Classic Rock News

Veteran Scottish hard-rockers Nazareth will release their 25th album, Surviving the Law, on April 15.

The 14-track collection can be pre-ordered now, and will be available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats.

Nazareth has released the album’s lead track, “Strange Days,” as an advance digital single.  A music video for the tune has premiered at the Frontiers Music label’s official YouTube channel.

The band’s current lineup features original bassist Pete Agnew; guitarist Jimmy Murrison, who joined Nazareth in 1994; drummer Lee Agnew, Pete’s son, whose been a member of the group since 1999; and lead singer Carl Sentence, who replaced founding frontman Dan McCafferty in 2015 after McCafferty was forced to retire for health reasons.

Surviving the Law is the second studio album the current Nazareth lineup has recorded, following 2018’s Tattooed on My Brain. The new project features songwriting contributions from all four band members.

Nazareth is best-known in the U.S. for their top 10 cover of the Everly Brothers hit “Love Hurts,” and the classic rock staple “Hair of the Dog,” which both appeared on the band’s 1975 album, Hair of the Dog.

Here’s the full track list of Surviving the Law:

“Strange Days”
“You Gotta Pass It Around”
“Runaway”
“Better Leave It Out”
“Mind Bomb”
“Sweet Kiss”
“Falling In Love”
“Waiting for the World to End”
“Let the Whisky Flow”
“Sinner”
“Ciggies and Booze”
“Psycho Skies”
“Love Breaks”
“You Made Me”

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It doesn’t make a difference if you make it or not, but Bon Jovi is asking local bands to audition to open for them on their upcoming tour.

Bands who are interested in auditioning should submit a video to BonJovi.com of themselves performing original music.  One band will be chosen for each concert date.

Bon Jovi’s tour kicks off April 1 in Omaha, NE and is currently scheduled to wrap up April 30 in Nashville. Tickets are on sale now.  The trek comes in support of the most recent Bon Jovi album, 2020, which was released in October of 2020 after being delayed due to the pandemic.

For the past two years, the band has been creating online performance content. However, Jon Bon Jovi says in a statement, “We have all missed touring and we know that nothing can replace the energy of a live show for the fans or the band.”

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KISS has announced plans for the 11th annual installment of The KISS Kruise, which will take place October 29 to November 3 this fall. According to a message on the seagoing rock festival’s official website, this year’s cruise will be the last time that the band “will perform on the high seas.”

The five-day nautical extravaganza will be the first KISS Kruise to set sail from and visit sites on the West Coast, embarking from Los Angeles and stopping at Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico, before returning to port.

You can sign up today at TheKISSKruise.com to have access to a pre-sale for the cruise. The KISS Kruise XI “Experience” will feature an unmasked concert by the band on deck, a full “masked” electric show in the ship’s Stardust Theater, an engraved commemorative gift, two activities with KISS, two activities with individual members of the group, an expo offering rare memorabilia, concerts by various other artists, autograph sessions with members of the cruise’s support acts, and more.

The lineup of acts joining KISS on the cruise is expected to be announced soon.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley appears in a video promoting this year’s KISS Kruise that been posted on the group’s YouTube channel.

“[W]e’re gonna have great bands. We’re gonna have a great time,” Stanley says in the clip, then teases, “Everybody says, ‘When is it gonna be the last one?’ Well, this is KISS Kruise XI, and you don’t want to miss it for a whole lot of reasons. I want you there. You deserve to be there. Be there!”

Meanwhile, KISS’ End of the Road farewell tour is scheduled to relaunch with a South American leg starting April 20 in Santiago, Chile. The trek likely will continue into 2023.

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Foo Fighters have gone metal. Well, sort of.

Dave Grohl and company have shared a new song called “March of the Insane,” released under the moniker Dream Widow for the band’s upcoming horror-comedy movie Studio 666.

The tune is credibly thrashy, and gives you a glimpse of what Foo Fighters might’ve sounded like if Grohl had grown up a Bay Area metalhead instead of in the Washington, D.C. punk scene.

You can listen to “March of the Insane” now via digital outlets.

Studio 666 premieres in theaters on February 25.

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Elvis Costello and his longtime backing band The Imposters have unveiled plans for a 20-date North American summer tour in support of their recently released studio album, The Boy Named If.

So far, 15 shows have been confirmed for the trek, which has been dubbed “The Boy Named If & Other Favourites,” spanning from an August 6 concert in Huber Heights, Ohio, through a September 3 performance in Las Vegas.

Opening most of the shows will be Elvis’ old pal and collaborator Nick Lowe, who will be performing with the wrestling-mask-wearing surf-rock band Los Straightjackets. This will mark the first time since 1989 that Costello and Lowe have toured together. Singer/songwriter Nicole Atkins, who lends guest vocals to The Boy Named If track “My Most Beautiful Mistake,” will be the support act at the Huber Heights concert and an August 9 show in Buffalo, New York.

Lowe’s association with Costello dates back to the 1970s, and Nick produced Elvis’ first four studios albums and co-produced two others. Elvis also famously covered “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding,” which Nick wrote in 1974 for his early band, Brinsley Schwarz.

Playing with The Imposters on the upcoming trek will be guitarist Charley Sexton, a longtime member of Bob Dylan‘s touring band. Sexton also joined Costello and The Imposters on their 22-date “Hello Again” tour in 2021.

Tickets for the upcoming concerts is year’s outing go on sale to the general public starting this Friday, February 18. Pre-sale tickets for many of the shows also will be available. Visit ElvisCostello.com for more information. More dates will be announced soon.

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Well, at least one member of Pearl Jam at one time liked Mötley Crüe.

Speaking to Revolver‘s Fan First podcast, guitarist Stone Gossard recalled buying the “Kickstart My Heart” outfit’s first album, 1981’s Too Fast for Love.

“At the time, it was punk-like,” Gossard said of the record.

Normally, a rock artist saying they once bought a Mötley Crüe album wouldn’t be news, but Gossard’s comments arrive in the middle of a tiff between band mate Eddie Vedder and Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx.

As previously reported, Vedder told The New York Times Magazine in a interview that he “despised” Mötley Crüe, a declaration to which Sixx responded by calling Pearl Jam “one of the most boring bands in history.”

Vedder seemingly returned fire during a recent live solo show, when he noted how the drum kit in his band “does not need to elevate or rotate to do its job,” which was interpreted as a jab at Crüe drummer Tommy Lee‘s elaborate drum roller coaster.

Should any other Pearl Jam members share their opinions on Mötley Crüe, we’ll let you know.

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Two dates on Eddie Vedder‘s ongoing solo tour are being postponed due to a positive COVID-19 case.

“We have been following COVID protocols but still had a positive test in our touring party,” reads a statement posted to the Pearl Jam frontman’s Instagram. “The appropriate response is to postpone the next two shows. Everyone, please take care.”

The affected dates include stops in San Diego and Los Angeles, originally scheduled for February 15 and 17, respectively. The shows will now take place February 25 in LA, and February 27 in San Diego.

Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates. Refunds are available for those who can no longer attend.

The tour is expected to continue February 21 in Seattle. Vedder has been supporting his new solo album, Earthling, with his Earthlings solo band, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex-RHCP guitarist and current Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, and guitarist and producer Andrew Watt.

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Stevie Nicks is among the artists who will headline the inaugural Sound on Sound festival, taking place September 24-25 at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The other headliners for the event are Dave Matthews and The Lumineers. Matthews will be performing as a duo with his frequent collaborator, Tim Reynolds.

The bill, which features more than 20 acts in all, also includes Ziggy Marley, Spin Doctors, Gary Clark Jr., Brandi Carlile, Jenny Lewis and The National.

Sound on Sound is being put on by Founders Entertainment, the same company behind New York City’s annual Governors Ball Music Festival. For the full lineup and ticket info, visit SoundonSoundCT.com.

Nicks also is confirmed to perform at three other U.S. festivals this year — on May 7 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; on June 19 at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee; and in early September at the JAS Aspen Snowmass event in Snowmass, Colorado.

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Billy Joel‘s mother Rosalind Nyman Joel would have been 100 years old today, and a restaurant where she and Billy used to eat when he was a kid is marking the occasion in a unique way.

DiMaggio’s Pizza of New York is a pizzeria across the street from where Billy was raised in Hicksville, New York, and when Billy was a kid, he and his mom would stop there to grab food after she took him for his music lessons.  At noon today, the restaurant will dedicate the “Roz Pie” in honor of Rosalind, who was born February 15, 1922.  The inspiration for Billy’s song “Rosalinda’s Eyes,” Rosalind passed away in 2014 at the age of 92.

DiMaggio’s will also host a singalong with civic and community leaders on Hicksville’s Village Green, which Billy immortalized in the lyrics of his song “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.”

There’s no word on whether Billy himself will stop by, but there’s a good chance he’ll be in the area: His next concert date isn’t until February 26 in Las Vegas.

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