Queen performed their first show under that name in Cornwall, England, after originally being booked under their previous name, Smile.
The new name was suggested by singer Freddie Mercury; it was his first paid gig with the band, whose lineup included Brian May, Roger Taylor and Mike Grose on bass. John Deacon became the band’s bass player in 1971.
Of course, Queen went on to become superstars, selling between 250 and 300 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. They also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Foo Fighters are hopping across the pond in 2024 for a U.K. stadium tour.
The outing, dubbed the Everything or Nothing at All Tour, consists of six dates in June. Wet Leg will also be on the bill for select dates.
Tickets go on sale Friday, June 30. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit FooFighters.com.
The tour news follows Foo Fighters’ surprise performance at England’s Glastonbury Festival on June 23.
Foo Fighters will be supporting their new album But Here We Are, their first since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. They’ve been touring since May with new drummer Josh Freese, and have a number of U.S. headlining dates and festivals on their summer schedule.
We are halfway through 2023 and Pollstaris looking back at the last six months of touring, which have been very good for Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and others.
According to the trade’s midyear report, Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 tour is the second-highest-grossing tour of the year, behind only Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Springsteen lands at two, with a gross of over $142 million, selling a total of 673,277 tickets in the first half of the year for an average gross per show of just under $4 million.
Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour also earns a spot on the midyear chart at #4, behind Harry Styles’ Love On Tour. Elton’s tour has grossed over $110 million in the first six months of the year, with an average gross per show of over $3.3 million.
Elton is set to wrap his tour July 7 and 8 in Stockholm, Sweden, but it has already broken the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Meanwhile, Springsteen still has plenty of shows to go on his tour, which means he’ll be bringing in even more dough. He’ll play the second of two nights in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Wednesday, June 28, with the European leg wrapping July 25 in Monza, Italy. Plus he’ll bring the tour back to the U.S., kicking off with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.
A thought-to-be-lost Steely Dan track from the ’70s has found its way online for the very first time.
According to the Expanding Dan website, the track “The Second Arrangement” was erased by a studio technician in 1979 and thought to be lost forever. But now the family of the band’s late longtime engineer Roger Nichols has uncovered a previously unknown copy.
Nichols’ daughters Cimcie and Ashlee discovered the tape, labeled “Second ARR,” in 2011 while packing up the family home. Not knowing what to do with it, Cimcie simply brought it to her Los Angeles home. In 2020, during the pandemic, she started going through her dad’s things and posting interesting items to Facebook, including a picture of the tape. The photo quickly went viral, with Steely Dan fans wanting to hear it.
Cimcie then brought it to a studio in Los Angeles, where it was transferred from cassette to a new case. When they played it, they discovered “The Second Arrangement,” as well as an instrumental of the song. “Were You Blind That Day,” which eventually became “Third World Man,” was also on the tape.
Fans can now listen to it on the Expanding Dan site. Cimcie plans to put it up for auction soon in order to earn money that will, in part, go toward a documentary about Nichols.
Def Leppard and Sammy Hagar are among the artists set to receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.
Both will receive their stars in the Recording category, along with songwriter Glen Ballard, Gwen Stefani, Toni Braxton, Darius Rucker, Dr. Dre, Brandy Norwood and Charles Fox, with legendary artist Otis Redding earning a posthumous star in the Live Theater/Live Performance category.
Other big names selected this year include the late Chadwick Boseman, Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Eugene Levy and Kerry Washington.
Dates for this year’s star ceremonies have not yet been scheduled. Those selected have two years to choose the date for their ceremony.
Alice in Chains has scheduled a run of U.S. headlining dates in between shows opening for Guns N’ Roses.
The newly added gigs span from September 24 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to October 14 in Spokane, Washington. Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 29, at 10 a.m. local time.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit AliceinChains.com.
AiC’s dates with Guns N’ Roses run from September 23 in Kansas City, Missouri, to October 16 in Vancouver.
The most recent Alice in Chains album is 2018’s Rainier Fog.
Gov’t Mule has made their fall touring plans. The band just announced dates for their Peace…Like A River tour, in support of their recently released album of the same name.
The trek kicks off September 13, in Toronto, Canada, with dates in Portland, Maine; Charleston, West Virginia; Erie, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida and more, before wrapping October 15 in Columbus, Georgia. They’ve also announced a two-week European tour, which kicks off November 6, in London, England, and wraps November 20, in Trieste, Italy.
Tickets for the North American dates go on sale starting June 29, at 10 a.m. local time. European dates go on sale June 30.
Next up, Gov’t Mule will kick off their Dark Side of the Mule tour, a tribute to Pink Floyd’s classic album Dark Side of the Moon, on July 22, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.
In other Gov’t Mule news, in early June the band announced bassist Jorgen Carlsson was leaving and would be replaced by bassist Kevin Scott. In a recent interview with Rock & Blues Muse, frontman Warren Haynes shared his first comments on Jorgen’s departure.
“Jorgen did an amazing job. His role in Gov’t Mule got better and better year after year,” Haynes says of the bassist. “He’s been quiet-quitting the last few years. We all knew it was coming, but it is heartbreaking.”
As for Kevin, he says, “Kevin is fantastic and we’re hoping it will be more than temporary … we’re all hoping that he’s here for a new chapter.”
Metallica‘s M72 world tour finally comes to the U.S. in August, with each city on the itinerary getting two shows with completely unique set lists. If that’s still not enough Metallica for you, have no fear.
For each stop on the tour, Metallica will be holding “Takeover” events in between the two concerts, featuring cover bands, film screenings and other ‘Tallica-related festivities. Additionally, you’ll be able to see live performances by the bands OTTTO and Bastardane, which feature the children of bassist Robert Trujillo and frontman James Hetfield, respectively.
The life of Asia co-founder, singer and bassist John Wetton will be celebrated with a new tribute concert in August. John’s wife Lisa, his son Dylan and QEDG Management just announced the lineup for An Extraordinary Life, a memorial concert for Wetton, taking place August 3, at Trading Boundaries in East Sussex, England.
The concert will be streamed online for fans to enjoy and will feature an audience of friends and family, a whole host of performers and special guests, including Wetton’s Asia bandmate Geoff Downes, Yes’ Rick Wakeman, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Squeeze’s Chris Difford and more. All artists will be backed by musicians from The Paul Green Rock Academy.
“I am delighted and humbled that so many legendary artists who worked with my Dad over the years have agreed to come together both to honor him and raise vital funds for the charity which supported him during his last days,” says John’s son, Dylan.
The memorial will raise money for the charity Macmillan Caring Locally, which cared for Wetton. He passed away January 31, 2017, due to complications from cancer.
3rd Secret, the grunge supergroup featuring members of Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden, has released a new album.
The project’s sophomore effort, aptly titled 2nd 3rd Secret, is out now via digital platforms. You can watch a video for the song “Ditch” streaming now on YouTube.
3rd Secret is made up of Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil as well as Bubba Dupree of the hardcore band Void and vocalists Jillian Raye and Jennifer Johnson.
The self-titled debut 3rd Secret album dropped in 2022.
