ROCK N' ROLL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2013: RUSH & HEART IN, DEEP PURPLE OUT
December 14, 2012admin No Comment
Phil Gallo of Billboard reports:
After more than a decade of irate rants and enthusiastic lobbying from fans, Rush is finally a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Canadian trio will be inducted into the hall on April 18th along with Heart, singer-songwriter-pianist Randy Newman, rap group Public Enemy, the late disco queen Donna Summer and blues guitarist Albert King. Label executive and music impresario Lou Adler and producer-arranger-composer Quincy Jones are headed as Ahmet Ertegun Award — aka non-performer — honorees.
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, inducted with the hall's last class, announced the awards Dec. 11th at the Nokia Theater where the induction ceremony will be held next year. It is the first time in 20 years since the festivities have been held in L.A.; it will again be open to the public and aired on HBO on May 18th.
This year's class represents the first time fans have been allowed to participate in the selection process and it's little surprise that Rush is the big winner. More than any other act's fan base — with the possible exception of KISS — Rush fans have created online petitions, Facebook pages and websites to push for the band's induction. Lifeson told Billboard earlier this year that the slight has been mitigated by that dedication.
"I know for me, and I would say it's true of all of us, we felt that you've got to enjoy every moment that you're out there doing this. It's a privilege to be able to play music, especially for your whole life," Lifeson explained. "And it's an even greater privilege to have such a fantastic audience who's willing to support you and listen to what you're doing and become so passionate, like Rush fans always become. You know, it's really, really something special and it's never lost on us."
Generally speaking, the hall has overlooked bands from the prog-rock era, inducting only Genesis in 2010. This is the first ballot Rush has appeared on.
Public Enemy, in its first year of eligibility, becomes the fourth rap act to enter the hall, following Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. The New York rap group debuted on record in 1987 with Yo! Bum Rush the Show and followed it up with the landmark It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Voted the best album of 1988 in the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll of critics, it peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200.
Heart, which appeared on the ballot for the first time last year, has had a particularly active year. Ann and Nancy Wilson published a joint biography,Kicking and Screaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock & Roll; released a new album, Fanatic; and maintained an active touring schedule that continues from January through March, in the U.S. and Canada.
Summer, who died in May, gets in on the sixth time her name appeared on the ballot. King, whose single-string, bent-note approach to the electric guitar was a significant influence on Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, is best known for Born Under a Bad Sign from 1967. Newman, whose debut was released in 1968, wrote uniquely caustic and insightful pop songs in the '60s and '70s before devoting most of his time to film work.
Nominees who did not make the cut this year include the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Deep Purple, the Meters and N.W.A. There was some belief among voting insiders that the presence of two rap groups — from opposite coasts — would split the votes and neither would get in. While the album widely acknowledged as their debut, Straight Outta Compton, came out in 1988, a compilation of their singles was issued a year earlier making them eligible for the class of 2013.
CONTRARY TO REPORTS, AEROSMITH'S JOE PERRY INSISTS THAT THE BAND IS GETTING ALONG "BETTER THAN EVER"
November 21, 2012admin No Comment
When asked about the recent reports in the New York Post's Page Six column stating that the band was not getting along, among other negative claims, Perry joked, "It must have been a slow news week."
The guitarist continued, "We were wondering, 'Who's saying this?' and 'Why are they saying this?' It's totally wrong and irrelevant. The least they could have done was get [the facts] right…[The people they quoted] haven't have anything to do with the band in 10 or 12 years. The band is getting along better than ever. We were thinking about [releasing a statement], but then why even validate it by even answering?"
Perry added, "No matter what goes on [behind the scenes]. We do everything and put aside everything for the fans. We give everything up for the audience."
Perry stated that after Aerosmith wrap up their current tour dates with Cheap Trick in December, the guitarist plans on continuing to work on his book and doing some "solo stuff." He added that Aerosmith hopes to hit road again this summer.
Remaining dates on Aerosmith's Global Warming tour are as follows:
20, Madison Square Garden New York, NY
23 Revel Ovation Hall Atlantic City, NJ
25 Nationwide Arena Columbus, OH
27 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON, Canada
1 MGM Grand Garden Arena Las Vegas, NV
3 Staples Center Los Angeles, CA
6 New Orleans Arena New Orleans, LA
9 BT&T Center Fort Lauderdale, FL
11 Tampa Bay Times Forum Tampa, FL
13 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN
Aerosmith's new album Music From Another Dimension! was released on November 6th through Columbia Records. The album debuted at Number 5 on the Billboard 200.
BON JOVI ANNOUNCE US TOUR DATES
November 21, 2012admin 1 Comment
As Bon Jovi gears up for a monumental year, the all-American rock icons have announced the first set of U.S. dates, taking them from coast to coast on their Bon Jovi Because We Can–The Tour.
The tour will begin in Uncasville, CT on February 9th, treating fans to one night-only performances in U.S. arenas nationwide, plus multiple stadium shows including a two night stand at MetLife Stadium in the band's home state of New Jersey.
Ensuring that there is truly something for every fan, Bon Jovi is offering a wide range of ticket options, starting at $19.50 (plus service charges). Tickets will go on sale in select markets beginning Friday, November 30th.
Overwhelming demand for the band's previously announced Canadian dates has already led to second shows in Montreal and Toronto, and Bon Jovi has plenty more in store. The band will expand their current tour schedule with additional North American dates including Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA; Ford Field in Detroit, MI, and many more. The current tour itinerary is listed below, with further details to come. View U.S. tour announcement video below.
The tour, promoted by AEG Live in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., will debut brand new songs from Bon Jovi's upcoming album What About Now, to be released in Spring 2013, loading even more ammunition into the band's huge arsenal of hits. The group's return to the road in 2013 will launch the latest chapter in an ongoing blockbuster run which has already secured Bon Jovi's status as the essential live rock band – having performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 35 million fans.Bon JoviI Because We Can–The Tour will make its way across the globe with dates in Europe, the Far East, Africa, Latin America and Australia.
For for up-to-date information, please visit www.BonJovi.com. #BecauseWeCan.
Bon JoviI Because We Can–The Tour dates:
9 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
10 Washington DC Verizon Center
21 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center
27 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
1 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Times Forum
2 Sunrise, FL BB&T Center
5 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
6 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
9 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
10 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
13 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
14 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
16 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Arena
April:
7 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
10 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
11 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
13 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
14 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena
16 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
17 Salt Lake City, UT EnergySolutions Arena
19 Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center
20 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
23 Glendale, AZ obing.com Arena
25 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
July:
12 Chicago, IL Soldier Field
24 E Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium
The tour will also hit the following cities, with additional details to come:
LED ZEPPELIN GUITARIST SAYS REUNION TOUR NEVER HAPPENED BECAUSE ROBERT PLANT "WAS BUSY"
Andy Greene of Rolling Stone reports:
It turns out that Led Zeppelin fans weren't alone in thinking the group's 2007 triumphant reunion concert at London's O2 Arena would lead to a tour. "Some of us thought we would be continuing, that there were going to be more concerts in the not-too-distant-future," Jimmy Page tells Rolling Stone Senior Writer David Fricke in the new issue, on stands November 23rd. "Because there was a lot of work being put into the show."
Ultimately, Robert Plant had no interest in carrying on. "He was busy," says Page. "He was doing his Alison Krauss project. I wasn't fully aware it was going to be launched at the same time. So what do you do in a situation like that? I'd been working with the other two guys for the percentage of the rehearsals at the O2. We were connecting well. The weakness was that none of us sang."
With Plant out of the picture, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham continued rehearsing together in early 2008. "We didn't do any professional recording," says Page. "We just had a little digital recorder. I thought it was good. I wasn't going to away from it. But the weakness came up again. It was, 'We gotta have a singer.'"
The idea of a tour was considered, but Plant refuses to divulge the full list of singers who jammed with the group. Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy has publicly acknowledged rehearsing with the group, and Page doesn't deny that. "It sounded premature," he says. "I could see what way it was going. Various people thought we should go on tour. I thought we needed a good, credible album, not do something that sounded like we were trying to milk the O2."
Steven Tyler has also said he flew to England to jam with the band. "The timing wasn't the best," says Page. "We had put so much toward the O2. And the three of us were catching up with stuff. It was very good, seriously promising. But there was this other thing going on. [Pauses] And that's it."
In related news, Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day, which captured that show on film, is available for purchase at ledzeppelin.com. Watch a clip of the band performing Black Dog below.
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