Classic Rock 93.9

Bruce Springsteen came to the rescue of one of his young fans, who was skipping school to see Bruce’s concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday, March 31.

Fan-shot footage posted to Facebook shows the rocker kneeling down to sign an excuse note for a young girl who was holding up a sign that read “skipping school sign my note?” As he handed the note back he blew a kiss to the fan.

This isn’t the first time Springsteen has signed a child’s excuse note. Back in 2016, he signed 10-year-old Michael Fenerty’s absence note after he and his father went to the Free Library of Philadelphia to get The Boss’ memoir, Born To Run, signed. 

As for the Springsteen concert on Sunday, according to setlist.fm Springsteen opened with the tour debut of “Light of Day,” from the 1987 Michael J. Fox movie of the same name. It was the first time The Boss has performed the song with The E Street Band since 2016.

The show also featured Springsteen classics like “Hungry Heart,” “Badlands,” “Thunder Road,” “Dancing in the Dark” and “Born To Run.”
 

Next up, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band hit the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, for shows on April 4 and 7. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.
 

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On This Day, April 2, 1977 …

Fleetwood Mac topped the Billboard 200 album chart with their 11th studio album, Rumours. The album would go on to spend 31 nonconsecutive weeks at #1.

Rumours became Fleetwood Mac’s most successful release, thanks to four top-10 hits: “Dreams,” their only #1 song; “Go Your Own Way”; “Don’t Stop”; and “You Make Loving Fun.”

Rumours won Album of the Year at the Grammys in 1978 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. It was also selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2017. 

As of February 2023, Rumours had sold over 40 million copies worldwide and had been been certified 21-times Platinum by the RIAA.

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Green Day has shared a new behind-the-scenes video capturing the recording of “Living in the ’20s,” a track off the band’s new album, Saviors.

The clip, which is streaming now on YouTube, features frontman Billie Joe Armstrong trying a few different approaches to the song’s guitar solo before figuring out the direction he wants to take.

“I don’t wanna do anything that sounds too old-fashioned guitar playing,” Armstrong says. “I wanna do something where it’s just, like, it just gets bigger.”

Saviors, the 14th Green Day album, dropped in January. It also includes the singles “The American Dream Is Killing Me” and “Dilemma.”

Green Day will launch a U.S. tour in support of Saviors in July. They’ll also be playing their albums Dookie and American Idiot in full in honor of their respective 30th and 20th anniversaries.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)  

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While Peter Frampton is a rock star in his own right, he’s had no problem stepping out of the spotlight and lending his guitar expertise to other artists, and in a new interview he reveals why he likes to do it.

“I’ve always enjoyed doing sessions for other people because everybody works differently,” he tells RockOn magazine. “Every artist has different material, and I enjoy bringing my creativity as a guitarist. I’m a guitar player first and foremost. Even if I’ve got a cold, I can still do a good solo.” 

But there are things that can slow him down. In 2019 Frampton was diagnosed with the progressive disease inclusion body myositis, which affects his hands, although for now he can still play. In fact, he’s currently on his Never Ever Say Never tour.

“I’ve got to have the wherewithal to be able to play, and I’m adapting, but I am losing strength in my hands,” he says. “But between the audience and the adrenaline and my love of playing music, especially guitar, somehow I pull it off every night.” 

Frampton is currently nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and he’s anticipating “a wonderful next couple of years” if he gets in. Those years will also include the 50th anniversary of his iconic live album Frampton Comes Alive in 2026, which is a milestone that won’t be forgotten.

“We’re going to have a big party,” he says. “I hope I’ll be able to do some playing then.” 

Frampton’s current tour hits Omaha, Nebraska, on April 3, with dates confirmed through April 14 in San Diego. A complete list of shows can be found at frampton.com.

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Scorpions‘ 1984 album Love at First Sting was a huge hit thanks to the successful single “Rock You Like A Hurricane,” but it turns out the song almost had a different, more explicit title.

“I thought we needed a rock song with lyrics that should be forbidden,” former drummer Herman Rarebell, who co-wrote the tune, reveals in a new interview with Classic Rock. “The original title, for me at least, was F*** You Like A Hurricane. The record company looked at me and said, ‘You’re completely out of your mind!’ Which I was.”

While the band heeded the warning and changed the title, Rarebell thinks that if it was being released now, they wouldn’t have to do so. 

“Looking back at in now, it makes you laugh,” he says. “There are all these songs that go, ‘Motherf*****, a******…’ They would never have been played in America back then. Now you could release it as F*** You Like A Hurricane and nobody would give a s***.”

Scorpions celebrated the 40th anniversary of Love at First Sting in March and will continue the celebration with their Scorpions – Love at First Sting Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, which kicks off April 11. A complete list of dates can be found at the-scorpions.com.

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Foreigner is taking issue with anyone who doesn’t think they deserve to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 

The band, who received their first Rock Hall nomination this year, shared a new video on social media responding to a February Axios article ranking this year’s potential inductees. In it, Foreigner was listed last, with the author writing they “had a string of hits over two decades that were fun but didn’t impact the course of music history in any substantial way.” 

Well, Foreigner decided to show Axios just how much they impacted musical history. The video points out that they sold over 80 million albums and have 19 Gold/Platinum records, three Grammy nominations and 22 songs in the Billboard Hot 100. Plus, they note that Mick Jones and Lou Gramm were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.

They captioned the video, posted on April Fools’ Day, “Jokes on Axios.”

The Hall of Fame fan vote is open until April 26, and inductees will be announced later that month. The 2024 induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland in the fall. 

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Sebastian Bach has hopes to one day reunite with his old band Skid Row.

In an interview with Metal Hammer, Bach looks back on his time with the band, noting that it ended way too soon. 

“For me, doing three albums with Skid Row, I was just getting started,” he says. “I didn’t think it would be over and done with so quick.”

Bach was Skid Row’s frontman from 1987-1996, during which they had some of their biggest hits, including the singles “18 and Life” and “I Remember You” and the multi-Platinum albums Skid Row and Slave to the Grind.

While Skid Row and Bach have tried unsuccessfully to reunite in the past, Bach hasn’t given up hope that it may one day happen, sharing that it’s something he’d love to do for the fans. 

“I can definitely see that happening considering they play the same songs I play,” he says. “When I get a substantial royalty check for an album I did with musicians that I haven’t been in the same room with since 1996, I feel like a piece of s***. Because we should be giving something back to the fans that have made this great life possible.”

In the meantime, Bach is getting ready to release Child Within the Man, his first solo album in 10 years, on May 10. He’ll also launch his What Do I Got To Lose? tour in the U.S. on May 10 in Jefferson, Louisiana. A complete list of dates can be found at sebastianbach.com.

Skid Row recently announced that Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale will step in as their lead singer for their upcoming shows to replace vocalist Erik Grönwall, who’s leaving the band. They have four shows scheduled in May and June.
 

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The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a run of headlining North American dates in between their shows opening up for Green Day‘s summer tour.

The newly added stops stretch from July 31 in Muskoka, Ontario, to September 27 in Las Vegas. Presales begin Tuesday, April 2, at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 5, at 10 a.m. local time.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit SmashingPumpkins.com.

The Pumpkins will be on tour with Green Day from July 29 in Washington, D.C., to September 28 in San Diego. They’ll also play European shows in June and July with Weezer, Interpol and Tom Morello.

Meanwhile, the Pumpkins have been going through submissions after announcing an open application to become the band’s new guitarist in January. The position will presumably fill the absence of longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who announced he was leaving the band in 2023.

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[SPOILER ALERT] Bruce Springsteen made a guest appearance on TV this weekend, turning up on the penultimate episode of the Larry David comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm.

In the Sunday, March 31, episode, titled “Ken/Kendra,” Larry dines with The Boss at Jeff Garlin’s home, where they debate about the ratings of restaurants, and Bruce admits that he’d eat at a B-rated restaurant, much to the group’s surprise.

In another part of the conversation, Springsteen reveals that he avoids calls from Eagles’ Don Henley because he once ignored a demo of a band that Henley gave him.

The meal ends with Bruce grabbing for a glass of water that Larry insists is his, prompting Bruce to drink from the one next to it. The next day, Larry wakes up with COVID and finds out that Springsteen has it as well, leading to the assumption that Larry gave it to The Boss. The illness forces Bruce to cancel the final show of his fictional sold-out Farewell tour, and the whole thing results in Springsteen fans getting angry at David and attacking his car as he leaves Springsteen’s home.

Bruce is currently on tour with the E Street Band, although there’s no indiction that it is his farewell trek. He’ll next play two nights at The Forum in Inglewood, California, on April 4 and 5. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

The final episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm airs Sunday, April 7. 

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Eric Clapton has announced his first U.S. tour dates for 2024. 

The three-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is set to play three shows in California this fall: October 8 in San Diego, October 10 in Palm Desert and October 12 in Los Angeles at the iconic Hollywood Bowl.

All three shows will feature guitarist Jimmie Vaughan as special guest.

Tickets for all three shows go on sale Friday, April 5, at 10 a.m.

While these are Clapton’s only U.S. dates so far, he does have several shows booked for 2024. On May 9 in Newcastle, he’ll kick off a U.K. tour, including a four-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall. He’ll follow that with a European tour that launches May 26 and 27 in Paris. A complete list of dates can be found at ericclapton.com.

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