Day in Rock Report for 09/20/2021

(hennemusic) A tribute to Eddie Van Halen in his adopted hometown of Pasadena, CA has been approved by the local city council. Shortly after the passing of the rock icon last October at the age of 65 after a lengthy battle with cancer, local residents Randa Schmalfeld and Julie Kimura launched a gofundme page to initiate an honor and brought the idea to local officials; last spring, the pair were invited to design a memorial plaque honoring Van Halen, which would be installed near the city Convention Center, which is next to the Civic Auditorium, where the band played a dozen times between 1975 and 1978.

This past week, Pasadena assistant city manager Julie A. Gutierrez shared an update on the project in her weekly newsletter, writing: "Eric Duyshart, Economic Development Manager, reports the Pasadena Center Operating Committee recently reviewed and endorsed the language and location of a memorial plaque to be placed in honor of the late legendary guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, a member of the award-winning band Van Halen, on their site. (read more)

Volbeat and Ghost have announced that they are teaming up early next year to launch a U.S. coheadlining tour that will feature support from Twin Temple.

The 26-date arena tour will be kicking off on January 25th in Reno, NV at the Reno Events Center and will be wrapping up on March 3rd in Anaheim, Ca at the Honda Center. (read more)

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose took to social media to share that he is feeling a lot better after suffering from suspected "food poisoning" that hampered his performance during a concert in Chicago late last week.

The band rocked Wrigley Field last Thursday (September 16th) and Axl shared the following message with fans after the show, "A note to Chicago... I got to the show feeling great, but started getting sick pretty early on. (read more)

The Lumineers have released a visualizer video for their brand new single "Brightside". The song is the title track to their forthcoming album, which will be hitting stores on January 14, 2022.

The band will be performing the song live for the first time during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight (September 20th - check local listing for time). (read more)

(hennemusic) Clutch performed the live debut of a new song, "Slaughter Beach", at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC on September 16, and fan-filmed footage from the tune is available online.

The Maryland outfit have been road-testing tracks on their current US tour, with singer Neil Fallon confirming in July that the group had "started pre-production for the next Clutch release", and telling a crowd in Reading, PA recently that they plan to enter the studio sometime this fall to record the follow-up to 2018's "Book Of Bad Decisions." (read more)

Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde have shared a lyric video for their new duet, "Never Wanted To Be That Girl," which is the latest single from Carly's new album "29: Written In Stone."

The was cowritten by Pearce, McBryde and co-producer Shane McAnally, and is sung from the perspective of two women - the single girl thanking the guy who helped change her flat tire and the wife at home - discovering the man they're involved with has someone else. (read more)

(hennemusic) Billy Idol is streaming his newly-available EP, "The Roadside", in sync with its release on September 17. Introduced with the lead single, "Bitter Taste", the rocker's first new release in nearly seven years was produced by Butch Walker (Green Day, Weezer) and features his longtime lead guitarist and co-writer Steve Stevens.

The project sees Idol reminiscing about his near-fatal 1990 motorcycle accident. "I think everyone has been feeling more reflective (during the pandemic). So, it seemed quite logical and natural to write something about my motorcycle accident," Idol explains. "Certainly, the motorcycle accident was the catharsis, the wake-up moment. A little bit of me got left on that roadside. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing in the end; it was a wake-up call. Maybe on that roadside I left behind the irreverent youthful Billy and opened the door for a more attentive father and a more sensitive musician." (read more)

After declaring "My Best Friend Hates Me", Sound of Kalima take on unrequited love with their new single "Ciggie Rainy" and to celebrate we have asked them to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

Inspo: Musically, Ciggie Rainy was inspired by the Arctic Monkey's second album Favourite Worst Nightmare, mostly in the guitar tones. The songwriting itself was not really inspired by anything, we just write and go with whatever feels natural. I'm sure there were some subconscious influences that have crept in though since we definitely rip off a lot of artists. (continue)