Motorhead forced to cancel Hamburg show

 

 

Lemmy and co reschedule gig for December 9 in light of guitarist Phil Campbell’s health issues 

 

 

Motorhead have been forced to cancel tonight’s show in Hamburg due to guitarist Phil Campbell’s health issues.

He was admitted to hospital on Friday morning leaving Lemmy and co with no other option but to pull the plug on their gig at Berlin’s Max Schmeling Halle on Friday night.
Now their planned performance at Hamburg’s Sporthalle, which was due to take place tonight (November 28) is off, with the band announcing it'll now take place next month.
They say on Twitter: “Hamburg show is off today, rescheduled to December 9 at Sporthalle. See you all there. Thank you for all the well wishes for Phil.”
No details on Campbell’s condition have been made public. Their next scheduled gig is on November 30 in Denmark.

 http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-11-28/motorhead-forced-to-cancel-hamburg-show

 Pink Floyd to Tour Without Pink Floyd Songs

The surviving members of legendary rock band Pink Floyd will reunite next year with a North American tour. A tour that the band says will be “on Pink Floyd’s terms.”

“We’ve decided to put our grievances – our very strong grievances – aside and just sort of get on with it,” says guitarist David Gilmour via Skype, “and the only way we could manage to do that was to put the entire Pink Floyd repertoire aside for this tour. Roger [Waters] has refused to play any Pink Floyd songs, and I am okay with that.”

Roger Waters just laughed. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Waters says. “I’m willing to play virtually any Pink Floyd song ever written. I have, however, explained to Dave that I won’t perform the shit he put out as an impostor of the Pink Floyd band. We have these various points of disagreement, but I think Dave, Nick, and I all are willing to do what Rick would have wanted us to do.”

A photo of David Gilmour from 59 years ago.

Rick Wright was the keyboardist for Pink Floyd since the band’s founding, going back to the Syd Barrett days when Roger didn’t think he ran the whole thing. Rick Wright died on September 15, 2008. Wright’s passing has cast many doubts on the possibility of a Pink Floyd reunion, as he was an integral part of the sound of the band.
Drummer Nick Mason explains, “Rick was always the peacemaker in the group. Without him I didn’t see any way to get Dave and Roger to work together ever again. Can I have another beer, please?”
Mason came by our Penn Valley offices to play us a DVD of the rehearsals. He happened to be picking up some “equipment” from a guy I know in North San Juan. What we saw on our 80” 4K screen was simply astounding. Waters has added his light show to that of the already world famous Pink Floyd visual effects repertoire. The results were other-worldly and visually stunning.


After opening the bottle and taking a long pull, Mason continued.
“This idea of doing other groups’ songs, I think it’s brilliant. And Dave and Roger are working together beautifully, like little schoolboys. It’s quite terrific. So much like when we were just starting out.”
Mason told us more about the music.
“Picking and choosing which songs to play, rather than turning into slap-fights, has actually been quite cathartic for the three of us. Oh, yes. It’s been quite a lot of fun. I’ve never played any music but my own, you know? And it’s quite interesting to hear some of my favourite songs done in the Pink Floyd style. It’s really a lot to take in, really.”
 
The music we heard was angelic. Gilmour’s voice transformed Led Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ into a psychedelic voyage. Roger Waters’ interpretation of Primus’s ‘Tommy the Cat’ had our faces melting. I kept the DVD. I didn’t – wouldn’t – give it back to Mr. Mason. He was kind enough to leave it with us at the Scooper. We swore we wouldn’t show any of you any of it.
“We agreed that it might be a lark to sort of get our aggressions out by playing songs that we weren’t so invested in,” explained bassist Roger Waters to the Nevada County Scooper by phone. “The fans who hear our version of The Grateful Dead’s ‘Casey Jones’, they’re not going to complain. Any more than the fans who hear us do a Pink Floyd version of Metallica’s ‘Seek and Destroy’. The songs we’ve chosen are really all quite beautiful tunes that send some sort of message.”
Pink Floyd’s North American Tour will start in the Spring of 2016 and will span just 8 cities. Get your tickets now.

 http://www.ncscooper.com/pink-floyd-to-tour-without-pink-floyd-songs/

Guns N’ Roses hint at reunion with new merch featuring original members

Axl and Slash had previously squabbled over ownership of the band's copyright

For all the talk of a Guns N’ Roses reunion in recent weeks, the band’s principal members have remained noticeably mute on the subject. They haven’t confirmed a comeback of the band’s classic lineup, but they haven’t outright denied it either. Today, the band added fuel to the reunion fire by revealing new merchandise featuring the original band members.
GNR’s website is now selling various blankets, pillows, ornaments, stockings, and more, all adorning the band’s classic logo and/or the faces of Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stadlin, and Steven Adler. As Alternative Nation notes, this is a major development, as Axl and Slash have long squabbled over ownership of the band’s copyrights.
According to our own sources, GNR is indeed fielding offers for a potential reunion tour, with Coachella among the band’s biggest suitors. However, as of last month, the band was undecided on a long-awaited comeback.

 http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/11/guns-n-roses-hint-at-reunion-with-new-merch-featuring-original-members/

 

If you buy one album out this week, make it...

Supergrass - I Should Coco (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)  

 

 

Supergrass - I Should Coco (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

Brace your credit card one last time this Black Friday, dip back into 1995, and rediscover quite how good Supergrass’s debut was – complete with remasters, genuinely great B-sides (e.g. Wait For The Sun, Sex!), hitherto-hidden demos, acoustic versions, two blistering live shows… Oh, and vinyl and 3-CD formats.

It’s a shame that Supergrass have largely gone down in history as ‘the band that did Alright’ (followed by choruses of “We are young! Nah nah nah! Erm….keep our TEETH! Nice and CLEAN!”). Not because Alright isn’t fabulous. It absolutely is – it’s three minutes of pop perfection. But to ignore the rest of this fantastic record, and all the personality crammed therein, would be a terrible mistake.
Beyond Alright – and the much-mentioned ‘cheeky chappie’, generously sideburned face of Gaz and co – there was always more to Supergrass. Quite apart from the quality albums that followed I Should Coco (In It For The Money, Life On Other Planets, Road To Rouen…), the volume of instantly loveable gems and eccentricities in this package prove what a killer prospect they were. Fun and fiery, but with real substance.
From primal demos of Lenny, to the likes of Time in finished glory, it’s a vibrant memoir of a band at their excited, fruitful beginning. Mansize Rooster, She’s So Loose, Caught By The Fuzz... and remember Sex!? The first – and probably only – time anyone has made Shepherd’s Pie the star of a cute pop song. As mood-lifters go, it’s up there with videos of baby pandas. 
I Should Coco made Supergrass briefly huge. But Britpop quickly became associated with Oasis and Blur – who (one can argue) made fewer really strong records, spent much of the 90s/early 00s bickering about stuff, and became much bigger names in the process.
Which makes this anniversary package especially deserving of your attention. Dive in, absorb, and reignite a quietly brilliant slice of pop rock history.

 http://classicrock.teamrock.com/features/2015-11-27/if-you-buy-one-album-out-this-week-make-it-33

Foo Fighters release surprise new EP, Saint Cecilia, for free download

Featuring five new tracks recorded during an impromptu studio session at Austin’s Hotel Saint Cecilia 

 

For the last month, Foo Fighters’ website has been counting down to Midnight on Monday, November 23rd. The clock has now struck 00:00:00:00, revealing news of a surprise EP called Saint Cecilia that’s available to download right this very second. Better yet, it’s available as a free digital download. Pre-orders are also ongoing for a vinyl edition.
The EP was recorded during an impromptu session while the band was in town to headline Austin City Limits last month. The inspiration was to record some songs “to give to the world as a ‘thank yo’ for the last 2 years,” according to Dave Grohl. Setting up a makeshift studio at the iconic Hotel Saint Cecilia, the band proceeded to record five songs, some new and some old (“The Neverending Sigh”, for example, dates back 20 years). Foo Fighters were joined in the studio by a handful of collaborators, including Gary Clark Jr., Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Ben Kweller.
In an open letter (which you can read in full below), Grohl said the EP has “taken on an entirely different tone” in the wake of the Paris terror attacks earlier this month, which forced Foo Fighters to cancel the remainder of their European tour. Grohl said that the EP is a “celebration of life and music” and is dedicated to victims of the attacks.
According to a description posted to iTunes, “this five-song EP captures nearly forgotten moments from the band’s 20-year odyssey — a brilliant patchwork of pieced-together riffs and song fragments that were tracked in an impromptu studio at Austin’s Hotel Saint Cecilia. The road-tested band blasts through the set of scrappy guitar-driven rockers with high-volume fury. Polished? No way. But the rowdy performances and rough edges make Saint Cecilia pack a visceral punch.”

 Saint Cecilia Vinyl Artwork:

 http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/11/foo-fighters-release-surprise-new-ep-saint-cecilia/

Barre: I’ll never turn my back on Tull

Guitarist Martin says live set will always feature band’s work - but wants solo material to take centre stage 

Former Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre says he’ll never turn his back on the band’s music.

He’s on tour in the US at the moment supporting his latest album Back To Steel. And while he says the material he recorded with Ian Anderson will always feature in his set, he ultimately wants his solo material to take centre stage.
Barre tells Paste: “Jethro Tull’s music will always be a part of my work – but I hope it becomes about 40% instead of 60%. 
"I will never turn my back on it, though. I’m not so stupid that I don’t know that people come to hear me play so they can hear Tull. But a lot of that music is in me anyway. That’s not far from home. It will always be there.”
And while he’ll always be associated with Tull, Barre stresses the importance of his band having their own identity.
He continues: “This has been a whole turning point musically. We will always have the Tull connection – that goes back to my roots and our fan base – but I want to take the fans with me. 
“Essentially our musical style isn’t really changing. Back To Steel is a more direct approach to my songwriting, and our intention is to make it more workable and accessible for an audience to enjoy.”
Last month, Barre described the moment Jethro Tull came to the end in 2011 as a “big personal shock.”

http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-11-25/barre-i-ll-never-turn-my-back-on-tull

Brian May on 40 years of Bohemian Rhapsody: 'I still listen to it in the car'

Bohemian Rhapsody celebrates its 40th birthday on 31 October, 2015. Guitarist Brian May recalls the song's creation, and why he'll never grow tired of hearing it.

How many songs become so ingrained in popular culture that they get their own nickname? Not many - but Bo Rap is one of them.
A sprawling, six-minute rock opera, it has been Christmas number one twice, soundtracked a pivotal scene in Wayne's World, and sold 2.44 million copies in the UK alone.
Not bad for a song the record company said would never be played on the radio.
Written by frontman Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody was painstakingly pieced together in six studios, pushing 1970s recording technology to its limits. The song's multi-tracked 'bismillahs' and 'scaramouches' were overdubbed so often that the tapes became virtually transparent.
But the band never lost faith in the track. "We all realised it was something wonderful and we should give it our heart and soul," says Brian May.
To mark the 40th anniversary, the guitarist looked back at the writing process, the boundary-breaking music video, and the song's resurrection in Wayne's World.

Image copyright EMI

Image caption Bohemian Rhapsody spent nine weeks at the top of the charts in 1975

THE BEGINNING

There was no demo. It was all in Freddie's head and on lots of little pieces of paper, which he used to make notes on. And I mean literally notes. He would put A♭, C♯, D♭ in little blocks.
So Freddie had the framework in his head and he and Roger [Taylor, drums] and John [Deacon, bass] set out each part as a backing track. Then we set about embroidering it.

RECORDING 'THAT' RIFF

The heavy bit was a great opportunity for us to be at full pelt as a rock band. But that big, heavy riff came from Freddie, not me. That was something he played with his left hand in octaves on the piano. So I had that as a guide - and that's very hard to do, because Freddie's piano playing was exceptional, although he didn't think so. In fact, he thought he was a bit of a mediocre piano player and stopped doing it later on in our career.

GETTING THE SONG PLAYED ON RADIO

We were told it was going to be a hard sell, but it ended up being easy because Kenny Everett stole the tape from a playback session we had to launch the Night At The Opera album and took it upon himself to go out and play it to death.
That made everybody else sit up. All the rest of the radio outlets thought: "Oh God, we'd better get on this quick or else we'll be left behind!"

Image caption The band were not fans of the BBC's Top Of The Pops show, and made relatively few appearances after their career took off

MAKING THE VIDEO

I know it's been called the first ever music video, but it's hard to actually define these things. I know for a fact the Beatles made 35mm films of tracks - but ours was more like a mini-movie.
It was filmed with the express purpose of giving it to Top of the Pops. For those of us who remember it, it wasn't a classy programme. Top of the Pops didn't have a good reputation amongst musicians. Nobody liked it, really.
It always seemed like a bit of a travesty. If your music had any meaning, it seemed to trickle away when you were standing on a box in a studio with lots of kids around. But you could hardly knock it because it was the way that records were sold.

Image copyright EMI

Image caption The band often split the song into sections during 1975's A Night At The Opera tour

TAKING THE SONG ON TOUR

Bohemian Rhapsody probably wasn't the most difficult track [from A Night At The Opera] to perform live. If we'd tried to do Good Company, for instance, or The Prophet's Song, it would have been much harder.
So, in putting together the tour, there was no particular worry about Bohemian Rhapsody. But we thought it was kind of pointless to try to recreate that huge, multi-part operatic section with just the four of us. So the solution we came to was we would go off stage, change our frocks, and come back and crash into the heavy section.
That operatic section has very often been a light show or a video show in our concerts - and I would rather have it that way than stumble through it and do something which is nothing like the record. It just makes much more sense to me to regard it as a performance art piece.

THE FIRST TV PERFORMANCE

We played it on TV for the first time on The Old Grey Whistle Test, which screened an entire show [from London's Hammersmith Apollo] on Christmas Eve, 1975.
That was a very big deal for us. It was totally and completely live. No delay or anything. If we'd had time to think about it, we would have got really nervous, but in fact we just ploughed in and thought "aha, we're ready for this". Precocious boys.

Image copyright Rex Features

Image caption Cult comedy Wayne's World featured an extended segment where Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) sang along to Bohemian Rhapsody in their car, along with several inebriated friends

WAYNE'S WORLD

I didn't know Mike Myers [who wrote and starred in the film] but he rang me up out of the blue and said: "We've done this amazing sequence in our new film - can we have your approval? And can you get Freddie to hear it?"
So he sent me a cassette and I took it around to Freddie, who was not in a good state at that time. He was… He was confined to his bed, but I took it round and played it to him and he loved it.
Strangely enough, the humour in it was quite close to our own. Because we did that kind of thing in the car, bouncing up and down to our own tracks!

THE SONG BECOMES A HIT FOR A SECOND TIME

There's a layer of humour in Queen songs - and Mike Myers managed to find it in Bohemian Rhapsody. It made it into a different kind of classic, and propelled it to a second life in the States.
There's a huge irony there - because there was a time when we completely owned America and we would tour there every year. It seemed like we couldn't go wrong - and then we lost America for various reasons, which are now history.
Freddie had a very dark sense of humour. And he used to say: "I suppose I'll have to die before we get America back." And, in a sense, that was what happened. And it was Wayne's World - which came completely out of nowhere - that made it happen.

Image copyright Press Association

Image caption Bohemian Rhapsody was a key part of Queen's career-defining set at Live Aid

BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

I do think Freddie enjoyed the fact there were so many interpretations of the lyrics. It's an outlandish song. I think it's beyond analysis. That's not me trying to be evasive. I just think that's why we love songs - they can do something to us that a piece of text can't.
I have my own ideas and feelings about Bohemian Rhapsody - but I hate talking about it, and I generally refuse.

THE LEGACY

I'm not sick of it. You can't complain that people want to talk about it all these years later.
I still enjoy hearing it. If it comes on the radio, I'll turn it up and listen. But no air guitar. I'm too old for air guitar now.
A DVD of Queen's 1975 show at the Hammersmith Apollo will be released on 20 November.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34651067