Rock-N-Roll Forever

2007-10-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

Yoko's Birthday Present To John

On a day that should have been John Lennon's 67th birthday, Yoko Ono dedicated the Image Peace Tower in Iceland. Attendees included Sean Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison's widow. Paul McCartney was invited, but no word on his attendance. "This is the biggest birthday present I gave to John," Ono told the press last month. "He's very, very happy about it, I know." (Source)

Click here to check out a Lennon photo gallery on NME.com.

2007-10-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

How Much Is Radiohead Worth To You?

Radiohead's long awaited albume, In Rainbows, is being released next week - and you get to decide how much you will pay for it. There is also a deluxe version available that comes with CD and vinyl, plus a second disc of new songs and a lyric book. The deluxe edition runs about $81. You can purchase both on their website starting October 10th. (Source)

2007-09-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

Johnny Cash Receives Pardon
Starkville, MS has finally decided to pardon Johnny Cash 42 years after he was arrested for picking flowers from someone's garden. Cash would go on to write a song about the experience, "Starkville City Jail", that he eventually performed at San Quentin. The most ironic twist is that he will be honored at the first annual Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival. I'm sure he would get a kick out of that. (Source)

2007-09-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

White Stripes Cancel Upcoming Tour Dates

There were a flurry of rumors going away yesterday, but now it's confirmed. Due to Meg White's "acute anxiety", the White Stripes have decided to cancel upcoming shows for the next month...which means my Chicago date is canned. The White Stripes released a statement saying, "We hate to let people down and are very sorry." I'm really bummed for many reasons. 1) White Stripes is my favorite band and I've been counting down the days to the show 2) they haven't rescheduled the concert - refunds only 3) it was a miracle I even got these tix because they sold out instantly, meaning I will have to hope for another miracle if they do reschedule. Oh well, what can you do, but hope for Meg's quick recovery. (Source)

2007-09-11T11:49:00.001-07:00

Watch The Mamas And The Papas Cover "Nowhere Man"
This clip is from the show "Hulabaloo" in 1965. The Mamas And The Papas show their love for the Beatles. Enjoy. (Source)

2007-09-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

Watch Kid Rock and Tommy Lee Throw Down
I'm sure you've heard about the fight between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee at the VMAs, but now you can watch some of the drama unfold. Click here to watch it all go down. Kid Rock could face up to six months in jail for a misdemeanor, but we all know that won't happen.

2007-09-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Shocking Report Reveals Rock Stars Live Fast, Die Young
The study looked at artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Eminem. In all, 100 of the stars studied had died — 7.3% of women and 9.6% of men. They included Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. The average age of death was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars. You can read the full study here. (Source)

2007-09-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Robert Plant Supposed Confirmation of Led Zeppelin Reunion

A fan had a run-in with Robert Plant where he confirmed there would be a reunion show for Led Zeppelin. He also confirmed it would be a one-off gig for charity. The rumor is that the show will be on November 2nd. (Source)

2007-08-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

CBGB Founder Dead at 75
The man that founded the birthplace of punk, Hilly Krystal, lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 75. Hilly founded CBGB, Country Blue Grass Blues, in 1973. He had a hard time finding country or blues bands to book, so eventually it became a punk bar with bands such as the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads. (Source)

2007-08-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Killers Duet With Lou Reed
The new song "Tranquilize" will be featured on an upcoming B side album the Killers will be released by the end of the year. Brandon Flowers describes the song as a "rollercoaster". He added, "There's a desperation to it. It's one of our more depressing songs, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel." (Source)

2007-08-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Queen Rocker Gets Doctorate

Brian May received his doctorate, not in music theory, but in astrophysics 30 years after he left school to start Queen. He received his diploma from London's Imperial College after submitting his thesis on "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud". (Source)

2007-08-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

Watch The New Video From The Eagles
"How Long" is the first video from their upcoming album.

2007-08-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

Chinese Democracy Be Damned

Axl Rose is taking time out from his epic (supposedly) record to be a part of Sebastian Bach's new album. Rose joins Bach on two tracks. "Angel Down" will be released in November. (Source)

2007-08-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Preview Scorsese's Rolling Stones Documentary
The new Stones documentary, "Shine A Light", isn't released until April 2008. Check out the trailer.

2007-08-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Elvis Gun Stolen, Then Found In A Toilet
A gun that was stolen during the 30th commemoration of Elvis' death was recovered in a toilet. Yes, a toilet. A janitor found it as he was cleaning a portable toilet behind the museum from which it was stolen. The culprit was caught on film at around midnight on the last night of Elvis week. Officials say the person accidentally dropped it in the toilet. Does anyone believe the janitor just happened upon it? Sorry, but something stinks about this story. No pun intended. (Source)

2007-08-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

A New Elvis / Lisa Marie Duet
Lisa Marie has joined her daddy for a duet of "In The Ghetto". All proceeds will go to set up a new Presley place transitional house in New Orleans. Click here to read an interview with Lisa Marie. (Source)

2007-08-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Long Live The King
Today is the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. To commemorate, enjoy a little Heartbreak Hotel.

2007-08-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

John Lennon's Catalogue Now Available On iTunes
You can now download Lennon's solo work, along with exclusive video content. The videos will only be available for the next 30 days. (Source)

2007-08-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Van Halen To Reunite With David Lee Roth
This was announced today in a press conference with Wolfgang in tow. Does anyone believe it will actually happen? Let's start the over / under bets. If it does happen, it will the first time in 22 years. (Source)

2007-08-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

AT&T Censors Pearl Jam
Remember when I said Eddie got on his political soap box at Lollapalooza? It went a little something like this:

(to the tune of "Another Brick In The Wall")
“George Bush, leave this world alone.”
“George Bush find yourself another home.”

Brilliant, right? Well, AT&T didn't think so. They went silent during this ad lib on their live telecast at the Blue Room website. They are claiming it was a mistake by one of their editors.

2007-08-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

Highlights From Bob Dylan's Biopic
Click here to read some highlights from Dylan's biopic, "I'm Not There". The film features Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale and Jim James (!).

2007-08-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Lollapalooza: Day 3

We got the party started early with the 1900s (not to be confused with the 1990s). This is my favorite Chicago band. Beatle Bob introduced them by saying, "In my opinion, this next band should be headlining Lollapalooza in the near future." That sounds like a ringing endorsement to me. I recommend their first disc - Plume Delivery. The band barreled through those tunes and debuted some new stuff. Their new discus, Cold & Kind, comes out in October.

Next up was David Vandervede. Sorry, no pics for this show. I loved it though. I was new to DV and wasn't sure what to expect. It was kick-ass. I'll be downloading his stuff pronto. We busted out of that show to make it to an impromptu Ben Harper performance at Kidzapalooza. His first song was "Steal My Kisses", where he told the crowd that he wrote that song for his eldest son. He didn't like his beard and so he would have to go in for the smooch.

After Ben Harper, we bounced around from Amy Winehouse to Blue October. Really, I was getting antsy for one the show I had been looking for all weekend. No not Pearl Jam, although I was definitely looking forward to that, but My Morning Jacket. They performed with Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. They looked great, in their tuxes, and sounded even better. I could have stopped the weekend there.

But then, there was Pearl Jam. These pics are terrible, but then again, there were 250,000 people there that I had to fight for a space. Eddie was in top form. He got on a political soapbox, but it didn't polarize the audience at all. No one was moving until the fat lady sang.

Oddly, that fat lady happened to be Ben Harper. He came out for the encore like he did on Thursday. It was the perfect end to the perfect weekend and the perfect festival. I had the best time. Thank you Lollapalooza for bringing fantastic music to Chicago.

2007-08-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Lollapalooza: Day 2

The second day of Lollapalooza was definitely more packed than the first. I was able to get close pics for some shows and wasn't able to get any for others. The first show I caught was Pete Yorn. He was on top of his game for this show. It was a nice way to start the day. The crowd turned out in large numbers, so I was unable to get a pic of this performance.

Next up was Stephen Marley. Okay, this turned out to be one of my favorites of the weekend. Stephen Marley kicked ass. He mixed his own tunes, which stayed true to the soulful 70s reggae sound his dad made so popular, with Buffalo Soldier and No Woman, No Cry. It gave me goosebumps because he looks so much like Bob Marley and sounds exactly like him as well. This show had the most energy from the crowd than any other I saw throughout the weekend.

Unfortunately, I had to cut out towards the end of the performance to make it over to the Kidzapalooza tent to see Jim James from My Morning Jacket perform. I only saw one song - Rainbow Connection. Think for a moment of James' voice and the beauty of that song. It was denitely worth hauling ass across the park to see. I heart Jim James. Check out his new look. He's hot w/o all that hair.

After Jim was done, Perry Farrell appeared to introduce the next performer.

Which was Patti Smith. She was more PC this time around. No rant & raves here. She kept it PG.

I hiked back to the Marley stage to see The Roots. This was a very cool performance for a couple of reasons 1) the Roots brought much-needed hip-hop to the festival which it desperately needed and 2) the guys from My Morning Jacket were standing about 10 feet to my left. The Roots kept up the energy from the crowd that Marley built. They did a little medley of old school hip-hop that rocked the house. I now consider myself a Roots fan. Sorry for the blurry pic. P.S. I decided not to blow MMJ's cover. So I gave them their space.

We were up close and personal with Snow Patrol. Apparently, Chicago is a big Snow Patrol fan. Fans were singing every word to every song. Definitely a cool show.

So I skipped out on Interpol, which am now kicking myself for. But I wanted to be well-rested for the final day. More pics to follow.

2007-08-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Lollapalooza: Day 1
I kicked off my '07 Lollapalooza experience with being baptized by Polyphonic Spree. I would gladly go to church every Sunday if it sounded like that. They are one of my faves and they got the crowd going. They played new and old stuff, including an amazing cover of "Lithium".

They even busted out the customary robes.

Next up was the Black Keys. I was on my way to see Satellite Pary when a friend convinced me to stick around to see them. One person on drums, another on guitar - and they were as energetic and loud as another drum/guitar duo we know. Their sound was like a bluesy southern rock. I was happy I listened to my friend.

Finally, I opted for Ben Harper at the end of the night. Why is he so good? It was my first time seeing him live. I'll be on the lookout for another Chicago visit.

Towards the end of his set he introduced a "friend and brother", which turned out to be Eddie Vedder. He was paying back a favor to Ben Harper for joining Pearl Jam at a warm-up show on Thursday night. I'm still trying to forget that show ever happend. It was in a 1,300 capacity theater here in Chicago. I would have given my right arm to attend.

I'm looking forward to today. Stay tuned!

2007-08-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

Graceland To Be Renovated
$250 million is being socked into Elvis' home. New additions will include a visitors center, a hotel, and a museum with all the digital bells & whistles. A timeline hasn't been announced. August 16th is the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. (Source)