Good morning Radicals! Here’s looking forward to another great day of rock and roll!
Metallica has announced the details of the 2018-2019 North American leg of its “WorldWired” tour in support of the band’s latest album, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. After teasing many of the cities included on the trek over the weekend, the band has now confirmed that the 34-date jaunt will kick off on September 2nd in Madison, Wisconsin and run through March 13th in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tickets go on sale to the public starting March 2nd at Live Nation, with a fan club pre-sale beginning on February 27th.You can see all those dates on the Road Rage page.
The band said in a statement, “Following last summer’s sold-out 25-date stadium run, this year we’re bringing the in-the-round production currently being seen in European arenas to the U.S. and Canada,” adding, “Along the way we’ll be visiting 34 cities we did not go to last year, including a few we haven’t been to in decades, including Grand Forks, ND (nearly 30 years), Sioux Falls, SD, El Paso, TX, Birmingham, AL (nearly 26 years) and State College, PA (20 years). About time, wouldn’t you say?!”
Bassist Robert Trujillo told us a while back that Metallica always brings out a large-scale show for its fans: “Bringing the show to life on the big stage is always great with Metallica. You know, there’s a lot of creative energy and focus that goes into that. Visual production, bringing it to life, while trying to create, you know, as much as possible something that’s intimate…just get out there and, you know, make it happen visually and sonically.”
A limited number of 250 “Black Tickets” costing $598 each will allow buyers onto the floor of any show on the tour. Fans holding one of these tickets must alert the band’s organization 48 hours or more before the dates they want to attend. Other ticket packages will include early access to the venue, a tour of the Metallica memorabilia exhibit and a meet-and-greet with members of the band. Each ticket purchase will be accompanied by a physical or digital copy of Hardwired…To Self-Destruct.
Chris Cornell‘s cover version of Johnny Cash‘s “You Never Knew My Mind” is now streaming online, along with a video of the late Soundgarden singer discussing the track. “You Never Knew My Mind” will appear on Johnny Cash: Forever Words, a collaborative album consisting of songs created from Cash’s poetry, lyrics, and letters, previously collected in a book of the same name.
Johnny Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, who curated and co-produced the project, told Beats One, “(My father) wrote ‘You Never Knew My Mind’ in 1967. I assume and I’m fairly certain it was written for his first wife, Vivian. That was the year that their divorce was legal. It was also the year where his love for my mother flourished. So ‘You Never Knew My Mind’ was not something that he would have released at that time because my mother was standing beside him.”
Asked about Cornell’s involvement with the project, John said, “I reached out to Chris Cornell, and I said, ‘Would you like to be a part of this?’ He was very excited. Chris told me that he loved my dad. He also had felt everything that was in those words. He had been there. He had gone through the loss of relationships.”
Other artists on the album include Roseanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, John Mellencamp, Jewel, Elvis Costello and more. Johnny Cash: Forever Words will be released on April 6th on CD, 2LP vinyl and digital formats.
Greta Van Fleet has been invited to perform with Elton John at the legendary star’s annual charity Oscars viewing party this Sunday (March 4th). Elton personally phoned the Michigan-based band last month to invite them to play at the event, which he has hosted to raise money for his AIDS foundation since 1993. It’s now been confirmed that the up-and-coming rock quartet will jam with Elton as well.
Guitarist Jake Kiszka told Loudwire about getting the invitation, “It was about 10:00 a.m. and management calls and says, ‘Hey boys, you have a call coming from England in a little while.’ So we pick up the phone (and he says), ‘Hey boys, it’s Elton.’ It was actually Elton John on the phone!” Kiszka added, “I remember seeing The Lion King when I was really young and being affected by ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight.’ I remember listening to Elton John in the car.”
The band members are bringing their mothers to the event. Greta Van Fleet will reportedly play for about an hour, with John joining them for the last few songs. Kiszka said they’re “talking about” playing “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” as well as some songs from Elton’s breakthrough 1970 self-titled album. Elton reportedly told the band that they were “the best rock ‘n’ roll I’ve heard in 20 f**king years!’”
The Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party has been held every year in Los Angeles since 1993. The party is hosted by Elton and the AIDS Foundation, and is one of the most high-profile parties in the Hollywood film industry. It raises money for the foundation fund via ticket sales and a celebrity auction.
According to a report at Consequence Of Sound, tickets for the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins tour featuring three-quarters of the original lineup are not selling as well as expected. While tickets have moved briskly in top markets like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, along with cities such as Duluth, Uncasville, Kansas City, and Austin, they’re much slower in other cities like Miami, Glendale, Louisville, Salt Lake City, and Portland.
A vast majority of seats are still available in all those markets, along with places like Pittsburgh, Detroit and Omaha. One Twitter user pointed out that New York’s Madison Square Garden “still has a decent amount of tickets available,” adding that sales for the tour opener in Arizona were “weak.” Another user pointed out that “very little tickets” have been sold in Sacramento, Seattle, Indianapolis and Columbus.
There is speculation that sales were dragged down by the public feuding between frontman William Corgan and founding bassist D’arcy Wretzky, who won’t be on the tour. Wretzky claims that she was given an offer to rejoin the band which was later rescinded. In addition, some tickets are going for as much as $550.
The tour will mark the first concerts since 2000 to feature Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who are also recording new music. The lackluster sales might also explain why Corgan is reaching out to fans online asking them to help him build the tour’s setlist.
Flea with Lou Brutus at the 2016 Rock on the Range
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has penned an op-ed piece for Time magazine in which he examined the opioid crisis in America along with his own struggles with addiction. In the piece, titled “The Temptation Of Drugs Is A Bitch,” Flea wrote, “I’ve been around substance abuse since the day I was born. I saw three of my dearest friends die from drugs before they turned 26, and had some close calls myself. It was a powerful yearning to be a good father that eventually inspired a sense of self-preservation, and in 1993 at the age of 30 I finally got that drugs were destructive and robbing my life force. I cut them out forever. Temptation is a bitch though.”
Flea continued, “I can meditate, exercise, pray, go to a shrink, work patiently and humbly through my most difficult relationship problems, or I could just meet a dealer, cop a bag of dope for $50 and fix it all in a minute. What I’ve learned is to always be grateful for my pain. That mindset has helped me stay away from the temptation of drugs.”
Flea also opened up about a recent experience with Oxycontin, comparing healthcare providers to criminals. He wrote, “A few years ago I broke my arm snowboarding and had to have major surgery. My doctor put me back together perfectly . . . but he also gave me two-month supply of Oxycontin.” He continued, “The bottle said to take four each day . . . It not only quelled my physical pain, but all my emotions as well. I only took one a day, but I was not present for my kids, my creative spirit went into decline and I became depressed. I stopped taking them after a month, but I could have easily gotten another refill.”
The bassist said that medical professionals “should be more discerning” when prescribing painkillers, adding, “Addiction is a cruel disease, and the medical community, together with the government, should offer help to all of those who need.” Red Hot Chili Peppers spent much of 2017 touring in support of their 11th studio album, 2016’s The Getaway, and are currently taking some time off.
Finally we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith and Sponge‘s Mike Cross!
