Classic Rock 93.9

Dead & Company launched their much anticipated Dead Forever residency at the Sphere Las Vegas Thursday, May 16, treating their fans to a set of favorites, accompanied by spectacular images that engulfed the venue. 

The band made good use of the Sphere’s wraparound LED screens, which as the show opened, featured images of scaffolding that slowly opened to scenes of the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco where Grateful Dead originated. Throughout the show, the images onscreen changed to include such things as their infamous Wall of Sound audio system, concert posters from over the years, The Dead skeleton and dancing bears.

As for the music, according to setlist.fm, the band kicked things off with The Dead track “Feel Like A Stranger.” The 19-song set also included plenty of other Dead tunes, like “Uncle John’s Band,” “Jack Straw” and “St. Stephen,” plus covers of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and The Crickets’ “Not Fade Away.”

Dead & Company have two more Sphere shows this weekend, Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18, with the residency scheduled to run through Saturday, July 13. A complete list of dates can be found at deadandcompany.com.

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After teasing it on social media, Bon Jovi has released another track from their upcoming album, FOREVER.

The song, “Living Proof,” which also comes with a lyric video, is an upbeat rocker. As promised, it uses the “talk box” guitar effect that the band first used on “Living on a Prayer.”

“I’m tired of talking about someday/ All that we been given are the dog days/ Nothing is forgiven, it’s the hard way/ Right or wrong,” Jon Bon Jovi sings. “I’m tired of talking about somehow / Wake up, and it’s welcome to your breakdown/ This family tree’s got nothing left to prove now/ Me and you, we’re the living proof.”

“Living Proof” follows the album’s first single, “Legendary.” FOREVER will be out June 7.  

On May 19, Jon Bon Jovi will serve as guest mentor on the season finale of American Idol; he’ll also perform “Legendary.” You can watch it on ABC starting at 8 p.m. ET.

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On This Day May 17, 1989…

After breaking up in 1982, The Doobie Brothers reunited to release their 10th studio album, Cycles.

The album featured most of the 1972-1974 lineup, with Tom Johnston, John Hartman and Michael Hossack rejoining the band for the first time since 1977, 1979 and 1974, respectively.

The first single from the record, “The Doctor,” was a top 10 hit for The Doobie Brothers, landing at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 on the Mainstream Rock charts. The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200.

The Doobie Brothers — now made up of  Johnston, Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons and John McFee — are currently on tour, with U.S. dates kicking off June 23 in Los Angeles. A complete list of dates can be found at thedoobiebrothers.com.

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Slash has premiered the video for his cover of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” featuring vocals by Demi Lovato.

The clip features footage of the Guns N’ Roses guitarist and the pop star recording in the studio, cut with clips of disco-era Detroit. You can watch it streaming now on YouTube.

Slash’s version of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” which was originally made famous by The Temptations, was recorded for his new blues covers album, Orgy of the Damned. The set also includes collaborations with AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson, Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler, ZZ Top‘s Billy F Gibbons and Iggy Pop.

Orgy of the Damned is out now, and Slash will launch a U.S. tour behind it in July. You can also catch him perform on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! May 20-22.

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Two pages of handwritten lyrics by Bob Dylan are set to go up for auction in June.

The recently discovered and previously unknown lyrics, written on telephone message pads from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York, are believed to be from the 1980s. The lyrics, written in ballpoint pen, have Dylan referencing the Bible; New School University professor Anne Margaret Daniel, who has researched his archives, suggests they are from the time Dylan was working on the album Infidels, which was released in October 1983.

One of the documents comes with a harmonica that was said to have been given to the manuscript’s previous owner by Dylan. 

Both lyric sheets will be on sale at Lion Heart Autographs on June 5. More info can be found at lionheartautographs.com.

In other Dylan news … an exhibit of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s art is set to open at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Bob Dylan Remastered: Drawings from the Road, which includes 92 art pieces signed by Dylan, opens May 25 and runs through September 15.

“This exhibition allows everyone, including Dylan’s fans, to experience another aspect of the range of talents possessed by this music legend,” said Chris Rossi, director of exhibitions at Fenimore Art Museum. “We all recognize him as an accomplished singer/songwriter and visitors will be equally amazed when discovering his work as a visual artist.”

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The Zombies have announced details for their second annual Begin Here Festival, happening in their hometown, St Albans, England, about 20 miles outside of London. 

This year’s festival is happening November 8-10 and will feature Colin Blunstone performing his debut solo album One Year for the first time, backed by a full band and strings, with The Zombies performing a show on the final night.

The festival will also include a Battle of the Bands, a Zombies tour of St Albans and a record signing, along with a screening of the band’s 2023 documentary, Hung Up On a Dream.

A presale for Zombies fans begins May 28, with tickets going on sale to the general public May 29. More info can be found at thezombiesmusic.com.

The Zombies, best known for their classic hits “She’s Not There” and “Time of the Season,” held their first-ever Begin Here Festival in November 2023.

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Based on recent interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, fans of The Who may be worried that they’ll never see their favorite band again — but Townshend is now giving them some hope.

In a March interview with The New York Times, Townshend said he no longer got a “buzz from performing with The Who” and that he was only “touring for the money.” Then in April, Daltrey told the Miami Herald that if Pete wasn’t into touring he wouldn’t do it, noting, “I don’t want to be back with the Who on the road, at 81, with someone who doesn’t want be there.”

But in a new interview with MOJO, Townshend seems to have changed his tune, insisting, “The Who are not done yet” and noting that his relationship with Roger is “better than it’s ever been.”

“I wish it were more intimate, but that’s not possible because we are so different,” he says. “But we value and respect each other more.”

Regarding their working relationship, Townshend says, “The Who are a brand and a friendship, but it’s not a band. It’s not a hard-working, complicated, growing and evolving f****** jazz group. We’re not challenging each other to work musical miracles, but we’re playing music we know so well.”

“So never say never,” Pete offers about the future of the group. “I don’t want to do what I did before and say we’re never going to work again.”

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One of Ed Sheeran‘s favorite things to do is drop in on schools unexpectedly and meet with music students. But on May 16, he went one step further during a surprise visit to The Sheffield College in Northern England.

During his visit to the campus of the music career-focused college, Ed walked onstage during a workshop that was being held in the theater and performed with several students. Nineteen-year-old Lol Bailey was singing Ed’s hit “Shape of You” when the singer appeared.

“It really threw me off when Ed Sheeran walked on stage but it was brilliant,” Bailey told The Star.

Another student, 18-year-old Brad Lyne, got the chance to rap alongside Ed. He told The Star, “It was so cool. He’s a global superstar and an absolute legend but he was a normal dude who gave us some great advice. It made me think if he can achieve success, we can too.”

You can watch footage of both performances on Instagram. According to the college, Ed also performed “Castle on the Hill” during his visit and answered students’ questions about the music industry.

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David Gilmour has added more shows to his upcoming Luck and Strange tour.

After initially announcing two shows each in New York and Los Angeles, the Pink Floyd rocker has now added one additional LA show and two more in the Big Apple. 

Gilmour previously announced he’d be headlining Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on October 29 and 30; the newly added show is on October 31. In New York, he’s playing Madison Square Garden on November 4 and 5, with the new additions of November 6 and 9. The two cities will be Gilmour’s only North American concert appearances. 

Tickets for all shows go on sale to the general public starting Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m. local time.

The tour is in support of Gilmour’s new solo album, Luck and Strange, which drops September 6. It is his first album of new material in nine years.

Luck and Strange is available for preorder now.

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It looks like we may soon be getting new music from Steve Perry. 

In an interview with Rolling Stone, the former Journey frontman opens up about his musical future, sharing good news for fans.

“I just signed with a new label,” Perry says. “I’m very excited about it, and I’ll have an opportunity very soon to work with these very, very musically creative people.” He adds that he’s “working on stuff.”

Perry released Traces, his first solo album in 22 years, in 2018 and then followed it up with the holiday album The Season in 2021. While fans had to wait over two decades for a new record, they’ve been waiting even longer to see Perry back out on tour. Well, the wait may be over soon.  

“It’s something that I’m absolutely missing terribly,” he says. “I can’t even tell you how much, but there’s been a big soulful reclaiming of this original feeling that I had about singing that I needed to get back to.” 

In the same interview, Perry, who sang on the iconic tune “We Are the World,” talked about the recent making-of documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, noting, “Watching it was a big bag of emotions.”  

“Seeing it for me was more emotional than being there,” he shares. “I just remember being so intimidated by all these people, from Bruce (Springsteen) to Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie. It just went on and on. Tina Turner was there! That completely killed me.”

He adds, “I just wish this could happen again today for a great cause. With the times we’re in, it saddens me that the possibility of such a thing seems remote.”

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