Hey, Monday morning! FOO FIGHTERS TO RELEASE THEIR 8th album on LOU BRUTUS’ BIRTHDAY! NOV 10th! Called “Sonic Highways.” Press release below:
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In other news…Our friends We As Human have launched a Kickstarter campaign to purchase a new van for touring. The band has posted a video showing the condition of their old van and has offered a series of incentives for fans who contribute. The most expensive package includes one item of every piece of merchandise sold at shows and the chance to hang out with the band for a day in Nashville. At press time, We As Human had already raised over $17,000 of the $19,999 goal. Check it out here….Wow. Just realized I missed the anniversary of Woodstock ’99 (Jul 22-25, 1999.) I was there. It started out pretty cool. Took a train up to Albany. Got a cab to an RV rental place. (You couldn’t rent an RV anywhere closer than in Troy, NY!) Got my 27′ winnebago and off I went with Dr. Judy, Owen Murphy and Sasha Rodriguez (co-workers) in tow. (hardDrive was 3 years old.) It was nuts driving that thing. I was happy for large parking lots along the way because, having never driven a vehicle like this before, let alone anything larger than a Cadillac, I was freaking out. Stopped at a Walmart and bought $200 worth of supplies (PB&J, bread, eggs, cereal, tons of fruit and snacks, folding chairs, kitchen ware and water/beer.) Once we were on site, I had to have a dude who was directing us to the industry/press camping area to back the thing up for me. It was at an old air force base outside of Utica, NY (Edwards Air Force Base, now shuttered) and was spread out over a vast area. There were shuttle buses to take you to where the main stage was (just off the tarmac in a dust filled field.) I made it there just in time to plug the van in and rush over to the mainstage to see Korn. I had to trudge through the dusty field, must’ve said “excuse me” 5,000 times. At one point, I tripped over someone’s foot and went flying. Bruised my knee enough to have to head to the medical tent to get it tended to. Damn! Then finally managed to get over to the side of the stage and dangle my pass and the security guard let me up the ramp. As I got to the stage, looking out over the crowd blew my mind! It was a sea of people the size I had never seen before. Was it 100,00 or 200,000? Whatever, it was freakin’ massive! Totally rocked out. Hung with the guys afterward and managed to hitch a ride back to the van. Next day was brutal. I interviewed a bunch of bands including Rage Against The Machine and Metallica. (Never got to see either set. Me and a friend from ABC News drove around and listened to it on the radio in his car as we tried to find a liquor store off the site.) Hung out with Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine while Limp Bizkit was performing earlier in the day. (Later I learned Fred had pulled down a plywood cover from a light stansion and was crowd surfing standing on top of it.) We were standing about 50 yards away, across from the stage in the artist compound. I just remember seeing clouds of dust coming up from the audience in the front. Tom turned to me and said, “Shit, we have to follow THAT?” I looked at him, “Dude, you have nothing to worry about!” By the time Rage hit the stage, the VIP area was too packed, so I just had to listen. The place was nuts. Hadn’t heard about the rapes that took place in the audience ’til much later, it was so messed up! The place was on edge from the heat and the fact that there wasn’t enough water (at $4.00 a bottle!) Food was expensive, too, and the lines for the free water were ridiculous. (Glad I had PB&J!) And did I mention it was really hot? I think close to 100 degrees. The final day, I didn’t do much away from the press area, except Megadeth was headlining second stage that evening and I went over there to hang with a friend who worked with them. Off on the distance, we heard Red Hot Chili Peppers’ show on the main stage, and all seemed normal. Then we smelled smoke. Hmm, campfire? Wasn’t til someone came running over to tell us there was a riot going on over there and we should get out of the area PRONTO! I ran as fast as I could back to the press compound area. When I got to the press tent, the newspaper, tv, radio and magazine writers and photographers were assembled and running in and out to report in and to grab more battery packs and film camera crews. Concession stands were ripped down and burning. Audience members were injured. The fences around the venue were trashed. The National Guard was being called in! Inside our tent, it was controlled chaos, but was really frightening. Were they coming our way? So what do I do? I grab all the supplies I bought and fed the late night follks in the press tent. It felt like we were a platoon. It was crazy! Thankfully, nothing ensued where we were, but everyone was up all night reporting on the event. As soon as the sun came up, I couldn’t WAIT to get out of there. Drove with the toilet (no one told me to go and have it pumped before driving out) half full. UGH. That was dumb. Ah Woodstock ’99. I shall never forget ye!!!…Something called The Global Citizens Festival is coming to NYC. It will help raise money for global hunger and other issues. Check it out here.… Later taters!