U2 is asking their fans for some help. The Irish rockers are set to return to Las Vegas later this month, and to mark the occasion they are launching a new broadcast channel on Instagram. The issue? They don’t know what to name it.
The band has asked their fans to chime in with suggestions for a name; once they’ve narrowed it down to their favorite four, they’ll hold a poll to pick a winner.
“Please feel free to be as clever as you’d like,” they write, “puns are welcome!” They’ve already received several suggestions, including “Atomic Zoo,” “U2:LV,” “U2LovesUtoo” and “U2ube.”
The new channel’s launch will coincide with the January 26 return of U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, following a break of more than a month. The show is set to run through March 2. A complete list of dates can be found at u2.com.
Talking Heads’ iconic concert film Stop Making Sense is headed back to theaters.
Variety reports that in celebration of the movie’s 40th anniversary this summer, A24 is set to rerelease its 4K restoration of the film to theaters in the U.S. and Canada starting January 27. The movie will have residencies in several cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London.
To coincide with the rerelease, A24 will also launch a new Stop Making Sense merch collection in theaters, and it will release a collector’s edition 4K and Blu-ray edition of the flick, which will be available for preorder staring January 27.
The news follows the announcement earlier this month that a Stop Making Sense tribute album is on the way, featuring 16 artists covering Talking Heads tunes, including Paramore’s take on “Burning Down the House.”
A24’s 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last September, which included a Q&A with the reunited band. It livestreamed at IMAX theaters across the country, selling out 25 theaters to become IMAX’s highest-grossing live event.
Considered by many to be the greatest concert film of all time, Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme, was recorded over three shows at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in December 1983; the documentary came out the following October.
TheAllman Betts Band is hitting the road this spring.
The group, led by Devon Allman and Duane Betts, sons of the Allman Brothers Band’s Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts, respectively, have announced dates for the King Crawler American Tour, which is set to kick off May 16 in Charleston, South Carolina, and wrap June 9 in Newton, New Jersey.
A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at allmanbettsband.com.
While this is the Allman Betts Band’s first U.S. tour since 2021, the two artists did hit the road together last year for the 2023 Allman Betts Family Revival, a 16-date tour that also featured Anders Osborne, North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther and Cody Dickinson, and special guests in select cities.
Mötley Crüe is celebrating their 43rd anniversary on January 17, and to mark the momentous occasion, the band has announced the launch of their Crüeseum, which they describe as the “World’s Most Notorious Museum.”
The virtual museum, developed in partnership with Definitive Authentic/Inveniem, features candid photos, gear, handwritten lyrics and more memorabilia from the band’s personal archives, some of which are being displayed for the first time.
Crüeseum is currently broken down into three different collections: “Shout at the Devil,” dedicated to the band’s 1983 sophomore album; “On With the Show,” delving into the band’s life on the road, and “Home Sweet Home – Los Angeles,” described as “a dirty love letter to the city that made them.”
And this is just the beginning: The rockers note new exclusive items will be continually added to the Crüeseum.
Of course, like most museums, Crüeseum features a gift shop where fans can purchase a variety of collectables, like prints, tour posters, a Shout at the Devil commemorative album plaque, tour journal and collector’s limited edition cassette.
Mötley Crüe also announced they are reviving their ’80s-era fan club, S.I.N. Club, where members will get exclusive access to show tickets and more.
Fans can check out the Crüeseum experience at crueseum.com.
Ross Valory, bassist and original member of Journey, is set to release his debut solo album, All of the Above, in April, and he’s giving fans their first taste of the record.
Valory, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Journey, has just dropped the video for the new instrumental single “Tomland,” which features guitarist Miles Schon, son of Journey’s Neal Schon, drummer Prairie Prince and keyboardist Eric Levy.
“I have been revisiting material that has been accumulating, and I am sharing some of my favorite songs for the first time!” Valory shares of the record, noting on YouTube that fans should be “unprepared for a very eclectic album.”
Here’s the track list for All of the Above:
“Wild Kingdom”
“Nightflower”
“Tomland”
“Touched, Part II”
“Windmill”
“Incident at Neshabur”
“Low Rider”
“No One Wins a War”
When Green Day first announced the details of their 2024 tour, they said the outing will celebrate the 30th and 20th anniversaries of their albums Dookie and American Idiot, respectively. Now, bassist Mike Dirnt has confirmed that the band will be playing both records in full during each show.
“What a f****** moment it’s going to be,” Dirnt tells Rolling Stone. “We’ve never done anything like this before. And there’s a really good chance we’ll never do it again.”
Playing two full albums, as well as material off Green Day’s upcoming Saviors record, certainly seems like a lot, but Dirnt contends that the math checks out. Dookie lasts about 40 minutes, while American Idiot is close to an hour.
“We’ll then have about 35 to 45 minutes to throw down on other stuff,” Dirnt says. “And production-wise, doing these albums lends itself to some amazing possibilities.”
Green Day’s tour will come to the U.S. in July and also includes The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas on the bill. Saviors drops Friday, January 19.
In other Green Day news, fans spotted the band filming a segment for NBC’s The Tonight Show with host Jimmy Fallon in the New York City subway. An air date for their appearance has yet to be announced.
Earlier in January, The Smashing Pumpkins announced an open call for applications to become a guitarist in the band. Turns out, a whole lot of people are interested in the gig.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, January 16, the Pumpkins share that they’ve received over 10,000 submissions.
“Currently, there are 8 people working full-time to review each and every one,” the post reads.
The position will presumably fill the absence of departing guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who’d been with the Pumpkins since 2006 before leaving in 2023. The band currently includes original members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin.
The Pumpkins’ 2024 touring schedule includes dates in Europe and U.S. stadium shows with Green Day.
David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and The Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.
Talking Heads’ David Byrne did the honors of inducting Bowie, while Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan inducted Pink Floyd. Patti Smith inducted The Velvet Underground, and Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh inducted Jefferson Airplane.
The night’s other inductees included Gladys Knight & the Pips, Little Willie John,The Shirelles and Pete Seeger.
The members of R.E.M. and Steely Dan are among the artists chosen for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.
R.E.M.’s Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, and Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker will be inducted into the 2024 class in the performers category.
Non-performing songwriters set for induction this year include Timbaland, best known for his work with Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott and others, Hillary Lindsey, writer of such popular country songs as “Jesus Take the Wheel” and “Girl Crush,” and Dean Pitchford, writer of songs like “Footloose” and “Fame.”
“I’ve said it before, but the music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch . . . nothing, it all starts with the song and the songwriter,” SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said. “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2024 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and literally enriched music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”
Artists who were nominated, but not chosen this year, include Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald; Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke; Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson; Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings,founding members of The Guess Who; Bryan Adams, George Clinton, Tracy Chapman, Kenny Loggins, David Gates of Bread and the members of rap group Public Enemy.
The 2024 class will be celebrated at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala, taking place Thursday, June 13, in New York City.
Director Martin Scorsese is reflecting on his relationship with the late Robbie Robertson in a new interview with Variety.
“I just miss Robbie, period,” Scorsese tells the trade. “The friendship, the work, the tales he told — all of it.”
The pair had been friends for 47 years and collaborated on 14 projects, including the Scorsese-directed concert documentary The Last Waltz, featuring Robbie’s group The Band. Their final project was Scorsese’s most recent release, Killers of the Flower Moon, which Robertson completed before his death in August 2023.
“It meant a lot to both of us that we did this project together,” he says. “He saw it through to the end, and that was nice.”
So what was it that brought these two artists together in the first place? Scorsese says he and Robertson bonded over the love of their preferred craft.
“He lived his music. I lived my movies,” he shares. “And when Robbie and I shared a house in Hollywood, he played me music, I showed him movies and we never stopped sharing our suggestions and thoughts and impressions and passions and pouring it all into the work.”
He adds, “It wasn’t really a conscious thing. Looking back on it now, I realize that it just happened spontaneously between us. It could have been as simple as each of us looking for inspiration.”
Scorsese already has plans for his next project, which means he’s going to have to find a new person to collaborate with on the music, but he knows it will never be the same.
“I’ll work with people who bring something different,” he says, “but I would never imagine that someone could replace Robbie.”
