Author: Logan Rocker

“The police should all retire. They’re disgusting. England is falling to pieces.” Mick Jagger’s 1972 state-of-the-nation anarchist rant was quite something

Posted on by Logan Rocker
Mick Jagger, in 1972

(Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

“My slogan is: ‘Good Government is No Government’. England doesn’t need a government.”

It’s March 1972, and sitting in Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is on a roll. NME journalist Roy Carr had been invited to the studio to hear an early preview of the Stones’ then-still-unreleased Exile On Main St. album and conduct an interview with Jagger about what fans could expect, but a mention of the Conservative government’s controversial Night Assemblies Bill has set the conversation on a different tangent. 

The Bill had received its second reading in Parliament on January 21, 1972. David Crouch, the MP for Canterbury, told the House of Commons:

“I believe that the whole House appreciates the need for such legislation as I am proposing to deal with a new phenomenon in modern society. I refer to the “pop” festival, a new sporting or musical event which has taken and is taking place regularly during the season. Such events are on the scale of the Derby race meeting, but they take place without proper proportions being instituted for very large assemblies of people. The Bill is being introduced not to prohibit pop festivals but to make them more acceptable to all concerned and, in particular, more enjoyable for those who go to them to hear the music and entertainment.”

The bill proposed to make it a criminal offence to hold a gathering of 1000 people or more outside between midnight and 6 a.m. without applying to a local authority four months beforehand and without financial guarantees being made. And Mick Jagger saw it as an attempt to crush civil liberties, as the scope of the original bill could have seen it extended beyond pop festivals.

As Turd On The Run played in the background, the singer embarked upon a state-of-the-nation address which makes his distaste for Edward Heath’s government all too clear.

“It’s disgusting,” Jagger told Carr. “The British public should openly flout the Tory government. And voting is no good because it never works… The best thing would be for a load of our top bands to turn up somewhere and assemble a large crowd and do a gigantic free gig. If they did, then you be sure, I’d be there.”

“I honestly believe Britain would be better off with no government than the present Tory one,”Jagger continued.”And as far as the police – they should all retire. I mean they’re all disgusting… England is just falling to pieces.”

“If they get away with this bill,” Jagger warned, “then they’re really going to try and enforce other measures to restrict people’s freedom. If they banned football matches then they’d see some trouble. Just let them start that -and see what happens.”

“England has always had a malaise of not caring,” Jagger concluded. “People take everything lying down.They are content to let the country be run by a load of misguided right-wingers.”

Ultimately, support for the Night Assembles Bill fell away: whether or not Mick Jagger’s opposition to the bill swayed any MPs in their intentions is not recorded in Hansard, the official report of all Parliamentary debates.

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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. Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

Greta Van Fleet share a majestic ode to their love of wearing jumpsuits with new single Sacred The Thread

Posted on by Logan Rocker
Greta Van Fleet

(Image credit: Neil Krug)

Greta Van Fleet have released a majestic new single, Sacred The Thread, lifted from their forthcoming third studio album Starcatcher.

The new track is the latest to arrive from the record – which is due out on July 21 on Lava/Republic/EMI Records – and follows on from last month’s Meeting The Master.

Sacred The Thread is an ode to frontman Josh Kiszka’s love of fashion, primarily his appreciation for wearing glamorous jumpsuits, with lyrics that read: ‘The sequins tripping on the light / Woah / I feel it hugging me so tight’ and I see me / Through colours gems and trim / Unraveled / The glow that was once dim’.

In an official press release for the track, the vocalist explains: “I always like to think that some people’s first impression of Greta Van Fleet in concert is, ‘Wow, these guys really like dressing to the left and blowing shit up, this song is particularly important to me because it’s about my jumpsuits.”

Upcoming album Starcatcher was recorded with Dave Cobb at his base at RCA Studios in Nashville, and finds the band exploring “the duality of fantasy versus reality and the contrast between light and darkness.”

“We had this idea that we wanted to tell these stories to build a universe,” says drummer Danny Wagner. “We wanted to introduce characters and motifs and these ideas that would come about here and there throughout our careers through this world.”

“When I imagine the world of Starcatcher, I think of the cosmos,” explains bassist and keyboard player Sam Kizska. “It makes me ask a lot of questions, like ‘Where did we come from?’ or ‘What are we doing here?’ But it’s also questions like, ‘What is this consciousness that we have, and where did it come from?’”

“We didn’t really have to force or be intense about writing, because everything that happened was very instinctual,” adds frontman Jake Kizska. “If anything, the record is our perspective, and sums up where we are as a group and individually as musicians.”

This summer, Greta Van Fleet will head out on their Starcatcher world tour, with the first show taking place on July 24 in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

View tour dates and listen to Sacred The Thread below:

Starcatcher tracklist:

  1. Fate Of The Faithful
  2. Waited All Your Life
  3. The Falling Sky
  4. Sacred The Thread
  5. Runway Blues
  6. The Indigo Streak
  7. Frozen Light
  8. The Archer
  9. Meeting The Master
  10. Farewell For No

Greta Van Fleet: Starcatcher World Tour 2023

Jul 24: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Jul 27: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, FX
Jul 28: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Jul 31: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Aug 02: Salt Lake City Vivint Arena, UT
Aug 04: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Aug 05: Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum, OR
Aug 08: Oakland Oakland Arena, CA
Aug 10: Los Angeles The Kia Forum, CA
Aug 12: Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena, NV
Sep 03: St. Paul Xcel Energy Center, MN
Sep 06: Chicago Allstate Arena, IL
Sep 08: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Sep 11: Washington Capital One Arena, DC
Sep 12: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Sep 15: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 19: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Sep 22: Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse, IN
Sep 23: Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, OH
Nov 06: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Nov 08: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Nov 09: Paris Accor Arena, France
Nov 12: Brussels Forest National, Belgium
Nov 14: London OVO Arena Wembley, UK
Nov 16: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland
Nov 19: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Nov 20: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Nov 26: Copenhagen Forum, Denmark
Nov 28: Munich Zenith, Germany
Nov 30: Bologna Unipol Arena, Italy
Dec 03: Barcelona Sant Jordi Club, Spain
Dec 04: Madrid WiZink Center, Spain
Dec 06: Lisbon Campo Pequeno, Portugal

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Liz works on keeping the Louder sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.

Ghost’s Phantomime covers EP is yet another mad journey through Tobias Forge’s head

Posted on by Logan Rocker

Ever since 2013’s Infestissumam, it’s become a tradition for Ghost to follow each studio album with a palette-cleansing EP that leans heavily on Ghostified covers of classic songs by everyone from Abba to The Beatles (the notable exception of 2019’s Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic single, which followed Prequelle and threw up the viral hit Mary On A Cross). 

Phantomime upholds this tradition. Unlike 2016’s Popestar EP, which opened with the iconic Square Hammer, this features five cover versions and no new Ghost originals.

The result is fun if not entirely essential. An exhilarating cover of Genesis’ 1991 single Jesus He Knows Me, a takedown of US televangelists, falls so neatly into the Ghost ouvre you’d think Tobias wrote it himself with a gleeful cackle and eye to building his ever-expanding Ghost universe (it’s not hard to imagine it sitting alongside Kaisarion in Ghost live shows). 

But elsewhere, things feel decidedly more throwaway. Tobias plays things a little too straight on Iron Maiden’s Phantom Of The Opera, struggling to put his own stamp a classic song, while their version of Hanging Around by punk icons The Stranglers similarly seems the band they’re taking on overpower Ghost’s own identity. The forgettable cover of 70s New York art-punks Television’s See No Evil seems to exist purely so Tobias can use that title.

They save the biggest and best until last with an epic version of Tina Turner’s We Don’t Need Another Hero, originally the theme to 1980s Mel Gibson blockbuster Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. If ever they remake that one, they’ve got a ready-made closing song right here.

Phantomime isn’t essential between-albums listening for Ghost fans in the same way 2013’s If You Have Ghost EP, Popestar or Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic were, but at this point the band hardly need to prove themselves; this well-oiled behemoth long having passed the point where they can do whatever the hell they want.

Smiths Bassist Andy Rourke Dead at 59

Posted on by Logan Rocker

The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke died after a cancer battle at age 59, guitarist Johnny Marr announced.

Rourke joined the English rock band after their first show in 1982 and appeared on all four of their albums released between 1984-87. He continued working with singer Morrissey for several years, and also collaborated with the Pretenders and Killing Joke, among others. He later became a host on the U.K. radio station XFM.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer,” Marr wrote on social media. “Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans. We request privacy at this sad time.”

Drummer Mike Joyce noted, “Not only the most talented bass player I’ve ever had the privilege to play with but the sweetest, funniest lad I’ve ever met. Andy’s left the building, but his musical legacy is perpetual. I miss you so much already. Forever in my heart, mate.”

Born in Manchester in 1964, Rourke started playing guitar at the age of 7 and met Marr at school. The pair spent years experimenting with music together, with Rourke moving to bass early on. He formed Freak Party with Marr and later followed him to the Smiths. He was briefly fired from the group as a result of heroin addiction but rehired weeks later.

In a 2004 interview with Mojo, Rourke recalled that “it all clicked” when he played with the Smiths for the first time. “Literally six months later we were on Top of the Pops,” he said. It took a while for Joyce to settle with him, but Rourke reflected that he “had something to prove to Mike, and he had something to prove back. It created quite a dynamic but aggressive sound. … There was nothing contrived about it. We were dueling off each other.”

He added, “We were a gang, a very tight band of brothers. When we were at our peak nobody could penetrate that – we were united in what we were doing. I think that got us through the pressures of getting famous, management, record companies. We were always tight, and nobody could chip away at that.”

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METALLICA – Gibson Certified Vintage Debuts 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard “Sunny”; Beloved Guitar Previously Owned By KIRK HAMMETT

Posted on by Logan Rocker

METALLICA - Gibson Certified Vintage Debuts 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard “Sunny”; Beloved Guitar Previously Owned By KIRK HAMMETT

Gibson – the iconic American-made, and leading instrument brand – has a legacy of making world-class instruments since 1894 when Orville Gibson was crafting archtop mandolins. As a natural extension of Gibson’s passion for its unique instruments and the stories they tell, the history-making Gibson Certified Vintage program – offers collectible vintage guitars authenticated, and certified directly by Gibson, with a new limited lifetime warranty and a certificate of vintage authenticity. All Gibson Certified Vintage guitars are sold via the Gibson Garage in Nashville, TN, call (615)933-6000; select models will available for purchase via Gibson.com.

The Gibson Les Paul Standard is quite simply the most iconic guitar ever built.

Today, the Gibson Certified Vintage program offers a rare Gibson 1960 Les Paul Standard  burst guitar in Cherry Sunburst finish, an authentic vintage Gibson instrument made and shipped in the year 1960, with the serial #0 1490. The guitar was sold by its original owner’s widow to a prominent collector in the 1980’s. The guitar was photographed and featured in the legendary 1996 book on vintage Les Paul Standards titled, The Beauty of the Burst. Eventually, the guitar changed hands and was bought by Kirk Hammett, guitarist of Metallica, who used it extensively until 2022. One of his beloved guitars, Kirk nicknamed this Les Paul Standard 1960 guitar “Sunny.”

“Sunny is special because not only is she in immaculate condition, but her tone is so present and bright, it’s like the sun cutting through clouds on an overcast day,” says Kirk Hammett. “Hence the name ‘Sunny.’ That’s the truth. The name came because she was so full and bright sounding. The reason I chose Gibson Certified Vintage for the worldwide offering is because having a mint vintage Gibson guitar can sometimes feel like having a brand-new Gibson guitar. They’re made that well. And this is what’s really special; the fact Gibson recognizes this and is willing and ready to re-warranty these beautiful instruments. I think this is just a great reflection of Gibson’s integrity towards the past, present, and future.”

This guitar, which sports the serial number 0 1490 shipped in 1960 and features transitional specifications, with 1959 parts and cosmetics joined by a typical 1960 SlimTaper™ neck profile – a desert island combination for many players.

Even among Bursts, this is a special guitar indeed. The maple top’s extensive side-to-side figuring is a rare and desirable trait that significantly increases its value compared to more plain vintage examples, while the original Cherry Sunburst finish retains a rich red color around the perimeter. With original fret wire and no major modifications, this guitar is presented in the kind of condition collectors dream of.

A world-first, the Gibson Certified Vintage features one-of-a-kind Golden Era blue-chip guitars, to unique, one-of-a-kind prototypes, celebrity-owned guitars, as well as 70s and 80s models directly from the Gibson Vault. All Gibson Certified Vintage guitars sold will come with a detailed letter of appraisal confirming the provenance and history of the instrument, a certificate of authenticity, and exclusive case candy. In an industry first, all guitars will receive a new lifetime limited warranty.

Explore Gibson Certified Vintage guitars below and check back for refreshed vintage offerings as each guitar is sold; for details, head here.

Purchase inquires/bids for the Gibson 1960 Les Paul Standard are only available directly from the Gibson Garage in Nashville, TN, call (615) 933-6000. Upon purchase, this Gibson 1960 Les Paul Standard, aka “Sunny,” previously owned by Kirk Hammett of Metallica will be available for pickup at the Gibson Garage, or shipment to an address in the US, starting on May 18, 2023.

Gibson Certified Vintage Gibson 1960 Les Paul Standard details are as follows:

* Solid Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard

A 1960 SlimTaper neck holds a Solid Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 original frets. The scale length is 24.75” / 628.65mm, and its weight is 8.8 lb / 3.9 kg.

* Figured Maple Top

This instrument features a beautiful 2-piece figured maple top on a Honduras mahogany body, highlighted by singly-ply cream binding on the top and fretboard, and original plastics.

* Original Components

Featuring the vintage technology that makes these Golden Era guitars so beloved: an ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic™ bridge, nickel-plated zinc alloy Stop Bar tailpiece, and two Patent Applied For humbucker™ pickups — 8.2k DC resistance at the bridge, and 7.6k DC resistance at the neck.

* Hidden Gems

Inside the control cavity, you’ll find Bumblebee capacitors and Centralab potentiometers dating to the 50th week of 1959… and on the back of the control cavity cover, a personalized signature by Les Paul himself.

* Original Controls

This Sunburst 1960 Les Paul Standard features its original controls: two Volume and two Tone knobs.

* Iconic Headstock

The vintage headstock on this 1960 Sunburst features an original inlay of the Gibson logo, and Les Paul signature branding. The nylon nut is 1.687” / 42.86mm wide.

* Restored Tuners

At some point it appears that the original tuning keys were replaced with an aftermarket style, but correct 1950s Kluson® single line/single ring tuners have since been restored, and there is only a small amount of finish touch-up visible from this work.

* Collectible Extras

The buyer will also receive a one-of-one hardcover book from Gibson Publishing, with stunning photography of the guitar, a brand-new interview with Kirk Hammett, and more. Plus, an exclusive portrait print of Hammett posing with the guitar, shot by legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin in Los Angeles. Additionally, the buyer will receive a Les Paul from Gibson Custom’s acclaimed Made 2 Measure program with their choice of a VOS, gloss, or Murphy Lab-aged finish.

* Gibson Certified Vintage Warranty and Case

Covered by a new limited lifetime warranty, this guitar from the Gibson Certified Vintage program will ship with its original case plus a modern Gibson Deluxe Protector Case. Inspired by the design of vintage 70s-era Gibson “chainsaw” cases, Gibson Deluxe Protector Series hardshell cases feature rugged polyethylene shells and modern improvements like TSA-approved locks, ergonomic soft-grip handles, and black powder-coated hardware. Protect your instrument with a case that delivers both vintage-inspired style and modern technology.

Check out additional photos of Gibson 1960 Les Paul Standard serial number 0 1490, aka “Sunny,” previously owned by Kirk Hammett of Metallica:


(Top photo – Ross Halfin)

Bon Scott’s pre-AC/DC bandmate remembers their wild times: “We nicknamed him Road-Test Ronnie. He tried it all!”

Posted on by Logan Rocker
Singer Bon Scott from Australian rock band AC/DC posed in a studio in London in August 1979

(Image credit: Fin Costello/Redferns)

It doesn’t take a leap to imagine that AC/DC’s wild, untameable force of nature original singer Bon Scott was also a wild, untameable force of nature in the years before fame cast a spotlight on him, and a former bandmate has given an insight into what Scott was like in his previous group. Before he found the perfect band for his rough and rowdy ways, the charismatic frontman was the singer in the Australian prog-rock group Fraternity. “Bon was ambitious, but it didn’t take predominance over having a good time,” Fraternity keyboard John Bisset told Classic Rock, reminiscing about sharing a house with Scott in Adelaide before the band relocated to England.

Bon was the hedonistic centre of the party, Bisset recalls, and a bit of a trailblazer when it came to recreational activities. “We nicknamed him Road-Test Ronnie, if someone came along with some new acid or new dope, he was game to give it all a try.” Although the acid scene at the time was predominantly hippie and vegetarian, Scott wasn’t a part of that side of it, laughs Bisset. “Even on an acid trip, you’d see him chomping on a leg of lamb.”

There was a sweeter side to this whirlwind of chaos too, says Bisset, as he recalls the days when Scott acted as an intermediary between Bisset and his wife. “He always took an interest in my son,” he states. “My wife and I used to fight a lot, and Bon was one of the few people who tried to help the situation.” Scott, he remembers, used to come round to their flat and do tricks for their son in the backyard, somersaulting his way round the garden. “It was just to bring some cheer to our family group.”

He didn’t limit his knack for off-stage entertaining to Bisset’s yard, though. Once Fraternity embarked on a tour of towns in South Australia and in one spot, kids were daring Scott to jump off the pier and into the jellyfish-swarmed water below. “Bon nonchalantly climbed to the highest point and bombed right into them. I don’t think he got stung at all.” 

It wouldn’t be his last splash: the AC/DC man had some big times ahead.

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Niall Doherty is a writer for The Guardian, Variety and Classic Rock, and co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former editors of Q magazine Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. Niall has written for NME, X-Ray Magazine and XFM Online and interviewed some of music’s biggest stars, including Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, St Vincent, The 1975, Depeche Mode, Radiohead and many more.

Jimi Hendrix is to battle a tyrannical intergalactic force in an official graphic novel

Posted on by Logan Rocker
Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze cover art

(Image credit: Titan Comics)

An official Jimi Hendrix graphic novel is to hit stores this November. Titled Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze, it’s been put together by Titan Comics – the team behind publications from franchises like Blade Runner, Tank Girl and Doctor Who – alongside Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., the company headed by Jimi’s sister, Janie Hendrix.

The graphic novel promises to mix classic sci-fi pulp and and Afro-futurism, taking the reader on psychedelic journey that follows Hendrix as he embarks on “a perilous quest to the very centre of the universe in search of a magical talisman powerful enough to unlock the incredible latent power of his trademark sound, so that he can free a diverse population starved of rock‘n’roll by a tyrannical intergalactic force hellbent on silencing music and enslaving all life.”

Which all sounds perfectly reasonable. 

“Jimi transcended time and space with his music, leaping generations into the future,“ says Janie Hendrix. “There was an otherworldliness about him that was a true fascination for many. It’s thrilling to have a Sci-Fi story told introducing Jimi as a time traveller, freedom fighter, and magical musician. 

“This graphic novel is an amazing depiction of what Jimi’s music, his songs, his art conveyed with futuristic imagination! Fans of Jimi, illustrated storytelling, and science fiction will be enthralled!”

The Hendrix Estate worked on Purple Haze with Titan co-writers Mellow Brown (American Gods, Blade Runner: Origins) and DJ Benhameen (producer and host of the For All Nerds Show podcast), alongside famed DC illustrator Tom Mandrake (Batman, Superman, Justice League of America, Avengers, Swamp Thing and more).

“Jimi Hendrix is an icon like no other,” add Titan’s Vivian Cheung-Landau and Nick Landau. “We are so thrilled to be working with Janie and the Hendrix estate to bring Jimi’s legend to life in a brand-new, exciting graphic novel for both long-time fans, and new, to experience.”

Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze will be published on November 7, and can be pre-ordered from Penguin Random House (opens in new tab) in the US, and from Forbidden Planet (opens in new tab) in Europe.

Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze graphic novel front cover

(Image credit: Titan Comics)

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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 37 years in music industry, online for 24. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.  

Sammy Hagar is convinced his dad visited him in a dream to tell him he was dying

Posted on by Logan Rocker
Sammy Hagar attends the 24th annual Keep Memory Alive

(Image credit: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)

The US rock singer Sammy Hagar has witnessed lots of strange things in this world and he would like you to know about them, so he passed word onto Classic Rock. The first is about aliens, whose existence the former Van Halen frontman was prompted to look into after having a dream about them. It’s always dreams, isn’t it?

“I started looking into it and started reading books about alien encounters,” he told Classic Rock. “I became a big believer and I still am a huge believer. Anyone that thinks we’re the only life in this universe is crazy! Those are the crazy people! Not the guys going round saying, ‘I went up in a rocket ship’”. It could just be that everyone’s crazy, Sammy. Sammy? Sammy? Ach, he’s not listening, he’s still talking about aliens: “It’s easier for me to talk about now. Twenty years ago you were tagged as crazy and you could lose your job and your friends for it.” Not anymore, he explained. People were getting clued up and Sammy was of the opinion that the truth is out there: “I think the possibilities are just vast and it really intrigues me.” 

God, too, was another mysterious entity on Sammy’s mind, but not in the sense of organised religion: that’s a big no-no for Sammy. “Churches have probably caused more wars than anything else on the planet,” he said. ”But I think the fear of going to hell or betraying God is one of the things that keeps us sane.”

It was in another dream that Hagar heard his father banging on his front door, only to be awoken by the news that his dad had died. It made him think about the supernatural. “In the dream, I slammed the door and said ‘Get out of here and don’t ever come back!’”, Hagar said, explaining that dream-him was mad that his dad had woken up his little baby. “Now I just sit there and go, ‘Why didn’t I let him in?’ What would’ve happened?”. We’ll never know the answer to that, but maybe deep down Sammy Hagar does. He’s a man intrigued by the possibilities. 

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Niall Doherty is a writer for The Guardian, Variety and Classic Rock, and co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former editors of Q magazine Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. Niall has written for NME, X-Ray Magazine and XFM Online and interviewed some of music’s biggest stars, including Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, St Vincent, The 1975, Depeche Mode, Radiohead and many more.

Listen to Foo Fighters’ New Song ‘Under You’

Posted on by Logan Rocker

Foo Fighters have released another new song from their upcoming But Here We Are album.

You can listen to “Under You” below.

The song joins the album’s first single, “Rescued,” as the first official Foo Fighters releases since their 2021 album, Medicine at Midnight. (A heavy-metal EP released under the name Dream Widow arrived in 2022.) It’s also their first new music since the March 2022 death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.

According to a press release, But Here We Are is “the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life.”

The group noted in a statement released at the end of 2022 how “thankful” they were for the support they’ve received from fans around the world following Hawkins’ death: “Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life, and for the past 27 years, our fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together,” according to the statement.

They described Foo Fighters as “a place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were – and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”

The band has also announced a global streaming event called Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts that will take place on Veeps on May 21. The show will include debut performances of songs from But Here We Are, behind-the-scenes footage and “a few surprises” from the band’s 606 studios. Tickets are free and on-demand repeat viewing will be available through May 24.

Foo Fighters are scheduled to return to the road soon, starting on May 24 in Gilford New Hampshire, followed by various festival appearances throughout the year.

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GUNS N’ ROSES Confirmed As Co-Headliner For Atlanta’s Music Midtown Festival This September

Posted on by Logan Rocker

GUNS N' ROSES Confirmed As Co-Headliner For Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival This September

Guns N’ Roses have been confirmed as one of the headliners for the upcoming Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, GA. It takes place at Piedmont Park from September 15 – 17. GNR perform on Sunday, the 17th.

Pre-sale tickets will be available as of 10:00am EST on Thursday, May 18th 18 at MusicMidtown.com.

Guns N’ Roses recently revealed that The Pretenders and Generation Sex will be the special guests on the European and Middle East legs of their 2023 World Tour. Tickets are on sale now.

The Pretenders, led by vocalist / guitarist Chrissie Hynde, have released 11 studio albums, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. They’re best known for their hit songs “Back On The Chain Gang”, “Middle Of The Road”, and ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong”. 

Generation Sex is an all-star punk ensemble comprised of Billy Idol and Tony James – who both belonged to Generation X, as well as Steve Jones and Paul Cook – both members of The Sex Pistols.

The next Guns N’ Roses concert is scheduled for June 1st at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The band’s complete 2023 tour schedule can be found here.