Rock
Page: 47
On its second of four dates in Mexico City, Metallica surprised fans once more on Sunday (Sept. 22) by performing a cover of “La Negra Tomasa,” a reinterpretation by the band Caifanes of a song written by Cuban Guillermino Rodríguez that redefined the rock scene in Mexico during the 1980s
Two days after firing up the crowd with the Norteño classic “La Chona” by Los Tucanes de Tijuana, bassist Robert Trujillo — who is of Mexican descent — and guitarist Kirk Hammett once again delivered a powerful performance of a Latin song to a cheering audience of 65,000 people who packed the Estadio GNP Seguros, according to figures from promoter Ocesa. Trujillo took on the vocals for the Caifanes hit, originally performed by band leader Saúl Hernández and included in the Mexican band’s self-titled album of 1988.
On Sept. 20, Trujillo, accompanied by Hammett, paid tribute to his Mexican roots by performing the famous northern music song “La Chona,” a performance that was celebrated by the crowd that gathered at the stadium, where Metallica is offering four shows as part of its M72 World Tour. It’s the band’s first visit to the country after a seven-year absence.
Trending on Billboard
Metallica’s gesture was reciprocated by Los Tucanes de Tijuana with a message on their social media.
“Wow! What an honor, what great pride, and what a great gesture from the great group @metallica for having sung #LaChona live. Greetings, masters, we send you a big hug and a very special grouping to each and every one of you for making us feel even more proud of our Chona!” Los Tucanes wrote on Instagram. “We admire you very much and we loved that you sang La Chona at your show! Hopefully, we will soon have the honor and pleasure of meeting you personally!”
Metallica’s next shows at the Estadio GNP Seguros are scheduled for next Friday and Sunday (Sept. 27 and 29).
Metallica’s history with Mexico began three decades ago with the tour of its Black Album (1991), which included five dates at the Palacio de los Deportes in 1993. Since then, the band has maintained a very close relationship with the country, where it recorded the live DVD Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria (2009), which portrays three spectacular nights at the Foro Sol (today Estadio GNP Seguros) in June 2009.
Watch Metallica playing Caifanes’ “La Negra Tomasa” below.
The wait is over, almost. After months of teasing their recorded return, The Cure confirmed on Monday morning (Sept. 23) that their first new single in 16 years will drop on Thursda (Sept. 26). The band offered an 18-second preview of the song “Alone,” on which singer Robert Smith sings, “This is the end of […]
It was the Boss set you were kicking yourself for missing. After a world tour in which they largely hewed to a familiar set list, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band ripped up the playbook last weekend during their Sept. 15 headlining slot at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Springsteen’s old Asbury Park stomping grounds in his native New Jersey.
At his final scheduled show in the U.S. for now, Springsteen looked out at the huge crowd spread out along the beach and ripped off an instant-classic three-hour-plus show full of hometown stories and some of the beloved (and deep cut) tracks fans yearn for. Now, whether you were there and can’t stop thinking about it, or couldn’t make it, the whole set is available on CD and as a stream via nugs.net.
According to the show notes, the Sea.Hear set included the tour premieres of the songs “Blinded By the Light,” “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?,” “Thundercrack,” “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” and “Meeting Across the River,” as well as the returns of “Local Hero,” “Jungleland” and “Jersey Girl.” The set also marked the return of backup singer Patti Scialfa during “Tougher Than the Rest” after she’d sat out a number of shows over the past year while battling the blood cancer multiple myeloma; Scialfa revealed her diagnosis in the recent documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Trending on Billboard
Springsteen posted a video recap of the Sea. Hear set on his Instagram over the weekend with highlights from the triumphant gig.
In addition to the above, the set also included: “Hungry Heart,” “Racing in the Street,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” among others. The Sea.Hear set joins more than two dozen live album streams Nugs.net has available from the tour, including shows at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., as well as gigs in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, London, Stockholm, Helsinki and Barcelona, and many more.
Also, just in time for the sprint to the Nov. 5 presidential election, Springsteen released the 15-track live collection The Live Series: Songs of Conscience over the weekend. The collection of live performances recorded between 1981-2023 features songs that ask hard questions about where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going, including “This Land Is Your Land,” “The Promised Land,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On),” “Souls of the Departed,” “Long Walk Home,” “The Rising,” “Sun City” and “Last Man Standing,” among others.
Listen to Songs of Conscience here.
2024 has been a massive year for Fontaines D.C. In June they played a well-received set at Glastonbury and followed it up with another at Reading & Leeds Festival last month. Their fourth album Romance landed at No.2 on the Official Album Charts in the U.K. and was a critical smash.
Now, they’ve got the thumbs up from Elton John who has shared his love for the band in a new interview on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music.
Speaking to Fontaines D.C.’s frontman Grian Chatten, the icon was effusive with praise: “For me, you’re the best band out there at the moment,” he said when introducing his guest onto the show. You can watch the full clip below.
Trending on Billboard
“Having watched you at Glastonbury, having heard the new album, you’ve just grown every album,” John told Chatten. “You seem to have found your feet with this album in such a big way… it’s a brilliant record.”
John, who has used his Rocket Hour show to spotlight emerging talent, continued: “I think this album takes you – and I’ve been around for a long time – to a different level, and it’s going to stay around for a long, long time. But what’s more important about it: the music is really, really, really special. Congratulations on everything, Grian. It’s bloody wonderful.”
The praise is at odds with Liam Gallagher’s feelings on the band, who clapped back at the band following an interview where Fontaines said that the Oasis reunion didn’t excite them. ““F–k them little spunkbubbles I’ve seen better dressed ROADIES,” Gallagher wrote in one tweet. “They look like a sh-t EMF,”
The Irish band have released four albums, Dogrel (2019), A Hero’s Death (2022), Skinty Fia (2022) and Romance (2024), all of which landed in the Top 10 of the U.K. Album Charts and in their native Ireland. Romance, released in August, was their first on their new label home of XL Records, whose roster includes Radiohead, The Prodigy and more.
Fontaines were recently forced to cancel a handful of gigs in the US due to vocal injury to Chatten. The band pulled shows in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver this past weekend, and the tour is scheduled to resume in San Francisco tomorrow evening (September 24).
They’ll then head to Europe and the U.K. and Ireland for some of their biggest gigs to date in October and November. Perhaps John will be down the front…
Perry Farrell is taking a step back from music to “heal” following his violent outburst during a Jane’s Addiction concert.
On Saturday (Sept. 21), the 65-year-old singer’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, shared an update on her husband following his onstage altercation with guitarist Dave Navarro during the rock band’s concert in Boston on Sept. 13.
“As you know, Perry is the gentlest of souls. We are equally astonished at Perry’s physical outburst as you are – but you must know that Perry must had been pushed to his absolute limit.. to that end we apologize,” Etty Lau wrote on Instagram. “We are taking a bit of time to ourselves, to reflect and to heal. Perry already has appointments with a otolaryngologist and a neurologist. If you know and love Perry well, you know there’s no need for me to address the other false narratives. Our souls know.”
A day after the onstage meltdown, Etty Lau attempted to provide context and background on what precipitated the incident.
Trending on Billboard
“Clearly there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members.. the magic that made the band so dynamic. Well, the dynamite was lit,” she wrote on Instagram. “Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band. Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the audience in the first row, started complaining up to Perry cussing at him that the band was planning too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it.”
Following the shocking incident, Navarro and Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery issued a joint statement apologizing to fans for the disturbing scene that led to the cancellation of the reunited lineup’s first tour in 14 years as well as the announcement of an indefinite hiatus.
“Due to a continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to discontinue the current US tour,” the trio wrote on Instagram.
Farrell also apologized to his bandmates in a statement first shared with Billboard.
“This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” Farrell said. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
In fan video of the moment, an agitated Farrell is seen lunging at Navarro and throwing a shoulder into his bandmate, then punching the shocked-looking guitarist in the chest before the men are separated and Farrell is dragged off stage.
See Etty Lau Farrell’s post on Instagram below.
Metallica gave its first concert in Mexico City in seven years on Friday (Sept. 20), and the band’s bassist, Robert Trujillo, took the opportunity to pay tribute to his Mexican roots by performing a peculiar song: “La Chona,” by famous corrido group Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“This is a great party,” Trujillo said in Spanish to the 65,000 people who packed the GNP Seguros Stadium, according to figures from promoter Ocesa. “It is an honor to be here with all of you, with the spirit of 72 Seasons. Kirk [Hammett] and I are going to play something for all of you. We are very nervous, so if you know this song, please help us by singing it.”
Immediately, they started playing the first chords of the classic by Los Tucanes de Tijuana, included in their 1995 album, Me Robaste El Corazón, which has transcended several generations in Mexico and the U.S.
Trending on Billboard
The long hair of Metallica’s fans swung to the northern rhythm, while Trujillo and Hammett, Metallica’s guitarist, swayed to the surprise and applause of much of the audience. The bassist, who on several occasions during the night wore a traditional mariachi hat, took charge of the vocals.
The moment was quickly trending on social media, where users celebrated the rock band’s gesture to its Mexican fans. “La Chona is national heritage and Metallica knows it,” wrote user @virian_avaa on her X account. “The most surreal thing, Metallica playing La Chona,” added user @Amackdiel. Both posted videos of the moment.
Metallica is giving four performances in Mexico City as part of its M72 World Tour, in support of their 2023 album 72 Seasons. The next shows at the GNP Seguros Stadium are scheduled for Sunday (Sept. 22), and Sept. 27 and 29.
Metallica’s history with Mexico began three decades ago with the tour of their Black Album (1991), which included five dates at the Palacio de los Deportes in 1993. Since then, the band has maintained a very close relationship with the country, where they recorded their live DVD Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria (2009), which portrays three spectacular nights at the Foro Sol (today GNP Seguros Stadium) in June 2009.
Metallica’s production team filmed the entire show on Friday and, according to the Mexican newspaper Reforma, next week it will make special shots at tourist spots such as Teotihuacán, the Historic Center, Chapultepec, Coyoacán, and San Ángel.
Watch Trujillo and Hammett play “La Chona” below.
Billboard Latin Music Week is returning to Miami Beach on Oct. 14-18, with confirmed superstars including Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz and Peso Pluma, among many others. For tickets and more details, visit BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com.
Hayley Williams didn’t hold back her feelings about Donald Trump at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival.
On Friday (Sept. 20), the Paramore singer took a moment during the rock band’s performance of “Big Man, Little Integrity” as Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena to make it crystal clear how she feels about the Republican presidential nominee, who is running against Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
“Project 2025 is Donald Trump’s playbook for controlling and punishing women, poor people, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community,” Williams said while looking into a camera that was livestreaming the event on Hulu. “It is time for all Americans to band together and finally defeat the Trump agenda. And the only way to do that is by confronting him at the polls. Do you want to live in the dictatorship? Well, show up and vote.”
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This isn’t the first time Williams has spoken out against Republican politicians over anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Last year, the “Ain’t It Fun” singer lashed out against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a performance at the Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City, N.J.
Trending on Billboard
“If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f—ing dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?” she told the crowd.
Earlier this year, Paramore also declined a Tennessee resolution honoring the group for its Grammy win after the state’s lawmakers blocked a similar resolution honoring Allison Russell.
“This week, Rep. Justin Jones put forth resolutions to honor my band, Paramore and another local-to-Nashville artist, Allison Russell, on our recent Grammy wins (as far as I can tell these resolutions have no legal weight to them. They’re like a big high five or when the whole restaurant joins in to sing you “Happy Birthday”),” Williams told The Tennesseean. “House Republicans only let the measure that acknowledged Paramore’s win pass. They blocked Allison’s.”
The Paramore singer added, “The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel. Myself, as well as Paramore, will continue to encourage young people to show up to vote with equality in mind.”
09/21/2024
The best and worst of the album that had George W. Bush’s ears burning.
09/21/2024
New York City has no shortage of cover bands, but few of them can boast surprise appearances from The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, Robert Randolph, The Roots’ Black Thought and Jimmy Fallon.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
It helps, of course, that the cover band in question is anchored by Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt (guitar, vocals), Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chad Smith (drums) of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and longtime Saturday Night Live Band fixture G.E. Smith (guitar), with Ivan Bodley (bass), Seneca Black (trumpet), Crispin Cioe (sax), Bob Funk (trombone), Charlotte Lawrence (vocals), Ben Stivers (keyboards) and Jared Tankel (baritone sax) rounding out the group.
The band’s nondescript name — Smith & Watt Steakhouse, the product of a jokey 10-second brainstorm – speaks to its casual, unambitious origin. When the Chili Peppers’ two-year Unlimited Love Tour wrapped up in July, Smith headed to the Hamptons to reenergize – but after a few weeks, he found himself getting restless in the sleepy seaside town. “I’m a musician – I love to play music,” he tells Billboard, sitting on a sunny balcony at the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan. “I don’t want to miss out.”
Trending on Billboard
The cavalry arrived when Watt, a frequent collaborator and close friend of Smith’s, found himself in the same area with a bit of free time. “We have this insane musical connection, and we love playing live together. We have this musical bromance,” Watt tells Billboard, seated next to Smith. “Naturally, we want to jam together.”
After pulling together a rock band of musical ringers and creating a setlist spanning their favorite artists (Prince, The Police, Sam & Dave, Fleetwood Mac, to name a few), Smith and Watt took the stage at Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, N.Y., on Aug. 20 and ripped through an all-covers set that had the Hamptons hot spot bumping.
“(The venue) is small — we broke it,” Smith says with a wide grin. “And then at the end of the night, this gentleman decides to come up on stage.”
Gentleman, while certainly accurate, is a bit of an undersell. Sir Paul McCartney, who had been watching the entire show side stage with his family, made a completely unscripted decision to hop up and join them on a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
“I actually whispered into his ear (after that song), ‘Go play drums and show them how much of a badass you are,’” recalls Watt, who has spent time in the studio with the rock icon. “He shrugged me off and goes, ‘I’ll tell you what. One more number. [singing] She was just seventeen!’”
Naturally, McCartney’s surprise performance of The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” at a 250-capacity venue made headlines and waves across social media – and sent more than a few folks into a FOMO spiral. When Watt was backstage at Pearl Jam’s Madison Square Garden show on Sept. 4 (he joined them onstage that night), tour promoter Peter Shapiro started griping about how sad he was to have missed that once-in-a-lifetime show. After chatting with the entrepreneur, whom Watt calls “a modern-day Bill Graham,” he decided to give Smith a call: “What are you doing Wednesday?”
For its second show, the Watt & Smith Steakhouse headed to Brooklyn Bowl – one of several venues owned by Shapiro — on Wednesday (Sept. 18). And while none of that night’s special guests can lay claim to British knighthood, it was an eclectic, hard-to-resist roster: A loose, all-smiles Chris Robinson shimmied in front of Smith’s drumkit while belting the Faces’ “Stay With Me”; Black Thought rapped Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and freestyled over the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog”; and Robert Randolph flexed his slide guitar mastery on Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” before leading the band through an impromptu, off-setlist “Purple Haze.” As for Jimmy Fallon’s full-throated take on the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues”? It might not place him in the same category of musical excellence, but there was something undeniably special about watching The Tonight Show host let it all hang out onstage just 20 minutes before turning 50. (FWIW, his vocals were a solid cut above what you’d hear at any given karaoke bar.)
Andrew Watt and Chris Robinson perform onstage with Smith & Watt Steakhouse at Brooklyn Bowl on Sept. 18, 2024 in New York City.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
“Watt & Smith Steakhouse rides again,” G.E. Smith quipped of the cover band’s Brooklyn Bowl gig. Depending on schedules, that ride could turn into a cross-country trek. When asked about future gigs for the Steakhouse, the RHCP drummer pauses. “Yeah. We’ll see what happens,” Smith says, firing up a fresh cigarette (fittingly, the lighter he uses is a piece of promo merch for Eddie Vedder’s 2022 solo album Earthling, which Smith played on and Watt produced).
“In our relationship, we like to eat,” Watt says. “The point of this band is: we’re going to come to some cities, play in your smallest club and go out to your nicest restaurant.”
Ultimately, the band (which continues Smith’s legacy of meaty side projects, from Chickenfoot to Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats) is an excuse for Smith, 62, and Watt, 33, to hang out, eat out and rock out.
“He’s my best friend in the entire world,” says Watt, who acknowledges that part of him will “forever” be the RHCP fanboy who snagged a post-concert pic with Smith as a teenager, years before the two became musical brethren.
“For me, he could be my son,” Smith says with a belly cackle. “There is an age difference.” (Case in point: the first show Smith attended on his own was KISS in 1975, one of the concerts immortalized on Alive!; Watt’s was none other than the Red Hot Chili Peppers with openers Queens of the Stone Age and the Mars Volta in 2003.) “But when it comes to us, especially our musical thing, we have very, very similar likes and tastes,” says Smith. “It’s such a lucky thing when that happens.”
Plus, Watt & Smith Steakhouse gives the former – who can wail like Roger Daltrey, sneer like David Bowie and growl like Gregg Allman – a chance to step out from behind the boards and up to the mic. “This guy is a performer and loves it,” Smith says. “You better go see the Steakhouse – you never know what’s on the menu.”
How do you take one of classic rock‘s most ominous tunes and make it somehow even more foreboding? Just ask Ice-T to give it a spin. The veteran rapper’s hard-rock side project, Body Count, released a radically made-over version of Pink Floyd‘s iconic tale of isolation and medically induced paralysis, “Comfortably Numb,” on Friday (Sept. 20), with new spoken word lyrics from Ice and backing vocals from Floyd singer/guitarist David Gilmour.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Body Count’s version of ‘Comfortably Numb’ is quite radical, but the words really struck me,” said Gilmour, 78, in a statement of the new take on one of the emotional centerpiece songs from Pink Floyd’s iconic concept album The Wall. “It astonishes me that a tune I wrote almost 50 years ago is back with this great new approach. They’ve made it relevant again. The initial contact from Ice-T was for permission to use the song, but I thought I might offer to play on it as well. I like the new lyrics, they’re talking about the world we’re living in now, which is quite scary. Ice-T and Body Count played in London recently, sadly I couldn’t make it, but if another opportunity came up to play with them, I’d jump at it.”
Trending on Billboard
Ice-T makes the song his own with a radical reworking in which the only remaining lyrical bits are the “Hello… is anybody out there?/ Can anybody hear me?” refrain sung by Gilmour. Instead, the MC talk-sings a new narrative about fearing for humanity’s future as well as chronicling the dual ravages of perpetual war and strife and time’s inexorable march toward death.
“We’re in perpetual war, and that’s the only law/ Can I change it? I doubt it/ So I write songs about it/ I was young once but now I’ve grown old/ Right in front of your еyes you’ve seen my life unfold,” Ice-T narrates in an ominous tone over screaming guitars and a funereal beat. “I had no choicе as I became the underdog’s voice/ A young black kid… look what the f–k I did!/ When I’m gone there’ll be someone to carry on/ We can give in, give up, or we can stay strong/ How accepting of the bullshit we’ve all become/ This whole world is… comfortably numb.”
The original song featured music by Gilmour and haunting lyrics by the guitarist’s estranged former bandmate, bassist/singer Roger Waters.
In a statement, Ice-T said, “For me ‘Comfortably Numb’ is an introspective song — it’s me acknowledging that I’m older now. I’m telling the younger generation, you’ve got two choices: you can keep the fire burning or you can give up. It’s me trying to make sense of what’s happening, but also pointing out that we’re all in a place where we don’t have to face reality. We’ve got flat-screen TVs and popcorn, and we can just sit back and watch the chaos of the world like it’s a TV show. It doesn’t feel real until it shows up at your door. I’m a little numb, too—we all are.”
The song will appear on Body Count’s upcoming studio album, Merciless, due out on Century Media Records on Nov. 22; the collection is the follow-up to the hardcore group’s Grammy-winning 2020 LP Carnivore.
Listen to Body Count and David Gilmour’s “Comfortably Numb” below.