Classic Rock News

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell has been busy this year touring with his own band The Dirty Knobs, whose second album, External Combustion, was released in March.

Since Tom Petty‘s unexpected death at age 67 in October 2017, Campbell hasn’t played with most of his Heartbreakers band mates, but would he consider eventually doing a reunion project or tour with the guys? In a recent interview with ABC Audio, the 72-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer admitted that he had mixed feelings about that.

“I go back and forth. I’m not really feeling it right now,” Campbell said. “I’m still grieving, and I still feel uncomfortable with the idea of getting all the guys in a room…and starting a song and Tom’s not there. I don’t know if I want to feel that grief at this moment.”

Mike also noted that he was busy with The Dirty Knobs now and he “wouldn’t want to distract from [that].”

Campbell added that he wouldn’t absolutely say “no” to some kind of reunion, “but right now it doesn’t look like it.”

He continued, “I don’t want to mess with the past…I’m really proud of our legacy, and I don’t want to cheapen it by going out with some…homogenized version of what it was. And without Tom, I don’t care who’s singing, it wouldn’t be the same.”

Campbell also pointed out that The Dirty Knobs have been honoring Petty by playing several of Tom’s songs at their concerts this year.

“[T]hat’s where I get that out of my system,” he maintained.

The Dirty Knobs’ upcoming 2022 tour schedule includes a bunch of headlining shows, some festivals, four gigs opening for Gov’t Mule in early October, and seven concerts in October and November supporting The Who.

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As The Rolling Stones prepare to wind down their current European tour leg next week comes word that some members of the rock legends’ touring band will team up for a series of special shows in late August in New York City paying tribute to late drummer Charlie Watts.

The concerts, dubbed “Celebrating Charlie Watts,” will take place at New York’s famed Blue Note Jazz Club on August 29, 30 and 31, with performances scheduled at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET.

The shows will feature Stones touring bassist Darryl Jones, backing singer Bernard Fowler and sax player Tim Ries, along with accomplished jazz guitarist David Gilmore, keyboardist Gary Versace and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.

In addition, famed jazz trumpet player Gary Brecker will perform with the collective on August 29, while acclaimed jazz bassist John Patitucci will be on hand for the shows on August 30 and 31.

Tickets for the concerts can be purchased at TicketWeb.com.

The Rolling Stones have three dates left on the current leg of their SIXTY tour — July 27 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany; July 31 in Stockholm, Sweden; and August 3 in Berlin.

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Before Stranger Things, there was another pop culture phenomenon that helped introduce rock and alternative music to younger audiences. We’re, of course, talking about Twilight.

The soundtracks for the hit vampire romance franchise, which helped launch the careers of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, became an unlikely haven for alternative artists in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The first film’s soundtrack, released in 2008, featured Muse, Linkin Park, Paramore and Perry Farrell as well as the Collective Soul song “Tremble for My Beloved.”

Speaking with ABC Audio, Collective Soul frontman Ed Roland said he and his bandmates had “no concept” at the time of what Twilight was or what it would become.

“We started hearing about it, it wasn’t a book that I read,” Roland recalls. “I saw the movie, of course.”

While many of the songs on the Twilight soundtrack had been recently released or were recorded specifically for the film, “Tremble for My Beloved” was nine years old at that point, having originally appeared on Collective Soul’s 1999 album, Dosage. That Twilight was able to give “Tremble for My Beloved” a second life nearly a decade later, Roland thinks, was a “blessing.”

“It was really cool that…you could something that’s dated 10 years back but still could relate to teenagers at that time, and someone thought it cool enough to put in the movie,” Roland says.

Collective Soul will release a new album, Vibrating, on August 12. It includes the single “All Our Pieces.”

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Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Encore, the companion weekend to the Pearl Jam frontman’s Ohana Festival, has been canceled.

No official announcement was made, but the Ohana website no longer lists the Encore event. Additionally, the festival’s FAQ section states that those who purchased tickets to Ohana Encore will be automatically refunded.

According to Spin.com, ticketholders received an email saying that Ohana Encore was canceled due to “circumstances beyond our control.”

Ohana Encore was set to take place October 8-9 in Dana Point, California, with performances by Vedder, The Black Keys, Alanis Morissette and HAIM. Ohana Festival, meanwhile, will be held in Dana Point from September 30 to October 2 with headliners Vedder, Jack White, Stevie Nicks and Pink.

Meanwhile, Pearl Jam has been dealing with a host of cancellations as Vedder recovers from vocal issues stemming from a Paris performance besieged by the European heat wave.

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Green Day is teasing something.

In a tweet Monday, the punk rockers shared an image of the American Idiot heart grenade surrounded by a nearly whole circle. 

While fans in the comments are hoping that the mysterious post is hinting at new music, it seems to be teasing an announcement for an intimate Lollapalooza aftershow around Green Day’s upcoming headlining set at the Chicago festival.

The same image was also tweeted by Lolla, while the Chicago club Metro tweeted, “Now might be a good time to be signed up for the Metro newsletter…Just sayin.” The Metro logo also features the same almost-circle in Green Day’s post.

Lollapalooza takes place July 28-31, with Green Day scheduled to headline the final day. The lineup also includes Metallica, Machine Gun Kelly, Måneskin, Porno for Pyros, Glass Animals, Turnstile and Wallows.

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Joni Mitchell thrilled fans at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday when she made a surprise appearance at the event, marking her first performance at the fest since 1969.

Mitchell, who has rarely performed in public since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, was the guest of honor at “Joni Jam” — a Brandi Carlile-led event that featured accompaniment and guest appearances from a variety of musicians and singers, including Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons, Dawes‘ Taylor Goldsmith, Lucius, Allison Russell and Shooter Jennings.

Sitting in a plush throne-like chair, Mitchell sang along with Brandi for most of the 13-song set and delivered lead vocals on several songs, including her classics “Both Sides Now” and “The Circle Game.” Joni even played some guitar during a rendition of her 1974 tune “Just Like a Train.”

The last time Mitchell performed a full set of songs was in 2000. Her official website has gathered together links to fan-shot videos of all 13 performances.

In related news, Paul Simon also made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival over the weekend. On Saturday, July 23, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats curated a set of Simon’s songs that featured various guest performers, including Paul, who joined in for the last four songs — “Graceland,” “American Tune,” “The Boxer” and “The Sound of Silence.”

“What an absolute pleasure to work with Nathaniel Rateliff and his incredible band,” Simon wrote on his Facebook page Sunday. “[Nathaniel’s] curation of my music and all of the artists he selected to participate was overwhelming.”

Here’s the full set list of Joni’s performance:

“Carey”
“Come In from the Cold”
“Help Me”
“A Case of You”
“Big Yellow Taxi”
“Just Like This Train”
“Why Do Fools Fall In Love”
“Amelia”
“Love Potion #9”
“Shine”
“Summertime”
“Both Sides Now”
“The Circle Game”

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Stevie Nicks has added a dozen headlining dates to her upcoming 2022 U.S. tour, which includes appearances at five festivals.

The newly announced shows run from a September 13 concert in Clarkston, Michigan through an October 28 performance in West Palm Beach, Florida. Nicks’ tour also will visit Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Stevie’s pal, singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, will open all 12 shows. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting this Friday, July 29 at 10 a.m. local time via LiveNation.com. Pre-sale tickets will be available starting Thursday, July 28 at 10 a.m. local time.

“Here we go!” Stevie says in a statement about the trek. “I’m so excited to be back on the road and can’t wait to see everyone.”

Nicks’ festival performances are scheduled for September 4 at Jazz Aspen Snowmass in Snowmass, Colorado; September 8 and September 10 at Ravinia in Highland Park, Illinois; September 17 at the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey; September 24 at Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Sound on Sound Festival; and September 30 at Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Fest in Dana Point, California.

For more information about Stevie’s tour schedule, visit StevieNicksOfficial.com.

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Pink Floyd has debuted an official video for the recently reworked version of the band’s 1994 song “A Great Day for Freedom,” which was released recently digitally and as the B-side of the physical version of the group’s new single, “Hey Hey Rise Up.”

The video, which you can watch at Pink Floyd’s official YouTube channel, features newly edited footage of the band performing during rehearsals for its two-week run of shows at Earl’s Court in London in 1994.

The updated recording of “A Great Day for Freedom” features David Gilmour’s original vocal, guitar and bass; Nick Mason‘s original drums; keyboards by Rick Wright and backing vocals by Sam Brown, Claudia Fontaine and Durga McBroom recorded during the ’94 Earl’s Court show rehearsals; and new keyboard tracks by Gilmour.

“A Great Day for Freedom” originally appeared on Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell. The song’s music was composed by Gilmour, with lyrics co-written by David and wife Polly Samson.

The tune reflects with uncertainty about the future of Eastern Europe following the Berlin Wall being torn down, and Gilmour felt the song served as a good companion for “Hey Hey Rise Up,” which was inspired by Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine.

As previously reported, the “Hey Hey Rise Up” single featuring the updated “A Great Day for Freedom” is available now in most countries on CD and as a seven-inch vinyl disc, but won’t be released in those formats in North America and Australia until October 21.

In other news, a 2018 remix of Pink Floyd’s “Dogs,” from the upcoming reissue the band’s 1977 album Animals, has been released as an advance track via digital formats and posted at the band’s YouTube channel. The Animals reissue is due out September 16.

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Pearl Jam has canceled another stop on the band’s European tour as frontman Eddie Vedder continues to recover from vocal issues he’s been dealing with over the past week.

As previously reported, Vedder’s throat was “damaged” during PJ’s performance at Lollapalooza Paris on July 17, where the band was exposed to “extreme” weather conditions caused by the historic heat wave in Europe. As a result, Pearl Jam scrapped shows in Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic.

On Sunday, PJ canceled a third show, the first of two scheduled concerts in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

“In spite of continuous medical treatment, Ed is regretfully still without a voice and unable to perform [Sunday’s] show at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam,” a statement from the band reads. “This is again the worst possible scenario for the band. We wholeheartedly apologize to all that worked so hard to put on the show and those supporters we looked forward to seeing.”

The “Even Flow” rockers add that “all of our energies will now be focused” on playing the second Amsterdam show, scheduled for Monday.

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If 17 new Red Hot Chili Peppers songs weren’t enough for you, then you only have to wait a few months to hear some more.

The “Under the Bridge” outfit has announced another new album to follow April’s Unlimited Love. The upcoming record is titled Return of the Dream Canteen and will arrive October 14.

In a statement, the Peppers describe how the writing and recording process for Unlimited Love, which marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante after he’d left the group in 2009, left them with “more songs than we knew what to do with.”

“Well we figured it out,” the Peps write. “[Two] double albums released back to back. The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed.”

“Return of the Dream Canteen is everything we are and ever dreamed of being,” they add. “It’s packed.”

You can preorder the album now.

Red Hot Chili Peppers just launched their U.S. tour in support of Unlimited Love over the weekend. The headlining outing, which features artists including HAIM, Beck, Thundercat, The Strokes and King Princess on the bill, stretches into September.

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