Greetings Rockers ’N’ Rollers! Last month, the incredible punk band, The Stitches, returned to the East Coast for 5 shows in 4 days visiting New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The band hails from Orange County, California and played an unforgettable set at Harrisburg’s Capital City Music Hall on May 16 as part of the Tattoo Punks The Fest. Congratulations to Josh Howard and his crew for putting on a fantastic festival that featured 16 bands over 3 days and countless tattoo artists. The Stitches performance was one of the most memorable and best concerts I’ve ever seen in Central Pennsylvania. Reminiscent of the perfect chaos of Turnstile at XL Live in 2022, The Stitches played fantastic songs with pure punk authenticity. Tom Keifer of Cinderella brought his current tour to Penns Peak in Jim Thorpe, PA on June 7. The former frontman of the glam metal Philadelphia band, played 12 Cinderella hits including “Shake Me,” “Gypsy Road” and “Nobody’s Fool.” The Tom Keifer Band is in the midst of a three-month tour across America and returns to Glenside, PA on July 30 to conclude at Keswick Theatre. Chicago grunge band, Local H, revisited Harrisburg for the 4th time in the past 21 years playing Capital City Music Hall on May 26. Local H, an unorthodox two piece band were wildly popular in the 90s and delivered an 18-song set featuring their hit “Bound To The Floor,” as well as covers of The Stooges “TV Eye” and Concrete Blonde “Joey.” Anthrophobia, from Reading, opened the show with a fiery set of their rock, punk, metal fusion. This month, Anthrophobia will open for Sponge on June 3 in Sellersville and the Hamburg Music Festival on June 13. The month of May also brought the end of Ramonas Basement, a DIY music space at my home in Uptown Harrisburg the past 26 years. The final night on May 9 featured three local bands, The After Hours, Timmys Creepshow and The Super High-Tech Jet Fighters. Ramonas Basement, played host to over 30 bands including Tommy Stinson (The Replacements), Jennifer Finch (L7), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Dirty Looks, Throw Rag, Jeffrey Gaines, among many other local artists. The DIY idea of Ramonas Basement will hopefully continue for years to come and has partnered with Harrisburg’s XL Live to co-promote grunge legends, L7, on Oct 23 at XL Live. Lastly, I was fortunate to visit the former home of Prince recently outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 65,000 foot complex known as Paisley Park, served at the pop star’s private estate, production center and four recording studios. After Prince’s untimely death at the age of 57 in 2016, his estate was turned into a museum open to the public. Graceland Holdings, the company that has managed Elvis Presley’s Graceland since 1982, organizes the tours.
FIFA is going all out for its first-ever World Cup Final halftime show, announcing Madonna, Shakira and BTS as performers on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This summer’s tournament is already a historic one for the competition. FIFA expanded it to 48 teams for the first time. Coldplay’s Chris Martin is curating the halftime show and FIFA is taking a page from the Super Bowl in adding major music acts to the spectacle that is a World Cup Final. The 2022 final between Argentina and France drew 570.8 million viewers, according to FIFA. The U.S. opener against Paraguay on June 12 will be preceded by special performances by Katy Perry, rapper Future, South African star Tyla, Brazilian Singer Anitta and Rema. Comedian, Shane Gillis, had a recent record-setting appearance at TD Garden in Boston. With 51,145 tickets sold at three performances, May 7-9, his engagement is now the best attended multiple-night comedy run in the arena’s history. Early in the year, he performed three nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Gillis, a native of Mechanicsburg, currently has one more show scheduled this year, returning to his home state on July 17 for one huge performance at Philadelphia’s NFL football stadium, Lincoln Financial Field. Following numerous sold-out shows across the globe, The Strokes expanded their massive tour with two additional dates in South America and a return to Mexico. The band will visit Philadelphia’s Mann this month on June 26 and Columbia, MD Merriweather on June 27. The Strokes recently had a major performance at Coachella, and will play headline sets at many festivals including Primavera Sound in Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Santiago, along with Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Japan’s Summer Sonic 2026, Shaky Knees, Sea.Hear.Now. and more to come. Reality Awaits, the seventh studio album from The Strokes, is set for release this summer and was recorded in Costa Rica with producer Rick Rubin. Reality Awaits marks the band’s first new music since 2020’s The New Abnormal. After completing a previously announced European run and a four-day stay in Vegas, Morrissey will return stateside for a series of dates across the eastern and southern U.S. this fall. In support of his new album Make-Up Is A Lie, the legendary singer-songwriter will play 10 dates in theaters and arena, plus performances at CBGB Festival and Darker Waves Festival. The former frontman of The Smiths will play The Anthem in Washington DC on Oct 15.
The Smashing Pumpkins will mark the 30th anniversary of their album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness with a 27-city North American tour this fall. The “Rats In A Cage Tour” will feature two sets: one celebrating the 1995 album and the second a career-spanning run through fan favorites and deep cuts across the band’s 40-year career. Smashing Pumpkins visit Baltimore CFG Bank Arena on Oct 3 and Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena on Oct 6. Just over seven months removed from The Who’s North American farewell tour, singer and musician Sir Roger Daltrey is ready for a solo run. The legendary rocker is embarking on “A Great Night Out,” a 20-date trek across the U.S. Daltrey will visit The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Washington, DC on Sept 24 and Parx Xcite Center in Bensalem, PA on Sept 25. “Well, it’s one more for the road. After finishing The Who’s final tour of the US, it’s time for me as a solo artist to possibly do the same,” Daltrey said in a statement. “After touring solo with different bands of musicians for the last 17 years, I have this opportunity to see your beautiful country and enjoy the hospitality you have shown me over so many years. It’s a lot of fun and gives me the chance to have a Great Night Out.” Off the heels of performing at Coachella, Interpol announced a North American run that begins this summer and runs through mid-October. The band hailing from New York will stop in 23 theaters and amphitheaters, including Pittsburgh’s Stage AE on Oct 6. Interpol will also perform at hometown show the CBGB Festival, which will be held at Under The K Bridge in Brooklyn. The band has been active on the road over the past two years, headlining festivals across Europe, Latin America and Asia. One of the most memorable moments during the run was in April 2024 when Interpol performed in front of more than 160,000 fans at Mexico City’s Zócalo, making it the band’s biggest show ever.
Beloved American icon Dolly Parton announced she’s canceling her planned Las Vegas residency as she continues to work through health concerns. The 80-year-old singer-songwriter was due for run at the Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace later this year, but she said she’s not quite ready yet. “I’ve still got some healing to do,” she said in a video posted to social media, adding that some of the medications being used to treat her leave her “swimmy-headed.” Parton said she is responding well to treatment, and ended saying “See you soon” remaining active, making appearances at Dollywood and elsewhere. Rob Base, a rapper and one half of the Harlem hip-hop duo Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, died May 22 after a battle with cancer. He was 59. Base, whose real name was Robert Ginyard, was best known for the 1988 chart-topper “It Takes Two,” a blend of hip-hop and house music that helped bring both genres into the mainstream. His creative counterpart Rodney “Skip” Bryce, who went by the stage name DJ E-Z Rock, died in 2014 at age 46 of complications from diabetes. David Allan Coe, the country singer-songwriter who wrote the working class anthem “Take This Job and Shove It″ and had hits with “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” and “The Ride” among others, died at the age of 86. Coe’s wife, Kimberly Hastings Coe, confirmed his death to Rolling Stone magazine “My husband, my friend, my confidant and my life for many years. I’ll never forget him and I don’t want anyone else to ever forget him either.” The cause of death wasn’t disclosed. He did concert tours with Willie Nelson, Kid Rock, Neil Young and others. He wrote “Take This Job and Shove It,” a hit by Johnny Paycheck in 1977. Coe, himself heavily tattooed and sporting long hair, claimed a diverse fan base that included bikers, doctors, lawyers and bankers. His last record, released in 2006, was a collaboration with Dimebag Darrell and other former members of the heavy metal group Pantera.
JUNE CONCERTS :Hexbelt – Millersville Phantom Power June 5. The Jellybricks – Harrisburg XL Live June 5. Rock Paper Records Festival: The Last Post / Lebowskis / The Super High-Tech Jet Fighters – Mechanicsburg Metropolis June 6. Natalie Ness – Harrisburg Italian Lake June 7. Amyl and the Sniffers – Philadelphia Mann June 8. The Avett Brothers / Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – Hersheypark Stadium June 13. Junior Brown – Washington DC Birchmere June 14. Junior Brown – Sellersville Theatre June 15. The Soap Girls – Baltimore Ottobar June 24. Jeffrey Gaines – Reading Thorn Alley June 25. Blues Vultures – Millersville Phantom Power June 26. The After Hours – Harrisburg Abbey Bar June 27. The Bouncing Souls – Asbury Park Stone Pony June 27.
