Classic Rock News

Actor Michael Shannon and musician Jason Narducy are getting ready to tackle another R.E.M. album on tour.

The pair previously went on the road in celebration of the 40th anniversary of R.E.M’s debut album, Murmur, and now they’ve announced a new tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band’s 1985 album, Fables of the Reconstruction.

The tour kicks off Feb. 14 in Pioneertown, California, with stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, New York and more before wrapping March 14 in Chicago.

Most notably, the tour includes two shows, Feb. 27 and Feb. 28, in R.E.M.’s home city of Athens, Georgia. During Shannon and Narducy’s Murmur tour, all four members of R.E.M. — Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Peter Buck — made a surprise appearance at the Athens show, although Stipe did not perform.

“This music is beyond comprehension and I cherish every chance I get to deliver it, even second generation. R.E.M. means the world to me,” Shannon shares. “And this band led by Jason is stone cold ridiculous. Even if I never walked onstage, you would get a hell of a show.”

Narducy adds that the band plans to open the show with Fables of the Reconstruction in its entirety, then they’ll “dig deep” into the R.E.M. catalog. He notes, “We love celebrating the music of this great band.”

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday.

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Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour recently dropped Luck and Strange, his first solo album of new material in nine years, but it sounds like fans may not have to wait long for the next one.

The rocker tells MOJO that Luck And Strange is “the best record I’ve made going back to (Pink Floyd’s) The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here or whatever” and notes that he’s already thinking about his next solo project.

“I’ve got a trove of stuff already,” he says. “Bits and pieces of songs, some of which I rather like.”

Gilmour is set to kick off his Luck and Strange tour on Sept. 27 in Rome, Italy, but recently played two rehearsal shows in Brighton, England, on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21. According to setlist.fm, in addition to new songs from the album, he played several Pink Floyd tunes, including “Breathe (In The Air)” for the first time since 2006 and “Marooned” for the first time since 2004, as well as “Time,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb.”

Gilmour’s Luck and Strange tour includes six nights in London and hits the States on Oct. 25 in Los Angeles, where he’ll play four shows. That will be followed by five shows in New York, starting Nov. 4. A complete list of dates can be found at davidgilmour.com.

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Sting is currently on his Sting 3.0 tour, and there’s been so much demand in Los Angeles that the rocker has added a fifth and final show in the city. 

The latest addition to the schedule is Nov. 17 at the Wiltern, with tickets going on sale Friday. The five shows, beginning Nov. 12, will wrap the U.S. leg of the tour.

Sting kicked off his 3.0 tour with a two-night stand at The Fillmore in Detroit on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18. The tour has him backed by guitarist and longtime collaborator Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas, and the shows have him playing solo hits like “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You,” “All This Time,” “Fields of Gold” and “Fragile,” as well as The Police classics like “Message In A Bottle,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” “Every Breath You Take,” “So Lonely” and “Roxanne.”

In addition to the new LA show, Sting also just announced European/U.K. and Latin American legs of the tour. Latin America shows begin Feb. 14 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while the European/U.K. tour kicks off June 6 in Hannover, Denmark. 

Up next, Sting will play the final two nights of a five-night stand in Toronto on Tuesday and Wednesday. He will then headline the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California, on Saturday. A complete list of shows can be found at sting.com.

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On This Day, Sept. 24, 1983 …

Billy Joel landed his second #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Tell Her About It,” the first single from his ninth studio album, An Innocent Man, which was a tribute to popular music of the 1950s and 1960s.

The video for the song had Joel performing on The Ed Sullivan Show as frontman of the fictional band BJ and The Affordables.

Over the course of his career, Joel has had three #1 songs on the Billboard chart. His first was 1980’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me,” and his last was 1989’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire.”

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Bruce Springsteen fans are getting their first preview of the upcoming documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band with the release of the first trailer for the film, a behind-the-scenes look at the rocker’s recent tour.

“Since I was 16, playing live has been a deep and lasting part of who I am and how I justify my existence here on earth,” Springsteen says in a voice-over. “But when the world shut down I made a promise that if we got through this I’d throw the biggest party I could.”

The trailer features archival footage of The Boss, along with highlights from the tour and interview clips from E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, guitarist Stevie Van Zandt, manager Jon Landau and more.

“I plan on continuing until the wheels come off and for as long as the audience will follow me,” Bruce says at the end. “It’s my job.” 

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will stream on Hulu and Disney+ starting Oct. 25.

And fans will get even more insight into The Boss when Springsteen sits down for a conversation with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for the primetime special Bruce Springsteen: Backstage and Backstreets, airing Oct. 20 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the following day on Hulu and Disney+.
 

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Alice Cooper is the latest rocker set to appear at next year’s Sonic Temple Festival, happening May 8-11 in Columbus, Ohio.

The four-day festival is expected to feature more than 100 bands, with Cooper booked to play May 9.

Metallica, Alice in Chains and Rob Zombie were the first artists announced for Sonic Temple; Metallica is confirmed to play two nights, May 9 and May 11, with promises of two unique sets. 

Since the initial announcement, the festival has been slowly revealing the rest of the lineup. Recent additions include Killswitch Engage and Trivium, who’ll both be playing May 8, and Hollywood Undead and Citizen Soldier, who are both booked for May 10.

More information and ticket sales can be found at sonictemplefestival.com.

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Two one-of-a-kind surfboards and a guitar, all autographed by Bruce Springsteen, are part of a newly launched sweepstakes to raise money for a variety of causes.

The Fandiem auction is part of a special collaboration with Sea.Hear.Now, the Asbury Park, New Jersey, festival that The Boss headlined on Sept. 15.

The more detailed surfboard up for auction is the One of One surfboard, which features 75 Springsteen photos taken by photographer and Sea.Hear.Now co-founder Danny Clinch. The other is a unique, modern 1960s Challenger Eastern surfboard. Both were shaped by world renowned surfboard shaper Carl “Tinker” West. In addition to Springsteen they’re also signed by Clinch, West and Charles Mencel of Mencel Surfboards. They are expected to sell for between $20,000 and $25,000.

Also up for auction is a one-of-a-kind guitar, dubbed The Boardwalk Beauty Model, which is also signed by Springsteen. It features unique materials, including spalted maple to symbolize Asbury Park’s boardwalk. It is also decorated with Clinch photos, as well as holographic images of the late E Street Band members Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici, and Springsteen’s late friend and longtime assistant Terry McGovern. It is estimated to sell for between $25,000 and $30,000.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit six Asbury Park area charities: Trinity Center for Community, Inspire + Life, Mercy Center NJ, The Cazzeek Brothers, Project R.E.A.L. and Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County, NJ. 

The auction is set to run until Oct. 1. More info can be found at fandiem.com.

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Phil Collins’ daughter actress Lily Collins recently revealed that it wasn’t until she was an adult that she realized some Genesis songs were real.

The confession came during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Andy Cohen first asked the Emily in Paris star to name her favorite Phil Collins tune, to which she replied, “Probably ‘In the Air Tonight,’” although she noted, “There’s too many.” 

But when asked what her favorite Genesis tune was, she couldn’t pick, and it could be because she didn’t realize until she was older that some of the tunes actually existed. 

“You know the funny thing is that I have these memories as a kid of songs that I don’t know if they’re actually real. Because they were, like, in my head, as I was maybe in the womb,” she said. “But then when I went to the first Genesis concert that I actually remembered as an adult, there were songs that came on that I went, ‘That’s a real song?! I thought that was just a melody in my head.’”

She added, “It was really weird.”

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Megadeth has responded to claims made by Peter Frampton that they were partially to blame for him having to cancel a recent show in Virginia.

During his concert in Philadelphia on Sept. 19, Frampton opened up about his decision to cancel his Sept. 17 concert at Virginia Credit Union Live in Richmond, noting it was partially due to weather and partially due some structural damage to the stage, which he said happened during Megadeth’s soundcheck a few days before.

The band is now clearing up what they say is “misinformation” about what happened.

Megadeth says in a statement they didn’t even get a chance to soundcheck at the venue, noting their “rigger was in the venue’s steel grid system above the stage getting ready to hang the lights when he noticed there was damage to the venue’s grid.”

The rigger than pointed out the problem to the venue, and they “determined that it was unsafe” to proceed with the band’s production, or to even put them onstage, so the show was canceled.

“It seems Frampton was misinformed about our show being canceled,” says Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine. “The decision was purely based on safety. It’s disappointing when someone you admire talks out their a** about you.” 

So far Frampton hasn’t responded to Megadeth’s statement.
 

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Scorpions are set to return to Las Vegas as part of their 60th anniversary celebration. 

The band just announced dates for a new residency, Scorpions – Coming Home to Las Vegas 60th Years of Scorpions, set to kick off Feb. 27 at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The residency, with special guest Buckcherry, will consist of five dates in total, wrapping March 11. 

Scorpions have headlined residencies at the venue two other times: in 2024 with Scorpions – Love at First Sting Las Vegas and in 2022 with Sin City Nights.

Tickets for the latest shows go on sale Saturday, although there will be a presale for Scorpions fan club members and Citi cardholders that starts Tuesday.

Scorpions were formed in Hanover, Germany, in 1965 by Rudolf Schenker, who has been the only consistent member of the group. They released their first album, Lonesome Crow, in 1972 and are best known for their songs “Wind of Change” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”

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