Fat chance Melanie Szepvolgyi is going to forget this year’s HFStival. Out of the 30-plus bands at the two-day musical extravaganza going on at RFK Stadium, she had wanted most to see Coldplay, the up and coming Britpop band. She was as surprised as anyone yesterday when lead singer Chris Martin pulled her up on stage to sing. “I was in the front of the stage, and nobody knew them up there. [People in the crowd] were being so rude and obnoxious,” said the still-glowing 24-year-old who had flown in from Columbus, Ohio. “Then they started playing my favorite song,… Read more »
Boston, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Patti Smith Group, the Talking Heads, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers head the 2002 class of newly eligible artists for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, sources close to the process revealed to allstar on Thursday (May 24). An artist has to have first recorded 25 years ago (1977) in order to be newly eligible. Others eligible for the first time are Will Ackerman, Blondie, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Peabo Bryson, Burning Spear, John Cougar, Dwight Twilley Band, Firefall, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Amy Grant, Greg Kihn Band, Sammy Hagar, Richard… Read more »
Starting May 10, the hottest music ticket in town will be accessible at www.warnerbros.com when Linkin Park raises the cyber roof with their eclectic mix of hard rock, hip-hop and rap as part of Warner Bros. Online’s Live Concert Series. Fans can catch an exclusive Linkin Park concert captured at the Sixth Annual Boarding for Breast Cancer Extreme Sports and Music Festival from Lake Tahoe, Calif., where the band plays selections from their certified platinum debut album “Hybrid Theory,” including the hit singles, “One Step Closer” and “Crawling.” Warner Bros. Online’s seven-camera shoot of the L.A. rap-metal crew, as captured… Read more »
Blink-182 have picked a single for their forthcoming album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and are offering fans a sampling on their Web site. An excerpt from the song, “The Rock Show” is currently streaming at www.blink182.com, a couple weeks before its May 7th radio date and some six weeks away from the June 12th release of Jacket. Of course, the track is loaded with bounce and hooks, typically youthful and reflective, “Couldn’t wait for the summer and the Warped tour,” sings singer/bassist Mark Hoppus. “I remember it’s the first time that I saw her there.” The San Diego… Read more »
Oh, what a week it was for music news. My head hurts just thinking about it. No, wait – that’s just my hangover. Twelve-time Brit Award winner and international chart topper Robbie Williams disclosed plans to release a version of “We Are the Champions,” recorded with the remaining members of Queen. Poor Freddie Mercury is pirouetting in his grave. Williams also told a British chat show he’s been wrestling with alcoholism off-and-on for the past four years. Let’s hope he sobers up for good before somebody convinces him to tackle “Radio Ga Ga.” Mariah Carey’s new deal with Virgin Records… Read more »
One day Australia’s hottest new rock exports are opening for heavy metal heroes AC/DC, the next day they are sharing the bill with race horses. Bands that want to make it big sometimes have to swallow their pride. During the 1960s, rock acts appearing on Ed Sullivan’s prestigious TV variety show were squeezed in between chimpanzees and circus clowns. In 2001, Australian punk-rock trio the Living End recently played for several thousand fans at a Los Angeles racetrack. But their afternoon set was punctuated by a 10-minute break so the horses would not panic as they galloped past the makeshift… Read more »
With a title like Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, which must be said aloud to be fully appreciated, it’s only appropriate for Blink-182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge to describe his band’s fourth full-length album as hard and fast. “This record is the hardest, fastest record that we’ve done,” DeLonge said from a San Diego studio where the band recently wrapped up recording. “It’s way more punk-rock than our previous records, and we’re excited about it.” Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, due June 12, follows 1999’s multiplatinum Enema of the State and last year’s successful live album, The Mark, Tom… Read more »
Although the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has chosen to celebrate its rebel heroes with a black-tie dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, the anarchic spirit of the form still permeated the air as the class of 2001 was inducted Monday night. There was presenter Keith Richards, beautifully rambling in tongues, the way all rock gods should, as he inducted Burton and Johnson. There was inductee Burke, looking like a sultan pimp in a sparkling burgundy suit and fur-trimmed cloak. There was Kid Rock diving headlong into Aerosmith’s past excesses as he inducted the band, joking of their 1977… Read more »
Kid Rock has settled out of court for an undisclosed amount with his ex-manager, who sued the musician back in July for $4 million. “We are glad that this case has been settled fairly and that the litigation has been brought to an end,” said Stephen Hutton of Uppercut Management and Rock in a joint statement on Monday (March 12). “There are no hard feelings and we wish each other well.” Hutton sued Rock – real name Robert Ritchie – for not paying up on the contract the two signed in 1996. “Against the backdrop of a dismal track record,… Read more »
Written By Wolves have delivered a powerful hard rock anthem, reminding us that things will always get better.
