Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Rolling Stones Release Limited Edition Hyde Park Live Album
(hennemusic) The final shows of the Rolling Stones' 50 & Counting tour have been released as "Hyde Park Live" exclusively via iTunes for a limited time.
The album will be available for just four weeks – from July 22 to August 19 – following the band's two sold out concerts in London's Hyde Park on July 6th and 13th.

The shows marked the Stones first appearance in Hyde Park in 44 years - since the group's free concert on July 5, 1969; just two days after the death of founding member Brian Jones, that show marked the live debut of his replacement, Mick Taylor.

Both of the Stones' Hyde Park shows were reportedly filmed and a DVD is expected to be released in the near future, as well. Check out the set list and some videos from the show.



Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell Cancer Fight Update
(hennemusic) Last month, Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell revealed that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and he is now sharing an update on his battle with cancer.

"I'm doing very well all things considered, you know?," Campbell tells Mark and John at the Talking Metal podcast. "I am taking it as it comes and the treatments are doing their job and they are not adversely affecting me too much.

"I had to get a radical new hairstyle and it's coming out fast still but other than that no real problems. The two or three days around the chemo treatments are a little rough but nothing I can't handle."

The treatments have left the guitarist with a new look. "Oh yeah, in a few weeks it's going to be no hair," he laughs. "I am leaving most of it on my pillow in the morning. It is coming out fast. Anyway, it's all good. I needed a grown-up haircut." more on this story





Slash To Stream Final Show Of His Tour
Slash has announced that he and his solo band Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators will be streaming the final concert of their summer tour online.

Fans will be able to watch the final stop of the Apocalytpic Love summer tour stream live from Las Vegas via EvntLive starting at 9PM PT/Midnight EST this Thursday, July 25th here.

The Las Vegas show appears to be the final concert for Slash and his band's world tour in support of the album "Apocalyptic Love," which was produced by Eric Valentine.

Slash will then turn his attention to promoting his upcoming feature film release from his Slasher Films. Slash co-produced the film, "Nothing To Fear," which will begin a limited theatrical engagement on October 4th ahead of the DVD, Blu-Ray release on October 8th.




Paramore Launching North American Tour
(Radio.com) It must have been a very busy day for Paramore on Monday. The band had to squeeze in a North American tour announcement while making breakfast.

The Tennessee-based rockers will launch a 27-stop arena tour to support their self-titled album released earlier this year. Kicking off October 15 at Seattle's Key Arena and wrapping up November 27 in Duluth, Ga., the Self-Titled Tour will also include a detour for New Orleans' Voodoo Music & Arts Festival from November 1-3.

Paramore will be accompanied by Metric, supporting their fifth album Synthetica, and synth-poppers Hellogoodbye, who are promoting their recently released Did It Kill You live album.

To make their announcements, Paramore frequently opts for lo-fi videos shot in and around their homes. Monday's breakfast-themed announcement is no different. Watch here.





Sacha Baron Cohen Quits Freddie Mercury Biopic
(Classic Rock) The long-awaited movie based on the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury has run into more problems. Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen, who'd been hired to play Mercury in the biopic, has quit the project after becoming unhappy with developments.

Deadline.com reports: "The reason is that the band wanted to make more of a PG movie about Queen, while Cohen was counting on a gritty tell-all centered round the gifted gay singer.

"Given the astonishing physical resemblance, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing Freddie but Sacha." more on this story





Spinal Tap Eyeing A Return
(Gibson) Brace yourselves: the mighty Spinal Tap are ready for 'a reinsertion.' The news came at the end of an interview with filmmaker/actor Christopher Guest, who revealed that while Tap is asked to play shows on a regular basis - and last reunited in 2009 - "We're in the midst of talking about something for next year."

That would place the next reunion at the 30th anniversary of the film This Is Spinal Tap. Guest didn't give any clues as to what the reunion might entail, so it really could be anything - a single, an album, a new film, a tour… it's fun to speculate, but Guest seems to be playing his cards pretty close to his chest regarding what form this potential Tap activity might entail.

Guest also reflected on what has happened to the band since the release of the film: "…we've gone on tour, playing Wembley, the Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall… It's weird but great. The fiction became real."

If you can't get enough of the mighty Tap and you would like to see some of this real fiction, you owe it to yourself to check out The Return of Spinal Tap, a 1992 sequel of sorts to the original film which includes performance footage from the Royal Albert Hall as well as a look at the band's history, as well as 'where-are-they-now?' scenes. It hasn't quite attained the legendary stature of This Is Spinal Tap but it's well worth a look. more on this story







Paul McCartney Explains How Nirvana Reunion Jam Happened
(hennemusic) Paul McCartney is raving about the Nirvana reunion (Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear) that joined him Friday night at his Out There tour stop in Seattle.

"They're powerful, you know," McCartney tells Rolling Stone. "It's a great power to have them on stage with you. I mean, my band's great – but when you augment it with Nirvana, that's greater."

Nirvana's Grohl, Novoselic and Smear teamed up with McCartney at Safeco Field to perform an encore set of songs that included their original collaboration, "Cut Me Some Slack" (from the Sound City soundtrack), along with Beatles gems "Get Back", "Long Tall Sally", "Helter Skelter" and show closer, the "Golden Slumbers" medley.

"We hatched that plan a couple of weeks ago," McCartney tells Rolling Stone. "Dave was going to come up to Seattle with his family, and I said to him, 'Do you think there's any chance the guys would fancy [a reunion]?' He said, 'Well, let me ask.' And they fancied it. So we thought, 'Let's go and flip 'em out.'" more on this story




Last In Line Will Mostly Avoid Dio's Third Album During Tour
(Classic Rock) Dio offshoot band Last In Line will play most of the band's first two albums but not much of third release Sacred Heart – because the material carries too many bad memories.

Guitarist Vivian Campbell, now with Def Leppard, last week told Classic Rock he aimed to reclaim his heritage by playing songs he co-wrote for the first time since being sacked by Ronnie James Dio in 1986. But he's not ready to extend that to the album he was touring at the time he was fired.

Talking Metal asked Campbell about of their setlist and he said, "Well, we haven't completely finalized it yet but it's basically going to pick itself. There are only nine songs on Holy Diver and I think there's only nine songs on the Last in Line album too.

"The thing about this band was that the Sacred Heart album was very difficult for us all. That's when things really started to go wrong with the band and no one wanted to be in the studio with Ronnie.

"We would literally just come in and do our parts and we wouldn't really hang where as with Holy Diver & Last in Line we were in the studio 24/7 and everyone was committed to making those records. So the Sacred Heart record, we don't look upon it as favorably. We probably won't play too much from that." more on this story




Alice Cooper Announces Fall Tour Dates
(hennemusic) Alice Cooper has announced a series of fall dates as part of his ongoing Raise The Dead tour. The October/November US shows start October 13 in Port Chester, NY and run to November 6 in Idaho Falls, ID.

Cooper recently revealed plans to record an album of covers for release next year, and says he's "three-quarters of the way through" the project.

The focus of the covers set is material from the late 60s/early 1970s, including songs originally released by The Beatles, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix.

Bob Ezrin, who produced several of Cooper's 70s best-sellers as well as 2011's "Welcome 2 My Nightmare," is working on the set. more on this story





Ace Frehley Recording New Album
(Gibson) Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is in the studio working on a new solo album, the follow-up to his 2009 solo album release, Anomaly, according to a musician working on the effort.

Ace is recording with members of his live band, drummer Matt Starr and bass player Chris Wyse. Starr posted a pic of himself and Ace in the studio on his blog with the caption: "Had a great week in the studio with Ace Frehley and Chris Wyse making some great new music Ace's new record. Stay tuned."

Wyse added "Had a blast these last few days playing with Ace Frehley and Matt Starr!!! Exciting new record coming from Ace!"

When pressed for further details on his official Facebook fan page, Starr said "No details yet. Just that we're working on it & it's gonna ROCK!"

Starr is a busy guy right now: in addition to stepping into the drummer spot in Ace's band last year when Scot Coogan departed to join Lita Ford, Starr plays with Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich's band Burning Rain and has toured the U.S. and U.K. with Love/Hate. As for Wyse, he's worked with Jerry Cantrell, The Cult, Ozzy Osbourne and Mick Jagger, and is vocalist and bassist of his own band, Owl. He was also one of the bassists who auditioned for Metallica in 2003. more on this story






Ian Anderson Working On What May Be New Jethro Tull Album
(Prog) Ian Anderson will release a new album next year – but he's not sure whether it will appear under the Jethro Tull name. He describes the work as "more aggressive" than his last outing, Thick As A Brick 2, and says it's likely to appear next spring.

He surprised fans by launching TAAB2 in his own name, even though the 1972 classic was billed as a Tull record, and last year reported he didn't know whether the band entity had a future.

Now he says: "A new album is in the works for recording in December-January. The release of this concept album – no, I am not going to tell you the title – is scheduled for Easter 2014.

"'Is this to be an Ian Anderson album or a Jethro Tull album?' I hear you ask. 'Not sure, really,' I reply, somewhat evasively…" More details.





Rush Offer Special Edition T-Shirt For Flood Relief
(hennemusic) Rush's July 24 show in Calgary was cancelled due to recent heavy flooding and damage in the Canadian city, so the band rescheduled the concert on the same day in nearby Red Deer that will benefit Alberta Flood Relief.

All proceeds from Rush's show at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer will go to Alberta Flood Relief, and now the band is also raising funds with the sale of specially-designed t-shirts for the event.

For the Clockwork Angels tour date, Rush will be donating their fee and paying for all their expenses; promoter Live Nation will also be donating their time and fees towards this cause, and the venue will be donating goods and services to the event, as well.

"After seeing the devastation from the recent floods, we felt compelled to do what we could," said bassist Geddy Lee. "While we had hoped to avoid cancelling the Calgary show, venue safety concerns have closed the venue. Our apologies to all of the fans that bought tickets to the Calgary show for any inconvenience. More including photos of the shirts and ordering info.





Anathema Releasing Concert Film and Live Album
(Prog) Anathema will release a live film and album entitled Universal on September 23rd in various configurations via Kscope, the band have confirmed.

It was recorded during their tour in support of ninth album Weather Systems, which drew critical acclaim with Prog Magazine declaring: "Anathema continue to make music that glows with meaning and a love for art's external power to touch the soul. Still special, increasingly extraordinary, the band and this album will be cherished."

Film-maker Lasse Hoile captured the band's one-off show in September 2012 with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Roman theatre of Phippopolis, Bulgaria. The various configurations details.




Midnight Oil Shoot Down Reunion Rumors
(Gibson) The former members of Aussie rockers Midnight Oil have shot down speculation that they were planning to reunite now that frontman Peter Garrett has announced his retirement from politics.

Garrett had been a minister in the current Australian government, most recently as Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth. Garrett resigned and moved to the backbench a few weeks ago after a leadership and announced he would not contest his seat at the next federal election.

This led to speculation that Garrett would return to his old gig. But the band's longtime manager Gary Morris has announced he's ending his current arrangement with the band as a sign that there are no stirrings of activity within the midnight oil camp.

"Midnight Oil's legacy is undeniable, we have achieved great things together, there is much to be proud of in the band's list of achievements, we are brothers in arms and I will always be there for them," Morris said. "However, in light of recent speculation as to whether the band will reconvene now that Peter is quitting the political arena, now is the time to make my own position clear as to my future involvement with Midnight Oil."

Drummer Rob Hirst added, "This news comes with mixed emotions: quiet reflection, warm affection and misty nostalgia for our shared history, alongside a real sense of achievement and well-deserved pride." And Peter Garrett said, "We truly did accomplish amazing and enduring things working together and we should treasure that, now and in the future." more on this story







Paul Stanley of KISS Throws First Pitch At Toronto Blue Jays Game
(hennemusic) KISS frontman Paul Stanley threw out the ceremonial first pitch Monday night in Toronto as the Blue Jays played host to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Rogers Centre.

Stanley and KISS are currently in the middle of an extensive Canadian summer tour in support of their latest album, "Monster." The month-long trek wraps up with two dates at Mile One Stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland in early August.

"Monster", the 20th studio album from KISS, sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. Check out video of the pitch here.




Delta Blues Icon T-Model Ford Dies
(The Blues Delta blues icon 'T-Model' Ford has died after a series of health problems. His birth date is unknown, but he was thought to be around 90 years old.

Real name James Lewis Carter Ford, he began playing guitar in his late 50s when his fifth wife gave him an instrument as a parting gift ahead of their divorce.

He came to prominence with his first album, Pee-Wee Get My Gun, in 1997. He delivered another four albums via Fat Possum Records before moving to Mudpuppy for 2008's Jack Daniel Time, then to Alive Naturalsound for 2010's The Ladies Man and 2011's Taledragger.

Ford spent two years in jail for killing a man in self-defence and had scars on his ankles from serving in a chain gang. more on this story





Karnivool Streaming Their New Album Online
(Prog) Karnivool have streamed upcoming third album Asymmetry in full via GuitarWorld. It's the Australian outfit's first record since 2009′s Sound Awake.

Guitarist Drew Goddard explains: "We wanted this record to be a natural evolution; It needed to be more honest and raw, sound-wise and song-wise, exploring uncharted territory for the band while holding true to the things that make Karnivool Karnivool."

Frontman Ian Kenny sees it as a less direct progression. "Each time we walk into another record, we all want to explore new ground," he reports. "We want to open the door to our musical basement, switch the light off and tumble down the stairs into god knows what. Each time we switch the light on again we're a different band." Check out the album stream.





Devin Townsend Releases Retinal Circus Preview Video
(Prog) Devin Townsend has released a clip from his upcoming live DVD The Retinal Circus. The clip features the performance of Grace, featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen.

The show took place in London's Roundhouse in October last year, and sold out a year in advance. It included 25 songs plus sketch scenes, an art exhibition and performance art, and Townsend called it "the most definitive Devin show to date – a culmination of my entire career with a star lineup and full supporting cast."

Now, after nearly eight months of work, the recorded version is nearly ready to be launched in double-DVD, Blu-ray and double-CD formats, with a five-disc special edition and a "Diehard Deluxe" fan box set. The release date will be confirmed in due course.

Towsend comments: "It's been a huge amount of work for everyone, but we're almost there – and when watched in its entirety, it's really a heck of an experience. When the final products have been produced, we'll let you know. Fun – whew!" Check out the video here.





Anneke Van Giersbergen Releasing New Solo Album
(Prog) Anneke Van Giersbergen has signed to InsideOut for the release of her fifth solo album. The former vocalist with The Gathering – also known for her work with Ayreon and Devin Townsend – will release Drive on September 23, followed by an extensive European tour including a show at the Jazz Cafe, London, on October 19.

Van Giersbergen says: "I look forward to a long and prosperous collaboration with InsideOut. We share a genuine passion for music, and it's great to become label mates with my friend Devin, and many other talented musicians.

She's released a video clip covering her tour in support of previous record Everything Is Changing, plus the making of her latest record. Watch the video and grab her tour dates here.





Joe Satriani Performs National Anthem At U.S. Grand Prix
(hennemusic) Ahead of his upcoming North American tour in support of "Unstoppable Momentum," guitarist Joe Satriani performed the national anthem at the U.S. Grand Prix in Laguna Beach, California on Sunday.

The ninth consecutive year at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix also saw a concert featuring the original members of Bob Marley's The Wailers, as well as a wide assortment of activities over the 3-day weekend event.

Satriani launches his North American dates in San Diego on August 29. This spring, "Unstoppable Momentum" debuted at #42 on the Billboard 200 charts with first-week sales of around 11,000 copies, marking Satriani's highest US chart debut in over 20 years. Check out video of his anthem performance.





Springsteen & I Director Avoided 'God Like' Stories For The Film
(Radio.com) Springsteen & I, which opened last night (July 22), focuses on Bruce Springsteen fans and their devotion to the man, four decades into his career. It's a documentary about Bruce, in which his songs and fans do the talking, so Springsteen himself only appears in live concert footage. In fact, director Baillie Walsh didn't shoot a minute of footage or record any voiceovers. The entire movie is comprised almost entirely of fan testimonials, shot by the fans themselves and submitted for inclusion.

Walsh told Radio.com that after putting the call out to fans for self-shot testimonials in November of 2012, he quickly received about 300 hours of material. He actually watched every single submission.

"I felt very much a responsibility to do so," Walsh explained. "Enormous effort went into [filming those submissions] from thousands of people. I was worried that we were going to get 4,000 hours, that would have been a real problem. Three hundred hours was manageable. Every day we saw something new. Every day was exciting."

Directing the film was mostly an exercise in editing. Walsh spent six months in an edit, and had lots of decisions to make when putting together the final cut. While there's certainly a lot of love for Bruce in the documentary, there were some things that he steered away from.

"There were stories about how generous he is, stuff about 9/11, and he comes off a bit god-like, and I didn't feel comfortable with those stories," Walsh said.

"I think this film doesn't build Bruce to be a god. There's an undercurrent that he's a very decent man, and that does come across in the stories that are told. It's just very heartfelt stories of people talking about how Bruce and his music has affected their lives. One guy from Israel says, 'Bruce taught me how to be a man — a decent man.' That's who Bruce is.

"I really tried not to make it heavy-handed. I didn't come to the film as a Bruce Springsteen fan. I'm leaving it as a great admirer. I think his career is astonishing. I think the fact that he's still producing relevant music — the fact that [in 2012 he released] Wrecking Ball at the age of 60, that's an amazing achievement." Read more from the interview.





Ratt Singer Shares Backstage Photos With Van Halen
(hennemusic) Van Halen played their first US show of 2013 Saturday as they closed out the RockUSA Festival in Oshkosh, WI, and a few backstage photos have surfaced online.

Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy tweeted separate shots of himself with David Lee Roth (above) and Eddie Van Halen (below) at the final night of the 4-day event, which also saw performances from Godsmack, Anthrax, Buckcherry and many others.

"Great shows past wkend, except for the travel, we had a good time. Thanks for those who enjoyed. w/Dave backstage," wrote Pearcy.

"Ed VH backstage yesterday, the band kicked ass! The mighty EVH looked and sounded great," posted the Ratt singer. See the photos here.





Singled Out: Hey! Hello! (Ginger Wildheart)
Ginger Wildheart has a new collaborative band with Victoria Liedtke called Hey! Hello! and they are releasing their self-titled album today. To celebrate we asked Ginger to tell us about the first single, "Swimwear." Here is the story:

So, I'm walking around Asda, St Helens branch, when a familiar feeling hits me. "INCOMING..." And there it is, another song in my head, or at least the bare bones of one.

I think I'll call this one 'Enter The Dragon' being as I was born in 1964, a year of the Dragon, plus my eldest is also a Dragon (2000) and has just started his first band. What a wonderful year for us dragons this 'un has turned out to be.

It's also the title of the rather excellent Bruce Lee fight-flick that took the UK by storm when I was a kid, turning everyone my age into kicking, screaming mad ones, but I digress.

Anyway, "nice tune", I think to myself. "Think I'll keep hold of it unless Michael Monroe calls and wants me to write something on his new album". It would sound great with him singing it.

He never called.

Cut to Atherstone, UK where I'm mixing a couple of songs for my 555% album, and the chorus fully presents itself in blatant technicolour, 3D and Sensurround, insisting I change the title 'Enter The Dragon' to 'Swimwear'. Not being one to wrestle with my muse I allow the switch.

Suddenly a writing opportunity crops up with Courtney Love, for which I write 2 songs ('The Thrill Of It All' and 'Feral Days', both of which also appear on Hey! Hello!), and I keep 'Swimwear' stuffed firmly in my back pocket should the other two songs be gleefully accepted with open arms.

She never called.

Cut forward to a silly, semi-drunken conversation about making a noisy pop record where I play all the instruments. These kind of conversation are pretty dangerous for me as I react very positively to challenges.

For me songs typically breed, and it wasn't long before my recent, and so far unheard little compositions started to multiply.

First there were four, soon there were eight, and in no time I was demo-ing ten new sonic babies, bashing on an electronic d-drum kit in a small studio deep within the Midlands.

Armed with a ten song demo, with drums extracted and a click track installed, I went about learning how to play the drum tracks on an actual kit, starting with a kiddies scaled down set (belonging to my youngest, who incidentally named Hey! Hello!) and ultimately graduating to a full scale, shiny, big-boy drum kit.

I have to say that I had more fun recording these backing tracks than I can ever remember having in a studio, carving out not only sounds but personalities for the different players (being a multiple personality schizo certainly came up trumps on this occasion) and wrapping up the entire recording process in two weeks, before sending the tapes Stateside for Victoria to add her trans-Atlantic magic in time for a breath-takingly loud mixing session with Russ Russel.

And that, my friends, is the story of Hey! Hello! and 'Swimwear', in a nutshell.

And to think that if people wanted to hear my songs in the first place it would never have happened.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!




Voivod Release Target Earth Video
(Prog) Voivod have released a music video for their track "Target Earth." It's the title piece of their 13th studio album, which was released back in January.

The 3D graphics are based on artwork by drummer Michel 'Away' Langevin, after he met multimedia artist Nicola Piovesan at a Voivod show last year.

The band – who had to cancel a series of shows in February after vocalist Denis 'Snake' Belanger was diagnosed with digestive disease – recently revealed they have a batch of unreleased songs recorded with late guitarist Denis 'Piggy' D'Amour.

Belanger said: "There's a couple of things we could release one day, but it's a touchy thing at this point." Watch the video here.




Orphaned Land Release All Is One Video
(Prog) Orphaned Land have released a video for their track All Is One. It's the title piece from the Israeli outfit's recent fifth album, launched via Century Media in June.

Frontman Kobi Farhi says the record's name is deliberately misleading. He tells JPost.com: "What's ironic is that while the title is All Is One, the lyrics reflect the complete opposite.

"The front cover is some kind of utopian dream, showing the small movement we've succeeded in forging in Turkey and other places, but if you look at the big picture, nothing is really changing – there's no coexistence or peace and barely any talking going on.

"Our message is one of hope, showing how we succeed where politicians fail, but the lyrics on the album focus on the opposite – a tragic and bitter path." Watch it here.





Haken Premiere New Song Atlas Stone
(Prog) British prog rock band Haken have premiered a brand new track, Atlas Stone. It is taken from the band's forthcoming third album, The Mountain, the first to be released on the InsideOut label.

"Atlas Stone has a delicate mix of soft chiming passages, jazzy interludes and crunching riffs and encapsulates the spirit of the The Mountain perfectly" say the band.

"The song is exhilarating and uplifting but is tinged with a sense of urgency and desperation which reflects one's journey to the peak of the mountain. We can't wait to play it on our upcoming tour in September!" Check out the song here.





Tedeschi Trucks Band Premiere New Song Idle Wind
(The Blues Tedeschi Trucks Band have released new track "Idle Wind" via Elle magazine. It's taken from Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi's upcoming second album.

The album, Made Up Mind, is due out on August 19, described as a continuation of their trademark blend of "blues rock and dirt-stained back porch roots rock."

TTB have confirmed a headline show at London's Albert Hall on July 19 as part of this year's Bluesfest London, where they'll be supported by special guests Mavis Staples. Check out the song here.





Metallica Release Master of Puppets Video From Orion Fest
(hennemusic) Metallica have released live footage of their performance of their classic track "Master Of Puppets" at last month's Orion Music + More festival.

The title track from the band's classic 1986 album was featured in Metallica's headlining set, which closed out the festival at Belle Isle in Detroit, MI.

The group have also released video of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" , "…And Justice For All" , "Harvester Of Sorrow" , "I Disappear" , and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"