Classic Rock News

John Mellencamp is heading back out on the road next year. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announced a 2024 leg of his Live and In Person Tour, playing 27 new cities.

Mellencamp has booked one night only in each city, starting March 8 in Rochester, New York. He’ll perform in Newark, Hartford, Birmingham, Washington, D.C., and more, before wrapping the tour April 22 in Savannah, Georgia. A complete list of dates can be found at mellencamp.com.

Presales are happening from October 31 to November 2, with the general onsale kicking off Friday, November 3, at 10 a.m.  

Mellencamp launched his Live and In Person tour in February, playing small theaters with multiple nights in some cities. He wrapped the tour in June, the same month he released his 25th solo album, Orpheus Descending.

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Bruce Springsteen was the surprise guest at a symposium this weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of his sophomore album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, the Asbury Park Press reports.

The event was held at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, on Saturday, October 28, with Springsteen interviewed by Robert Santelli, executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. He also sat in on a panel that featured original E Street Band members Vini Lopez and David Sancious, and original and current member, Garry Tallent.

“The album is a lovely wild card — me finally getting a chance to express myself,” Springsteen told the audience. “Everything I’ve basically done for the rest of my career started on The Wild and the Innocent. It’s a lovely little record and I’m still very proud of it.” 

“The main thing for me on The Wild and the Innocent was that I wanted to introduce myself as a rock ‘n’ roll performer,” he continued, noting he wasn’t supposed to put any electric guitar on his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., because he was originally signed as a singer/songwriter.

He added, “But the second record I knew I wanted to write basically a rock and soul music.” 

Released in 1973, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle received critical praise but wasn’t initially a commercial success. It features future Springsteen classic “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and fan favorites like “4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Kitty’s Back” and more.

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While The Rolling Stones‘ new album, Hackney Diamonds, topped the chart in the U.K. and Australia, it settled for #3 on the Billboard 200 Album chart in the U.S., coming in just behind blink-182’s ONE MORE TIME… at #1 and Drake’s For All The Dogs at #2.

The Stones moved 101,000 equivalent album units of Hackney Diamonds to give them their 38th top-10 album, adding to their record for the most Top 10 albums in the history of the list.

Hackney Diamonds did particularly well with actual album sales, moving 94,000 units, thanks to over 30 different vinyl options, box sets, CDs and more.

Hackney Diamonds is The Stones’ first album of new material in 18 years. Their last was 2005’s A Bigger Bang, which also debuted at #3 on the album chart.

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On This Day, October 30, 1971…

John Lennon topped the Billboard album chart with his sophomore solo album, Imagine.

The album, co-produced by Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, was Lennon’s first solo #1 record, and spent 47 weeks on the chart. It also went to #1 in the U.K.

Imagine is best known for its iconic title track. It also featured “How Do You Sleep?,” a song attacking his former writing partner Paul McCartney, “Gimme Some Truth” and more.

Lennon would go on to have two more solo number ones, Walls and Bridges, in 1974, and the posthumous release, Double Fantasy, which spent eight weeks on top of the chart in 1980.

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The Beatles‘ music has brought a lot of families together, and that idea is the subject of a new one-man play from Ted Lasso writer and star Brendan Hunt.

The actor’s new show, The Movement You Need, reveals how the band’s music was one of the things that united him and his late mother, with whom he had a complicated relationship. 

According to Variety, the idea for the show came after Hunt got to meet Paul McCartney thanks to his Ted Lasso boss Jason Sudeikis, who invited him along to watch the rehearsal for the Taylor Hawkins memorial show in London. He says his show represents the things he had wanted to say to McCartney.

Hunt says his sister’s social media post about how her love for The Beatles came from their mother got him thinking. “I started to realize there are so many moments in my life that are connected to The Beatles,” he says.

The show will have its New York premiere at the SoHo Playhouse, running November 1-7. Hunt says you don’t have to be a Beatles fan to enjoy it. 

“You don’t have to know the Beatles, you don’t have to like the Beatles. I have to be able to reach people who don’t like the Beatles or who are just sick and tired of having the Beatles shoved down their throats,” he tells the mag. “The story is about a mom and a son, and it happens to have the Beatles as the framework. Any amount of Beatles knowledge you might need is provided during the show.”

Tickets for The Movement You Need are on sale now.

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Foo Fighters performed on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze.

Dave Grohl and company played two songs off their new album, But Here We Are: “Rescued” and “The Glass.” For “Rescued,” the Foos were introduced by Christopher Walken — a callback to the actor’s impression-inspiring introduction of the band during their 2003 SNL performance — while “The Glass” featured a duet with Grammy-winning R&B artist H.E.R.

The night also saw Grohl appear in a couple of sketches. In “Lake Beach,” Bargatze, Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson play a country music trio whose song mentions an uncle, Grohl, who takes cornhole way too seriously and blows his hand off with fireworks. Oh, and he’s also the town priest.

Grohl also returned to the scene of the Foos’ “Learn to Fly” video in the sketch “Airplane,” in which a woman about to give birth during a flight asks for medical assistance. While the other passengers bicker about what the “second-best” job is after doctor, Grohl shows up in scrubs and a lab coat, only to reveal he’s actually wearing a Halloween costume.

The episode marked Foo Fighters’ ninth time as the musical guest on SNL, and 10th if you count their special guest performance alongside Mick Jagger in 2012.

But Here We Are was released in June. It’s the first Foo Fighters record following the 2022 death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.

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Sting is bringing his My Songs tour to England and Ireland next year. 

The rocker just announced five new shows for 2024, kicking off June 14 in Cheshire, England. He then hits two cities in Ireland – Cork on June 18 and Belfast on June 19 – with both shows featuring special guest Blondie.

The tour then returns to England for a concert in Suffolk on June 22, before wrapping June 23 in Nottinghamshire.

A presale for tickets begins Monday, October 30, at 9 a.m., followed by a general onsale on Friday, November 3, at 9 a.m.

Sting’s My Songs tour has him playing material from his entire catalog, both solo and The Police material. His next show is happening November 23 in Oberhausen, Germany. A complete list of dates can be found at sting.com.

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The Rolling Stones have a new #1. The band’s latest release, Hackney Diamonds, debuted on top of the U.K. Official Album chart, making it their 14th U.K. number one.

The Stones moved 72,000 units of Hackney Diamonds, their first album of new material in 18 years,  putting them behind Lewis Capaldi and Ed Sheeran for the third-biggest sales week of the year.

With their 14 chart-toppers, The Stones tie Robbie Williams for the second-most #1 albums in the U.K., just behind The Beatles, who have 16. When you take out greatest hits compilations and collections, The Stones tie The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and Williams for the most #1 studio albums, with 11.

And The Stones aren’t just topping the charts in the U.K.: Hackney Diamonds is also #1 on Australia’s ARIA chart, making it their eighth #1 down under.

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Peter Frampton is set to perform at an upcoming concert put on by the Artist For Action To Prevent Gun Violence coalition.

The benefit concert, taking place December 7 at NYU Skirball in Manhattan, celebrates the launch of the documentary A Father’s Promise, which is about how musician Mark Barden co-founded Sandy Hook Promise after losing his son Daniel in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and how he rediscovered his passion for music.

Described as a “one-of-a-kind docu-concert,” the event, which is being filmed, will raise money for Sandy Hook Promise.

Other artists on the bill include Sheryl Crow, who produced A Father’s Promise, former New York Yankee Bernie Williams, Barden and Jimmy Vivino of The Promise Band, Rozzi, The Dumes, The Alternate Routes, Jen Chapin and Aztec Two-Step 2.0.

Tickets are on sale now.

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An animated film based on Paul McCartney’s children’s novel is moving forward. According to Variety, a director and creative crew have been hired for the book’s feature adaptation.

High in the Clouds, which McCartney wrote in 2005, follows a teenage squirrel named Wirral’s quest to overthrow an owl named Gretsch who banned music in their city of Gretschville in an attempt to be the town’s only singer. Wirral then teams up with some underground musicians hiding out in Harmonia, a secret place high in the clouds.

Toby Genkel, who directed the 2022 film The Amazing Maurice, is on board to helm the project, with Michael Giacchino, who did the music for Coco, writing the score and Paddington 2’s Jon Croker writing the script.

McCartney will also contribute to the flick, voicing a character in the film; two other music stars are in talks to join him on the project.

Production on High in the Clouds is expected to begin in early 2024; the release is planned for early 2026.

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