Classic Rock 93.9

The Moody Blues’ John Lodge has added a special show to his upcoming Days of Future Passed tour, which will have him playing the band’s second album in its entirety.

Lodge is set to play a special symphony show with the Coachella Symphony on March 26 at the Rancho Mirage Amphitheater in Rancho Mirage, California, which will wrap his winter 2023 tour. This will be his only symphony show on the tour. Tickets are on sale now.

“The Coachella Valley Symphony approached me and asked me to perform Days of Future Passed with them at their new home at Rancho Mirage Amphitheater, and it intrigued me,” Lodge shares. “I had been developing a full orchestra concert, but it was something for the future. However, they are a passionate community music organization, and Alan (Hewitt, LODGE’s music director and keyboardist) knew them from when he lived there, and so it seemed like a wonderful way to step my feet into the water, and a fabulous finale to the tour.”

Lodge’s tour is set to kick off February 18 in Lexington, Massachusetts. He’ll be joined by his 10,000 Light Years Band, with a guest appearance by his friend and current Yes frontman Jon Davison. The show will also feature a special recording by the late Moody Blues drummer and co-founder, Graeme Edge.

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On this day, January 31, 1981…

Blondie’s single “The Tide Is High” became their third number one song. The track was a remake of a 1967 rocksteady song originally recorded by Jamaican group The Paragons.

In addition to the U.S., “The Tide Is High” also went on to top the charts in the UK, Canada and New Zealand, and landed in the Top Five in Australia, South Africa, and several European countries.

Blondie’s previous number ones included “Call Me” and “Heart of Glass.”

“The Tide Is High” was the lead single from Blondie’s fifth studio album, Autoamerican, which later produced another number one hit, “Rapture.”

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The Smashing Pumpkins have released the second act in the band’s three-part “rock opera” album, Atum.

The 11-song batch, which includes the lead single “Beguiled,” is available now via digitqal outlets.

As previously reported, Atum is described as the sequel to the Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God albums. In total, Atum consists of 33 tracks divided into three acts; the first dropped in November, while the third arrives on April 21.

If that’s not enough Smashing Pumpkins for you, a vinyl box set edition of Atum will be available on April 21 with 10 more bonus tracks.

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Graham Nash is once again looking back fondly on his musical partnership with the late David Crosby, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 81.

Nash shared a classic photo of him and Crosby recording in the studio, writing, “I’ve been hesitant to share photos of us in the past. People leave such nasty comments sometimes that belittle the complexities of a long-term friendship and musical partnership.” 

He adds, “But here is a photo of David and I recording in 1971. There was real magic between us. That much I know.”

And their Crosby, Stills & Nash singing partner Stephen Stills agrees, commenting on the photo, “Magic, indeed.” Nash responded, “You’re such a big part of that magic, Stephen.”

Nash has paid tribute to Crosby several times since his bandmate’s death, previously sharing he was “grateful to have sung with him, played with him, butted heads with him, and for going through so much together,” adding, “It’s his beautiful music that will live forever in all of our hearts. I’m just lucky to have known him.”

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KISS fans have been wondering when their End of the Road tour will finally end, and now the band’s manager is confirming it will definitely happen this year, although he didn’t reveal a specific date. 

The band’s longtime manager, Doc McGhee, said on Podcast Rock City that the last show will “be finalized in the next few days, and we’ll be making an announcement probably in the next 10 days.” 

“One thing about KISS, we’ve always been that band that went to places where most bands didn’t go,” he says. “So we play everybody’s town … You name it, we’ve played there. So we always go where the people are anyways.”

McGhee says the pandemic is the main reason the tour is still going on, but adds, “We had to end it at some time, which will be this year.” 

As for the future of KISS, and whether it can go on without Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, McGhee noted, “There’s a lot of talk about everything. And nobody knows what’s gonna happen in the future.”

He adds that Simmons and Stanley are definitely “hanging their hats up after the (final) show, which is gonna be very, very difficult and very emotional for them after 50 years of doing this,” especially because “they love it.”

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Phil Collins turned 72 on Monday and his daughter, Emily in Paris star Lily Collins, paid tribute to him with a sweet post on Instagram.

Lily shared a carousel of pictures showing just how much she and the Genesis frontman are alike, including photos of them both posing in a bathtub, wearing tuxedos and rocking overalls. 

“Like father, like daughter. Happy birthday, dad,” she wrote. “Thank you for being a constant inspiration, constant laugh, and constant legend. I love you so much and am celebrating you big time today!”

Surprisingly, several of Lily’s fans seem to have been unaware that the rocker is her dad. As one noted, “Am I the only one just learning This is her dad ?! Doh.”

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Ed Sheeran‘s Divide tour was the highest-grossing tour of all time — until now. Billboard reports that Ed’s pal Elton John has just taken over the world record.

Billboard reports that Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road has taken in $817.9 million across 278 shows — and the tour isn’t done yet. Billboard says it’s the first tour in its archives to earn more than $800 million. By comparison, Ed’s tour took in $776.4 million.

According to Billboard, it was Elton’s run of shows from January 8 through January 24 in Australia and New Zealand that allowed him to cross the finish line to the record-breaking milestone. Billboard notes that by the time the entire tour wraps up this summer in Europe, he’ll likely cross the $900 million mark.

Right now, Elton’s career total when it comes to concerts stands at $1.863 billion grossed and 19.9 million tickets sold. That’s the highest for any solo artist in Billboard Boxscore history.

The one record Elton doesn’t currently hold is most tickets sold for one tour. That record is still held by Ed’s Divide tour, with 8.9 million tickets, followed by tours by The Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Guns N’ Roses. Elton’s tour has sold 5.3 million tickets so far. While he probably won’t catch up to Ed by the time the tour is done, Elton might end up passing Coldplay and Guns N’ Roses.

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Bon Jovi has reached a new milestone on YouTube. The video for the band’s classic track “Livin’ On A Prayer” has surpassed 1 billion views.

“Livin’ On A Prayer” was released in October 1986 and was the second hit single from their third album, Slippery When Wet.

The video, directed by Wayne Isham, was shot September 17, 1986, at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It features the band rehearsing and performing; at one point, frontman Jon Bon Jovi flies over the crowd with the help of a harness.

“Livin’ On A Prayer” is one of many videos that predate the existence of YouTube to have landed 1 billion views. Others include Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” which reached 1 billion in July 2018, and their track “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which reached the milestone in October 2019. In addition, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” reached 1 billion views in July 2019.

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Bonnie Raitt has announced some new tour dates for 2023, including her first Canadian shows since 2017. 

The new leg of the Just Like That… tour, featuring special guest Royal Wood on select dates, kicks off September 2 in Victoria, British Columbia. Bonnie will play 11 shows in Canada, including dates in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto. 

The tour also includes some U.S. shows, with the tour wrapping October 11 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Presale tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time, with the public sale set for February 3. A complete list of tour dates can be found at BonnieRaitt.com. 

Meanwhile, Raitt has a chance to add to her already huge Grammy hall this weekend. The singer, who has already won 10 Grammys, is up for four awards, including Song of the Year for her tune “Just Like That.” The 2023 Grammy Awards air Sunday on CBS live from Los Angeles.

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On this day, January 30, 1969 …

The Beatles gave their final public performance on Apple Records’ rooftop in London. In 42 minutes, the band, which was joined by guest keyboardist Billy Preston, did nine takes of five songs — “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I’ve Got A Feeling,” “One After 909” and “Dig A Pony” — before the police pulled the plug.

The concert happened while the band was recording what would become their album Let It Be. It was released May 8, 1970, almost a month after the band’s breakup. 

Footage from the concert was used in the 1970 documentary Let It Be. In 2021, the entire performance was shown in the Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson.

The nearly eight-hour docuseries, which was co-produced by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon and George Harrison’s widows, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, used footage from the original 1970 documentary. The series went on to win five Emmys, including Best Limited Documentary Series.

In January 2022 the full rooftop concert was released to streaming services as a standalone album, Get Back- The Rooftop Performance.

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