Pulse Classic Rock News

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT BRINGING 'RHAPSODY TOUR' TO NORTH AMERICA

Queen + Adam Lambert have rolled out the initial dates to their 2023 "Rhapsody Tour." The trek kicks off on October 4th at Baltimore's CFG Bank Arena and, as of now, winds down on November 11th in L.A. at BMO Stadium.

Guitarist Brian May told Rolling Stone, "This tour has lots of new bells and lots of new whistles. We've evolved as performers, I think. We've stepped up our game. We have better chemistry than ever. We understand each other better than ever, and we feel more free in the way that we interpret stuff. We're very happy with it. There's lots of new production and stuff we want to excite you with."

As with their European tour last year, the band hopes to pepper the set with fan favorites and deep cuts, with frontman Adam Lambert admitting, "I always like doing 'Dragon Attack.' That's one of my favorites. There's a lot of time between now and when the tour starts in October to come up with new ideas. I think we'll have many."

Adam Lambert admitted that he stepped into pretty big shoes when he agreed to take the stage fronting Queen -- a band that had perhaps the most legendary and charismatic frontman with the late-Freddie Mercury: "At first it was a little daunting, when we started our first incarnation of this. I was definitely. . . I was apprehensive. He's a big idol for me, and I thought to myself, y'know, ‘I hope that the fans dig this,' y'know? ‘Cause there was a possibility that they wouldn't. And it felt really good, the reception was warm, the press reaction to it the first time was very warm. And it's such a treat to get on stage and pay my respects and pay tribute to one of my favorite singers ever -- and to sing some of the greatest music ever written."

Prior to hitting the road last time around, Brian May told us that he, Roger Taylor, and Adam Lambert all look closely at the Queen songbook and figure out what key elements they need for a perfect show: "We're up for anything, really. Yeah, and, we'll look at the whole catalogue and see what we can pull off, I think. Y'know, what needs to happen is we need to be happy amongst ourselves. We need to be comfortable. Adam needs to be comfortable -- challenged, but comfortable. And yeah, I think we'll take a real careful look at all those albums and see what we can cherry pick and, y'know, bring to a new place."

JUST ANNOUNCED: Queen + Adam Lambert North American tour dates (subject to change):

October 4 - Baltimore, MD - CFG Bank Arena
October 8 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
October 10 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
October 12 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
October 15 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
October 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
October 23 - Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena
October 25 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
October 27 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
October 30 - Chicago, IL - United Center
November 2 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
November 5 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
November 8 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
November 11 - Los Angeles, CA - BMO Stadium

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TAYLOR HAWKINS PASSING SALUTED BY 100 DRUMMERS IN BELGIUM

In commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Taylor Hawkins' death on March 25th, the Belgian band Black Box Revelation enlisted 100 drummers to film a collaborative live performance of the Foo Fighters classic "My Hero" in tribute to Hawkins. Loudwire reported the event took place at the country's Sportplaeis Antwerp, which was the last venue that Hawkins performed at with the Foos in Belgium.

Black Box Revelation said in a statement, "Taylor Hawkins was the best drummer of our times. Honoring him with this tribute was an experience we will never forget."

Participating drummer Gino Kesteloot added: "It's the first time I played together with 100 other drummers. It sounded great, I even got goosebumps all over my body! Wonderful to honor our hero this way."

Taylor Hawkins told us that the beauty of like-minded musicians connecting is that a music scene can spring up anywhere: "You can have a scene anywhere you want, period. Des Moines, Iowa, maybe they have a bitchin' punk rock scene that we don't even know about because there's a couple of kids there who are turning all their friends onto something, and next thing you know, they're taking over the rec center every Saturday. And that's how it started with (Foo Fighters bassist) Nate (Mendel) and how it started with all the other guys in the band."

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NEIL YOUNG SLAMS TICKETMASTER FEES

In light of the recent snafus regarding ticket sales for both the Cure and Bruce Springsteen -- in addition to exorbitant fees for even the worst seats in the house -- Neil Young posted a message to fans on his Neil Young Archive page explaining his thoughts on a broken concert ticketing system.

Young wrote: "TICKETMASTER FEES at 30%. It's over. The old days are gone. I get letters blaming me for $3,000.00 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers."

During a chat with the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, Neil Young spoke about a longing for music to take a more organic path going forward: "I really pray for a renaissance of real homemade music, where people actually play together and play off each other. That, to me, is what music's all about. And as we move more and more into the digital age of Pro Tools and putting things on a grid and organizing things and sampling and everything. . . I'm not puttin' it down, but I am sayin' that when they actually play together, that's a whole time that has to be preserved."

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JACKSON BROWNE ROLLS OUT 24-CITY SPRING & SUMMER RUN

Jackson Browne is taking his show on the road for a 24-city spring and summer run. The tour kicks off on June 3rd at Columbus, Ohio's Palace Theatre and wraps on August 2nd at Clearwater, Florida's Ruth Eckerd Hall. Browne is touring in support of his 2021 Grammy-nominated album, Downhill From Everywhere.

Jackson Browne told us that although fame has provided him with some great benefits, the drawbacks can be crippling to a working artist: "I have not really known what to, how to think of this from the beginning. I have a kind of deep ambivalence about fame -- y'know, you want to reach a lot of people, you want success, but a lot comes with it, y'know, that can kind of undermine your work, too."

JUST ANNOUNCED: Jackson Browne North American tour dates (subject to change):

June 3 - Columbus, OH - Palace Theatre
June 4 - Pittsburgh, PA - Benedum Center for the Performing Arts
June 6 - Akron, OH - Akron Civic Theatre
June 7 - Toledo, OH - Stranahan Theater
June 9 - Springfield, IL - UIS Performing Arts Center
June 10 - Louisville, KY - The Louisville Palace Theatre
June 12 - Springfield, MO - MSU - Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts
June 13 - Omaha, NE - Orpheum Theater
June 15 - Madison, WI - The Orpheum Theater
June 16 - Evansville, IN - Victory Theatre
June 18 - Nashville, TN - Grand Ole Opry
June 19 - Nashville, IN - Brown County Music Center
July 14 - El Paso, TX - Abraham Chavez Theatre
July 15 - Midland, TX - Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
July 18 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at the Moody Theater
July 19 - Grand Prairie, TX - Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie
July 21 - Sugar Land, TX - Smart Financial Centre
July 22 - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre
July 25 - Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
July 26 - Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
July 28 - Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theater and Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts
July 29 - Orlando, FL - Walt Disney Theater
August 1 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
August 2 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall

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MATT CAMERON HASN'T JOINED THE FOO FIGHTERS

Matt Cameron has denied reports from The Sun that he will be filling in for Taylor Hawkins when the Foo Fighters hit the road this spring.

The Pearl Jam drummer wrote in his Instagram Story Saturday (March 25th), "FYI the internet rumors are false, I haven't joined the Foos."

The Dave Grohl-fronted band will kick off their tour of North America May 24th at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H.

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN EXPANDS NORTH AMERICAN RUNS

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band have just tagged eight stops onto their upcoming North American tours. Just added for the summer is a second night at Chicago's Wrigley Field set for August 11th, a second night at Foxborough, Massachusetts' Gillette Stadium on August 26th, and a third night at East Rutherford, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium for September 3rd.

A trio of makeup dates have been announced for the band's fall/winter arena run -- Uncasville, Connecticut on September 16th; Albany, New York on September 19th; and September 21st in Columbus, Ohio.

"The Boss" has also booked his first San Diego date since 1981 for December 2nd, along with a second night in San Francisco on December 10th.

Bruce Springsteen admitted that the shape of his concerts is constantly evolving in his mind throughout any given tour: "It's always a work in-progress. So, I'm laying in bed and I'm going, 'Okay, the other 35 nights, what did I play after 'The Promised Land? Well, what can I do in Belgium that's gonna be different tonight (laughs)?' So, on any given night, I know that these five songs work after this song and still keeps the narrative of what we're talking about intact."

UPDATED: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band tour dates (subject to change):

March 25 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
March 27 - Washington D.C. - Capital One Arena
March 29 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
April 1 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
April 3 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
April 5 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
April 7 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Arena
April 9, 11 - Belmont Park, NY - UBS Arena
April 14 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
August 9 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
August 11 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
August 16, 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Citizens Bank Park
August 24 - Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium
August 26 - Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium
August 28 - Washington, DC - Nationals Park
August 30 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
September 1 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
September 3 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
September 7 - Syracuse, NY - JMA Wireless Dome
September 9 - Baltimore, MD - Oriole Park at Camden Yards
September 12 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
September 16 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena *** rescheduled
September 19 - Albany, NY - MVP Arena *** rescheduled
September 21 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena *** rescheduled
November 3 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
November 6 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
November 8 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
November 10 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Centre
November 14, 16 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
November 18 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
November 20 - Montreal, QC - Centre Bell
November 30 - Phoenix, AZ - Footprint Center
December 2 - San Diego, CA - Pechanga Arena
December 4, 6 - Inglewood, CA - Kia Forum
December 8 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
December 10 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center

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MAMMOTH WVH DROPS FIRST VIDEO FROM SECOND ALBUM

Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH has just released the video for "Another Celebration At The End Of The World" -- a teaser for the band's second album, Mammoth 2, which drops on August 4th. Rolling Stone reported the video picks off where the clips from the first album left off, and features Van Halen firing his band -- which is made up of him on all the other instruments -- before substituting the touring lineup for the performance of the song.

Van Halen said in a statement: "I knew that I wanted the new album to contain elements of what people heard on the debut, but also giving me a chance to branch out a bit. 'Another Celebration At The End Of The World' is definitely a song that showcases what people can expect from the new album. It is a high-energy rocker with some fun guitar moments on it. I also pushed myself vocally and it is a song I can't wait to get out and play live. I can see it being a fixture in our live set moving forward."

Wolfgang told us a while back that his dad, the late, great Eddie Van Halen, was always a source of advice and inspiration to him: "He definitely has some quirky lines he gives me that definitely help me out, like, in terms of playing music, 'If you ever make a mistake, do it twice so the audience thinks you meant to do it' (laughs)."

Mammoth WVH performs tonight (March 23rd) at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.

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PETER GABRIEL TAGS A DOZEN CITIES ONTO ITINERARY

Peter Gabriel has just rolled tagged on a dozen new cities to his fall North American tour in support of his upcoming album, I/O. New stops on the books now include shows in Washington, D.C.; Buffalo, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Paul, Minnesota; Denver, Colorado; along with a trio of Texas concerts set for Austin, Dallas, and Houston.

Although never released as a single, Peter Gabriel's 1986 haunting duet with Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up," from his So album has proven to have significant meaning for Gabriel over the decades: "All sorts of people wrote and told me things that -- including one or two well-known people -- that they had uses it. In one case, somebody's daughters kept him from suicide, and someone else with drugs, and it was a strange lot of stuff coming back. People use music as emotional tools."

UPDATED: Peter Gabriel North American tour dates (subject to change):

September 8 - Quebec City, QB - Videotron Centre
September 9 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
September 11 - Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
September 13 - Montreal, QN Bell Centre
September 14 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
September 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
September 18 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

September 20 - Washington, D.C. - Capital One Arena
September 22 - Buffalo, NY - KeyBank Center
September 23 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
September 25
- Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
September 27 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse

September 29 Detroit, Michigan Little Caesars Arena
September 30 - Chicago, IL - United Center
October 2 - Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum
October 3 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center

October 7 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
October 8 - Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena
October 11 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
October 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum

October 14 - Palm Springs, CA - Acrisure Arena
October 16 - Denver , CO - Ball Arena
October 18 - Austin, TX - Moody Center
October 19 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
October 21 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

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PETER FRAMPTON DELUXE VINYL BOX AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Available for pre-order via PeterFrampton.com com is the Frampton@50 limited edition vinyl box set, which ships on July 28th. The collection is comprised of meticulously restored 180G reissues of the essential 1972-1975 studio releases Wind Of Change (1972), Frampton's Camel (1973), and Frampton (1975).

The package set also comes with an authentic reproduction of the Peter Frampton promo poster that was included only in the earliest original LP copies of Frampton's Camel and a certificate of authenticity with a message from Frampton. All three LP jackets are printed on heavy stock, and film laminated for enhanced beauty and durability. Notably missing from the set is the 1974 fan favorite, Something's Happening album.

PeterFrampton.com has a limited number of 250 Frampton@50 vinyl box sets that include an autographed version of the Frampton's Camel promo poster, with the proceeds benefitting the Peter Frampton Myositis Research Fund.

Among the highlights on the 1975 Frampton album are his most enduring classics, "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way," which amazingly, were written in the same day. Frampton recalled to us the back-story of composing the tunes for his classic self-titled fourth solo album: "I had, like, three weeks in Nassau, The Bahamas -- which for anyone else would seems like a dream -- but for me, it was work, because we were going to record as soon as I got back. And it was very difficult to start with. It wasn't until the last week, in desperation, that you can actually be forced into (laughs) something. And then that's of course, when I wrote the two big hits from that record -- and later, the live album -- in the same day; 'Show Me The Way, and 'Baby, I Love Your Way.'"

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JOHN SEBASTIAN SELLS PUBLISHING CATALOGUE

Legendary singer-songwriter John Sebastian is the latest artist to part ways with their publishing catalogue. Sebastian has sold his song interests to AMR Songs (AMR), "a full-service, global independent music publishing, rights management, and catalog marketing company."

According to the announcement, "AMR acquired interest in Sebastian's entire catalog, including his publishing and artist royalties from perennial hits by the Lovin' Spoonful, including: 'Daydream,' 'Summer In The City,' 'Do You Believe In Magic,' 'Younger Girl,' 'You Didn't Have To Be So Nice,' and 'Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?," among others. The catalog also features his 1975 self-penned hit, 'Welcome Back,' the theme to the iconic sitcom Welcome Back Kotter."

During a recent chat with Jeff Burger, John Sebastian recalled the difficulty in the early days when Lovin' Spoonful were desperate to snag a recording contract: "We were turned down by every record company in New York. I mean, sometimes it was 'Do You Believe In Magic' that the guys were turning down. And we would say, 'See! Of course they don't get it. They want a whole other thing.'"

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