Pulse – Rock Music News

Foo Fighters have just released the lyric video for "March Of The Insane" -- as featured in their upcoming movie Studio 666. The song is released under the moniker Dream Widow and billed as being "From their never released self-titled album."

Studio 666, opens on February 25th, The horror-comedy stars the band and features appearances by Lionel Richie, Whitney Cummings, Jeff Garlin, and Will Forte. Studio 666 was directed BJ McDonnell and based on an original story by Dave Grohl.

2022 is shaping up to be a major touring year for Foo Fighters. We caught up with Dave Grohl a while back and he shed light on how the band decides on its setlists from year-to-year: "You've got to change it up. To keep things interesting musically, like, that's our lifeline, y'know, and to experiment and do things we've never done before. So at this point, the show's like two-hours-long, y'know? So we go out every night and we play all the loud, old rock stuff, we play all the loud new rock stuff, we play acoustic stuff, newer acoustic stuff, we just kind of change it up a little bit." SOUNDCUE

On May 20, Train will be releasing their first album in 5 years. The title track, "AM Gold," was released this week as a single.

About that, frontman Pat Monahan said, "It has to start with love. Love that goes into work comes out of work. We love this song, this album, and our fans."

To promote what will be their 11th studio album, Train will launch their North American Summer tour on June 8th in Mansfield, Massachusetts. With over 35 stops, cities include Nashville, Dallas, New York City, and San Diego. It wraps on August 6th at Colorado's iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Opening will be Jewel and Blues Traveler.

TL;DR:

• On May 20, Train will be releasing their first album in 5 years.
• The title track, "AM Gold," was released this week as a single.
• Train will launch their North American Summer tour on June 8th in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Foo Fighters, The Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots and more have been booked for the 2022 Beale Street Music Festival. This year's event will be held at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park in Memphis, Tennessee on April 29th- May 1st.

Here's the full line up:

The full lineup for the festival thus far runs as follows:

Foo Fighters
Van Morrison
Weezer
Lil Wayne
The Smashing Pumpkins
Counting Crows
Three 6 Mafia
Sarah McLachlan
Death Cab For Cutie
Stone Temple Pilots
Moneybagg Yo
Modest Mouse
DaBaby
Chevelle
Lindsey Buckingham
Sarkodie
Spoon
Dirty Honey
Grace Potter
NLE Choppa
Goose
Grouplove
Rival Sons
Stonebwoy
Indigo Girls
Kurt Vile & The Violators
Waka Flocka Flame
Toad The Wet Sprocket
JJ Grey & Mofro
Patty Griffin
The Glorious Sons
Robert Randolf & The Family Band
Ayron Jones
Soccer Mommy
Black Pistol Fire
Cory Henry
Project Pat
Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio
Lil Wyte
Al Kapone
Sue Foley
Trigger Hippy
Cory Branan
Kenny Brown
Janiva Magness

Aerosmith continues to gear up for the band's official 50th anniversary with the announcement of a new licensing deal. According to Licensingsource.net, Universal Music Group's Epic Rights is now the band's global brand management agency, and "will now develop an all-new multi-category worldwide retail program for the legendary rock band, with a roster of new licensing partners signed to create branded merchandise."

The band, which is booked for a 50th anniversary hometown show on September 8th at Boston's Fenway Park, is said to also be gearing up to commemorate the 45th anniversary of 1977's Draw The Line album, the 40th anniversary of 1982's Rock In A Hard Place, the 35th anniversary of 1987's Permanent Vacation, the 30th anniversary of Get A Grip, and the 25th anniversary of the 1997's Nine Lives album.

Lisa Streff, the senior vice president of global licensing at Epic Rights said in a statement, "We are thrilled to have Aerosmith, one of the all-time greatest rock icons, on the Epic Rights' roster. In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary activities, we're excited to be developing a global licensing program that will celebrate and illustrate the band's career at retail."

We asked Steven Tyler how a band like Aerosmith -- which has lasted 50 years in the spotlight -- can hope to revitalize itself every time out: "Maybe in the new songs. In writing new songs, you always come up with a new you. I think you should. You can always do another 'Dude Looks Like A Lady,' another 'Dream On' -- we always tap into something new."

Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear -- the band's recent Record Store Day offering will see wide release on CD, digital, and vinyl on April 8th. The early rehearsal version of "Somebody" is out now to stream and download.

Dirty Honey's Marc LaBelle says that his band's pairing with Mammoth WVH for the upcoming Young Guns Tour was a no-brainer. He told radio host Carlota for the Audacy Check In, "When we saw (Mammoth WVH) play in Philadelphia, it was pretty obvious that this was going to be a really cool thing to do and to take on the road and to take across the nation. The biggest thing was really seeing him and his band and they kicked ass and it really showed some optimism for the future of rock 'n' roll."

LaBelle admitted, "It's been a little difficult to find bands to go out with just because rock bands have just become so scarce."

The co-headlining Young Guns Tour kicks off on Sunday (February 20th) in Denver.

Mongolian rock band The Hu is set to head out on tour this spring. The Black Thunder Tour will launch on April 16th in San Diego, CA and wrap on on May 31st in Mexico City, MX. General tickets go on sale on Friday (February 18th) at 10 a.m. local time online at thehuofficial.com.

The Hu will release their sophomore album sometime later this year. The project was recorded in their homeland of Mongolia over the last several months.

Famed record producer and music mogul Rick Rubin has announced his first book due out in early 2023. The Guardian reported the tome by the Def Jam Records co-founder, titled, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being, will not be traditional a memoir, but a "a non-fiction work about creativity." Rubin explained in a statement, "I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be."

Over the course of his career, Rick Rubin has produced such legendary artists as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Slayer, Public Enemy, the Cult, Danzig, the Black Crows, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Limp Bizkit, Weezer, Slipknot, Dixie Chicks, Audioslave, Shakira, Poison, Neil Diamond, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Donovan, Metallica, and Johnny Cash, among many, many more.

Rick Rubin is behind the boards once again for Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album, Unlimited Love, which drops on April 1st. Drummer Chad Smith told us the band has always relied on Rubin for his vision and enthusiam: "I know Rick is great when it comes to helping us with our songs. He always has been. He's our guy, we trust him. It's whether or not, y'know, you want to try somebody new to see what that does, but we know what Rick brings to the table and we like it and it's been, y'know, he really, really helps us. We're comfortable with him, obviously."

Yesterday (February 15th), Weezer celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first practice. According to Loudwire, the band held their first practice with singer-songwriter Rivers-Cuomo, drummer Patrick Wilson, bassist Matt Sharp and guitarist Jason Cropper on February. 15th 1992, in Los Angeles.

The band commemorated the anniversary with a message on social media, written by their longtime assistant Karl Koch, who wrote, "And just like that, it's been 30 years to the day that weezer was born," Koch said. "On 2/15/92, Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Matt Sharp and Jason Cropper met at TK Productions at 1956 Cotner Ave in West LA, for the first of 3 days of rehearsals, running through about 20 different songs numerous times, including a few songs that would make it to the Blue Album 2 years later."

Koch continued, "The room at TK was hot and sweaty — gross, frankly — and the band worked very hard, ironing out a million snags and mistakes, repeatedly jamming the songs until they sounded like rock music. On day 3, Rivers rolled tape on his 8 Track cassette recorder, and they recorded everything till they had something they could listen back to."

He added, "For all of this, weezer wasn't really even 'weezer' yet, because the band wouldn't get its name until a few hours before their first show on 3/19/92, closing the night out at Raji's after the debut performance of Keanu Reeves' Dogstar. But regardless of when the name stuck, the band that has been going strong for 30 years now was born."

Coachella has dropped all Covid-19 precautions.

According to a festival admission update posted to the event's website, there will be no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at Coachella 2022. This is in contrast to the rules posted by organizers last fall, requiring attendees to submit a negative test taken within 72 hours of the festival.

Coachella 2022 is set to take place from April 15th to 17th and from April 22nd to 24th. Headliners include Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Kanye "Ye" West, although "Ye" recently threatened to pull out of the event.

Foo Fighters have just added 10 news stops to its North American itinerary. The dates include nine Canadian shows and one U.S. date, which will serve as the tour's finale on October 7th at Bend, Oregon's Hayden Homes Amphitheater. The Foos have a couple of pre-tour concerts booked before launching the trek in May, and will next play on February 26th in Tempe, Arizona at Innings Festival.

The newly-inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have snagged three nominations at the 2021 Grammys, with Medicine At Midnight making the shortlist for Best Rock Album, "Waiting On A War" for Best Rock Song, and "Making A Fire" for Best Rock Performance. The 64th Annual Grammy Awards air on April 3rd at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

The Foo Fighters' first movie, Studio 666, opens on February 25th, The horror-comedy stars the band and features appearances by Lionel Richie, Whitney Cummings, Jeff Garlin, and Will Forte. Studio 666 was directed BJ McDonnell and based on an original story by Dave Grohl.

Longtime Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel told us a while back what he thinks has been a key to the Foos' longevity: "Well, one of the things, I think, that's made the band work so well is how we kind of structured it in the beginning and the opportunity we had, because Dave had been in Nirvana, to do things the way we wanted to do it. We didn't have the pressure that a lot of bands do of having to write the hit song. I mean, thankfully Dave's a good songwriter and able to write catchy songs, but we don't have that pressure where you have somebody breathing over your shoulder, and I think that really is something that destroys a lot of bands."

UPDATED: Foo Fighters North American tour dates (subject to change):

February 26 - Tempe, AZ - Innings Festival
April 29 to May 1 - Memphis, TN - Beale Street Music Festival (Foo Fighters performance TBA)
May 1 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 14 - Burgettstown, PA - The Pavilion at Star Lake
May 16, 18 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
May 20 - Raleigh, NC - Coastal Credit Union Music Park
May 22 -Daytona Beach, FL - Welcome To Rockville
May 24 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
May 27 - Boston, MA - Boston Calling
Jul. 17 - New York, NY - Citi Field
Jul. 19 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Jul. 22 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre
Jul. 24 - Philadelphia, PA - Lincoln Financial Field
Jul. 27 - Bangor, ME - Maine Savings Amphitheater
Jul. 29 - Montreal, QC - Osheaga Festival
August 1 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
August 3 - Minneapolis, MN -- US Bank Stadium
August 6 - Denver, CO - Empower Field at Mile High
August 8 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheater
August 10 - Big Sky, MT - Big Sky Events Arena
August 13 - Seattle, WA - T-Mobile Park
August 18, 20 - Los Angeles, CA - Banc of California Stadium
September 18 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford Premier Center
September 21 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Arena
September 23 - Saskatoon, SK - SaskTel Centre
September 25 - Regina, SK - Brandt Centre
September 27 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
September 29 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
October 1 - Penticton, BC - South Okanagan Events Centre
October 3 - Victoria, BC - Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
October 5 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
October 7 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater

Rage Against The Machine have announced the rescheduled dates for the first leg of their North American Public Service Announcement reunion tour. The band postponed the trek, which was supposed to happen in 2020, but will now launch on February 22nd of 2023 in Las Cruces, NM.

The first leg of the tour will still feature opening act Run The Jewels.

The second leg of the tour is still scheduled as planned for 2022, kicking off on July 9th in East Troy, WI.

Third Eye Blind has tapped Taking Back Sunday to be their direct support the headliners' Summer Gods: 25 Years In The Blind Tour. The run will also feature opening act Hockey Dad.

Taking Back Sunday's John Nolan told theprp.com, "In the early days of Taking Back Sunday, Adam (Lazzara) and I used to drive around in his old Honda listening to Third Eye Blind's second album, Blue; windows down, smoking cigarettes and singing along. If someone had told us back then that one day we'd tour together, it would've blown our minds. We're so excited to be out with Third Eye Blind this summer, singing our songs and singing along with theirs."

The tour kicks off on June 22nd in Troutdale, OR.

Tool took part in their tradition of tour pranking during their recent final stop of the first leg of their U.S. tour. Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan and friends wore blonde and red wigs to crash the stage during Blonde Redhead's performance.

The prank took place last week at the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida.

Tool is set to hit the road with The Acid Helps this weekend. Check out the dates below

02/19 Boston, MA – TD Garden
02/20 Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
02/22 Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
02/23 Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
02/26 Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
02/27 Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center
03/01 Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
03/03 Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
03/04 Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
03/06 Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
03/08 Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
03/10 Chicago, IL – United Center
03/12 Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center Arena
03/13 Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
03/15 Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
03/17 Moline, IL – TaxSlayer Center
03/18 St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
03/20 Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Ed Sheeran will be dropping his collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon on Friday (Feb. 18th).

Sheeran and the British rock band opened up the Brit Awards last week (Feb. 8th) with a rock version of the singer's 2021 track "Bad Habits." Bring Me the Horizon shared the pre-save link for the studio version of the song on their social media accounts Monday (Feb. 14th).

The post included a videotaped conversation with Sheeran in which he says, "It's just a joy to be able to play electric guitar and actually rock out properly."

Corey Taylor will release a new EP of cover songs and acoustic tracks, called CMFB…Sides, on February 25th. The nine-song project features the just-releasednewly-released first single "On the Dark Side."

The CMFB…Sides EP is the followup to Taylor's 2020 debut album, CMFT. The new project includes acoustic versions of two songs from that LP -- "Halfway Down" and "Kansas."

Cover songs featured on the EP include Metallica's "Holier Than Thou," Dead Boys' "All This and More," and KISS' "Got to Choose."

Jack White released the video for the title track of his Fear Of The Dawn album on Friday (February 11th). The clip was directed by White. "Fear Of The Dawn" is the b-side to the recently-released "Love Is Selfish," which appears on White's second album of the year, Entering Heaven Alive, due out on July 22nd. The "Love Is Selfish" b/w "Fear Of The Dawn" limited edition tri-color 7" was available exclusively at Third Man Records Nashville & Cass Corridor Detroit on Saturday (February 12th), as well as at Third Man London this Saturday (February 19th).

White recently announced the first dates of The Supply Chain Issues Tour, with shows in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. These are White's first headline shows in four years, beginning with two sold out Fear of the Dawn album release shows, set for April 8 and 9 at Detroit's Masonic Temple Theatre.

Slash made it clear that Guns N' Roses will remain an active concern for its band members with plenty more studio tracks still to come. Slash is currently out on the road with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators in support of their new album, 4.

Coming on February 25th is Guns N' Roses' four-track EP, titled Hard Skool, marking the first set to feature Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, and Slash since the band's 1993 covers album "The Spaghetti Incident?" When pressed about the news proper Guns album, Slash told Rolling Stone, "There's a bunch of new stuff also coming, maybe a little bit more complex, but it's just as much fun. . . I know we've got some songs and we're releasing another one at some point soon, and there'll be another one after that. As far as the record is concerned, that remains to be seen as far as a whole package, but I feel pretty confident that at some point down the road, there will be (one)."

Slash went on to talk candidly about how it feels for the three principal members of Guns N' Roses to be working together again: "I think the biggest thing was getting past this horrible black cloud that was perpetuating, having to do with me and Axl. We had a lot of issues born out of third-party stuff. It was very insidious, and the longer we didn't talk, the more it got blown out of proportion. But the more significant part was, when Axl and Duff and I first got into a room playing, it was just like this f***ing thing that I can't even really verbally describe. It was like, 'Whoa, that's what that is.' Then, just to go out and play together, it's like, I wonder how the f*** we got into that mess that we were in in the '90s."

When we last caught up with Slash, we asked him how he knows when he's got the right "chemistry" in whatever band he's playing with: "I think the most important thing about chemistry is just connecting people together. You can have great musicians and not be able to get a spark very easily. It's really about people connecting and music being the conduit, and I think that's probably what it is about chemistry that makes it work for some people and not for others."

Tobias Forge has opened up about his songwriting process. During an interview with the Pittsburg Post Gazette, he said, "When you're writing, you just wanna make a really good record, drenched in as many hooks as you can possibly muster. The only problem with trying to create records for me, besides ability, is trying not to repeat myself."

He continued, "I always try to write songs that I have never written before. I always try to add songs to our repertoire that we don't have already and, lyrically, I also try to not use the rhymes that were done in the past."

He added, "That's probably the hardest because you sort of run out of rhymes and words and phrases and, thus, you need to really sharpen up. Sometimes it comes out really good and sometimes I can look back on lyrics and I'm like 'yecch.'"