Classic Rock News

Duff McKagan has released a cover of the grunge supergroup Mad Season‘s song “River of Deceit,” recorded for an upcoming live album, Tenderness Live from Los Angeles.

The set captures a performance at LA’s El Rey Theatre in 2019 in support of the Guns N’ Roses bassist’s then-new solo record, Tenderness.

“Such a beautiful song written by guys from back home that I know now, and a couple who are no longer with us,” McKagan says of “River of Deceit.” “It feels like a celebration to me.”

Mad Season featured Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, bassist John Baker Saunders and late Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley. Late Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan also contributed to the lone Mad Season album, 1995’s Above.

You can listen to McKagan’s “River of Deceit” cover now via digital outlets. Tenderness Live from Los Angeles will be released on May 31.

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Foo Fighters have released new merch items benefiting two New Orleans charities.

The collection includes two T-shirts and two posters. Proceeds will support No Kid Hungry and Grace at the Green Light.

“NOLA WE LOVE YOU,” the Foos say.

For more info, visit Shop.FooFighters.com.

Foo Fighters will be playing the Big Easy when they headline the New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 3.

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Folks who use the Lumenate app to relax and meditate can now let John Lennon‘s music help them.

Starting May 1, as part of Mental Health Awareness Month, nine reimagined Meditation Mixes of the late Beatles‘ classic track “Mind Games” will be featured on the app, the result of a partnership between Lumenate, Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon and the John Lennon Estate. 

The nine mixes, which range from five to 33 minutes, will be matched with an immersive light sequence that will “elevate the musical journey, deepen the sense of relaxation, and allow users to see, hear and feel the music like never before.” 

“I’m very happy to be working with Lumenate on this release for Mental Health Awareness Month,” said Sean. “I think our Mind Games project is fun, meaningful, and potentially mind-expanding.” 

“My father was famously into meditation. I remember trying the ‘flicker machine’ he kept in the bedroom, which is what first introduced me to the idea of stroboscopic brain wave induction,” he added, noting, “I thought it made sense to combine the music of ‘Mind Games’ with the science of Lumenate. I really hope people enjoy the results as much as I have.”

“Mind Games” was the title track and lead single off Lennon’s fourth solo studio album, released in 1973. It peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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While the price of concert tickets seems to be constantly going up these days, Live Nation is giving fans a way to enjoy live music this summer at a bargain price.

The concert promoter is set to launch its annual Concert Week, offering $25 all-in tickets to over 5.000 shows from 900 artists.

Music fans will have a whole host of concerts to choose from, featuring shows from artists like The Doobie Brothers, Sammy Hagar, John Fogerty, Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, Bret Michaels, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top, Santana and Counting Crows, Styx and Foreigner, and REO Speedwagon and Train, and more.

Concert Week ticket sales run from May 8 to 14 or while supplies last. There will also be T-Mobile and Rakuten presales beginning May 7 at 10 a.m. To purchase tickets, fans can go to LiveNation.com/ConcertWeek, search for their show and then look for “Concert Week Promotion.”

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On This Day, May 1, 1966…

The Beatles performed a 15-minute set at the New Musical Express Annual Poll-Winners All-Star Concert at the Empire Pool in London.

The performance, which took place in front of about 10,000 people, wound up being the band’s final scheduled live performance in Britain. Their actual final live show was the 1969 concert on the roof of Apple Studios, but that was a surprise.

The Beatles performed a five-song set at the NME show, with performances of “I Feel Fine,” “Nowhere Man,” “Day Tripper,” “If I Needed Someone” and “I’m Down.”

Other artists on the bill that night included The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Spencer Davis Group, Herman’s Hermits and Roy Orbison.

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Lenny Kravitz recently went viral with an Instagram post that showed him lifting weights in boots and leather pants. While you may have thought he was doing it just for the social media post, it turns out that’s actually his normal workout attire. 

“I’m always working out in leather pants or jeans and boots and whatever — if I’m not doing cardio,” Kravitz tells Variety. “If I’m doing cardio, obviously I’m going to wear sweats because I’m going to be sweating all over the place. But if I’m lifting weights, I don’t sweat so much.”

As for why he wears leather for his workout, it seems Kravitz doesn’t see the point in wasting time changing.

“I’m coming from somewhere or I’m going somewhere. And I just don’t care. I’m gonna pop in, I’ve got 45 minutes, we’re gonna hit it and I’m gonna go run to where I’m going,” the 59-year-old rocker says. “So I don’t do it for effect. I didn’t do that to be like, ‘Oh, let me be just so different and wear leather pants and glasses.’ No, it’s just me walking in off the street.” 

As for critics who blasted his choice of gym wear, Kravitz doesn’t pay them any attention.

“I know what I’m doing. And my trainer knows what he’s doing. And I know my body and what my body does and what it can do and how it feels and it’s all good,” he says. “I trained with elite athletes, I trained with football players, NFL and NBA stars. I trained with MLB stars, wrestlers, boxers. I’ve played with them all. I won’t mention names, but they’re all people you would know. And they’ll tell you I train very seriously.”

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Dead & Company has announced a new immersive pop-up for fans who are coming to Las Vegas to check out their Dead Forever residency at the Sphere.

The Dead Forever Experience, opening May 15 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, is described as a centralized hub where fans can “come together and celebrate, shop, view exclusive Dead & Company content and explore the Grateful Dead’s unparalleled legacy.” 

The experience, located by the Palazzo Waterfall Atrium, will cover two floors and feature a one-fourth scale functioning recreation of the Grateful Dead’s iconic sound system, the Wall of Sound; a Participation Row, where fans can take action for causes important to the band, like HeadCount and REVERB; and Art at The Edge of Magic, a new immersive art exhibition from drummer Mickey Hart.

There will also be a photo exhibit, featuring 145 Dead images from 27 photographers, and a cinema experience that will show Dead & Company’s May 8, 2023, concert at Cornell University’s Barton Hall.

The Dead Forever Experience will also have a retail store, where fans can snag exclusive Dead & Company merchandise, including show posters, apparel and accessories, as well as vinyl. There will also be a bar and lounge with specialty cocktails.

The Dead Forever Experience will be open five days a week throughout Dead & Company’s Sphere residency, which kicks off Thursday, May 16, and runs until July 13. A complete list of dates can be found at deadandcompany.com.

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Sammy Hagar was honored with the 2,779th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, with friends John Mayer, Guy Fieri and manager Tom Consolo on hand to help celebrate. 

“Sammy is driven by having fun,” Mayer shared in his speech. “Sammy has the kind of fun that we only dream about letting ourselves have if only we could get out of our own way and simply enjoy the fact that we’re alive and on this planet for a relative blink of an eye.” 

He added, “Every time I think of him a thought comes to mind that I’d like to share with you today. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, Sammy Hagar is having way more fun than you.” 

Sammy thanked his four kids and his wife during his speech, along with the late Eddie Van Halen and Ronnie Montrose. He also thanked Van Halen‘s Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who were both there to lend their support to Sammy.

“The idea of where I came from in life and where my beginnings were and to have this here, the amount of people I’d have to thank, it would be impossible to do in one day,” Hagar shared during his speech. “You can’t do all this, you can’t achieve all this without people’s help. If I stood here and said I did this all myself — I wouldn’t be here … so it’s an honor.”

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Slash has announced an in-store acoustic performance at the Amoeba Hollywood record store in Los Angeles, taking place May 29.

To get tickets, you’ll need to buy a CD or vinyl copy of the Guns N’ Roses icon’s upcoming blues solo album, Orgy of the Damned, in person at Amoeba starting on its release date, May 17.

For more info, visit Amoeba.com.

Slash will launch a full U.S. tour in support of Orgy of the Damned in July.

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A new documentary will give music fans a behind-the-scenes look at Toronto’s 1969 Rock N Roll Revival music festival, which featured John Lennon’s first time performing outside The Beatles.

The documentary, Revival69: The Concert That Rocked The World, details how promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker were able to book Lennon for the show and how his appearance almost didn’t happen. In the end he took the stage for a debut performance of The Plastic Ono Band, which featured Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White.

The documentary also features footage from the festival’s other performers — Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Doors. It includes interviews from The Doors’ Robby Kreiger, Voormann and White, Alice Cooper and Rush’s Geddy Lee, who attended the festival. 

The film features archival footage from the late director D. A. Pennebaker, who shot the festival for the 1969 documentary Sweet Toronto.

Revival69: The Concert That Rocked The World will be released in theaters and digitally on June 28.

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