Guns N’ Roses is back.
OK, so it’s not the original lineup, but Axl Rose will still be leading the charge when the Gunners play three concerts at small clubs in New York City next month.
Original members Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Slash, Dizzy Reed and Matt Sorum are no longer in the band which will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April. (more…)
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band announced tour dates for the “Wrecking Ball” Tour, which kicks off March 18 in Atlanta and wraps up May 2 in Newark.
Tickets go on sale Friday.
For those of us here in the New York area, The Boss will play two dates at the Izod Center (April 3 & 4) and two more at Madison Square Garden (April 6 & 9) before returning for the Newark show. (more…)
Diamond Dave played with Van Halen Thursday night at the 250-seat Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village.
David Lee Roth’s 92-year-old uncle, Manny, founded the club. Jimmy Fallon and John McEnroe were among those in the crowd.
Judging by these videos, they sounded rough but ready to rumble. The band will tour in 2012 and has a new album out next month.
Here’s an excerpt from a piece by Andy Greene of Rolling Stone, who was in the house.
I stood a good five feet in front of Eddie Van Halen (dressed in ripped jeans and a black t-shirt) and the man played absolutely flawlessly. It was a beautiful sight. Before the start of a Van Halen tour you never know what Ed you’re getting. The 2004 Van Hagar Ed was a drunken, shirtless mess. The 2007/08 reunion Ed was cleaned up and together, and that clearly is the case today. While Roth ordered drinks from the stage and took some shots, Ed restricted himself to bottled water and a couple of Red Bulls. (more…)
I spent New Year’s Eve at the cozy Bowery Ballroom with my wife and friends watching this Patti Smith show in which she and Michael Stipe did the Glen Campbell song ‘Wichita Lineman.’
Sounded great.
Patti Smith and Her Band play this venue every year for three shows around New Year’s and it looks like 2011 was her last time at the Bowery.
In fact, she sang “The Last Time” by The Stones near the end of the set, which features the words:
Well this could be the last time
This could be the last time
Maybe the last time
I don’t know.
The good news is that Lenny Kaye, Patti’s guitarist who was kind enough to play my 40th birthday party at Shades of Green Pub, told the New York Times the band will simply move to another location in New York.
“It’s just time to move on,” he said.
Springtime will be full of jam bands at the Beacon Theater.
The Allman Brothers Band announced their annual run with 10 shows going from March 9-25.
Furthur, featuring Bobby Weir and Phil Lesh, will play eight shows from April 9-18.
For more info, visit the Beacon Theater website here.
Add Van Halen to the list of bands who will tour next year to celebrate an anniversary.
David Lee Roth will join guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Wolfgang Van Halento celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary.
I saw these guys from the front rows of Madison Square Garden in 2007, when they last toured, and they sounded great.
That was their first appearance with Diamond Dave since the ill-fated (and very short) 1996 reunion. (more…)
The Rolling Stones will turn 50 years old in 2012 — meaning they’ve been together more than seven times longer than The Beatles — and the world is expecting some form of anniversary party.
“They have to do something for the 50th anniversary tour, but what?” a source who has worked with the band for several decades told me.
The source said the band recently met in London but nothing has been resolved.
“Right now, it’s still up in the air,” the source said. “You’ll see the Stones live but whether or not it’s going to be a major tour or oddball shows here and there is still up in the air.” (more…)
NEW YORK — So on Sunday morning, my wife and kids and I went through our annual tradition of buying a Christmas tree from our local stand on the corner of 19th St. and 2nd Ave.
As we were walking home — me carrying the tree on my shoulder — Bruce Springsteen and his son were sitting in a parked Range Rover on the corner of 18th and 2nd.
My wife Jen noticed them first and said Bruce was looking at us — happy family with a tree and all.
After she came up and told me, I looked back directly at Bruce sitting in the driver’s seat. I waved and smiled, and he waved and smiled back. He looked mad cool.
He also played Thursday night at the Garden with Bob Seger, doing “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to ask him the dates of the U.S. tour next year, nor did he sing, “Merry Christmas, Baby” to us.
But it was a great New York City moment.
Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley never got along too well during their KISS days.
Now they’re trading shots in print.
In his new book, “No Regrets,” Frehley calls Simmons a “sex addict” who had trouble with women before he became a rock star, while Simmons responded in the New York Post by calling Ace a “drug addict and alcoholic.”
“I believe Gene is a sex addict, in much the same way I am an alcoholic,” Frehley, a Bronx, N.Y., native, wrote in the book. “If you’ve been with only one or two women (and had to beg for whatever you got off them), it must be intoxicating to suddenly have groupies falling all over you. (more…)
Bruce Springsteen has released this statement about Clarence Clemons’ death (courtesy Rolling Stone):
Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the oppurtunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band. (more…)
“Adam Zagoria sees the story behind the daily happenings.”
~ St. Anthony Coach Bob Hurley
Zagoria covers the New York Knicks and Big East hoops for NBA.com and SNY.tv. He also appears as a Big East Basketball Insider on SNY and 1050 ESPN Radio.
He is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, SI and Basketball Times.
