Classic Rock News

AC/DC is giving fans another way to enjoy themselves during the upcoming North American leg of their PWR/UP tour.

The “Highway to Hell” rockers have announced that each stop of the tour will feature a PWR/UP Pop Up, where fans can gather ahead of shows and enjoy a slew of AC/DC-related activities.

Each pop-up will feature AC/DC-themed food and drinks, plus they will be filled with props and custom visuals. There will also be a mock stage for fans to take photos with a replica of Angus Young’s guitar, and an opportunity to win the guitar, which will be autographed by Angus once the tour is over.

The pop-ups will also sell a curated selection of exclusive merch and collectibles, including limited-edition items, and city-specific shirts and posters. There will also be exclusive giveaways of concert tickets, merch packages and other prizes, plus fans can enter a sweepstakes to win an AC/DC-themed pinball machine.

A limited number of fans will be able to experience a preview of the pop-up in their city before it’s open to the public. Registration is now open, with 100 fans selected in a random draw. Those fans will also receive a special gift created for the preview.

Details on the pop-up locations are online at pwruptour.acdc.com.

The new North American leg of AC/DC’s PWR/UP tour kicks off with a two-night stand in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 10-11. It wraps with two nights in Philadelphia, Sept. 28 and 29. A complete list of tour dates can be found at acdc.com.

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Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs have announced a new set of fall tour dates.

The new additions to their tour begin Sept. 13 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and include stops in St. Louis, Missouri; Washington, D.C.; Beverly, Massachusetts; Wilmington, Delaware; New York City; Durham, North Carolina; New Orleans; and Montgomery, Alabama.

Tickets for all new shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Campbell and The Dirty Knobs are touring in support of their recently released album, Mission of Mercy. They kick off a new tour on July 7 in Minneapolis, with summer dates running through July 24 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Their fall dates include a gig opening for Chris Stapleton in Bristow, Virginia, on Oct. 2.

Campbell is also booked for a special concert on Sept. 12 in Atlanta, where he’ll play Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hits backed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

A complete list of tour dates can be found at TheDirtyKnobs.com.

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Twisted Sister is adding some new fall tour dates, with former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach handling vocals.

The rockers have confirmed nine fall dates in total, with recent additions of shows in Gary, Indiana, on Oct. 18; Charles Town, West Virginia, on Nov. 14; and St. Petersburg, Florida, on Dec. 11.

The fall tour is set to launch on Sept. 4 in Palmer, Alaska.

A ticket presale for the recently added shows begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

A complete list of dates can be found at twistedsister.com.

Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda announced in March that Bach would be taking over lead singer duties in Twisted Sister after original frontman Dee Snider backed out of a planned reunion tour due to health concerns. Snider later revealed that he approved of Bach stepping in, noting, “He’s a true fan & will honor what I did with every show!”

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Billy Joel and Aerosmith are among the latest artists sharing tributes to legendary music executive Clive Davis, who passed away Monday at the age of 94.

Joel shared a clip on Instagram from a 1974 interview where Davis talks about signing him.

“Clive Davis convinced me to sign with Columbia Records many years ago,” Joel wrote in the caption. “He recognized the talent of great musicians and understood the power of contemporary music,” noting, “I will always be grateful to Clive for his recognition of the critical importance of songwriting.”

Aerosmith shared a clip of the song “No Surprize,” about how they got their big break. In the track, they sing about Davis telling them he was going to make them a star.

“Our hearts are with the friends and family of Clive Davis, and all the artists and music lovers whose lives he changed with his vision, talent, and generosity,” they wrote. “He discovered Aerosmith, an unknown bar band, in 1972 and swiftly signed us to Columbia Records. He stood by us through our resurgence in the 1980s when our future wasn’t promised.”

They added, “He was a great man whose life’s work became the melody of modern culture and whose memory will always be a blessing.”

In addition, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton each shared their own tributes to Davis, with Tyler calling him, “The man with golden ears and Infinite Wisdom.”

Others paying tribute to Davis include Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, Kenny Loggins and Dionne Warwick, who released a statement in which she called Davis “one of a kind.”

“I can think of no other record man that seemed to have that magical ability to know a hit when he heard a song,” Warwick added.

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Iron Maiden fans had to confront their “Fear of the Dark” when the power went out during the band’s show in Paris on Monday.

According to fan reports and a recap from the site SortiraParis.com, the Paris La Défense Arena went dark in the middle of a performance of the song “2 Minutes to Midnight.” The outage happened as France is dealing with an extreme heat wave. 

Unfortunately, fans had to wait for much longer than two minutes for the show to resume. Maiden eventually retook the stage after about an hour, but due to the delay and the venue’s curfew, the set’s encore was cut from the show.

Ahead of the Paris show, Maiden announced that they were filming the concert to document their Run for Your Lives tour, and that all fans standing in the floor section would be required to lock their phones in Yondr pouches. We’ll see if the power outage impacts the planned film at all.

The Run for Your Lives tour, which celebrates Maiden’s 50th anniversary, will continue through Europe into mid-July before coming to North America in late August.

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Eric Clapton and ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons are among the artists set to perform at a concert celebrating blues legend Buddy Guy’s 90th birthday.

Buddy’s Got the Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration, happening Oct. 1 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, is described in a press release as a concert that will celebrate Guy through “unforgettable performances, once-in-a-lifetime collaborations, and heartfelt tributes from artists whose music and careers were profoundly shaped by his influence.”

The lineup also includes John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Jon Batiste, Aloe Blacc, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph and Jimmie Vaughan, among others.

Guy will also perform at the concert, with more special guests to be announced.

“Can’t wait to celebrate 90 years of living, loving, and playing the blues with all my friends,” says Guy. “We’ll make it a night not just for me, but for the folks who taught us, the friends we’ve played with, and the ones coming up behind us.”

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET.  A complete lineup can be found at buddy90.com.

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Despite all their rage, The Smashing Pumpkins are getting their own tribute album.

The record, titled Sending Hearts to All My Dearies – A Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins, is due out digitally on Aug. 14 and will be released as a two-LP vinyl set on Oct. 16.

Artists contributing to the compilation include Tame Impala, Palaye Royale, Nita Strauss, Meg Myers, Barns Courtney, Bones UK and Des Rocs, among others.

You can listen to Tame Impala’s contribution, a rendition of the Siamese Dream cut “Hummer,” out now.

“Siamese Dream was the soundtrack to my high school years and ‘Hummer’ is the song that takes me back there in the most potent way,” Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker says in a statement.

If you want to hear The Smashing Pumpkins play Smashing Pumpkins songs, you can catch them live on their The Rats in a Cage tour. The trek, which kicks off in September, will feature Billy Corgan and company performing 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in full, alongside another set of career-spanning songs.

Here’s the Sending Hearts to All My Dearies track list:

Tame Impala — “Hummer”
Yonaka — “Today”
The Midnight — “Tonight, Tonight”
Carpenter Brut — “Cherub Rock”
Barns Courtney — “1979” 
Meg Myers — “Eye”
Palaye Royale — “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
Between the Buried and Me — “Jellybelly”
Alice Glass — “Drown”
Starbenders — “Tonight, Tonight”
Nita Strauss — “1979”
Bones UK — “Cherub Rock”
Moon Taxi — “Thirty Three”
Des Rocs — “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
Urban Heat — “Ava Adore”

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On This Day, June 23, 2025…

U2 guitarist The Edge became an Irish citizen during a ceremony in County Kerry, Ireland.

While he’s always been associated with one of Ireland’s biggest rock groups, he was actually born to Welsh parents in Essex, England.

At the time of the ceremony he told reporters that he’s “always felt Irish,” and that “Ireland will always be home to me.” He added that his application for citizenship was “long overdue.”

Born David Howell Evans on Aug. 8, 1961, The Edge moved to Dublin with his family in 1962 and was raised in the Irish city.

He met his U2 bandmates Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. when they were students at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. They formed U2 in 1978, and went on to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

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Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles and AC/DC are among the artists landing in the top 10 on Pollstar’s 2026 midyear touring charts.

While Bad Bunny leads the worldwide touring artists midyear chart with a gross of over $225 million, AC/DC is the highest-charting rock act. It lands at #4 thanks to the European leg of their Power Up tour, which has brought in close to $120.3 million so far this year.

Eagles, thanks to their Sphere residency and a handful of U.S. shows, land at #8 on the worldwide chart, with over $69.7 million in gross sales. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are at #10, bringing in over $58.4 million with The Land of Hope and Dreams tour.

Among the North American top touring artists, Eagles land at #5, while Springsteen lands at #7. K-pop act BTS tops the list with a gross of over $104 million.

And both AC/DC and Eagles have a chance to add to their 2026 haul. AC/DC brings their Power Up tour back to North America July 11 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with dates confirmed through Sept. 29 in Philadelphia; Eagles have more Sphere shows in September and November.

Springsteen wrapped his The Land of Hope and Dreams tour on May 30 in Philadelphia.

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It was 55 years ago Monday that Joni Mitchell released her iconic album Blue, and to celebrate, the album has gotten an audio upgrade.

Rhino High Fidelity has just released limited-edition audiophile editions of the album on reel-to-reel and vinyl.

The vinyl reissue, cut from the original master tapes to 180-gram vinyl, is limited to 5,000 numbered copies. It includes an album insert featuring a new Q&A with Mitchell. The reel-to-reel, which was duplicated in real time from the original flat analog master tape, is limited to only 350 copies.

Released June 22, 1971, Blue is considered by many to be one of the greatest pop and rock albums of all time. Written following Mitchell’s breakup with Graham Nash, and during a relationship with James Taylor, the album includes such iconic Mitchell tunes as “A Case of You” and “River.” It peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

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