On This Day, October 2, 1982: Genesis reunites with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett

On This Day, October 2, 1982: Genesis reunites with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett

On This Day, October 2, 1982…

Genesis reunited with ex-singer Peter Gabriel and ex-guitarist Steve Hackett for a benefit concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England.

It was the first time either had played with the band since their departures from Genesis: Gabriel left in 1975 and Hackett in 1977. It was also the last time Gabriel performed any of the band’s songs. 

The beneficiary of the concert was Gabriel, who was close to financial ruin after the failure of his World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) Festival. The money bailed him out, and he went on to stage the festival for the next 40 years.

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Foo Fighters announce Everything or Nothing at All summer stadium tour

Foo Fighters announce Everything or Nothing at All summer stadium tour
courtesy of Live Nation

Foo Fighters have made their summer 2024 plans. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just announced dates for their new Everything or Nothing at All stadium tour.

The tour, in support of their 11th studio album But Here We Are, kicks off with a two-night run at Citi Field in Queens, New York, July 17 and 19, and hits such cities as Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, San Diego, Los Angeles and more, before wrapping August 18 in Seattle, Washington.

Special guests on the 12-date trek include PretendersMammoth WVHL7The HivesAmyl and The Sniffers and Alex G.

A Citi card presale kicks off Tuesday, October 3 at 10 a.m. local time, with the general on sale set for Friday, October 6 at 10 a.m. local time. 

Foo Fighters still have several dates on the books for 2023. Their next show is happening October 3 in Phoenix, Arizona. A complete list of dates can be found at FooFighters.com.

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This Barbie is a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

This Barbie is a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer
Stevie Nicks displays Barbie doll images onstage in NYC; DJ Moran/ABC News

This Barbie is a Gold Dust Woman.

Yes, Mattel has launched a Stevie Nicks Barbie Doll, which is available now. She’s dressed in a black outfit inspired by the one Stevie wore on the cover of Rumours, and also wears platform boots and a crescent moon necklace. She even comes with a ribbon-festooned tambourine.  Her flowing blonde hair is styled in bangs, and she’s wearing smoky eye makeup.

Stevie showed off the doll to fans while onstage at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, October 1, and then presented it to an audience member.

The doll costs $55 and is available at Target, Walmart and other stores.

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New interactive mixing board allows Grateful Dead fans to jam with band

New interactive mixing board allows Grateful Dead fans to jam with band
Rhino

Grateful Dead just released the 50th anniversary deluxe reissue of their album Wake of the Flood and is giving fans a unique way to enjoy it. 

Dead Heads can now go to the band’s website to explore Playing In The Band: Wake of the Flood, described as “an interactive mixing board” that allows them to jam along with classics on the album like “Eyes of the World,” “Stella Blue” and “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.”

Playing In The Band gives fans a chance to play around with the contributions of each band member. They can press solo to listen to each artist’s specific performance and even mute them in order to fill in using their own instrument.

And the Dead has even more Wake of the Flood goodies to share with fans. On October 15, exactly 50 years after Wake of the Flood was released, over six hours of never-before-heard material from the album’s recording sessions will stream as a YouTube Live exclusive event.

Released in 1973, Wake of the Flood was the first album released on the band’s own record label, Grateful Dead Records. Featuring new members Keith and Donna Godchaux, it was also the first album released following the death of founding member Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and the temporary departure of drummer Mickey Hart.

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Green Day teases October 24 date with “The American Dream Is Killing Me” website

Green Day teases October 24 date with “The American Dream Is Killing Me” website
ABC/Randy Holmes

September has officially ended, which can only mean one thing: Green Day is awake.

On Sunday, October 1, the “American Idiot” trio launched a new website, TheAmericanDreamIsKillingMe.com, which features a video of frontman Billie Joe Armstrong waking up to the sounds of a muffled guitar riff. As he sits up in bed, he looks at his calendar and sees the date Tuesday, October 24, circled.

Green Day had previously set up the website IsGreenDayAwake.com, which now simply declares, “Yes.” Back when it was still September, the site gave you negative answers such as, “Still no.”

So, is The American Dream Is Killing Me the name of the next Green Day album? It looks like we’ll find out October 24, which notably comes after Green Day’s headlining sets at the When We Were Young festival, taking place October 21-22 in Las Vegas.

Green Day’s most recent album is 2020’s Father of All… The group also just put out a 30th anniversary reissue of their 1994 breakout album, Dookie.

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U2 launches Vegas residency at Sphere in front of star-filled crowd

U2 launches Vegas residency at Sphere in front of star-filled crowd
courtesy of Live Nation

U2 launched their Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, on Friday, September 29, treating fans to a totally immersive experience.

The venue’s huge LED screens flashed a gallery of images created for the show, while the rockers dazzled the crowd on a Brian Eno-inspired stage that looked like a turntable

According to Setlist.fm, U2 opened with Achtung Baby’s “Zoo Station,” and in the end played all of 1991 album, including “Mysterious Ways,” “One” with bits of “Purple Rain” and “Love Me Tender” added, “So Cruel” for the first time since 1992, and “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” for the first time since 1993.

The set also featured U2 classics including “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “With or Without You,” “Elevation” and “Beautiful Day,” which featured bits of The Beatles‘ “Blackbird” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in honor of Paul McCartney, who was in the audience. They also played their brand new single “Atomic City.”

U2 even treated the crowd to an acoustic set, which, according to VarietyBono said will focus on a different album, or other people’s albums, each show. This show featured the Rattle and Hum tunes “All I Want Is You,” dedicated to drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., who’s skipping the residency to recover from surgery, “Desire,” dedicated to McCartney, “Angel of Harlem” and “Love Rescue Me,” dedicated to the late Jimmy Buffett.

The show also brought out many of U2’s celebrity fans, including McCartney, Bryan CranstonDr. DreJimmy KimmelMatt DamonKaty Perry and Orlando BloomMetallica‘s Lars UlrichOprah Winfrey and Gayle King.

U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere will consist of 25 shows, wrapping December 16. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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Pink Floyd, Heart & more set the tone for Peacock’s ‘John Wick’ spinoff, ‘The Continental’

Pink Floyd, Heart & more set the tone for Peacock’s ‘John Wick’ spinoff, ‘The Continental’
The Continental © 2022 Starz Entertainment, LLC

The second of three episodes of The Continental: From the World of John Wick is now streaming on Peacock. 

Set in “the hell-scape of 1970s New York City,” it was up to director Albert Hughes, as well as Wick franchise producers Basil IwanykErica Lee and their production team, to recreate the bad old days of the Big Apple — very far from New York, no less. 

One way of painting that landscape was through the music. The soundtrack is filled with hits from the era, from Heart to Gerry Rafferty to Pink Floyd. Hughes was the driving force behind it, and credits Peacock and Lionsgate with not pushing back, in spite of the hefty licensing fees.

Hughes explains to ABC Audio, “There was a certain budget for music at the beginning, and I go, like, ‘Oh you guys, it’s going to be three or four times that. There’s no way.'” One big chunk of that budget went to getting Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here track “Welcome To The Machine” for episode two; Hughes notes it was the most expensive song in the series.

To their credit, Hughes says the studios were all in. “I saw the music as a replacement for Keanu Reeves because I don’t have Keanu Reeves and a dead puppy,” he jokes. “So I need another kind of actor, you know, in theory, a personality, and it was the music. And it also helps with time and place and nostalgia, all that other good stuff.”

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Trevor Rabin releases powerful new song, “Oklahoma”

Trevor Rabin releases powerful new song, “Oklahoma”
InsideOut Music

Former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin has released the brand new song “Oklahoma” from his upcoming album, Rio, which will be his first solo album of vocal material in 34 years.

Rabin says the song was inspired by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

“It traumatized the entire nation and will always be a dark day for the country,” Rabin shares. “Thirty plus years later I believed the time was right and OK to tackle the song I had written. It’s dedicated to family and friends who lost loved ones.” 

You can listen to “Oklahoma” now via digital outlets and watch the video on YouTube.

Rio, named after Rabin’s granddaughter, is available for preorder now.

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Elton John celebrates 50 years of ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ with Dolby Atmos mix

Elton John celebrates 50 years of ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ with Dolby Atmos mix
Mercury Records

It’s been 50 years since Elton John released his now-classic album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and he’s giving fans a new way to enjoy it.

In honor of the anniversary, Elton has released the album in Dolby Atmos for the first time. Fans are now able to listen to tracks like “Bennie and the Jets,” “Candle In the Wind,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” the title track and more in high-definition sound. 

Elton is also marking the anniversary with a new line of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road merchandise, including T-shirts, hoodies, mugs and sweatshirts. 

You can listen to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in Dolby Atmos via digital outlets.

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Neil Young to reissue ‘Archives Vol. I: 1963-1972’ for the first time in over a decade

Neil Young to reissue ‘Archives Vol. I: 1963-1972’ for the first time in over a decade
Reprise Records

Neil Young launched his Archives series back in 2009 with Neil Young Archives Vol. I: 1963-1972, and fans who missed out on getting a copy now have a second chance. Young is set to reissue Archives Vol. 1 on November 10, marking the first time it’s been back in print in over a decade.

Like the original, the reissue will be released in its eight-CD format, with each CD getting its own custom sleeve. It also contains a 24-page booklet and Archives poster.

In addition to early Young recordings with the Squires, Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the set contains music from Young’s early solo career. There are also three discs of live recordings: Live At The Riverboat (Toronto 1969), Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Live At The Fillmore East (New York 1970) and Live At Massey Hall (Toronto 1971).

The reissue of Neil Young Archives Vol. I: 1963-1972 will be available at Young’s Greedy Hand online store, at retail outlets and through most digital service providers. All Greedy Hand store purchases come with free hi-res digital audio downloads.

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