#ultimate classic rock

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

As he sets out on the latest tour by his Led Zeppelin Evening, Jason Bonham is "a little sad" – but not angry – about losing his spot in Sammy Hagar's band.

Answering a fan's social media question a few days ago, Bonham revealed that his 10-year tenure with The Circle and last year's Best of All Worlds tour band had come to an end. "Sammy has decided to carry on with Kenny," Bonham wrote, referring to Kenny Aronoff, who filled in during the four Best of All Worlds shows in August when Bonham rushed to England to help care for his mother, who'd suffered a stroke.

The move reunited the last Chickenfoot touring lineup of Hagar, Aronoff, guitarist Joe Satriani and bassist Michael Anthony (along with keyboardist-guitarist Rai Thistlethwayte). The group, with Aronoff, has been pictured working on new material in the studio, and Bonham says Hagar let him know he'd been replaced not long after the tour's end.

"I was trying to answer fans, really, because they were asking me, 'Why aren't you involved with the new thing they're recording?' and saying, 'Aren't you gonna do it again?' 'I was let go, so, no,'" Bonham, who recorded three albums with Hagar (2015's At Your Service, 2019's Space Between and 2022's Crazy Times), tells UCR. "Sammy rang me awhile ago. He was asking about my mom, but then he said, 'Y'know, I’m not gonna do much next year,' blah, blah blah, 'and I'm gonna go with Kenny.' I was a little shocked, I must say. I'd be lying to you if I wasn't a little sad, because we were on fire at the end of the tour. And I got a little upset. That was strange, after 10 years of being with him."

Nevertheless, Bonham has nothing but good to say about Hagar. "Listen, I love the guy to bits. I don't wish him any ill. I still speak to him. Honestly, the guy has taught me so much – about business, being positive. I'm an English guy; I can be really negative half the time. Even if the sun is shining, 'but it could rain.' He really helped me in that aspect big-time, and business sense and never taking no for an answer, always believing in yourself."

"So, yeah, I had a great 10 years. He allowed me to always do what I wanted to do. When my thing would get busy he always gave me the space. I couldn't ask for more."

Bonham is pleased to report, however, that his mother is well on the mend. "Mom is absolutely doing amazing, which is more than I could ever possibly imagine – from literally being told 'Say goodbye now' to now," he says. "She is a stubborn, hard-ass woman that suddenly went, 'I'm OK. I'm gonna be good.' It's still gonna take a lot of rehab and a lot of time to get back to what she was, but the real painful part – she beat that. So she's fighting on. She's almost back to normal, almost back to not talking to me. So she must be getting better! [Laughs.] She's gonna be around for a lot longer."

Amid all this, Bonham has just hit the road again with LZE, kicking off Tuesday night, Nov. 19, in Indianapolis, with 18 more U.S. dates through Dec. 16. "It blows my mind that something I started 14 years ago, only wanting to do it once, has just naturally become a part of my life that I've enjoyed doing on a yearly basis," the son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham says. "I never intended to do so many shows each year – but we've got about 20 in the beginning of the year and 20 at the end of the year, a winter run, and then bands started to ask me to go open for them on summer tours."

Bonham has kept his LZE set lists evolving as well; during its most recent rehearsals it's "been pulling out some songs that have never been done," or rarely performed, including "Friends," "Achilles' Last Stand," "In the Evening" and the extended "Dazed and Confused" from The Song Remains the Same.

Bonham says he's also "working to do" a full-album presentation of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti for its 50th anniversary next year. "This is purely done as love, as a passion project," Bonham says. "I still get very kind of in awe or overwhelmed with the response we get. Every night I say to the audience, 'I will do it until I can't play any longer. If I can't play to the ability that the songs need, or the day I don't enjoy doing it, I will call it a day."

Bonham, who's also part of the all-star Black Country Communion, has some other points of pride for the year. He remains active with his son Jagr Henry, who had a rock radio hit with "Breed" this year.

"I'm so proud of him and the music he's making. Some of the music is a little heavy for some people’s tastes, but to me – I'm a drummer. I love riff-based music. We've got a really good start with it, and he's gonna come out and join [LZE] for a few shows and scare some of my fans a little because he's, like, 6-foot-4, he's ripped, completely tattooed, but the his band is great. I am just so pleased he's at this point, and it's just gonna get better."

HOW JASON BONHAM HELPED FOREIGNER GET BACK TOGETHER

And even though he was not an inducted member, Bonham was pleased to see Foreigner – which he played in from 2004-08 – get its due last month from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Back in 2004, I did a charity event in Santa Barbra with [Foreigner founder] Mick Jones and got [current bassist] Jeff Pilson involved and we had one of the original keyboard players and I brought an old singer I'd worked with before. ... After it was over I said, 'Come on, Mick. let's get the band back together!' That was the start of it, and they're still touring 20 years later. My time there was short, but I'm really pleased I had something to do with bringing the band back together, 'cause the music of Foreigner is timeless."

He added with a laugh: "It was always weird ... 'cause my wedding song was 'Waiting For a Girl Like You.' That's when I danced with my wife. To play that on a nightly basis always felt a little weird."

[krispyweiss]

Donald Fagan Reportedly Hospitalized; Steely Dan Drops off Eagles’ October Tour Dates

- Steve Miller and Vince Gill to fill in

Donald Fagen is hospitalized with an undisclosed illness, the Indianapolis Star reports, causing Steely Dan to drop out of the remaining October dates on the Eagles’ farewell tour.

Steely Dan is expected to rejoin the tour Nov. 2 in Atlanta.

There’s no word on what is ailing Fagen. Five members of the Eagles road crew, meanwhile, tested positive for COVID-19 before the band’s Oct. 9 show in Indiana, the newspaper reported.

The Dan last opened for the Eagles Sept. 20. Since then, Sheryl Crow (Oct. 5-6), Steve Miller (Oct. 9-10, 13 and 17) and Eagle Vince Gill (Oct. 15) have been tapped to warm up audiences, Ultimate Classic Rock reports.

Steely Dan is listed as the opener on the Eagles’ just-announced Jan. 5-6, 2024, tour stops in California. Neither group has commented on social media.

10/10/23

[rank-sentimentalist]

The Doobie Brothers have played to countless crowds over the years, but one of their most memorable gigs got its start on Jan. 28, 1978, when the band tried to do a nice thing for some high school students and ended up being bootlegged by a kid wearing a trench coat and a beret.

We're talking, of course, about the Doobies' two-part appearance on the ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, in which viewers discover that the band just happened to graduate from the Watts high school the show's characters attended, and they decide to give a concert on campus – but then the ever-bumbling Rerun (played by Fred Berry) ends up being strong-armed into secretly recording the gig.

. . .

Making that attempt at crossing over also turned out to have a positive result for the band. “I think our audience broadened and we connected more with the African-American community, having those R&B and blues sounds in our music," [Patrick Simmons] continued. "I think people were aware of our social viewpoint, that we really value all of a larger, multicultural social audience. So, doing that show for me was a joy in that regard — to be building what I thought was a bridge, at a time in television where those situation comedies were bridges between cultures."

And to this day, Simmons said that people still come up to him and quote the most famous line from the show, "Which Doobie you be?"

[rocknsoulhitmusicshow]

IN MEMORIAM: 2023 DEATHS

Those whom we have lost this year:

David Crosby

Jeff Beck

Lisa Marie Presley

Fred White

Barrett Strong

Ultimate Classic Rock's goodbye salute

[grand-line-shenanigans]

And the dance floor is filling up with blood

But oh lord, you've never been so in love

[deancasforcutie]

Representation for the stim every Classic Rock Neurodivergent has <3

[the-alan-price-combo]

this picture sleeve is a psychological need 🙏

[houseofcatwic]

[crepuscularpete]

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

AC/DC –You Shook Me All Night Long

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

The iconic photo of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth standing under the McDonald’s arches on a winter day has been installed in the place where it was taken.

Fans have become familiar with Richard Upper’s picture since it was shot during the two Van Halen members’ promotional tour of 1978. Upper had been sent to join them in a limousine as they capitalized on interest in the band’s debut album, released that year.

At the opening of a brand-new restaurant in the same location, Upper recalled the story, telling West Newsmagazine: “We were driving from KSHE down Watson and we saw the McDonald’s sign. We’re already hungry, and they said, ‘Let’s go, guys.’ So we did.”

He continued: “We got our meals and we were walking back to the limousine. I looked up at the sign and said, ‘Eddie, we can’t leave without taking a shot of this with you guys.’ So he’s rifling through his bag trying to eat ‘cause he’s really hungry, and he and David get perfectly right in the middle, under the sign, and I take a bunch of pictures. This was the best one.”

The current owner of the Crestwood franchise – national restaurant No. 71 – confirmed it was the first McDonald’s in St. Louis, in Missouri and possibly on Route 66 when it opened in August 1958. Nolan Ruiz explained that the original building had been replaced soon after Van Halen and Roth had visited. That building was recently knocked down to make way for a state-of-the-art establishment, with the famous picture on display.

He added that there was another point of local interest: “It’s how I met my wife and became the proud parent of four children.”

Watch A Short Documentary on the Van Halen McDonald’s Photo

Watch the Van Halen McDonald's Photo Unveiling

[repurposedmeatlocker]

Ok this keeps on coming up. I hate to bitch about it but what is with all these people blocking me??? I'm exaggerating. It is not a whole lot, but these are people I interacted with amicably in the past on here and deadass idk what I did to warrant a block unless they just found me annoying? Not that it matters at all tbh, but I'd be lying if it didn't kind of just leaves a bad taste in my mouth : /

[krispyweiss]

Paul Stanley Admits KISS’ Second Farewell Tour is Not Actually Farewell

- “We're far from done,” Starchild says

KISS already lied its way through one farewell tour. Turns out the band’s been lying through another.

Paul Stanley finally admitted the truth about his group’s End of the Road tour, which the band’s website calls “the final tour ever.”

“We’re far from done,” the self-described Starchild tells Ultimate Classic Rock.

“I'd like to say that this is the end of the road, but they keep paving more road.”

Stanley said he’d also be OK with KISS touring with no original members, as one of the two versions of Yes does.

But Stanley does have his limits.

“I'm not saying there should be a copy of me,” said the man whose band features copies of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

12/16/22

[blackros78]

[sortanonymous]

I've watched and adored Encanto, Wolfwalkers, Across the Spider-Verse, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. All absolutely incredible animated films that I'm sure will be held up as classics even 20 years from now.

With that said, Nimona is frankly a good step above all of them and my choice for animated film of the decade so far (at least for what I've heard of). An absolutely stellar film on every level. Do yourself a favor and watch it all on YouTube these next few days!

Does it stand a chance at the Oscars? Absolutely not, especially since even the Annies were dominated by Spider-Man. But it would absolutely deserve to. (And again, I adore Spider-Verse and still think it's 100% worthy of the Oscar on its own. It's basically the reverse of the Puss in Boots vs. Pinocchio situation last year. They're both masterpieces, only this time the slightly better masterpiece is almost certainly gonna get left in the cold.)

[qsmb2012]

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