Rocker David Bowie kicked off his Glass Spider tour in support of his album Never Let Me Down.
The tour was known for its elaborate set design, which included what looked like a giant spider with light-up legs. It was described at the time as “the largest touring set ever.” It took 43 trucks to move and weighed an estimated 360 tons.
Bowie was joined by Peter Frampton on the tour, along with dancers choreographed by Toni Basil.
In addition to songs from Never Let Me Down, the set list included such Bowie classics as “China Girl,” “Fashion,” “Heroes,” “Let’s Dance,” “Fame” and “Modern Love.”
Foo Fighters are giving fans another taste of their upcoming album But Here We Are, which drops Friday, June 2.
The band just released the 10-minute epic “The Teacher,” along with a short film directed by multimedia artist Tony Oursler, which includes trippy images of the band, along with early home movies, and more.
The song, likely inspired by Grohl’s late mother Violet, who was a teacher, includes the lyrics, “You showed me how to breathe, never showed me how to say goodbye,” and “You showed me how to grieve, but never showed me how to say goodbye.”
“The Teacher” is the third song the Foos have released from But Here We Are, following “Rescued” and “Show Me How.” It is available for preorder now.
And the Foos are giving fans a unique way to get an early listen to the whole album. They’ve just announced But Here We Are at Sunrise, a free listening event which takes place, as the name suggests, at sunrise at venues in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles. All ages are welcome, and fans are advised “to rise early, dress for the outdoors and listen together.” More information can be found at foofighters.com.
Kansas kicks off their 50th anniversary tour on June 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and guitarist and founding member Richard Williams is certainly excited to be celebrating such a big milestone.
“Fifty, it’s a big number, it’s half a century,” Williams tells ABC Audio. “Suddenly there’s like a ‘whoa’ moment that’s, like, ‘Wow, 50 years, that’s a lot.’” He described the tour as “a celebration of the entire career.”
Williams says when Kansas first got together, their biggest dream was simply “to record an album and then get it played on the radio if we were lucky,” and then possibly get to open for some big national acts.
“We couldn’t imagine dreaming beyond that,” he says. “You know, the world stage and being a headlining act and continuing to make records and all that was so distant that it wasn’t even a thought. That wasn’t a dream. … the last 49 years have been all gravy.”
And at 73, Williams has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. He insists fans shouldn’t expect to hear news of a retirement tour, noting, “What’s the point, unless it’s a money grab.”
Williams adds, “It’s really more a matter of how long can I do it. According to my doctors, I’m in great shape. Barring, you know, illness or death, I’m here. I’m going to be doing this until I can’t.”
Kansas currently has dates confirmed through January 28, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A complete tour schedule can be found at kansasband.com.
Foo Fighters’ return to the stage continued Friday night as the band headlined Boston Calling, where they got some help from family.
Just like he did at their opening show in New Hampshire earlier in the week, the set included Dave Grohl performing “Cold Day in the Sun,” the In Your Honor track featuring their late drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals. According to Consequence, he told the crowd, “I tried to do it the other night, and I’m gonna try to do it again,” adding. “And I’m gonna do it for Taylor’s family, and I’m gonna do it for Taylor.”
And turns out Taylor’s family was at the show to witness it, with the band bringing out his son Shane Hawkins to get behind the drumkit for the classic tune “I’ll Stick Around.”
And Taylor’s son wasn’t the only Foo offspring at the show. Grohl’s daughter Violet Grohl came out to join the band on two songs, “Shame, Shame” and “Rope.”
As for new drummer Josh Freese, he continues to prove he has the right sense of humor to be a member of the band. At the New Hampshire show he wore a T-shirt that read “Employee of the Month,” while at Boston Calling he donned a tee that read, “Fingers crossed for the new guy.”
Both the New Hampshire show and Boston Calling were the Foos’ first concerts since Hawkins’ death in March of 2022. Their next show is happening May 28 at the Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at foofighters.com.
As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd recently held a special event that coincided with a rare solar eclipse. That event is now being turned into a documentary, and the band is giving fans their first peek at it.
The rockers just released a teaser trailer for Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon 50th Ningaloo Eclipse, which lets fans experience the once-in-a-lifetime event at a secluded beach at Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) Marine Park in Exmouth, Western Australia, in April.
A handful of fans won a trip to the beach, where they listened to Dark Side in full — timed so that the closing line, “but the sun is eclipsed by the moon,” would play at the exact moment of the eclipse.
So far the documentary doesn’t have an exact release date, but it is expected to be out sometime in September.
Lenny Kravitz has always been one of the more stylish rockers out there, but early on some friends questioned his style choices.
Discussing a black skirt a former girlfriend made him when he was a teenager, Kravitz tells the latest issue of Highsnobiety, “My friends were like, ‘Your mom’s going to freak.’ We were all nervous.”
But it turns out there was no real need to worry. He says that his mother, The Jeffersons star Roxie Roker, looked him “up and down” and then gave him some advice, sharing, “If you’re gonna wear that skirt, you got to change them shoes.”
He adds, “One thing about my mother, she never judged anybody. She just loved.”
Kravitz discusses how his background, being both Caribbean-American and Jewish-Ukrainian, helped influence his style. He shares, “Growing up between cultures and religions and types of people in my family, by virtue of me being multiracial … I grew up in the middle of all this beauty.”
But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some regrets about his style choices. “It happens all the time,” although he says now he has more of a “who cares?” attitude about it.
“You’re not going to grow if everything’s perfect all the time,” he says.
For many, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and in addition to fun things like the beach and barbecues, lots of people look forward to summer concerts. Well, according to a new StubHub report, some concerts are more popular than others this season.
While Taylor Swift is the top In-Demand Global Artist of the summer based on sales, Bruce SpringsteenandThe E Street Band’s summer tour ranks high up there at #4, thanks to his 31 tour stops, which kick off August 9 and 10 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Metallica also lands in the top 10 at #8.
The ranking was determined by cumulative global ticket sales on StubHub and viagogo for concerts taking place between Memorial Day, May 29, and Labor Day, September 4.
Meanwhile, Dead & Company land at #2 on the Top Group Acts for summer list, with Metallica at #3 and Guns N’ Roses landing at #8.
Asia is celebrating their reunion album Phoenix with a new reissue. BMG Music has just released a special double vinyl edition of the 2008 studio record, the first time it’s ever been available on vinyl.
Phoenix was released two years after the band’s four original members — John Wetton, CarlPalmer, Geoff Downes and Steve Howe — reunited for a 2006 sold-out world tour.
Phoenix was the first album with all four original members since Wetton’s departure in 1983, and the foursome reconvened for two more records after that, 2010’s Omega and 2012’s XXX, before Howe left to concentrate on his work with Yes.
The Phoenix double vinyl, which is available now, comes with an exclusive CD-sized art card, signed by Palmer and Downes, while supplies last.
John Mellencamp doesn’t take kindly to loud concertgoers, at least not on his current Live and In Person tour. In fact, he almost cut his recent concert in Cleveland short because of one rude and loud member of the audience.
According to the Cleveland Scene, signs posted in the Connor Palace lobby read “this show respects theater etiquette,” and at one point Mellencamp even told concertgoers, “I don’t like people screaming from the f***** audience.” But that didn’t stop one attendee.
Mellencamp was saying something that the outlet suggested “could be construed as criticizing the U.S.” when one loud concertgoer screamed at him to “play the f****** music.” Well, Mellencamp didn’t like that.
“Listen, hey, you guys, if these people don’t shut the f*** up I’m just going to leave, OK?” Mellencamp told the crowd. “Because I’m not used to this crap. Look, guys, if I wanted to play in this type of drunken environment, I’d play outside or I’d play in an arena.”
The audience did eventually quiet down and the show went on, with Mellencamp treating the crowd to such classics as “Small Town,” “Pink Houses,” “Jack & Diane” “Hurts So Good” and more.
Mellencamp’s Live and In Person show is set for a second night in Cleveland on Friday, May 26, with shows confirmed through June. A complete schedule can be found at mellencamp.com.
John Fogerty’s concerts usually include him performing his Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Proud Mary,” but the song took on special meaning at his concert in Manchester AO Arena Thursday night.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer took time out of his show to pay tribute to the late Tina Turner, who turned “Proud Mary” into a classic, projecting an image of him, Tina and his two sons on the screen behind him.
“I toured with Tina way back about the year 2000,” he says in fan-shot footage posted on YouTube. “Of course Tina recorded my song ‘Proud Mary’ way back about 1971 and it was a breakthrough song for her, also a signature song.”
He added, “I saw her like every week with that red dress on and Ike (Turner) had girls dancing in the background … she was amazing.”
He then dedicated the song to Tina, noting, “This is the first good song I ever wrote.”
Fogerty previously paid tribute to Turner on his Instagram account and recently shared that same picture, writing, “Beyond her immense talent, she was incredibly kind-hearted and gracious. Her warmth and genuine spirit touched the hearts of everyone she encountered. It was an absolute privilege to know such a kind soul.”
