As the weather gets warmer, NYC gets smellier. Just sayin’……
Pulse Of Radio reporting this morning, Foo Fighters will perform for thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts at a festival in support of the Wounded Warrior Project. The Love Ride Festival will take place in Glendale, CA on Oct 18th and is billed as the “largest and longest-running one day motorcycle charitable fundraising event in the world.” Hosted by Jay Leno, the 32nd and final edition of the festival will include two concerts, celebrity appearances, custom bike and stunt shows, gourmet food trucks, a vendor exhibition fair and drawings for motorcycle items and prizes. (Radio.com)
Muse looks set to earn its fifth straight Number One album on the U.K. chart, with its new disc Drones leading sales figures on Wednesday (June 10th) during a midweek update. Drones will also become one of the fastest selling U.K. releases of the year so far if it keeps up its sales pace. There’s no word yet on U.S. sales. (NME)
Aaron Lewis, yes, the once lead singer and songwriter for Staind, is getting ready to make his third country record. Always the rebel, he’s shunned the Nashville “machine” of hiring Music City based songwriters to help him achieve hit singles. (Aaron really is a great songwriter.) He is able to tour, despite the lack of support from country radio. I just don’t get why he continues to stay away from rock. No reason why he couldn’t do both. Oh well.
Phil Rudd is still waiting for sentencing in New Zealand. The AC/DC drummer’s fate, convicted of of threatening to kill and possession of drugs, has been delayed until July 9th, according to SunLive. Rudd was scheduled to be sentenced on June 26th after pleading guilty to both charges but will now wait an additional two weeks. Rudd could face up to seven years in prison for the threatening to kill charge alone.
Rudd entered his pleas on April 21st in a New Zealand courtroom with only a judge and no jury present. Judge Robert Wolffe allowed Rudd to stay out on bail, with his existing bail conditions, until sentencing. According to court documents, police found 71 grams of methamphetamine and 130 grams of marijuana during a November 6th, 2014 raid on Rudd’s New Zealand home. The raid was conducted after he was accused of threatening to kill an associate and his daughter during a phone call last September. Disappointment over the response to his debut solo album, Head Job, may have motivated Rudd to make the threats against his personal assistant, who prosecutors said was “genuinely fearful of his safety.” Rudd’s legal problems made his ability to tour with AC/DC a question mark, even though he did play on the band’s new album, Rock Or Bust. Chris Slade, who played with AC/DC from 1990 to 1993, was announced in February as the group’s drummer for its current world tour. In a May interview with Australia’s A Current Affair, Rudd said he had reached out to his bandmates, revealing, “I tried to get in touch with Angus (Young, guitarist), but I’ve had no contact with him. They haven’t called me. You know who your friends are. That’s life.” But he seemed confident that he would get his old job back eventually, saying, “It’s onward and upward from here.”
In a related story, Blabbermouth reports AC/DC tour manager Garry Van Egmond has confirmed to Bay Of Plenty Times that the band’s estranged drummer Phil Rudd will not perform with the group when they play Rudd’s home country of New Zealand in December.
“Chris Slade will be on drums,” Van Egmond said. “He replaced Phil when he left the band some years back and he has been playing in the ‘Rock Or Bust’ tour worldwide.” Van Egmond stopped short of saying Rudd was officially out of AC/DC, telling Bay Of Plenty Times that there was “no confirmation that Phil has left the band permanently.” He added: “All I can say is that Phil will not be playing in the New Zealand concerts.” AC/DC will play two shows in New Zealand: December 12 at Westpac Stadium in Wellington and December 15 at Western Springs in Auckland. Van Egmond did not know if there were any plans for Rudd to attend the concerts or whether the other members of the band would be in contact with the drummer while they were in New Zealand.
On the soundtrack of the recently released movie Aloha, there’s a song called “The Traveler” that is a collaboration between Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and his six-year old daughter Harper Moon Margaret Vedder. The tune was written by Eddie and Harper, with Harper performing it. The film, starring Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams and Bill Murray, was directed by Cameron Crowe, who directed 2011’s PJ20 documentary and also cast Eddie in his 1992 film Singles. (Alternative Nation)
Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ bassist Flea took to Twitter to rant over the California pipeline owned by Plains All American that burst, sending gallons of crude oil along the coast in Santa Barbara. Seems remnants are floating down towards Los Angeles, as Flea and his daughter were walking along the beach and she stepped on a tar ball, prompting Flea to write “Dear plains all American pipeline, my daughter just dared step on the beach for a few minutes where we live about 75 miles from the Santa Barbara oil spill you caused. She got your oil s**t product all over her feet.” He continued, “You evil lying scumbags will get away with a paltry fine that means nothing to you. You could have had a shut off valve but you saved cash there too. You are the worst kind of human beings, I am infuriated you disgust me.” I’d be pissed too!
Happy 66th today to Frank Beard, the only one in ZZ Top without one!