Classic Rock News

Neil Young kicked off his two-night stand at The Roxy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, treating the intimate audience to performances of two complete albums.

According to setlist.fm, Young and his pre-Crazy Horse band, Santa Monica Flyers, kicked off the show by playing the 1973 album Tonight’s The Night in its entirety, followed by his 1969 release, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

Young classics performed during the show include “Cinnamon Girl” and “Down By The River,” with the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere deep cut “Round and Round (It Won’t Be Long)” being played live for the first time. 

The two concerts are part of The Roxy’s 50th anniversary celebration and will benefit The Painted Turtle, a camp for children with serious medical conditions, and The Bridge School, which educates children who have severe speech and physical impairments. Young performed for the venue’s opening 50 years ago.

Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers play The Roxy again on Thursday, September 21.

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As the saying goes, “One is random, two is a coincidence, three times is a trend,” so welcome to the Phil Collins trend.

Specifically, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s debut solo single, “In The Air Tonight,” is suddenly everywhere. First, Sean “Diddy” Combs sampled the iconic drum break from the song on his new single, “Another One of Me,” which features The Weeknd.

Next, country star Chris Stapleton, rap icon Snoop Dogg and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana teamed up to record a new version of “In the Air Tonight,” which is being used as ESPN’s new Monday Night Football theme.

And now, country/pop crossover star Kane Brown has released a new song called “I Can Feel It,” which also interpolates the “In The Air Tonight” drum break. Kane has also given Phil a writing credit on the song, telling Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, “It’s a legendary drum fill and it’s a legendary song. There’s no way I could not do that … Phil could have said no, so I’m glad that he let me use the song.”

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Winger is set to release a new box set featuring all the albums they recorded during their time with Atlantic Records. 

Chapter One: Atlantic Years 1988-1993, dropping November 17 on both CD and vinyl, will include their 1988 self-titled debut, 1990’s In The Heart of the Young and 1993’s Pull. There will also be a fourth album, Demo Anthology, featuring original demos of Winger’s biggest hits, including “Seventeen,” “Headed for a Heartbreak” and more. 

“I’m very proud of this box set,” frontman Kip Winger shares. “It captures an unforgettable era for the band and these are the only remasters I officially endorse.”

Winger Chapter One: Atlantic Years 1988-1993 is available for preorder now.

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When it comes to the subject of artificial intelligence, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic‘s feels that if it’s good enough for The Beatles, it’s good enough for him.

In an interview with NME, Novoselic was asked if he’d be open to using AI to complete any unfinished Nirvana recordings that might possibly exist, akin to the upcoming “last Beatles record,” which used AI to “extricate” the late John Lennon‘s voice from an old demo.

“That’s a good idea!” Novoselic replies. “I’m going to bring that up with Dave [Grohl] and Pat [Smear]!”

“I can hardly wait to hear a new Beatles song,” he adds. “Come on, it’s The Beatles! I want to hear a new Beatles song! And if AI helps it, then absolutely — that’s the way it is today.”

As for whether there’s actually any existing leftover Nirvana material that could be finished with AI, Novoselic isn’t sure.

“We’ve got the start talking about this,” he says. “That’s a good idea. There could be. There’s a point where it’s like, ‘Is this Nirvana on AI?’ There’s a lot of that stuff already on YouTube, and that’s a debate that’s going to have to be settled when it comes to copyright and disinformation.”

Novoselic also notes that, of course, late frontman Kurt Cobain is “not here in the present” to give his input.

“Everything has got to be done right,” he says.

By the way, AI’s already been used on the live recordings included in Nirvana’s upcoming 30th anniversary In Utero reissue, due out October 27.

“We took the digital audio tapes from the soundboard in Rome, Seattle and Los Angeles, then the AI can separate all the instruments and we got a really good mix out of it,” Novoselic shares.

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Ringo Starr took a little tumble onstage during a concert in New Mexico on Wednesday.

Video posted by TMZ shows The Beatles legend walking up some stairs to return to the stage; as he heads toward his microphone, he trips, hitting the stage hard. 

The rocker’s band was in the middle of singing “Give Peace A Chance” at the time of the fall, and he got back on his feet to join his bandmates on the chorus. He joked, “I fell over just to tell you that,” referring to the song’s classic refrain.

Ringo and His All-Starr Band, made up of Toto‘s Steve Lukather, Men at Work‘s Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette, next play Kansas City, Missouri, on September 22. A complete list of dates can be found at ringostarr.com.

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U2 guitarist The Edge is doing what he can to help musicians who lost their instruments in the Maui wildfires this summer.

The rocker’s charitable organization, Music Rising, which he founded with producer Bob Ezrin after Hurricane Katrina, has launched Music Rising Lahaina, which is offering replacement instruments and equipment to musicians who lost their belongings in the August fires. They’re also offering financial assistance to musicians in need.

Additionally, the organization is donating proceeds from any Music Rising merchandise sold from now until November 2023 to the Music Rising Lahaina effort. Applications for assistance are now open at musicrisinglahaina.org.

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Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is going solo again. The rocker announced he’ll drop his new solo album The Mandrake Project next year, marking his seventh solo release and his first since 2005’s Tyranny of Souls.

Dickinson is already planning to take his new project on the road, announcing dates in Mexico and Brazil, starting April 18, 2024, in Guadalajara, Mexico, and wrapping May 4, 2024, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“This album has been a very personal journey for me and I am extremely proud of it,” Dickinson shares. “I’m even more excited at the prospect of getting out on the road with this amazing band that we have put together, to be able to bring it to life.”

He adds, “As for what The Mandrake Project actually is… all will be revealed soon!”

A complete list of Dickinson dates can be found at themandrakeproject.com.

In the meantime, Iron Maiden is gearing up to play Power Trip, happening October 6-8 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Maiden is set to play opening night with Guns N’ Roses. The rest of the lineup includes Metallica, AC/DC, Judas Priest and Tool.

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Roger Waters is giving fans yet another preview of his upcoming album, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, which has him reimagining Pink Floyd’s classic album.

The rocker just dropped “Speak To Me,” with added spoken lyrics not featured in the original, as well as “Breathe.”

You can listen to both songs now via digital outlets and on YouTube.

The tracks are the third and fourth songs Waters has shared from The Dark Side of the Moon Redux following “Time” and “Money.”

The Dark Side of the Moon Redux will be released October 6 and is available for preorder now. It features Waters’ reworkings of all the tracks on the original Floyd album. A double LP edition of the release will also include a 13-minute bonus track, “Original Composition,” which was inspired by the rerecording. 

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On This Day, September 21, 1985…

Dire Straits hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Money for Nothing,” the band’s first and only chart topper. It spent three weeks in the top spot.

The song, written from the point of view of two working-class men, featured background vocals by The Police frontman Sting.

“Money for Nothing” was the second single from Dire Straits’ album Brothers in Arms. The song’s popularity was aided by its 3D animated video, which got regular play on MTV.  It went on to win Video of the Year, as well as Best Group Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

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Bonnie Raitt has once again been recognized for her single “Just Like That.” 

The track was named Song of the Year at the Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville on Wednesday, September 20, where she beat out the likes of Allison Russell and Brandi Carlile, Zach Bryan, Margo Price and Charley Crockett.

“Thank you to @americanafest, and congratulations to all of tonight’s winners including Bonnie’s ‘Just Like That’ for Song of the Year!” read a post on Raitt’s Instagram account. “Bonnie was so honored to stand alongside all the talented songwriters nominated this year and loved getting to perform and once again be a part of this wonderful celebration!”

This is the second big honor for “Just Like That,” which earlier this year took home the Grammy for Song of the Year.

Raitt performed the Just Like That… track “Made Up Mind” on the Americana Awards, which also featured tributes to two artist who passed this year. According to Variety, singer Logan Ledger performed “Come Monday” in honor of the late Jimmy Buffett, while the show ended with an all-star performance of The Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek,” in honor of the late Robbie Robertson.

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