By: Eric Hoffman
Greetings Rockers ’N’ Rollers! Last month, began with the return of The Menzingers to their hometown of Philadelphia at the Ardmore Music Hall on Oct 9. The band originally hails from Scranton but has made Philadelphia their home due to their overwhelming success. The Menzingers are currently on the road for 4 months, starting at Lancaster’s Tellus360 and will finish at Harrisburg’s HMAC on Dec 18. To date, the punk rock band has sold-out 19 of their 35 tour dates. Mechanicsburg band, Steel, also returned with a great show at the Racehorse Tavern in Thomasville, PA on Oct 15. Another great local show took place on Oct 17 at the home of Tuck Lentz and Wendi Schieb in Fort Hunter. Titled “Harrisburg Hootenanny,” the concert showcased well known artists Dan Kibler & Ron Lutz (El Kabong), Amy Simpson, Tony Ryder, Bryce Connor & Tommy Kristich (The Jellybricks), Tony Melch and Donna Jean Foster. Tuck & Wendi held two other concerts this summer including Brett Alexander (The Badlees) and Colebrook Road.
Stage On Herr of Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center held a great show on Oct 19 featuring four punk rock bands. Teenage Bottlerocket of Wyoming was the headliner and were fantastic playing their “leather jacket punk, Ramones-core” style of music. Their set lasted a little over an hour but consisted of 19 great fast songs. TBR went on to play Baltimore’s Ottobar the following night and then Philadelphia’s Silk City the next. Opening band, Broadway Calls, were a nice surprise and very good, reminiscent of Blink-182. Teenage Bottlerock is a must for fans of the Ramones, the band began in 2000 and has released 8 studio albums.
NATIONAL NEWS: Judas Priest has been forced to postpone the remaining dates on its U.S. tour because guitarist Richie Faulkner has “major medical heart condition issues which have landed him in hospital.” Vocalist Rob Halford stated the good news that “our Falcon is stable and resting after undergoing extensive heart surgery.” Judas Priest announced, “As soon as we have any updates from his doctors on when we can reschedule the dates we will of course announce them – tickets will be valid.” The band’s 50th anniversary trek, dubbed “The 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour,” had already been pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Peter Hook & the Light have announced “Joy Division: A Celebration,” a 26-date North American tour set for summer 2022 that will see the band performing both Joy Division albums, 1979’s Unknown Pleasures and 1980’s Closer in full, with an opening set of New Order material. Show dates include: Silver Spring, MD Fillmore (8/25) and Philadelphia’s Union Transfer (8/26).
Paul McCartney will induct Foo Fighters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during its annual ceremony, set for Cleveland on Oct. 30. Taylor Swift will induct songwriter Carole King, and also perform some of her music, along with Jennifer Hudson. Angela Bassett, who portrayed Tina Turner in the movie “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”, will induct the singer. Another actor, Drew Barrymore, has been enlisted to induct the Go-Go’s. Other inductees this year include Jay-Z, Todd Rundgren, Kraftwerk, Charlie Patton, Gil Scott-Heron, LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads.
The one and only Rolling Stones have announced an additional stop on their “No Filter” 2021 tour, with the final stop on the calendar right now coming to Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on Nov. 23. The show at Hard Rock Live will be The Rolling Stones’ most intimate show in more than a decade. Hard Rock stated, “This will be an incredibly special evening at our 6,500 seat Hard Rock Live venue.” According to the Stones database since 1981, the group has grossed over $2.2 billion from 21.8 million sold tickets at 563 concerts.
Coldplay return to the road – for the “Music Of The Spheres World Tour,” the band will play between three and six stadium shows every month from March to August, before closing the announced run of dates with a headlining appearance at Rio De Janeiro’s Rock In Rio Festival. Coldplay will head to the U.S., with 11 stadium plays lined up through mid-June, including Washington DC’s FedEx Field (June 1) and Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field (June 8). Along with the tour announcement, Coldplay detailed several initiatives to make the tour “as environmentally beneficial as possible,” including plans to cut direct emissions by 50% compared to the band’s previous tour – and powering the show “entirely by renewable, super-low emission energy.” Other aspects of Coldplay’s sustainable touring plan include planting one tree for every ticket sold. H.E.R. will open all dates.
Henry Rollins, who was once best known as the frontman for hardcore punk Black Flag, has unveiled the routing for his next spoken word trek he’s dubbed the “Good To See You” tour. The tour will feature Rollins recounting “the events of his life in the brief pre-COVID period since the last tour and when things got even stranger over the last several months. It’s been an interesting time to say the least and he’s got some great stories to tell.” Henry Rollins will play 122 shows in the span of 5 months, including 3/27/22 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre and 3/28/22 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
The Red Hot Chili Peppers will stage a proper stadium run for the first time in its career in 2022. The tour, which so far consists of European and North American legs, will be the Peppers’ first since 2017. In July, the band begins the North American portion of its 2022 tour in Denver. RHCP will visit the East Coast in September at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park (9/3) and Washington DC’s National Park (9/8) with special guests The Strokes and Thundercat. A press release read, “They have no interest in resting on past accolades, awards or commercial success, this is a mission, they intend to channel the most mighty spirits, and give everything they’ve got.”
New York dance-punk outfit LCD Soundsystem announced its first shows – all at the Brooklyn club Brooklyn Steel – in more than three years. From November 23 to December 21, LCD Soundsystem will play 20 shows at Brooklyn Steel, launching another residency at the venue where they opened with a five-night residency in 2017. Following its five-year hiatus – originally billed as a breakup in 2011 – LCD Soundsystem toured relentlessly from 2016 to 2018. LCD Soundsystem’s “final” concert, held at New York’s Madison Square Garden in April 2011, spawned a documentary (“Shut Up And Play The Hits”) and a live album (The Long Goodbye).
In 2015, hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan created their seventh studio album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, and limited it to a single copy and became the most expensive work of music ever sold. The album was recorded in secret over six years. Bought by American CEO Martin Shkreli, who paid $2 million. In 2018, Shkreli, was convicted of securities fraud and federal courts seized assets belonging to him worth $7.36 million, including the album. The US Department of Justice sold it this month to PleasrDAO (non-fungible token collectors) for $4 million. PleasrDAO said they hope to make it more widely accessible at listening parties or exhibitions but are bound by law restrictions forbidding its release to the general public.
UPCOMING SHOWS: Cheap Trick – Reading Santander Arts Center Nov 2. The Hooters – Harrisburg XL Live Nov 4. Psychedelic Furs – York Appell Center Nov 5. Jet Silver – Mechanicsburg Metropolis Nov 6. Buckcherry – Harrisburg XL Live Nov 9. Houndmouth – Harrisburg HMAC Nov 13. Bob Dylan – Hershey Theater Nov 16. Del McCoury – Ardmore Music Hall Nov 18. Tommy Conwell & Young Rumblers – Ardmore Music Hall Nov 20. Jeffrey Gaines – Millersville Phantom Power Nov 21. Inhaler – NYC Mercury Lounge Nov 26. Lunachicks / Toilet Boys – NYC Webster Hall Nov 27.