By: Eric Hoffman
Greetings Rockers ’N’ Rollers! The New Year started off slowly due to many concerts being canceled due to Covid – however the future looks bright with many major concert announcements. Local musicians continue to trek on through the pandemic and offer the experience of live music. Local staples, Martini Bros. performed at Hershey’s Englewood brewery on January 22nd to a very big audience. The Englewood opened in July 2020 and is a renovated historic bank barn that is now an intimate state of the art listening room concert venue. Look for many future artists visiting The Englewood including: Muna, Hexbelt, Joywave and The Badlees.
Halestorm’s tour bus caught on fire while on tour in Worcester, Massachusetts on January 19th. “Halestorm had a night for the books. We were all in our hotel rooms last night and we woke up to our bus burning down at 3am,” Halestorm’s guitarist Joe Hottinger posted on social media. “Fun fun. No one was hurt.” Hottinger wrote, “Our fearless security Steve pulled guitars and luggage out of the bay. We all lost some stuff, but it was just stuff.” Lead singer, Lzzy Hale said the following day, “I’m still shook, and emotions are a bit high today. But looks like the universe is not done with us yet!” Halestorm, originally from Red Lion, PA are currently on tour with Evanescence.
Ronnie Spector, who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the girl group The Ronettes, died at the age of 78. Spector died January 12th after a brief battle with cancer, her family said. The Ronettes’ sexy look and powerful voices — plus songwriting and producing help from Phil Spector — turned them into one of the premier acts of the girl-group era, touring England with The Rolling Stones and befriending the Beatles. When the Ronettes were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones remembered opening for the trio in England in the mid-1960s. “They could sing all their way right through a wall of sound,” Richards said. “They didn’t need anything. They touched my heart right there and then and they touch it still.”
Michael Lee Aday, better known by his stage name Meat Loaf, passed away Thursday night, January 20th, at the age of 74. His first album, Bat Out Of Hell, was released in 1977 and became one of the best-selling albums in history. The artist’s Facebook page stated, “His amazing career spanned 6 decades that saw him sell over 100 Million albums worldwide and star in over 65 movies, including ‘Fight Club’, ‘Focus’, ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and ‘Wayne’s World. Bat Out of Hell remains one of the top 10 selling albums of all time.”
After it was announced that Rage Against The Machine would no longer be headlining this year’s Boston Calling, the festival has unveiled its full lineup. Foo Fighters, The Strokes and Metallica will be headlining the event that takes place on Memorial Day Weekend, May 27th thru the 29th. Other artists joining this year’s lineup include Japanese Breakfast, Rüfüs Du Sol, HAIM, Avril Lavigne, Cheap Trick, Run The Jewels, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Black Pumas, Weezer, Glass Animals, Goose and more. The festival will also aim to highlight Boston’s own local talents, including Born Without Bones, Avenue, Crooked Coast, Cliff Notez and more. This year’s event will mark the festival’s return since its 2020 cancellation due to the pandemic.
Slipknot has announced they will be hitting the road once again for their Knotfest Roadshow, and have announced 38 dates. In This Moment and Jinjer will be joining Slipknot for the first leg of the tour, the second leg will see Cypress Hill and Ho99o9 opening and kicks off at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA. The tour also visits Santander Arena in Reading, PA on April 2nd. Slipknot will be releasing their seventh studio album sometime later this year.
Zac Brown Band revealed 2022 touring plans, following the group’s successful return to the road in 2021. The band’s “Out In The Middle Tour” consists of 30-dates and will visit Hersheypark Stadium on August 14th. 311 has announced 20 dates for “The Spring Tour” 2022, 311 released their most recent album, Voyager in July 2019. Spoon is planning to hit the road starting this April in support of their upcoming album, Lucifer On the Sofa. Spoon visit Washington DC’s 9:30 Club on April 11th and Philadelphia’s Fillmore on April 15th. Hanson has announced 81 dates for their upcoming world tour. It takes place across Europe, North America, Latin America and Australia, the “Red Green Blue World Tour” promotes their upcoming album to be released on May 20th. Stops include, Silver Spring, MD Fillmore July 23rd and Philadelphia Fillmore July 24th. This spring, Kid Rock with tour 24-cities for his Bad Reputation Tour with Foreigner, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening and Grand Funk Railroad. Sammy Hagar will tour with George Thorogood and the Destroyers for 14-dates beginning in June.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Bon Jovi are headed back on the road this spring. Bon Jovi spent much of the past two years recording and releasing new music, including their latest album 2020. Since their formation in 1983, Bon Jovi have sold over 130 million albums, and performed thousands of concerts in more than 50 countries for more than 35 million fans. In the last decade alone, worldwide ticket grosses surpassed $1 billion.
Eagles have once again extended its “Hotel California” tour with new March-May arena dates. Featuring Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit, with Deacon Frey and Vince Gill, each show will feature the iconic Hotel California album performed in its entirety from start to finish. A short intermission is followed by a setlist filled with Eagles’ greatest hits. Since the “Hotel California” tour begin in Las Vegas in 2019 to rave reviews, the Eagles have played more than 30 sold-out shows in 15 major U.S. arenas. New gigs include: Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena on March 26th and Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena on March 28th. Hotel California is the third best-selling U.S. album in history and certified 26-times Platinum by the RIAA.
FEBRUARY SHOWS: Hexbelt – Hershey Englewood Feb 4. Menzingers – Harrisburg HMAC Feb 12. Strictly Hip – Harrisburg XL Live Feb 12. Marky Ramone – Reading Reverb Feb 12. The Spits – Baltimore Ottobar Feb 17. The Spits – Philadelphia Johnny Brendas Feb 18. Anthrophobia – Harrisburg Lovedrafts Feb 19. Foxy Shazam – Millersville Phantom Power Feb 25. Blues Vultures – Edgewood, MD Club 66 Feb 26. Anthrophobia – West York Inn Feb 26.