Classic Rock 93.9

KISS fans hoping to see a reunion with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss during their final shows at Madison Square Garden will be sorely disappointed, according to Gene Simmons.

In an interview with Linea Rock, Simmons reveals he asked them several times if they’d like to show up for an encore, or to just play a song, but they both turned him down. “So, I don’t know what to say about that…But it’s always welcome,” he says.

Simmons insists that only some fans will be disappointed by their absence from the final shows.

“For the fans — the older, older fans — the ones who’ve been around for 50 years, they’re old, and some of them wanna see Ace and Peter,” he says. “The newer fans never saw them, and they don’t know. But the older fans wonder about Ace and Peter.”

Simmons does say there will be surprises during the final concerts, but he also doesn’t think they are needed.

“There are many other big stars, superstars, who wanna jump up onstage and play a song. But we’re not sure about that,” Simmons explains. “Maybe the best thing to do is to end the way we started: four guys with guitars. No keyboards, no synthesizers — nothing. Just playing.”

KISS’ End of the Road tour hits Tuscany, Italy, on June 29. It returns to the U.S. on October 19 in Cincinnati, Ohio, with their final two shows set for December 1 and 2 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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On This Day, June 29, 1984…

During a Bruce Springsteen concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, director Brian De Palma shot the video for The Boss’ Born in the U.S.A. single “Dancing in the Dark.”

The performance clip ends with Springsteen pulling a fan to the stage to dance with him. In reality, the woman, a then unknown actress named Courteney Cox, was placed in the front row so Bruce could pull her onstage to dance.

The video became a huge MTV hit and the song became Bruce’s biggest-ever single, spending four weeks at #1 and selling over a million copies.

Cox went on to become a huge star, thanks to the successful NBC series Friends, the Scream movie franchise and more.

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The Guess Who will drop their new album, Plein D’Amour, on Friday, June 30. The album title translates to “full of love,” and lead singer Derek Sharp tells ABC Audio it just made sense to give it that name. 

“That’s really what the whole album is about,” he shares. “The whole album is really about, you know, coming together.”

Sharp says the band was inspired to get back in the studio after having a year off due to COVID-19. “We had a new member in the band that really loved the songs that we had,” he says, referring to guitarist Michael Staertow. Sharp says he and original member Garry Peterson had always planned to keep “the new music going,” sharing, “I think the fact that everybody was into it was part of the reason” they made the album.

For Garry, one of the best parts of making Plein D’Amour was being able to get back into the studio with all his bandmates. “It was a great experience to get back to the old way that we used to record, and I think that’s reflective in the sound of the album and just the whole feel,” he says.

In addition to the new music, The Guess Who are still on the road. After almost 60 years with the band, seeing fans enjoy their music is exactly what keeps Peterson motivated to continue.

“You know, we’re musicians, we play for people,” he says. “And that’s really what keeps you wanting to do this … I’ve always said it’s like a drug to be able to make people feel good and feel happy.” 

Plein D’Amour is available for preorder now. A complete list of The Guess Who tour dates can be found at theguesswho.com.

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Foo Fighters have added a headlining show in Montreal to their touring schedule, and it will take place July 10.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 29, at 10 a.m. ET. For more info, visit FooFighters.com.

The Montreal show falls in the middle of two Canadian festival sets. The next U.S. date on the Foos’ schedule is July 15 at the Harley-Davidson Homecoming festival in Milwaukee, followed by a number of stateside headlining and festival shows throughout the summer and fall.

Foo Fighters have been touring since May with new drummer Josh Freese, who joined the group following the death of Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. The “Everlong” rockers are supporting their new album, But Here We Are, their first since Hawkins’ passing.

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Guns N’ Roses have responded to the bad reviews they’ve been getting about their set at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, June 24. 

In a post on Twitter, the band called out two U.K. reporters who gave them bad reviews: Neil McCormack of The Telegraph, whose review featured the subtitle “Welcome To The Mumble,” and Mark Beaumont, whose review in The Independent suggested the band members were the “frontrunners for the worst Glasto headline set of all time.”

GNR tagged both critics in the tweet, responding with a quote from the song “Chinese Democracy”: “…it would take a lot more hate than you.” 

McCormack later responded to the post, tweeting, “GnR fans going off like offended teenieboppers cos someone doesn’t love their heroes as much as they do, boohoo. This is every critic’s Twitter timeline after they’ve given a K-pop boyband a bad review. It’s 3 stars ffs. And yeah, I was in the (slowly shrinking) crowd. Were you?”

Guns N’ Roses played over two hours at Glastonbury, with a set filled with hits like “Mr. Brownstone,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “November Rain” and more. It even featured a special appearance by Foo Fighter frontman Dave Grohl on their classic “Paradise City.”

And fans will have plenty of chances to see just how good, or bad, the band really is. They are currently on a European tour and their North American tour kicks off August 5 in Moncton, Canada. It hits the U.S. August 11 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at gunsnroses.com.

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The Smashing Pumpkins have premiered the video for “Spellbinding,” a track off the band’s new album, Atum.

The clip finds frontman Billy Corgan dancing on a rocket ship flying through outer space. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.

Atum is described as a three-part rock opera, and a sequel to the 1995 and 2000 Pumpkins albums Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God, respectively. It was released over multiple installments over the last year before arriving in full in May.

The Smashing Pumpkins will hit the road in support of Atum on their The World Is a Vampire tour, launching July 28 in Las Vegas. Stone Temple Pilots, Interpol and Rival Sons will also be on the bill for select dates.

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Billy Joel’s hit song “We Didn’t Start The Fire” has been updated by rockers Fall Out Boy. While Billy’s song covered current events from 1949 to 1989, the new take recounts the years 1989 to 2023.  

For example, where Billy’s hit gave shoutouts to Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, Fall Out Boy name drops Kurt Cobain, Pokémon and “Tom DeLonge and aliens,” referring to the Blink 182 frontman. The new song also references a number of political figures and world events, including 9/11, Columbine and our former president, with the line, “[Donald] Trump gets impeached twice.”

Interestingly, both versions mention Egypt’s Suez Canal: Joel sang, “Trouble in the Suez,” in reference to the 1956 Suez Crisis, while Fall Out Boy’s rendition goes “Ever Given Suez,” referring to the ship that infamously got stuck in the canal in 2021.

“So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years — we felt like a little system update might be fun,” Fall Out Boy says of the cover. “Hope you like our take on it.”

Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” appeared on his 11th studio album, Storm Front. The track became the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s third #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned him a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.

You can listen to Fall Out Boy’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” now via digital outlets and follow along with its lyric video streaming now on YouTube.

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Flea wants to give Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ debut album another look.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the bassist was asked what he thinks his band’s worst album is, and he replied, “I always regret the way we made the first one,” referring to 1984’s The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“I think the songs are really good,” Flea says. “Our band was smoking at the time.”

RHCP formed in 1982 with Flea, frontman Anthony Kiedis, guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. Before recording their debut, though, Slovak and Irons left the band and were replaced by guitarist Jack Sherman and drummer Cliff Martinez.

“Both were great musicians, but the connection just wasn’t as profound as we had with the guys we started with,” Flea explains. “I’ve often wanted to go back and rerecord that album, but I can never talk anyone into it.”

Slovak and Irons both rejoined the band after the release of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Following Slovak’s death in 1988, Irons parted ways with the Peppers again, leading current members John Frusciante and Chad Smith to join the band. Sherman died in 2020, while Martinez is currently a film composer.

As for what the best Chili Peppers album is, Flea considers Blood Sugar Sex Magik — “But there’s a couple tunes on there I don’t think should have gotten on in retrospect,” he muses — and Californication.

“Californication is pretty good top to bottom,” Flea says. “I saw Adele a little while ago and she told me that was her favorite record of all time. That meant a lot to me because I’m a big Adele fan.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently on tour supporting their two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.

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Brian Setzer is ready to hit the road again. The Stray Cats frontman just announced dates for the Rockabilly Riot tour, marking Setzer’s first live shows in over four years.

“I’ve had a pretty long break, and I needed it,” Setzer shares. “I’m renewed and really want to play live again. I want to just get out on the road with this kick-a** little 3-piece band and start playing.” 

The 12-date tour kicks off September 27 in Red Bank, New Jersey, wrapping October 13 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 30, at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at briansetzer.com.

The new tour will coincide with a brand new solo album from Setzer. Details of the album have yet to be announced.

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Jimmy Buffett postponed a show in South Carolina back in May after he was admitted to the hospital to “address some issues that needed immediate attention.” Now, he’s missing another show.

Milwaukee Summerfest just announced that Buffett’s July 6 concert with the Coral Reefer Band at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater will not go on as planned. Tickets for the show had never actually gone on sale, but Summerfest had announced he’d be headlining that date.

While Buffett hasn’t commented on the canceled Summerfest show, a post on Facebook blamed the cancellation on “circumstances out of our control.”

The July 6 date will now be headlined by AJR.

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