Rock

24 May 2023

Kiss Cancel Opening Date of Farewell U.K. Tour Due to ‘Logistical Problems’

KISS‘ farewell End of the Road tour has hit a snag. The greasepaint rockers were slated to kick off the U.K. portion of the outing on June 3 at Home Park Stadium in Plymouth, but on Tuesday the venue announced that the show has been canceled.

“Sadly, KISS and Robomagic, the show’s promoter, have today announced that they are having to cancel the opening night of the upcoming KISS UK tour,” read a statement from Home Park Stadium. “The show at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park Stadium on Saturday 3rd June now will not happen due to travel, equipment and logistical complications. Tickets can be refunded or exchanged for other UK shows.”

The statement also included comments from a Home Park Stadium spokesperson, who said, “We are really sorry to hear that Kiss can no longer perform at Home Park Stadium this summer.” At press time no additional information was available on the specific issues that caused the show’s cancellation and it did not appear that the band had commented on the scotched gig.

The band’s next scheduled show is at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH at the Sonic Temple Music Festival on Saturday (May 27), where they will share the bill with Rob Zombie, Falling in Reverse, Puscifer, Trivium, Rival Sons and more. Their UK tour will now feature five dates, kicking off with a June 5 show at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, followed by planned show in Newcastle, London, Manchester and Glasgow.

As the Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley-fronted veteran rockers wind down their touring machine they are preparing to revisit their early years in a biopic slated to air on Netflix next year. Longtime manager Doc McGhee said the movie will cover the group’s first four years together.

24 May 2023

The Dream Setlist for Foo Fighters’ 2023 Tour

Now more than a year removed from the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters return this summer with a heap of headlining festival gigs spanning four continents. Bonnaroo, Boston Calling and Riot Fest are all on the stateside docket, as are Japan’s Fuji Rock, Germany’s Rock AM Ring and a pair of monster performances in Brazil. 

The roadshow will feature Josh Freese, well-traveled session and touring vet (Weezer, Nine Inch Nails), on the kit, as the band confirmed during a streaming event Sunday. The schedule kicks off Wednesday, May 24, in Gilford, New Hampshire. As Dave Grohl and company soldier on, celebrating one of the most successful rock careers of the last 30 years — plus the upcoming June 2 release of their bittersweet 11th album But Here We Are — it’s time to get nerdy with the Foos’ hit-filled catalog. 

Sure, there are the dozen or more raging standards every fan expects at a Foo Fighters show, but what about the rest of the rather prolific songbook — the stuff that holds up but doesn’t always make it to stage? And of course, as the band has consistently dropped worthy records since its debut in ‘95, there’s value in the newer cuts, too.

With all of this taken into consideration, we’ve devised what would make for the most epic Foo Fighters concert that could possibly exist in 2023, showcasing where they’ve been, who they are and where they’re going. This crop of tunes caters to fans both casual and deeply committed and delivers some deserved surprises. 

While this list of 24 songs may run a bit longer than the average Foo Fighters festival set — we’d clock this in between two and two-and-a-half hours — few bands are better at blasting past their sky-high expectations. Also, it’s our dream set and we do what we want. Let’s break it down!

23 May 2023

Metallica Singer James Hetfield Visits Wounded Ukrainian Soldiers in Hospital

In the midst of a week off from Metallica‘s recently launched European leg of their M72 world tour, singer/guitarist James Hetfield took some time to visit an injured Ukrainian soldier who is receiving treatment at Vail Health Hospital in the singer’s Colorado hometown. As reported by the Vail Daily, Ukrainian serviceman Roman Denysiuk was brought to the Vail Valley for treatment through the local non-profit Limbs For Liberty on May 11 after a fall from his wheelchair that resulted in him re-fracturing his femur and necessitating surgery to repair the leg.

During his recovery, Limbs For Liberty co-founder Kelli Rohrig visited Denysiuk and while getting out of her car she ran into Hetfield in the parking lot. Rohrig described Denysiuk’s situation to the singer and asked if he had time to visit the soldier. Hetfield said yes and reportedly met with Denysiuk and another Ukrainian patient, Igor Voinyi.

“Metallica’s songs are very popular in Ukraine,” said the men’s translator, Olga Milinan. “Growing up, we all listened to them and dreamed of seeing them.” The paper also noted that when the men were asked if they were familiar with Metallica, they rolled their eyes assured her, “Yes, of course.”

“It was unexpected,” Voinyi told the paper. “I didn’t even believe it at the first moment that it was him. It was very short, but it was a very warm meeting. It would be nice to meet him at a campfire and have a drink, instead of the hospital.”

Milinan said that during the pop-in Hetfield “wished the men luck and get better soon.” Hetfield reportedly appreciated the opportunity, leaving a sticky note on Rohrig’s car that read, “You made my day.” Just month after the year-plus beginning of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, Metallica donated $500,000 to World Central Kitchen through their All Within My Hands charitable foundation to help feed Ukrainian refugees. Limbs For Liberty works with doctors and physical therapists to create prosthetics for Ukrainians who’ve lost limbs in war.

Metallica will hit the road again on Friday (May 26) with a show at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany.

Check out a picture from the visit below.

22 May 2023

Def Leppard Drummer Rick Allen Describes Being ‘Totally Blindsided’ By Florida Assault

Three months after a shocking physical attack following a Def Leppard show in Florida, the band’s drummer, Rick Allen, has finally spoken out about the bizarre incident. In an interview with Good Morning America, Allen, 59, said he was “totally blindsided” by the alleged attack by 19-year-old Ohio resident Max Hartley.

“I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this [flash] and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground,” Allen told GMA. “I landed on my backside… hit my head on the pavement.” Afraid he’d be attack again after being pushed down, Allen — who lost his left arm after a 1984 car crash — put up his right hand and told his alleged attacker, “I am no threat to you.”

“I don’t think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn’t a threat because, you know, I’ve only got one arm,” said Allen. Fort Lauderdale police arrested Hartley shortly after the alleged attack near the site of the assault outside the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale on March 13, which also allegedly included an assault on a woman who came to Allen’s aid. Hartley was later charged with two counts of battery and four of criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled adult; he pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

A police report at the time noted that Hartley hid behind a pillar outside the hotel entrance while Allen smoked and then allegedly rushed at the drummer at full speed and knocked him to the ground. The report said that Allen “hit his head on the ground causing injury” and that when a woman ran out to help Allen Hartley allegedly attacked her as well.

Hartley was arrested a short time later after police found him at another hotel allegedly breaking car windows.

Allen told GMA that he is coping by playing drums, specifically for the long-running band’s first show since the attack, an intimate gig Monday night (May 22) in Sheffield, England. “I know that I’m not going to be playing music in a band forever,” Allen told GMA. “But while I am, I plan on making as many people happy as I possibly can. And this is my time. This is my opportunity.”

22 May 2023

Smashed Kurt Cobain ‘Nevermind’-Era Guitar Sells For $600K

A classic piece of Kurt Cobain memorabilia went under the gavel this weekend at Julien’s Auctions and raked in huge bucks. The Fender Stratocaster signed by the late Nirvana singer and former bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic — which had been smashed to bits by the singer and reassembled — sold for nearly $600,000 after initially being listed for $60,000.

Julien’s said before the $595,000 sale that the instrument was splintered by Cobain on stage during Nirvana’s Nevermind album era and that it was put back together afterward, but was unplayable. In addition to the trio’s signatures, the guitar also has a message to pal Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan from Kurt that read, “Hell-o mark! Love, Your Pal, Kurdt Kobain/ Washed up rockstar.”

The black guitar’s neck plate featured an engraving reading “Boddah Lives,” in reference to Cobain’s imaginary childhood friend and came in a black hard case with the inscription “Abort Christ.” According to a description, Cobain gave the busted guitar to Lanegan in the fall of 1992 during the North American leg of the Nevermind tour. In describing its condition, Julien’s noted that it had been “smashed and reassembled” and that “aside from the broken neck there are many marks and signs of use and abuse including chunks of wood missing from the bottom rear of the body.”

That wasn’t the only high-ticket Nirvana item that went in the auction. A bidder also paid big bucks for a setlist from the band’s April 17, 1991 show at the OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington, which sold for $50,800, from the show that featured the live debut of their soon-to-be-iconic breakthrough hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which was released in November of that year.

Last May the iconic left-handed 1969 Fender Mustang guitar played by Cobain in the 1991 video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” sold for $4.5 million.

See a picture of the guitar below.

22 May 2023

Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Dons Fake Breasts, Lipstick at Florida Festival in Defiance of Ron DeSantis Anti-Drag Bill

Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan is not afraid to make a bold statement on stage. And at the Welcome to Rockville Festival on Sunday night (May 21) in Daytona Beach, Florida, the singer who often dons elaborate costumes during his band’s sets slipped into something that seemed aimed at making Florida Gov. and likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis feel uncomfortable.

During Tool’s first show of 2023, Keenan took the stage in a blonde wig, smeared red lipstick and a body-hugging shirt that showed off his fake breasts. The outfit appeared to be a reaction to a controversial bill signed by DeSantis last week, one of which bars minors from attending drag shows, as well as measures that severely restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools and ban gender-affirming care for minors.

As noted in Consequence — which posted a series of photos of Keenan — because Welcome to Rockville was an all-ages festival, the singer was, technically, in violation of the new law.

Keenan isn’t the first artist to mount a public protest against the latest bill from a conservative lawmaker looking to make headlines with legislation based on hot-button culture war issues. Husband-and-wife team Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick danced around the living room to Taylor Swift’s “Karma” last month while wearing shirts that read “drag is an art and drag is a right” over the image of a drag performer in protest against a Tennessee anti-drag law.

Reba McEntire has also spoken out against the Tennessee law, while Cyndi Lauper and the B-52s made statements in March against what the group called were bills that promote “transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists.”

Check out images of Keenan below.

21 May 2023

Foo Fighters Introduce New Drummer Josh Freese During ‘Preparing Music for Concerts’ Livestream

After months of speculation and radio silence, the Foo Fighters introduced their new drummer on Sunday (May 21) during the “Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts” livestream event.

The intimate studio show, presented in black and white, previewing the veteran group’s upcoming 11th studio album, But Here We Are (June 2), featured the live debut of Josh Freese, who is stepping into the formidable shoes of late Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins; the band’s time-keeper died at age 50 of undisclosed causes in March 2022 while on tour in South America.

Freese, a veteran studio/touring drummer, has played with acts including Guns N’ Roses, A Perfect Circle, and Nine Inch Nails. He was revealed as the drummer during the livestream after comedic cameos by Flea, Tommy Lee and Danny Carey of Tool.

Hawkins joined the Foos in 1997, taking over from the band’s first drummer, Sunny Day Real Estate’s William Goldsmith, who originally had the unenviable task of playing drums for the group fronted by Dave Grohl, one of rock’s most formidable bashers. Goldsmith’s tenure lasted from 1995 to 1997.

Just as Grohl’s drum stool was nearly impossible to take over thanks to the former Nirvana drummer’s formidable, crashing style, Freese will have a monumental task ahead following Hawkins, a beloved, blissful beat machine whose smile, good cheer and California cool became an enduring part of the Foos’ live appeal.

The livestream concert was the band’s first full set since a pair of Hawkins tribute concerts that took place in London and Los Angeles last fall. Those gigs feature a rotating group of drummers sitting in with the Foos, including Hawkins’ teenage son, Shane, Blink-182’s Travis Barker, tween viral sensation Nandi Bushell, The Darkness’ Rufus Taylor, Omar Hakim, Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk, Weezer drummer Pat Wilson, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, the Police’s Stewart Copeland and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith.

Prior to Sunday’s show, both Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron and the Darkness’ Taylor had publicly denied they were in the running for the FF drum seat amid unconfirmed reports that Freese — whose long resume includes stints performing with Guns N’ Roses, Devo, Nine Inch Nails, the Vandals, Sting, A Perfect Circle, the Replacements and Paramore, among others — would be taking over.

Last week, the band dropped “Under You,” the second single from the upcoming album, and Brooklyn-based graphic arts studio Morning Breath Inc. revealed the stark white-on-white package design for But Here We Are, which is dedicated to Hawkins and Grohl’s late mother, Virginia, who also died in 2022.

With the livestream under their belts, the Foos are slated to make their road return on Wednesday (May 24) at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H. They have a very full summer planned, including more than a dozen festival appearances at Boston Calling, Sonic Temple, Rock Am Ring, Bonnaroo, Ottawa Bluesfest, Harley-Davidson Homecoming, Fuji Rock, Wildlands, Outside Lands, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, Riot Fest, Sea.Hear.Now, Louder Than Life, Ohana and ACL, as well as a number of North American and international headlining dates.

19 May 2023

Foo Fighters Return to No. 1 on Alternative Airplay Chart With ‘Rescued’

For the 11th time in their lengthy career – and the first time since early 2015 – Foo Fighters are No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. “Rescued,” the band’s latest single, lifts from No. 2 to No. 1 on the ranking dated May 27.

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The Dave Grohl-led rockers first ruled Alternative Airplay with one-week leader “Learn to Fly” in November 1999 and had last led with “Something From Nothing” for eight weeks beginning in December 2014. In between “Something From Nothing” and “Rescued,” Foo Fighters scored seven top 10s, charting highest with the No. 5-peaking “Congregation” in May 2015.

“Rescued” previously became Foo Fighters’ record 29th Alternative Airplay top 10.

The band first reached Alternative Airplay with the No. 2-peaking “This Is a Call” (August 1995) and prior to “Rescued” had last appeared with “Love Dies Young” (No. 6, March 2022).

With 11 No. 1s, the band moves into sole possession of the fourth-most rulers since Alternative Airplay began in 1988. Red Hot Chili Peppers lead all acts with 15.

Most No. 1s, Alternative Airplay:
15, Red Hot Chili Peppers
12, Green Day
12, Linkin Park
11, Foo Fighters
10, Cage the Elephant
10, twenty one pilots
8, U2
8, Weezer
7, Imagine Dragons

A week earlier, “Rescued” rose to No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay and all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay charts, with it retaining the top spot on the May 27 surveys. The song accumulated 10.4 million audience impressions, up 5%, May 12-18 on the latter chart’s reporting panel, according to Luminate.

Concurrently Rock & Alternative Airplay, the band’s latest release, “Under You,” debuts at No. 48 with 683,000 impressions following its release on May 17.

On the most recently published, May 20-dated multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs tally, “Rescued” ranked at No. 4, with 810,000 official U.S. streams in addition to its radio airplay.

“Rescued” is the lead single from But Here We Are, Foo Fighters’ 11th studio album and first since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, due June 2.

All May 27-dated Billboard charts will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, May 23.

19 May 2023

Morrissey Pens Warm Tribute to Smiths Bassist Andy Rourke: ‘He Didn’t Ever Know His Own Power’

Despite tensions caused by a royalties battle that for a period split the former members of The Smiths into two warring camps, the band’s singer, Morrissey, penned a predictably lyrical, poetic tribute to the band’s late bassist, Andy Rourke. In a message posted on his official site on Friday (May 19) entitled “Beam of Light,” the legendarily misanthropic singer praised Rourke while pointedly bypassing what he called the “usual blandishments.”

In the wake of Royce’s death at 59 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, Morrissey said, “Sometimes one of the most radical things you can do is to speak clearly. When someone dies, out come the usual blandishments… as if their death is there to be used. I’m not prepared to do this with Andy.”

Morrissey, never one to dwell on sappy sentiment or empty words, said he hoped that “wherever Andy has gone… that he’s OK. He will never die as long as his music is heard. He didn’t ever know his own power, and nothing that he played had been played by someone else. His distinction was so terrific and unconventional and he proved it could be done. He was also very, very funny and very happy, and post-Smiths, he kept a steady identity — never any manufactured moves.”

The note ended with a final olive branch couched in loving words. “I suppose, at the end of it all, we hope to feel that we were valued. Andy need not worry about that.”

The latter was especially poignant given the nasty 1989 royalties dispute that pitted Morrissey and Marr against Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, during which Morrissey said of the latter two that they were “lucky… if they’d had another singer they’d never have got further than Salford shopping centre.”

Despite the acrimony — Rourke confirmed in an 2017 interview that Morrissey fired him from the Smiths by leaving a postcard on his car — Rourke toured with Morrissey on the singer’s solo outing following the band’s 1987 split and played bass on a number of Moz’s songs, including “Interesting Drug,” “The Last of the Famous International Playboys,” “November Spawned a Monster” and “Picadilly Palare,” as well as composing the music for a handful of others.

19 May 2023

Jimmy Buffett Cancels Show Due to Undisclosed Medical ‘Issues That Needed Immediate Attention’

Jimmy Buffett canceled his planned concert in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday (May 20) with his Coral Reefer Band after telling fans on Thursday (May 18) that he is dealing with some undisclosed health issues.

In a Facebook message to his Parrothead nation, Buffett, 76, said the show at Credit One Stadium would be rescheduled with all tickets honored for the new date, writing, “These few words from Mark Twain about life changes, seemed perfect to pass on at this time. ‘Challenges,’ he said, ‘make life interesting, however overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.’ I had a sudden change of plans this week that affected us all.”

Specifically, Buffett said that earlier this week, he returned from a trip to the Bahamas and was “thawing out” from his California winter tour, “chomping at the bit to get to Charleston.” During a stop in Boston for a check-up, Buffett said he wound up “back in the hospital to address some issues that needed immediate attention.”

Buffett did not disclose the ailment, the treatment he received or his prognosis, but continued with some well-worn advice for seafarers and land-lubbers alike. “Growing old is not for sissies, I promise you,” he wrote. “I also will promise you that when I am well enough to perform, that is what I’ll be doing in the land of She-Crab soup.”

The billionaire musician/entrepreneur postponed or canceled his five remaining 2022 tour dates in Sept. of last year due to an unspecified medical issues that required a brief hospitalization.

See Buffett’s post below.