Classic Rock 93.9

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum has debuted a music video for “Judgement Day,” the first single from his all-star band King of Chaos‘ forthcoming debut album, which is due out late 2023.

The “Judgement Day” video, which premiered at GuitarWorld.com and also can be viewed on the AFM Records label’s YouTube channel, features guest appearances by ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons and Sorum’s wife, fashion designer/choreographer Ace Harper.

Sorum explains about the clip, “Drawing inspiration from the 1971 film Vanishing Point morphed with imagery inspired by Natural Born Killers, Director Brian Cox … and I conceptualized a man running from his demons on a wild ride to find redemption guided by The Reverend Willy G [portrayed by Gibbons], an Angel … on a motorcycle [portrayed by Harper] and his inner child. A Wayward Wanderer searching for the light.”

“Judgement Day” was co-written and performed by Sorum and his ex-Velvet Revolver bandmates Slash, Duff McKagan and David Kushner, and features Matt on drums and lead vocals. Sorum also played with Slash and McKagan in GN’R.

The single will be released via digital formats on Friday, October 28 and can be presaved now.

As previously reported, the first Kings of Chaos album, which is expected in either the fall or winter of next year, will feature original songs and “guest collaborations with some of rock’s biggest names — including some of today’s most talented and iconic female artists.”

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Elvis Costello will take part in a four-day music and vacation event that will offer his fans the chance to explore the island nation and see special performances by the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

The event, dubbed Elvis in Iceland, is scheduled for May 25 to May 29 and will be based in Reykjavik, Iceland. It will include a private performance by Elvis and his longtime keyboardist Steve Nieve, plus prime seats to a May 28 show at the city’s Harpa Concert Hall featuring Costello and his old friend and collaborator Nick Lowe.

The excursion also offers accommodations at a four-star hotel, Q&A sessions with Costello and Lowe, photo ops with Elvis, Nick and Steve, a limited-edition poster signed by the three musicians and concerts by local music acts.

In addition, those who register for the destination event will be treated to meals at fine restaurants and will get a fly-over tour of Reykjavik, a spa visit to the Sky Lagoon, a Golden Circle tour of the Icelandic countryside and more.

Registration for the extravaganza is open exclusively at ElvisInIceland.com, with a 10% discount available through December 25; use the promo code “ICELAND.”

In a message posted about the event on YouTube, Elvis says, “For many years I’ve been thinking to myself, ‘When am I going to get to come back to Reykjavik? When am I going to come back to Iceland?’ Well, it seems that May 2023, marks the time when I will return! I will be there with Steve Nieve, a huge stack of songs, and many stories to tell you on my Elvis in Iceland trip.”

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The upcoming documentary Let There Be Drums! features what may be the final filmed interview with late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. As its title suggests, the film is all about the art of and love for drumming, with which, of course, Hawkins had a lot of experience.

Speaking with ABC Audio, director Justin Kreutzmann, the son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, shares that Hawkins “informed the film a lot.”

“I had my 10 Foo Fighters questions and he answered them, and they were all great and they were all really interesting,” Kreutzmann shares. “[But] when he started asking me questions and we started trading stuff, and then he started telling me about going to a Dead show … and his love of Jane’s Addiction and all that kind of stuff, I like to say we kinda went off script.”

Watching Hawkins in the film now, Kreutzmann is reminded that Taylor “should be here for all this.”

“Stuff that was really fun and hopeful, like about him talking about playing Foo Fighters songs when he’s in his 70s and his kids watching, [things that] were really fun when you watched it before now have this other thing going on,” Kreutzmann says. “I really wish that wasn’t the case, obviously.”

In the wake of Hawkins’ unexpected death earlier this year, Kreutzmann shares that “there was some talk about including more Taylor or changing the cut.” Instead, Kreutzmann followed in the footsteps of the iconic Who doc The Kids Are Alright, which was released shortly after the death of drummer Keith Moon.

“This is the cut Taylor saw, we didn’t change a thing,” Kreutzmann says. “This is the movie as it was.”

Let There Be Drums! premieres Friday.

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A few months back, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford revealed the band was working on tracks for its next studio album. Now the singer has shared an update on the status of the group’s follow-up to 2018’s Firepower.

“It’s all done, apart from me,” Halford tells ABC Audio. “You saw [Priest guitarist] Richie [Faulkner] said in the press, ‘We’re waiting for him.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, God, it’s all on my back.’ The record is finished, but I’ve got to sing on it.”

The 71-year-old heavy metal legend continues, “I’ve got to be in the right place to sing. I have to be in the right frame of mind … And I’m not really in the right frame of mind right now. There’s too many intrusive things, because I’m like a world barometer, and there are too many things that are going on.”

Halford adds, “It’s not too far off, you know? I’ve got my kind of mental calendar preparing me to go in the studio. So yeah, it won’t be too long.”

Judas Priest, of course, is currently in the midst of the fall U.S. leg of their 50 Heavy Metal Years tour. The band will take a short break from the trek late next week, as they will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 5, at a ceremony held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Check out all the group’s upcoming tour dates at JudasPriest.com.

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Green Day, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and The Black Crowes are among the artists set to perform at the 2023 edition of the baseball-themed Innings Festival, taking place February 25-26 in Tempe, Arizona.

Green Day will headline the first day of the festival, while Vedder has been tapped to headline day two of the fest. The Black Crowes are also on the February bill.

The festival’s lineup also includes Weezer, The Offspring, Marcus Mumford, The Pretty Reckless, The Head and the Heart and the late Michael Jackson‘s daughter Paris.

The Innings Festival coincides with the beginning of Major League Baseball’s spring training. In keeping with the baseball theme, the festival will feature appearances by a number of MLB greats, including Randy Johnson, Jake Peavy and Dontrelle Willis.

Tickets go on sale this Thursday, October 27, at 10 a.m. PT. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit InningsFestival.com/arizona.

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Mötley Crüe‘s Mick Mars is getting off the road.

In a statement provided to Variety, the 71-year-old guitarist announces that he’s retiring from touring, citing his ongoing battle with the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis, or AS.

“Mick will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road,” the statement reads. “AS is an extremely painful and crippling degenerative disease, which affects the spine.”

Mars is Mötley Crüe’s original guitarist, having joined the band when it was founded in 1981. He remained with the group until 2015, when the Crüe played their so-called “final” show after signing a “cessation of touring” contract meant to legally prevent the “Home Sweet Home” rockers from performing live together again.

Mötley then announced in 2019 that they’d be reuniting for a 2020 tour, featuring original members Mars, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil. After a two-year pandemic delay, the stadium outing launched in 2022 with co-headliner Def Leppard. According to Billboard, the trek earned $173.5 million, making it the biggest tour of Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard’s careers.

Next year, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard will unite once more for an international tour. A replacement for Mars hasn’t been announced, though Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 has been heavily rumored.

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Legendary guitarists Robby Krieger of The Doors and Rush‘s Alex Lifeson teamed up to perform at a charity event held Monday at the club Bogie’s in Westlake Village, California.

As reported by Blabbermouth.net and seen in a fan-shot video posted on the Heavy Metal Hill YouTube channel, Krieger and Lifeson played a version of the Santana classic “Evil Ways” with longtime Santana singer Andy Vargas on vocals. Keyboardist Ed Roth, who frequently collaborates with Krieger, also took part in the jam.

The performance was part of the 2022 Medlock-Krieger Golf, Art Show & Guitars event, the latest installment of a multifaceted annual charity fundraiser co-founded by Krieger and his friend Scotty Medlock. This year’s event honored Medlock, who died of cancer last November at the age of 53.

Clips of two other performances from the show were posted on the Heavy Metal Hill YouTube channel, featuring founding Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine and his current group, California Transit Authority, joined by onetime Journey singer Jeff Scott Soto for versions of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” and “Saturday on the Park.”

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The Jimi Hendrix Experience‘s performance of “Purple Haze” from the forthcoming archival live album Jimi Hendrix Experience Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969 has been released as an advance digital track.

In addition, a companion video, featuring a montage of photos of Hendrix and his band taken at the concert, has premiered on Hendrix’s official YouTube channel.

As previously reported, the album, which can be preordered now, will be released November 18 and will be available on CD, as a two-LP vinyl and via digital formats.

The concert, which has never been released in its entirety before, features the group’s original lineup of Hendrix, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell performing a set that includes classics like “Foxey Lady,” as well as deeper cuts such as “Red House,” “Spanish Castle Magic” and “I Don’t Live Today.”

The show also features Hendrix doing his take on the “Star Spangled Banner” — several months before his historic performance of the national anthem at Woodstock — and an epic 17-minute medley combining “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” with Cream‘s “Sunshine of Your Love.”

One of the main support acts at the Forum concert was Chicago Transit Authority, which would soon shorten its name to Chicago. A new video featuring founding Chicago members Robert Lamm, James Pankow and Lee Loughnane sharing recollections about getting to tour with and open for the Jimi Hendrix Experience has debuted on Hendrix’s YouTube channel.

In the clip, Pankow says of Hendrix and his band’s live performances, “Nobody had the ferocity and the daring that Jimi and his trio had … I’m not so sure that the audience necessarily understood the musicality, but they felt the power. It was overwhelming. It was undeniable.”

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Intro”
“Tax Free”
“Foxey Lady”
“Red House”
“Spanish Castle Magic”
“Star Spangled Banner”
“Purple Haze”
“I Don’t Live Today”
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
“Sunshine of Your Love”
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”

(Chicago video contains uncensored profanity)

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E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt has launched new lines of holistic products, Little Steven’s Underground Apothecary and Wicked Cool Wellness, that include boutique teas and coffees, scented soy candles and uniquely flavored lollipops featuring organic ingredients.

The lines, which Van Zandt launched in partnership with the Wakaya Perfection wellness enterprise, are available now at WickedCoolWellness.com.

The various products utilize a range of Wakaya Perfection’s single-sourced ingredients, including Australian Manuka Honey, Organic Pink Fijian Ginger, Fijian Kava, Fijian and Nicaraguan Turmeric and Peruvian Maca.

In celebration of the launch, a special video introducing the products has premiered on Little Steven’s official YouTube channel. The clip features appearances by Van Zandt; his wife, Maureen; his fellow Sopranos cast members Vinnie Pastore and Sammy Semenza; singer Jessie Wagner; and Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul backing vocalists Tania Jones and Sara Devine.

“I have always demanded the very best from myself and of everyone around me,” says Van Zandt, “and my new wellness brand Little Steven’s Underground Apothecary is no different. These products are the best I can find in the world. So enjoy, be well, and stay focused on the only part of our destinies we totally control — what we choose to put in our bodies.”

Ten percent of the profits from Little Steven’s Underground Apothecary products will be donated to TeachRock.org, an initiative launched by the Van Zandt-founded Rock and Roll Forever Foundation that offers a free arts-integration curriculum to grade school and high school students.

Plans for more Little Steven’s Underground Apothecary products, including brownies and ice cream, will be announced soon.

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Joe Walsh‘s recently reunited pre-Eagles band the James Gang will participate in their first in-store signing event in over 50 years on Tuesday, November 8, at Used Kids Records in Columbus, Ohio.

During their appearance, Walsh, drummer Jim Fox and bassist Dale Peters will take part in an interview and then sign autographs at the store, which is located just a few blocks from Joe’s childhood home

To gain entry, those attending the event will be asked to buy an exclusive t-shirt or hat, and all proceeds will go directly to Walsh’s VetsAid charity, which raises and funds for various veterans-related organizations. Attendees also can bring one piece of James Gang or Walsh memorabilia to be signed in addition to the item they purchase.

Since the in-store event is taking place on Election Day, attendees wearing an “I Voted” sticker will receive a coupon giving them $5 off on purchases of $25 or more at Used Kids Records.

“Like many a music geek, I have spent a fair amount of my life in independent record stores and I owe a lot of my musical education to their existence,” says Walsh. “Thanks to Used Kids Records for hosting us and for hopefully blowing the mind of a little Joe Walsh who may be growing up just down the street like I did.”

As previously reported, the James Gang, joined by special guest Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, will headline the 2022 edition of Walsh’s annual VetsAid charity concert, taking place November 13 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The lineup also includes Nine Inch Nails, The Breeders and The Black Keys.

The concert also will be livestreamed globally at via the Veeps platform, and passes are available for purchase now at VetsAid.Veeps.com.

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