Classic Rock News

KISS has finally announced an end date for their End of the Road Tour. The band is set to wrap the trek, which they say is their final tour ever, with a two-night stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden December 2 and 3.

“KISS was born in New York City. On 23rd Street. Half a century ago,” the band shares. “It will be a privilege and honor to finish touring at Madison Square Garden, 10 blocks and 50 years from where we first started.” 

The final leg of the tour kicks off October 29 in Austin, Texas, and includes Canadian dates, plus stops in Los Angeles, Seattle and more, before they end it in the Big Apple.

Presale tickets for the KISS Army go on sale March 6 at 10 a.m. local time, with the general sale set for March 10 at 10 a.m. local time.

KISS’ End of the Road Tour is set to relaunch April 12 in Brazil and returns to the U.S. May 27 in Columbus, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.

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March 1 marks the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, which was their eighth studio release and to this day is one of their most commercially successful releases ever.

The album, which features such songs as “Money” and “Brain Damage,” spent only one week at number one. But it went on to spend 741 weeks on the Billboard Album chart between 1973 and 1988, and has since gone on to spend a total of 972 weeks on the chart. As of 1998, the album had been certified 15-times Platinum by the RIAA.

“Dark Side of the Moon is not only one of the great Pink Floyd albums, but I think it’s one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums of all time,” Jason Hanley, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s VP of education and visitor engagement, tells ABC Audio. “It really is a record that is so revolutionary at the time when it comes out in 1973, it’s revolutionary even for the band.”

He adds, “The songs are fantastic, the album was on the charts almost longer than I think any other album in history, sold so many copies, and still continues to be part of pop culture today.” 

To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Pink Floyd has a lot of goodies in store for fans. 

They are releasing a newly remastered version of the album on March 24, along with a Blu-ray and DVD audio with the original mix and remastered stereo versions. There will also be a new Blu-ray disc and CD of the classic concert The Dark Side of the Moon — Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 and a new book, Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon: 50th Anniversary.

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Skid Row and Buckcherry have added a second leg to their upcoming The Gang’s All Here co-headlining tour.

The newly announced dates will run from August 31 in Dallas to September 23 in Fort Yates, North Dakota. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 3.

The first leg of the tour begins March 9 in Bowler, Wisconsin.

Skid Row released a new album called The Gang’s All Here in October. Buckcherry, meanwhile, is planning to release a new record this year to follow 2021’s Hellbound.

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John Mellencamp is continuing his very public support of farmers. The Farm Aid co-founder and board member is set to join farmers, ranchers and farmworkers in Washington, D.C., on March 7 at the Rally for Resilience: Farmers for Climate Action.

Mellencamp, who is currently on his Live and In Person tour, is expected to perform and offer some remarks at the rally, which kicks off at Freedom Plaza at 11 a.m. ET. 

The rally comes as Congress begins work on the 2023 Farm Bill. It is part of a three-day gathering starting March 6, which also includes cultural events and a demonstration of climate-friendly farming practices.

“As a Farm Aid board member, I’ve been to Washington a few times to ask for farmer voices to be heard. I hope on March 7, members of Congress hear farmers and ranchers loud and clear,” Mellencamp shares. “If we want a better world, it starts with us.”

He adds, “Farmers know this. They have the tools and know-how to better our climate future, but they can’t do it alone. Policymakers — and all of us — need to support the solutions they can deliver.”

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A new documentary is setting out to answer the question What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? Directed by John Scheinfeld, who directed The U.S. vs. John Lennon and more, the documentary is set to hit theaters March 24. 

According to the description, the film explores how the band “was unknowingly embroiled in a political rat’s nest involving the U.S. State Department, the Nixon White House and a controversial concert tour of Yugoslavia, Romania and Poland, countries that were behind what was then known as the Iron Curtain.”

It continues, “As a result, they found themselves in the crossfire of a polarized America, as divided then as it is now.” 

Blood, Sweat & Tears is known for such hit songs as “Spinning Wheel” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.” Their self-titled sophomore release won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1970, beating out such iconic records as The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Johnny Cash’s Johnny Cash at San Quentin and Crosby, Stills & Nash’s self-titled release.

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Kings of Chaos, the ever-revolving band spearheaded by former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum, has announced a concert taking place April 15 at California’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach car race.

For the show, Sorum will be joined by guest vocalists including Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor, Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale, Living Colour‘s Corey Glover and Sublime with Rome‘s Rome Ramirez. The lineup will also feature Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo, as well as guitarists including Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, The Cult‘s Billy Duffy and Sorum’s ex-GN’R bandmate Gilby Clarke.

“As Long Beach is my birthplace, this is a very special gig for me,” Sorum says. “Kings of Chaos are excited to join this legendary event and we’re putting together a once-in-a-lifetime show to make it even more memorable for fans of live music. Fast cars and Rock N’ Roll! Does it get any better?”

“I’m so honored to be joining the Kings of Chaos for a night none of us will forget,” adds Hale. “And to be surrounded by these lifers of live music for such a legendary event, not only will make this a true moment in time for the fans, but for myself as well! Thank you to all the boys for having me! Let’s get loud!”

For ticket info, visit KingsofChaosBand.com.

Kings of Chaos released a new single called “Judgement Day,” featuring GN’R’s Slash and Duff McKagan, last October. The project’s debut album is due out later this year.

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Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott recently teamed up with Ghost for a new version of “Spillways,” a track from the Swedish rockers’ 2022 album, Impera. Well, it sounds like this may not be the last time we see Elliott and Ghost’s Tobias Forge collaborate.

“It has come up in the last while, and I’d be more than happy to,” Elliott tells NME. “Next time though, when we’ve both got some time off, I want us to actually find some neutral place where we can get together in a room with a little recorder, a couple of guitars, pen, paper, our brains, a bottle of wine and see what we come up with.” 

Elliott says it would be fun to write a song with Forge, noting, “I don’t want to do it for a job, I just want to write together to see what we’d get. I want to play around and see where it goes.”

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Marty Friedman is open to playing with Megadeth again after he reunited with Dave Mustaine and company earlier this week during the band’s concert at Tokyo’s famed Budokan venue.

Speaking with Consequence, Friedman shares, “I think the door has always been open.”

“It’s really just a matter of doing something that has meaning to it,” Friedman says. “Meaning for them and meaning for me. So, Budokan is sort of a no-brainer. But if something were to come up that would be a good thing for them and a good thing for me, and add value to it, then I’m all for it.”

“As far as I’m concerned, their band is just kicking so much a** right now — I can’t imagine them needing me for anything,” the guitarist laughs. “But Budokan was wonderful. There’s other things in the future. My door’s open and we’re on great terms, and I love all the guys in the band. It’s very casual.”

Friedman played in Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. During the Budakon show, which marked Friedman’s first performance with Megadeth in 23 years, he joined the group for the songs “Symphony of Destruction,” “Countdown to Extinction” and “Tornado of Souls.”

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John Fogerty regained control of the worldwide publishing rights to his music with Creedence Clearwater Revival last month and he couldn’t be happier.

“Finally getting ownership of my songs now, you can see it’s correcting something that has been wrong in my life for most of my life — you know, since my early twenties,” he tells Variety in a new interview in which he delves into his 55-year fight to get those rights back.

The news comes as many of Fogerty’s peers are actually selling their publishing rights, and the irony isn’t lost on him.

“It is ironic, certainly, that everybody else is selling and I end up buying my songs, but of course it makes perfect sense,” he says. “It has been such a wrong use of music business law, all these years. To finally own ‘Proud Mary’ is a big deal.” Fogerty adds, “I understand other people, especially older people, wanting to sell. But that’s not my frame of mind, certainly at the moment, anyway.”

How he got the rights back is long and involved, and at one point had him refusing to perform any CCR songs. But now that it’s over, he isn’t dwelling on what he’s been through.

“I am now, at this point in my life, looking to all the positiveness of this blessing, and I’m not turning around and looking at the horror that was the past,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shares. “It is a blessing, for sure — it could have been a situation that never changed, but it did change, and I’m really happy.”

He adds, “I don’t know what simple phrase would work here. ‘Good things come to those who wait’ — maybe that’s one.”

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Dead & Company are set to play Chicago’s Wrigley Field June 9 and 10, and since it’s their final tour, it will be their final shows at the home of the Chicago Cubs. To mark the occasion, the team has announced a Grateful Dead night at the ballpark.

The special event will take place May 23 as the Cubs play the New York Mets, and each ticket comes with one of five Dead-inspired bobbleheads, each in a different color. 

A portion of the proceeds from Grateful Dead night will go to The Dead’s nonprofit, the Rex Foundation, which “provides extensive community support to small organizations making an impact in the arts, sciences, education, the environment, and social justice.”

Tickets to the game can be purchased at mlb.com.

And if you’re still hoping to see Dead & Company at Wrigley Field, there’s still time to win tickets to the sold-out shows. The band is running a contest through fandiem, with the grand prize being premium reserved seats to both shows, along with a lot of other goodies. To enter, folks need to make a donation, which will go Reverb and Headcount, by March 14. More info can be found at fandiem.com.

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