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Foo Fighters kick off a lengthy North American tour on Wednesday night (April 18th) in Austin, Texas, and guitarist Chris Shiflett told Rolling Stone that even though frontman Dave Grohl makes up a set list for the show every night, it’s usually only good for the first two of the band’s three hours onstage.
Shiflett explained, “Things change on a dime. When we get into that final third, Dave will start cutting, adding and rearranging songs, or he’ll do stuff in a different order. You have to stay in the moment the whole time. You don’t want to be up there thinking about, you know, the room service. It keeps you on your toes.”Rolling Stone
Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Kim Thayil will perform together for the first time since the death of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, according to PearlJamOnline. The occasion will be the Northside Festival in Denmark on June 8th, where Cameron will appear as a special guest of the MC50. Alternative Nation
Bad Wolves and From Ashes To New will head out together on a co-headlining string of U.S. tour dates, starting on June 4th in Madison, Wisconsin. The trek will cross the country for a month, mostly hitting the East Coast, the South and the Midwest, until coming to a close on July 6th in Colorado Springs.
Bad Wolves is currently riding a wave of breakout success with their hit cover of the Cranberries’ “Zombie,” which has reached Number Three on the rock radio chart. Late Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan was scheduled to record a guest vocal for the track on the day she died last January.
June 21 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
June 22 – Norfolk, VA – Norva
June 23 – Jacksonville, NC – The Tarheel
Slash has booked his first solo tour dates since joining the Guns N’ Roses reunion tour back in 2016. The guitarist and his band, Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, will first perform at the Kaaboo festival “experience” in the San Diego area over the weekend of September 14th, 15th and 16th, and will also appear at Sacramento’s Aftershock Festival the weekend of October 13th and 14th. Ultimate Classic Rock
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has said in a new interview with the Portland Mercury that the legendary metal act’s fans are “furious” that Priest has not yet been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although Priest has been eligible since 1999 and was on the ballot for the first time this year, the British group did not make the final list of inductees who went into the Hall this past Saturday (April 14th). Blabbermouth
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Linkin Park and Imagine Dragons were among the rock and alternative nominees announced on Tuesday (April 17th) for the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday, May 20th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. While rock in general is not prominently featured, the relevant categories include:
Top Rock Tour:
Coldplay
Guns N’ Roses
U2
Top Rock Artist:
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
Portugal. The Man
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Twenty One Pilots
Top Rock Album:
Imagine Dragons, Evolve
Linkin Park, One More Light
Panic! At The Disco, Death Of A Bachelor
Portugal. The Man, Woodstock
U2, Songs Of Experience
Top Rock Song:
Imagine Dragons – “Believer”
Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”
Linkin Park – “Heavy”
Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
The Revivalists – “Wish I Knew You”
Top Touring Artist:
Coldplay
Guns N’ Roses
Bruno Mars
Ed Sheeran
U2
A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel has said in a new interview that he reached out to Gibson about making a signature guitar model for him but has been stymied by the company’s current struggles. Howerdel explained, “I talked with Gibson about doing a signature model, and then I just, ya know, heard like everyone else about their troubles, but I’m going to make one last-ditch effort or work with someone else.” The iconic guitar manufacturer has a debt of more than half a billion dollars that will come due this summer and may drive the company into bankruptcy. Music Radar