Good morning Radicals. Here’s to another day of working from home, and watching as much band social media as I can take…
Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl has launched a new Instagram page called “Dave’s True Stories” to entertain people during the coronavirus crisis. Grohl explained that he decided to “pass the time by writing true short stories that will make people smile.”
He also warned people not to expect literary genius, writing, “My mother was a brilliant English teacher, my father a wicked speechwriter, so I decided to rebel by not paying attention to grammar and/or punctuation in school (that, and cranking death metal 24/7 from my bedroom stereo). So… have mercy. Not going for a Nobel Prize in literature here.”
Grohl added, “I look forward to sharing some of the more ridiculous moments of my life with you. Stay tuned! Wash your f**king hands.”
Until now Grohl has stayed largely off social media, telling the “Good For You” podcast last year, “I don’t necessarily feel the need to tell everyone when I’m taking a s**t or whatever. But I get it — I understand why people would. But it’s not really my thing.”
Foo Fighters recently postponed some of their previously announced “Van Tour” dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trek, which was originally scheduled to take place in April and May, was supposed to follow the same route as the Foos’ first tour back in 1995.
Disturbed‘s signature song “Down With The Sickness” is among the tracks that have seen a surge in both sales and streams due to the lyrics relating in some way to the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the globe.
“Down With The Sickness” experienced a 31 percent bump in digital song sales to 1,000 downloads sold, while also exhibiting a three percent gain to 2.6 million U.S. streams. The track is from Disturbed’s 2000 debut LP The Sickness, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Although Disturbed cut “Down With The Sickness” long before COVID-19 emerged, singer David Draiman told us his songs have always been inspired by current events: “I think that there’s enough going on in the world that even if in my own personal life things were harmonious, that there’s plenty to draw anger from and inspiration from, from that perspective. I mean, if you turn on the news any given day of the week, there’s enough subject matter on there where if you really pay attention to things and care enough about things, for you to take issue with, and for you to really get pissed off about.”
Disturbed is scheduled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Sickness LP on a summer tour, although the trek could be delayed by the ongoing pandemic. The run is set to kick off on July 15th in Maryland Heights, Missouri, with Staind and Bad Wolves serving as special guests.
Pearl Jam has shared a new song called “Quick Escape” that chronicles an environmental apocalypse while also blasting Donald Trump. The track will appear on the band’s upcoming album, Gigaton, which arrives this Friday (March 27th).
“Quick Escape” features singer Eddie Vedder spinning a sci-fi story about a devastated Earth that ends with humanity taking a bitter one-way flight to start life again on Mars. At one point Vedder proclaims, “The lengths we had to go to then/To find a place Trump hadn’t f**ked up yet.”
Vedder has told us before that he finds it hard but necessary to balance politics and music: “Well, you don’t like to balance it at all. I’d rather just be an entertainer, but it just seems too important to back down and feel like, ‘Well, maybe I shouldn’t get into this territory because I want to remain an artist and I don’t want to confuse the people that listen to us or don’t want to turn them off because we’re talking about politics here.’ It’s like you have to act right now. You just have to.”
To accompany the new song, Pearl Jam also unveiled a video game that allows players to pilot a spacecraft as one of the members of Pearl Jam and battle a horde of alien ships.
Right around this time every year, we come together to celebrate the announcement of another incredible Lollapalooza lineup. For now, we are at home, taking care of each other, listening to music, and dreaming of summertime in Chicago. (1/3)https://t.co/YFHRsbTNSI
— Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza) March 24, 2020
The organizers of Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival have announced that they will delay revealing this year’s lineup because the coronavirus outbreak has left the festival’s 2020 fate uncertain.
The annual event is still scheduled for now to take place in the Windy City’s Grant Park from July 30th through August 2nd, but could face at least a delay. Organizers said in a statement, “While we stay in close contact with local officials, we are well underway with planning for Lolla to take place as soon as it’s safe for us all to be together in Grant Park.”
Lollapalooza has already delayed its South American events in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile until the fall, while Coachella, Bonnaroo, Shaky Knees, Treefort, and Ultra Music Festival have also been pushed back to later in the year. Meanwhile, festivals like Sonic Temple, Epicenter, Glastonbury and South By Southwest have been called off altogether.
The latest event to become a casualty of the pandemic is the 2020 Firefly Festival in Dover, Delaware, which was scheduled for June 18th through the 21st. Performers included Rage Against The Machine, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Blink-182, Cage The Elephant and more.
Papa Roach has released the official music video for its song “Top Of The World.” The track is taken from the band’s latest album, Who Do You Trust?, which arrived in January 2019. “Top Of The World” is the fourth single from the disc, following the title track, “Elevate” and “Come Around” — all of which made the rock radio Top Five.
Evanescence singer Amy Lee performed from home on Instagram Live earlier this week to promote social distancing and raise awareness for World Health Organization and Global Citizen. Lee’s four-song set included “Swimming Home,” a cover of Whitney Houston‘s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “Good Enough” and a rendition of the Ben E. King classic “Stand By Me.”
As part of both the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park livestreamed a previously-unseen concert from 2001 on Tuesday (March 24th), while band members Mike Shinoda, Dave Farrell and Joe Hahn watched along and commented on it. The group also asked fans to visit roadierescue.com to help raise funds for touring industry workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highly Suspect has shared the official music video for “These Days,” the latest track released from the band’s recent MCID album. In the clip, The Righteous Gemstones and The Dirt star Tony Cavalero attempts to eat dinner as his family members engage in despicable behavior around him. Frontman Johnny Stevens called the clip “a shiny little distraction from how much these days really suck.”
Finally, we want to wish a Happy Birthday to Smashing Pumpkins & A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha, and Thousand Foot Krutch drummer Steve Augustine! Have a great day, and wash your hands!
