Month: June 2024

Sammy Hagar has announced the dates for his annual birthday bash, and this year he’s adding a second location for the annual festivities.

Hagar, who turns 77 on Oct. 13, already has his annual date set at Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; however this year the rocker has added an additional date at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The Vegas bash will take place on Oct. 4 -5, with the Cabo dates taking place on Oct. 11 and 13.

Hagar shares: “Every year we try to do something a little different with the birthday bash shows to accommodate the tens of thousands of requests. So this year this should help a few thousand more people be a part of the birthday shows and the island at the Palms closing for the winter, it’s a double celebration in Las Vegas. I hope everyone is happy with this year’s concept. I can’t wait. What a way to close the year out and flip another number 77 wow 0077 sounds like a lucky one to me.”

The legendary rocker also said in a video announcement: “I’m f**king excited!  Here’s what we do: It’s gonna be two nights in Vegas for 5,000 people. We have the 4th and the 5th in Vegas at the Palms. We’re playing the Pearl, and we’ve got lots of surprises for you. Oh yeah, same thing, surprise jams. Nothing’s gonna change. Then we’re gonna take the party straight to Cabo for the 11th and the 13th.”  Hagar shared of the two birthday bash locations: “That means 5,000 more people get to come to the birthday bash. We usually shut out 50, 60, 70,000 people that try to get in — and we’re closing the island down for the winter. So we’re gonna have a double party. We’ll party at the island all day, jam at the Pearl all night. Me and a bunch of friends, and you know what’s gonna happen. That’s Oct. 4 and 5 in Vegas at the Pearl, Oct. 11 and 13 in Cabo — the two party capitals of the world. And we’re gonna rock the Cabo Wabo!”

You can also catch Hagar on the road for Sammy Hagar & Friends concerts, featuring bassist Michael Anthony, guitar virtuoso Vic Johnson, and acclaimed drummer Kenny Aronoff.  In addition, the Van Halen-focused Best of All Worlds Tour featuring Sagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham will travel across North America throughout July and August.

Tickets for Hagar’s Cabo birthday bash will be distributed through a random drawing process; while tickets for the Vegas shows go on sale to the general public on June 21. More information for all Hagar’s tour dates are available at his official website.

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Riot Fest has shared its full 2024 lineup, taking place from September 20-22 at the all-new “RiotLand” at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill.

Festival organizer Mike Petryshyn (aka “Riot Mike”) wrote a statement on social media last week regarding the future of Riot Fest, stating that it would be moving to a new location from Chicago’s Douglass Park:  “I was tired of Riot Fest continually being the lowest hanging fruit. I was tired of playing their games. I was tired of watching something I love being continually used to deflect away from their own internal deficits. This prevented us from giving you the experience you deserve.”

Slayer, Fall Out Boy and Beck will headline the three-day festival, with the 2024 lineup also including St. Vincent, Public Enemy, Bright Eyes, Dr. Dog, Waxahatchee, Rob Zombie, Spoon, Cypress Hill, Tierra Whack, Something Corporate, The Armed, Beach Bunny, Gel, Drug Church, Taking Back Sunday, Fiddlehead, Basement, Sum 41, and Sublime featuring late singer Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob.

Full album performances this year include the Offspring playing Smash, Manchester Orchestra doing Cope, and Mastodon performing Leviathan. Other noteworthy sets are an Operation Ivy tribute by Laura Jane Grace and Catbite, Bob Marley’s sons getting together to perform his music, and NOFX playing a farewell performance.

For tickets and other information, head to the official Riot Fest website: here.

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Skid Row revealed they will debut their first official live album and concert film.  Filmed at 02 Forum Kentish Town on October 24, 2022, Skid Row – Live in London features performances of their classics including “18 and Life,” “Monkey Business,” and “I Remember You,” as well as new fan favorites like “Time Bomb” and “Tear It Down” from their album The Gang’s All Here.  The project will be available on digital, CD/DVD digipak, and 2 LP vinyl configurations on September 20th via earMUSIC.

The band said: “As teens, we dreamt of playing places like the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, and CBGB in New York City… our dreams became bigger with London, England at the forefront. We fantasized one day to headline a show in the very city where so many of our favorite bands came from.”

Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan shares: “London has always been a home away from home for us. We are very excited to finally capture a live show on video for the rest of the world to see.”

Guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo added: “After the release of The Gang’s All Here album, we realized that something special was happening. This record perfectly captures that moment in time. Thank you, London! You always deliver!! Onward and upward.”

Pre-orde/pre-save the album now on vinyl, CD, and all digital formats – HERE.

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Talking Heads will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Jonathan Demme’s concert film, Stop Making Sense, with a deluxe reissue. This version of the concert film’s soundtrack will arrive on black and crystal clear 2LP vinyl variants, and on 2CD/Blu-ray. All three forms will be released on July 26 — pre-orders can be made now via Rhino Records.

The new deluxe reissue of Stop Making Sense will include the previously unincluded tracks “Cities” and “Big Business/I Zimbra.” The vinyl packaging will include a 12-page booklet with liner notes and photos from all four members of the band –Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison—and band photos. The 2 CD/Blu-ray version includes the 28-page booklet from last year’s Deluxe Edition and a Dolby Atmos mix of the complete concert, mixed by Jerry Harrison and E.T. Thorngren, who also mixed the original release.

The inspiration for Stop Making Sense came after director Jonathan Demme saw Talking Heads perform during the band’s 1983 tour for Speaking in Tongues. Afterward, he approached them with the idea of making the show into a concert film; and Demme filmed three shows at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December 1983 to create Stop Making Sense.  When it debuted in September 1984, Stop Making Sense was an artistic and commercial triumph, with the soundtrack selling over two million copies. Just last year, the Library of Congress added Stop Making Sense to the National Film Registry in recognition of its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.

To pre-order the deluxe edition of ‘Stop Making Sense,’ head here.

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Bon Jovi has dropped its 16th studio album, Forever, which comes four years after the LP 2020, released in 2020. The 12-track Forever was recorded in seven weeks by Jon Bon Jovi and his bandmates — keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Hugh McDonald, guitarist Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley and rhythm guitarist John Shanks.

Frontman Jon Bon Jovi chronicled his journey recovering from vocal cord surgery in 2022 in the recent Hulu series Thank You, Goodnight – The Bon Jovi Story, sharing that it helped to inspire Forever: “I went into this surgery and I had a lot of time on my hands — all I could really do was sit around and start to think about songs. I started to feel joy again. And we — the collective we, who lived through COVID — we’d all come out of that fog, and we were interacting again. There was a new appreciation for life. And I was having this new appreciation for my body. And it led to all these songs.” Bon Jovi  added of the album:  “Nothing was on delay. It just flowed.”  

You can stream ‘Forever’ – here.

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The Eagles are heading to the Las Vegas Sphere, with the legendary rock band announcing an eight-show residency at the Sphere on Thursday, posting on Instagram: “The Eagles have announced a residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, featuring eight shows over four weekends, from Friday, Sept. 20 through Saturday, Oct. 19. The general on-sale will begin Friday, June 21 at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets start at $175 and will reflect all-in pricing, meaning the ticket price listed is inclusive of taxes and fees.”

The Eagles will perform dates in September and October; according to the Sphere website the residency offers fans “the ultimate connection to the band’s legendary catalog in an immersive experience that only Sphere can provide.” The Eagles’ Sphere residency follows residencies from rock bands Phish and U2, and the current residency from Dead & Company, which concludes at the venue on June 22.

Advance artist presale registration is available now at https://eagles.com. The artist presale begins Tuesday, June 18 at 10 a.m. PT. A Live Nation presale begins Thursday, June 20 at 10 a.m. PT. Limited VIP ticket packages will be available, Tuesday, June 18, at 10 a.m. PT at https://eagles.com and and include premium seats, exclusive merchandise, parking and more.

The Eagles, who launched its “Long Goodbye” farewell tour last fall, have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, scored six No. 1 albums, and topped the singles charts five times. They earned six Grammy Awards, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, in their first year of eligibility, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016.

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