Sting is back on the road, and this time he’s bringing something truly special to his fans. The 17-time Grammy Award-winning artist has announced the release of STING 3.0 LIVE, a dynamic new live album capturing the energy and spirit of his ongoing ‘Sting 3.0’ World Tour. Available worldwide on April 25, the album will be released in multiple formats: digital, CD, and 180g vinyl. Additionally, a special Record Store Day Deluxe Edition will be available exclusively in the US on April 12, offering a two-disc vinyl set packed with live tracks and fan favorites.
Recorded during the ‘Sting 3.0’ tour, the album features long-time collaborator Dominic Miller on guitar and the energetic Chris Maas on drums, known for his work with Mumford & Sons and Maggie Rogers. This stripped-down format is a departure from his usual large ensemble, offering a raw, dynamic approach that recalls his early days with The Police
The live collection includes nine of Sting’s greatest hits, including a live version of “Be Still My Beating Heart,” which he has never played live before. The Record Store Day Deluxe Edition takes it even further, with 17 tracks featuring rare live versions of songs like “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart),” “Never Coming Home,” and the classic “Can’t Stand Losing You.”
The album was produced by Martin Kierszenbaum, recorded by Howard Page, and features additional engineering by Tony Lake. Robert “Hitmixer” Orton took on mixing duties, while mastering was handled by Gene Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering.
As the tour rolls on, Sting has added three new Florida dates, including Hollywood, Tampa, and Jacksonville, following a string of sold-out shows across North America. The setlist seamlessly blends Sting’s solo material with classics from The Police, maintaining the tight, three-piece band feel that has become a hallmark of this tour.
For those eager to see him live, tickets are already available at Sting.com, with VIP packages offering exclusive experiences, including premium seating, collectible merchandise, and more. Sting’s dedication to his craft and his audience is evident in both his live shows and this new album, making STING 3.0 LIVE a must-have for any fan.
It’s pretty impressive how Sting still maintains such a high level of energy and musical ability as he grows old with all the rest of us. At 73 years old the man still tearing it up on the stage with incredible energy. I’ve seen him live many times and this wonderful musician knows how to put on a show that celebrates his vast catalog of spectacular songs.
Check out more Sting articles on ClassicRockHistory.com Just click on any of the links below……
Brian Kachejian was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. He is the founder and Editor in Chief of ClassicRockHistory.com. He has spent thirty years in the music business often working with many of the people who have appeared on this site. Brian Kachejian also holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Stony Brook University along with New York State Public School Education Certifications in Music and Social Studies. Brian Kachejian is also an active member of the New York Press.
Katatonia will release their 13th album, Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State on June 6 via Napalm Records.
The 10-track follow-up to 2023’s Sky Void Of Stars is headed up by a video for lead single Lilac, which features new guitarists Nico Elgstrand and Sebastian Svalland. The line-up change comes after the departures of Anders Nyström and Roger Öjersson.
“Once again, the Stockholm-based unit masterfully navigates the tightrope act between nocturnal darkness and Scandinavian despair while subtly weaving a sense of hope into the listener’s heart,” say Napalm Records.
“Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State marks the next step in Katatonia’s evolution, and it’s also an introduction to their two new guitarists. Katatonia in 2025 is composed of vocalist and founding member Jonas Renkse, bassist Niklas Sandin, drummer Daniel Moilanen and guitarists Nico Elgstrand and Sebastian Svalland.
KATATONIA – Lilac (Official Video)| Napalm Records – YouTube
“With sonic landscapes that evoke dystopia, inner demons, purity, and beauty alike, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State stands as a testament to their enduring brilliance.
Renske adds: “As always, these songs are the stories that thrive in the corner of the eye, obscured by the light but waiting to come alive in the dusk of our morbid existence. Please enjoy the first scent – Lilac.”
The album was produced by Renkse, recorded by Lawrence Mackrory, mixed by Adam Noble, and mastered by Robin Schmidt. It’s available for pre-order in multiple formats now, incuding limited-edition vinyl and a wooden box set. Katatonia previously announced a UK and European tour towards the end of 2025.
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(Image credit: Napalm Records)
Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State
1. Thrice 2. The Liquid Eye 3. Wind Of No Change 4. Lilac 5. Temporal 6. Departure Trails 7. Warden 8. The Light Which I Bleed 9. Efter Solen 10. In The Event Of
Later this month, one of the UK’s most consistently excellent metal bands officially return as Employed To Serve release their fifth studio album Fallen Star (small spoiler for you: it’s really good). To celebrate, Metal Hammer has teamed up with the band to offer fans this world exclusive bundle, featuring stuff you can’t get anywhere else.
Alongside a special variant version of the latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine boasting a limited edition Employed To Serve cover, the bundle also comes with an exclusive Fallen Star t-shirt unavailable in shops or on merch stands. The only place you can get either item is from the official Metal Hammer store.
(Image credit: Future)
Released on April 25 via Spinefarm, Fallen Star sees Employed To Serve mix up their ever-evolving formula even more – as well as bring in a couple of pals from the metal world for some excellently executed cameos.
“I opened myself up to doing guest vocals [with them], and they sent me the songs,” explains Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach, who can be heard screaming his lungs up on the album’s stellar, death metal-influenced track, Whose Side Are You On? “I was like, Whoa! Dudes, you really don’t have to give me the breakdown part!’ because the vocals on it that they had sent me as a guide were already really good. But they insisted. It was all laid out, I didn’t have to write anything, I just jammed with them. And it turned out really well. They’re the best, they’re just solid human beings.”
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“I got taken in by a group of older witches.” How Bambie Thug went from ballet and Catholic school to witchcraft, Eurovision and touring with Babymetal
(Image credit: Ben Gibson)
Could the real Bambie Thug please stand up? Is it the one onstage dressed like the Devil, wearing stripper boots and a long goatee, smothered in red paint? The one naked apart from glitter in the X-rated video for their 2021 debut single, Birthday? The ouija-pop necromancer who appeared at last year’s Eurovision, performing a televised ‘exorcism’ while decked out in raven feathers, and bagging sixth place for their native Ireland? Or maybe it’s the one that’s been casting a spell over Europe on their recent Crown The Witch tour, donning glittering outfits and ornate gothic headpieces as they rule over their smoky, musical séances?
“I hope you don’t mind,” laughs Bambie today, as they turn up at their PR’s London offices wearing nothing more outlandish than a rhinestone trackie, and promptly kick off their chunky New Rock boots before plonking down onto the nearest sofa.
“That’s better,” they say, not in a demonic whisper but in a disarmingly warm Irish accent. “Wow… I feel like I haven’t stopped working!”
That’s no exaggeration. Bambie has been criss-crossing countries and continents at lightning speed for months. Twenty-four hours ago, they were in Ireland. Prior to that, it was Amsterdam, where they played for 17,000 people at the Ziggo Dome arena for the Het Grote Songfestivalfeest, a show that celebrates the best of Eurovision. That performance saw Bambie battering a demon with a bouquet of flowers before strutting off, a bold 666 cheekily scrawled on one arse cheek as the petal confetti fell around them.
It was the perfect curtain-closer on a hectic 12 months. It’s tiring being the hardest-working witch in the coven, especially when that witch is effectively homeless. Bambie has been sofa-surfing for the past two years, finding sanctuary with friends.
“People assume my whole life has changed since Eurovision, but I still don’t have a firm place to stay,” they admit. “I had been sleeping on couches for two years before the competition, and I still am. Occasionally I’ve had to resort to hotels, but it’s harder to make a home in a soulless room.”
While there’s a romance to the nomadic lifestyle, they know it can’t last forever. They’d love nothing more than to click their heels and reappear in a place of their own. Except that’s still a dream right now.
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“I don’t think anything will change any time soon,” they say. “Touring’s broken me mentally, physically and financially. I’m independent and self-funded…” A mischievous look sweeps across their face. “I think labels are still scared of me,” they smirk, a glint in their eye.
Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue (LIVE) | Ireland 🇮🇪 | Grand Final | Eurovision 2024 – YouTube
For Bambie, the grind started long before they stormed the Eurovision stage. Their musical journey began in the late 2010s, when they began teaching themselves to write songs. Over the subsequent years, they’ve shapeshifted time and time again, constantly reinventing themselves.
“It’s funny, the versions of yourself you go through,” they muse. “When I first started writing, I was writing these cheesy love songs. I was obsessed with Barbie movies and fairy tales growing up. But I moved on from that. Thank God for the darkness!”
Each of Bambie’s incarnations has fed into the cosmic whirl of ouija-pop. While their debut album is still in the works, Bambie’s 2023 EP, Cathexis, serves as a comprehensive tour of their avant-goth palette. From queer-club pop anthem Last Summer (I Know What You Did), to Bye Boy’s rap beatdowns, to the metallic-pop exorcism that is Doomsday Blue, Bambie thrives in their own eclectic world of sound.
Their singles only add more flavour to the broiling cauldron: 2022’s Headbang is flecked with hyperpunk and glitch-pop, while 2023’s Egregore showcases gnashing alt metal fury.
“I love a dance track, but my pop tracks are still gritty,” Bambie explains of their musical playground. “I love dirty sounds – a fucking heavy track just hits harder when you’re performing! And it’s poppy, but it all plays into the metal mindset. Metal is an attitude, it isn’t just about the guitars or the heaviness. It’s metal to be outspoken, to push boundaries, to put a big middle finger up to industry.”
Their Eurovision performance of Doomsday Blue, forever seared into the retinas of anyone who watched it during the final in Malmö, Sweden in May 2024, certainly oozed that metal-minded, fuck-you attitude.
“I remember my director saying, ‘Do we want to go to win? Or are we going to ruffle feathers?’” they recall. “I thought, ‘Why not both?’ I’m not from that world, so I used it as a platform to speak for the queer community. People are scared of the power of queer people – and I’m going to keep being loud, even if it closes doors. But I guess those doors weren’t right for me, anyway.”
(Image credit: Ben Gibson)
Before becoming the outspoken, middle fingerraising figure seated before us, Bambie admits that finding their voice was hard. They may present as a strong, proudly queer, non-binary goth, but it’s taken a long time for them to feel comfortable in their own skin. Born Bambie Ray Robinson in a tiny, rural town in Cork, their Catholic upbringing meant they were forced to suppress who they truly were to fit in. Part of that included training to be a ballerina.
“I went to a Catholic convent school, and I lost my magic while I was there,” they explain. “As a ballerina, there was this added pressure to present hyper-femme. I was trying to be a doll.”
Bambie’s ballet background led to a move to England in 2013 on a dance scholarship. After they broke their arm, they were forced to change direction and study musical theatre, yet the pressure to perform was just as strong. They graduated in 2016, but Bambie just couldn’t take it anymore.
“One day I just cracked, went rogue, and travelled loads,” they recall.
It was during a stint in Germany that Bambie discovered their love of goth culture. At one point, they found themselves surrounded by a circle of seven German men with scissors, hacking off Bambie’s blonde hair – the symbolic birth of not just their goth self, but of Bambie Thug.
“Berlin broke my mind and rebuilt it again,” they say. “I came back crazy goth. That’s where I became Bambie.”
Back in London, lockdown only heightened Bambie’s sense of self.
“I was living with 12 people in a run-down pub,” they recall. “It was like one big queer family. I wrote so much music, took loads of magic mushrooms… I just did a lot of healing. There were no questions if I came downstairs one day with a moustache on my face. And we all had different skills, so we would give each other classes. I learnt how to tattoo myself.”
Bambie’s life is mapped on their skin. Their fingers bear the words ‘Bam-Bee-Thug’, with the ‘Bee’ represented by an actual bee, all self-inked, as is the pentagram inked above their knuckles. Their arms are tattooed with barbed wire, adorable fish and dancing mice, as well as a reminder to ‘Drink Water’. Their chest is marked with the seemingly random word ‘PORK’. Bambie explains that certain pieces of ink are inspired by songs they’ve yet to release.
As they talk excitedly about their “bohemian days of self-discovery”, there’s a glimpse of sunshine behind the Devil-spawn persona.
“People have a warped perception of people who dress dark and are into the occult,” Bambie says with a sigh. “When I’m offstage I am chill. I’m not trying to hex people all the time.”
Still, genuine witchcraft is a part of Bambie’s life. While they don’t actually ‘hex’ people, insisting they only partake in “good magic”, Bambie walks the walk.
“My witch friends have nurtured me – they’re the kindest people,” Bambie explains. “I got taken in by a group of older witches… and magic is so beautiful. You’re just using physical objects and spells to manifest and heal your inner self.”
Bambie Thug – Fangtasy (Official Music Video) – YouTube
Bambie’s first credited appearance was as a vocalist on South London DJs Fika & Fabich’s 2020 soulfunk club track, Mean. Their own debut, hedonistic single Birthday (‘I only take drugs on my birthday / A New Year, Christmas, every other Thursday’) came out the following year, and was accompanied by a striking video .
Since then, they’ve released a trio of EPs – 2021’s Psilocyber, the same year’s High Romancy and 2023’s Cathexis – plus a string of standalone singles. Beneath the brash persona, Bambie admits that music is their primary method of healing. After experiences of sexual assault, childhood trauma and a relationship with an abusive partner, they label themself as “a very complex, damaged” person. Even moments of pride can come with a sting in their tail.
“I have complex PTSD,” they say. “So, sometimes, I’ll have moments where people expect me to feel proud of myself… but I just can’t. Even now – I know this feature is an exciting thing, but I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to earn it. I don’t know how to feel proud of myself.”
The separation between the Bambie Thug sitting here in a tracksuit and the Bambie Thug onstage in their gothic finery helps them feel stronger.
“Because of my past traumas, I tend to go quiet when I’m angry,” they say. “Once I completely lost my voice for two months. But Bambie Thug is confident. Bambie Thug is LOUD… ”
It’s a surprising thing to hear, especially considering how they present themselves onstage. Bambie is aware of how confusing it might seem.
“I’m screaming for arenas of people, then I get offstage, get triggered by something, and bawl my eyes out,” they say.
“I’m still trying to learn how to feel proud of my achievements. Slowly.”
One achievement they’re allowing themself to feel proud about is their manifestation track, 2022’s Tsunami (11:11).
“I wrote it while staying at a friend’s,” they recall. “I was starting to feel awful about the couch surfing, I wasn’t looking after myself, everything was a mess… I just needed to get outside. So I went out in the rain, crouched on top of a bin, and wrote this song saying, ‘I’m gonna be somebody, you wait and see.’”
(Image credit: Ben Gibson)
While the past year has been non-stop, the hard work is paying off. Bambie has seen a community of fans growing.
“It feels like I have a cult following now,” they beam. “And the kids absolutely love me! I’m so grateful that parents are allowing their kids to dress up goth, come to my shows. I have no idea how, but they always manage to sneak in, even if it’s an 18-plus show…”
The singer is aware that some songs, such as the fellatio celebrating Kawasaki (I Love It) (‘Feels so good when it hits my lips…’) or Birthday might be a bit too debauched for sections of that following.
“I’m very conscious of my younger audience,” Bambie notes. “I’ve even stopped performing Birthday, because I don’t want to promote drug use to them. I want to nurture them, in a way. Sometimes I think I could do a witch school, encourage them to explore the occult and connect with the world…”
The exhausting rush of the past year shows no sign of slowing down. In May, Bambie will open for Babymetal on a European arena tour that winds up at The O2 in London. The singer is already cooking up new outfits and dance moves to win over the headliners’ fans and generally take their hell-sent drag show to a new level.
“I do want to up the camp, though,” they say. “I might make my dancers start ‘playing’ unplugged guitars. Just very blatantly not playing correctly, maybe have them totally stop playing mid-guitar solo. That would be incredibly camp.”
There’s also a plan to unleash some new music sooner rather than later.
“I’ve got to release some more heavy shit before the Babymetal tour, ” they grin. “I have a few songs in mind. They’re going to be sick. I’m also hoping the new tracks help me decide what my debut will eventually sound like – you only get one, right? So the pressure is really on.”
Of the new singles, Bambie says at least three of them are “cowboy” tracks.
“There was honestly a period where all I wrote was cowboy music. Maybe that’s my future. Cunt-ry Ray Robinson, at your service,” they say wickedly.
We don’t want to keep Bambie any longer. There are plots to cook up, spells to weave, ideas to materialise. Their transport awaits, though amusingly it’s a rather un-goth Lime bike rather than some ornate obsidian carriage pulled by headless swans.
“All of our little goth scene… we’re just sensitive souls,” they sigh, as they pull on their boots and get ready to leave. “We’re love punks. We support each other. So I guess I want people to love each other. Beneath it all, I’m just full of love…” – a booming cackle – “…and hexes!”
Bambie Thug will support Babymetal at The O2 in London on May 30.
Full-time freelancer, part-time music festival gremlin, Emily first cut her journalistic teeth when she co-founded Bittersweet Press in 2019. After asserting herself as a home-grown, emo-loving, nu-metal apologist, Clash Magazine would eventually invite Emily to join their Editorial team in 2022. In the following year, she would pen her first piece for Metal Hammer – unfortunately for the team, Emily has since become a regular fixture. When she’s not blasting metal for Hammer, she also scribbles for Rock Sound, Why Now and Guitar and more.
“We are the haven for the outcasts and the downtrodden – bring us your losers, because we’re all in this together.” Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus explains why being in a punk rock band is the most fun you can have with your clothes on, and off
Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus has explained why he’s spent the greater part of his life playing punk rock.
In a new interview with The Guardian, time to coincide with the release of his autobiography, Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir, Blink-182’s vocalist/bassist admits that, having grown up in a broken home, discovering skateboarding and punk rock opened up a gateway into an accepting culture where he finally felt a sense of belonging.
“A total sense of community,” he tells writer Alexis Petridis. “I didn’t belong to any cliques in school, any sports teams or cool kids’ clubs, and then skateboarding came around. It was like: ‘Do your own shit, be part of us. We welcome all the outcasts, come be part of our little fucked-up crew.’ I loved that. Same with punk rock: ‘We are the haven for the outcasts and the downtrodden – bring us your losers, because we’re all in this together.’”
Reminiscing about Blink-182’s early days, before finding fame with 1999’s 15-million-selling Enema Of The State, Hoppus says the experience was “totally the most fun.”
“I mean, it’s the fucking worst, trying to find the next venue or a fucking shower – the quest for a shower is insane,” he continues. “We would go days with no shower and you’re in the gnarly heat, playing in the middle of the day in 92% humidity in some parking lot in New Jersey. But skateboarding, playing in a band, driving down freeways shooting fireworks at each other – what more could you hope for in your early 20s?”
And it seems that, for the 53-year-old musician, playing in a band is still a joy, particularly as he believes that his band offer something that no other band does.
“It’s not just one thing. It’s not just dick jokes, it’s not just serious music, it’s not just lasers,” he says. “What other band can have lasers and pyro and fireworks, songs about divorce that make people cry, and also talk about the way buttholes taste between songs?”
The publisher’s synopsis for his book states: “This is a story of what happens when an angst-ridden kid who grew up in the desert experiences his parents’ bitter divorce, moves around the country, switches identities from dork to goth to skate punk, and eventually meets his best friend who just so happens to be his musical soulmate.
“A memoir that paints a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up in the 1980s as a latchkey kid hooked on punk rock, skateboards, and MTV; Mark Hoppus shares how he came of age and forms one of the biggest bands of his generation.“
Threaded through with the very human story of a constant battle with anxiety and Mark’s public battle and triumph over cancer, Fahrenheit-182 is a delight for fans and also a funny, smart, and relatable memoir for anyone who has wanted to quit but kept going.”
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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne’s private jet, played Angus Young’s Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.
Prog rock’s most prominent artists rarely stayed in one place. From classical explorations to pop detours, the genre’s best bands and solo acts realized the importance of moving on in fear of becoming stagnant.
That’s a big reason their music took so many chances – whether in album-length conceptual works or more focused individual tracks that packed enough ideas to give many standard-issue artists whiplash.
In the below list of the Best Album by Prog’s 15 Biggest Artists, there’s a range of ideas to consider: side-long works broken into multiple suites, symphonic works recorded with world-class, prestigious orchestras, early works by bands that would get more popular after they drifted away from progressive music and, of course, plenty of flutes.
It’s easy to rattle off the giants of the scene: Genesis, King Crimson, Yes. And make no mistake, they’re all here in their glory. But there are also a few artists, loved by prog-rock afficianados but perhaps not as well known to outside audiences, that seldom wavered from their methods. Plus, there’s a band that didn’t form until long after prog’s peak years in the ’70s had faded into time.
The Best Album by Prog’s 15 Biggest Artists isn’t always their most popular; it’s occasionally not even their best-selling record. But these LPs are the ones fans reach for repeatedly; they hold a special place in their hearts and record collections because the music deserves and often requires deep listens. It can sometimes seem like an uphill battle with some progressive rock albums. These classics make excellent starting points.
The Best Album by Prog’s 15 Biggest Artists
The most essential recordings from the bands that took it to the limit.
Pink Floyd broke a lot of rules, blew up at least one stadium scoreboard and watched an expensive inflatable pyramid vanish into the sky after just one use on their Wish You Were Here tour.
Defying the music industry convention that you tour to promote a new album after you release that new album, the group launched the 29-date tour on April 8, 1975, more than five months before the release of the Wish You Were Here album.
In addition to previewing the album-dominating nine-part suite “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and Wish You Were Here‘s lone single “Have a Cigar,” Pink Floyd treated fans to early versions of “Sheep” and “Dogs” from their next studio album, 1977’s Animals. In fact, they had already debuted many of those songs during their 1974 tours of France and Great Britain.
“Our stage show benefited from a much higher professional input,” drummer Nick Mason said of the 1975 tour in his autobiography Inside Out, noting that the band hired a special effects expert from the James Bond films for the shows. “Previously our special effects had been a dangerous mixture of imagination and passing acquaintance with the pyrotechnic arts.”
Still, the band found a way to get into trouble even with expert help. Needing to dispose of the remaining munitions from their American dates before crossing the border into Canada, they decided to do so by attaching them to the scoreboard at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium, then detonating them. “The explosion was devastating,” recalled Mason. “The board erupted in smoke, flame and scores of a thousand goals a side. Not only did we have to pay for a replacement scoreboard but also a great deal of glass for the neighboring houses.”
Another Spinal Tap moment occurred when the band designed a house-sized inflatable pyramid that was meant to float over their outdoor shows. “The slightest breath of wind would set the entire structure shuddering and wobbling,” recalled Mason. The first time the group attempted to use it, June 20th in Pittsburgh, things went so badly that the crew were instructed to just cut it loose, after which it crashed in the parking lot and was torn to shreds by souvenir-seeking fans.
Despite all the attention Pink Floyd dedicated to the visual presentation of their live concerts, none of the Wish You Were Here tour shows professionally documented. “I’m sorry we never filmed and recorded a Dark Side, Animals or Wish You Were Here show,” drummer Nick Mason told Rolling Stone in 2018. “The problem was we just hit a period where everyone was paranoid about bootleggers and didn’t tape shows.”
Luckily, famed bootlegger Mike “The Mic” Millard was on the case. As Rolling Stone noted in 2021, Millard used a fake wheelchair to smuggle a tape recorder into shows at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, wired the machine up to microphones on his hat and simply walked to the front of the venue. In this manner he got high quality recordings of artists such as Rush, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, who even used some of his tapes on their self-titled 2003 DVD.
He also captured what many consider the best recording of Pink Floyd’s 1975 tour, which through the use of modern audio technology has had its sound even further improved in recent years. You can listen to the entire show below.
As for video, the best source seems to be 27-minutes of 8mm footage from the band’s June 28th show in Hamilton, Canada, which has been converted to 4K quality. That footage can also be found below, along with another high-quality audio recording of that same show.
Hear Pink Floyd’s April 26, 1975 Concert
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here 1975 Tour Set List
First Set: 1. “Raving and Drooling” (later known as “Sheep” from 1977’s Animals) 2. “You’ve Got to Be Crazy” (later known as “Dogs” from 1977’s Animals) 3. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts I-V” (from 1975’s Wish You Were Here) 4. “Have a Cigar” (from Wish You Were Here) 5. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts VI-IX” (from Wish You Were Here)
Second Set: The Dark Side of the Moon 6. “Speak to Me” 7. “Breathe” 8. “On the Run” 9. “Time / Breathe” (Reprise) 10. “The Great Gig in the Sky” 11. “Money” 12. “Us and Them” 13. “Any Colour You Like” 14. “Brain Damage” 15. “Eclipse”
Richie Kotzen has revealed that he almost joined Nine Inch Nails, but the opportunity was cruelly taken away when his glam metal past caught up with him.
“The closest band that I ever came to joining was Nine Inch Nails – and nobody knows that,” Kotzen tells Australia’s Hot Metal Mag. “This is a true one.
“I was friendly with the bass player from Marilyn Manson [Jeordie Osbourne White, a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez], who was playing in Nine Inch Nails. He said to me, ‘Listen, you’ve got to come down – we’re having a hard time finding a guitar player’. So I went down to Third Encore [a rehearsal studio in North Hollywood] and I spent the day.
“Trent told me ‘You’re by far the best guy that we’ve tried, love to have you in the band I’m going to have my manager reach out to you’. I left that day thinking, ‘Wow, OK, I’m going to join another band!”
Sadly, Reznor’s tentative offer of employment was withdrawn after Kotzen’s glam metal past was taken into account.
“A week went by,” continues the Poison/Mr Big/Winery Dogs/Smith-Kotzen man. “Then another week went by. I ran into Jeordi and said ‘what happened?’
“Basically he [Renzor] said he didn’t want to open up Rolling Stone magazine and see ‘Nine Inch Nails gets former Poison guitar player Richie Kotzen’. He didn’t want the association with a hair metal band in that camp.”
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Kotzen, who was a member of Poison from 1991 to 1993 and played on the band’s fourth album Native Tongue, says that while he understood Reznor’s reasoning, he was disappointed because he loved Nine Inch Nails’ work so much, and even offered to work under an alias.
Richie Kotzen almost joined Nine Inch Nails! | Hot Metal shorts #1 – YouTube
Quiet day at the office? Not when Kiss star Paul Stanley, Billy Idol and Gwen Stefani are your workmates.
That’s the reality according to Workday, a software company whose new marketing campaign features the three rockers “trading their leather studs for power suits” as they “hilariously try to navigate the corporate world.”
The campaign celebrates Workday’s Agentic AI, which the company describes as an “AI platform for managing people, money, and agents”.
Sounds good? Well, no. But it’s our job to report such things, so here we are.
“So you corporate types think you’re rock stars?” asks Stanley. “That’s as ridiculous as us being corporate types! When your weekend routine involves smashing guitars on stage, a boring office job just doesn’t compare…”
“You think AI agents can handle your tasks?” asks Stefani. “Watch me handle my agent!”
“You think that using AI to help you get work done is challenging the status quo?” asks Idol, happy to repeat the question and answer format required by the script. “How about trashing hotel rooms?!”
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“Agentic AI is not just changing how work gets done, it’s reshaping the future of work itself – a future where human employees and digital labour will work side-by-side,” boasts Emma Chalwin, Workday’s chief marketing officer.
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Let’s face it, as old-school long-time Elton John fans, we all long for the old days when Elton John released albums like Honky Château, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and of course, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton and Bernie Taupin crafted some of the greatest pop songs of all time during that period between 1970 and 1976. First and foremost, those songs were fueled by Elton’s high tenor – he was able to reach notes and sing melodies that were so creatively original that fans simply fell in love with his music and Bernie’s words.
Something happened to Elton’s music in the post-’70s era. He still continued to write and release great songs, although there were some albums that were a bit of a letdown. But there was a difference, and for the most part, even Elton has admitted that a change occurred due to the shift in his voice. Elton John could no longer sing those high melodies; his voice grew deeper, and with his changing range, he had to compensate in his compositions. This is not a put-down; it’s just a significant difference from the music he released in the seventies.
Elton John’s new album, Who Believes in Angels?, was just released yesterday, April 4, 2025. The album’s opening track, “The Rose of Laura Nyro,” is a wonderful tribute to Bronx native Laura Nyro, one of our favorite musical artists here at ClassicRockHistory.com. She is, in fact, a much-overlooked artist and often forgotten when people talk about the great songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s. She had her hits, but her albums were deep collections of heartfelt, emotionally epic pieces filled with rhythmic time changes and spectacular musical performances. It was no wonder that bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears covered her music.
The tribute to Laura Nyro, which opens the album, also echoes in many ways the opening track “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It’s the first Elton John album since then that opens with a long instrumental featuring fiery guitar work in an adventurous musical performance.. It’s simply spectacular. The moment the vocals come in and listeners are presented with the duo of Brandi Carlile and Elton singing together, that old Elton John magic begins to occur.
The collaboration between Brandi Carlile and Elton John on his heavenly new album is significant for many reasons. What really hit me hard was the fact that the melodies on many of these songs shift up into a register where Elton John used to sing but no longer can. With Brandi Carlile standing next to him, he was able to write those melodies again and have her sing them. He sings them with her but, of course, in harmony, where he doesn’t have to hit those high notes. Brandi Carlile sounds just gorgeous singing these melodies. On the album’s first single, “Who Believes in Miracles,” I was constantly reminded of the chorus on the single “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” It’s very similar, not in a copycat kind of way, but in a stylistic way. It’s as if Elton John had the freedom once again to write melodies that his voice had restricted him from doing.
Of course, it’s not all about just the melodies; it’s about the collaboration with Brandi Carlile. She brings a modern sense to his music, even though Elton has continued to release music and collaborate with other artists that has always sounded modern. Brandi Carlile is a very special artist. She’s a wonderful songwriter, a stunning singer, and she just seems like a really special human being. I mean, of course, one would have to be all of that to release an album and collaborate with Elton John. She has her own fan base, but hopefully, for her, this will help her develop an older fan base. What she brings to this recording within her lyrics, her vocal performances, and just her spirit really helps make this a special album.
It’s interesting and very impressive that Elton John has never sounded old; for a man in his seventies, his spirit, at least in his music, has always sounded fresh. Yes, we do miss the days of songs like “Daniel,” “Tower Of Bable,” “Blues for Baby and Me,” and all those gorgeous songs he used to write. But in all honesty, I’m just really happy that Elton John is still releasing new music.
The new album also showcases Elton John’s piano playing. It’s a shame that Elton is not often talked about enough in regard to just his piano playing. Of course, any of his old fans who wore out 11-17-70 on their turntables knew very well just how hard he could rock the piano. On his new album, he brings that old rocking piano playing back front and center on the tribute to Little Richard called “Little Richard’s Bible.”
You have to hand it to him—this man has never really left. He’s had his ups and downs; he’s been through rough times just like all of us. But every couple of years, he comes back and releases something new. If you don’t like it, then go fu*k off. I have to tell you, I’m happy that I still live in a world where Elton John lives, and ten times happier that I still live in a world where I can go out and buy a new Elton John album every couple of years.
Perhaps the album’s most emotional moment occurs on the recording’s final song, “When This Old World Is Done with Me.” While we’ve been discussing Elton’s high tenor that no longer walks alongside him, the man has compensated over the years by developing a rich, soulful low voice reminiscent of Ray Charles, and it’s very present on the closing track. As many of us have seen lately, when our rock and roll heroes have aged and released albums toward the end of their lives, they have written songs that reflect an acceptance of moving on from this life. Elton touches on that acknowledgment beautifully in the song “When This Old World Is Done with Me.” In his singing, I could feel the cold front coming, and the listener feels just as chilled. It’s hard to hear your heroes say things like that, to sing those words, because as we all know, we’ve lost many of them in recent years. But Elton is one we just don’t want to let go of.
Check out more Elton John articles on ClassicRockHistory.com Just click on any of the links below……
