Classic Rock 93.9

Warren Haynes hosted his 32nd annual Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday, December 9, and fans were treated to a whole host of one-of-a-kind collaborations.

One of the highlights came when Haynes’ band Gov’t Mule teamed with Slash, Myles Kennedy and ZZ Top legend Billy F Gibbons for a nine-minute cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic “Simple Man.” 

According to setlist.fm, Govt Mule’s set featured covers of Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” AC/DC‘s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike,” Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” with Slash and Kennedy.

Gibbons joined the band for a set of ZZ Top covers, including “Sharp Dressed Man,” “La Grange” and “Blue Jeans Blues.”

Christmas Jam also featured performances by Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, Clutch and others, with proceeds from the concert benefitting Asheville Habitat for Humanity and BeLoved Asheville. Haynes took to Instagram to thank fans for their support.

“Christmas Jam Family, words cannot convey the heartfelt appreciation we hold for each of you, transforming this Christmas Jam into such a powerful experience,” he shared. “Your contribution to the Asheville community, through the meaningful efforts of @ashevillehabitat & @belovedasheville, will leave an indelible mark for generations to come.”

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Like a number of pop stars in the ’80s, Bryan Adams was friendly with Princess Diana. While he insists they were never more than friends, he says their relationship was one of the highlights of his entire life.

“We had a lot of really, really good conversations, I have to tell you. In fact it’s strange and surreal to think about,” Bryan tells the U.K. paper The Times. “I really, really liked Diana, she was an amazing woman and a super-great inspiration. Meeting her was truly one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.”

In 1984, Bryan wrote a song called “Diana,” in which he seemingly pleads with the princess to leave Prince Charles and run away with him. When he eventually met Princess Diana in real life, he mentioned that song, and she told him, “I’d like to hear it again.” He sent her a copy, she invited him to tea, and that’s how they became friendly.

When asked if he tried to “save” Diana, he replies, “Uh-oh,” gets quiet and then says, “Maybe, a bit.”

“When I first went round to [Kensington Palace] she wasn’t, like, ‘I really need to talk to somebody,’ and you don’t bulldoze into someone’s life wanting to know everything in the first ten minutes,” he explains. “It was, ‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’ But later the more friendly we got the more I learnt what was really going on [in her life]. ”

He notes that he stopped performing “Diana” after her death in 1997 out “of respect to her and her boys.”

Bryan will kick off a new U.S. tour in January. He just released the Live at the Royal Albert Hall box set, which documents the three shows he performed at the legendary London venue last year.

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Earlier this year, Metallica announced For Whom the Band Tolls! — a competition for college and high school marching bands. Now, the metal legends have unveiled the contest’s finalists.

For the competition, schools across the U.S. submitted videos of their marching bands performing renditions of Metallica songs. A panel of professional judges has selected five finalists in five different categories: Division 1 college, Division 2 and 3 college, and small, medium and large high schools. The Metallica members will pick a winner in each category.

The Division 1 college winner will earn $75,000 in musical instruments and equipment. Metallica will award the Division 2 and 3 college winners with $40,000 in prizing, and $15,000 for the winner of each high school category.

Additionally, you can cast your vote for your favorite college and high school entries. Whichever ensembles get the most votes will win the “fan favorite” prize of $10,000.

For more info, visit MetallicaMarchingBand.com.

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Julien’s Auctions wrapped their three-day auction of ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill’s personal items and memorabilia over the weekend, setting records in the process. 

The auction brought in over $3 million, becoming the highest grossing single artist auction at Julien’s this year.

In addition to the already announced sale of Hill’s 1953 Fender Precision bass for $393,700, the second-highest bass ever sold at auction, other big ticket items included: Hill’s 1980s Gibson Custom Shop Explorer style bass, used during the Eliminator tour, which sold for $58,500; a Wayne Charvel, Custom Eliminator Hot Rod shaped bass guitar, for $39,000; and “Old Faithful,” Hill’s 2000s Bolin Fender Clone Precision bass, which sold for $28,575. 

Personal items sold at the auction included Hill’s cowboy boots by Manuel, which sold for $19,500; his commissioned oil derrick gold nugget ring, for $9,100; and more. 

A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Recording Academy’s charitable foundation, MusiCares.

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Wolfgang Van Halen may have taken Michael Anthony‘s spot in Van Halen 17 years ago, but all’s good between them now.

In an Instagram post, Anthony shared that he recently saw Wolf perform with band Mammoth WVH.

“They threw it down!!” Anthony wrote of Mammoth’s performance. “Love ya Wolf, so great to see ya!! (proud of you brother!!).”

Anthony added in the post’s comment that the show marked the first time he and Wolf had seen each other in 20 years.

Wolf also shared his own post featuring a photo of him and Anthony backstage at the show, along with the caption, “Ran into an old friend at the @mammothwvh show in Vegas tonight. (Love ya, Mikey).”

Anthony played bass in the classic lineup of Van Halen, alongside Eddie and Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth. In 2006, Van Halen parted ways with Anthony, and Wolf, Eddie’s son, was brought in to play bass. Wolf remained in Van Halen until the band ended with Eddie’s death in 2020.

You’ll be able to hear Anthony play Van Halen tunes on tour in 2024 alongside Sammy Hagar, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Joe Satriani.

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Foo Fighters have added a trio of U.S. headlining dates to their 2024 schedule.

The newly announced shows take place May 1 in Dallas, May 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and May in Charlotte. Nova Twins will also be on the bill.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, December 14, at 10 a.m. local time. Visit FooFighters.com for all ticket info.

The Foos will be supporting their latest album, But Here We Are, which dropped in June. Their other 2024 U.S. touring plans include headlining the Shaky Knees and Welcome to Rockville festivals, and launching a U.S. stadium trek in July.

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REO Speedwagon is returning to Las Vegas. The band announced some new dates for An Evening of Hi Infidelity… and More at the Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort.

The band has announced six new shows in 2024: May 8, 10 and 11, and October 2, 4 and 5.

“We had so much fun, the audience response was mind-blowing, and all the love and hard work we put into this production more than paid off,” frontman Kevin Cronin shares. “We are very proud of this special production and look forward to returning to The Venetian Theatre in 2024.”

REO Speedwagon first launched An Evening of Hi Infidelity… and More with two shows in November. The show has them performing their classic album Hi Infidelity in its entirety, as well as other hit songs.

Tickets go on sale Friday, December 15, at 10 a.m. PT. 

Released in November 1980, Hi Infidelity peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album chart and featured the hit songs “Take It On the Run” and “Keep On Loving You.” It was the biggest selling album of 1981 and was certified 10-times platinum by the RIAA.

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Pearl Jam is officially returning to the live stage in 2024.

Eddie Vedder and company are set to headline Spain’s Mad Cool and Portugal’s NOS Alive festivals next year, taking place July 10-13 and July 11-13, respectively.

The Mad Cool lineup also includes Bring Me the Horizon, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sum 41 and Greta Van Fleet. The Pumpkins and Sum 41 are playing NOS Alive as well, along with The Breeders.

For more info, visit MadCoolFestival.es and NOSAlive.com.

Mad Cool and NOS Alive mark the first announced Pearl Jam live performances of 2024. The band wrapped a short U.S. tour in September.

A new PJ album is also in the works. Drummer Matt Cameron said in a recent interview that the upcoming record, the follow-up to 2020’s Gigaton, is “in the can.”

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On This Day, December 11, 1968…

The Rolling Stones began shooting the concert film Rock and Roll Circus.

The film was shot over two days and featured The Stones, as well as The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal and Marianne Faithfull, performing on a stage set that looked like a circus. It also featured a one-time-only performance by The Dirty Mac, a group made up of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and more.

The film was originally supposed to air on the BBC, but, unhappy with their performance, The Stones opted to hold back the broadcast. It took 28 years for them to change their mind and release it. It premiered as part of the New York Film Festival in October 1996. A soundtrack followed two days after the premiere.

A remastered edition of the film in Dolby Atmos received a limited theatrical release in March 2019.

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Bruce Springsteen and the late Robbie Robertson are among the artists earning nominations for the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards.

Springsteen is nominated in the Best Original Song category for his tune “Addicted to Romance,” which he wrote for the movie She Came to Me, starring Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei.

Lenny Kravitz is also nominated for his Rustin song “Road to Freedom, as are three tunes from Barbie, Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” “I’m Just Ken” and “Dance the Night,” and The Super Mario Bros song “Peaches.”

Robertson is nominated for Best Original Score for his work on Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon, where he’ll compete against the scores for Oppenheimer, Poor Things, The Boy and the Heron, The Zone of Interest and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The 81st annual Golden Globe Awards will air live from the Beverly Hilton on CBS and stream on Paramount+ Sunday, January 7, at 8 p.m. ET.

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