The Who Post Rescheduled Tour Dates

After a battle with viral meningitis earlier in the month, The Who singer Roger Daltrey is now feeling a great deal better and is gearing up to make up for the missed tour dates early next year.

In a press statement Daltrey says:

“I am now on the mend and feeling a lot better,”

Guitarist Pete Townshend also says:

“We will be starting our rescheduled shows in March and will be coming back stronger than ever!”

Daltrey came down with the meningitis on September 18th. Hopefully these rescheduled shows are more than enough to make up for the postponement. All tickets that were bought for the original dates will be honored at the new dates.

The Who Hits 50! Tour Dates:

2/27 – Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena
3/1 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
3/3 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
3/7 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
3/10 – Chicago, IL – United Center
3/12 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
3/14 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
3/16 – Pittsburgh, PA – CONSOL Energy Center
3/19 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
3/21 – Milwaukee, WI – BMO Harris Bradley Center
3/24 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
3/26 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
3/29 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
4/26 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
4/29 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
5/1 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
5/4 – Winnipeg, MB – MTS Centre
5/6 – Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre
5/8 – Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
5/10 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
5/13 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
5/15 – Seattle, WA – KeyArena at Seattle Center
5/17 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
5/19 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
5/22 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
5/25 – Los Angeles, CA – STAPLES Center
5/27 – San Diego, CA – Valley View Casino Center
5/29 – Las Vegas, NV – Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Guns N' Roses Guitarist Richard Fortus Banged Up in Motorcycle Accident

Guns N' Roses and Dead Daisies rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus has unfortunately just been involved in quite a scrape: a motorcycle accident and will be out of action on the current Dead Daisies tour.

In a Facebook post made by Fortus, he gives details of his accident saying:

"Since The Dead Daisies have now announced that I am not going to be able to do the Australian tour, I'd like to share my statement here-

On September 17, 2015, I was involved in a motorcycle accident. As a result, I broke my shoulder blade, collar bone, six ribs, a toe, I have a bruised lung, lacerated liver and a concussion.

Amazingly, my doctors have assured me that I will make a full recovery. I have never missed a show in my entire career and unfortunately, I will have to miss the entire Australian and New Zealand leg of this tour. I am devastated that I will not be able to play for the Australian and New Zealand fans, who have been so supportive and loyal.

I am healing quickly and getting stronger by the day. I'm looking forward to rejoining the Daisies for the KISS Kruise as well as the Whitesnake tour and our own tour of the UK and France.

I’d like to thank everyone for their well-wishes and can’t wait to be back in Australia very soon. rf"

I can only imagine how painful that must have been for Fortus to endure. Hopefully he is recovering as quickly as he says he is so that he can be healthy and ready to get back out on the stage to rock. Motorcycle safety is no joke, kids. Be careful out there.

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #45

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. I Wonder Who, by Rory Gallagher

In this live interpretation of a Muddy Waters song, Irish blues man Rory Gallagher rips out some of his finest licks while laying down a chill bluesy jam at the same time. The way it fluctuates between volume levels is pretty swell too. The entire Irish Tour '74 album is a fantastic live blues album if that's what you're into. It's got something for every kind of fan of the genre to dig.

2. Do the Rump, by The Black Keys

I bet many of you don't remember when The Black Keys were a pure bluesy garage rock band, do you? This tune (which is a cover of a Junior Kimborough tune) from their first album The Big Come Up is a prime example of the raw dirty nature of their early music. They have definitely changed a lot over the years. I'm happy they are growing as musicians, but personally I'd love an old school Keys album some day again.

3. Outlaw Blues, by The White Stripes

This live cover of a Bob Dylan tune takes a song that already is driving and kicks it into overdrive. It is The White Stripes about as close to their pure blues roots as you will hear them, save maybe a small handful of other songs in their catalog. It's a great tune to jump all around to. Shame that we'll never hear them do it again (probably).

4. Blue Suede Shoes, by Black Sabbath

I bet you NEVER would have fathomed Black Sabbath cover Elvis Presley, would you? Before they became known for their big hits and were all doom and gloom, they were actually a blues band and did quite a few good covers; including this one of the Elvis classic Blue Suede Shoes. It kicks some serious ass and has some fantastic guitar work by Tony Iommi.

5. You Shook Me, by Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin's cover of this Muddy Waters classic is absolutely phenomenal. They took an already sweet jam and completely blasted it into outer space. The band really is in top form on this track and truly show off without shame their blues based roots. It really is kind of hard to do the blues any better than it's done in this track.

Pope Francis Releasing Rock Album

You heard right. The 266th man to bear the title, Pope Francis is going to be releasing a rock n' roll album.

This does not come entirely as a surprise however, considering the fact that it has been uncovered in recent years that the Holy Father was at one point a metal head. The Pope's album’s overall sound will range from prog rock to Gregorian chant. As for the lyrical content (which will be in English, Spanish, and Portuguese) the message will feature uplifting pieces of wisdom from the Pope’s speeches as well as some of his favorite hymns.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, the album's producer Don Giulio Neroni says:

"For many years, I’ve been the producer and the artistic director of albums by the Pope. I had the honor to work with John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis… As in the past, for this album too, I tried to be strongly faithful to the pastoral and personality of Pope Francis: the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality. For this reason, the voice of Pope Francis in Wake Up! dialogues music. And contemporary music (rock, pop, Latin etc.) dialogues with the Christian tradition of sacred hymns."

Personally I'm quite interested to hear this album despite the fact that I'm not even Catholic. The single Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward! (which can be listened to here) actually rocks. I dig the blend of heavy rock music with bits of melodic horns. If the rest of the album is anything like that I may actually go out and pick up a copy of it.

Throwback Thursday: Blue Oyster Cult, by Blue Oyster Cult

 In 1972 one of the giants of hard rock, Blue Oyster Cult made their introduction to the world by releasing their self-titled debut album Blue Oyster Cult. Since then it has been highly regarded by critics and even considered one of the best albums of the 70's. IGN even named it "Heavy metal for people who hate heavy metal". Interesting compliment, wouldn't you say?

Blue Oyster Cult contains quite a few songs that are still often played in their live sets to this day and considered classics such as: Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll, Stairway to the Stars, and Then Came the Last Days of May. For the time the sound of the album is pretty heavy, though not quite on a Black Sabbath kind of level. Many of the songs are still based in basic blues, boogie, and rock styles.

Before the Kiss, A Redcap is a pretty basic blues boogie in terms of rhythm. The guitar licks and solos are pretty respectable. You can tell that the song was kind of constructed around them. It's a band jam with lyrics in the best possible way. It is definitely a fun song to get your kicks and dance to. I'd argue to say it's the best track on the album aside from maybe one or two other contenders.

Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll in my opinion is the best song to ever come from Blue Oyster Cult; even above Don't Fear the Reaper or Godzilla. It has such a monstrous guitar riff, blistering solos, and creates such a vivid musical mental image of standing on a skyscraper in a burning city at night. Nothing really says rock n' roll quite like something like that. It's pretty badass.

Blue Oyster Cult really is what guitar driven hard rock should be. The riffs are big and memorable, but at the same time there is enough presence of older genres that things are kept interesting and not overly stale. This is definitely an album I would recommend to someone who was thinking of picking up the guitar but wanted more inspiration for. Even if you're not going to do that but still love the guitar, this is a great pick.

Blue Oyster Cult, by Blue Oyster Cult receives 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Transmaniacon MC
2. I'm on the Lamb but I Ain't No Sheep
3. Then Came the Last Days of May
4. Stairway to the Stars
5. Before the Kiss, A Redcap
6. Screams
7. She's as Beautiful as a Foot
8. Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll
9. Workshop of Telescopes
10. Redeemed

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Oyster-Cult/dp/B0012GMWFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443131109&sr=8-1&keywords=Blue+Oyster+Cult+Blue+Oyster+Cult

Todd Rundgren Announces US Winter 2015 Tour

Looks like the famed Todd Rundgren is hitting the road this winter for the second tour that he has done this year.

The 19 date tour starts on December 1st in St. Charles, IL and will be going into next year; ending on January 6th in Coachella, CA.

Rundgren has released two albums this year that he will be busy promoting: Global, which is one of his more traditional blues and soul albums that he has been known for over the years and then Ruddans; a more progressive type album.

Below is the list of tour dates. Should be a fun time. I definitely recommend you go see Todd.

Todd Rundgren 2015 U.S. Tour

12/1 — St. Charles, Ill.
12/3 — Kansas City, Mo.
12/4 — Council Bluffs, Iowa
12/6 — North Tonawanda, N.Y.
12/7 — Munhall, Pa.
12/9 — Detroit, Mich.
12/10 — Northfield, Ohio
12/12 — Northampton, Mass.
12/13 — Glenside, Pa.
12/15 — Ridgefield Ct.
12/16 — Boston, Ma.
12/18 — Montclair, N.J.
12/19 — New York, N.Y.
12/20 — Sugar Loaf, N.Y.
12/22 — Alexandria, Va.
12/23 — Harrisburg, Pa.
1/6 — Beverly Hills, Calif.
1/8 — Scottsdale, Ariz.
1/9 — Coachella, Calif.

The Who's Roger Daltrey Falls Ill

Unfortunately due to sickness, The Who singer Roger Daltrey has fallen ill on the band's 50th anniversary tour; postponing all further tour dates left on the roster.

Daltrey has been stricken with Meningitis. He says in a press release:

“We are very sorry to disappoint our fans in this way. For the last four weeks, I have been in and out of the hospital and have been diagnosed with viral Meningitis. I am now on the mend and feeling a lot better but I am going to need a considerable time to recover. The doctors tell me I will make a complete recovery, but that I should not do any touring this year.”

Guitarist Pete Townshend has also chimed in on the subject saying:

“We apologize to all our fans who have supported us in the last 50 years. Once Roger is completely well, we will come back stronger than ever and Roger and I will give you all a show to remember.”

The dates are yet to be announced, but the band assures that they will come shortly. Hopefully Daltrey can make a speedy recovery and can be back up and at 'em in no time. I guess this is what happens when you go back on your word and don't die before you get old. [Sorry for the tasteless joke. I had to.]