Metallica Looking To Add More Sphere Shows
Metallica says they are hoping to add more shows at the Las Vegas Sphere in the future. In a social media post, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers thanked fans for selling out all 24 shows of their Life Burns Faster residency that have been announced at the cutting edge venue. They went on to say they have heard fan complaints about the ticketing process and are working with their partners to improve the experience and offer some remedies for the next time around. Fans reported issues like not being able to join waiting rooms or having their browsing activity paused by Ticketmaster during the various presales and general onsales. Metallica will kick off their Sphere residency in October with shows scheduled through March of next year.
BON JOVI: Biopic Coming
Bon Jovi is the latest act to have their story told in the form of a bio-pic. Focusing on the band's formative years through their third and breakthrough album, 1986's Slippery When Wet, it's being made by Universal Pictures who have the full cooperation of Jon Bon Jovi and access to his band’s music library. No word on when production will begin or when it will be released. Other artists with bio-pics currently in the works include The Beatles, Heart, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joni Mitchell, Bret Michaels, and KISS.
EAGLES: Another One of Those Nights
The Eagles are following up last month's 50th anniversary reissue of Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 on clear vinyl with an expanded edition of their fourth album, 1975's One of These Nights. Their first of four consecutive number-one albums, which also earned them their first Grammy as "Lyin' Eyes" won for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, will be available on CD, vinyl and digitally on May 1st. The 3CD/Blu-ray set contains a new mix of the album, their unreleased 16-song set from the Sunshine Festival on September 28th, 1975 at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, and new Dolby Atmos and high-res stereo mixes.
And the three-disc vinyl set will include the new album mix and the full concert recording. The concert performance was their final one with original guitarist Bernie Leadon, and his eventual replacement, Joe Walsh, joined them on the encore of "Rocky Mountain Way."That show also saw them cover Chuck Berry’s “Carol,” which is streaming now.
SAMMY HAGAR: Back to the Strip
For the second straight year, Sammy Hagar and the Best of All Worlds Band are setting up shop at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas for six shows starting this Wednesday, March 11th through the 21st. He's once again joined by bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff. Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, whose resume includes Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, David Gilmour and many others, takes over for Rai Thistlethwayte. He's joined Toto, which Phillinganes was a member of for 20 years. Hagar is promising a different set list this year, with hopefully a different song to open each night.
And Michael Anthony says they will also do a handful of early Van Halen songs. "We try to do a nice mix of the David Lee Roth-era stuff along with Sammy stuff and Sammy goes, 'Yeah, why don't you pick some songs,' and so I've got about five early Van Halen songs -- I don't want to give anything way -- and then I rotate them around and I sing 'em." Following these six shows, Hagar and the band will go on a U.S. tour in June followed by the U.K. in July before returning to Vegas for five more shows from September 18th through the 26th.
PRETENDERS: On To Lucky 13
Chrissie Hynde has once again posted about missing being on tour, but she's got plenty of things to keep her occupied, including working on a new Pretenders album. She says “(Guitarist) James Walbourne and I have been writing for the next one…provisionally called
Outlaw. (Yes I know there’s probably 1000 albums titled Outlaw.) We start recording that in the next couple of months.” The Pretenders haven't performed since last July, and their last album was Relentless in 2023. Chrissie will also be heading to Rio de Janeiro soon to work on an album with Moreno Veloso, Kassin Kassin and Domenico Lancellotti of the Brazilian band
The +2s. And she's working on the follow-up to her 2019 jazz-leaning album, Valve Bone Woe, along with another exhibit of her paintings. She says, "I’m not trying to make a name for myself as a painter. I just like painting and there’s no point in just stacking them up in a warehouse, which is what I have been doing.” She concludes her post by saying she just finished reading A Better Life by Lionel Shriver.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: A Thursday in Soho
Bruce Springsteen will release a new song this Thursday. It's a cover of The Pogues' "A Rainy Night in Soho," which he performed during stops in Ireland in May 2024 in tribute to that band's late singer Shane MacGowan who died the previous November. While on tour in Ireland in 2023, Springsteen paid a visit to the ailing MacGowan, which his wife Victoria said, "What an amazing honor and a beautiful experience to get a visit from The Boss. Such a truly wonderful man and a total genius.” And following his death, Springsteen posted a photo of MacGowan and himself on Instagram, captioning it with, "Shane was one of my all-time favorite writers. The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock and roll canon. I was fortunate to spend a little time with Shane the last time we were in Dublin. He was very ill, but still beautifully present in his heart and spirit. His music is timeless and eternal. I don’t know about the rest of us, but they’ll be singing Shane’s songs 100 years from now." MacGowan was 65 when he passed from pneumonia.
In other Springsteen news, the new building for the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey will open on June 7th.
LINKIN PARK: Drummer Shows All of From Zero
Linkin Park drummer Colin Brittain teamed up with Drumeo to go through every song on the deluxe version of From Zero. Brittain also talks about his joining the band and his work on the production side of the album. Watch it now on YouTube.
MAMMOTH: Looking Ahead to Album 4
Wolfgang Van Halen says he's got a bunch of ideas for the next Mammoth album, but that will have to wait until his touring is done for the year. He told Canada's Global News, "We kind of have it penciled in for next year, around like [second quarter of 2027], that we'll probably get back in the studio for the next one. So I think maybe by the end of the year I'll start to shift my focus in my head to being more open to creative thinking, so to speak." And while his busy tour schedule won't leave much time off for writing, he's already got a bunch of stuff to choose from. "I think I have, like, 30 ideas that have just been, on and off, worked on. Cause it's never really when you work on the idea; it's whenever it's done. And even on this recent album, the songs 'Selfish' and 'Something New' were ideas that have been around since the beginning, since Mammmoth started. They just were never ready, and then I finally finished them, and then here they are." Mammoth continued their headlining tour last night (Tuesday) in Montreal.
REO SPEEDWAGON: Roll Through Another Reunion
While the name REO Speedwagon was officially -- for now -- retired in 2024 when singer Kevin Cronin chose to continue without bassist Bruce Hall, who, along with Cronin and band founder Neal Doughty control the name, there seems to be no shortage of reunion shows in their home state of Illinois. Their third one and second with Cronin in the last 10 months took place this past Saturday in Peoria at the Peoria Riverfront Museum to celebrate an exhibit on the band's late guitarist Gary Richrath who was born in Peoria in 1949. On hand were Cronin, Hall, Doughty, drummer Alan Gratzer, former singer Mike Murphy who replaced Cronin before he replaced him, and Richrath's son Eric. They performed a four-song set of "Ridin' the Storm Out" with Cronin and Murphy on vocals, "Take it on the Run," a cover of Van Morrison's "Gloria," and "Roll With the Changes." Afterwards, Bruce Hall took to Facebook to say, "Being back on stage with Mike, Kevin, Alan and Neal was awesome. Having Gary’s son, Eric, join us made it all the more special." The band also took part in a Q&A and were given a private tour of the exhibit. Gary Richrath left REO Speedwagon in 1989 and died in 2015.
Just last month, Cronin talked about the significance Richrath had on his career aboard the
Rock Legends Cruise and how challenging it was to continue the band without him. "Gary brought out something in me that I didn't have without him. He took my songs, which were kind of like folk songs, and he plugged it into a Marshall (amplifier) stack and made it kick ass. And I took his songs and worked with the lyrics and the melody a little bit and the song craft of it. So, neither of our songs would have made the records that they made without each other."
Goo Goo Dolls Join Forces With Steve Aoki For Reimagined "Iris"
Steve Aoki and Goo Goo Dolla are teaming up for a reimagined version of "Iris." The reimagined version turns the 1998 song into a festival anthem. The collaboration comes after a surprise onstage appearance at Stagecoach in 2025, when Aoki invited Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik to join him during his live set. Aoki said performing "Iris" live with the Goo Goo Dolls was an unforgettable moment, adding "that feeling stayed with me, and I knew we had to take it into the studio and build a version designed for festival stages." Goo Goo Dolls and Steve Aoki's "Iris" is available to stream now.
IN OTHER NEWS
Elton John was supposed to receive the Glenn Gould Prize last fall, but the Glenn Gould Prize Gala Honouring Elton John has been rescheduled for May 9th in Toronto. He’s being recognized for his legendary career and humanitarian contributions and will be saluted by an all-Canadian lineup including Diana Krall and Ron Sexsmith. The award was established in 1987 by The Glenn Gould Foundation to honor the legacy of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, who died in 1982 at age 50. Elton says, “After spending decades admiring the virtuosity of Glenn Gould’s work, I am awestruck and honored to receive this award.” Previous recipients include Leonard Cohen, Oscar Peterson and Yo-Yo Ma.
The Ballad of Judas Priest, co-directed by Tom Morello, will have its North American premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian international documentary film festival in Toronto from April 23rd through May 3rd.
Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs have announced a summer tour that starts July 7th in Minneapolis and wraps up July 24th in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Tickets go on sale Friday.
David Gilmour, after celebrating his 80th birthday last Friday by releasing “On an Island” from his April 2006 appearance on Sessions @ AOL, followed by “This Heaven,” has now released a third track, “Smile.” Like the previous two, this one is also off the On an Island album, which came out 20 years ago. You can find it on YouTube.
Kansas and 38 Special will tour together for a second straight year – June 5th in Little Rock, Arkansas through June 20th in Lincoln, Nebraska, followed by two dates in July – the 10th in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the 17th in Beaver Dam, Kentucky.
Foreigner will start streaming a 2025 performance of “Urgent” with new singer Luis Maldonado on all major streaming platforms on March 20th. Captured last year in Halifax, Nova Scotia, it was previously released exclusively on YouTube.