Friday, March 29, 2013

Pink Floyd's Dark Side Album Inspires Play

The 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon album is to marked on BBC Radio 2 by an hour-long audio drama by Sir Tom Stoppard.

Dark Side, to air on August 26, will incorporate music from the album as part of its "fantastical and psychedelic" story.

Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell will be in a "stellar cast" headed by Misfits star Iwan Rheon and Amaka Okafor.

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour said he had found Sir Tom's script "fascinating."

"I can't think of a better way to celebrate The Dark Side of the Moon's 40-year anniversary," said the guitarist and vocalist.

According to the BBC, Floyd fan Sir Tom was first approached with the suggestion of writing a play based on the album in 1973.

The 75-year-old welcomed the suggestion but had "no idea" how to approach it until recently.

Jeff Smith, Radio 2's head of music, said the play would be a "dramatic examination" of the album's themes, "conflict, greed and madness" among them.

The Dark Side of the Moon has sold an estimated 50 million copies and was recently admitted into the US Library of Congress as part of its National Recording Registry.

Sir Tom's many stage plays include The Real Thing, Arcadia and the Hamlet-inspired Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

He shared an Oscar in 1999 for the screenplay he co-wrote for Shakespeare in Love and penned BBC Two's 2012 drama .
Parade's End

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Glastonbury 2013 Lineup Topped By Rolling Stones

One of the world's most prestigious music festivals, the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival, has been sold out for quite some time, but finally has an official 2013 lineup.

Confirming previous rumors, the Rolling Stones will be on hand for a rare festival presence, although they've oddly received second billing to the Arctic Monkeys on the Pyramid Stage on the official lineup poster.

Taking place near the Somerset village of Pilton, Glastonbury will run from June 28 to June 30. Other big names include Mumford & Sons, Elvis Costello, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Lumineers, Azealia Banks, Phoenix, and Vampire Weekend. For a complete lineup, click here.

According to the fest's official web site, additional "acts, stages, and attractions" will be announced in the future.

The legendary festival, which first ran in 1970, is often cited as a model for the modern music festivals of today.

Prior to taking last year off due to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the festival last ran in 2011, with U2, Coldplay, and Beyoncé headlining.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Paul McCartney Comments On Oasis, Yoko Ono

Paul McCartney has spoken out about Oasis comparing themselves to the Beatles, saying that he does not think any band can live up to the comparison.

Speaking about his influence on the Britpop era of music in the mid-1990s, McCartney told Q Magazine that he was happy to be referenced by a new generation of bands but he felt they were raising expectations to a point that could not be matched when comparing themselves to the Beatles.

"I'm actually kind of honored," he said. "They could be copying anyone – even when things happen like Oasis saying, 'We are then next Beatles'. But I also think, Listen lads you can't say that. And don't say that, because it's probably the kiss of death!"

Going on to cover the Gallagher's legendary bravado, McCartney added: "In Oasis' cases, I think it was coming from them. In others it's the record label or management and that's never a good idea: The poor band! Now go and do better than the Beatles did. Not an easy task."

Earlier this week, McCartney also spoke about Yoko Ono's presence in the studio during The Beatles' recording sessions, saying it infuriated the Fab Four.

The legend admitted things were tricky when John Lennon and Ono first met and it did frustrate the band at the time. He told Q Magazine: "Because we'd been such a tight-knit group, the fact that John was getting pretty serious about Yoko at that time, I can see now that he was enjoying his new-found freedom and getting excited by it.

"But when she turned up at the studio and sat in the middle of us, doing nothing I still admit now that we were all cheesed off. But looking back on it - [me and Yoko] have talked about this - I think she realizes it must have been a shock for us. But lots of things that went down were good for us, really. At the time though, we certainly did not think that."

Despite his comments, McCartney previously denied that she was responsible for splitting the band and instead placed more of the blame of the Beatles break-up on businessman Allen Klein, who succeeded manager Brian Epstein following his death in 1967.

McCartney also said that without the support of Ono, he believes Lennon would not have written songs such as "Imagine."

Ono has since thanked McCartney for finally putting the issue to rest and described him as a "brave man."



Monday, March 25, 2013

Legacy Recordings Preps Record Store Day Releases

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has announced the label's all-star line-up of 7" and 12" vinyl titles for Record Store Day 2013, celebrated at independent record stores worldwide on Saturday, April 20, 2013.

Legacy is offering limited edition and collectible releases from Aerosmith, Cypress Hill, Miles Davis, Dust, Jimi Hendrix, Taj Mahal, Mad Season, Shuggie Otis, Willie Nelson and Sly & the Family Stone. 

Legacy will also be releasing, as a double 12" vinyl set, the 20th anniversary edition of the groundbreaking No Alternative compilation.

Now in its sixth year, Record Store Day (RSD) is an annual day-long celebration of record store culture taking place on the third Saturday in April.  This past January, RSD announced the appointment of Jack White to the post of Record Store Day 2013 Ambassador.

Forty years after its its original release in January 1973, a special RSD 12" 180-gram audiophile vinyl LP edition of Aerosmith's classic double platinum debut album will be available in an individually numbered jacket. The album is newly remastered from the original source tapes and features the signature tracks, "Dream On," "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' The Dog."

RSD versions of Aerosmith's second album (Get Your Wings) and third album (Toys In The Attic) will also be available. 

Other RSD editions from Legacy include:

  • 7" vinyl single of Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe" b/w "Stone Free," individually numbered
 
  •  The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal - 1969-1973, two 12" 180-gram vinyl LPs in an individually numbered gatefold jacket with studio demos chronicling the early years of the American bluesman Taj Mahal
 
  • Special "green" 7" vinyl single of Willie Nelson's "Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die" (also celebrating the 4/20 record store date and Nelson's 80th birthday on April 30)
 
  • 10" vinyl release from Sly & the Family Stone featuring a previously unreleased live medley of "Music Lover/I Want To Take You Higher/Music Love" and the mono single master of "I Want To Take You Higher"

For more information, visit legacyrecordings.com.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Guitar Once Played By John Lennon, George Harrison Up For Auction

An electric guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison at the height of the Beatles' fame is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000 at auction in May, Julien's Auctions said on Thursday.

The VOX custom-built guitar, the centerpiece of a "Music Icons" auction, was played by the two late pop stars during the British band's "Magical Mystery Tour" period.

Harrison used it to practice the 1967 song "I Am the Walrus," while Lennon played the guitar the same year while recording a video session for "Hello, Goodbye." Both songs were included on the Magical Mystery Tour album.

Beverly Hills-based Julien's Auctions said the guitar was given as a gift in 1967 to Yanni "Magic Alex" Mardas, the electronics engineer for the band's Apple Records label.

Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien's Auctions, called the guitar "one of the most historical pieces of music memorabilia" ever offered by the auction house.

Other Beatles items for sale at the May 18 auction in New York include a copy of the band's 1963 debut album Please Please Me, signed by all four band members and which has an estimated price of between $30,000 and $50,000. A copy of Lennon's whimsical 1964 book of stories and drawings "In His Own Write" - also signed by the band - could fetch up to $30,000.

Costumes, personal effects and memorabilia from Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, the Grateful Dead, David Bowie and 1970s teen heartthrob David Cassidy are also up for sale.

The VOX guitar will go on display from April 16 to May 5 at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland, ahead of the New York auction.

Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in Los Angeles in 2001, leaving Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as the surviving members of the Fab Four.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Don Felder To Release Single Featuring Tommy Shaw Of Styx

Guitarist Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles, has joined forces with Styx singer and guitarist Tommy Shaw for “Wash Away,” the second single from from Felder's second solo album (and first since 1983), Road To Forever, released October 9, 2012 on Rocket Science Ventures. 

The song, which hit radio airwaves Monday, was co-written by Felder and Shaw, and features Shaw’s signature vocal sound.

Road to Forever debuted on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart at #27.  "Girls In Black," the album’s first single, reached the Top 30 on the Mediabase Rock chart.

“There were a couple of songs on the album, including ‘Wash Away,’ that I had built the track pretty much top to bottom and there was a couple of areas where I needed some lyrical help and I said, ‘I’ll just see if Tommy (Shaw) is in town,” Felder says of the collaboration. “I’ll just have him come over and listen to this and see if anything bounces off of him.’  He listened to it and loved it and we sat and wrote lyrics together that day for that song. And then he came back the next day and I said, ‘Well, you’ve got to sing some of these parts while you’re here,’ because he was getting ready to go back out on the road with Styx.  So we set up a mic in my studio and he sang some of the harmonies on a couple of songs, ‘Wash Away’ and ‘Heal Me.’”

Tommy Shaw adds: “The best songs to write are the ones that just roll out of you and you look back and wonder, ‘Where'd that come from?’  That's what it was like working with Don.  There was a natural chemistry there.”

Showtime recently premiered the two-part documentary, History of the Eagles, and Felder says he thought it was a bit incomplete.  "Overall I thought it was OK, but I didn't think it was really an accurate documentary...I thought a lot was omitted from the documentary.  There were a lot of things that weren't discussed, a lot of issues that aren't brought to the forefront.  It glorified (Don) Henley and (Glenn) Frey's work, giving very little credit to all the other people who had worked so hard on the recordings -- including Bernie (Leadon), Randy (Meisner), myself, the other things people brought to the table like (producer) Bill Szymczyk.  It was a large team of a lot of people working together to make it happen, and I don't think that's really reflected in there." 

As for the depiction of his dismissal in part two, Felder says he was surprised by "the anger that was displayed, and the bitterness, especially from Glenn.  It really left me taken aback that he was still so angry about all of that, and I couldn't understand why, to tell the truth.  I've been way past it for about 10 years now."

On a lighter note, he notes, “I'd forgotten how skinny I was, and I thought all of our hairstyles were...interesting, Henley with his 'fro and everything.  It was just fun to look back at those times."  And he is satisfied that the film captures the musical essence of the Eagles.  "Here's a huge rock 'n' roll band on stage with ripped jeans and plaid shirts, as far from the mega shows you see today as you can get," he says. "You look back and realize that what came across was nothing except five guys standing on stage, playing and singing songs. That's really what it was all about."

Felder continues to tour all over the U.S. to promote Road To Forever (dates to be announced shortly).  On April 13, he’ll be performing as part of a very special show with Stephen Stills and his wife Kristen.  Their “Light Up The Blues Concert – An Evening of Music to Benefit Autism Speaks” (the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization) will be held at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA along with Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN), Ryan Adams, Rickie Lee Jones, Lucinda Williams, Chris Stills and other surprise guests. 

The fundraiser emceed by Jack Black spotlights “Light It Up Blue,” Autism Speaks’ annual global awareness and fundraising campaign celebrated by the international Autism community during World Autism Awareness Day and throughout Autism Awareness Month in April. 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Stevie Nicks Talks 'In Your Dreams,' Fleetwood Mac At SXSW

From Billboard

Stevie Nicks was on hand at South By Southwest to screen In Your Dreams, the Dave Stewart-directed documentary about the making of her latest album of the same name, and to play a killer set with Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players. But you can never limit the always-engaged Nicks to just one or two things, so when she sat for one of SXSW’s celebrity interviews on Thursday at the Austin Convention Center, she had plenty to say. Here’s five things we learned during the nearly one-hour session:

She’s Still Devoted to Her Band: Nicks recalled that while she was making her first solo album, “Bella Donna,” the other members of Fleetwood Mac “were terrified that I would do that record and then quit. And I said to them, ‘You guys…’ I wanted to go around and hold each one of their hands and say, ‘Listen, loves, I am never going to leave you. I just need another vehicle. I have trunks of songs…that are never going to be heard. But it’s never going to beat Fleetwood Mac.' What I do is the Lear Jet; they’re the 738. I really did convince them I’m not going anywhere. ‘I love you guys and I love my band. I would never break up Fleetwood Mac, ever. I just take their vacations, that’s all.'”

The Mac Is Ready to Get Back (On The Road): “I’m in rehearsals with them now. We go from ‘Go Your Own Way’ to ‘Sara’ to ‘Never Going Back…’ to ‘Landslide.’ This time we’re actually doing ‘Sister of the Moon,’ which we haven’t done since 1979 or 1980. And it’s dark; (sings) ‘Intense silence as you walk in the room,’ and people are like, ‘What does that mean?’ That’s me talking to me, talking to my alter ego and the person that’s having a hard time being a rock star…Twenty-four songs is what we’re doing. I’m sitting there looking at the board going, ‘Oh my God, we’re only halfway through. We have 12 songs to go and we’ve been playing for six hours!’"

Tom Petty’s Ex-Wife Gets an Assist on “Edge Of 17:"
“I asked his wife when she met him – his first wife, Jane – and she said in her very Florida, swamp accent, ‘I met him about the age of 17,’ and I thought she said ‘the edge of 17,’ but she said it’s the age of 17. And I went like, ‘Oh Jane, that’s fantastic,’ and I just wrote it right down. And I told her I was going to use that in a song and she said, ’Oh, that’s fantastic. Go write a hit.’ I was really good friends with her, so she dug it.”

She Has a New Song in the Works: “I just saw a movie I was going to write a song about that I was inspired by in a very strange way – ‘Anna Karenina.’ I’m watching this movie and I’m really riveted by the fact that she was happy in her marriage and it was fun…and then she meets this mom who asks her, ‘Have you ever really been in love?’ What a question! And she’s like, ‘What is love, really?’ and thinks about it. Then she meets her son and it happens. I never jumped in front of a train, but what obsessive love can do to people, I’ve seen it in my own life and I saw it in that movie and it really affected me. I’ve been there and I don’t want to be there again. So now I’m just walking around with this in my head, and I’m so ready to go to the grand piano with white candles and (write)."

We’ll Have Her to Kick Around for Many Years to Come:
Since finding a vocal coach in 1997, Nicks said she’s in good enough shape to last a lifetime. “Opera singers plan to sing into their 80s. I plan to not be doing 190 shows when I’m 85, but I do plan to be out there singing when I am a seriously older woman, ‘cause I think my voice will still be pretty good because I’m not gonna let it go. The people that can’t sing anymore that had great voices are people that went away for five years and just decided to come back. You can’t just come back. You have to keep singing – or dancing."

Friday, March 15, 2013

Dave Grohl's Sound City Players Rock SWSX

On Thursday night, hours after delivering SXSW's keynote speech at the Austin Convention Center, Dave Grohl and a handful of his famous friends took over Stubb's for what he described as the final performance by the Sound City Players. It's the band he put together in connection with his documentary Sound City, which recounts the tale of the grungy Van Nuys recording studio where Grohl's old band Nirvana, among many other acts, made some of its most well-known music. And on Thursday it spent nearly three and a half hours reanimating a number of rock's biggest hits.

"It's my life's greatest gift that I get to call up these people who I consider heroes and have them come onstage and jam with me," Grohl said.

Among those heroes was Stevie Nicks, who sang tunes including "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Landslide" and (a very dreamy) "Dreams." She also did "You Can't Fix This," a strong new song from the "Sound City" soundtrack. But Nicks was best in a muscular rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman," for which she went into her signature whirling-dervish mode, arms outstretched, long blond hair whipping around her.

John Fogerty also turned up at Stubb's, leading the Sound City Players through rollicking versions of "Travelin' Band," "Born on the Bayou," "Bad Moon Rising" and more. For "Fortunate Son" he and Grohl traded lead vocals as the band (which included members of Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Rage Against the Machine) bore down on the song's bitter groove.

Rick Springfield sang compact early-1980s pop-rock hits such as "Jessie's Girl" and "I've Done Everything for You," while Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick played guitar for that band's "I Want You to Want Me" and "Surrender."

And Lee Ving of the great L.A. punk group Fear did "I Love Livin' in the City," which he introduced as "an old-fashioned singalong." The capacity crowd knew fewer of the words to that one than to "Landslide." But neither Ving nor Grohl seemed to care.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Joe Bonamassa Leaves Black Country Communion

Guitarist Joe Bonamassa has officially tendered his resignation with Black Country Communion, telling Classic Rock Magazine that he’s “happily not involved any more” with the supergroup, months after a public spat with frontman Glenn Hughes came close to derailing the release of third album Afterglow.

The musicians fell out after Hughes expressed his frustration that Bonamassa wouldn’t go on the road to support the record with live shows – one of a series of outbursts that led to the cancellation of a one-off concert in the UK planned for January.

In another interview, Bonamassa went on to say: “Originally I did it for the same reasons I did the stuff with Beth Hart and Rock Candy Funk Party: it was an excessive to play a different kind of music that I don’t get to play normally.

“So I did it and did a nine-week tour in 2011 that really, by the end of it, wasn’t fun for me. It wasn’t because I didn’t like the cats in the band, but it was just too much – too much involved in getting people from place to place and getting the band onstage.

“Everybody seemed to be very tense, and it made my crew very tense, and it’s not the way I like to tour. I run a family. I have 21 people who go on the road with me all the time, and if you asked them who was the cause of the least of their problems, they would say me.”

But Bonamassa remains proud of his work with the band, also featuring Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian and producer Kevin Shirley.

“The first two records were a blast,” he says. “The band is fantastic when the Ritalin kicks in, the ADD goes away, and everyone’s focused. It’s a devastatingly good rock band of the early-1970s type, and Glenn is a fantastic singer – just one of the best ever.

“It just wasn’t fun for me any more. All the stuff that Glenn says in the media, essentially pinning it on me, that I was the reason for the band’s lack of touring and the band’s lack of future. It became rapidly not fun at all. It would be dishonest of me to get onstage and pretend like I’m having fun to please the band.”

He’s previously given his blessing for BCC to continue without him, a move that both Hughes and Bonham have hinted at in the past. “I’m just not the guitar player for that band,” he says. “Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any out-of-work guitar players in LA that they can get. There are so many guys that can fill that role and I would be the first guy to queue up and buy a ticket.

“I’m happily not involved any more – but I’m happy with the legacy that I left with that band and happy with the records we made. It was a great three years for me.”

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

One Night With Janis Joplin Play Set To Tour Nationally

One Night With Janis Joplin, a musical play written and directed by Randy Johnson and starring the acclaimed performances of Mary Bridget Davies as Janis Joplin and Sabrina Elayne Carten as the Blues Singer, is coming to the Pasadena Playhouse, with a run beginning  March 15 through April 11.

Engagements in Milwaukee, WI, and San Jose, CA, have also been confirmed with more cities to be announced.

One Night With Janis Joplin is a full-on concert experience and musical journey into the life and inspirations of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest legends. 

With a voice like whiskey and a laugh like pure joy, Janis Joplin took the music scene by storm.  Simultaneously rough and vulnerable, Joplin was dubbed the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, proving music wasn’t just a man’s world anymore.

The play also shines a spotlight on the great African-American blues artists who influenced Janis’ musical style and career, including Bessie Smith, Etta James and Aretha Franklin. 

You'll hear Joplin hits and classic songs such as “Piece of My Heart,” “Mercedes Benz,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Ball and Chain” and “Summertime” with a live on-stage band – creating a compelling portrait of an artist through the words and music of one of America’s greatest rock ‘n roll icons.

One Night With Janis Joplin was produced this past summer by Todd Gershwin and Daniel Chilewich of One Night Productions, LLC in partnership with the Cleveland Playhouse and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. (September 28 – November 4, 2012), following a previous opening at Portland Center Stage in 2011. 

The musical has garnered multiple nominations for the 2012 BroadwayWorld.com Awards and recently won the 2012 Cleveland Critics Circle Awards for Best Regional Touring Production and Best Actress in a Musical (Mary Bridget Davies). 

Check out the trailer for the show at https://www.youtube.com/embed/-COdYa18NWg.

Find tickets for the Pasadena Playhouse engagement at http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.

For more information on the show itself, go to http://www.onenightwithjanisjoplin.com.

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Original Yes Guitarist Peter Banks Passes

Best known for his guitar work with Yes and Flash, as well as his own solo albums, Peter Banks passed away at his home in London on March 8, 2013.

Banks, a founding member of progressive rock group YES, performed on the band's first two albums, Yes and Time And A Word. He would go on to form Flash and release three studio albums (Flash, In The Can, Out Of Our Hands), along with several successful tours of Europe and the US, culminating in an appearance on the widely watched late night American TV show The Midnight Special.

With an admitted fondness for improvisation, music critics touted Banks as a cross between Pete Townshend and Wes Montgomery. Even Pete Townshend, one night after witnessing a Yes performance, walked up to Banks, slapped him on the back and said, “You're great!”

After Flash, Peter Banks would form the band Empire in the mid 70s and eventually release three albums, Mark I, Mark II and Mark III.

Banks also released five solo albums (Two Sides Of..., Instinct, Self-Contained, Reduction, Can I Play You Something?) and had been active in recent times working with acts such as Harmony and Diversity, Prog Collective, ANT-BEE and Days Between Stations.

Banks' first solo album Two Sides Of Peter Banks has been considered by many as one of the great 'prog' records of all time and features an all-star line-up of Jan Akkerman, Phil Collins and John Wetton.

In the early 2000's Banks wrote his autobiography Beyond & Before, published by Golden Treasures publishing in the US.

He was putting on the final touches of a long-awaited live Flash' CD set for release on Cleopatra Records at the time of his passing.

"I loved working with Peter on the many records I have produced over the years, he always delivered amazing stuff, creative, inspires and always with that classic original Yes flavor that came with his playing," said Billy Sherwood, a member with Yes in the 1990s. "He will be missed by me and many many other fans of his music and playing."

Friday, March 8, 2013

Steven Wilson Announces North American Tour Dates Behind New Solo Album

Founder and front man of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree Steven Wilson has had an impressive first week with his third studio album, The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories).

Wilson's first week sales put him north of 10k, landing on four Billboard charts in north America: #57 Billboard Top 200, #17 Top Rock, #3 Top Internet, and at #42 Top 200 Canada.

Last week,  The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories) debuted at #28 on the British Album Chart and #1 on iTunes rock album chart.

Wilson has just launched his world tour with stops in multiple cities throughout Europe in March, and arriving in the states on April 16 in Tampa, FL.

A four-time Grammy nominee, Wilson has produced and collaborated with artists as diverse as Opeth, Blackfield, Jethro Tull, and King Crimson.

Porcupine Tree’s last album went top 30 in both the UK and USA, and the tour climaxed with sold out shows at Royal Albert Hall in London and Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Following the release of his sophomore solo effort Grace For Drowning, Wilson embarked on his first-ever solo tour, assembling a virtuoso band, featuring Marco Minnemann (drums), Nick Beggs (bass), Theo Travis (flute and sax), Adam Holzman (keys) and Niko Tsonev (guitars), to accompany him.

With the addition of Guthrie Govan (guitar) and legendary producer and engineer Alan Parsons, Wilson emerges as the modern torchbearer of his influences and illuminates a path to music’s heralded past.

For more information please visit www.stevenwilsonhq.com.

Spring 2013 North American Tour Dates:

April 16 - Tampa, FL - The State Theater
April 17 - Atlanta, GA - The Variety Playhouse
April 19 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
April 20 - Washington D.C. - Howard Theatre
April 21 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
April 23 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
April 25 - Montreal, Quebec - Club-Soda
April 26 - New York, NY - Best Buy Theater
April 27 - Boston. MA - Berklee Performance Center
April 30 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr Small’s
May 2 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
May 3 - Chicago, IL - Park West
May 4 - Minneapolis, MA - The Fine Line
May 6 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater
May 9 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
May 10 - Los Angeles, CA - Club Nokia

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Would You Pay $5,500 For A Smashed KISS Guitar?

Die-hard KISS fans looking for the ultimate in concert memorabilia from the group's current Australian tour need search no more. Why not acquire a guitar smashed onstage "in your honor" by guitarist Paul Stanley - for a mere $5,500?

Stanley will also be selling the microphone he sings into for $3,000, along with special microphone and guitar combination packages, his website said.

If you purchase a KISS guitar during the Australian tour, currently underway until March 16, you also get to meet Stanley before the concert and view your yet undamaged guitar, which will be smashed that night in your honor, according to Stanley's website.

These items are not included in the price of your concert ticket.

"What a fantastic feeling I got seeing Paul Stanley smashing 'my' guitar at the end of an unbelievable show," gushed one fan on the website after buying a guitar during an earlier British tour.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Ten Years After's Alvin Lee Dies

Alvin Lee, the guitarist and singer of Ten Years After, has died.

A statement posted on his official website read: "With great sadness we have to announce that Alvin unexpectedly passed away early this morning after unforseen complications following a routine surgical procedure.

"We have lost a wonderful and much loved father and companion, the world has lost a truly great and gifted musician."

Lee, whose musical career began in the early sixties, was launched to international stardom after an incendiary performance at Woodstock, which showcased his mastery of blues-rock guitar and turned his sticker-plastered "Big Red" Gibson ES-335 into an icon of the festival.

When Ten Years After split up in 1973, Lee went on to release a number of albums, including On The Road To Freedom, which included guest spots from the likes of Mick Fleetwood, George Harrison, Steve Winwood and Ron Wood.

His last release, 2012's Still On The Road To Freedom, referenced his early solo success and confirmed his place in the pantheon of rock greats.

Vintage Rock spoke to Lee last year, following the release of Still On The Road To Freedom. You can read the interview at http://tinyurl.com/8u5rxg3.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Kansas To Reunite With Original Members At Summer Pittsburgh Concert

Kansas is playing a "once-in-a-lifetime fan appreciation concert" to celebrate its 40th anniversary on August 17 at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The concert will mark the first time in more than 30 years that all six original members of the band will be on stage together. Kansas will begin the concert backed by a 35-piece orchestra, and then follow with a traditional rock band second set. The concert is not part of a tour, as the band is taking a break from its regular touring schedule.

Kansas formed in 1973 in Topeka, Kansas. Why celebrate in Pittsburgh?

"People need to know that Pittsburgh, and the whole state of Pennsylvania,  discovered the band Kansas first!," drummer Phil Ehart said in a statement. "We came here in the early days and Pittsburgh was like our home away from home! Heck, we are even using Rich  Engler to promote this show at what used to be the Stanley Theater. Rich Engler and the incredible Stanley Theater….just like the old days! How cool is that?"

Three of the original members -- Dave Hope, Kerry Livgren and Robby Steinhardt -- are no longer with the band and will be returning as special guests. They'll join original members Ehart, Steve Walsh and Rich Williams, along with current members Billy Greer and David Ragsdale

There will be a limited number of VIP tickets available, but there are no details yet on prices or sale date.

Jeff Lynne's ELO Announces 2024 North American Fall Tour

  Jeff Lynne’s ELO is set to embark on the band’s final tour dubbed “The Over and Out Tour.” The 27-date trek, produced by Live Nation, will...