Classic Hits

The Black Crowes are spending some more time on the road.

The band is already set to open for Aerosmith on their upcoming Peace Out tour, but now The Crowes have announced a new set of dates for what they’re calling the Happiness Bastards Tour (The Reprise). 

The new 22-date trek is set to kick off Sept. 28 in Cleveland and wrap Feb. 28 in Uncasville, Connecticut. It will run alongside the Aerosmith tour, which kicks off Sept. 20 in Pittsburgh, with The Black Crowes’ first date on the trek being Sept. 23 in Philadelphia.

Tickets for new dates go on sale July 19 at 10 a.m. A complete schedule can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

The Black Crowes are touring in support of their recent album, Happiness Bastards, which was their first album of new material in 15 years.

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Sting has added a new festival to his 2024 schedule.

The rocker is set to headline Bourbon & Beyond, happening at the Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Sept. 19-22.

Sting, who’ll headline Sept. 19, is replacing original headliner Neil Young, who in June canceled the remainder of his tour due to health reasons. Sting will be taking the stage with guitarist and longtime collaborator Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas.

“While we will miss Neil Young at Bourbon this year, we’re excited to welcome a music legend, Sting, to the Bourbon & Beyond lineup,” Danny Wimmer, founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, shares. “We’ve been trying to bring Sting to Bourbon for you since 2018 and it’s an incredible honor to have him join us for what will undoubtedly be our biggest and most unforgettable year ever.”

In addition to Sting, the Bourbon & Beyond lineup includes Beck, Dave Matthews Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, My Morning Jacket, Matchbox Twenty, The Beach Boys and Melissa Etheridge. A complete lineup can be found at bourbonandbeyond.com.

Sting is set to kick off the U.S. leg of his Sting 3.0 tour on Sept. 17 in Detroit, with the tour wrapping with a four-night stand in Los Angeles, Nov. 12, Nov. 13, Nov. 15 and Nov. 16. A complete list of dates can be found at sting.com.

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Sammy Hagar kicked off his The Best of All Worlds tour in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, and as promised treated fans to a set filled with Van Halen classics.

According to setlist.fm, Sammy opened the show with 5150’s “Good Enough,” followed by the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge track “Poundcake.”

The set also included plenty of other songs from the Sammy era of Van Halen, including “Judgement Day,” “5150,” “Summer Nights,” “Top of the World,” “The Seventh Seal,” “Right Now,” “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “When It’s Love.”

But Sammy and his band – Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte – also played at least two Van Halen tracks from the David Lee Roth era. First, they tackled the 1984 classic “Panama,” then later performed “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love,” with Anthony handling the vocals on the latter. They also performed a little bit of the #1 hit “Jump” as part of a medley. 

But it wasn’t all Van Halen all the time. Sammy also played some of his solo tracks, including “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” “Heavy Metal,” “Mas Tequila” and his classic “I Can’t Drive 55.”

Sammy Hagar’s The Best of All Worlds tour next hits the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, on Tuesday. A complete list of dates can be found at redrocker.com.

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Elton John topped the Billboard 200 Album chart with his fifth studio album, Honky Château.

The album, named after Château d’Hérouville, the 18th century French chateau where it was recorded, was Elton’s first #1 album, spending five weeks on top the chart. 

Honky Château featured future Elton classics “Rocket Man” and “Honky Cat,” which were both top 10 hits.

The album was the first of seven consecutive #1 albums from Elton, his last being Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in 1975.

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Foreigner’s Lou Gramm is about to become a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, but before he gets the honor, he’ll impart some rock ‘n’ roll wisdom to campers at the next edition of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, taking place in New York City. 

Gramm tells ABC Audio that he enjoys getting to interact with the participants, sharing, “I recognize the same obsession that I had when I was their age, and I gravitate towards that right away.”

While some campers are there to learn more about music, others are just there to have fun, but Gramm says they are all usually “very intelligent and they ask great questions.”

“It’s a real positive experience,” he says. 

Part of that camp experience is that participants get to perform with the musician counselors, and Gramm says it’s fun to play songs like “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero” with them.

“I get the impression that the young rockers really want to cut loose,” he says, “and those songs are perfect for that.” 

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s Rock The Apple is happening July 18-21. In addition to Gramm, counselors include Bad Company’s Simon Kirke, and Cheap Trick’s Rick and Daxx Nielsen. More info can be found at rockcamp.com.

Gramm and the members of Foreigner are set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The ceremony will stream live on Disney+, followed by a special airing on ABC at a later date.

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Stevie Nicks performed at the BST Hyde Park summer festival in London on July 12, and her old pal Harry Styles showed up to sing a few songs with her.

Stevie and Harry have been friends for years; he inducted her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and has performed with her onstage several times. On Friday he joined Stevie to sing the late Tom Petty‘s part on the duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” then stuck around to help Stevie perform her Fleetwood Mac favorite, “Landslide.” You can watch fan-shot clips of the performances on social media.

Stevie’s set concluded with a version of her late bandmate Christine McVie‘s hit “Got a Hold on Me.” McVie,  who died in 2022, was born on July 12.

Harry’s last actual concert was his tour-ending show in Italy in July 2023.

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While The Police may have put out some legendary albums throughout their career, drummer Stewart Copeland says that making those albums wasn’t necessarily a pleasant experience.

“We had a great bond, which wasn’t strong enough to make recording together very easy,” Copeland tells The Guardian when asked about his relationship with bandmates Sting and Andy Summers. “We tore each other’s throats out in the studio but those two motherf****** came up with incredible stuff and we got on really well on stage, in the van, on the plane.”

As for their current relationship, Copeland shares, “To this day we still send each other dumb Instagram clips. It’s a myth that Sting and I fought all the time. I broke his rib once, but we were play-fighting.”

The Police are set to reissue their final and most successful album, Synchronicity, on July 26, and Copeland describes recording the album as “very dark.” 

“We beat the crap out of each other,” he says. “We’ve laughed about it since, but going back into that black hole isn’t something we tended towards.” 

The super deluxe edition of the reissue includes 55 previously unreleased tracks — alternate takes, instrumentals, demos and live recordings — and Copeland is hinting at that other albums may get similar treatment. 

He notes, “But it was such fun listening to the demos and songs that didn’t make it, so there will be more reissues. We’re starting at the end and working backwards.”

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Even if you don’t get to see Billy Joel perform his ongoing residency at Madison Square Garden before he calls it quits, don’t worry — the Piano Man will still be in a “New York State of Mind.”

In a preview of an interview with Willie Geist that will air on NBC’s Sunday TODAY, Billy says that during the decade that he’s been doing his residency, there was an “exclusivity aspect” of the deal that prevented him from playing other New York-area venues. But now, he says, “We can play stadiums. Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium, Citi Field, where the Mets play, so there’s plenty of that lined up. I’m not going to stop doing shows. That’s what I do.”

“We have a whole schedule laid out into 2025, where we’re going to be playing,” he continues.

And he’s not even considering retiring, he says. “I’m not going to stop doing shows. That’s what I do. What else am I going to do? Stop doing shows and sit around, and watch TV, and turn into a vegetable? No. I don’t want to do that,” he notes.

Billy also says he’s happy that his audiences are filled with younger people, and not just people who’ve been around since he started his career 50 years ago.

“Yeah, and we’re getting all different age demographics. I’m seeing a lot of younger people in our shows. It’s like they’re coming to see the antique,” he laughs. “That’s all that I can do. But it helps having new audiences come in all the time.”

The final show of Billy’s MSG residency will take place on July 25.

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Elvis Costello is once again adjusting his show due to illness in his band.

The rocker announced on his Instagram Story that Imposter bassist Davey Faragher and special guest guitarist Charlie Seton are still unable to take the stage, so like his show in Philadelphia on Wednesday, he’ll be performing as a trio at his Friday show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. 

“THIS IS AS CLOSE TO THE ATTRACTIONS AS YOU ARE EVER GOING TO GET,” he writes, explaining that he’ll be taking the stage with drummer Pete Thomas and longtime collaborator Steve Nieve, both members of his previous band the Attractions, “for a unique trio performance.”

He adds, “Tonight’s show promises even more new arrangements and different song choices.”

Costello explained at his Philly show that Faragher and Sexton had “fallen afoul of a bad piece of fish.”

He writes in his latest post that he hopes they “will soon return to match fitness after illness,” but adds, “you should not miss the opportunity to see E.C. and his ‘Attractive’ cohorts in action.”

Costello is currently on tour with Daryl Hall. After Friday’s show they play Boston on Sunday. A complete list of dates can be found at elviscotstello.com.

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Jeff Lynne is offering up a unique live experience for fans.

The rocker is set to kick off the last-ever tour of Jeff Lynne’s ELO in August, and he’s teamed with Prizeo for a sweepstakes with a grand prize of a VIP experience to their Sept. 28 show in Chicago.

Two VIP packages are up for grabs in the sweepstakes, and they include tickets to the concert, roundtrip airfare, two nights’ accommodations and VIP access to the Jeff Lynne’s ELO lounge, including drink tickets, appetizers and a desert bar. It also includes a green screen photo booth experience, specially designed merch and a limited-edition tour poster.

Fans who donate at least $10 will be entered to win the package, although the larger the donation the more entries into the sweepstakes. Proceeds will benefit Simms Mann UCLA Center, which helps provide vital care to cancer patients and their families. 

Jeff Lynne’s ELO will kick off The Over and Out tour on Aug. 24 in Palm Dessert, California. A complete list of dates can be found at jefflynneselo.com.
 

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