Classic Rock News

Elton John is going all out to mark the final U.S. dates of his farewell tour, taking place on November 17, 19 and 20 at LA’s Dodger Stadium. Not only will the November 20 show be livestreamed on Disney+, he’s arranged some fun activities for fans leading up to the concerts.

An #EltonLATakeover Scavenger Hunt begins Friday at four locations: West Hollywood’s Carrera Café and The Troubadour club, Hollywood’s SuperVinyl and Beverly Hills’ The Webster. Each location is posting a unique QR code inside or outside, giving fans access to official entry forms. 

Five winners will get prize packs including album T-shirts, box sets, LP sets and lithographs. But by collecting the letters displayed at each scavenger hunt location, you can also enter to win the grand prize: two tickets to the Dodger Stadium show on November 10, a picture disc version of Elton’s best-of collection Diamonds, two “Dodger ’75” eyeglass frames from Elton John Eyewear and a T-shirt.

On top of that, The Webster is hosting a pop-up at LA’s Beverly Center. In addition to a special installation, it’ll sell limited-edition Elton John products, like apparel, prints and vinyl LPs.

But wait, there’s more: LA’s The Grove will host a pop-up Elton John Eyewear shop, showcasing Elton’s career as told through his iconic glasses. Special merch and a digital experience will be available there, as well.

If you don’t live in LA, you’ll still be able to participate: A digital giveaway is open to residents of the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Visit EltonJohn.com for details.

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The Police drummer Stewart Copeland was among the many artists to perform at Foo Fighters‘ two tribute concerts to late drummer Taylor Hawkins, which took place September in London and Los Angeles. For Copeland, the shows proved, among other things, that Foo frontman Dave Grohl is the “hardest-working man in show business.”

“[Grohl] made all those calls, called everyone of us and said, ‘Hey, how about it?'” Copeland tells ABC Audio. “Then, he had to figure out, ‘Well, let’s see, where am I gonna put Alanis Morissette or Chrissie Hynde or Stewart?'”

“He had to assemble and figure out all the material,” Copeland continues of Grohl. “Then, he and [guitarist] Chris [Shiflett] and [bassist] Nate [Mendel] and the rest of them had to actually learn all that material and play it for six hours while fronting the show.”

Copeland recalls the London concert particularly fondly, noting how “unique” the lineup was.

“It was singers playing with different bands, bands playing with different singers,” Copeland says. “You never would see these artists in those combinations.”

“The show was one of the most powerful events I’ve ever seen or been involved with, by far,” he declares. “No, the most.”

Like everyone who was in the crowd and watching along with the livestream, Copeland lost it when Hawkins’ teenage son, Shane, joined Foo Fighters to play drums on “My Hero.”

“At the end, oh my god!” Copeland exclaims. “That little kid gets up there, all 15-years-old of him, and slams on the drums like that, not a dry eye in the stadium.”

He adds, “I was sobbing like a fool, of course.”

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Drummer Carl Palmer, sole surviving member of legendary English prog-rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer, is preparing to launch a unique tour that will feature him performing live alongside archival footage of late bandmates Keith Emerson and Greg Lake.

The Welcome Back My Friends: The Return of Emerson Lake & Palmer Tour is a 10-date trek that kicks off November 18 in Philadelphia and is plotted out through a December 3 show in Akron, Ohio.

Palmer tells ABC Audio the concerts will consist of 13 songs, six of which will feature high-quality footage of Emerson and Lake filmed during a pair of October 1992 ELP shows at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall projected on large screens.

“It gives me a chance to bring ELP back in the most honest way, where Keith is at his very best, Greg is at his very best,” Palmer notes. “Both of them look great.”

Carl says of the Royal Albert Hall footage, “Wow, I was really impressed. I was impressed with the audio, ’cause the audio is absolutely superb, fantastic. Because it was all recorded individually, [it] meant I could go back and … remix it if I wanted to.”

He continues, “So, it took nine to 10 weeks of editing, and I managed to edit myself out of all the frames. I didn’t want to see me, because I’m gonna be playing on the stage, and Greg and Keith are gonna be left and right on these huge screens.”

Palmer will be joined at the shows by his current band, ELP Legacy — guitarist Paul Bielatowicz [bee-ELL-uh-TOE-vitch] and bassist/Chapman Stick player Simon Fitzpatrick — who will “reinforce some parts” on some songs with the Emerson and Lake footage, and play on all the other tunes.

Visit CarlPalmer.com for the full list of dates.

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Elton John usually uses his Rocket Hour show on Apple Music to spotlight new, emerging talent, but this Saturday’s episode will feature a legendary artist who Elton counts among his own musical influences: Joni Mitchell.

“I am incredibly excited to announce a very special Rocket Hour with one the most talented songwriters of all time, @jonimitchell,” Elton wrote on Instagram, captioning a photo of himself with Mitchell. “I can’t wait for you all to hear this.”

Last year, Elton featured Joni’s music on an all-Canadian music installment of Rocket Hour, along with the likes of Rush, Leonard Cohen and The Band.  But Saturday’s episode will be a full spotlight on the woman Elton called “certainly one of the most magical people I’ve ever met.”

When Mitchell’s landmark album Blue turned 50 last year, Elton told the Los Angeles Times that it was her “masterpiece.” “I always thought of Joni as an incredibly inspirational figure — I listened to albums like Blue and The Hissing of Summer Lawns in complete awe,” he explained.

“She was a fabulous songwriter and she ever repeated herself, never thought ‘I’m on a roll, I’ll make an album like that again,’ she always followed her own path,” Elton added.

He went on to note that it wasn’t until last year that he realized one of his own songs, “Madman Across the Water,” was “very Joni-esque.” As he put it, “Psychologically, her style had implanted itself really deep in my subconscious, and it came out in songs like that.”

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Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, best known for his work with The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, has scheduled his first solo tour of the Midwest — in support of his first solo album, Speed of Heat.

The five-date tour is the latest leg of his debut solo tour, which started back in May. The run of shows starts December 14 in Milwaukee and visits Evanston, Illinois; Ferndale, Michigan; and Kent, Ohio, before wrapping up in Warrendale, Pennsylvania. Tickets are available now at jeffskunkbaxter.com.

In addition to songs from Speed of Heat, Baxter’s solo sets have included his versions of Steely Dan’s “My Old School,” “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number” and “Do It Again,” as well as The Doobies’ “China Grove.”

In recent years, Baxter has built a successful consulting career, advising the government and the Defense Department on missile defense and counterterrorism. In an interview in Stars and Stripes, Baxter also said he teaches jazz improvisation to intelligence analysts, which apparently helps with their problem-solving abilities.

As Baxter told the publication, “Problem solving, whether it’s doing a solo on the guitar in the middle of a song or trying to figure out are the Russians really going to come down the Fulda Gap, it’s kind of all the same. At least I see it as all the same.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The jokes just write themselves, folks: Todd Rundgren has partnered with the Michigan-based company Cheef Cannabis for a collection of two limited-edition strains called, yes, Hello, It’s Weed.

One strain, Michigan Cookies, has a “super-high level of potency,” as well as a “sweet mocha coffee aroma.”  It’ll make you feel “happy and creative” and “socially inspired,” according to Cheef.

The other strain, Dosi Mintz, has a “spicy-nutty herbal flavor and a sharp kick of mint” and will make you feel a “light tingle throughout your entire body,” leaving you “pain-free and happy.”

To mark the partnership, Todd will make in-store appearances at two branches of House of Dank, a Michigan dispensary, while he’s in the state later this month for his tour with Daryl Hall. On November 21 at 12 p.m., he’ll drop by the one in Ypsilanti; he’ll be at the one in Grand Rapids on November 23 at noon. The product will then be made available everywhere Cheef is sold.

In a statement, Todd says, “So if I were to say that I was getting into the branded cannabis market, I think the response would be ‘Duh’. I’ve never made it a secret that I’ve sought inspiration from altered states. And while there’s no guarantee that you’ll create a masterpiece, you may at least find a little peace. Worth a shot.”

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When Alice in Chains released a 30th anniversary edition of their landmark 1992 album, Dirt, it surprised the band by reentering the top 10 of the Billboard chart. While the album is legendary for its dark, sometimes brutal lyrics about drug addiction, war, death and depression, the band feels that it’s wrong to think of Dirt — and by association, late frontman Layne Staley — as being completely miserable.

Speaking to Variety, guitarist Jerry Cantrell says Staley, who died in April 2002, was “truly a hilarious guy,” and that Dirt “dealt with a wide range of emotions and subject matter, beautiful and dark and everything in between.”

Drummer Sean Kinney adds, “Dirt was never a drug concept album and Layne wasn’t a d**k. He wasn’t tormented, but instead witty, funny and generous.”

Most importantly, Cantrell and Kinney are still incredibly proud of Dirt, which has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Released during the time that they, along with other Seattle bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, were leading the grunge movement and changing the music industry, Cantrell notes that era was “one of the few times in my lifetime where it felt like the good guys were winning.”

“Dirt was a hell of a record,” Cantrell tells Variety. “It stands the test of time, and it’s a powerful piece of work without an ounce of fluff.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

When Alice in Chains released a 30th anniversary edition of their landmark 1992 album, Dirt, it surprised the band by reentering the top 10 of the Billboard chart. While the album is legendary for its dark, sometimes brutal lyrics about drug addiction, war, death and depression, the band feels that it’s wrong to think of Dirt — and by association, late frontman Layne Staley — as being completely miserable.

Speaking to Variety, guitarist Jerry Cantrell says Staley, who died in April 2002, was “truly a hilarious guy,” and that Dirt “dealt with a wide range of emotions and subject matter, beautiful and dark and everything in between.”

Drummer Sean Kinney adds, “Dirt was never a drug concept album and Layne wasn’t a d**k. He wasn’t tormented, but instead witty, funny and generous.”

Most importantly, Cantrell and Kinney are still incredibly proud of Dirt, which has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Released during the time that they, along with other Seattle bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, were leading the grunge movement and changing the music industry, Cantrell notes that era was “one of the few times in my lifetime where it felt like the good guys were winning.”

“Dirt was a hell of a record,” Cantrell tells Variety. “It stands the test of time, and it’s a powerful piece of work without an ounce of fluff.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The closest The Who ever came to doing a holiday song was “Christmas,” a track from their album Tommy, and it’s not very festive or merry. Still, that’s not stopping Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend from headlining a charity Carol Service at St. Luke’s Church in London next month.

The event will benefit Nordoff-Robbins, a charity that promotes music therapy for those affected by life-limiting illness, isolation or disability. Daltrey and Townshend will perform acoustically at the event, which will also feature “Christmas carols, celebrity readings and performances from musical superstars,” as well as mulled wine and mince pies for everyone.

“For while I must admit I didn’t really understand what Roger and I might be expected to do at a Carol Concert,” Townshend says in a statement. “But I now understand that our presence and support is more valuable than whether I can still manage a [harmony vocal] on ‘Angels We Have Heard On High.'”

The Who have actually been longtime supporters of Nordoff-Robbins. Daltrey says in a statement, “Music therapy can reconnect people who may otherwise feel isolated or disconnected from the world — whether a young person with autism, a person living with dementia, or somebody rebuilding their lives after an accident.”

And bringing it back to Tommy, Townshend adds, “I had done research on the early work of music therapy when writing [the album] back in 1967, and continued to research and learn about how it works, when it works, and accepting that it does in fact sometimes — often — work miracles.  Very glad to help out.”

Tickets for the event are on sale now.

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