Real Rock Today: September 25, 2015
Van Halen Couldn’t Live Without David Lee Roth’s Hot Mess Insanity at Gexa
In the middle of a 10-minute-long “How to Dance Like David Lee Roth” monologue Wednesday night at Gexa Energy Pavilion, Roth got serious for a minute. Sort of. Having walked the crowd through his James Brown and stair-stepping moves, the Van Halen singer got to the “white boy” ones, including his favorite, the Full Jesus. Arms outstretched, he threw his head back and then looked ahead again to make (creepy) eye contact with the audience.
“Thank you, God, for this job,” Roth said, explaining what goes through his head whenever he does the Full Jesus. “It’s the best one, by far, that I’ve ever had.”
When the Van Halen brothers let him have it, that is, which was one of the underlying themes (and one of Roth’s favorite jokes) of the show last night. These days the band is 3/4 Van Halens, with brothers Eddie and Alex now joined by Eddie’s son Wolfgang. It’s a family band (Wolfgang’s bass is even painted to mimic Eddie’s guitar) that cycles through whichever vocalist they can tolerate at the time — or whichever period of songs they feel like playing most.
Q&A with Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell
Ahead of Def Leppard’s Monday show at Usana Amphitheatre in West Valley City, guitarist Vivian Campbell did a lengthy and wide-ranging interview with The Salt Lake Tribune:
First off, how’s your treatment going?
It’s going very, very well, thank you. The bad news is this cancer keeps coming back. The good news is the treatment I’m doing largely continues to work, which is a big, big part of the recovery for me, to be able to continue to do what it is that defines who I am. I’ve had a couple rounds of chemo — actually, three rounds of chemo. And last October I did a stem cell transplant. And I kind of naively thought that’d be it, and I was done with it. I guess given the benefit now of my experiences with this, I kinda realize that I’ll probably be dealing with it for the rest of my life. So we’re trying a new track now; I’m trying a process called immunotherapy, which is the latest and greatest thinking in how to treat cancer. So, it’s part of a clinical trial, and it’s early days yet, so I really won’t know until the end of the year, I won’t really have an idea about the efficacy of this treatment. The good news is it allows me to continue to tour, because I just have to do these infusions every three weeks or so. It’s a bit of a pain because I have to travel back to Los Angeles. But as far as side effects, there’s absolutely nothing that’s of any concern — it’s just lowered my thyroid considerably. But if that’s the only side effect, I’ll certainly take it. It’s a lot easier to deal with than doing chemo.
Review: Def Leppard fans get rocked in Phoenix
When perpetually shirtless guitarist Phil Collen checked in from the road to talk about the tour that brought Def Leppard to Ak-Pavilion in Phoenix Wednesday, he was thrilled to report that the self-titled album they’ll be dropping in October, their first studio release in seven years, is “the best thing we’ve done since ‘Hysteria.’”
And as the PA blasted AC/DC songs before their set, the giant screens that flanked the stage bore a message proclaiming “The highly anticipated new album coming fall 2015, www.defleppard.com.”
Roger Waters Details Working on ‘The Wall’ Stage Show with ‘Billy Elliot’ Writer Lee Hall
With his latest concert film on the horizon, former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters has confirmed that a possible stage adaptation of his band’s classic album, The Wall, is in the works. The 72-year-old musician toured the album from 2010 to 2013 and footage form the tour will be turned into a concert film titled Roger Waters The Wall, which will hit theaters for one day only on September 29. Ahead of the film’s release, Waters spoke with NME, revealing his plans of a stage version of the record with Lee Hall, one writer behind the film, Billy Elliot.
“We’ve done workshops with it as a theatrical piece, and I suspect we’ll see it sooner rather than later,” Waters said. “I’ve been working with Lee Hall, who did Billy Elliot, writers and producers, and I think that team will put it on the stage first in London, then New York and then maybe it’ll tour. People have been reduced to both laughter and tears in the workshops, which is a great sign.”
Bob Dylan Gearing Up To Release Enormous Box Set
Over nearly a dozen volumes and almost a quarter century, Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series has given such fabled recordings as the Royal Albert Hall concert, the Basement Tapes and various leftovers from his classic mid-’60s trilogy of albums (including Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde) their long-hoped-for official releases. It will allegedly include an early, electrified take on “Mr. Tambourine Man”, a version of “Visions of Johanna” with alternate lyrics, and a comprehensive look at the recording sessions behind “Like a Rolling Stone“.
ELO confirm All Alone In The Universe
ELO have confirmed their first album in 14 years will be released in November and they’ve made a single available to stream.
Jeff Lynne’s outfit will issue 12th album Alone In The Universe on November 13 via Columbia records. New single When I Was A Boy is available to stream below. The follow-up to 2001’s Zoom is available to pre-order from September 25 (Friday) and those who do will get the single as an instant download.
