Real Rock Today: September 24, 2015

— September 24, 2015 0 82

Sammy Hagar Recalls First Meeting Eddie Van Halen in 1978: Exclusive Interview

Sammy Hagar wouldn’t officially join Van Halen until 1985, but his first meeting with members of the band actually happened years before that. He found himself on the same bill with the band on Sept. 23, 1978, at Anaheim Stadium where both were booked for Summerfest, an epic day-long concert event featuring an incredible bill headlined by Boston and Black Sabbath.

The gig was attended by an estimated 56,000 people and Van Halen would make a memorable first impression for many in the audience when they “parachuted” in for their performance. In truth, it was an elaborate stunt that had been in the works for months leading up to the show. The band themselves were on the ground the whole time — but the idea was a clever one that got the headlines that they were hoping for.

Why Do So Many People Hate Bruce Springsteen? We Think We Know

Wednesday is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday, and I am confused. The schools are open, the banks are open, and the mail service is running on time. Seriously? We haven’t made The Boss’ birthday a holiday yet?

Okay, maybe that’s pushing it. I guess I should explain. I’m part of the Cult Of Springsteen; the people who don’t just like him, but who unabashedly love him, and who will chew the ear off any willing listener about just how utterly, undeniably, absolutely brilliant he is. With that said, I’m trying to give up this habit, because I’m starting to think that people like me are why so many people hate Bruce Springsteen.

Roger Waters: ‘I’m prepared to be wrong about everything’

I’m asking Roger Waters a question about his new film – the fourth and most successful attempt to bring Pink Floyd’s 1979 concept album The Wall to the big screen – when he suddenly interrupts me. “You know why I don’t read the Grauniad any more?” he asks, narrowing his eyes. I’m afraid I don’t. “I’ll tell you why. When I did The Wall in Berlin in 1990” – a record-breaking charity performance – “they printed a big picture, half a page, no article, and underneath it said something like ‘Last night, Pink Floyd played their record The Wall in Berlin and the sound was terrible.’ Full stop. And I thought, ‘Fuck you, that paper is never coming through my letterbox again.’”

Nuge Grooves: 40 Surprising Ted Nugent Quotes About Music

Ted Nugent, the self-tiled debut LP by former Amboy Dukes guitar slinger Ted Nugent exploded into record stores in September 1975. As anyone with working ears knows well, the Motor City Madman has never stopped making rackets ever since.

Most often of late, Uncle Ted has garnered attention with his outspoken opinions that run bombastically in opposition to “political correctness”—so much so, in fact, that even many who agree with Ted might occasionally wish he’d tone it down a notch.

Keith Richards: “Why I Won’t Use Pedals Onstage” and Six More Keef Facts

Keith Richards appeared on the September 21 WTF with Marc Maron podcast for a lengthy interview. You can download the episode at the WTF site as well as hear it below.

In the interview, Richards—who is enjoying the limelight thanks to his excellent new solo album, Crosseyed Heart—touches on a vast range of subjects, including his influences, his gear, and band members past and present.

David Gilmour, Royal Albert Hall, review: ‘the full Floyd experience in all but name’

There is no such thing as “scaled back” Pink Floyd. It would be like AC/DC without the amps or Glastonbury without the Pyramid Stage. So it was a relief that David Gilmour, on his first tour in almost a decade, gave us the full Floyd experience in all but name.

This concert, the first of five at the Albert Hall, was a stadium show in a relatively intimate setting. Much of Gilmour’s backing band were Floyd veterans, more than half the set list was made up of Floyd songs and the production was designed by the band’s long-term collaborator Marc Brickman. Above the stage hung the band’s trademark “Mr Screen”, a vast circular projection canopy surrounded by 50 swivelling lights. There were lasers, dry ice and guitar solos loud and high-pitched enough to bring the dogs of Kensington scurrying to the Albert Hall’s gilded doors. In fact, the only thing preventing this from being a full-on Pink Floyd show was the absense of Nick Mason on drums and Roger Waters on guitar and vocal duties. But given that Gilmour and Waters don’t get on as well as they once did, that was never going to happen.