Classic Rock 93.9

Earlier this year, Joni Mitchell was a surprise guest at the Newport Folk Festival, where she performed her first full set of songs in concert in more than 20 years. Fans may soon be able to relive that performance in the form of a live album.

Mitchell sat down with Elton John last weekend for his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music 1, and during the chat, Elton mentioned that there’s going to be an album coming out documenting that performance. Mitchell confirmed the news, responding, “We’re trying to put that out.” 

During the concert, Mitchell joined superfan Brandi Carlile onstage and sang along with her for most of the 13-song set, which included classics like “Both Sides Now,” “Big Yellow Taxi” and “The Circle Game.”

“It’s extraordinary how good it is,” Elton added. “And you didn’t have much rehearsal, did you?”

“Didn’t have any,” the legendary singer/songwriter replied. She then noted that she was unable to sing in her original key, since she’s now an alto, not a soprano. However, “I thought people might feel slighted if I just played the guitar part … so it was very well received, much to my delight.”

Mitchell also spoke with Elton about getting a lot of flak for her now-classic albums like Blue, Court and Spark, Ladies of the Canyon and The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

“People thought that it was too intimate,” she explained. “It was almost like Dylan going electric. I think it upset the male singer-songwriters. They’d go, ‘Oh, no. Do we have to bear our souls like this now?’ I think it made people nervous … It took to this generation, they seem to be able to face those emotions more easily than my generation.”

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Aerosmith has teamed up with the Red Cross to help support relief efforts in Florida following the recent Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole storms.

The “Dream On” rockers are donating two emergency vehicles to be used by the Red Cross of Central Florida. The trucks will debut in 2023 and will be branded with Aerosmith’s logo.

“Aerosmith and I were devastated by the disastrous impact of Hurricane Ian,” says guitarist Joe Perry, who also lives in Florida. “Too often we are seeing these disasters increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change, having a strong Red Cross is more critical than ever before.”

Perry adds, “We’re proud to support the Red Cross and we know these vehicles will be an important tool helping people in need for years to come.”

Aerosmith is also preparing for the return of the band’s Las Vegas residency, which picks up November 19 for another eight-show engagement at the Dolby Live theater at the Park MGM resort.

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KISS‘ End of the Road World Tour has been going on since 2019, but Gene Simmons says it will eventually end, and after that, he promises, “No more touring.”

“We love the fans, and we don’t want to stay on stage too long, but we’re having the time of our lives,” Simmons tells Page Six, noting that they’ve added another 100 cities to the tour. But he says he knows exactly when the band will officially call it quits. 

“I know where and when, but I’m not [revealing yet],” he teases. “I do know the last day and date. But you don’t want to find out what you’re getting for Christmas as a present in July, right?”

He adds, “At the end of that, no more touring.”

Since the band did a “Farewell Tour” from 2000 to 2001, fans could be forgiven for not believing Simmons this time. But as he tells Page Six, “We were honest about it. It wasn’t a trickery or anything. We had the original guys, Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss], who were not performing up to snuff. It had to do with drugs and alcohol. I don’t want to sugarcoat it.”

“We decided…we should probably end it. I don’t want to be up on stage and do a lackluster show,” he explains. “And then as we were about to stop, the fans were saying, ‘Why don’t you just replace them, like a football team?’ We thought about it for a while and we said, ‘Yeah!’”

Simmons also shared his thoughts on his daughter Sophie‘s upcoming wedding.

“I’m not ready. One second she’s just a pair of cheeks with little legs walking around. Next second, she’s a grown woman,” he said. “I’m not ready. But it’s happening. She’s getting married and he’s a great guy.”

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Foreigner have announced that their 2023 tour will be their last.

“Many years ago, I wrote a song called ‘Feels Like The First Time’ and today we are launching one last worldwide tour,” says Foreigner leader and co-founder Mick Jones. “We will be presenting a show that I know will have the same enthusiasm as our very first appearances.”

He continues, “We hope to get to every place that we have played over the last several years.  While I’m sure our fans will have mixed feelings about the end of the road for the band, I know our shows are going to delight audiences everywhere.”

Singer Kelly Hansen adds, “Foreigner has a brilliant and increasingly demanding catalogue of songs to sing and I refuse to give them less than they deserve. So, we’re going to finish strong.”  He adds, ” I’m sure there may be occasions when we’ll do some special appearances, but I think the time is coming for us to live off the road. Thank you all so much!”

The tour kicks off July 6 in Atlanta, GA, and is currently set to wrap up September 3 in Holmdel, NJ. For the first leg of the tour, Loverboy will open the shows. Tickets go on sale November 18 via LiveNation.com.

Foreigner is also inviting choirs nationwide to enter for a chance to kick off each concert with a live a cappella performance of classic rock songs. One winning choir will be chosen for each show, and they’ll receive new musical equipment. Visit foreignerchoirs.com to find out how to enter.

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It was a Beatles family reunion over the weekend, starring Paul McCartney and John Lennon‘s son Julian.

“It’s Amazing who you run into in an airport Lounge! None other than Uncle Paul…. So, so lovely, and what are the chances,” Julian tweeted along with a black-and-white photo of himself posing with Macca. Another photo showed Paul holding up his cell phone, which is displaying Julian’s new album, Jude.

Jude, Julian’s first album in more than 10 years, takes its title from “Hey Jude,” the 1968 Beatles song that McCartney famously wrote for him when he was five years old, to cheer him up after his parents split.

Julian recently told ABC Audio that titling the record Jude partly ties in with his recent decision to legally change his given first name, John, to Julian, which he’s been called since childhood.

“Jules, Jude, me, retrospective, collection of songs from life, taking ownership of the name Jude and/or being me finally…that all made sense to me,” he explained.

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We were promised “special guests” for Elton John‘s final North American show, which is taking place November 20 at Dodger Stadium and being livestreamed on Disney+. Well, we’re getting them.

Dua Lipa, Brandi Carlile and Kiki Dee have all been announced as guests for the performance. Dua was, of course, Elton’s duet partner on their global hit “Cold Heart.” Brandi is a good friend of Elton’s and appears on his most recent album, The Lockdown Sessions. British singer Kiki Dee was Elton’s duet partner for his 1976 number-one hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”

A new trailer has also been released for the November 20 show. It starts at 11 p.m. ET on Disney+ and will be preceded by Countdown to Elton Live, featuring interviews with Elton and his husband/manager, David Furnish, as well as fan messages and footage from Dodger Stadium.

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A 1973 Fender Mustang that the late Kurt Cobain played, smashed and autographed was the big winner at Julien’s Auctions’ “Icons and Idols: Rock ‘N’ Roll” auction over the weekend. Estimated at $200,000, it sold for $486,400.

The guitar, used at gigs in Chicago and Wilkinsburg, PA, on Nirvana‘s first U.S. tour in 1989, was smashed during the performance of “Blew” at the Pennsylvania gig. After the gig, the band stayed at the apartment of Hullabaloo‘s Sluggo Cawley, and Cobain offered to trade the Mustang for Cawley’s smashed Gibson SG. Cawley agreed and asked Cobain to sign the Mustang, which he did, writing, “Yo Sluggo/Thank for the trade/If its illegal to Rock and Roll, then throw my a** in jail/Nirvana.”

Other highlights of the auction included a gold and diamond watch that Elvis Presley owned, which went for $256,000; a piano on which Bob Dylan composed songs for his 1969 album, Nashville Skyline, which sold for $217,600; a bass The Who‘s John Entwistle played in the 1975 movie Tommy, which sold for $81,250; and stage-played guitars from Slash and Paul McCartney, which went for $31,250 and $76,800, respectively. Those guitars, painted the colors of the Ukrainian flag, were part of the Gibson Gives initiative, with all proceeds going to provide relief for Ukraine.

Finally, the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert Collection brought in thousands for MusicCares and its British equivalent, Music Support. Among the highlights: A 2022 Ram Rebel Crew Cab pickup truck, signed by everyone who participated in the Hawkins tribute concerts, sold for $64,000, while a black bass played by John Paul Jones and signed by him, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, Elliot Easton and others, brought close to $22,000.

For full details and results, visit JuliensAuctions.com.

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Bryan Adams recently released Classic and Classic Part 2, featuring rerecordings of his biggest hits, like “Cuts Like a Knife” and “Everything I Do (I Do It For You).” He did it for the same reason as Taylor Swift — to gain control over his older songs — and says he wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for her.

“I’m ever so grateful to Taylor for creating the impetus to make it happen,” he tells ABC Audio. “Because I thought, ‘Well, now, if she can do it, I should do it, too.’ And so I got started on a couple of tracks and they turned out really good. And so I just kept going.”

“It’s very much about Taylor’s empowerment of artists and her sort of championing the artist,” he adds. “And I love that she’s done that … I think a lot of artists should do the same.”

Bryan remembered how he recorded most his songs years ago, so he was able to duplicate them fairly easily. But he had a hard time remembering what guitar he used for “Summer of ’69.” He finally realized that back in 1985, he only had one guitar. He dug it out, along with his old guitar pedal.

“I plugged it in, and as if by magic, it was the sound,” he says.

The Classic albums are just two of four albums he’s put out so far this year: rounding out the list is So Happy It Hurts and an album of songs he wrote for Broadway musical Pretty Woman.

“It’s unreal. Four albums: I never thought I’d do that in a year,” he laughs. “But yeah, there is more music. I just put out a Christmas song and I’m in the middle of making another album, so it’s been an incredibly creative time.”

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Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will soon kick off their first tour in six years, and it’s no wonder fans are clamoring for tickets: Springsteen says he tries to play each show like it’s the first time he’s ever performed.

Appearing on the Questlove Supreme podcast, Bruce explains, “My band have been together for 50 years. So we’ve got a lot of history and we’ve got a lot of experience. And on the last tour, we played 200 songs … 200 different songs.” He adds, “Usually, once the tour gets rolling, the show is regularly different on a night-to-night basis.”

Springsteen says he maps out what songs he wants to play before every concert and then tells the band to “refresh” themselves on his choices, “because we might play it tonight.”

Then the rehearsals start. “We don’t just play 3 1/2 hours a night. We’re there [at the venue] in the afternoon,” he explains, noting that sound checks can sometimes last for two hours to give the band enough time to ensure any deep cuts he’s chosen sound just as good as his set list staples.

“It’s just fun,” he exclaims. “Surprising that audience here and there, it’s fun to do. It’s wonderful.”

As he puts it, “It remains an honor to play for our audience. And that’s the way that I approach it. And that’s what I insist from the band on a nightly basis. You come out, your name is on the line every single night — I don’t care how long you’ve been doing it. You have an opportunity to impact somebody’s life tonight.”

The Boss ended the interview with a mic-drop moment, declaring, “Every night is somebody’s first night. I want to play like it’s my first night.”

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Slash, Paul McCartney, Queen‘s Brian May, Rush‘s Alex Lifeson, The Rolling Stones‘ Keith Richards and Ron Wood, and Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale are just some of the artists who are helping raise money for the Ukraine war relief effort this weekend.

Gibson created several limited-edition “Guitars for Peace” Les Paul custom guitars in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag. They sent those guitars on tour with the various artists this summer, along with autograph books.

Through November 13, the guitars and the autograph books — which were also signed by artists and bands like Mark Knopfler, My Chemical Romance, Nile Rodgers and Madness — are being auctioned off by Juliens Auctions. Visit JuliensAuctions.com and navigate to their Icons & Idols: Rock ‘N’ Roll auction page for all the details.

Bidding on one of the guitars played onstage by Slash was up to $12,600 the last time we checked, while one played onstage by McCartney is at $22,500. One that’s signed by several of the artists — including Richards, Wood and May — comes with an autograph book with all the artists’ signatures. Bidding on that one is up to $9,000. Don’t want a guitar? You can bid on just an autograph book starting as low as $500.

One hundred percent of the money raised from the auction will go toward humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine and the rebuilding efforts once the conflict ends.

“I’m happy to auction this beautiful guitar of mine to benefit the fine people of Ukraine,” says McCartney in a statement. “Hopefully it will help them through this aggressive Russian invasion.”

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