Classic Rock News

Foo Fighters’ return to the stage continued Friday night as the band headlined Boston Calling, where they got some help from family.

Just like he did at their opening show in New Hampshire earlier in the week, the set included Dave Grohl performing “Cold Day in the Sun,” the In Your Honor track featuring their late drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals. According to Consequence, he told the crowd, “I tried to do it the other night, and I’m gonna try to do it again,” adding. “And I’m gonna do it for Taylor’s family, and I’m gonna do it for Taylor.”

And turns out Taylor’s family was at the show to witness it, with the band bringing out his son Shane Hawkins to get behind the drumkit for the classic tune “I’ll Stick Around.”

And Taylor’s son wasn’t the only Foo offspring at the show. Grohl’s daughter Violet Grohl came out to join the band on two songs, “Shame, Shame” and “Rope.” 

As for new drummer Josh Freese, he continues to prove he has the right sense of humor to be a member of the band. At the New Hampshire show he wore a T-shirt that read “Employee of the Month,” while at Boston Calling he donned a tee that read, “Fingers crossed for the new guy.”

Both the New Hampshire show and Boston Calling were the Foos’ first concerts since Hawkins’ death in March of 2022. Their next show is happening May 28 at the Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at foofighters.com.

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As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd recently held a special event that coincided with a rare solar eclipse. That event is now being turned into a documentary, and the band is giving fans their first peek at it.

The rockers just released a teaser trailer for Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon 50th Ningaloo Eclipse, which lets fans experience the once-in-a-lifetime event at a secluded beach at Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) Marine Park in Exmouth, Western Australia, in April. 

A handful of fans won a trip to the beach, where they listened to Dark Side in full — timed so that the closing line, “but the sun is eclipsed by the moon,” would play at the exact moment of the eclipse.

So far the documentary doesn’t have an exact release date, but it is expected to be out sometime in September.

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Lenny Kravitz has always been one of the more stylish rockers out there, but early on some friends questioned his style choices. 

Discussing a black skirt a former girlfriend made him when he was a teenager, Kravitz tells the latest issue of Highsnobiety, “My friends were like, ‘Your mom’s going to freak.’ We were all nervous.”

But it turns out there was no real need to worry. He says that his mother, The Jeffersons star Roxie Roker, looked him “up and down” and then gave him some advice, sharing, “If you’re gonna wear that skirt, you got to change them shoes.”

He adds, “One thing about my mother, she never judged anybody. She just loved.” 

Kravitz discusses how his background, being both Caribbean-American and Jewish-Ukrainian, helped influence his style. He shares, “Growing up between cultures and religions and types of people in my family, by virtue of me being multiracial … I grew up in the middle of all this beauty.”

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some regrets about his style choices. “It happens all the time,” although he says now he has more of a “who cares?” attitude about it.

“You’re not going to grow if everything’s perfect all the time,” he says.

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For many, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and in addition to fun things like the beach and barbecues, lots of people look forward to summer concerts. Well, according to a new StubHub report, some concerts are more popular than others this season. 

While Taylor Swift is the top In-Demand Global Artist of the summer based on sales, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s summer tour ranks high up there at #4, thanks to his 31 tour stops, which kick off August 9 and 10 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Metallica also lands in the top 10 at #8.

The ranking was determined by cumulative global ticket sales on StubHub and viagogo for concerts taking place between Memorial Day, May 29, and Labor Day, September 4.

Meanwhile, Dead & Company land at #2 on the Top Group Acts for summer list, with Metallica at #3 and Guns N’ Roses landing at #8.

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Asia is celebrating their reunion album Phoenix with a new reissue. BMG Music has just released a special double vinyl edition of the 2008 studio record, the first time it’s ever been available on vinyl.

Phoenix was released two years after the band’s four original members — John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes and Steve Howe — reunited for a 2006 sold-out world tour.

Phoenix was the first album with all four original members since Wetton’s departure in 1983, and the foursome reconvened for two more records after that, 2010’s Omega and 2012’s XXX, before Howe left to concentrate on his work with Yes.

The Phoenix double vinyl, which is available now, comes with an exclusive CD-sized art card, signed by Palmer and Downes, while supplies last.

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John Mellencamp doesn’t take kindly to loud concertgoers, at least not on his current Live and In Person tour. In fact, he almost cut his recent concert in Cleveland short because of one rude and loud member of the audience. 

According to the Cleveland Scene, signs posted in the Connor Palace lobby read “this show respects theater etiquette,” and at one point Mellencamp even told concertgoers, “I don’t like people screaming from the f***** audience.” But that didn’t stop one attendee. 

Mellencamp was saying something that the outlet suggested “could be construed as criticizing the U.S.” when one loud concertgoer screamed at him to “play the f****** music.” Well, Mellencamp didn’t like that.

“Listen, hey, you guys, if these people don’t shut the f*** up I’m just going to leave, OK?” Mellencamp told the crowd. “Because I’m not used to this crap. Look, guys, if I wanted to play in this type of drunken environment, I’d play outside or I’d play in an arena.”

The audience did eventually quiet down and the show went on, with Mellencamp treating the crowd to such classics as “Small Town,” “Pink Houses,” “Jack & Diane” “Hurts So Good” and more.

Mellencamp’s Live and In Person show is set for a second night in Cleveland on Friday, May 26, with shows confirmed through June. A complete schedule can be found at mellencamp.com.

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John Fogerty’s concerts usually include him performing his Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Proud Mary,” but the song took on special meaning at his concert in Manchester AO Arena Thursday night.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer took time out of his show to pay tribute to the late Tina Turner, who turned “Proud Mary” into a classic, projecting an image of him, Tina and his two sons on the screen behind him.

“I toured with Tina way back about the year 2000,” he says in fan-shot footage posted on YouTube. “Of course Tina recorded my song ‘Proud Mary’ way back about 1971 and it was a breakthrough song for her, also a signature song.”

He added, “I saw her like every week with that red dress on and Ike (Turner) had girls dancing in the background … she was amazing.”

He then dedicated the song to Tina, noting, “This is the first good song I ever wrote.”

Fogerty previously paid tribute to Turner on his Instagram account and recently shared that same picture, writing, “Beyond her immense talent, she was incredibly kind-hearted and gracious. Her warmth and genuine spirit touched the hearts of everyone she encountered. It was an absolute privilege to know such a kind soul.”

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Roger Waters is facing even more trouble because of his current This Is Not A Drill tour.

As previously reported, Waters has been getting backlash for his recent Berlin concert for the use of images of Anne Frank and a pig with a Star of David on it, as well as Waters dressing as what appeared to be an SS soldier. Well, now a report claims it’s sparked a police investigation.

Jewish News reports police in the German city have opened a criminal investigation into the concert, looking into “the suspicion of incitement of the people,” specifically with regard to the soldier uniform Waters wears in the show.

“The context of the clothing worn is deemed capable of approving, glorifying or justifying the violent and arbitrary rule of the Nazi regime in a manner that violates the dignity of the victims and thereby disrupts public peace,” Police Chief Inspector Martin Halweg says. “After the conclusion of the investigation, the case will be forwarded to the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office for legal assessment.” 

So far there hasn’t been a response from Waters. He’s due to bring his This Is Not A Drill tour to Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday, May 28. A complete list of dates can be found at rogerwaters.com.

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Stewart Copeland is dropping a new album of reworked classics from his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band The Police next month, and he’s just shared his new take on the 1979 Reggatta de Blanc hit “Message in a Bottle.”

Police Deranged for Orchestra is due out June 23, and this new version features vocals from Amy Keys, Carmel Helene and Ashley Tamar, although it doesn’t stray too far from the original.

“The form of this song is a diamond, impervious to my every effort of derangement,” Copeland explained on social media, “so this version follows the path of the original song, but I did have fun with spreading Andy’s (Summers) guitar part around the orchestra. Andy is, in fact, kind of a one-man orchestra.”

In addition to “Message in a Bottle,” Police Deranged includes new versions of such Police hits as “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” and “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” all arranged for a full orchestra. 

Police Deranged for Orchestra is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, May 26, 1967…

The Beatles released their classic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the U.K., with the U.S. release coming days later on June 2. 

The album, considered by many to be the greatest record of all time, featured such future Beatles classics as the title track, “A Day in the Life,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “When I’m 64” and more.

The album has sold over 32 million copies worldwide, and is one of the highest-selling albums of all time. It spent 15 weeks on top the Billboard album chart and spent 113 consecutive weeks in the Top 200.

Sgt. Pepper’s was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 2003 it was chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

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