Classic Rock 93.9

Is Aerosmith getting ready to say goodbye to the road?

That’s the speculation after the band’s logo started popping up at venues, along with the words “Peace Out.” 

As previously reported, Aerosmith is counting down to a big announcement that is coming Monday at 10 a.m. ET, with much of the speculation being that they’re about to announce a tour. Well, some now believe it’s going to be their last one.

Rock journalist Mitch Lafon was the first to share a photo of a banner displaying the “Peace Out” logo from Boston’s TD Garden, with fans then sharing similar photos from Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena and more, leading many to believe the announcement will be for the band’s farewell tour. 

It has been a while since Aerosmith has gone on a big tour. They’ve been mostly focused on their Deuces Wild residency in Las Vegas since 2019, although last September they played two shows, one in Maine and one at Boston’s Fenway Park.

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Music fans are getting their first look at a new documentary about Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett. A new trailer has just dropped for the film, Have You Got It Yet?, directed by award-winning filmmaker Roddy Bogawa and the late album cover designer Storm Thorgerson, known for his work with Floyd, Led Zeppelin and others.

The doc is narrated by Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs and features interviews with Pink Floyd members David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Nick Mason, along with original band managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King. Also contributing to the film are The Who’s Pete Townshend and Blur’s Graham Coxon.

The feature-length doc promises to delve into the relationship between Pink Floyd and Barrett, who was responsible for giving the band its name. He left the group in 1968 before they hit it big. The doc is described as “a chronicle and a mosaic of Barrett’s creative and destructive impulses, his captivating presence and absence – a portrait of the complex puzzle that was his life.”

Have You Got It Yet? is set to open in the U.K. May 15 and will be released in the U.S. in late June.

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Over the weekend, Willie Nelson performed at Stephen Stills’ Light Up The Blues autism benefit in Los Angeles, and now it seems Stills is returning the favor. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is one of several artists added to this weekend’s two-night concert event celebrating Nelson’s 90th birthday.  

Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 is happening April 29 (Willie’s actual birthday) and 30 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Other new additions to the celebration include Kris Kristofferson, Dave Matthews, Gary Clark Jr., Jack Johnson, Emmylou Harris and George Strait.

Willie is expected to perform each night, along with previously announced performers Neil Young, Warren Haynes and Bob Weir, as well as Tom Jones, Lyle Lovett, Sheryl Crow, Beck, The Chicks, Chris Stapleton, Edie Brickell, Snoop Dogg, Kacey Musgraves, Nelson’s son Lukas Nelson and more.

Complete show details can be found at willienelson90.com.

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Alice Cooper is getting ready to reissue two of his classic albums. Rhino will release new deluxe editions of 1971’s Killer and 1972’s School’s Out on June 9.

Killer (Deluxe Edition) will feature a newly remastered version of the record, along with alternative takes of songs like “You Drive Me Nervous,” “Under My Wheels” and “Dead Babies.” There will also be a previously unreleased live recording of an April 1972 show at the Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico.

The School’s Out (Deluxe Edition) will also feature a newly remastered version of the album, along with two previously unreleased tracks: an alternate version of “Alma Mater” and an early demo of the Billion Dollar Babies tune “Elected.” It also includes single versions of “School’s Out” and “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets,” a Miami concert recorded on May 27, 1972, and a previously unreleased live version of “Be My Lover,” which is out now.

Both deluxe editions will be released in two-CD and three-LP sets. The vinyl editions will feature recreations of the original album sleeves, including a detachable 1972 calendar for Killer, and the LP wrapped in a pair of lacy panties for School’s Out. 

Both are available for preorder now.

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Billy Joel likes to have fun with the set lists for his Madison Square Garden residency, and he pulled out a deep cut at his show April 25, performing the track “Los Angelenos” for the first time in 42 years.

“We never do this song,” Joel told the New York audience, according to Rolling Stone. “We haven’t done this since the ’80s I think. We’ll give it a shot.”

“Los Angelenos” was featured on Joel’s 1974 album Streetlife Serenade, with a live version appearing on 1981’s Songs in the Attic. The last time he played it was in July 1981 in Huntington, New York.

Joel’s next MSG show is scheduled for May 5. For a complete list of Joel dates, check out billyjoel.com.

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The public is about to get a good look at Freddie Mercury’s London home, Garden Lodge, which has remained practically unchanged in the past 30 years. Sotheby’s is hosting a series of exhibitions, dubbed Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, giving fans a peek inside the Queen frontman’s estate.

Highlights of the auction, which was curated by Mercury’s good friend Mary Austin, will be on display at Sotheby’s galleries this summer, hitting New York June 1-8, followed by Los Angeles June 14-18 and Hong Kong June 26-30. It will then move to London for a monthlong exhibit that will display almost 1,500 items. That exhibit will run from August 4 to September 5, which would have been Mercury’s 77th birthday.

Among the items up for grabs: the replica St Edward’s Crown and robe Freddie wore to perform “God Save The Queen” during Queen’s 1986 The Magic Tour; handwritten working lyrics to “We Are The Champions” and “Killer Queen”; a military-style jacket Mercury wore for his 39th birthday party drag ball in 1985; a Tiffany & Co. silver mustache comb; and the silk waistcoat Mercury wore in his final video for “These Are The Days Of Our Lives.”

All together there will be six dedicated Mercury auctions, according to a release, including a live Evening Sale on September 6. There will also be an auction dedicated to Mercury On Stage on September 7, and an At Home auction on September 8. Plus, there will be three online auctions: one dedicated to his love of Japan and two “Crazy Little Things” auctions, featuring some of Mercury’s more eclectic items. 

A portion of the proceeds from the auctions will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation. More details can be found at Sothebys.com.

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Yes is giving fans another taste of their upcoming album. The band, currently made up of Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen, just released the new tune “All Connected,” the second single they’ve shared from their upcoming album, Mirror To The Sky, which drops May 19.

“The initial idea came from a musical sketch I’d created using the idea of our ‘connectivity’ in regard to communications in the modern age,” Sherwood shares. “It’s very exciting to know Yes are maintaining that edge and energy we all know and love.”

He added, “This track is firing on all cylinders. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did creating it.” 

Mirror to the Sky is available for preorder now and comes in a variety of formats, including a limited deluxe box set, featuring transparent electric blue double vinyl, two CDs and a Blu-ray, with a 36-page hardcover book, a poster and more.

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On This Day, April 26, 1978 …

The concert documentary The Last Waltz, about The Band’s farewell concert, opened in theaters.

The movie, directed by Martin Scorsese, focused on The Band’s Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, which was billed as their “farewell concert appearance.”

The show featured guest appearances by a whole host of musicians, including Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Ronnie Wood, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison and Neil Young.

Considered one of the greatest concert documentaries of all time, in 2019 the film was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd revealed in March they decided to go on following the death of guitarist and original member Gary Rossington, and Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke thinks it’s a decision that just makes sense for the band. 

Medlocke tells ABC Audio that the band, management and the families of Gary, Johnny Van Zandt and the others got together and decided, “Let the band go out and honor and pay tribute to what was great music and a great band.” Because at the end of the day, Medlocke notes, “We are still players, we love to perform. Lynyrd Skynyrd has always been a live entity, even the old band. The original band was a live entity.” 

In fact, he says playing live was always what was important to them, sharing, “We grew up in a time, Johnny and myself, Gary, we never thought about being rock stars. We thought about going out and making our living playing music.” 

And while Medlocke knows there will be some music fans who question the decision to go on, he’s not losing sleep over it.

“At some point, of course, all good things come to an end,” he says. “And for all those people out there that, you know, at one time or another beat us up over doing whatever we’re doing, guess what? At some point we’ll be gone and then they can go on to somebody else and beat somebody else up.” 

Until that happens, fans have plenty of chances to see Lynyrd Skynyrd live. They’re set to play Brandon, Mississippi, on Saturday, April 29. And they kick off their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top on Friday, July 21. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com. 

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While The Clash broke up in 1986, there were rumors of a possible reunion in the ’90s. But bassist Paul Simonon reveals in a new interview that it wasn’t something he really wanted to do. In fact, he could have made a lot of money if he just said yes, but he turned it down.

Simonon tells Mojo that he, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and Mick’s manager had discussed a possible reunion, but says “it didn’t happen for a lot of reasons.” He admits he was “pissed off” at Mick, who couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to reunite. “Mick said, ‘Why not? You’ll get a million pounds,’” Simonon says. “That pissed me off even more. So I said, “I don’t want a f****** million pounds.”

Simonon says Mick was shocked that he passed on the reunion, but also says he believes Strummer “would not have wanted to do it either.” As for why he was against the reunion, Simonon says, “For me The Clash story was over.”

Fans were also hoping to see a reunion when the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, but Strummer passed away before that could happen. Simonon said he had no plans to perform anyway. He notes, “I had no interest in those kind of awards things. I don’t want a pat on the back.”

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