Classic Rock 93.9

The new Bruce Springsteen documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band premiered at the Toronto Film Festival Sunday, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at his current tour, which kicked off in February 2023.

Following the screening, Springsteen and director Tom Zimney sat down for a Q&A moderated by longtime friend and E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt, who asked The Boss how it feels to be playing with the same friends for over 50 years. 

“We have the only jobs in the world where the people you went to high school with? At 75, you’re still with them. You live your life with them,” Springsteen said, according to Rolling Stone. “You see them grow up, you see them get married, you see them get divorced, you see them go to jail, you see them get out of jail, you see them renege on their child payments, you see them pay up, you see them get old, you see their hair go gray, and you’re in the room when they die.”

He added, “In one way, I would wish you all such a lovely, complete experience with your good friends. On the other hand, it lays a weight on you … because of the time you’ve spent together and the things you’ve done.” He noted, “It reminds me of that scene in Blade Runner, where he says ‘I’ve seen things [you wouldn’t believe]’ … We’ve seen some of that s***!”

But it certainly sounds like Springsteen has no regrets.

“But if I had to go tomorrow I’d be okay,” Springsteen said. “Because what a f*****’ ride!” 

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band is set to debut Oct. 25 on Hulu and Disney+.

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Pete Townshend is getting ready to drop another set of half-speed mastered vinyl reissues from his solo catalog.

The latest will be the final set in the series, and will include 1989’s The Iron Man: The Musical By Pete Townshend and 1993’s Psychoderelict (Music Only), marking the latter’s first time on vinyl.

Both albums have been mastered on limited-edition black vinyl by noted producer and engineer Jon Astley, who’s also Pete’s former brother-in-law. The half-speed mastering technique produces superior quality vinyl LPs.

The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend is an adaptation of the short story by Ted Hughes. It features performances from The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, bluesman John Lee Hooker and Nina Simone, and includes two songs that feature the then-surviving original members of The Who, Pete, Roger and John Entwistle. 

Psychoderelict, Townshend’s last solo album, was structured like a radio play and featured dialogue, although the new half-speed master removes the dialogue from the original album.

Both albums will be released Oct. 18 and are available for preorder now. 

This is the third set of solo half-speed master vinyl reissues by Townshend. In June 2023 he reissued 1977’s Rough Mix and 1980’s Empty Glass. In May of this year he released 1982’s All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and 1985’s White City (A Novel).

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On This Day, Sept. 9, 2014 …

U2 gave away their new album Songs of Innocence, with the record automatically appearing in the music libraries of some 500 million iTunes users.

The album, the 13th studio release from the Irish rockers, included the lead single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” which was featured in a TV ad for Apple. Other singles included “Every Breaking Wave” and “Song for Someone.”

But not everyone wanted Songs of Innocence. In fact, angry Apple customers compared the unwanted album to “spam” or “junk mail,” and Apple was forced to create a way for users to delete it from their accounts.

Bono later apologized, taking “full responsibility” for the stunt.

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Green Day has notched another entry in the Spotify Billions Club.

“American Idiot,” the title track off the band’s 2004 punk rock opera, is the latest track to hit the 1 billion streams mark. It’s the second Green Day song to achieve that feat, following “Basket Case.”

Green Day is playing both “American Idiot” and “Basket Case” on their ongoing U.S. stadium tour, during which they’re performing the albums American Idiot and Dookie in full to celebrate their respective 20th and 30th anniversaries.

Meanwhile, a 20th anniversary deluxe reissue of American Idiot will be released Oct. 25.

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Over the years, artists from Bruno Mars to Bob Dylan to Alicia Keys to Prince have either instituted cell phone bans at their shows or complained about fans filming them as they perform. But Sting is one veteran act who’s just fine with you whipping out your phone when he starts singing “Every Breath You Take.”

Speaking to USA Today, Sting says he knew that song — from The Police‘s smash album Synchronicity — “was a #1 hit” when he wrote it. However, “Its life beyond that, up to decades later, I could not have anticipated it.” When asked if he still likes singing “Every Breath You Take,” he enthuses, “Of course I do. Everyone gets their cameras out.”

Asked how he feels about that, Sting says, “I look at it as people like what they’re hearing. It’s visual applause. It looks pretty in the stadium, so I’m not going to object … it’s an affirmation that the song you’re doing, they love.“

Sting launches a theater tour with his new power trio on Sept. 17, but he’s also doing several stadium shows this fall with Billy Joel. Sting, who has known Billy since 1980, recalls, “I remember spending an evening with him at a piano and he started to play Beethoven, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis – he had it all at his fingertips.”

“And I thought, ‘You really are a true musician, you really are that guy, you really are the piano man.’ I have infinite respect for him.”

But that respect doesn’t extend to loaning out his wardrobe, apparently. Sting says he and Billy share a backstage when they perform together and “I’m always in there borrowing something.”

“He wanted to wear one of my suits,” Sting adds. “But I said no.”

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Dave Mason will release his memoir, Only You Know and I Know, on Tuesday, and of course a portion of the book is devoted to his time in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Traffic, alongside Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood.

Mason had a rather disjointed tenure with Traffic, leaving after their 1967 debut album, Mr. Fantasy, only to rejoin them in 1968 and then get fired after a few months. But despite all the ups and downs, Mason tells ABC Audio he can still take something positive from his time with the group.

“I don’t forget, but at the same time, I’m not going to carry lingering resentment and hate and stuff. It’s not worth it,” he shares. “What transcends all those personal differences and bulls*** and whatever is the music.”

Mason says his firing was particularly hard because he enjoys the collaboration that comes with being in a band, but in the end, some musical personalities just don’t work well together. 

“You know, differences combine to form beauty and so the differences are what made things great,” he says, “but the differences unfortunately drove it apart.” 

Mason left Traffic for good after a brief return in 1971. Other than Mason, Winwood is the only surviving original member of the band. While Mason says he’d be open to a reunion, it’s not going to happen because of Winwood.

“It’s unfortunate that Steve Winwood can’t get together with me and go out and make one sort of last performance of Traffic,” he says, adding that despite their differences he’s more than willing to do it.

“I’m just open to doing it,” he says. “You know, we don’t even have to talk, you just have to get onstage for an hour and a half.”

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Bruce Springsteen’s wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa has been mostly absent from The Boss’ current tour, and we now know why.

People reports that in the new Springsteen documentary, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival Sunday, the 71-year-old Scialfa reveals that in 2018 she was diagnosed multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, which has made it hard for her to perform.

“I’ve been performing with this band for 40 years. With those first performances, it felt so good to be back onstage,” Patti says of the band’s tour, adding, “Touring has become a challenge for me. In 2018, well, Bruce and I were doing a play on Broadway. I was diagnosed with early stage multiple myeloma.”

Because she needs to protect her immune system, she’s taken a step back from the road. She says, “I just have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go,” adding, “Every once in a while, I come to a show or two and I can sing a few songs onstage, and that’s been a treat. That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”

Springsteen and The E Street Band kicked off their tour in February 2023, but the second U.S. leg had to be postponed after Bruce was diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease. He returned to the road in March 2024, with the final two U.S. shows scheduled for Friday in Baltimore, and Saturday at Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Sea.Hear.Now Festival.

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is set to debut Oct. 25 on Hulu.

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“I’m having the best time of my life – except this f****** eye. I wish I could see you,” Elton John told the audience at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 6 after his new documentary Never Too Late premiered, Variety reports.

The music legend had revealed on Instagram a few days earlier that he’s recovering from a “severe eye infection” that has left him with “only limited vision” in one eye.

Still, he was able to attend the festival with his husband, David Furnish, who co-directed the doc, but instead of walking the red carpet, he rode down it on a purple golf cart.

During a quick Q&A, Elton told the audience that he loves the fact that, in addition to his career, the film documents his relationship with Furnish and their two sons, Zachary and Elijah. 

According to Variety, Elton held back tears as he said, “I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved. I hope to keep making music, but I want to be home and treasure them. Having a #1 album is really nice for five minutes, but this is a lifetime.”

“On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records,” he added. “I want it to say he was a great dad and great husband.”

Never Too Late, which premieres on Disney+ on December 13, is bookended by Elton’s historic concerts at LA’s Dodger Stadium in 1975, and his 2022 shows at the same venue. It covers Elton’s childhood, his success, his drug addiction, his difficult romantic relationships, and his friendship with John Lennon among other topics.

According to Variety, Furnish said, “It’s a beautiful narrative arc. You can have all the success in the world, but it means nothing until you have love.”

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A new documentary about Jimi Hendrix is in the works, to be directed by The Greatest Night in Pop director Bao Nguyen, Variety reports.

The doc, Jimi, will be the first full-length film about the legendary performer, who passed away in 1970. It will focus on Hendrix’s time in London in the early ’60s through his U.S. breakthrough at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

“Jimi’s time in London was some of the most pivotal in his life journey and his musical career,” Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister and the president and CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, says. “Just as Bao Nguyen has achieved in his films highlighting the lives of other iconic figures who influenced pop culture, this presentation of Jimi’s London experience will be inspiring and informative — a story told the way it should be.”

“Telling the story of Jimi Hendrix during his pivotal years in London is both a profound honor and a unique responsibility,” Nguyen adds. “I approach this project with deep respect for his legacy and the cultural significance he holds as an American original.”

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Van Morrison and former Northern Ireland Minister of Health Robin Swann have come to a settlement in the dueling lawsuits they had against each other, according to the BBC.

Both suits stemmed from the COVID-19 lockdowns. Swann sued Morrison for slander after comments the musician made at a June 2021 show in Belfast, where he called Swann “very dangerous.” The comments were in response to show cancellations due to pandemic lockdowns. 

Morrison filed his own suit against Swan and the Department of Health over a September 2020 op-ed in Rolling Stone magazine that called out Morrison’s anti-lockdown songs, arguing their messages could be “actually dangerous.”

The High Court in Belfast announced Friday that both lawsuits had been settled, although terms of the settlement were not released. Both cases were due to go to trial at the end of September.

While neither Morrison nor Swann attended the hearing, a statement was read on behalf of both parties. Morrison acknowledged that although he didn’t agree with Swann, he “acted at all times honestly and in good faith and on the advice of responsible officials.”

Swann, who also didn’t agree with Morrison’s views, acknowledged the singer’s views “were sincere and expressed in the context of Sir Van being prevented by government regulations from performing in a role for which he is justly famous.”

The Department of Health also acknowledged that a U.S. music magazine was not necessarily the most appropriate place to express their views about Morrison’s song lyrics.

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