Big Rig ROCK Report 11.3 - AC/DC Announce New US Tour

AC/DC: Powering Up Again in 2026

 AC/DC will bring their Power Up tour back to North America for a second consecutive year, with stadium dates just announced for next summer and fall. 

 It will start on July 11th in Charlotte North Carolina with 17 shows through September 29th in Philadelphia. 

 Tickets go on sale November 7th at 10 a.m. ET except in Denver, Las Vegas and Philly where it's Noon local time.

RUSH: Set Listing a Course

How hard is it to get the band back together? When Rush ended in 2015, so did the bulk of their support system -- and Geddy Lee says that adds up to 10 years of "living a different life. No more crew. No more management at that time. So, just to say to go back on the road is a huge effort." "It's a huge amount of work to put all those things back together. And so, you really have to be sure you want to do it if you're gonna start that process. And so, we are in the mix of it now. We're in the heat of rebuilding everything and putting a show together and have people to handle the show for us, and off we go." Geddy was in Los Angeles last week doing some video work for the tour, and tells Rolling Stone he's been putting the set list together, adding that he doesn't "really want to give our set list away because we are learning at the moment over 38 songs, because we plan on changing the set every night. There will be a large percentage of songs that we will switch between nights. So, if you come to, say, four shows in Toronto, you’re going to hear four different sets. That’s going to include a lot of songs. There are obviously the big favorites that you sort of have to have in the set list every night. But we really want to keep the set fresh. And right now, I’m working on five different sets for the shows. So, we’re going to move things around quite a bit and have a lot of fun, and hopefully that’ll keep [guitarist] Alex [Lifeson] and I fresh." The Fifty Something tour starts on June 7th with the first of four shows at the Forum in Inglewood, California where Rush played their last show on August 1st, 2015.

Geddy was back home in Toronto Friday and Saturday and was in his seats behind home plate for games six and seven of the World Series between his hometown Blue Jays and the defending champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, it didn't go as Geddy hoped, as the Dodgers won both games and their second consecutive championship. While Geddy and his fellow Canadians are disappointed, he told us during the Series that at the start of the season, no one saw the Jays going this far. "This is probably the most surprising Blue Jay team in my long history with being a Blue Jay fan. There was among the least expectations for the team this year, and yet they've come out and really built quite an exciting group, especially the young hitters -- the unsung hitters. You know, a lot of guys, contributing all through the line-up. So, it's a good time to be a Jay fan." The Blue Jays won their only World Series in 1992 and '93.  

HEART: Remembering Their Magic Man

This past August, Mike Fisher, guitarist and co-founder of the band that became Heart

before Ann and Nancy Wilson joined, died from pancreatic cancer. At that time, Ann remembered her former boyfriend and inspiration for "Magic Man," and now it's her sister Nancy's turn, who says, "When we were a baby band in Vancouver, Ann wrote the words for 'Magic Man.' It’s the story of a girl leaving home and her mother for the first time for the man who cast a spell of love over her. Turns out it’s still a very universal story for many girls who leave home for the love of a man. Sometimes for better. "In our case it was very much for the better because her Magic Man Mike Fisher was the perfect catalyst for instigating and navigating with his sharp business brain to help our band get a foothold and a good start in the business of rock. He was a real task master in the best possible way and even designed the classic Heart logo that is still the best of them all to this day. "Recently his brother Roger Fisher let us know that sadly Mike was in rapid decline suffering from pancreatic cancer.

"I thought it would be a good thing for Mike to hear a voicemail where I could say thank you for all the great things he did for the legacy of Heart and how it still is so vital and meaningful in rock history to this day. "So I did. "I heard back how much he loved and appreciated hearing that. It meant really a lot to him. He was able to clear away any old hard feelings from the past. "He left us too soon and I thought of a song to honor him.

Mike Fisher left Heart in the late '60s / early '70s when he moved to Canada upon being drafted into the Army. He snuck back into the U.S. a few years later and met Ann, who was then in the band. They fell for one another, and she moved with him to Canada. He then went on to manage Heart while his brother Roger remained in the band and dated Nancy.

Supergroup Howl Owl Howl Drops First Single "My Cologne"

We told you several weeks ago there was a new supergroup getting ready to launch. Howl Owl Howl, aside from sporting a tongue-twister band name, also boasts Darius Rucker (Hootie & The Blowfish), Mike Mills (R.E.M., Hindu Love Gods) and Steve Gorman (The Black Crowes). We also told you they were hitting the road on a short tour, but what do they sound like? Now we know. The band released their first single ("My Cologne,") and it sounds as if Darius were fronting 80s era R.E.M. The inspiration for the tune? Ariana Grande, particularly her 2018 track "R.E.M.," which ultimately turned into a perfume line. Mills says he found the possible connection to his band too hilarious not to write about. "I’m not dissing Ariana – in fact, I got no problem with it at all," he says. "I just thought it was funny that either she was completely unaware of how weird that was, or she was aware and didn’t care. Either way, I thought I’d write a little song and say I want to smell like Ariana Grande." You can hear the song now on YouTube.

OASIS: Thunder Down Under

An Oasis fan in Melbourne, Austalia really ticked off Liam Gallagher during their show at Marvel Stadium on Friday night. During "Champagne Supernova" a fan let off a flare in the audience, causing Liam to say during the song "naughty, naughty, naughty." Then on X after the show Liam wrote, "To the massive [expletive] who launched that flare into the crowd last night at the gig in Melbourne you are one seriously [messed] up individual and you will get yours trust me."

STONES, WHO, KISS & CRUE: Rare Recordings

The Rolling Stones, The Who, KISS and Motley Crue have released previously unavailable songs from their latest archival collections.

The Stones have posted a video on YouTube of themselves performing "Fool to Cry" in Paris in 1976 from the deluxe reissue of their 1976 album, Black and Blue, which will be out on November 14th. What's unique about this clip is Mick Jagger playing keyboards, which he has rarely done since the '70s. The Who released the deluxe edition of their eighth album, 1978's

Who Are You, on Friday and from that, they released a tour rehearsal of "Drowned" from

Quadrophenia. In 1979, KISS took heat for their disco-flavored song "I Was Made For Lovin' You." In support of the just released 50th anniversary deluxe reissue of their third album, 1975's Dressed to Kill, comes the Moonlight Remix of "Rock and Roll All Nite." Motley Crue have shared a previously unreleased live version of "Keep Your Eye on the Money" from the Theatre of Pain box set due out on November 14th. It was recorded on November 27th in Long Beach, California during the Theatre of Pain tour. Check it out on YouTube.

QUEEN: Bo Rhap Is 50

50 years ago this past Friday, October 31st in 1975, Queen released what became their iconic operatic rock anthem, "Bohemian Rhapsody." It was the first single off their fourth album, A Night at the Opera, which followed on November 29th, 1975. (The U.S. single was released in December 1975.) To mark the milestone, they've released the first of five more episodes in their YouTube series, The Greatest. Up first is "The Path to Bohemian Rhapsody" in which

Brian May and Roger Taylor look back at two other Freddie Mercury compositions as potential precursors to "Bo Rhap." May says, "It’s interesting. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is viewed as a giant step for Queen creatively, but from the inside, it didn’t feel that way. It’s one of the threads of Queen in our development. You’ve only got to look at the first album, with ‘My Fairy King.’”

And Taylor adds, "On the second album, Queen II, there’s a monumentally long and complicated track called ‘March of the Black Queen.’ It’s a lot more complicated in many ways than ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’”

At just under six minutes, it was deemed too long by both their manager and record label. But after Capital Radio London DJ Kenny Everett played it 14 times over the last weekend of October 1975, record stores were besieged with requests the following Monday morning. To help celebrate this milestone, here are some tidbits about the song:

·There was no demo, as it was all in Freddie Mercury's head.

·The piano Freddie played on the song is the same one Paul McCartney used on The Beatles' "Hey Jude." It was Trident Studio's stock piano, which was also used by Elton John, David Bowie and Carly Simon, among many others.

·It was recorded in six different studios.

·It is the most popular Muppets cover, with more than 192-million views on YouTube.

·It was Queen's first Top 10 hit in the U.S. It topped the U.K. charts for nine consecutive weeks, a record at the time.

·In November 1991, it went to number-one for a second time when it was re-released immediately after Freddie's death to raise money for the fight against AIDS. This was the first time a song had topped the charts twice.

·It received another boost in popularity in 1992 when it was featured in Wayne’s World.

·Coincidentally, the song that knocked it out of the number-one slot in the U.K. was ABBA's "Mamma Mia," two words that are sung in "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- "Oh mamma mia, mamma mia, mamma mia let me go."

·It was voted the Song of the Millennium in 2000, and the Guinness Book of Records' number-one song of all time.

·It was issued on blue vinyl in 1978. Only 200 were pressed, making it one of the most collectible records of all time.

·It was Queen's first U.K. single to feature a picture sleeve.

·In 2021, it was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for 10-million or more in sales and stream equivalents in the U.S.

·It provided the title to their 2018 film, the highest-grossing bio-pic in history with a U.S. box office take of $910.8 million.

A 50th anniversary edition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” on heavyweight blue 7-inch or 12-inch vinyl, a 12-inch picture disc, or blue cassette, is out now. 

Brian May has posted a video on Instagram wishing "Bohemian Rhapsody" a happy 50th birthday.

BLONDIE: End of the Line?

It looks like we might not see Blondie on stage any more -- at least under that name -- in the wake of Clem Burke's death back in April. Debbie Harry tells NME that with Burke gone and guitarist Chris Stein no longer playing live using the name Blondie for any show would seem odd to her. "I’ve never liked it when there was just one original member performing and everybody else there is a stand-in. [That said,] the guys I’ve been working with until this last tour are terrific. I’ve been working with them for at least five years in most cases, and it’s been a privilege to work with [Sex Pistols’] Glen Matlock, but I just feel like they deserve more of the identity somehow. “Maybe if I were to rename whatever version it is using Blondie as an umbrella term… like ‘Blondie Presents’ I’d be tempted. But, I just don’t feel comfortable marching out on stage without my original guys and calling it Blondie. It doesn’t make sense to me." Blondie's last show was June 19th, 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A new Blondie album, which Burke recorded all the drum tracks for before his death, is set to come out in the early spring. Their 1999 album, No Exit, has been remastered and expanded and was out on Friday.

Ozzy Osbourne Gourd Mosaic Breaks World Record

A farm in England has gone all out to celebrate the late Ozzy Osbourne. The Prince of Darkness was honored by Sunnyfields Farm in Southampton, England as they arranged hundreds of pumpkins and squashes into a mosaic of him. It spans 2,281 square feet and broke the Guinness World Record. The mosaic was unveiled at a ceremony with Sharon and Kelly Osbourne taking part.

OZZY: A Tip of the Bat

In tribute to her late father Ozzy Osbourne, his youngest daughter Kelly has posted a video of her three-year old son Sidney dressed in a skeleton costume biting the head off a stuffed toy bat. On March 27th, 1981, before Kelly was born, Ozzy bit the head off a live dove while meeting with executives at CBS Records in Los Angeles. Ozzy and Sharon recalled Ozzy biting the head off a live dove 40 years ago.

OO: "I had brought these two doves to throw up in the air when I walked in to say, 'I'm here.'"

SO: "We'd been having a very happy morning, and everybody sees the dove and they're like 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Ugh.'"

OO: "It was not a publicity stunt. I was just out of my face on drugs and alcohol."

Ozzy then spit the head out while blood dripped from his lips.

"Well, I suppose that's my legacy, you know. I suppose when I die people will go 'Ozzy Osbourne, the man that bit the heads off several creatures throughout his career.' Not the fact that I've toured and toured and toured and sold millions and millions of records." But, it didn't end there. Less than a year later while performing in Des Moines, Iowa on January 20th, 1982, someone threw a live bat on stage. Thinking it was a rubber toy, Ozzy bit the head off but not before the bat bit him, resulting in him having to be treated for rabies. Ozzy said "I've made a decision. I will never again answer the question about bats and doves. I am sick to the teeth of answering the question. It's boring. I mean I must have answered the same damn question more times than I've had to clean my teeth you know. It's history, you know. It's like, 'Did you wear blue shoes on January the first 1971?' 'Yeah.' I do regret it and I don't regret it because it's like people have heard of Ozzy Osbourne a little bit more I suppose. So, I can't really complain about that. But it's just boring you know. Next question, you know."

Peter Criss Announces New Album

So what was the big announcement former KISS drummer Peter Criss was teasing last week? It was revealed Friday that he was releasing a new solo album. Simply titled "Peter Criss," the album is due out next month. A statement on Criss' "Bandcamp" page says, "'Peter Criss' represents the Catman's return to form, and his most rock driven solo album ever and it includes appearances by John 5, Billy Sheehan and Paul Shaffer. All CDs and the download album of 'Peter Criss' include the bonus track 'Hard Rock Knockers,' all vinyl editions include a download card for this bonus track, as well." The album comes out December 19. 

Alice Cooper And Criss Angel Team Up For Welcome To Our Nightmare Las Vegas Show

Alice Cooper and magician Criss Angel are teaming up for a special Las Vegas show next year. "Welcome to Our Nightmare" is set for March 6th and 7th at the Criss Angel Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. According to a press release, the two will "unite to create the Shock Rock Magic experience of a lifetime,... with all the smash hits in a theatrical visual feast that will destroy your mind." Tickets for the Cooper and Angel show go on sale this Thursday.

Devo To Livestream 50th Anniversary Show From Denver's Mission Ballroom

Devo's 50th anniversary at Denver's Mission Ballroom will be available to live stream. The "Devo: 50 Years of De-Evolution...Continued" livestream will feature the band's performance from Colorado on November 13th.According to a press release, the performance is described as a "high-energy blend of art, satire, and synth-fueled spectacle." Devo will be performing songs like "Freedom of Choice," "Girl U Want," and "Whip It." Livestream advanced tickets start at just under 20-dollars on Veeps.Free access is available for Veeps All Access subscribers. 

The Cure Announce The Show Of A Lost World Concert Film

The Cure is releasing a concert film later this year. "It's titled "The Cure: The Show Of A Lost World" and it's a re-cut film chronicling the band's full November 1st performance at London's Troxy in 2024. The full performance features 31 tracks, including "A Night LIke This," "Play For Today," and "The Walk." "The Cure: The Show Of A Lost World" concert film will be in cinemas around the world on December 11th. It will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD in late December.

IN OTHER NEWS

The Bruce Springsteen bio-pic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, continues to take a deep dive with an abysmal take of $3.8 million in its second weekend in theaters – 3460 of them – placing it at number-seven for the weekend and giving it a two-week total of $16.2 million.

Van Halen’s fifth album, 1982’s Diver Down, has been reissued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab as a strictly limited UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM two-LP set and a numbered Hybrid SACD

edition. Details at MoFi.com.

Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke will participate in a question-and-answer session at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday with Jason Hanley, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s VP of Education. It’s a private event and comes two days before Bad Co. will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday in Los Angeles.

Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice will join Roger Daltrey and The Who’s touring guitarist Simon Townshend (Pete’s kid brother) at the Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, January 29th to February 1st in Miami. 

The Zombies’ singer Colin Blunstone will release the concert album One Year and More: Live From Union Chapel on November 21st. It was recorded last November 21st at Union Chapel in London. 

Sammy Hagar has posted a video on Instagram of himself performing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” last Wednesday with Rival Sons singer Jay Buchanan at the inaugural fundraising gala for the newly established Stage Red Fontana Youth Music Foundation at Stage Red Fontana, named after Hagar, in his hometown of Fontana, California. 

Rhino has reissued the Dio vinyl box set A Decade of Dio: 1983-1993. First released in 2016, this new version features all six studio albums from that decade on splatter vinyl. It also has a bonus 7-inch of non-album tracks “Evil Eyes (Original Version),” which was the B-side of "Holy Diver," and “Time to Burn,” the only studio track on 1986's Intermission.