On This Day, May 15, 1975: Fleetwood Mac launched their first tour with Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks

May 15, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, May 15, 1975 …

In El Paso, Texas, Fleetwood Mac launched their first tour with new members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

The set list included several songs from Buckingham and Nicks’ 1973 album, as well as the future classics they contributed to the band’s 1975 self-titled album, like “Rhiannon,” “Landslide” and “Monday Morning.”

Nicks and Buckingham were in a romantic relationship that ended in 1977, although they remained with the band and wrote songs inspired by the breakup, including “Silver Springs” and “Go Your Own Way.”

Although they would both leave Fleetwood Mac at various points in their careers, all members who appeared on 1977’s Rumours reunited in March 1997 for a live concert, The Dance, which was released as an album.

Buckingham left the group once again in 2018, although reports claimed he was fired because of a disagreement over touring. He later sued the group, and the suit was settled out of court. Fleetwood Mac went on to tour without him, replacing Buckingham with The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.

The future of Fleetwood Mac has been uncertain since the November 2022 death of vocalist/keyboardist/songwriter Christine McVie, with Nicks saying in an interview “there’s no reason to” continue without McVie.

Bon Jovi announces new ‘Forever’ single, “Living Proof”

May 15, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Bon Jovi is getting ready to release another song from their upcoming album, Forever.

The band will drop the new single “Living Proof” on Friday, May 17. They shared a snippet of the track on social media, which includes a sound that will be familiar to fans of their hit “Livin’ On A Prayer.”

“‘Living Proof,’ the next single off the album, we bring back the talk box, the idea based on Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh and our using it first on ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,'” Jon shares, referring to Frampton’s use of the guitar gadget on “Do You Feel Like We Do” and “Show Me The Way,” and Walsh’s on “Rocky Mountain Way.”

Jon then offers up a taste of one of the lyrics, sharing, “this family tree’s got nothing left to prove now/ me and you are the living proof.”

He adds, “[T]his is a big old rock song just the way you like it.”

Forever, Bon Jovi’s first album in four years, will be released June 7. It is available for preorder now.

Jon also announced that the band will be holding pizza parties to give fans a first listen to the album. He explains that when they were recording 1986’s Slippery When Wet there was a pizza place by the studio, and they would invite locals hanging out there to come listen to the songs and give their feedback.

Jon says they are bringing the parties back, starting in Los Angeles, with information about the parties available to those who join their broadcast channel.

The behind-the-scenes lowdown on The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds tour

May 15, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Rolling Stones have been changing up the sets on their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour, substituting a few songs here and there, but it sounds like there’s potential to shake things up even more.

Rolling Stone magazine interviewed the creative team behind the tour, revealing the band rehearsed between 60 and 70 songs for the trek.

“The real privilege is to see them in rehearsal,” lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe, who’s worked with The Stones since 1982, tells the mag. “It’s thrilling still, even after all this time.” He notes, “They’ve always had really high standards, particularly about rehearsing, even during some of the more chaotic periods of their career. I see them in rehearsal as a small group of players just wanting to make their music.”

The tour has the band performing on a massive stage featuring 2,300 square feet of high-resolution LED screens. The idea is to create what is described as a “virtual stage” for The Stones, changing up the look throughout the show.

“The stage is embellished by all of the digital media around them, and that, by default, makes it very contemporary,” shares Ray Winkler, CEO and design director at Stufish Entertainment Architects, the company that created the stage. “It’s not about the physical presence of a stage set but the continuing, evolving, and developing imagery that you see on the screens.”

“It’s a team effort,” he says of the production. “It’s a massive endeavor to get a project like this from an idea on paper into reality. There’s a lot of unsung heroes that contribute toward the success of it.”

The ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour hits Seattle, Washington, on May 15. A complete list of dates can be found at rollingstones.com.

New Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band documentary coming to Hulu, Disney+

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are known for their live shows, and now fans are going to get some insight into what it takes to make it happen: A new documentary, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, is coming to Hulu and Disney+ in October.

According to a press release, the documentary, directed by Springsteen’s longtime collaborator Thom Zimny, “opens a new door to Springsteen’s creative process for fans around the world.” It features a behind-the-scenes look at The Boss’ 2023-24 tour, including band rehearsals, backstage footage and professionally shot clips from the tour.

The documentary will also feature rarely seen archival clips, plus insight from Springsteen about how he develops his shows and interviews with members of the E Street Band discussing what it’s like to work for The Boss.

The description notes the documentary “serves as an essential and never-before-seen chapter in an autobiographical series,” which already includes Springsteen’s memoir Born To Run and his Broadway show Springsteen on Broadway, as well as the films Western Stars and Letter To You.

Springsteen and The E Street Band are currently on tour, playing Cork, Ireland, on May 16. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Fender announces limited-edition Joe Strummer Masterbuilt Telecaster

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The late Clash frontman Joe Strummer has inspired a new guitar from Fender.

The new limited-edition Joe Strummer Masterbuilt Telecaster, created by Fender Custom Shop Senior Masterbuilder Paul Waller, is a recreation of Strummer’s iconic 1966 Telecaster, which he used as frontman of both The Clash and The Mescaleros.

The recreation is so close to Strummer’s original that it appears just as worn out, and features similar scratches and tattered stickers.

To accompany the guitar, Fender is offering up a range of Joe Strummer accessories, including a faux leopard print animal fur guitar strap and a pink vinyl wrapped three-ply hardshell wood case, with soft plush leopard print lining.

More info on the guitar, which sells for $20,000, can be found at fendercustomshop.com.

AC/DC reissuing Australian versions of ‘High Voltage’ and ‘T.N.T.’, available on tour only

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

AC/DC is getting ready to kick off their Power Up tour in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on May 17, and they are giving fans a chance to get their hands on two albums that were previously unavailable outside their native Australia.

The band just announced that the original Australian versions of 1975’s High Voltage and T.N.T. are being reissued and will be available on vinyl at the tour’s AC/DC Dive Bars, pop-ups that will open in five cities on the trek, starting May 16 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Other cities getting Dive Bars are Seville, Spain; Munich, Germany; London; and Paris.

Only limited quantities of each album be available, with sales limited to one each per customer.

High Voltage and T.N.T. are the first two studio albums from AC/DC, but were only released in Australia. Their first international release was also called High Voltage, but featured a different track list, with seven of the nine songs coming from T.N.T.

AC/DC’s Power Up tour is the hard rockers’ first trek since 2016, although they did return to the stage in October, headlining the Power Trip festival in Indio, California, alongside Metallica, Judas Priest and more. The tour is set to run though August 17 in Dublin, Ireland.

So far they haven’t announced any new shows in the U.S. A complete list of AC/DC dates can be found at acdc.com.

The Black Crowes share video for “Wilted Rose,” featuring Lainey Wilson

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Black Crowes have released the official music video for “Wilted Rose,” featuring Lainey Wilson, a track from their recently released album, Happiness Bastards.

The clip features footage of the band performing the song with Lainey at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville back in April for the kickoff to their Happiness Bastards tour. The video also features behind-the-scenes footage of the band, including clips of tour rehearsals.

Released in March, Happiness Bastards is The Black Crowes’ first album of new material in 15 years.

The Black Crowes are set to kick off the U.K./European leg of their Happiness Bastards tour on May 14 in Manchester. They return to the States for some festivals in July and September, before joining Aerosmith as the special guest on their Peace Out tour, starting September 23 in Philadelphia. A complete list of tour dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

Billy Corgan’s NWA wrestling company takes center stage with new reality show

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland’ Nacelle Company

Billy Corgan is many things: frontman for The Smashing Pumpkins, a father, a cat enthusiast. He’s also the owner of his own wrestling company, which has given Corgan a brand new title in his life: reality TV star.

Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland follows the “1979” rocker in his role as the president of the National Wrestling Alliance, or NWA, which he purchased in 2017. In the show, the fighting inside the ring extends behind the scenes as Corgan and NWA’s employees hope to rebuild the historic company back to its former glory.

“We’re fighting not against each other, we’re fighting to try to make the company work again,” Corgan tells ABC Audio. “In wrestling, I’m really reliant on everybody else to run the show with me.”

Among those people is Corgan’s wife, Chloe Mendel, who was a wrestling skeptic before Billy purchased NWA. However, she’s since become a believer thanks to the athleticism and personalities of the wrestlers, which she calls “the most interesting part of the show.”

“It’s like, ‘Why do you do that for a living?'” Mendel says. “Like, ‘Why do you wanna be a superhero?’ That’s really why they’re doing it, they feel like a superhero for those five minutes.”

Adventures in Carnyland also crosses over into the music world. Its theme song is the Pumpkins tune “Beguiled,” which has a connection to Carnyland figures and wrestlers Natalia Markova and Bryan Idol, who appeared in the track’s video.

“When we play the song live, Bryan and Markova will come out onstage and have a mock fight in front of the crowd,” Corgan shares. “It just kinda took on a life of its own in sort of somehow representing something about the NWA, too.”

Adventures in Carnyland premieres Tuesday, May 14, on The CW app and CWTV.com.

It’s a hard habit to break: ‘Chicago 17’ turns 40

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Forty years ago — May 14, 1984 — the band Chicago released what would become the bestselling album of their career, Chicago 17. With help from both MTV and producer David Foster, it produced a string of memorable hits and won three Grammy Awards.

“Hard Habit to Break,” “Stay the Night,” “You’re the Inspiration” and “Along Comes a Woman” were all top-20 smashes, and MTV’s constant rotation of the videos for “Habit,” “Inspiration” and “Stay the Night” propelled the album to sales of more than 6 million copies.

Foster was first credited with reviving Chicago’s career in 1982, when he produced Chicago 16. He brought in outside songwriters and musicians — a new idea for the veteran group — and leaned into the more soft-rock end of their sound. That approach worked: Chicago 16 became their first top-10 release since 1977 and spun off two major hits, the #1 smash “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “Love Me Tomorrow,” both of which Foster co-wrote.

So when it came time for Chicago 17, Foster returned and repeated the formula: Chicago 17 reached #4. While Chicago would subsequently switch producers, Foster remains proud of what he did for the band’s career.

“I was a fan of Chicago’s before I produced them,” he told ABC Audio in 2023. “The first six albums … I went crazy when I heard this band. And then, like every group, singer, artist in the world, they had those down periods and they had really, really lost lost their way.”

“And what I brought to them was, I reminded them of their greatness,” he added. “That’s the gift that I think I gave them.”

Foo Fighters headlining 2024 Soundside Music Festival

May 14, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Foo Fighters are headlining the 2024 Soundside Music Festival, the new name for Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Sound on Sound.

The two-day event takes place September 28-29, and the bill also includes Queens of the Stone Age, Noah Kahan, Goo Goo Dolls, Grace Potter, Norah Jones and The Kills.

A presale begins Thursday, May 16, at 10 a.m. ET. Tickets go on sale to the general public two hours later at noon ET.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit SoundsideMusicFestival.com.

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