.
The Who recently announced dates for a new two-leg 2022 North American trek dubbed The Who Hits Back! tour, marking the British rock legends’ return to the road after their postponing tour plans multiple times because of COVID-19.
In a new Rolling Stone interview, guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend, 76, notes that although the new outing is “not a farewell tour,” he is hoping to retire from the road at some point.
“I had a conversation with [singer] Roger [Daltrey]. I said to him, ‘I don’t want to be like one of these guys that dies on tour,'” Townshend notes. “I do want to retire. And by ‘retire’ I don’t mean retire from being a musician or artist or creator.”
He adds, “Roger is of the opinion that he wants to sing until he drops. That’s not my philosophy of life. There are other things that I want to do…and will do, I hope. I hope I’ll live long enough to do them.”
For now, Townshend says The Who are committed to keep touring at least through 2023, when he says the band will be rescheduling the U.K. trek they postponed.
Meanwhile, Townshend says he been “very, very busy” working on various music projects, both for himself and with other artists. One project is music for a previously reported art installation connected to his 2019 novel, The Age of Anxiety. Another is a charity project to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust that involves “old music that’s been re-recorded,” and “possibly a podcast.”
Pete also has been collaborating with U.K. folk artist Reg Meuross “on a podcast [and a song cycle] about Woody Guthrie called Fire and Dust,” as well as with a group called the Bookshop Band that “write songs about novels and fictional books.”
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne‘s acclaimed stage production David Byrne’s American Utopia has announced dates for a final run of Broadway performances at the St. James Theatre.
The show’s engagement, which previously had been scheduled through March 6, now is scheduled to close after a performance on Sunday, April 3.
Six performances of the show are scheduled during a standard week — at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets can be purchased by visiting AmericanUtopiaBroadway.com/tickets.
In addition, a limited number of discounted $44 tickets are available via an online lottery at LuckySeat.com. Ticket requests are limited to one or two per entrant, and entries open at 10 a.m. ET on the Monday of the week prior to the performance. Those chosen to receive tickets will receive an email with digital tickets on the morning of the performance.
As previously reported, the American Utopia show features Byrne accompanied by 11 musicians, dancers and singers who move freely about an almost-empty stage. The production includes several Talking Heads songs, material from David’s 2018 American Utopia album, and other tunes from his solo catalog.
The show’s original Broadway run took place from October 2019 to February 2020 at the Hudson Theatre. After an 18-month layoff because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production began a new run at the St. James Theatre in September of last year.
