Classic Rock News

In 2018, Dave Grohl released a 23-minute instrumental solo composition titled Play. Later that year, he performed the piece for the first — and, so far, only — time live at the 2018 Christmas Jam, an annual holiday benefit concert hosted by Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes. Five years later, official video of the Play performance has been released.

While the studio version of Play featured Grohl on every instrument, the Foo Fighters frontman anchored the Christmas Jam performance from his drum set. He was accompanied by a band that included frequent Foos producer Greg Kurstin, Grohl’s Them Crooked Vultures bandmate Alain Johannes and ex-Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney.

You can watch the debut Play performance, which ballooned to nearly 36 minutes on the live stage, streaming now via the Gov’t Mule YouTube channel. The recording will also be included in an upcoming live album capturing the 2018 Christmas Jam, due out December 8.

Meanwhile, the 2023 Christmas Jam takes place December 9 and will stream live online. Performers include Gov’t Mule, ZZ Top‘s Billy F. Gibbons, Slash & Myles Kennedy, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening and Clutch.

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U2 is marking World AIDS Day on December 1 in Las Vegas, with the help of the Sphere, the location of their current residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere. 

The skin of the venue is being lit up in red to honor the lives saved by global HIV/AIDS programs, like the (RED) and The ONE Campaign, both of which were co-founded by U2 frontman Bono to fight AIDS and extreme poverty.

It also serves as a reminder that even though the (RED) campaign has raised over $750 million, there’s still more to be done. “Where you live shouldn’t decide whether you live,” (RED) notes in a post, ending with the hashtag #ENDAIDS.

(RED) is giving folks new ways to help this holiday season with The Red Edit, 25 days of one-of-a kind events and experiences that can be purchased to help save lives. More info can be found at red.org.

Meanwhile, after a few weeks off, U2 returns to Sphere for a new run of shows on Friday, December 1. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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On This Day, December 1, 1944…

John Paul Densmore, future drummer of the rock band The Doors, was born in Los Angeles, California.  

Densmore co-founded The Doors in 1965, along with frontman Jim Morrison, guitarist Robby Kreiger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek. They released their self-titled debut in 1967, which featured their breakthrough single “Light My Fire.” Both the album and the song were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

The Doors released six studio albums, and in addition to “Light My Fire,” are known for such classic tunes as “LA Woman,” “Riders on the Storm,” “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” “Hello I Love You” and more. 

Following the 1971 death of Morrison, Densmore has been the member of the band to veto any attempts to license The Doors’ music for commercial purposes, and even went to court to protect the use of the band’s name and music. Densmore also teamed with the Morrison estate to stop Kreiger and Manzarek from touring under The Doors’ name.

Densmore was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doors in 1993.

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Mötley Crüe will be kickstarting 2024 live onstage.

The band has announced a New Year’s Eve show, taking place December 31 in Palm Springs, California.

“Ring in the New Year in style… Mötley Crüe are having a party!!!” Mötley says. “Join us for CRÜE YEAR’s EVE at the brand new Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, CA for a night not to be missed!”

A presale begins Wednesday, December 6, at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, December 8, at 10 a.m. PT. For all ticket info, visit Motley.com.

The concert will close an eventful year for Mötley Crüe, which included touring the world with new guitarist John 5 in place of Mick Mars, who retired from touring in 2022. They’ve also been involved in legal proceedings with Mars over a financial dispute.

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It’s been over three years in the making, but touring life is almost over for members of KISS. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers roll into New York’s Madison Square Garden on December 1 to wrap their End of the Road tour, which they insist will be their last one ever. 

KISS initially announced their intention to launch one final tour back in September 2018. It kicked off January 31, 2019, in Vancouver, hitting the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico, Japan, Latin America, Australia and more.

When it came to where they wanted to end things, KISS picked New York for purely sentimental reasons. 

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

Of course, many fans are skeptical that this really is the final KISS tour, considering they previously went on their Farewell Tour in 2001, only to change their minds by 2002.

One person who does believe KISS isn’t lying about the end is songwriter Desmond Child, who helped pen their hit “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.” 

“I do believe them. They’re not going to come back with, you know, the 20th farewell tour because they have other interests,” he says, noting he could see KISS living on with a possible biopic or hologram show like ABBA’s Voyage.

“I hope they do that in the future,” he says. “This way KISS can be everywhere.” 

While the New York shows are certainly a hot ticket, fans who weren’t able to snag a seat will still be able to enjoy the final night on December 2. KISS is offering it as a pay-per-view event on PPV.com.

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The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are up for a second Grammy Award this year.

The band is already nominated for Best Rock Song for the Hackney Diamonds track “Angry,” but Billboard reports Mick and Keith have now been added to a nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, for the arrangement of their hit “Paint it Black,” which was part of the Netflix series Wednesday.

When the nominations were initially announced in early November, only Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon and Alana Da Fonseca were listed as arrangers for the song.

“Paint it Black,” a #1 song for The Stones in 1966, was used in the premiere episode of the Netflix series, with the title character Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, playing it on the cello.

It marks Jagger and Richards’ first nomination as arrangers. The Rolling Stones have been nominated for 12 Grammys, winning three. Including The Stones nods, Jagger has had 18 nominations, while Richards has had 16.

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Elton John ended his touring career in 2023 and did so with one of the top-grossing tours of the year.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour wrapped in July. Sir Elton’s 65 shows this year landed him at #7 on the Billboard Boxscore Top Tours of 2023 list, bringing in $210 million.

Dead & Company’s final tour also brought in the big bucks: $114.7 million, landing them at #15. The Eagles are at #25 with $76.4 million, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks land at #39 with $56 million and Sting is at #40 with $55.7 mil. 

Other artists making the year-end Top 40 include Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has shared a tribute to late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, who died Thursday, November 30, at age 65.

“And now I say, god bless the great Irishman Shane MacGowan,” Flea writes in an Instagram post. “Everytime I heard him sing I heard the truth, and my heart filled up with humanity.”

Flea recalls seeing MacGowan perform with The Pogues in the ’80s, noting that the show “was so beautiful and I was reduced to tears.”

“I approached him, and gushed ‘Man that was so beautiful, thank you etc…'” Flea writes. “He looked at me and burst into laughter, accidentally spitting beer in my face, and it was not thoughtless or mean at all, he was just so humble and being a dude singing it seemed absurd to him to be elevated, like I was doing to him.”

“I have never been a church going man or a religious man, but if I ever felt [baptized], it was that beer and spit in my face that did it,” he adds. “[I’m] so grateful he sang his songs for us.”

Here are a few of the other tributes to MacGowan:

Garbage: “Some people are just too fragile for this world. Too sensitive. They see too much. They feel too much. Belly on up to that bar then Mr MacGowan and line em up. Cheers to you, you beautiful, brilliant bastard. Thanks for all the fantastic music. We shall miss you.”

Dropkick Murphys: “Rest in Peace Shane McGowan. You were one of a kind. Thank you for the impact you had on so many of our lives.”

Flogging Molly: “Farewell to a legend.”

Jack Antonoff: “shane macgowan has made me feel something that nobody else ever could through his work. his way is something i feel inspired by everyday in the studio and on tour. love to those close to him and for the rest of us who wouldn’t be here without his music it’s a sad day.”

Against Me!‘s Laura Jane Grace: “Forever grateful to have had the opportunity of opening for the Pogues years ago. Shane was a lyrical god to me, always will be.”

President of Ireland Michael Higgins: “Shane will be remembered as one of music’s greatest lyricists. So many of his songs would be perfectly crafted poems, if that would not have deprived us of the opportunity to hear him sing them.”

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Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is helping fellow guitarists sound better. The rocker has just launched a new line of amplifiers handcrafted by Mojotone. 

The line, LERXST, features hand-built guitar amps and cabinets inspired by Lifeson’s five-decade career, offering players “a versatile tonal platform upon which to build their own sonic identity.”

Lifeson says he’s excited about the new line, noting, “It sounds incredible and it’s very handsome. … you’ll want to get one even if you don’t play guitar.”

The line is being launched with Lifeson’s signature amplifier, OMEGA, designed to the rocker’s specifications. It features power scaling and serial effects loops, footswitchable clean and lead channels, a switchable 50/25 watt power section and more. There’s also the CHI, a more compact 30-watt amplifier.  

“I’ve used more amps than Dr. Frankenstein did when breathing life into his creature, but the LERXST CHI is an awesome monster in its own right and one of the sweetest sounding amps I’ve ever heard,” Lifeson shares. “All the great character of the OMEGA in a cool, compact package that you don’t have to be a seven-foot monster to carry around.”

Both are available now, along with a range of guitar cabinets in multiple speaker configurations. More info can be found at lerxstamps.com.

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Paul McCartney has inspired a lot of artists over the years, and it seems Taylor Swift is no exception.

Swift’s 2022 album Midnights features the song “Sweet Nothing,” which was co-written by her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, using the pseudonym William Bowery. Many fans believed the song was about Taylor and Joe’s relationship, but Taylor may have just dropped a clue that Paul was actually the inspiration.  

At least one eagle-eyed Swifty noticed that on X, formerly Twitter, Taylor “liked” a post from October 2022 shared by an account called Paul McCartney Archive. The post features a photo of McCartney with his late wife, Linda McCartney, and the text, “i would come back from a run with a poem to share and having listened linda would say ‘what a mind.'” 

That seems to be paraphrasing a poem Paul wrote for Linda called Blessed: “I would come back from a run/ With lines of poetry to tell/ And having listened, she would say ‘What a mind.'”

What does this have to do with Taylor? The lyrics of “Sweet Nothing” go, “On the way home/ I wrote a poem/ You say, ‘What a mind’/ This happens all the time.”

Fans now speculate that Taylor liking the tweet was her way of saying the song was possibly inspired by Paul’s relationship with Linda, which is often seen as one of rock’s greatest love stories. 

Taylor has, in fact, met Paul, who’s an idol of hers. The two interviewed each other for Rolling Stone in 2020. And Paul has said his 2018 song “Who Cares” was partly inspired by Taylor’s relationship with her fans.

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