It wasn't meant to be Freddie Mercury's final performance, and it certainly wasn't billed as such, but Queen's 1986 show at Knebworth has gone down in history as just that. The last time Freddie Mercury took to the stage with his band.

There's a shortage of video documenting what took place, but that's far from unusual, even considering the historical nature of the show. Two months earlier Marillion had headlined the vast Garden Party, 35 miles north of Knebworth at the Milton Keynes bowl, and no professional footage of the show exists. "There was a disagreement over who was going to pay for it," then-frontman Fish told this writer, "and at the end of the day nobody bothered filming it. It's ridiculous."

These days, of course, it'd be different. There'd be multiple cameras, a drone or two, pro-shot and fan-shot highlights would be on YouTube within hours, and the whole shebang would be released as a deluxe edition Blu-ray before the arrival of Autumn.

That's not to say that there weren't film crews at Knebworth. Anglia TV were there and filmed a segment for local news broadcast. Some documentary footage was shot by Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher, the Austrian duo responsible for Queen's One Vision video. And the entire set was relayed live to the huge screens that book-ended the stage.

Various pieces of footage have surfaced over the years. Anglia shared some film shot at the show to accompany a story about Brian May receiving an honorary degree from the University of Hertfordshire in 2002, but the footage has become a subject of some controversy – even conspiracy – among Queen fans.

"It is one of the biggest blunders in our history," May once said. "The cameras were rolling, and visuals of the entire concert were relayed to the Eidophor screens simultaneously with the show. All it needed was for someone in our team to put a tape machine on the end of either the screen mix or the cameras themselves. No-one did. So it all went into the ether.

"There is a little bit of documentary footage in existence, also shot at the time separately, by Rudi and Hannes, I think, which includes some beautiful audience footage - which has been used in the odd documentary. But that's it. It would have been a great DVD to have, wouldn't it. Queen's Last Concert! Well, sadly, it will never happen."

So we're left with scraps, until we're told otherwise. But there's still magic in those morsels, as proved by the short segment of video that shows a giddy Freddie Mercury performing vocal exercises in a backstage dressing room immediately prior to the band's stage walk. He's even joined by Roger Taylor for a quick run through the "deeeeey-o" call-and-response Mercury had made world famous at Queen's Live Aid show the previous summer.

It's a wonderful clip. Mercury looks as if he doesn't have a care in the world. Yet he'd already told his bandmates that he was nearing the end of the road, "I'm not going to be doing this forever," he's reported to have said. "This is probably the last time."

Sadly, he was right.

Some 45,000 fans have made the journey to London’s N4 in the blistering heat to witness this stage of Biffy Clyro's Futique tour: their own mini-festival of sorts and the pinnacle of their career thus far.

The Scottish trio have endured some emotionally trying times in the last 12 months, some big (get well soon, James Johnston), some a bit smaller (Scotland's woeful World Cup campaign in the USA). But they've each shown their mettle throughout it all and tonight is a testament to their unwavering resilience.

Following robust sets by San Diego's Wavves and the returning West Yorkshire four-piece Marmozets, Don Broco hit the stage dressed in black on this stiflingly hot summer afternoon. They're immediately in irrepressible form, with a set which leans heavily on their latest album Nightmare Tripping. Over the course of their slot, the Bedford quartet up the party atmosphere with an outrageous fusion of pop hooks and obnoxious nu metal riffs.

Frontman Rob Damiani – looking majestic with a Kevin Keegan Hamburg-era perm – effortlessly commands the crowd throughout their 10-song set. It's Bruce Willis, taken from their 2021 album Amazing Things, which ups the ante with its 'Yippee ki yay motherfucker' hook. The audience reply with a melange of limbs and pints, and look like a BBC montage of Box Park celebrations when Harry Kane scored that goal against the Democratic Republic of the Congo earlier in the week.

"We're taking a hydration break," he tells the crowd in between mouthfuls of water to pantomime boos from the crowd. "It's thirsty work."

Nothing But Thieves bring a different atmosphere to their late afternoon slot. Where Don Broco are a raging house party with a bag of Madri beer and European energy drinks, this Southend five-piece offer something a little more refined. Maybe some nice wine and olives. Their 14-song set opens with Amsterdam and it's immediately apparent that Conor Mason remains a powerhouse vocalist, recalling the late Jeff Buckley as his voice soars over the band's driving, atmospheric alt-rock.

And on to tonight's hosts Biffy Clyro. It's been quite the journey for the Scottish trio, who began their story as dissonant alt-rock alchemists and became gold-plated arena headliners over the course of 30 years or so.

This evening marks their biggest headline show on their own footing. They've headlined Reading and Leeds, Download, Sonisphere, and Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. In the run-up to this 45,000-capacity show in London's N4, frontman Simon Neil promised surprises and a setlist which will delight long-time fans of the band.

Across the capital, Metallica are gearing up to play as their tape of Ennio Morricone's The Ecstasy of Gold rolls at London Stadium seven miles away. Biffy have a similar trick up their sleeve, with the use of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings as their walk-on music; the poignant soundtrack from Oliver Stone's 1986 anti-war film gives the show a true sense of occasion and gravitas.

The setlist kicks off with the glorious riff from The Captain from 2009's Only Revolutions, backed by the first of many fireworks which sparkle in the dusk sky.

Simon, wearing a patchwork jean kilt from what we assume is the McLevi's clan, leads his formidable band with an almost permanent grin: drummer Ben Johnston, bassist Naomi MacLeod (admirably standing in for James), guitarist Mike Vennart, keyboard player Richard 'Gambler' Ingram, and string section Annemarie McGahon and Ailbhe Catherine.

"Here's something old school," says Neil, before picking out the opening bars of Justboy, a song from their 2002 debut Blackened Sky. The song which has been largely shelved in recent years to make way for their newer material draws massive cheers from the diehard fans, as does Booooom, Blast & Ruin, which hasn't been performed for almost a decade.

There are more surprises in store. There's the haunting a cappella of There's No Such Man as Crasp and the genre-twisting There's No Such Thing as a Jaggy Snake.

After Mountains and a ton of confetti, there's the heartbreaking plea of Machines. Neil is joined on vocals by impact sub Henry Creel, otherwise known as One or Mr. Whatsit or Stranger Things villain Vecna (or to give him his actual name, Jamie Campbell Bower).

“We’re never going to forget tonight," says Neil with palpable pride, before the band close on the triple treat of Wolves of Winter, Bubbles and Many of Horror.

It's life-affirming stuff, alright, and an evening which will live long in the memory. Mon the Biff!

Biffy Clyro setlist – Finsbury Park, London: July 3, 2026

The Captain
That Golden Rule
Who's Got a Match?
Justboy
Biblical
God & Satan
A Little Love
Booooom, Blast & Ruin
Instant History
Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies
Hunting Season
Space
Cop Syrup
Different People
A Hunger in Your Haunt
Goodbye
There's No Such Man as Crasp
There's No Such Thing as a Jaggy Snake
Black Chandelier
Mountains
Machines
Wolves of Winter
Bubbles
Many of Horror

The two shows Pink Floyd played at London’s Earls Court in May 1973 marked a quantum leap for the group out of the ballrooms and theatre circuit into the arenas, stadiums and fields, where their concerts would remain for the rest of their career. Thanks to the worldwide allure of their eighth album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, their controls seemed to be set; any intimacy and direct connection with the audience – never something highest on Floyd’s priority list – was over. Prog explores those shows and their impact on the group in the following years.

In 1980, Pink Floyd took to the stage at Earls Court, the cavernous 18,000-seater exhibition centre in west London. Booked for six nights in early August, the group performed a show that systematically parodied the very notion of an arena concert, introduced by an over-the-top MC, before sending four musicians onstage wearing Pink Floyd life masks; a surrogate band, proving that audiences at that distance could actually be watching anything. If that wasn’t enough to emphasise the dislocation, a physical wall was built between artist and audience made of 450 cardboard bricks.

The Wall became Floyd conceptualist Roger Waters’ most complex idea, a reaction to the general isolation in his role as conflicted multi-millionaire socialist, but specifically at the dislocation he felt as his group played live to ever bigger, increasingly soulless arenas. Always a band received with earnest silence from their fans, since the global success of 1973’s The Dark Side Of The Moon, rowdy elements of the crowd, especially in North America, asphyxiated the already slender rapport Waters felt with his audience.

But how did it come to this? How did a band, so experimental, stately and well-mannered get to this point? It all begins in exactly the same place, Earls Court, seven years earlier in May 1973.

There was much talk in early 1973 of Earls Court opening its doors to live concerts, yet there were few acts that could fill a hall of such size and scale. Built between 1935 and 1937, the storied venue was constructed on a triangle of land between train lines that had been used for entertainment grounds since the late 1880s. Its spectacular Art Deco/Moderne style was designed by American architect Charles Howard Crane, famous for his ‘movie palaces’ of North America, most specifically in Detroit.

The venue opened on September 1, 1937 – 40,000 square feet of space, complete with an indoor pool – with a chocolate and confectionery exhibition. From then on, it became the go-to venue for large-scale events such as the Royal Tournament, the Ideal Home Show, the 1948 Olympics and the Boat Show, where the indoor pool would be filled with almost eight million litres of water. But not live performances by rock bands. Yet.

For large concerts, London was served by Olympia, just up the road from Earls Court, with its 10,000 capacity. Jimi Hendrix and Floyd themselves had played there as part of Christmas On Earth Continued and, later, in one of his few ill-fated solo gigs, so did Syd Barrett. There was also the Empire Pool Wembley – again a 10,000-seater – which had opened its doors to concerts since 1960 with the NME Poll Winner shows.

After The Beatles had played to 57,000 at Shea Stadium in 1965, plus Woodstock in 1969 and the Isle Of Wight Festivals of ’69 and ’70, rock promotion became big business. And ‘big’ was the operative word – the bigger the better. The idea of festivals was now established, so if they could draw tens of thousands, surely the right band could fill a mere 18,000 seats in an arena. To facilitate this, a new breed of UK concert promoter was coming through, such as John and Tony Smith, Harvey Goldsmith, Maurice Jones and Mel Bush.

The idea to put on live shows at Earls Court came from showbiz impresario Robert Paterson and boxing promoter Jarvis Astaire (the man later responsible for bringing WWF to these shores). “Patterson came from the classical scene, very old-school,” former London agent and Thin Lizzy co-manager Chris O’Donnell recalls. “I used to see Jarvis around town a lot. I don’t think there was a pie that he didn’t have a finger in. He once claimed he was offered the management of the Fabs but turned them down because his wife didn’t like them. Pure fantasy!” But, of course, an element of fantasy is what is needed to pull off feats on such a large scale.

Firstly, Mel Bush was contacted about which acts of his he thought he could promote there. He had not one, but two of such magnitude: David Bowie and Slade. At opposite ends of the glam phenomenon, both had ardent fanbases that could guarantee sales. If the teenyboppers could potentially fill it, so could Pink Floyd’s fans, especially as The Dark Side Of The Moon looked as if it would be their biggest release yet. Negotiated by the team at housing and homeless charity Shelter, Floyd agreed to play a benefit concert. As ticket sales (priced at £2, £1.75 and £1) far exceeded capacity, a second date was added.

And so, on May 18 and 19, 1973, the group played two nights there, among only three shows they played in the UK in that particular year. They already had a taste of larger shows as they had played Wembley’s Empire Pool the previous October, and understood that the sound was so important to these halls. Their US tour in March saw them playing venues between six- and 12,000-seaters.

Although Slade had been booked first, at the end of their UK tour on July 1, David Bowie was announced first and opened Earls Court to rock audiences on May 12. Whereas his Hammersmith Odeon concert in July that year is revered by the world and its gnome, Bowie’s Earls Court show is frequently swept under the carpet. By all accounts, it was a shambles. The stage was too low, the PA inadequate and the show had to be stopped for 15 minutes to quell the excitable stage-charging crowd.

“There was a good deal of apprehension about the group playing at this enormous exhibition hall,” Pink Floyd biographer Rick Sanders wrote in 1976. “Some weeks previously, David Bowie had done a concert there, the first time the venue served as a rock palace, and both fans and critics had been unanimous in their verdict. The show was a disaster, with terrible sound and nobody able to see what was happening on the distant stage. Earls Court was definitely not for rock, everyone thought.”

Pink Floyd would be leaving nothing to chance. Their live shows had been building in scale for a couple of years, especially with the addition of lighting and effects technician Arthur Max, who would introduce cherry pickers cascading rose petals, or burning gongs to enhance the band’s desire to focus on ‘son et lumière’ rather than the group themselves (as Floyd academic David Pattie notes, “The band, with the occasional exception of Roger Waters, were static to the point of self-effacement”).

Even though it had been played live for over a year, the press were calling the Earls Court show the “première” of The Dark Side Of The Moon, which had been released that March. It was certainly the first time that UK audiences had seen the group augmented with Dick Parry on saxophone and female backing vocalists – on this occasion, Vicki Brown and Liza Strike. Thunderbirds (and later James Bond) special effects technician Derek Meddings coordinated a crashing Spitfire to shoot over the audience’s head, and Max worked on the lighting effects, as well as introducing the inflatables that would become so central to Floyd’s performances. A huge mirror ball rose behind Nick Mason’s drums and opened out – not unlike the jewel-encrusted satellites shown in Diamonds Are Forever, the then-recent Bond film – and sent laser light beaming across the auditorium.

Most importantly, given the criticism of Bowie’s shows, the sound team led by Chris Adamson employed the latest quadraphonic technology to exploit the auditorium’s vastness. “What I always found amazing was the sound in the room, how that took the music around,” Gilmour’s first wife, Ginger, who was there that night, recalls. “You didn’t just have it coming at you. You were enveloped into it. Rick’s keyboards were amazing. It was really special.”

Bootleg recordings of the concerts demonstrate how accomplished the group had become. From the hits’n’bits of the first half, opening with Obscured By Clouds and When You’re In, they sound enlivened by their US tour and happy to be scaling up that size of venue, filling the empty space with layers of well-mixed sound. Waters introduces Careful With That Axe, Eugene as another “extremely oldie.” A leisurely Echoes closes the first set. Then The Dark Side Of The Moon is presented straight, with little improvisation. A storming encore of One Of These Days sends the crowd home in rapture.

The second night’s performance is a lot roomier, with jams stretching out. If it had been able to stay this way during subsequent tours, maybe The Wall would never have happened. “It wasn’t, ‘Here’s a bit of a Spitfire,’” Ginger Gilmour continues. “It was bringing the multi-dimensional aspect of the music and the visuals more into one. It was theatre. It wasn’t a gimmick. It intensified the reality of the music, the experience and the oneness. It made the audience feel like a kid: ‘Wow!’ I remember the unity and the beauty of it, a beautiful concept. I loved it.”

The band were broadly happy with the way the show had gone. “All the elements came together, as we presented the piece in its most developed version,” Nick Mason wrote in Inside Out. “The music had been rehearsed enough to be tight, but was new enough to be fresh. The lighting, thanks to Arthur, was dramatic. There were additional effects including a 15-foot spotlit plane shot down a wire over the heads of the audience to crash onstage in a ball of fire in sync with the explosion in On The Run.”

Rick Sanders continued: “Their material might have been familiar but they put on the show of their lives for 18,000-strong audiences whose appreciation bordered on religious fervour. Floyd’s amplification amply filled the cavernous hall with quadraphonic magic, aided by visual effects of dramatic power. Roger Waters’ gong exploded in flame during Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, an inflatable man loomed behind Nick Mason during Careful With That Axe, Eugene, his luminous green eyes glowing through dry ice clouds.” It was, as Melody Maker said, “A perfect moonshot, faultless in every department.”

Waters spoke to ZigZag magazine the week after the gig and still seemed in awe at the scale of what his band could achieve: “When we were setting up, I thought that it did look a bit like a circus with all these wires going into the audience. And the plane we used at Earls Court was very like those circus space rockets that people whip round and round in. It was silver and red and about six feet long, like a bloody great aluminium paper dart, flashing lights and smoke. Amazing.”

A bar had been set. The shows changed the band – thoughts of how subsequent records would scale up for performance became as much a consideration as what the sleeve would look like, what the music would sound like and what the concept would be. Never the most prolific of touring bands compared to their peers, their new-found success enabled further scarcity. Before now, Pink Floyd’s appearances had incorporated the experimental, moving forward with light and sound, cooking breakfast and sawing wood, yet these all seemed am-dram, even the original liquid lights, compared with what they had arrived at.

The very fact that Pink Floyd weren’t going to be coming to your town meant getting your money’s worth when you did see them. While each performance was to become a treasured memento for European fans, their reception in North America after they had hit the bigger stages was to lead to something altogether darker. In May 1973, 10 days before the Earls Court shows, Capitol US did what the group wouldn’t allow in the UK – release an edited version of Money as a single. The sarcastic blues-boogie taken out of context made Pink Floyd sound like everything they were not: a good-time bar band. Although its success didn’t greatly affect their remaining North American and European dates of the year, as time passed, it became an issue.

“Roger started getting really upset later, after Money became a success. We became more famous and the gigs got larger; intimacy was lost,” Ginger Gilmour says. “In earlier gigs, people listened. They allowed themselves to be taken by the music and they didn’t have to be on drugs to do it.”

Aside from commitments to a short French tour in June 1974, Pink Floyd reappeared onstage at Usher Hall in Edinburgh on November 4 that year, playing a 20-date UK winter tour that mixed multiple nights in smaller capacity venues with four consecutive nights at Wembley Arena. There was tremendous excitement for the group’s first UK tour in over two years. Demand was high. For example, the Cardiff concert at the town’s Sophia Gardens Pavilion received 9,000 applications for 2,000 tickets.

The weight of expectation of the live return weighed heavily on Pink Floyd. When this tour was announced, it was back to ’72 in terms of premièring new material in the first half of the show, before returning to familiar territory. And frankly, hearing Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and early versions of Dogs (Gotta Be Crazy) and Sheep (Raving And Drooling) cold was quite a big ask. And by now, although The Dark Side Of The Moon was becoming a tad hackneyed for Floyd, people had paid their money to hear their softly spoken magic spells.

For these 1974 shows, one of Pink Floyd’s most recognisable stylistic devices was added: the circular screen on which films could be projected – known colloquially within the group as ‘Mr Screen.’ Films were made for each number including director Ian Emes’ animated clocks for Time, and shots of Dark Side... being pressed up for Money. Pictures taken of the band by Jill Furmanovsky backstage show them positively at ease with each other.

“They were an organism,” Ginger Gilmour says. “Each one had a character, a quality that made it work: Roger was the outspoken visible person, Nick was the glue, David was more of the heart and the floating, Rick was even more introverted, but brought in a certain quality.”

The volume of the cheers at the first thud of The Dark Side Of The Moon’s heartbeat after the interval drowned out anything that was played in the first half, yet UK fans were respectful and knew how to behave. Tour manager Mick Kluczynski, who was also part of the group’s sound team, the ‘Quad Squad,’ said in 1976: “Pink Floyd fans come to a concert, sit down, shut up and listen, and go home quietly. The group have a very good reputation among hall managers.”

This was becoming less of the case in North America, where on the short two-part tour they undertook in April and June, at the gig at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, fights broke out in the 50,000-strong crowd. They detracted, as The Pittsburgh Press was to write afterwards, “from the mood so vital to appreciating Pink Floyd’s music.” Not even the brand-new Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park-designed inflatable pyramid could calm the nerves.

A despairing Waters was later to say: “I cast myself back into how fucking dreadful I felt on the last American tour, with all those thousands and thousands and thousands of drunken kids smashing each other to pieces. I felt dreadful because it had nothing to do with us. I didn’t think there was any contact between us and them.”

The tour ended with an enormous outdoor show at Knebworth Park on July 5, 1975, the only major outdoor concert they had performed in the UK since the Hyde Park show in July 1970. “Knebworth looked, initially, like a repeat of one of those glorious festivals that marked the zenith of progressive rock development in the late 60s,” Robin Denselow wrote in The Guardian. “The vast audience was sprawled across the English countryside, banners waving like a medieval battlefield, while the homely droning of Mr John Peel announced an impressive cast of musicians who used to be leaders of the so-called underground, and still retain their cult appeal. The underground has long disappeared, rock has become big business and respectable, and audiences are now more passive, demanding slickness and professionalism rather than experiment.”

When they did take the stage at Knebworth, the first hour was material completely unfamiliar to most of the audience – unless they had been to previous shows on the tour or bought a bootleg. To think a group would conclude their tour ahead of an album that had yet to be released today seems unthinkable. To go that long before ‘the hits’ would test the patience, and as seemed commonplace at this point, the show received mixed reviews. However, there was much to look at.

Sadly, technical delays hampered matters, as the band had to take to the stage as two Spitfires, flown in from East Midlands airport, buzzed the crowd. The electricity supply to the stage was variable, the band were tired, and the sound beset with issues. Rick Wright’s keyboards were out of tune, and, losing foldback to the stage, Waters sang out of tune. However, with pyramids and lights and explosions there was still enough warm thrill of confusion for the 100,000-strong crowd to enjoy.

The band spent the first half of 1977 on the final ‘proper’ tour they undertook with Roger Waters. This would be the one where their superstardom really hit home, with sales of Wish You Were Here – which arrived three months after Knebworth – proving a worthy successor to The Dark Side Of The Moon. Yet the band were determined to keep their anonymity – there would be no showboating or foot-on-the-monitor shenanigans.

As David Pattie notes, Pink Floyd “did not take advantage of the technologies they helped pioneer to declare themselves, unambiguously, to be stars. Instead, they allowed themselves to disappear behind the images they created; in fact... the stage technologies they employed came to stand in for the band in performance.” They were, in the stadiums at least, a surrogate band – people came to look at the lights.

To coincide with the release of Animals in January 1977, the group undertook a European tour, arriving in Britain in March for five nights at Wembley’s Empire Pool and four at Stafford’s Bingley Hall. Although keeping Dick Parry on sax, there would be no backing vocalists, thus removing any sweetening of the sound – instead, second guitarist Snowy White helped Gilmour recreate his multi-tracking from the Animals album. By now the spectacle was complete – beyond the usual explosions and projections one expected from the Floyd as a matter of course, there was now one of the most-loved aspects in Floydology: the inflatable pig. As seen on the cover of Animals, it would majestically hover above the audience’s heads.

Dave Bandana, writer and performer with prog outfit The Bardic Depths, was in the audience at the Empire Pool shows in March 1977. “Having seen Genesis perform The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway two years earlier at the same venue, I was expecting something similar, but without the costumes.” For Bandana, it was not to be. “My abiding memory is one of disappointment and I would tell people it was the most boring concert I ever attended. Maybe I expected too much.

“The music, of course, was wonderful but there was no interaction with the audience. It all felt very sterile, played exactly like the records. There was, of course, one theatrical moment: the pig on a wire. But I remember little else. Today I might appreciate it more, especially as I never saw them live again. But at least I saw them and witnessed a bit of musical history.”

As the European Animals tour became In The Flesh in the US from May to July 1977, all the dark forebodings of previous excursions coalesced. A pall seemed to hang over the band, and all the shows seemed to be downbeat. The staging had complex hydraulic lights rather than their usual ‘square rig’ illumination; these had umbrellas attached that could also protect the band from the elements. In addition to Mr Screen, the mirror ball, the pyramid and the pig, Fisher-Park designed a huge inflatable nuclear family to hover out over the audience in Dogs.

“The Floyd were mere puppets, it seemed, on the stage and in the distance,” Ginger Gilmour wrote in Behind The Wall. “I admired this, for it gave an opportunity to listen instead of adulating upon our stars. Taken on a journey, because that was the Floyd they loved. Admittedly, I wished that there was less tragedy, less angst. It was as if Beauty had become a whisper. The music was just about audible amongst the props and the click track. It was not to David’s liking, nor Rick’s, as the click track took over.”

Ginger added, “Sometimes I’d come out telling them it had been a really great gig and they’d go, ‘It was terrible.’ They’d have their headphones on, the click track and all that stuff. Sometimes they were almost doing covers to them. But it still transcended, at least for me.”

The final show of the In The Flesh tour was at the recently built Olympic Stadium in Montreal on July 6, 1977. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Floyd lore knows where it all reached breaking point, with Waters reacting to the rowdy crowd with phlegm. It’s fascinating to think that in 1977, with all the ‘I hate Pink Floyd’ sentiment from punk, Floyd themselves would be the ones to gob on their audience rather than be spat at. David Gilmour had had enough as well, retreating to the mixing desk for the final encore.

“I’ll never forget the moment when David appeared at the mixer,” Ginger Gilmour says. “Poor Snowy White. He didn’t know that traditionally, at the last gig of every tour, they always did this breakdown. Little by little, all the equipment leaves and there’s poor Snowy, suddenly David’s gone and everything’s been taken away.”

The irony of the final thing that this line-up of Pink Floyd would play in a stadium was a listless blues jam, not unlike something that they would have played at UFO when starting out just over a decade previously. But, here in the brutalist Olympic Stadium, both UFO’s liquid lights and the band’s spirit had gone.

The effects of the In The Flesh leg of the Animals tour were deep and long lasting. “The last show we did under those really bad circumstances was in Montreal at Olympic Stadium to 90,000 people and my sense of it was that it was a bad joke,” Waters later recalled of that night. “It really had nothing to do with a group of people playing music and another group of people listening to them. It was a weird kind of religious rite and it made me very uneasy – I didn’t want to be involved in it.”

Ginger Gilmour, from her vantage point at the mixing desk, could see it slightly differently: “The energy was terrible. But at the same time, the unity of people – apart from the ones in the front row that were drunk, out of it on marijuana and making a lot of hoo-ha – they wanted intimacy. They wanted people to listen, because if you don’t listen, you don’t hear it. You need to become one. The majority of fans were sitting, listening, wanting to get lost in music and not partying.”

Relationships within the band had been slowly, almost impenetrably deteriorating since The Dark Side Of The Moon. Never a band of brothers as such, as success meant they had to spend less time together, it was almost as if strangers were reconvening every time they gigged or recorded. “There was terrible conflict,” Ginger Gilmour recalls. “Roger and Carolyne, his new wife, would always be in a separate limo, separate hotel... always separate. She was building up his belief so that he could break out of the chains that he felt we had.

“We were in LA and they were working on finishing the album. They were talking about royalties, and we all met up at a Japanese restaurant. The day apparently had been really tough because Roger didn’t want Comfortably Numb on the album. David doesn’t show anger very often, but on that night, in the Japanese restaurant, if he knew karate, he would have broken the table with how hard he hit it. He said, ‘That fucking has to be on the album.’

“Well, for me, having gone through that summer where there was so much angst in the demos, and watching it evolve into something that we could watch, it represents the archetypal journey of us with chaos. When Comfortably Numb comes, it’s the release, it’s a hope. He’s up there, the light totally shifts and you’re absolved of all the angst. If that wasn’t there, it would be a terrible album.”

The Olympic Stadium would be Pink Floyd’s final show playing old material. When they returned to the live arena in February 1980 it would offer something completely different: a show based entirely around their new album, which contained two versions of a track called In The Flesh – one with a question mark and one without. Its opening line was: ‘So you thought you might like to go to the show...’

Designed specifically in three parts – an album, a live show and a film – The Wall channelled everything, good and bad, of what had been learned in the seven-year trajectory since Pink Floyd took to the stage at Earls Court in May 1973. It took all of Waters’ angst, and all the cutting-edge skills of the light, sound and construction team to create a show so grandly preposterous that it could only be staged in its original incarnation 31 times.

The band played it at Earls Court twice: for the six-night stint in 1980, and then a further five nights, for potential use in Alan Parker’s forthcoming film of the album, in June 1981. The show on June 17 that year would be the last time the four core Pink Floyd members would play together until their brief reunion in 2005.

Tales of The Wall, and what the size and scale of the concerts meant for the entire live concert industry, are legion. Sounds reported that “they dwarfed the biggest indoor rock venue in the country with a dazzling array of effects and a 360-degree sound system that was the finest I have ever heard anywhere, let alone the cavernous wastes of Earls Court.”

Earls Court always had a special place in Pink Floyd’s mythology. Nick Mason wrote in Inside Out that it was “one of our favourite venues, a place with plenty of character, right in the heart of London.” It was where the Roger Waters-less Floyd ended their live career with their run of shows in October 1994 to complete The Division Bell tour, and Waters played there again in 2007.

Tragically, the exhibition centre was demolished in 2017 and is now an empty space awaiting long-promised development. It was a venue that was far from perfect, but the group had an affinity with it – being less soulless than Wembley. The shows Pink Floyd played there between 1973 and 1981 bookended the most fascinating, not necessarily for all the right reasons, period in Pink Floyd’s career.

When it comes to alternative music, Canada may as well be the Phantom Zone: so many artists who fill arenas and enjoy legend status in the Great White North find themselves playing to far fewer people whenever they step beyond the border. Billy Talent and Alexisonfire aren’t as big here as they are at home, where pretty much everything they do charts in the top 10, but they’re each still pioneers of millennial post-hardcore with cult international followings. London demonstrates its dedication tonight, as thousands of fans come out during a 35-degree heatwave to see them play their respective 2006 albums in full.

“Tonight is all about gratitude,” says BILLY TALENT vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz. The opening co-headliners swagger their way through second effort II with genuine glee, and during such standouts as Devil In A Midnight Mass, Red Flag and Fallen Leaves, Wembley Arena reaches the same level of joy, singing along en masse. The highlight of the set, though, is the video production the four-piece have brought with them. Throughout, vocal hooks from Kowalewicz and guitar lines from Ian D’Sa are paired with footage of the band laying down the exact same part in clubs 20 years ago. The videos run in perfect sync with the performance, making for a pleasing full-circle moment.

But, the second the Mississaugans leave the stage, it’s obvious who the crowd’s really here for. A wave of tatted, skate-apparel-sporting punks instantly surges forward in anticipation of ALEXISONFIRE, so enthusiastic that they’re happy to be rammed together in this scorching weather. The St Catharines aggressors stride out under ironic archive footage of the 1977 New York snowstorm, which inspired the imagery of their lauded breakthrough album Crisis.

Drunks, Lovers, Sinners And Saints starts with a declaration of their DIY ethos – “This is from our hearts! Sincerity over simple chords!” – which London recites like a pledge of allegiance. What follows is both rawer and more dynamic than the first show of the night, screamer George Pettit leading the band through passages of rampant hardcore before co-singers/guitarists Dallas Green and Wade MacNeil steal the grand, melodic highs. This Could Be Anywhere In The World, Boiled Frogs and the title track are all time-tested favourites that get a pit swirling in between moments of sweet reprieve.

It’s testament to Crisis’ excellence that, unlike so many front-loaded album-in-full sets we’ve seen, the deep cuts keep the energy high. Keep It On Wax hasn’t been played live since 2012, yet the audience fills in the gaps during MacNeil’s cries of “I! I guess! The only thing cheap to you is your friends!” Many a phone is held high for the following To A Friend, as Green flexes the vocal muscles that have made his indie solo project, City And Colour, a chart-topping juggernaut in its own right.

2006 b-side Thrones is played for the first time ever during the encore, cementing this evening as a truly special occasion. As Alexis then default to early hits Pulmonary Archery and Happiness By The Kilowatt, the set ends with the kind of rich, textured but savage material which made them once-in-a-generation. The self-described ‘only band ever’ have once again proved why no one else matters.

Billy Talent setlist: Wembley Arena, London – June 24, 2026

1. Devil In A Midnight Mass
2. Red Flag
3. This Suffering
4. Worker Bees
5. Pins And Needles
6. Fallen Leaves
7. Where Is The Line?
8. Covered In Cowardice
9. Surrender
10. The Navy Song
11. Perfect World
12. Sympathy
13. Burn The Evidence
14. Rusted From The Rain
15. Devil On My Shoulder
16. Reckless Paradise
17. Viking Death March

Alexisonfire setlist: Wembley Arena, London – June 24, 2026

1. Drunks, Lovers, Sinners And Saints
2. This Could Be Anywhere In The World
3. Mailbox Arson
4. Boiled Frogs
5. We Are The Sound
6. You Burn First
7. We Are The End
8. Crisis
9. Keep It On Wax
10. To A Friend
11. Rough Hands
12. Thrones (live debut)
13. Pulmonary Archery
14. Happiness By The Kilowatt

California rockers Rival Sons have announced their first run of US dates since 2024's Two-Headed Beast schedule. The Domestic Bliss tour kicks off at the Knitting Factory in Boise, ID, on October 30, and finishes on November 29 at the Clyde Theatre in Fort Wayne, IN.

"A lot of irons in the Rival Sons fire right now, but we wanted to break off a quick one domestically, get out there and run it hot for a minute," says frontman Jay Buchanan. "24 US dates in the fall, the Domestic Bliss Tour let's go!”

"We are elated to get back out touring across the U.S., it's been a while," adds guitarist Scott Holiday. "We weren't able to tour the US properly on the last two records, so it's going to be great to get back to some of those territories we missed. We're going to mix it up and try to play songs from across the catalogue - this is going to be fun for us!"

Support will come from Canadian blues rock duo The Blue Stones and Colorado rock'n'rollers The Velveteers, and tickets go on sale this Friday, June 26, at 10am local time. Full dates below.

Meanwhile, the band have also revealed that they're currently working on their ninth studio album, the follow-up to 2023's Darkfighter and Lightbringer sets.

"It's been great to get back to writing and recording with my brothers in Rival Sons," says drummer Michael Davis. "It's early days, and we're doing this one a bit differently, but I'm so excited about how it's turning out!"

The new album is expected to be released in 2027.

Rival Sons: Domestic Bliss UK tour 2026

Oct 30: Boise Knitting Factory, ID
Oct 31: Seattle The Showbox, WA
Nov 01: Portland Roseland Theater, OR
Nov 02: Spokane Knitting Factory, WA
Nov 04: Sacramento Ace Of Spades, CA
Nov 05: Reno Grand Theatre At Sierra Resort And Casino, NV
Nov 06: Las Vegas Brooklyn Bowl, NV
Nov 07: Albuquerque Shine Theater, NM
Nov 09: Austin Emo’s, TX
Nov 10: Tulsa Cain’s Ballroom, OK
Nov 12: Moline The Rust Belt, IL
Nov 13: Green Bay Epic Event Center, WI
Nov 14: Milwaukee The Rave, WI
Nov 16: Silver Spring Fillmore Silver Spring, MD
Nov 17: Cincinnati Bogart’s, OH
Nov 18: Cleveland House Of Blues, OH *
Nov 20: New Haven College Street Music Hall, CT
Nov 21: Huntington The Paramount, NY
Nov 22: Worcester The Palladium, MA *
Nov 24: Buffalo Town Ballroom, NY
Nov 25: Montclair The Wellt, NJ
Nov 27: Memphis Minglewood Hall, TN
Nov 28: Indianapolis The Vogue, IN
Nov 29: Fort Wayne Clyde Theatre, IN

*support from The Blue Stones only

Find Rival Sons tickets.

British djent pioneers Tesseract entered the record books in 2015 when they became the first band to perform on top of a structure made completely out of ice. The gig was part of Jagermeister’s Ice Cold series of gigs and took place at Snow Village in Kittila, Lapland. The temporary village was built every year from 20,000,000kg of snow and 350,000kg of crystal-clear natural ice, covering an area of 20,000 square metres and consisting of a hotel, restaurant, cocktail bar, chapel and cinema. Stephen Hill was there to bear witness.

“One of the main challenges is keeping the instruments at the same temperature,” bassist Amos Williams tells us. “If the strings become colder during the set then tuning will become a massive issue.” Which is something that would be more than likely in the minus 20ºC temperature the band had to perform in. In fact during their soundcheck many band members complained of a loss of feeling in their hands after only one song.

To combat this for the duration of their 75-minute set each band member is given a special heat sack, a small marble-sized bag that is as hot as a freshly microwaved baked potato, to hold between songs and return some feeling to their frozen riff digits.

There was more than just the conditions for the band to contend with as well, it was also left to each member to trudge through the snow to various bars and restaurants in the surrounding area to drum up an audience for the show.

“If you book us they will come… hopefully,” laughs vocalist Dan Tompkins before as he prepares to mount a table and address a bar full of Finnish locals. “I genuinely don’t know if there will be anyone there.” He says after his speech.

The band need not have worried – at around 8pm around 100 locals, many of whom are coerced by the promise of free Jager and others in attendance from sheer curiosity, arrive by foot, ski and snowmobile.

Tesseract wander gingerly onstage (or to the top of his drum riser nearly thirty foot above the stage if you’re drummer Jay Postones) and impress everyone with their set of shimmering, melodic, tech-metal. It’s a stunning setting which feels as historic as the record breaking show is and, save for a quick slip on the icy stage by Tompkins half way through, goes off without a hitch.

There is obvious and audible relief in the Tesseract camp after the show. “It was good but I could hear some of the tunings going out as we were playing.” Guitarist Acle Kahney tells us. What thoughts were going on in your head while you were up there? “It was just surreal,” he says. “It was definitely hard to concentrate. You just don’t think you’ll ever be doing something like this when you start a band.”

“It’s an honour,” adds Tompkins. “There are, not just so many bands, but so many people on Earth. I just kept thinking in my head, ‘seven billion people on this planet. Five of us.’ We are the only five people that have done this. You know, this is why I came back to the band. For moments like this – it feels very special. We did Sonisphere and that was incredible, but this is something else.”

Sounds as if you didn’t even notice the cold?

“Oh no,” he laughs. “As worthwhile as it was you couldn’t ignore that cold.”

Today Dream Theater are known for the intensity of their well-planned, polished and focused shows. But in 2014 band biographer and Prog writer Rich Wilson unearthed some examples of the band’s early live performance issues – demonstrating the challenges and hard lessons that need to be learned, and the personnel changes that may need to be made, before a truly mindblowing performance can be delivered.

Horror shorts

Prior to Dream Theater releasing debut album When Dream And Day Unite, they were known as Majesty, and spent much of their time rehearsing in the basement of a hair salon. Below is a recording of one of those sessions, capturing Mike Portnoy wearing some alarming shorts, and then-singer Charlie Dominici jumping in and out of shot with pixie boots on his feet. Predictably, the ever-silent John Myung doesn’t say a word during the meet-the-band session.

A curious sense of humour

The dynamics of the band were pretty interesting at this time, as can be seen on this video, which consists of a short Q&A followed by a live performance of The Ytse Jam from Dream And Day. Then-keyboardist Kevin Moore was a central force, and possessed a dry sense of humour, here suggesting that the track was named after a “traffic situation in India…”

Like Billy Joel singing for Queensrÿche

Dominici would leave Dream Theater shortly after the album’s release, after the band had decided that he wasn’t quite the perfect fit – especially when playing live. As Portnoy explained, “It was like having Billy Joel try to sing with Queensrÿche or Iron Maiden. It just didn’t work.” That might sound harsh, but this rare footage certainly demonstrates what he means… Dad dancing?

And the guitarist played on (mostly)

Mind you, there were other mishaps to affect the band during those early live dates. Here, John Petrucci somehow manages to plummet from the stage into the crowd at the beginning of his solo. Ever the true pro, he quickly hops back on the stage without needing the help of the roadies who were sprinting to his aid. Indeed, a break in the solo and a touch of feedback aside, he covered up the incident pretty well.

Reunion blues

Dream Theater’s early line-line up reunited (with the exception of Moore) to perform When Dream And Day Unite in 2004. With Jordan Rudess never having met Charlie Dominici before that night, he later admitted that when talking to the singer, he had no idea who he was. “I thought he was one of our drivers or something!”

With Dominici having stayed away from music for 15 years, he certainly no longer had the look of a rock star – as that night’s performance of Metropolis shows.

Until Tuesday night, Rush hadn't played their iconic 2112 suite in full for a long, long time. Nearly three decades had passed since the 20-minute, seven-part epic ended the first set of the final show of the Test for Echo tour, at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, ON, in July 1997.

Since then, the band have performed truncated versions of the suite, including on the opening night of the Fifty Something tour at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. But on the second night, they played the whole thing, to the very palpable delight of the 18,000 ticketholders.

Much has changed since 1997, not least the technology at the disposal of concert goers. YouTube didn't launch until 2005. Apple's first iPhone didn't arrive until two years after that. And now, it appears, everyone is filming the shows they attend and uploading the results to the Internet. Search for Rush videos shot at the Corel Centre in 1997, and you won't get far. Try the Kia Forum this week, and there are hundreds of results.

Whatever your views on the pros and cons of this amateur filmmaking, it does throw up some interesting results, like the widely-circulated "Anika-cam" footage, in which the entire set-long film zeroed in on Rush's brilliant new drummer. And another YouTuber has stitched together footage from various sources to compile a multi-cam edit of this week's performance of 2112.

"Little edit I made of the first full performance of 2112 by Rush since before I was born," says the YouTuber, who goes by the name of Hummel Creations. "Did a little editing on the audio to boost bass and hopefully give a little more clarity to Geddy's vocals. Huge thanks to all the people who recorded these angles!"

Rush's next show at the Forum is this evening (June 11 PCT). Full dates below.

Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2026

Jun 11: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
Jun 13: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
Jun 18: Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico
Jun 20: Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico
Jun 24: Fort Worth Dickies Arena TX
Jun 26: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Jun 28: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Jun 30: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Jul 16: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 18: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 20: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 22: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 28: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Jul 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 01: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 03: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 07: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 09: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 11: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 13: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 21: Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena, PA
Aug 23: Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena, PA
Aug 26: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Aug 28: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Sep 02: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Sep 04: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Sep 12: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 14: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 17: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 19: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 23: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Sep 25: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Oct 05: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 10: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 12: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 15: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 17: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 25: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 27: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 30: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 01: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 05: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 07: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 09: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 11: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 20: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 22: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 25: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Nov 27: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Dec 01: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 03: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 10: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 12: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 15: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Dec 17: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC

Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2027

Jan 15: Buenos Aires Movistar Arena, Argentina
Jan 22: Curitiba Arena da Baixada, Brazil
Jan 24: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 26: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 30: Rio de Janeiro Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. Brazil
Feb 01: Belo Horizonte Estádio Mineirão, Brazil
Feb 04: Brasília Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, Brazil

Feb 19: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Feb 21: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Feb 23: Amstersam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 25: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Feb 28: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Mar 02: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
Mar 04: Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Germany
Mar 08: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 10: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 12: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 14: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 16: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 18: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 27: Kraków Arena Kraków, Poland
Mar 30: Milan Unipol Dome, Italy
Apr 01: Basel St. Jakobshalle Basel, Switzerland
Apr 04: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Apr 06: Oslo Unity Arena, Norway
Apr 08: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Apr 10: Helsinki Veikkaus Arena, Finland

Find Rush tickets.

On November 9, 1995, Type O Negative’s Bloody Kisses became the first album released by Roadrunner Records to achieve gold certification in the US. Released two years earlier, the album’s fusion of doom metal, goth and hardcore had turned the band into stars of the 90s metal scene, and their six-foot-eight frontman, Peter Steele, was cemented as a talismanic icon. But their fortunes wouldn’t last. “We always had a very negative tint on everything,” shrugs guitarist Kenny Hickey. “We never patted ourselves on the back and there weren’t words of encouragement. Every time we came off tour it felt like, ‘Well, that’s it – better get a job.’”

Although they’d always maintained an air of pervasive pessimism – proudly adopting the nickname ‘The Drab Four’ – Type O’s fifth album, World Coming Down, was especially bleak. Its lyrical narratives of drug addiction and familial loss were taken directly from Peter Steele’s experiences at the end of the 90s. “Much of my recent time’s been taken up by funerals,” Peter revealed to Hammer at the time. In another interview, he quipped that “everyone else’s family is growing – mine’s shrinking”, responding to the interviewer’s polite congratulations that Kenny had recently welcomed his first child.

Although flippant, Peter’s comments hinted at deeper trauma he was trying to overcome. As he turned to drugs for relief, the issues compounded. “World Coming Down might have been our bleakest record, but Life Is Killing Me was our bleakest period,” says drummer Johnny Kelly, who joined the band after the release of Bloody Kisses and remained behind the kit until their eventual split in 2010. “Between girls, drugs and an entourage he’d bring everywhere, Pete was out of his mind more than at any other point.”

But in typical Type O Negative fashion, the band responded to adversity with pitch-black humour. As they began writing their sixth album – originally titled ‘The Dream Is Dead’, eventually released as Life Is Killing Me – they decided to reinject a sense of playfulness that had been absent from World Coming Down. “Peter specifically wanted us to have a lot more humour for Life Is Killing Me”, Johnny recalls. Not all ‘jokes’ were appreciated, however. Peter Steele had long courted controversy with his lyrics, the likes of Jesus Hitler and Der Untermensch seeing Type O dogged with rumours of Nazism in their early days. In response, the band wrote tongue-in-cheek Bloody Kisses track We Hate Everyone and explained the accusations away as a misunderstanding about their humour. But Life Is Killing Me song I Like Goils once again skirted too close to the edge. Anecdotally penned as a jokey response to the increased attention Peter had received from men after posing nude in a 1995 issue of Playgirl, the song’s lyrics veered into direct homophobia that has come under increased scrutiny in the years since its release.

“Peter liked to poke the bear like that,” Johnny says evenly, admitting that while he can’t speak for exactly what his bandmate was thinking, he didn’t think he was homophobic. “You always had to take Peter’s lyrics as something tongue-in-cheek. He was never trying to make a statement, other than to start shit!”

This combative nature came out in other ways too. Peter would argue with his bandmates during rehearsals and recording sessions, long drives out to their space in New York’s Rockaway Beach sometimes ending with the band piling back into the van and driving home without playing a note. “We’d part ways and at, like, one in the morning, the phone would go and there’s Pete, calling Johnny like, ‘I want to fight you in the street, right now’,” coming to us with these 14-minute opuses!” Kenny recalls. “He came up with I Don’t Wanna Be Me, this really cool punk rock anthem.”

The lead single and opening track proper on Life Is Killing Me – after doomy instrumental opener Thir13teen – I Don’t Wanna Be Me still crept past five minutes. Nonetheless, the song recaptured the band’s hardcore roots, albeit with a gothic, new wave twist as Peter playfully turned his self-loathing into a bouncy singalong. It set the tone for a record that, by Kenny and Johnny’s reckoning, was “all over the place”, but to fans captured their genre-blurring buffet of styles. “There were some songs to me that validated where it sits in the catalogue,” Johnny concedes. “Anesthesia alone makes it all worth it for me. Nettie is really cool, I Don’t Wanna Be Me is really out there and different from what we were doing, so that was cool. The band needed that variety and humour.”

I Don’t Wanna Be Me was ultimately the only single to be released from Life Is Killing Me. In spite of that, the band were able to shoot a video for the track, actor and comedian Dan Fogler donning a variety of costumes in front of a red theatrical curtain, pretending to be everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson to Britney Spears, Eminem and Peter Steele himself. “Dan was such a funny guy, we had a lot of fun with that shoot,” Johnny recalls fondly.

Released on June 17, 2003, Life Is Killing Me proved Type O Negative still had commercial appeal, even if the venues they were playing had shrunk. Breaking into the Top 40 of the US Billboard 200 at No.39, the album matched the chart position they had achieved on World Coming Down four years earlier. But while the goth aesthetic was making a big comeback in the US – propelled by the likes of Him and Evanescence – Type O weren’t able to scale the heights they had enjoyed the previous decade, even as they went on tour with Lacuna Coil and Cradle Of Filth. “We made some lifelong friends with those people,” Johnny says. “There were always laughs – even in the worst situations we could find something funny. Somebody else’s misfortune or misery was a good set-up for a punchline.”

Type O Negative would only release one more record – 2007’s Dead Again
– as on April 14, 2010, Peter Steele passed away from heart failure. Without their towering frontman, the band decided to call it quits. But for all the doom and strife they experienced over the years, both Johnny and Kenny look back with a sense of fondness and rue for what might have been. “My gut feeling was that the band never hit their potential,” Johnny admits. “So far as Peter’s songwriting abilities and whatever, there was always a sense that there was something more in there.”

“Because he always interfered!” Kenny exclaims. “It’s hard to maintain something on that wavelength that the band ran on. To be positive and hit your potential, you’d actually have to have some hope!” “Peter had optimism... right before he died,” Johnny says, deadpan. “He was optimistic and really excited about making a record sober, realising he hadn’t applied himself as he should have in later years. Our best record probably would’ve been the next one.”

“He was always a late bloomer, in everything,” Kenny agrees. “Our worst enemy was our bleak outlook. It’s hard to move forward and have energy if you don’t have some kind of positivity. If you look at The Beatles, Lennon was the dark one and McCartney was the light one. We were a band of Lennons. But... I wish I had him back and we still had that going.”

I Don’t Wanna Be Me remains one of their most enduring anthems, a testament that even when everything was falling apart, Type O Negative were a singular creative force. In the years since Peter’s death, numerous bands have acknowledged Type O’s influence, from the likes of Code Orange and Oceans Of Slumber, to Trivium and Pallbearer. Nobody has been more surprised by this than the former members themselves.

“At the time, a song like I Don’t Wanna Be Me really didn’t have the impact or staying power that it has now,” Johnny admits. “It’s only really a lot later when you start getting bands cover it that it seems to have built up and revitalised it.” “It was a sleeper hit, like one of those songs that takes a few years to really get popular – Dream On, Bohemian Rhapsody, that type of thing,” Kenny nods. “Type O were a sleeper hit all round, then!” Johnny adds with a chuckle.

Three thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four days after Rush departed the stage at The Forum in Inglewood, CA., at the end of their R40 tour, the band have finally returned to the same venue, beginning their mammoth Fifty Something schedule.

Much has changed. Alex Lifeson has released two albums as a member of Envy Of None. Geddy Lee has become an author, publishing Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass and My Effin' Life. Neil Peart, of course, is gone, but he'll forever remain a looming presence. And there are two new members of the touring party, drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold.

Now they've played their first show in 11 years, opening – after a lengthy 'Where's Rush?' intro video – with the A Farewell To Kings classic Xanadu, a song that's never opened a Rush set before (video below).

More followed: La Villa Stangiato. The Spirit Of Radio. Limelight. Freewill. Red Barchetta. Three sections of 2112. Peart's traditional tour-de-force, YYZ, performed without a drum solo. Time Stand Still, featuring special guest Aimee Mann, who sang on the 1987 original. Tom Sawyer, the crowd roaring its approval for Nilles' drum fills. An unexpected By-Tor & The Snow Dog. The traditional finale, Working Man. And, of course, tributes to the great Neil Peart.

The most eagerly-awaited tour of the year is finally underway. Full setlist and tour dates below.

Rush setlist: Kia Forum, Los Angeles: July 7, 2026

Set 1
Xanadu
Limelight
Far Cry
Subdivisions
Freewill
Bravado
Caravan
La Villa Strangiato
Vital Signs
The Spirit of Radio

Set 2
2112 Part I: Overture
2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
2112 Part VII: Grand Finale
Distant Early Warning
Red Barchetta
Dreamline
Natural Science
Time Stand Still
Red Sector A
YYZ
The Garden
Tom Sawyer

Encore
By-Tor & The Snow Dog
Working Man

Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2026

Jun 09: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
Jun 11: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
Jun 13: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
Jun 18: Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico
Jun 20: Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico
Jun 24: Fort Worth Dickies Arena TX
Jun 26: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Jun 28: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Jun 30: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Jul 16: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 18: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 20: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 22: Chicago United Center, IL
Jul 28: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Jul 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 01: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 03: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 07: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 09: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 11: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 13: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Aug 21: Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena, PA
Aug 23: Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena, PA
Aug 26: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Aug 28: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Sep 02: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Sep 04: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Sep 12: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 14: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 17: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 19: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 23: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Sep 25: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Oct 05: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 10: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 12: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 15: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 17: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 25: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 27: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 30: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 01: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 05: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 07: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 09: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 11: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 20: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 22: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 25: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Nov 27: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Dec 01: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 03: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 10: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 12: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 15: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Dec 17: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC

Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2027

Jan 15: Buenos Aires Movistar Arena, Argentina
Jan 22: Curitiba Arena da Baixada, Brazil
Jan 24: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 26: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 30: Rio de Janeiro Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. Brazil
Feb 01: Belo Horizonte Estádio Mineirão, Brazil
Feb 04: Brasília Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, Brazil

Feb 19: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Feb 21: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Feb 23: Amstersam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 25: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Feb 28: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Mar 02: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
Mar 04: Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Germany
Mar 08: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 10: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 12: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 14: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 16: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 18: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 27: Kraków Arena Kraków, Poland
Mar 30: Milan Unipol Dome, Italy
Apr 01: Basel St. Jakobshalle Basel, Switzerland
Apr 04: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Apr 06: Oslo Unity Arena, Norway
Apr 08: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Apr 10: Helsinki Veikkaus Arena, Finland

Find Rush tickets.

Van der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill and Emerson, Lake and Palmer drummer Carl Palmer and Van der Graaf Generator's will return to the Royal Albert Hall in July when they take part in the very first Prog Rock Prom, Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man, on July 18.

The BBC announced back in April that they've finally gotten around to recognising progressive rock - only 15 years after Prog Magazine first approached them with the idea - and the Prog Rock Prom is the highlight of the second day of events.

Palmer and Hammill will be joined by Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, Jane Weaver and Gruff Rhys from Welsh psych exponents Super Furry Animals, who will also be in attendance, with BBC Radio 6 Music’s Stuart Maconie. Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson told Prog he too had been approached to take part but could not due to a prior engagement.

Conducted by Robert Ames, the prom will feature symphonic tributes to ELP, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Mike Oldfield, Renaissance and more, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Seated tickets for this Prom are sold out, however 1,000 £8 Promming tickets will be available on the day.

Porcupine Tree offshoot Voyage 35, the band spearheaded by former bassist Colin Edwin and live guitarist John Wesley, have shared a video for their new re-working of Even Less, originally from 1999's Lightbulb Sun album.

The pair formed the band to perform Porcupine Tree material rarely heard in the live arena these days and will be touring Europe and the UK in September. Earlier this year, they announced that they had been joined by Edwin's O.R.k. bandmate, keyboard player Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, better known as 'Lef', and drummer Alessandro Vagnoni, who himself has performed with O.R.k., deputising on occasion for Pat Mastelloto.

“This is no idle thought, this is a chance to re-explore and re-immerse ourselves fully in a set of material that many people have expressed a desire to hear and see live again," says Edwin. "With a view to both honouring and elevating the original spirit, with a fresh new energy, a few new flavours and some serious talent alongside us.”

"I realised deep inside that I really missed playing that music, so an opportunity to go out with Colin and an amazing set of musicians to perform music I deeply cared about was not something I was going to miss," adds Wesley. "Bringing that music to fans that care about it as I do will be a mutual pleasure.”

You can see the full list of live dates below.

Voyage 35 EU and UK tour dates

Sep 4: ITA Revislate 2Days Prog + 1 Festival
Sep 8: GER Aschaffenburg Colos-Saal
Sep 10: NED Utrect Tivoli Vredenburg
Sep 11: NED Uden De Pul
Sep 12: NED Zoetermeer De Boerderij
Sep 15: UK O2 Bristol Academy
Sep 16: UK London Shepherd's Bush Empire
Sep 17: UK Manchester O2 Ritz
Sep 18: UK Newcastle The Grove
Sep 19: UK Glasgow Classic Grand

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Rising metallers Castle Rat have announced their biggest headline tour to date. The much-vaunted, broadsword-brandishing New Yorkers, led by Queen Rat Riley Pinkerton, will commence their Summon The Beasts tour at the Baltimore Soundstage in Baltimore, MD, on September 23.

"Join 𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝕽𝖆𝖙 as they 𝕾𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖔𝖓 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖘 in 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖒 nearest you," say the band, making liberal use of their preferred medieval font. "Together, we expand and defend 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖒!"

Tickets for the shows, which are in addition to a previously announced run of European shows, go on sale this Friday at 10am local. Support will come from Portland gothic rockers Unto Others and dungeon synth merchants Wraith Knight. Full dates below.

It's been a busy period for the band, who completed the Amonklok Conquest tour last month in the company of Amon Amarth and Dethklok, and filmed an acclaimed live performance for KEXP in April.

This week, Castle Rat will appear on SiriusXM's Liquid Metal show alongside host Jose “Metal Ambassador” Mangin, where they'll play some of their favourite tunes.

Castle Rat : Summon The Beast tour 2026

Jul 29: Bergen Beyond The Gates, Norway
Jul 31: Copenhagen Pumpehuset København V, Denmark
Aug 01: Wacken Open Air, Germany
Aug 04: Warszawa Klub Hydrozagadka, Poland
Aug 06: Jaroměř Brutal Assault, Czech Republic
Aug 08: Kortrijk Alcatraz, Belgium
Aug 09: Walton-on-trent Bloodstock Open Air, UK
Aug 10: Southampton The 1865, UK
Aug 12: Wittelshofen Summer Breeze Open Air, Germany
Aug 14: Seelbach Bei Hamm Hoflärm, Germany
Aug 15: Eindhoven Dynamo Metal Fest, Netherlands
Aug 16: Carhaix-plouguer Motocultor Festival, France

Sep 23: Baltimore Soundtage, MD
Sep 25: Charlotte Neighborhood Theatre, NC
Sep 26: Atlanta The Masquerade, GA
Sep 28: Dallas The Studio at The Bomb Factory, TX
Sep 30: Mesa The Nile Theater, AZ
Oct 01: Los Angeles The Belasco, CA
Oct 03: The UC Theatre Berkeley, CA
Oct 06: Portland Roseland Theater, OR
Oct 07: Seattle The Showbox Market, WA
Oct 09: Spokane Knitting Factory, WA
Oct 10: Boise Shrine Social Club, ID
Oct 11: Salt Lake City The Grand, UT
Oct 12: Denver The Ogden Theatre, CO
Oct 14: Minneapolis Varsity Theater, MN
Oct 15: Chicago Concord Music Hall, IL
Oct 16: Detroit The Majestic Theatre, MI
Oct 17: Toronto The Opera House, ON
Oct 19: Montréal Théâtre Beanfield, QC
Oct 20: Worcester The Palladium, MA
Oct 21: New York Webster Hall, NY

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Guitarist Steve Vai explains hooking up with ex-King Crimson pair guitarist Adrian Belew and bassist Tony Levin plus drummer Danny Carey of Tool in BEAT to revisit a trio of Crimson albums from the 80s: Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair.

Tell us about your own induction to the church of King Crimson.

My childhood friend John Sergio turned me on to progressive rock by playing me that incredible first King Crimson record, but then I went through a period of dryness with Crimson until Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair. Those three records were like jewels. I had never heard guitars interlocking that way until Robert [Fripp] and Adrian [Belew] did it, and equally unique was their use of guitar synthesisers. They created tapestries of audio colour. The arrangements were so complex, but there were beautiful melodies on top. So when Adrian called, I knew we could do some pretty whacked-out stuff together.

That was your first thought. What was your second regarding being part of BEAT?

I needed to know whether Robert gave the project his blessing, and Adrian said right away that he did. I've been involved in projects where there's drama and nefariousness, and I didn't want that again. Robert even suggested the name.

My third thought was: “Can I even play this stuff?” Y'know, a sixty-five-year-old Steve Vai taking on Robert Fripp at thirty-five and at the top of his game? I went back to the music and decided to accept the challenge. [Laughing] I worked with Zappa, and then Dave Roth after Edward [Van Halen]. I'm addicted to challenges.

And how difficult has it proved?

I went into this project knowing I had to be a dutiful soldier, because the Crimson fan base is so loyal. And protective. And snobby [laughs]. I know that because I'm snobby too. It helped so much that Trey Gunn [former Crimson guitarist] sent me a forensic transcription book of those three records. That was a godsend.

How closely are you following Fripp's parts?

On about ten per cent of the material I changed the [finger] position to suit my style, but I'm playing the same notes. There were two pieces that presented problems. One was Three Of A Perfect Pair – you had to play it the way Fripp played it. I couldn't cheat, I had to learn it Robert's way. The only riff I had to change was in Frame By Frame. That one was just not within my wheelhouse.

The BEAT concept is proving popular, with an extra date added in Wolverhampton due to public demand. Has the possibility of making new music been discussed?

It's there in the back of our mind, because this band is so great. I mean, Tony and Danny are about as good as it gets. I know that we could make a pretty stellar record, but the question remains: What is BEAT? The audience comes because they love the music of King Crimson. Would Crimson's audience be moved by a new song from Steve Vai?

Also, there are logistics to consider. Right now, I've been on tour with Satch [Joe Satriani, as The SatchVai Band] and BEAT since May of 2022. I'm not due to end until September of 2027. As a creative person, I must return to being master and commander of my own ship.

What do you have lined up?

The next thing I want to do is a solo acoustic guitar and vocal record. It's already sitting on the shelf. Four full-length orchestral records are also done. It's not what everyone wants to hear from me, but there will be some, and that's enough.

BEAT's European tour kicks off in Wolverhampton on June 7 and ends in Bari, Italy, on July 3. For dates and ticket links, visit the BEAT website.

Pallas singer and solo artist in his own right, Alan Reed, has announced that his upcoming show at Glasgow's G2 venue in Reed's hometown with his band Daughter's Of Expediency on September 4, will be his very last live performance.

Reed and his band have a short run of dates on their The Last Dance tour throughout the UK in September.

"It’s time to put away childish things, and there’s nothing more childish than a guy in his sixties pretending he’s in his twenties," says Reed. "Besides, I have Parkinson’s now and I don’t know beyond the next six months how I’m going to be. I’d rather go out on a high. Planning gigs is no way to do it. If you know anything about Parkinson’s it’s that stress should be avoided at all costs. And planning gigs is very stressful.

"Which is why I will no longer be doing the 5th of September in Veruna. It became very stressful and expensive as a one-off. So blame the costs associated with the war in the Middle East as well as those associated with Brexit!!"

Reed announced his Parkinson's diagnosis in March 2025, but has been performing live sporadically as well as completing work on a new Pallas album. You can read a review of Reed's recent performance at Winter's End Festival in the brand new issue of Prog Magazine.

Following Reed's final live dates, Reed will join former colleagues on September 18 as he walks along the canals from Bowling in the West, to Leith in the East. Last year he walked the West Highland Way and raised over £7K.

You can see the full list of Reed's live dates below.

Alan Reed And The Daughter's Of Expediency The Last Dance tour dates

Sep 1: Southampton The 1865
Sep 2: London 229
Sep 3: Sheffield West Street Live
Sep 4: Glashow G2

Smashing Pumpkins have announced The Rats In A Cage Tour, a run of dates celebrating the 30th anniversary of the band's much-loved 1995 album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.

According to the band, the setlist will feature two distinct sets – one focused on the album and a second celebrating "nearly four decades of hits and dark treasures."

The 27-date schedule begins at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, on September 30, and wraps up at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on November 12. Tickets go on sale this Thursday (May 21) at 10am local time.

The new dates are in addition to a short European trek announced last week, which is billed as "A night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness featuring Billy Corgan" and takes in shows in London, Antwerp, Paris and Madrid. This show premiered last year at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and featured Corgan performing alongside the Opera's Orchestra and Chorus.

The 28-track Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was one of the most ambitious and commercially successful rock albums of the '90s, selling 10 million copies in the US alone. It featured hit singles Bullet With Butterfly Wings, 1979, Zero, Tonight, Tonight and Thirty-Three.

Smashing Pumpkins: The Rats In A Cage Tour

Sep 30: Columbus Schottenstein Center, OH
Oct 02: Boston TD Garden, MA
Oct 03: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD
Oct 04: Brooklyn Barclays Center, NY
Oct 06: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Oct 07: Hamilton TD Coliseum, ON
Oct 09: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Oct 11: Madison Kohl Center, WI
Oct 13: St. Paul Grand Casino Arena, MN
Oct 14: Chicago United Center, IL
Oct 16: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Oct 17: Jacksonville VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, FL
Oct 18: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Oct 20: Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse, IN
Oct 22: Nashville The Truth, TN
Oct 24: Oklahoma City Paycom Center, OK
Oct 25: Austin Moody Center, TX
Oct 27: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 29: Salt Lake City Delta Center, UT
Oct 30: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
Nov 01: Portland Moda Center, OR
Nov 03: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
Nov 05: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Nov 06: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Nov 08: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Nov 11: Phoenix Mortgage Matchup Center, AZ
Nov 12: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA

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A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan

Sep 01: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
Sep 02: London Royal Festival Hall, UK
Sep 06: Antwerp Queen Elisabeth Hall, Belgium (2 shows)
Sep 08: Paris Salle Pleye, France
Sep 09: Paris Salle Pleye, France
Sep 11: Madrid Palacio Vistalegre, Spain

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It’s impossible to overstate the significance of My Chemical Romance on alternative music in the 21^st Century. Ghost’s clergy, Bring Me The Horizon's ascension to arenas, even Sleep Token’s global takeover are ripples in the pond to the explosion of emo in the mid-2000s. All of which is to say, MCR headlining Sonic Temple is a Big Deal.

Performing The Black Parade in its entirety, My Chemical Romance put on the kind of massive spectacle that underscores the fact they’re the most important rock band since Nirvana or Oasis, their cultural footprint obvious in the sheer number of classic, Myspace-era emo getups spotted around the Historic Crew Stadium (although bright-coloured fringes remain in short supply).

A big, communist-coded propaganda video plays as soldiers wheel out a decrepit dictator dummy to signal the start of the set. The show plays out like a funeral for 20^th Century culture, the band somehow managing to blend Broadway, Hollywood and stadium-sized pop production, each song greeted with religious fervour.

From the Queen pomp of Welcome To The Black Parade to the T-Rex aping shuffle of Teenagers, My Chem expand the boundaries of emo to almost ludicrous levels. Each song seems to come with ever-grander production – cellos, opera singers, and even the stage bursting into flames, complete with a blazing man sprinting across. It all leads to the bloody execution of Gerard Way as he’s stabbed to death by a monochrome clown, who promptly blows himself up.

The final cherry on the cake is a punky encore. Kicking off with I’m Not Okay, MCR drop the theatrics and go for broke with sweaty, frantic energy. Even without the adornments of their previous set, they’re utterly magnetic to behold and the atmosphere in the stadium is electric as Na Na Na and Vampire Money fly by. Finally, Helena sends the crowd screaming into the night. It might be fuelled by nostalgia tonight, but this set shows MCR still have the magic to do something truly massive in future.

My Chemical Romance Sonic Temple 2026 setlist

The End.

Dead!

This Is How I Disappear

The Sharpest Lives

Welcome to the Black Parade

I Don't Love You

House of Wolves

Cancer

Mama

Sleep

Teenagers

Disenchanted

Famous Last Words

The End. (2025 reprise)

I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)

Vampire Money

Helena

Former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has finally confirmed that one of rock'n'roll's longest-standing, possibly apocryphal tales is, in fact, true.

The story goes something like this: During an early Deep Purple show at the Jam Factory in San Antonio, Texas, Blackmore was taken ill, and his place was taken for a single show by Christopher Cross, the soft rocker who rose to fame years later when his eponymous, multiple-Grammy-winning debut album sold five million copies in the US.

In the 2018 book about what's come to be known as Yacht Rock, The Yacht Rock Book: The Oral History of the Soft, Smooth Sounds of the 70s and 80s, Cross relates the story, placing it in 1968 at Purple's debut US show.

"I had a promoter friend who I did a lot of kind of gopher work for and stuff like that," says Cross. "And I had a local band, and Joe [Miller] was promoting that show, at a place called the Jam Factory. It was their very first show in the United States ever, and someone advised them to get flu shots.

"So they did, and Ritchie Blackmore got very sick. And so the decision was made that they didn’t really want to cancel the show if they could help it. And Joe Miller – who was kind of managing me at the time – said, ‘Y’know, there’s this guitarist in town who’s a big fan of Ritchie and he could probably step in.

"The singer [Ian Gillan] was in favour of it, I remember, but Joe pretty much ran the band and was the one who made the decision that it was better to play than not play. So I came down, and I had a Flying V and long hair, and I’m this big Ritchie fan.

"So we played the songs that I knew and then we jammed some blues. And they told the crowd Ritchie wouldn’t be there. It was a great moment for me. And then, when they left town, I went to the airport and got to meet Ritchie, and he thanked me for covering for him. He was cool."

In the intervening years, doubt has been expressed over whether the incident ever occurred, with late Purple keyboard player Jon Lord reportedly denying that it had. "This is something that Jon Lord wanted to forget, and I wanted to remember," Cross told Songfacts. But now Blackmore has confirmed the story in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock.

The incident actually occurred on Deep Purple's In Rock tour in 1970, when the band were scheduled to perform two shows at the Jam Factory on August 28, one at 7pm and the second at 11pm. Blackmore played the first show, but then fell ill.

"I remember being very miserable, and I was walking down the corridor with Jon Lord to go to the show, and then I felt very dizzy," Blackmore says. "I grabbed hold of Jon, and he kept me walking. Then I fell down, and they took me to the hospital. They didn't know what it was. I think it was just pure misery. And they kept giving me shots in the hospital.

"I just stayed in the hotel being miserable and [Deep Purple] went on and did the show with, I think, his name is Christopher Cross or something."

Blackmore recovered quickly and resumed his rightful place onstage the following night at the Civic Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cross, however, would have to wait a little longer before his moment in the spotlight.

Bickering AOR kings Journey have added another lengthy run of shows to their current Final Frontier tour. The stretch of 40 new dates begins on September 12 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA., and wraps up at the Chase Center in San Francisco, CA., on November 28.

The new schedule is in addition to a run of 28 previously announced shows that kick off on Thursday this week at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, FL.

Artist presale tickets go on sale tomorrow (Wednesday, May 13) at 12pm local time using the code FRONTIER, while the general sale begins at 10am on Friday.

As has become the norm with Journey, the period between the band's last show in April and this week's resumption of activities has been marked by confusion, with frontman Arnel Pineda posting a cryptic message to fans after Journey's show at Stagecoach Festival in California was cancelled due to dangerously high winds, leaving fans uncertain about his position in the band and his future plans.

Pineda reportedly tried to leave the band twice ahead of the tour, but guitarist and band lynchpin Neal Schon has denied knowledge of Pineda's concerns.

Full dates below.

Journey: Final Frontier tour 2026

May 15: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, FL
May 16: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, FL
May 18: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
May 20: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
May 21: First Horizon Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
May 23: Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
May 27: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, PA
May 28: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, VA
May 30: Food City Center, Knoxville, TN
May 31: Enmarket Arena, Savannah, GA
Jun 03: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
Jun 04: Berglund Center Coliseum, Roanoke, VA
Jun 06: DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Jun 07: SNHU Arena, Manchester, NH
Jun 10: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
Jun 11: PPL Center, Allentown, PA
Jun 13: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, OH
Jun 14: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
Jun 17: Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Jun 18: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, IN
Jun 20: State Farm Center, Champaign, IL
Jun 21: Resch Center, Green Bay, WI
Jun 24: Vibrant Arena at the MARK, Moline, IL
Jun 25: Great Southern Bank Arena, Springfield, MO
Jun 27: Cadence Bank Arena, Tupelo, MS
Jun 28: Cajundome, Lafayette, LA
Jul 01: Hilliard Center, Corpus Christi, TX
Jul 02: Sames Auto Arena, Laredo, TX

Sep 12: Los Angeles Crypto.com Arena, CA
Sep 14: San Diego Pechanga Arena, CA
Sep 15: Phoenix Mortgage Matchup Center, AZ
Sep 17: Stockton Adventist Health Arena, CA
Sep 19: Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum, OR
Sep 21: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Sep 24: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Sep 26: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
Sep 27: Saskatoon SaskTel Centre, SK
Sep 29: Winnipeg Canada Life Centre, MB
Oct 02: Grand Forks Alerus Center, ND
Oct 04: St. Paul Grand Casino Arena, MN
Oct 05: Chicago United Center, IL
Oct 08: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Oct 10: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Oct 12: Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum, MS
Oct 13: Birmingham Legacy Arena at the BJCC, AL
Oct 16: Sunrise Amerant Bank Arena, FL
Oct 17: Orlando Kia Center, FL
Oct 19: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Oct 21: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Oct 22: Louisville KFC Yum! Center, KY
Oct 24: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD
Oct 25: Newark Prudential Center, NJ
Oct 28: Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena, PA
Oct 29: Providence Amica Mutual Pavilion, RI
Nov 02: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Nov 04: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Nov 06: Wilkes-Barre Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza, PA
Nov 07: Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, NY
Nov 10: Boston TD Garden, MA
Nov 12: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Nov 14: Greenville Bon Secours Wellness Arena, SC
Nov 16: St. Louis Enterprise Center, MO
Nov 18: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Nov 20: Dallas American Airlines Center, TX
Nov 22: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Nov 24: Anaheim Honda Center, CA
Nov 27: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
Nov 28: San Francisco Chase Center, CA

Find Journey tickets.

Nicknamed The God Of Hellfire after his 1968 UK chart-topping hit single Fire, and equally legendary for his ‘helmet of flame’ stage prop, Arthur Brown has challenged audiences with flamboyant art-rock and a piercing voice for six decades. Now he’s on the way back with a new album.

A new Crazy World Of Arthur Brown album is on the way. You have described it as a “fantastic, experimental piece of work”.

Having decided it should revolve around where I was born [Whitby in Yorkshire], we returned to the north of England. I made the album with my wife Claire. Basically, it’s a quest to discover who we are. The music is represented by the elements. We lit fires inside and outside of the house and recorded the crackling sounds. We also recorded a river that flows nearby. Some of those sounds are played backwards.

The album was also inspired by [18th/19th-century poet] William Blake, who was in constant conversation with all of those forces. The prophet Ezekiel and the Four Riders Of The Apocalypse are all part of it as well.

It sounds fascinating.

This album is my love letter to life. I’m at an age where I am doing a lot of self-contemplation.

Does the album have a title yet?

It does, but for now I’m keeping it under my hat.

When will it be released?

It’s fully recorded but won’t be released until later this year, probably in the summertime.

Have you performed any of the songs from the new album live yet?

So far we have played three tracks. The show begins with one of the new songs, which is the title track of the album. The characters of the Four Riders Of The Apocalypse are played on stage by the band.

Why are you still performing and recording at eighty-three years old?

[Arthur and Claire, who is also in the room, both laugh loudly.] I like to live life adventurously. It’s a lovely way to be alive. I still have the thrill of going on stage. I can’t imagine that ever going away.

Claire: Let me say this on Arthur’s behalf. He lights up whenever he goes on stage. It’s his home. We have realised that these are the final stages of his life, so we are going all-out. The new show is full of costume changes, props and visual content. Everything is set for him to go out and use his gift – which is his voice. And he’s still got that.

When you appeared at the Royal Albert Hall with Hawkwind back in 2023, it was amazing that you could still do all of the high falsetto parts.

[Without warning] Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! [Then up another level] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

That you are able to do that is quite preposterous.

Yes. It’s probably against the laws of nature.

When the album comes out, will you be playing it from start to finish?

We will include four new songs, but later in the year that’s precisely what we will be doing.

Claire: It will be a very different show for Arthur, very cinematic. Very delicately put together. It’s something that nobody should want to miss.

In this late part of your life, are you happy?

Extremely happy. I may last another ten years or even twenty. By then the scientists may have reached a point where none of us die.

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown play live throughout 2026. For dates and tickets, visit the God Of Hellfire website..

It’s Monday night in the Voodoo Room at the House of Blues San Diego – a small stage with nowhere to hide and just enough oxygen for a band to either ignite or quietly suffocate. Retro-rocking upstarts Stanley Simmons have chosen this moment to make their live gig debut. Barely a year old, with no album in the wild yet – their forthcoming debut, Dancing While The World Is Ending, is still months out – and they are already under a level of scrutiny most bands spend years avoiding.

And yet Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons don’t arrive with anonymity as cover; they arrive carrying the surnames of Kiss icons Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, and everything that comes with that. This is not a soft launch. It’s a test, and from the first few minutes, it’s clear they intend to pass it.

Childhood friends, Stanley and Simmons bonded over a shared love of 70s folk and Americana, a sensibility that runs counter to the stadium-scale bombast baked into their lineage. A casually posted Instagram cover of The Sound of Silence drew early attention, but tonight it’s clear they are not here to trade on novelty.

The opening run of Dancing While The World Is Ending, Running Just A Little Too Long and Starve The Beast lands with force, the backing band locked into a high-voltage groove with an emphasis on execution: Evan rips through leads with the assurance of someone who has done the hours; Nick shifts from falsetto to a full-bodied, soulful howl, their harmonies locking in with a precision that feels instinctive rather than studied.

The question of lineage hangs over Stanley Simmons, as it must, but it quickly becomes beside the point. On Cellophane, they move with a confidence that has nothing to do with inheritance – loose, assured, and stridently committed to the groove. This is not a band hiding behind legacy; it is one already doing enough to stand without it.

For a band playing their first show, they brim with confidence, chatting easily with the audience and announcing songs with unguarded sincerity. The set runs just under an hour, the catalogue still forming, and there is little of the hesitancy that usually defines a debut; tempos shift but momentum never stalls and they deftly navigate a tuning issue with humour.

More telling is how seamlessly they move across styles without slipping into pastiche. Cold lands as a punchy, mid-tempo piece with pop instincts and a blues undercurrent, while Don’t Leave Me Here Like That – still unreleased – leans into a Tom Petty-style Americana without sounding borrowed.

When Simmons asks, “Y’all ready to get country?” ahead of Love Real Slow, the pivot lands closer to Jason Isbell than anything Nashville-polished, driven by melody rather than cliché. Across it all, the harmonies hold firm – rich, precise, instinctive – giving the set a cohesion that suggests this is not genre-hopping for effect, but a band working within a shared musical language.

Not every song lands with equal weight, but the intent is clear and the ceiling is higher than most bands at this stage. They finish as they start: direct, forceful, with no interest in soft exits. Dystopia lands late and hard, all ragged energy and forward drive, the sort of song that would close most sets. Here, it’s a feint.

“We’re not doing the fake encore thing… we literally don’t have any more songs,” Nick cracks before they pile into Real Life, which hits with equal force, harmonies locked and the band pushing just hard enough without losing shape.

Strip away the context and the questions about lineage, and what remains is a band with a clear sense of purpose and a firm grip on their own strengths. The songs are not all fully formed yet, but the foundations are there: strong harmonic identity, confident playing, and an instinct for when to hold back and when to unleash the big rock action. More than anything, though, this is fun – high-energy, unforced, and clearly connecting, if the audience is any gauge.

This doesn’t feel like a band finding its feet – it feels like one already in motion.

Stanley Simmons' debut album, Dancing While The World Is Ending, is released on August 28.

US metal heavyweights Five Finger Death Punch have announced a landmark European and UK tour, taking place early next year and filling some of the biggest venues the band have ever headlined on this continent.

Joining the Las Vegas-based five-piece will be none other than fellow American metal riff kings Lamb Of God and Scottish metal favourites Bleed From Within. The tour will begin in the UK via Manchester at the AO Arena on January 16, before running through Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham and London, where it'll hit the O2 Arena, marking Five Finger Death Punch's biggest ever UK headline show.

The tour with then cross over to mainland Europe, with stop-offs in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Lodz, Prague, Munich, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Berlin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and, finally, Helsinki, where the tour will wrap up on February 22.

“We built this band like a battleship, twenty years of everything life could throw at us, and we’re not just still here, we’re still growing," says FFDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory. "New fans discovering us every day, the fanbase bigger now than it’s ever been. This World Tour is the celebration that milestone deserves. First leg is America in 2026, then Europe in 2027, and we’re not stopping there! South America, Australia, Asia are all in the talks. This is going to be a big two or three years for Five Finger Death Punch, and we’re just getting started.”

See the full run of dates below. For info on all ticket onsale dates, head to the official Five Finger Death Punch website.

Last year, Five Finger Death Punch issued two compilation albums featuring re-records of their greatest hits. The two-part 'Best Of' collection was released in part to celebrate their twentieth anniversary, but also in response to the band’s original master recordings being sold off by their former label - something FFDP themselves claim they had no say in.

“We would have loved to have a shot at reclaiming our masters, or at least to be involved in the transaction but we found out after the fact," said Zoltan Bathory. "Surprised, but not surprised. These kinds of behind closed doors deals have become far too common in the music industry. Labels buy, sell or trade artists' work without their knowledge or consent, reducing them to soulless commodities.

"But life is a chess game so when this happened to Taylor Swift, she responded by re-recording her catalog. After that respectably bold move, her fans switched to streaming the new version out of protest and loyalty. We have one of the most hardcore and loyal fan bases on the planet so I know our fans will do the same.”

Five Finger Death Punch's last studio album, Afterlife, was released in 2022.

Five Finger Death Punch UK and Europe tour dates 2027 with Lamb of God and Bleed From Within

Jan 16 Manchester AO Arena
Jan 17 Glasgow OVO Hydro Arena
Jan 19 Dublin 3Arena
Jan 22 Birmingham BP Pulse Arena
Jan 23 London O2 Arena
Jan 26 Düsseldorf PSD Arena
Jan 27 Hamburg Barclays Arena
Jan 29 Lodz Atlas Arena
Jan 31 Prague O2 Arena*^
Feb 2 Munich Olympiahalle
Feb 4 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
Feb 7 Amsterdam AFAS Arena
Feb 8 Brussels Vorst National
Feb 10 Paris Accor Arena
Feb 12 Zurich Hallenstadion
Feb 14 Vienna Stadthalle
Feb 16 Berlin Uber Arena
Feb 17 Copenhagen Royal Arena*
Feb 19 Oslo Unity Arena
Feb 20 Stockholm Avicii Arena
Feb 22 Helsinki Veikkaus Arena

* No Lamb Of God
^Lamb Of God replaced by Dymytry

It should have been so easy. Towards the end of 1997, Metallica were steamrolling towards the release of their seventh studio album, Reload, and the metal titans wanted to do something big to celebrate. They decided that putting on a free concert would do the trick: a seemingly simple prospect that any metal fan would pole-vault over their dying grandmother to attend.

However, the road to that ostensibly breezy gig was strewn with fracas and issues. Angry locals, political grumbles and even a lawsuit against a stadium surrounded the notorious Metallica car park gig of November 11, 29 years ago.

The first roadblock Metallica hit along the way was the fact that, arguably, the idea they’d had was too good. In mid-to-late ’97, the band began hunting for potential spots to host their no-expenses-paid extravaganza, yet they were turned away by each one. Bigwigs at venues, airbases and everywhere else across America all shivered at the notion of putting on the show, fearing so many people would turn up that it would devolve into bedlam.

Undeterred, Metallica took their campaign to the people. They opened a phone line and email inbox to let fans vote on where the gig should go, and the eventual victor was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to band co-manager Cliff Burnstein, the monolithic Black Album had sold 250,000 copies in that city alone, so the expectation was for there to be a monstrous turnout: magnificent for the musicians, but terrifying for uninterested locals who just wanted to sleep that night.

A mere seven days in advance, the show – later dubbed the “Million Decibel March”, a parody of Philadelphia’s “Million Woman March” protest the prior month – was announced as taking place in the car park of the CoreStates Center stadium. MTV reported that said car park could potentially hold upwards of 100,000 people. Uproar swiftly followed.

One city councilman, James Kenney, complained (according to Ultimate Classic Rock): “You’re going to have problems with crowds in a residential area. You’ll have noise and traffic congestion. If the heavy metal rock group wants to hold a concert here, why not hold it inside [nearby arena] the CoreStates Spectrum?

“And, if you’re putting all these Beavis and Butt-Heads in the parking lot, where are you going to park the cars?”

The outrage from politicians and Philly natives led the CoreStates Center to rescind their invitation for Metallica to play on their premises. The band responded measuredly: by suing a 21,000-seat stadium. They quickly won the case, according to The Los Angeles Times, as U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III ruled that the CoreStates Center had entered a verbal contract with Metallica.

“God bless America’s judicial system!” singer/guitarist James Hetfield said in a statement (again according to UCR). “It proves that even Metallica can get a fair hearing if you have a reasonable argument. Let’s rock!”

However, there were still debacles on the day. The event, despite being free, was still a ticketed one to prevent overcrowding. This clearly wasn’t communicated to everybody, though, as thousands of fans rocked up to the CoreStates Center anyway. Security was so overwhelmed that they just started letting everybody in.

Nonetheless, Metallica did indeed rock the car park, playing a 14-song set featuring returning favourites and live debuts. The Four Horsemen was bashed out on electric guitars for the first time since 1993, then Reload’s The Memory Remains, now a mainstay at shows, was heard for the very first time. A series of covers – including Diamond Head’s Helpless and Am I Evil?, Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy and Killing Joke’s The Wait – reared their heads: a subliminal tease of the Garage, Inc. compilation that would come out 12 months later.

The gig was a rip-roaring success for the band, with 50,000 fans making it to the spectacle, according to lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. The performance was eventually released as a bootleg video, aptly entitled Banned In Philly. This June, it’ll finally get its official release as part of an enormous multi-media Reload reissue.

Metallica are still testing the boundaries of live music decades later. At time of publication, they’re midway through the M72 world tour, where they play two full-length concerts across two nights at almost every stop they make. That said – given the community furor, political mud-slinging and legal battles that surrounded Banned In Philly – we’d be stunned if they ever attempted anything like this again.

Metallica Banned In Philly setlist: Corestates Center, Philadelphia – November 11, 1997

Helpless (Diamond Head cover)
The Four Horsemen
Of Wolf And Man
The Thing That Should Not Be
Fuel
The Memory Remains
King Nothing
Bleeding Me
No Remorse
Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover)
Stone Cold Crazy (Queen cover)

Encore:
The Wait (Killing Joke cover)
Master Of Puppets

Encore 2:
Damage, Inc.

It's 2002, and partying's very own Andrew W.K. is on the promotional trail for his debut album I Get Wet, released the previous November. The latest stop on the campaign finds him in Auckland, New Zealand, where he appears on Space, a late-night music and entertainment TV show.

It does not go according to plan.

As the cameras roll, nervous-looking co-host Jaquie Brown can be seen crawling towards W.K., who has positioned himself beneath a grand piano.

"I've been working on a few things in here," explains the musician, before leafing through a copy of the New Zealand Herald. He then tears the newspaper into shreds, his arms a whirling frenzy, and the serious business of interviewing is resumed.

"Are you all nuts and bolts and man and gruff and GRARRRRRGH?", asks the clearly fascinated Brown.

"Nut. Bolt. Flour. Cheese, Fudge Brownie. Egg," responds W.K. "And a whole lot of love."

The interview proceeds in this vein for some time.

"Fruit. Yoghurt. Blackberry yoghurt," W.K. adds, before contorting his leg into a position where his foot is painfully wedged into the frame of the piano.

Finally extricating himself from his hideout, W.K. sits at the piano and hammers at the keys for over a minute, his fingers a frantic blur, before finally launching into a version of his breakthrough single Party Hard.

It doesn't last. Before we know it W.K. is improvising again, cartwheeling his fist into the piano keys as Brown and fellow co-host Hugh Sundae look on with a mixture of bewilderment and concern. He ends the performance by repeatedly whipping both arms around his body, lurching around the studio as the cameramen back away, before joining the hosts on the sofa and revealing that he may have just broken his thumb.

"What's going through your mind when you're doing that?", Brown asks.

"In case I don't live tomorrow, and tonight's my last night on Earth, I wanted to know that I gave all I had to give," responds W.K. "For no other reason than for the sake of doing it. It's that simple."

In 2021 Brown gave her side of the story to NZ website The Spinoff, saying, "He’s out of control. He’s like a performance piece on speed, swinging, hitting himself, jumping up in the air and breathing really heavily, making these animal noises. I’d never seen anything like it."

"The rehearsal was completely normal," she explains. "When we went to go live, it was, ‘Three, two, one’… down he goes. All I remember thinking is, ‘Fuck, oh my god, this is completely different to what I thought was going to happen.'

"I got down on my hands and knees and approached him. I tried my best to interview him but he wasn’t open to being interviewed. He was on an Andrew W.K. performance path… he didn’t play by the rules."

"I absolutely loved it. I love live TV. When you’re creating a show like Space, you want it to be exciting and interesting. Andrew W.K. is like the fairy dust. He’s what you want.

“He was weird, but he was amazing. He was one of a kind.”

Watch the full video below.

Yes have rescheduled their previously postponed Fragile tour and will now be playing live around the country in May 2027.

The band had originally scheduled a nine-date tour celebrating their classic 1971 album this May, in what would have been Yes's first UK live dates for two years, but announced at the beginning of this month that they had been forced to postpone the dates as guitarist Steve Howe required urgent surgery and needed time to recover.

The prog legends have now announced a new run of dates for next year with Howe stating, “We’re all now looking forward to the UK dates in 2027 and will be presenting all of Fragile, in its entirety and much more. See you all then.

“After The Yes Album, everything seemed to align. With Eddie Offord co-producing, and each of us contributing solo pieces, Fragile became a bold statement of creativity. It was Bill Bruford’s idea to include individual showcases—it was a bit oddball, but it captured the spirit of the time.”

Tickets already purchased remain valid for the new dates. Tickets (subject to booking fees) go on general sale on Thursday, April 30 at 10am. Yes were unable to reschedule the Bournemouth show and so ticketholders for that gig will be refunded. The York Barbican show on Saturday, May 15 is a newly added show. You can see the full list of dates below.

The band also recently announced that they will release their twenty-fourth studio album, Aurora, through InsideOut Music on June 12.

The new album, which features new artwork from the band's long-standing cover artist Roger Dean and his daughter Freya, features eight tracks (with two bonus tracks), including the thirteen-minute-plus Counterpoint.

"Making this record was joyful, a chance to play, explore and give everything to the music," adds Howe. "It's always been about collaboration, somebody can write a song, but until everybody puts their contribution in it isn't really a Yes song. We’re not trying to echo the past; we’re carrying the spirit of Yes forward and turning it into something new”.

Pre-order Aurora.

Yes rescheduled Fragile UK tour dates

May 2: Sheffield City Hall
May 3: Manchester Bridgewater Hall
May 6: Birmingham Symphony Hall
May 7: Bristol Beacon
May 10: London Palladium
May 11: London Palladium
May 13: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
May 15: York Barbican
May 16: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Carl Palmer has announced that he is bringing his immersive An Evening With Emerson, Lake & Palmer show to England for three dates in February 2027.

The celebrated live event, which Palmer has been touring around the US for the last two years, sees the drummer and his ELP Legacy band, guitarist Paul Bielatowicz and bass player Simon Fitzpatrick and with the late Keith Emerson and Greg Lake appearing on big screens.

The two-hour concert features at least nine classic performances from the band’s legendary 1992 Royal Albert Hall show (the first time the band had toured together for 14 years), with all three members appearing together on stage and screen, in perfect sync with the live band.

Palmer will play The Glasshouse in Gateshead (Sun 7 Feb 2027), Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (Mon 8 Feb 2027) and London Palladium (Tues 9 Feb 2027).

Tickets for the shows go on pre-sale at 10am on Wednesday, April 29, and on general sale at 10am on Friday, May 1.

All tickets will be available here.

The music of Genesis, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake and Palmer is set to reverberate around the hallowed walls of London's Royal Albert Hall once more as the BBC has finally included progressive rock in its ever-expanding season of the 131st Proms (and the 99th since the BBC has been involved).

Prog joins a celebration of Miles Davis's centenary, reflections on Benjamin Britten, a tribute to Disney composer Alan Menken, an "immersive take" on Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians while South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo will lead a celebration of Paul Simon's Gracelands album on its 40th anniversary, alongside tributes to the music of James Bond and to Motown soul legend Marvin Gaye as well as a concert by Turkish psych-folk band Altın Gün as part of the 2026 BBC Prom season.

The Prog Prom will take place on July 18 and will be curated by Stuart Maconie, presenter of the excellent prog-friendly Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone on BBC 6 Music, who also curated the successful Northern Soul Prom in 2023, and will feature new orchestral arrangements of hits by Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull, among others.

"Prog is simply great music released from the arid strictures of cool and from the sneers of gatekeepers," says Maconie, who goes on to state in an essay for this year's Proms programme that some of the genre's "excesses and follies can seem silly" to a modern eye, while insisting the genre shouldn't be written off.

Every concert will be broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, with 24 Proms programmes on BBC television and iPlayer. More than 300,000 tickets are available across the season, with almost a quarter of those available for just £8.

In the mid-90s, the dominance of the alternative rock boom that had kicked off in Seattle at the start of the decade really started to turn sour. Kurt Cobain’s passing in 1994 was the biggest headline maker, but arguably no band had more issues in that era than Alice in Chains; cancelled tours, drug dependency, endless press rumours and inner-band tension all leading to their split.

It’s something of a miracle, then, that in 1996, after years of being begged by MTV, they managed to get back together to perform an Unplugged session that has gone on to achieve legendary status and provide the swansong and final act of the band's classic line up.

As 1996 arrived, it was over two years since Alice in Chains' last live performances on an Australian tour in late 1993. Since then, they had turned down a slot at the huge Woodstock 94 festival and the chance to open for Metallica on their Shit Hits the Sheds US run in the same year, chiefly due to vocalist Layne Stayley’s uncontrollable heroin addiction.

It was a rock-bottom moment; Stayley, having only just returned from rehab, arrived at rehearsal the day before the Metallica tour was due to start, completely strung out. This in turn led drummer Sean Kinney to throw his sticks down and proclaim that he would never play with the frontman again.

"If we had kept going,” Kinney admitted to Rolling Stone in an infamous 1995 profile on the band, "there was a good chance we would have self-destructed on the road, and we definitely didn't want that to happen in public."

Alice in Chains split there and then. The aftermath left certain members angry, but Stayley dumfounded. He admitted he didn’t know what to do, so spent his time getting drunk and lazing on his couch watching TV. His reclusiveness inspired the tabloid rumour mill to whirl out of control; at various times the press pronounced he was dead, had developed gangrene and even contracted HIV.

"I found out through the Internet that I have AIDS," Staley told Rolling Stone. "I learned I was dead."

The members of Alice in Chains eventually found things to do; bassist Mike Inez played on Slash’s solo album It’s Five O’ Clock Somewhere, Stayley formed the grunge supergroup Mad Season alongside Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, releasing the fantastic Above album in 1995, and guitarist Jerry Cantrell mapped out a solo career.

Time away from each other gave the band perspective. Stayley later admitted he felt that by starting these new projects, the members were “betraying” each other. So, after six months apart and with the promise of total creative freedom and an unlimited budget from their label, Alice in Chains reconvened and began working on a new album.

1995’s Alice in Chains was released on October 31 1995, entering the US Billboard Chart at number 1 and selling over two million copies in their homeland. It was good news but presented a problem: most artists with a number one album in their pocket would go out and promote it, but the members of Alice in Chains, particularly Stayley, were still in no fit state to operate as functioning, touring band.

Throughout this period, MTV producer Alex Colletti had been trying desperately to convince the band to perform one of his channels' Unplugged sessions.

“They have the songs, they have the depth, they have the emotion where, when you strip it down, you really find something there,” he said in the 2015 biography Alice in Chains: The Untold Story. “Layne’s voice and those songs were going to shine through.”

AIC had turned the offer down on multiple occasions, mainly due to Cantrell’s concerns that transposing their songs acoustically in front of an audience wouldn’t work. But now, with no other way to promote their new album, they finally agreed to take part.

The Majestic Theater in Brooklyn was booked for April 10 1996, with rehearsals in Seattle prior to the show, but old habits die hard. Kinney bemoaned that there was “Barely any rehearsing at all, guys not showing up - the same shit” in the 2009 book Grunge is Dead, and rumours continued to surround Stayley’s habits.

On the day of the show, 400 fans were ushered into the Majestic Theater, with thousands left frustrated outside, to see Alice in Chains' first live performance in two and a half years.

The venue had been given a grimy makeover to suit the bands aesthetic, with paint splatters peeling from the walls, gunshot holes fired into the backdrop and the stage decorated by candles purchased in Seattle by Stayley himself. The vibe was completed with minimalist lighting in pink and purple, matching the frontman’s recently dyed hair.

No one really knew if it was going to work, and, with Stayley ill from heroin withdrawals having to give himself a shot to perk up prior to performing and Cantrell getting food poisoning from a rogue hotdog and vomiting all afternoon, leading to an insurance bucket being placed next to him onstage, the smart money would have been on a rusty, unprepared Alice in Chains Unplugged being a car crash.

Miraculously, they found pure magic, a thirteen-song set that is equal parts stirring, inspiring, beautiful and deeply sad. Cantrell’s reworkings of classic material like Would, Rooster, Down in a Hole and No Excuses sound even darker in their quieter, more sombre forms, whilst Kinney, Inez and live guitarist Scott Olsen do fantastic jobs of bringing colour and nuance to songs the band feared would sound naked when not cranked up to 11.

The reason this performance remains so special, though, is Stayley. Despite his shocking appearance - gaunt, frail, pale, almost motionless as he sits on a stool with his eyes closed - he is effortlessly able to unleash a voice with such power it hits like a gorilla dropping a concrete breeze-block onto your stomach.

The one occasion that he does eyeball the camera, delivering the line 'Oh god please, won’t you help me make it through' on Rooster, is truly, heartbreaking and chilling to witness. You’ll struggle to find another performance so gripping in live music history.

Alice in Chains Unplugged was released as an album and concert film on July 30 1996. By that point, the band had played their final shows with Layne Stayley, appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman and four gigs opening for the reformed Kiss. The day after their last performance, in Kansas on July 3, Stayley overdosed and was taken to hospital, leading to a hiatus that that incarnation of the band would never come back from.

It meant that although the Unplugged show was not his last performance, it was undoubtedly the final defining moment of the Layne Stayley era of Alice in Chains. Within six years he would pass away, leaving this as his swansong.

Deep Purple have announced a North American tour, and they're bringing Kansas and Jefferson Starship along for the ride. The run of dates kicks off on August 4 at the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, NC, and ends at the Nugget Event Center in Sparks, NV, on September 12.

Presale Tickets and VIP packages go on sale on Tuesday, March 31 at 10am local time, using the access code DPBAND. The general sale begins on Thursday, April 2 at the same time.

The new dates are in addition to Deep Purple's previously announced schedule, which includes shows in Asia and an extensive tour of Europe and the UK, including a return to London's historic Royal Albert Hall on November 25. Full dates below.

Deep Purple 2026 tour dates

Apr 11: Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Japan
Apr 13: Osaka Grand Cube, Japan
Apr 15: Nagoya Mizuokadani Steel Machinery Public Hall, Japan
Apr 18: Jakarta Indonesia Arena GBK Senayan, Indonesia
Apr 22: Almaty Arena, Kazakhstan

Jun 11: Espoo Metro Arena, Finland
Jun 12: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland
Jun 14: Kristiansand Dirty Old Town Live, Norway
Jun 18: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jun 20: Meppen Emsland Open Air, Germany
Jun 24: Mönchengladbach SparkassenPark, Germany
Jun 27: Coburg Open Air, Germany
Jun 28: Ulm Klosterhof Wiblingen, Germany
Jul 04: Gredos Músicos en la Naturaleza, Spain
Jul 05: Pamplona Navarra Arena, Spain
Jul 09: Málaga Starlite, Spain
Jul 10: Cádiz Tío Pepe, Spain
Jul 16: Pisa Summer Knights, Italy
Jul 17: Este Music Festival, Italy
Jul 19: München Tollwood Festival, Germany

Aug 04: Raleigh Red Hat Amphitheater, NC
Aug 08: Clearwater The BayCare Sound, FL
Aug 09: Hollywood Hard Rock Casino, FL
Aug 12: Wantagh Jones Beach Theater, NY
Aug 13: Mansfield Xfinity Center, MA
Aug 15: Halifax Scotiabank Centre, NS
Aug 17: Laval Place Bell, QC
Aug 18: Toronto RBC Amphitheatre, ON
Aug 19: Ottawa Canadian Tire Center, ON
Aug 21: Detroit Pine Knob, MI
Aug 22: Salamanca Seneca Allegany Casino, NY
Aug 24: Indianapolis Everwise Amphitheatre, IN
Aug 25: Highland Park Ravinia, IL
Aug 27: Prior Lake Mystic Lake Casino, MN
Aug 29: Winnipeg Canada Life Centre, MB
Aug 31: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
Sep 02: Abbotsford Abbotsford Centre, BC
Sep 04: Lincoln Thunder Valley, CA
Sep 05: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA
Sep 06: Highland Yaamava Theatre, CA
Sep 08: Chula Vista North Island Credit Union Amp, CA
Sep 10: Las Vegas Planet Hollywood, NV
Sep 11: Long Beach Long Beach Amphitheater, CA
Sep 12: Sparks Nugget Event Center, NV

Sep 29: Sofia 8888 Arena, Bulgaria
Oct 01: Cluj BT Arena, Romania
Oct 02: Budapest Laszlo Papp Arena, Hungary
Oct 04: Bratislava Tipos Arena, Slovakia
Oct 05: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria
Oct 07: Prague O2 Arena, Czechia
Oct 08: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
Oct 10: Belgrade Stark Arena, Serbia
Oct 11: Skopje Boris Trajkovski Arena, Macedonia
Oct 13: Athens Telekom Centre Arena, Greece
Oct 16: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Oct 17: Milan Unipol Forum, Italy
Oct 19: Barcelona Sant Jordi Club, Spain
Oct 22: Paris Adidas Arena, France
Oct 23: Antwerp Lotto Arena, Belgium
Oct 25: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Oct 26: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Oct 28: Oslo Spektrum Arena, Norway
Oct 29: Gothenburg Scandinavium, Sweden
Oct 31: Leipzig QI Arena, Germany
Nov 01: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Nov 03: Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany
Nov 04: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Nov 06: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Nov 07: Nuremberg Arena, Germany
Nov 09: Amsterdam Ziggodome, Netherlands
Nov 10: Strasbourg Zenith, France
Nov 12: Bordeaux Arkéa Arena, France
Nov 13: Nantes Zenith, France
Nov 15: Lyon LDLC Arena, France
Nov 18: Newcastle Utilita Arena, UK
Nov 19: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Nov 21: Birmingham BP Pulse Arena, UK
Nov 22: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Nov 24: London Eventim Apollo, UK
Nov 25: London Royal Albert Hall, UK

Get Deep Purple tickets.

There’s an air of anticipation hovering around The Dome for Eihwar’s London debut. The mysterious French ‘Viking war trance’ duo’s mash-up of jaunty folk metal and pounding EDM beats has bewitched the metal underground - and, it would appear, annoyed a few Neo-folk gatekeepers.

Extended Heilung family member Mira Ceti warm us up, emerging from the dark under a shimmering arch like a mysterious end-of-level boss from a God Of War game. Her powerful voice shines through booming war drums and droning horns, and by the time her enjoyable set finishes, she’s clearly earned some new fans.

This show was upgraded from the smaller venue downstairs almost as soon as tickets had gone on sale, and the room feels pretty packed as the lights dim and the PA cuts to the sounds of crashing waves, signalling the arrival of one of the most surprising acts to come vaulting out of the French alternative scene in quite some time.

Main instrumentalist and co-vocalist Mark arrives first, unleashing his drowning Cookie Monster growl as he steps behind his decks-and-drum-pads set-up at the back of the stage. Then on strides lead singer Asrunn with a beaming ‘Alright, London!’ and before you know it, an atmosphere of curiosity becomes one of jubilation; heads begin nodding, fists begin pumping and assess begin shaking all over the place. This is indeed a party, and when dance floor bombs like Nauðiz and Freyja’s Calling drop, it’s one you can’t help but be swept up in.

With only two members, there’s a lot to be done to bring the energy of Eihwar’s music to life - the heavy reliance on a backing track will doubtless irk some. Luckily, they have an absolute ace in the hole with Asrunn; she’s a firecracker of a frontwoman, skipping, spinning, hollering and slapping the hell out of her frame drum when she’s not riling the crowd up, only letting energy levels drop when the set requires.

One such moment is a pleasant acoustic run through Sir Mannelig, after which she playfully mocks London for being a little shy with the singalongs. Really, though, this show is about the bangers, and Eihwar deliver them in spades, cynics be damned.

“Five months without playing on stage,” Asrunn exhales at one point, this being only their second show of 2026. “It’s so cool being back with you all.” You feel they’ll be back in an even bigger venue soon: this party’s just beginning.

Swedish extreme metal legends Arch Enemy made their much anticipated return to the stage for their first live show in four months last week. Headlining the East 3 Live House in Beijing, China on Friday (March 27), the gig marked the debut of brand new vocalist Lauren Hart, who was unveiled as the newest member of the band earlier this year.

Lauren led Arch Enemy through a crushing, eighteen-song set that featured a dusting off of some old classics, including two songs from the band's early days that haven't been played in over a decade - Bury Me An Angel, from 1996 debut Black Earth, and Silverwing, taken from 1999's Burning Bridges.

The set also saw the first ever live play of triumphant new Arch Enemy single - and their first song to feature Lauren - To The Last Breath, and you can watch an exclusive, front row clip of them airing it below. Sounds like Lauren is going to be a great fit for the band!

The announcement of Lauren becoming Arch Enemy's new singer in February ended months of speculation following the shock exit of previous frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz last year. Alissa had fronted the band for 11 years following the exit of Angela Gossow in 2014. Angela herself replaced Arch Enemy's original vocalist Johan Liiva in 2000, making Lauren Arch Enemy's fourth singer overall.

“Connecting with Lauren has marked an important step in my journey," Arch Enemy guitarist and founder Michael Amott said of the band's newest recruit. "Working with her was an exceptional experience - her remarkable voice, coupled with her dedication and professionalism, brings a rare level of excellence. I look forward to continuing the collaboration!"

Arch Enemy have a ton of live action planned in the coming months, including a host of festival appearances across Europe in the summer and a series of super-intimate club shows, including a stop-off at London's tiny, 500-cap Underworld in August.

Alissa White-Gluz, meanwhile recently launched her first post-Arch Enemy project, Blue Medusa - a wholly new band that she says will exist alongside her upcoming solo album.

Rush have given fans a first taste of them performing live with their new touring line-up for their upcoming Fifty Something world tour, when they opened this year's Juno Awards on Canada with a blistering performance of the opening song from their very first album, Finding My Way.

The performance gave live debuts to drummer Anika Nilles, who replaces the late Neil Peart, who died in 2020, and keyboardist Loren Gold, who's worked with The Who and Chicago. Images of the band from throughout their career, including Peart, were played on screens behind the band as they performed the opening track from 1974's Rush album, which featured drummer John Rutsey, who was replaced by Peart in 1974

“You really can’t ask us what song to play," Geddy Lee told reporters afterwards, of the band's song choice. "If we have to choose one song, it’s almost impossible. We have so many. So we just asked management, and they said first song, first album.”

Alex Lifeson added in his inimitible style; “Also, it’s the only song we know how to play.”

It's the first time Lee and Lifeson have performed as Ruch since the band's final show with Peart at the Los Angeles Forum, on August 1, 2015. The pair appeared billed as themselves for the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts back in September 2022.

Rush recently announced UK and European shows to the ever-growing Fiffty Something tour beginning in February 2027.

In further Rush news, the three-piece are on the cover of the new issue of Classic Rock magazine.

The issue can be pre-ordered now, here.

A much-loved staple of the UK rock circuit since 1984, Quireboys singer Spike is currently playing unplugged shows under the banner Off The Record: Stories From A Life In Rock ’N’ Roll. You might be surprised that he also plays some guitar, although readily he admits that he’s “shit”.

You began doing these storyteller gigs after the first covid lockdown, in early 2020.

Yeah. I played on the Thursday that we went into lockdown, when there was waitress service. I really enjoy them. I don’t know whether anyone knew I play the guitar – even though I’m shit. When we started the Quireboys I was a guitarist, but when I broke a string in rehearsal Guy [Bailey, guitarist] told me to try singing, I went: “Woaaaaahhh” [impersonates himself], and I never went back. I sometimes wonder what might have happened had I not broken that string.

How many of these shows have you done?

Oh, a couple of hundred. It began as me playing songs like Darlin’ [Frankie Miller], Pearl’s A Singer [Elkie Brooks], Streets Of London [Ralph McTell] and You Can’t Always Get What You Want [Rolling Stones], plus some Quireboys stuff, talking and having a bit of a laugh, and the whole thing just grew and grew.

How much of what you say or play is worked out in advance?

There’s a list of around twenty-five songs, and to this day I’ve never stuck to it. It’s like a comfort blanket [laughs]. With the banter from the audience, as soon as I walk on it’s like being in the pub with the lads. Someone shouts something and a lightbulb goes off in my head. Last week there was a gig where I didn’t play a song for fifteen minutes.

What’s on your backstage rider?

I’ve always drunk Strongbow cider, but for the past few gigs I’ve gone back to Newcastle Brown Ale. I can’t handle spirits any more.

At certain shows, Del Bromham from Stray joins you. With the impressions he does and his own gags, you make quite a double act.

That began by accident when we played at The Carlisle in Hastings and I broke guitar strings again, in the second song. Without knowing the set, Del [who was special guest] got up and followed me the whole way through. He’s a fucking incredible guitarist. Del is also great at impersonations, he does Kenneth Williams, Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards].

At that same Hastings show, you recalled how Guy Bailey bought a retired police sniffer dog because he kept forgetting where he’d hidden his drugs.

That’s true. It just popped into my head. I’ve got a million stories about Guy [who died in 2023 following a long illness] but some are too rough to tell. I miss him every day.

Do you sometimes wake up the following morning and think: “Did I really say that?”

[Nodding solemnly] Always. And I apologise to the audience for my shit guitar playing. I only know two or three chords, it’s all about trying to get them in the right order. At one gig, I said that for every mistake I made I would put a fiver in the charity jar. I won’t be doing that again.

After releasing the Wardour Street album in 2024, what’s happening with the Quireboys?

Luke [Morley] and I have already got together [to write songs]. All of us have stuff going on. Luke is touring with [the reunited] Little Angels in November, I’m doing some Hot Knives gigs with Tyla [of the Dogs D’Amour], and in June I’ll be at a show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club [in London] with Thirsty, Guy Bailey’s old band. But there will definitely be a new Quireboys record.

Spike is currently on the Off The Record: Stories From A Life In Rock ’N’ Roll tour. Shows with Hot Knives & Tyla's Dogs D'amour begin in May. For dates and tickets, visit Spike's website.

Bryan Adams, who completed a run of arena shows in October and November last year with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, has announced another run of shows with the couple.

The new dates, which continue Adams' Roll With The Punches tour, will kick off at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO, on July 24, and will wrap up on August 16 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Pre-sale tickets go on sale this Wednesday, while the general sale starts on Friday.

The shows are in addition to Adams' previously announced run of schedule of 2026 shows in South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Europe and Canada, as well as his residency at the Wynn in Las Vegas, NV. Full dates below.

For this year's Record Store Day, which takes place on April 18, Adams is releasing Tough Town, a 10-track compilation album on limited edition grey vinyl. Released via Bad Records, the LP features songs previously only available on the deluxe edition CD of Roll With The Punches.

Bryan Adams: Roll With The Punches tour 2026

Apr 21: Cape Town GrandWest Grand Arena, South Africa
Apr 22: Cape Town GrandWest Grand Arena, South Africa
Apr 23: Cape Town GrandWest Grand Arena, South Africa
Apr 25: Pretoria SunBet Arena, South Africa
Apr 26: Pretoria SunBet Arena, South Africa
Apr 28: Durban ICC, South Africa
Apr 29: Durban ICC, South Africa
May 02: Dougga Amphitheatre, Tunisia
May 05: Rabat Theatre Mohammed V, Morocco
May 06: Tangier Palace of Culture and Arts, Morocco

May 23: Montreal Parc Jean-Drapeau, QC, Canada

Jun 03: Las Vegas Encore Theatre at Wynn, NV
Jun 04: Las Vegas Encore Theatre at Wynn, NV
Jun 05: Las Vegas Encore Theatre at Wynn, NV
Jun 06: Las Vegas Encore Theatre at Wynn, NV

Jun 20: Krakow ICE Krakow Congress Centre, Poland
Jun 21: Katowice NOSPR, Poland
Jun 22: Brno Janáček Theatre, Czechia
Jun 23: Salzburg Grosses Festspielhaus, Austria
Jun 25: Portoroz Auditorium, Slovenia
Jun 26: Herceg Novi Kanli Kula, Montenegro
Jun 27: Prishtina Salla 1 Tetori, Kosovo
Jun 28: Thessaloniki Concert Hall, Greece
Jun 30: Taormina Teatro Antico di Taormina, Italy
Jul 03: Calella de Palafrugell Cap Roig Festival, Spain

Jul 24: St. Louis Enterprise Center, MO *
Jul 25: Wichita INTRUST Bank Arena, KS *
Jul 26: Thackerville WinStar World Casino & Resort, OK *
Jul 28: Austin Moody Center, TX *
Jul 29: Houston Toyota Center, TX *
Jul 31: New Orleans Smoothie King , LA Center*
Aug 01: North Little Rock Simmons Bank Arena, AR *
Aug 04: Greenville Bon Secours Wellness Arena, SC *
Aug 05: Orlando Kia Center, FL *
Aug 08: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC *
Aug 09: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD *
Aug 11: Reading Santander Arena, PA *
Aug 12: Newark Prudential Center, NJ *
Aug 14: Buffalo KeyBank Center, NY *
Aug 15: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI *
Aug 16: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI *

Aug 24: Trois-Rivières Amphitheatre Cogeco, QC ^
Aug 25: Kingston Slush Puppie Place, ON ^
Aug 26: Oshawa Tribute Communities Centre, ON ^
Aug 28: Hamilton TD Coliseum, ON ^
Aug 29: London Canada Life Place, ON ^
Aug 31: Sudbury Sudbury Arena, ON ^
Sep 1: Sault Ste. Marie GFL Memorial Gardens, ON ^
Sep 3: Thunder Bay Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, ON
Sep 5: Saskatoon SaskTel Centre^, SK
Sep 8: Lethbridge VisitLethbridge.com Arena, AB ^
Sep 10: Red Deer Marchant Crane Centrium at Westerner Park, AB ^
Sep 11: Dawson Creek vintiv Events Centre, BC ^
Sep 13: Penticton South Okanagan Events Centre, BC

* with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo
^ with Lights

Get Bryan Adams tickets.

Still on the road for last year’s Dance To The Rhythm, her tenth studio album, the Serbia-born, America-based, Bruce Springsteen-approved singer, guitarist and songwriter Ana Popovic sets the scene for a one-off UK date at the Jazz Café in London’s Camden.

There are several versions of your live band. Which are you bringing to London for the Jazz Café?

It’s going to be a seven-piece. If the stage isn’t big enough we’ll have to send the horns out into the crowd [laughs]. Sometimes I play as a four-piece, which I love, and there’s also an eleven-piece, with multiple horns, drummers and background singers. My last two records have a lot of gospel sounds, and I love that big band line-up, but not every show can accommodate it.

How did it feel to have Bruce Springsteen acclaim you as “one hell of a guitarist”?

Coming from him, that was an incredible honour. I love what Bruce stands for and I love his music as well. He’s an inspiration.

A Martian comes down to Earth and wants to know about the blues. How do you explain it to them?

The blues is a feeling. From four years old I grew up listening to Delta blues and Chicago blues. Listening to Elmore James and Robert Johnson, I get this great feeling. Blues music connects American history – African American history – with the present. I’m a contemporary artist, I embrace rock, soul, gospel and funk, but the blues is at the heart of it all.

Is it necessary to have suffered to play the blues? You had a health scare in 2022 and as a consequence almost gave up music.

I don’t think you need to suffer. I had a very happy childhood in Serbia, listening to blues all day long and very loud. What happened to me in 2020 [when Popovic was diagnosed with breast cancer] just made the whole thing more intense. I needed to be more truthful. We are not here on this planet for long, you’d better leave something behind.

Is there a message in what you do?

I’m all about positivity. There’s so much craziness around, I would like to see this world united. I don’t want borders over religion and geography. Open your mind. Wear what you want, sing what you want to sing, be what you want to be. Be happy. You only have one life.

You ramped up the soul and R&B elements on last year’s album Dance To The Rhythm, reducing the focus on fiery guitar playing. Was there any push-back against that?

Not at all. There will always be enough guitar, but it’s for the service of the song. The album is perhaps a bit of a departure but the fans are loving it. My music comes from the heart, and I refuse to serve up the same thing over and over again.

Its reworking of Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover fits you like a velvet glove.

Thank you. I do that live and people just love it. It’s the only cover we did for the album.

The Jazz Café is a one-off British date. When is your next tour here?

We are planning a full-blown UK tour for the autumn. I’m hoping it will be a fairly long run of shows.

Ana Popovic's European tour is now underway. She plays the Jazz Café in London on March 30. Tickets are on sale now.

"Prince was very excited," The Revolution’s drummer Bobby Z remembers of the night they introduced Purple Rain to the world. “He was saying, ‘We’re going to make history.’ That’s what he was pushing us to do.”

Prince and his newly christened band were in the dressing-room of First Avenue, the black-painted lobby of a former Minneapolis bus depot which Bobby recalls as a “revered” stage for the city’s musicians. While Prince regularly tried out new songs there, on any given night in its smaller annex, The Replacements, Hüsker Dü or Soul Asylum might be playing too.

On August 3, 1983, Prince and the Revolution broke off from filming Purple Rain and recording its soundtrack album to play a 45-minute benefit gig for their choreographer, Loyce Holton. They ended with Purple Rain, a slow-burning, 10-minute ballad which began on acoustic guitar and erupted into an electric frenzy. With minimal overdubs, the performance closed the album and film which sent Prince onto 80s pop’s Olympus. Purple Rain also completed the musician’s mission to reclaim rock for black musicians, and fuse it with anything else he felt like.

“One of the great successes we experienced was not to just be thought of as a black R&B band,” Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman believes. “We had struggled for a couple of years, trying to write one song for a black music station, and one for a rock station. But Purple Rain the song was played on every kind of radio station, from country to Americana to rock ballad. And it’s just so perfect that it came from Prince, who nobody knew what to make of. Are you serious? Who is this guy?”

The question went to Prince’s heart, Coleman believes: “He never wanted to lose his black audience, that was really important to his identity. Because even within the black community, there was tension about how light his skin was, whether or not he was gay. Can we really call him one of us? That mentality was important to him, but he also was trying to grow beyond that. I think it was a struggle for him, all of his life.”

Having been reduced to tears by bigoted Stones fans when he supported them in androgynous garb in 1981, the Purple Rain album sleeve saw him astride a motorbike sporting a Little Richard pompadour, while on the record he was a Jimi Hendrix-like virtuoso, in defiant riposte to music which had buried its black roots.

The Revolution first heard Purple Rain at the Minnesota warehouse where they recorded most of the album. “It was on Highway 7, out in the boondocks,” says Coleman. “He was messing around on guitar, calling out the chords. And then Wendy [Melvoin, the band’s teenage rhythm guitarist and backing singer] started playing the chords in her Wendy way, and he loved it! The intro is Wendy, and her voicings on those chords are beautiful and Joni Mitchell-esque. I came up with the string parts. During the course of that day – maybe a day or two? – it just came out of us.”

A Record Plant mobile recording truck was outside First Avenue when they turned up that August. Inside, it was hot as hell. “It was pushing 90 degrees Fahrenheit and dense with cigarette smoke,” Bobby Z explains. “It was a toxic environment.”

Coleman remembers the club being “packed with people”. The band were exhausted from the album and film, adding to the heightened atmosphere. They’d also be playing music the crowd hadn’t heard.

After Melvoin’s opening acoustic chords, Bobby Z’s drums – mostly acoustic, and triggering Linn drums later added to in the mix – accompanied Prince’s singing for the first two minutes.

“It’s just a back-beat and him from his guts,” Bobby says. “It’s just so raw for him. I remember those two minutes. Because the room is silent except for the pattern you’re playing. He was in the moment, and you’re in it with him, and it was a special place to be. It was a whole different planet.”

“That night it was on fire,” says Coleman, “and nobody’s singing along. It was just so different for Prince, almost a country song. But it got to them by the end, and his guitar solo was so beautiful. I get chills thinking of it. I always kept my eyes on Prince, in case he needed something, but I could see the faces and wide eyes in the front. It was like a kid seeing Santa Claus.”

Coleman knew how they felt. “I remember Prince’s guitar solo affected me. And then when the ‘woo-hoo-hoo-hoo’ part came in, and we got the crowd to sing it, that was mind-blowing. Plus I was having this emotional reaction to the beauty of the music,” she laughs. “Just keep playing your part! Pay attention…”

There’s as much tension as release in this atypical rock epic (nearly nine minutes long on the album, after Prince cut a verse, and frequently stretched out to more than 15 when performed live – see Syracuse clip, above). Coleman’s string arrangement – played on her Obie FX keyboard on the night, with a string quartet added in the studio – has a classical, calming quality, as Prince’s voice and guitar clamber for the heights.

“It is that contrary motion that made it cool,” Coleman considers. “The verses are so intimate and personal, like he’s trying to talk to you. He liked the strings coming in slowly, and their warmth. And then, at the end vamp, where they’re going down and he’s going up, maybe it’s keeping it from flying away completely. It’s repetitive, and it keeps saying, ‘I’m here with you.’ And then his guitar solo is pleading, ‘Please be here.’”

“You’ve got this dirge or ballad beat behind it,” Bobby Z reflects. “You’ve got pleading in the vocals. You’ve got agility and spins and pirouettes in the guitar solo. And then the strings pull your heartstrings. Purple Rain is like a Stairway To Heaven. It’s non-religious, but people feel reverent about it. Even if you walk in on a casino and some crappy band are playing it, it still has something different.”

That reverence lasted. Purple Rain became Prince's traditional showstopper, the only song he played live over a thousand times. It was the highlight of what many consider to be the greatest Super Bowl halftime show ever, when Prince braved a deluge to turn in a performance for the ages. It reentered the US and UK Top 10s in the wake of his death in 2016.

And in late 2025, the song was used to soundtrack a climactic sequence in the series finale of the Netflix series Stranger Things. Over the course of the following week, it became the most searched-for song on TikTok, with posts using Purple Rain rising by 3500%. Meanwhile, on Spotify, streams rose by 243% globally overnight, predominantly among listeners who weren't born when Prince hit the stage at First Avenue.

"We knew we needed an epic needle drop, and so many ideas were thrown around," Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer told Tudum. "I think there’s nothing really more epic than Prince."

The original version of this feature appeared in Classic Rock 260, published in March 2019.

My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Alice, Mogwai, Garbage, Manic Street Preachers and Elbow will headline shows at London's Royal Albert Hall next March in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

With longtime TCT curator Roger Daltrey (The Who) having stepped down after the 2025 series, The Cure's frontman Robert Smith has assumed the mantle of curator (or 'Cureator') for the 2026 season, and he has hand-picked an outstanding line-up for the annual charity benefit shows.

“Teenage Cancer Trust does absolutely amazing work, and l am very proud they asked me to be ‘Cureator' of their March 2026 concerts at the RAH," says Smith. "I wanted to make it a truly unforgettable, unmissable week - a run of shows to dream about - and I am so grateful to all the artists who accepted my invitation to perform.

"These will be very special events; every band, both headliners and special guests, and every comedian too, is either legendary or at the top of their game... indeed in most cases, they are both! It is going to be a fabulous 7 nights, and I can hardly wait to experience it all. See you there!"

“When Robert Smith reached out to us about the possibility of performing for Teenage Cancer Trust we were all utterly thrilled as he is a highly revered figure in our world," says Garbage's Shirley Manson, looking ahead to her band's March 28 headline show. "We are honoured to serve at his behest and look forward to helping raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust, a cause very close to our own hearts. I hope our people will choose to come out in support. Should be a great night. In the Royal Albert Hall no less.”

With his band making their TCT debut on March 26, Manic Street Preachers' frontman James Dean Bradfield says, “We were lucky enough to play one of Robert Smith’s Meltdown shows in 2018, and now we’re honoured to have been asked by the great man to join the 2026 Teenage Cancer Trust shows he’s overseeing which raise money such a great cause. It’s our first time playing TCT as a band, a return to one of our favourite London venues and we’ve got a couple of surprises up our sleeves for the night. So, no excuses. See you there."

Tickets for next year's TCT shows go on sale on Friday, December 12, at 9am.

The charity says, "Every pound raised funds specialist nurses and youth workers for young people with cancer. The 2025 series raised £2.05m - we're aiming to beat that."

Teenage Cancer Trust: Royal Albert Hall Concert Series 2025

Mar 23: Elbow, MRCY
Mar 24: A Night of Comedy with Stewart Lee, Dara O'Briain and more
Mar 25: Mogwai, Craven Faults
Mar 26: Manic Street Preachers, The Joy Formidable
Mar 27: My Bloody Valentine, Chvrches (stripped back)
Mar 28: Garbage, Placebo (stripped back)
Mar 29: Wolf Alice, Nilüfer Yanya

Steven Wilson's fourth solo studio album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. which celebrates it's tenth anniversary this year, is being adapted for stage.

At its core, the album used the tragic story of Joyce Carol Vincent, a young, seemingly upwardly mobile young woman who was found dead in her North London apartment, having. sat there, with the television on, for almost three years.

Developed with Wilson’s full endorsement, the new stage adaptation from writer and director Oliver Britten, reimagines this story through live music, dance, striking visuals, and intimate theatricality, promising one of the most ambitious new works to emerge on the UK theatre scene.

“Oliver Britten contacted me in 2024 about creating a stage version of my 2015 album Hand. Cannot. Erase., a project which I was happy to give my blessing to, as I believe it has the potential to be something very special, and I have been impressed with the draft versions of the script he has shared with me," Wilson explains. "Though not directly involved, I am following the development with great interest, and he has my full support."

"I’ve been listening to Steven Wilson’s music since I first discovered his band, Porcupine Tree, when I was 15,” adds Britten. “Bringing his work to the stage and infusing it with my own creative voice is an incredible opportunity. Hand. Cannot. Erase. has been one of my favourite albums since its release. Those themes of isolation and our tenuous grip on human connection tap into a universal detachment many suffer from today. The idea of adapting this into a stage musical still feels surreal, and I am immensely proud to have delved into the heart of the album to form a new take on the story within its songs.”

Casting is currently underway, with newcomer Holly Tarkon making her stage debut, and the show will be enhanced with Jess Cope's well-known animations that supported the album in Wilson's own stage shows.

The show is being produced by AFAFO Media, a collective of artists dedicated to telling bold new stories anywhere, anytime, in any medium.

"Steven has inspired a brilliant creative team that elevates the music into a transformative theatrical experience. Their dedication and artistry are exceptional, and I’m honoured to be building this project alongside them,” says producer Alexander Garcia.

The Hotel de Rome, in the former East Berlin, is situated in the plushest part of Germany’s most sophisticated city. Once headquarters for the Dresdner Bank and high-ranking Nazi Party staff, it bears shrapnel scars from Allied bombing.

The building opens onto Bebelplatz, where the SA, SS and Hitler Youth burned ‘un-German’ books during the ‘Säuberung’ in May 1933. It’s only a stroll to Checkpoint Charlie, passing plenty of brutalist architecture and the Jewish Holocaust memorial.

What was once fascist is now all about fashion, as supermodels sashay through the hotel’s foyer during Berlin Fashion Week. The movie Run Lola Run was shot in and around the hotel, where the motto is: ‘What’s old stays old. What’s new is new.’

The Hotel de Rome is also Joe Cocker’s chosen port of call, indicating that the 68-year-old once known as the Sheffield Soul Shouter is no longer on his uppers. Virtually bankrupt in the mid-70s, he is now almost establishment: he’s got an OBE, he’s sung for the Queen, his interview suite is laid out with expensive chocolates and current craze macaroons. Luxury you can afford, Joe?

“Ha! Yes. Very good. The title of my only album for Warners, 1978. They sued me because it sold 300,000 copies! I’ve just got the rights back to that and my Sheffield Steel record, which is quite handy. I can’t get hold of my first three A&M albums, though, the ones that made the real money.”

These days Joe, who is stocky and exceptionally pleasant, lives on his Mad Dog ranch in Colorado, where he used to graze Watusi cattle but now sticks to growing tomatoes. Gratifyingly, he’s still got his Yorkshire accent, and he still follows Sheffield United, The Blades.

“Aye, the old Northern bit. I suppose my journey from 16-year-old gas fitter to today is a bit staggering. On my last trip to Australia, some old cat said: ‘You’ve led a life.’ Not a good one, mind. Not even a bad one. Just a life. Looking back, if I hadn’t made it I doubt I’d have stayed as a gas fitter. I’d still be singing in pubs and wondering what might have been.”

Having left school at 15, Cocker served his music apprenticeship in local blues bands before a Decca scout whisked him to London in 1964 to record a cover of The Beatles’ I’ll Cry Instead for a single. Decca paid him precisely 10 shillings (50 pence in today’s currency) for his efforts, which featured the guitar talents of Big Jim Sullivan and Little Jimmy Page. But the single was a big flop, and Joe went home somewhat deflated.

“Decca were very professional. That’s why they dropped me,” he laughs. He left the Gas Board and went to work as a packer for WH Smith. He still sang, and he also drummed, which is how he developed his famous ‘disorientated hand jive’ tic.

“I never knew what to do with me hands,” Joe says. “Most people feel rhythm in their feet, but that was how I expressed myself. It looks daft, but I can’t help it.”

Salvation arrived via a meeting with fellow Sheffield lad Chris Stainton, and together they formed the fledgling Grease Band, whose demos landed on producer Denny Cordell’s desk. Fresh from success with The Moody Blues, The Move and Georgie Fame, the ebullient Cordell became the Grease Band’s mentor.

“Which was good news, because Sheffield wasn’t Liverpool or London. There was no rock scene. Our luck changed when we did a song called Marjorine, a very clever Chris demo which set the ball rolling.”

The Grease Band signed to Regal Zonophone in the UK, and built themselves a live reputation by word of mouth.

“Aye, we were a great band,” Cocker says. “We hit the ‘second wave’, after the ‘screamagers’ but before Led Zeppelin. I asked Jimmy Page if he’d join us in 1968 but he said: “Y’know Joe, I think I’ve got something a little heavier to do.” Oh, okay.”

Joe moved to a tiny flat off Sloane Square in London with his first wife, Eileen. He discovered hashish. “My consciousness was raised. Denny was a smoker, and he introduced me to LSD. We went to America in ’68 – that was an eye-opener. Each day was an adventure. I was so naïve. I got into a cab in New York once and the driver gave me a pill and I suddenly entered a Technicolor world. I’d had acid and listened to Hendrix, but never been outdoors on it.

"I liked the drugs, because they enhanced my enjoyment of music. Before that I’d only had a mono music system. Even my copy of Sgt. Pepper’s was mono. Suddenly this new world raced up on me. Maybe a bit too quick for a young guy – I’d just been a greaser with sideburns and tight trousers. It was a bloody big culture shock, and it went against my natural grain. When I was a kid in 1961, my dad stuck a newspaper in front of my nose with a story about Ray Charles being busted for heroin. ‘That bloke you like so much, Joe. Look at the state of him.’”

Very much a pint man, Cocker swapped Stones Bitter for a different type of stoner. That mono copy of Sgt. Pepper’s did the trick, however. Singing along to the album, he found himself drawn to vamping over With A Little Help My Friends. He made his own recording of the song in January ’68 with Page on guitar, Stainton on bass and Procol Harum’s BJ Wilson on drums, with dynamic vocal assistance from Rosetta Hightower. On Cocker’s version, Ringo Starr’s childlike singsong tempo was changed radically. Released as a single, it soared to No.1.

“The day it happened, I got a telegram,” says Cocker. ‘THANKS YOU ARE FAR TOO MUCH, JOHN AND PAUL.’ Then Apple Records placed an ad in the music press, congratulating me. What a plug!”

Anointed by the ultimate rock divinity, Cocker became a sensation, destroying British audiences and tearing America apart, even though his first album, named after the hit, sat in the can for a year before it was released. A superstar with one smash under his belt, Cocker entered a world where Beatles acetates were dropped off at Cordell’s office by limousine, long before the public would hear them.

In the summer of ’69 he was summoned to Paul McCartney’s house. “I was told: ‘Get here at 3pm on the dot.’ But I got there at 3.05. McCartney’s housekeeper, an old cockney woman, came to the door and said: ‘’E’s gone art. ’E was waitin’ for some man, but ’e’s never showed up. Go away.’”

Joe was more punctual a few weeks later when he was invited to the Apple building on Savile Row. “They stuck me in a room for an hour with nothing to look at but carpet. Eventually Paul turned up. He played me the medley from Abbey Road: Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight. I was all ears until he said: ‘You can’t have ’em. You can have this, though.’ He played me She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.

"I was floating on the ceiling when George Harrison walked in shortly after. He played me Old Brown Shoe. By now I was getting a bit fussy, so I said: ‘I can’t see myself singing that.’ George played me three other songs and seemed a bit miffed. ‘The Beatles will never use these. I’ve got this one called Something. I wrote it for Jackie Lomax, and I wanted Ray Charles to sing it. You might as well have it.’ He actually played and sang it for me. I was gobsmacked.”

Even though he couldn’t release these beauties until his second album, 1969’s Joe Cocker!, both tracks were aired extensively on pirate radio. “It was a big deal for me. I remember George being so mad that John and Paul wouldn’t bother with his stuff. He thought it was touch and go that Something would get onto Abbey Road. ‘I doubt they’ll use it,’ he said.”

Those three Fab gifts served Cocker well. Just before his life-changing performance at the Woodstock festival, he played the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles. During his show-stopping rendition of With A Little Help From My Friends, a nubile admirer was hoisted on to her companion’s shoulders. She then proceeded to unzip Cocker’s jeans and give him a blow job in front of the entire audience. According to the Rolling Stone reviewer John Mendelsohn, ‘He gave the scream of his career as she worked the Cocker cock with considerable fervour.’

Joe recalls: “Jimi Hendrix was in the audience that night, sitting in a dark booth with a lot of groupies. I was just doing my thing when this lady… er, appeared. After the show I met Hendrix, and he was laughing his head off because he’d put her up to it.” He tried not to sing out of key.

Cocker arrived at Woodstock in a private chopper; the Grease Band slummed it in a military helicopter. They’d dropped acid and were feeling decidedly ill. Flying over the site, Chris Stainton opened the ’copter’s door and threw up over the crowd below. For Cocker, his arrival “was a real wow. I’d played to festival crowds of 50,000 that summer [notably Denver Pop], but all I could see were these white dots stretching to the horizon. I said to the pilot: ‘What the fuck’s that down there?’ He replied: ‘That’s people. And that’s where you’re playing, son.’”

Cocker thought his Woodstock performance was “okay. Not the greatest. Santana did the best set. My abiding memory is how good the stage was. Usually they were wonky and dangerous, but this was a good professional job. “Were we epic? I dunno. We got some nice footage for memories,” he says, referring to Michael Wadleigh’s 1970 concert movie, Woodstock. “I was wearing a tie-dyed shirt, and when I took it off after, the colours had stained my chest in the exact same pattern.”

Having registered in the memory banks of 650,000 people at Woodstock and followed that with a triumphant show at the Isle of Wight, Cocker kept on touring into early 1970, flogging his sweat-drenched act into the ground before collapsing with exhaustion in Los Angeles.

With both his albums sitting pretty in the charts and his face on the cover of the first post-Woodstock edition of Rolling Stone, he felt a rest was on the cards. It wasn’t. Manager Dee Anthony called him up and told Joe he was booked to go straight back on the road; promoters are all in place. And no arguments, or you’ll be sued. And it starts in eight days’ time: a seven-week tour, 48 nights, 52 cities. Thank you.

With the Grease Band back in London, Cocker panicked. Cordell suggested he call up Leon Russell, who had co-produced his recent album and provided the fine Delta Lady. Russell got out his phone book. Within days he’d assembled a 25-piece band, including three drummers, a horn section and a 10-strong choir of wailing ladies, featuring Rita Coolidge and Claudia Lennear.

With a support cast of management, techs and band dogs, the Mad Dogs And Englishmen – so christened by Cordell – were ready to rehearse at Russell’s house. However, Cocker did not realise that his contract required him to bankroll the venture. There was a film crew coming along too, and Joe was to pay for that as well. Didn’t he read the small print?

The director of the subsequent Mad Dogs documentary, Pierre Adidge, recalled: “It was no ordinary tour. They brought together the finest musicians in Hollywood, who all went because they wanted to go, because they wanted to be a part of this whole giant effort. They wanted to be together through their music.” Budget? Worry about that later.

Throughout the Mad Dogs episode, Cocker got more and more wasted.

“At first it was a family thing,” he recalls. “We were all shacking up in cheap motels; we had a cheap bus and a cheap plane. I wanted a much smaller group, but Leon was very persuasive. I got the blame for breaking up Bonnie And Delaney, because we took half their band. I didn’t even know who they were, but that got nasty. Yet it was irresistible. At Leon’s pad the scene was wall-to-wall women running around naked. Seemed like we were going to have some amazing times. They’d float in and out. Leon had his Tulsa connection, so he had a web of women on call. There were an awful lot of groupies,” he chuckles.

When the euphoria wore off, Cocker began to have doubts about Russell’s motives. “He became difficult. He got a bit strange. I felt lumbered because the other guys were getting completely wrecked. I was too, but I was doing all the promotion. Leon said: ‘Oh, you get the pleasure of doing all that.’ And I got involved in some crazy love affairs. Rita and Leon had a thing going on, and then she was sleeping with a couple of the drummers. Then I had a dalliance with her,” Cocker smiles.

“This was just before she hooked up with Kris Kristofferson. It was mad.”

Coolidge, the subject of Russell’s song Delta Lady, was rock chick of the moment. Ostensibly, she was still an item with a besotted Stephen Stills, although Graham Nash was often in her boudoir. Stills christened her The Raven; his magnificent debut solo album that year was an open letter to her. Love The One You’re With, Cherokee, Black Queen: they were all about lovely Rita. Laughing from the sidelines, David Crosby wrote another Coolidge anthem, Cowboy Movie, which referred to her as ‘The Indian girl… the heartbreaker.’

Mad Dogs drummer Jim Gordon was fanatically jealous of Coolidge’s liaisons. One night he flew into a rage and punched her in the face. Although she said it was out of character, Coolidge was distraught. The Mad Dogs were also getting twitchy. Gordon had started “hearing voices”, and would sometimes stop proceedings by telling the others: “You’re the devil… you’re messing with my time.”

Tensions were running high in the Mad Dogs camp. Cocker noticed how Russell, despite his own talent, had become envious and grouchy, and began to muscle his way up the pecking order. The man who’d started out like his brother suddenly “took over the whole show, became like a slave master,” recalls Cocker, who let it slide and went into his shell. He knew Leon was in constant pain and limping from a recent motorcycle accident.

Even so, he started to get cheesed off with Russell’s insistence on pre-show communal meals, communal sex and gang-style sermons, in which the Mad Dogs held hands and praised the Lord, before proceeding to get utterly wankered. “It was a bit embarrassing.”

The tour itself was an unwieldy shambles. Cocker often didn’t know the lyrics and clammed up, until Russell told him: “Doesn’t matter, man. Just sing what you like.” So he did.

Many of the band members were serious heroin users. Not just heroin, either: cocaine, pills, acid and booze were everywhere. The hard-core would gather together, all beards and top hats and ‘How y’all doin’?’, and do speedballs – deadly mixtures of smack, amphetamines, downers and coke. Then they’d drink Kentucky dry. Needless to say quite a few them are now dead – or in psychiatric hospitals.

“Whenever I see Jim Keltner, like I did in LA recently,” Cocker says, “he always says: ‘Man, that was some big, long, crazy party. How the fuck did we ever get home?’ It was a bit too crazy. I was saddest about some of the ladies who died, like big Emily Smith. Anyway, once it was over, Leon and the rest all left, probably the next day, and moved on to the Rolling Stones and Derek And The Dominos, and they kept on partying.”

Party they certainly did. Teaming up with Eric Clapton and bass player Carl Radle, drummer Gordon found kindred spirits in Derek And The Dominos, and was willing to match them on nights of heroin, liquor, coke, Mandrax and junk food. They were undoubtedly great musicians – Clapton described them as “absolutely brilliant, the most powerful rhythm section I have ever played with. Jimmy Gordon is the greatest rock’n’roll drummer I have ever played with. I think it’s true, beyond anybody.”

Later, in 1983, Gordon murdered his own mother during a psychotic episode. But that’s another story.

Despite the monumental excesses of the staggering Mad Dogs’ cast of Okies, Texans, good ol’ Tennessee mountain boys and equally flakey southern girls, engineer Glyn Johns rescued some tapes from their shows at the Fillmore East for a sprawling but hugely successful double live album, 1970’s Mad Dogs And Englishmen, the sleeve notes of which promised that “all elements of the truth are here”.

They certainly were in the movie: Cocker was interviewed backstage after one of the Dogs’ eight nights at the Fillmore West, and while various musicians are seen imbibing narcotics – what Russell referred to as “everyone bringing their own diversions with them, so they won’t really be away from their normal lives” – Cocker seems isolated and scared. Singing, he says, is “a release” from all the anger and frustration welling up inside him. “If I didn’t have singing I probably would have murdered somebody.” But still he’s an ordinary Joe – thankful for what he’s got, and mindful about where he came from.

Cocker was wiped out physically, and soon financially, as the Mad Dogs And Englishmen royalties were clawed back to pay for the tour’s considerable expenses. He settled in Los Angeles during summer of 1970, and began to hit the bottle. “I’d never really done much hard liquor before, because I was a pints man. I used to drink tons of beer – 10 pints a night, easy.” Now, without his fellow Mad Dogs, the Englishman let himself get rabid. “I overdid it for a year,” he said at the time. “You can forget about your music and start worrying about different things for so long. I just stepped out of it for too long. I think I almost forgot what rock’n’roll was all about.”

Joe seemed to have been bled dry by a business that he didn’t really understand. He also lacked the cynicism to cope with the down-side, once the hangers-on had left town. He didn’t eat, because he thought you had to stay thin to pull the chicks, but his personal life was in such disarray that that was hardly on the agenda.

The reviews for the Mad Dogs album weren’t great either. All that press, all that promotion, and then Rolling Stone slaughtered the vinyl. Even Robert Christgau, the eminent critic who had championed Joe’s cause, seemed to be damning him with faint praise when he pointed out that Cocker “is gruff and vulgar, perhaps a touch too self-involved, but his steady strength rectifies his excesses. He is the best of the male rock interpreters, as good in his way as Janis Joplin is in hers.”

Except that Joplin was dead. And as Cocker frequently told people: “I fully expect to be the next casualty myself. Why not? Everyone else thinks I will be."

Racked and ruined, Cocker returned to Sheffield. On arrival, his family was so aghast at his condition they hospitalised him. He chilled for a while: rode his motorbike along Snake Pass. He even considered taking his HGV licence so he could drive a lorry for a living. Armed with his next album advance, he went back to London and rented a flat in Shepherd’s Bush. Bad move.

“I started taking heroin seriously, even though I’d thought it was the big taboo. I flirted with addiction, but I couldn’t handle it on that level. It was too powerful and intense. I never used the works, I snorted heroin. It made me feel fearless. I’d be driving from London to Sheffield with mates and be speeding like a lunatic down the motorway. They’d be terrified, shouting at me to slow down. I didn’t bat an eyelid.”

Things got sordid after he fell prey to local West London dealers who descended on his pad. He walked the streets carrying ounces of cocaine on their behalf, and was constantly worried about his next bag of smack. The dealers were vultures; Cocker would part with thousands of pounds for dope worth far less. “They had me by the balls.”

Returning to recording his third studio album with Denny Cordell, Cocker found that much of his fame had evaporated. Unfortunately the bills were coming in for the Mad Dogs tour and movie. He was in hideous debt.

So he went back on the road in 1972. In Australia he was busted for weed and offering to take on 10 members of the Adelaide constabulary. He followed that by getting arrested again in Melbourne for causing a brawl at the Commodore Château Hotel, and spent a night in the clink.

“They put me in a cell with a bank robber, and an Aborigine who was alleged to have murdered someone. The bank robber seemed like a nice bloke. Said he had all my albums.”

The authorities gave Cocker four hours to leave the country.

He started telling those who’d listen that he was writing The Joe Cocker Book Of Drugs. But he wasn’t laughing. “I was drinking vast amounts, and it never seemed to touch the sides. Eventually I started going through alcoholic agonies. I was sick on stage, and the days afterwards were terrible. Drink became like heroin. It took the kind of toll where I was obsessed to make sure that I had enough left to get me through the day. And thanks to the mini-bar, I did. It wasn’t a good idea to drink before show time, but I made up for it afterwards.”

His biggest engagement in England that year was headlining the Crystal Palace Garden Party 3, in June 1972. Even though he kicked up the dust, Joe apologised for cutting his set short, explaining to the crowd that he had to get back to West London for ‘an appointment’.

His third studio album, Something To Say (titled Joe Cocker in America) was dutiful stuff. He hated it. He told one interviewer: “I don’t know why I’m here, really. I’ve got nothing to say about this album. I’ve got nothing to say about anything, really.”

He was seriously miffed that A&M had started promoting him as ‘Cocker Rock’. Life magazine’s assertion that he had “The voice of all those blind criers and crazy beggars and maimed men who summon up a strength we’ll never know – to bawl out their souls in the streets,” sounded a more accurate description, if too close for comfort.

Cocker now became a prima donna diva, always on the comeback. During his cocaine years, he managed another hit when You Are So Beautiful reached No.5 on the US Billboard chart. But he could still blow it big-time. Performing in Los Angeles in 1974, he threw up again on stage and suffered the performer’s ultimate nightmare.

“Somebody should have kept an eye on me,” Cocker said. “But some dealer found me backstage and filled me up with cocaine. I hadn’t performed live in a couple of years. I drank a whole bottle of brandy, and then went out and got through two songs, and then I sat down on stage with a total mental block.

“Everyone just sort of closed the curtains and said goodnight. That was supposed to be my big return. It was a bit sad.”

In the ensuing years Cocker was always active, although his albums became more mainstream as he slowed down and aged. Following a disastrous management period with Michael Lang, one of the co-founders of the Woodstock festival, handling his affairs, Joe received more scrupulous advice and was subsequently resurrected. He remarried, and enjoyed a worldwide hit single with his duet with Jennifer Warnes, the preposterously gloopy Up Where We Belong.

Thanks to the song’s inclusion on the soundtrack of the Richard Gere-starring film An Officer And A Gentleman and an accompanying Academy Award, Joe was establishment now. He got the Don Was production makeover for his 1996 album Organic. He played for President Bush’s daughter, and sang at the Queen’s 2002 Party At The Palace. According to his manager, he gave up drinking and smoking 10 years ago. “So he’s healthier. Back then he wasn’t well. It was often touch and go getting him to his concerts. If he hadn’t stopped he wouldn’t be here now.”

His latest album, Fire It Up, may be his last, he says. “It costs a fortune [to make an album], and that’s my two-album deal with Columbia up anyway. I’ve got a good feeling about it, but the last one [2010’s Hard Knocks] bombed in the UK. Maybe they don’t like me any more. I’m not sure about the future. I wonder: do I have to make records? I still like playing live. My agent wants me to play that festival, the Isle of Man.”

Isle of Wight, even? “

Oh, God. Yeah.” he laughs. “I’m so shagged out.”

But Joe Cocker will get by, with a little help from his friends.

This feature first appeared in Classic Rock 181, published in March 2013. Cocker passed away from lung cancer in 2014, and was posthumously welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. To mark his induction, the tour film of Mad Dogs & Englishmen was made free to watch on YouTube.

What the hell are these curtains doing here?! When Hammer walks into Wembley Arena, vast swathes of fabric have cordoned off the back of the venue and most of the seating: a surefire sign that tickets have sold below expectations. That’s despite the fact Killswitch Engage, masters of noughties metalcore, are playing their biggest-ever UK gig, supported by one of the most stacked lineups London’s seen in years. We don’t deserve nice things.

Fortunately, Polish mavens DECAPITATED defy the odds. Overcoming the sparse turnout and a most-people-are-fresh-from-work start time of 6:45, they ignite the first pit of the evening. As good a warmup as they are, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY amplify the energy tenfold. The front of the room is crammed for the five-piece, and the likes of Lower Purpose and Hostage demonstrate why. The way they mix the best bits of deathcore, Gojira and the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal is hugely intelligent, yet it feels primal as fuck. Every melody sounds gigantic, every breakdown gets the pit swirling and every tech-metal chug-a-thon sees bodies fly over the barrier. They don’t even play 40 minutes but are – spoiler alert – the best act of the night.

Given they’ve dealt in no-frills metallic hardcore for 30-plus years, we didn’t expect much pageantry from HATEBREED tonight. Shame on us. Jamey Jasta’s crew are the only performers with pyro, and they’re backed up by a towering, inflatable demon seemingly stolen from Kreator. Mid-set, the band throw a blow-up “ball of death” into the crowd.

But, even without those touches, this would still be about the good vibes. The positivity of Jasta’s lyrics and onstage antics is infectious: “Resurrect every dream that you’ve buried alive!” he commands during Perseverance. Plus, whenever he isn’t barking into the mic, he’s urging the crowd to wave or fist-bump. What a wholesome bunch of riff-dispensing maniacs.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE aren’t playing to the filled-up venue they probably hoped for tonight. All the same, the Massachusetts men arrive undeterred. In front of an IMAX-bothering video backdrop, they rip through Strength Of The Mind with muscle and precision. Frontman Jesse Leach sounds just as confident growling his guts out as he does crooning the chorus, while the instrumentalists around him have a synchronicity that only 20 years on metal’s frontlines can give.

The setlist features four songs from new album This Consequence, but let’s be honest: London’s here for the hits. Rose Of Sharyn, This Fire and My Curse are songs embedded in the DNA of every millennial metalhead. If you don’t know the words, the thousands of people yelling them will teach you real quick.

The anthems are unloaded with the speed of a machine gun but the accuracy of a sniper, with no room for dicking about across these 75 minutes. Even guitarist Adam D, the notorious jokester who introduces his band as a “bunch of bitches”, is in largely focussed form. Come the end of a victorious My Last Serenade, the venue being half-empty feels insignificant. If you aren’t captivated by the musicianship, hooks and widespread euphoria, you shouldn’t have come here to begin with.

Killswitch Engage setlist: Wembley Arena, London – October 17, 2025

• Strength Of The Mind
• Rose Of Sharyn
• Reckoning
• Aftermath
• Numbered Days
• This Is Absolution
• No End In Sight
• Broken Glass
• Hate By Design
• Forever Aligned
• The Signal Fire
• I Believe
• The Arms Of Sorrow
• In Due Time
• This Fire
• My Curse
• The End Of Heartache
• My Last Serenade

In 1984, Iron Maiden were poised to take over the world. They’d been on a skyward trajectory since the arrival of vocalist Bruce Dickinson three years previously, and had laid the groundwork on the increasingly ambitious tours accompanying The Number Of The Beast and Piece Of Mind.

But the band’s fifth album, Powerslave, would literally set the stage for their most epic undertaking yet. Beginning in August 1984 and ending 331 days and 189 shows later in July 1985, the Ancient Egypt-themed World Slavery Tour helped turn Maiden into one of the biggest metal bands of the decade and produced one of the all-time great live albums in 1985’s Live After Death.

The tour kicked Maiden to the next level in America but it also pushed the band members themselves to their mental and physical limits, almost bringing the group to an end. We look back on that crazy time, in words of the band and those around them.

Bruce Dickinson (vocals): “We rehearsed for the tour in a wonderfully tacky nightclub in Fort Lauderdale, and stayed in a cockroach-infested seafront motel. Soon enough, the holiday was over. It was time to emigrate to the Evil Empire, behind the Iron Curtain, as it was in 1984, to Poland to open the Powerslave tour.”

Steve Harris (bass): “I didn’t really think about the political side too much. I wonder whether we’re being used as a propaganda tool, but at least we’re providing entertainment for the kids.”

Bruce: “The reception was outrageous. It wasn’t just people who liked the band going crazy like at normal shows. I felt straight away that they weren’t just coming out for something to do on a Saturday night – there was real change in the air everywhere. It was a moment of hope, and I felt like we were this beacon.”

Howard Johnson (journalist present on the Polish dates): “What’s really weird is that there were young soldiers in full army uniform talking their shirts off for a mosh and throwing their hats in the air for added pleasure in amongst the assorted human carnage.”

Nicko McBrain (drums): “We ended up going to, well, it was supposed to be a disco, and it ended up being sort of like a converted ballroom. So there was this wedding going on at the time, about 300 people dancing the waltz as we walked in. Then these people in the club said, ‘Would you like to have a jam?’ ‘Yes,’ we said, and we did.”

The World Slavery Tour’s impressive, Egyptian-themed staging was already in place, but as the juggernaut moved from Europe to North America, the venues went up in size and an even bigger stage set was deployed, featuring sarcophagi, a huge Sphinx-like Eddie head looming over the stage, and a mummified version of their mascot. However, as the band’s ambition grew, so did the distances and pressures involved.

Charlie Kail (stage set engineer): “[The set] took two months to build. We did things like building lighting into the hieroglyphics – those details really made it special… The whole thing probably cost £145,000 – a lot back then. But Maiden were the pioneers of those big shows in heavy metal.”

Bruce: “I still think that was the best show that Maiden ever put on. It was just the right combination of epic stuff, but it wasn’t too overblown and it wasn’t so hidebound by the sort of technology and loads of hydraulics and inflatable things that occurred later, all of which had the possibility for Spinal Tap-type fuck-ups on a regular basis.”

Charlie: “There were some groundbreaking special effects, like the Eddie-on-a-stick. At one show, they parked the cherry picker too near the stage, and when the big reveal happened, all you could see was Eddie’s head bobbing up and down behind Nicko McBrain. I could feel [Maiden manager] Rod Smallwood’s eyes boring into the side of my head.”

Bruce: “Virtually everybody I know who’s seen one of our shows expects to see some sort of phenomenon that’s going to corrupt the morals of their town. What they see is 7-10,000 young kids having a great time, enjoying themselves, with a show that delivers a lot of value for money.”

Adrian Smith (guitar): “When we first started out in America, we went from one bus to two buses to seven buses… so things do become more comfortable. More comfortable than when we first toured the US with Judas Priest in ’81! We don’t have to sleep on our luggage anymore.”

Nicko: “Some people do sort of crack underneath the pressure of being on the road constantly and living out of a suitcase. I sometimes don’t even know what the day is – I maybe know the date.”

Adrian: “It got on top of me a few times and when we hit America things really kicked in with booze and drugs, using it as a crutch.”

Iron Maiden roared into 1985 with an appearance at the inaugural Rock In Rio in Brazil. They played on January 11, the opening night of the now-legendary festival, where they were second on the bill below Queen.

Adrian: “It’s very difficult to do anything in Rio because the fans are very passionate, and even back in the first Rock In Rio they were outside the hotel, and we couldn’t go out. Even when we sat out in the balcony having breakfast, there’d be people in the buildings taking photos and looking at you through binoculars.”

Bruce: “We conquered an entire continent overnight with that one show.”

Adrian: “It wasn’t as well organised as it is now – back then it was a bit chaotic.”

Bruce: “Hot and bothered, I wrenched the guitar off, over my head, and split my forehead open on its wooden edge… [A roadie] looked carefully at the wound. ‘Rod says can you squeeze it and make it bleed some more,’ he said. ‘It looks great on the telly.’ Next day, the picture was front-page news: sweaty, bloodstained me… and 300,000 new Iron Maiden fans.”

Adrian: “We were touring in New York state in the winter and it was 10 foot of snow everywhere. Then we went down to Rio and it was hot and we were partying – we came back and all got sick immediately. But Rock In Rio, that was a very exciting time.”

Maiden had been on the road for almost six months by the time they played Rock In Rio, but there were still another six months left of the tour. A four-night stint at Long Beach Arena in Orange County, California in March 1985 would – along with earlier shows at London’s Hammersmith Odeon – provide the basis for the Live After Death album.

Steve: “We wanted to record all of [Live After Death] from Hammersmith but we ended up recording three sides from LA because by that time we were just playing that bit better.”

Malcolm Dome (journalist who saw the Long Beach shows): “I’d seen the band at Hammersmith Odeon the previous October, and that was impressive. But as the lights dimmed, the crowd erupted, and you knew [Long Beach Arena] was going to be a different level of hysteria… This was Maiden elevated to the stature of the biggest bands in America.”

Adrian: “The worst part is [when] you’ve been on the road for six months and you realise you’ve got another six months to do. It’s like doing time. You’re kind of in your own cell anyway, a little cocoon – either in a plane or a hotel or a bus, and there’s security guards. It cuts you off from real life.”

Bruce: “At no point on the tour did we ever get to the point where anybody hated each other. We held that end of it together very well. Because we all realised what each of us was going through, and if someone threw a wobbler – which we all did at some point – it was, ‘Shall we leave the room and let him wreck the place and come back later?’ Because everyone was going through it.”

Steve: “That tour fried everybody, and [Bruce] in particular. Christ, he had to get up and sing six nights a week for 13 months, and that took its toll. Our schedule then was insane. It wasn’t like anyone twisted our arms, we were totally up for it, but perhaps we took on more than we could deal with.”

Bruce: “It was the first time I really thought about leaving. I don’t just mean Maiden, I mean quitting music altogether. I really felt like I was pretty much basket case material by the end of that tour, and I did not want to feel that way. I just thought, ‘Nothing is worth feeling like this for.’ I began to feel like I was a piece of machinery, part of the lighting rig.”

Rod Smallwood (manager): “We should’ve stopped sooner. It was probably one of many mistakes I’ve made. But, you know, it was really hopping for us then and I was impatient. The jungle drums were summoning more and more people, and we wanted more.”

Iron Maiden did survive the tour and became one of the biggest metal bands in the world on the back of it. It was not without cost, however. As well as the personal toll it took on individual members, it opened the first few cracks that would eventually see Bruce quit the band.

Steve: “We were never obsessed with breaking America. We always planned to come out here and give everything we’d got, and they’d either like it or they wouldn’t. Fortunately for us they liked it. In fact they bloody loved it.”

Bruce: “It felt like the world had just shrunk. We’d sort of conquered everywhere. Not just played, but really had an impact. But it was hard work. The World Slavery Tour was great, but on a personal level I thought, ‘This is all well and good, but I can’t be doing with another 13-month tour.’ It did my head in. I ended up taking a back seat creatively on the next album [Somewhere In Time] because I was basically fried.”

Steve: “The stuff Bruce was coming up with [for Somewhere In Time] wasn’t us at all. He was away with the fairies, really.”

Bruce: “I came very close to quitting music after the Powerslave tour. I was in no mood for any more backstage politics or solitary confinement in tour buses or gilded cages. I didn’t expect others to understand, because I’m sure for many it might seem like the ultimate dream, but I wanted more than the challenge of standing still successfully.”

Nicko: “I’m really surprised we got through that tour… When you get to that stage, it’s just not fun any more; it’s becoming too tedious or too difficult, emotionally. I mean, it nearly destroyed the band.”

Additional sources: What Does This Button Do? By Bruce Dickinson, Run to the Hills by Mick Wall, Iron Maiden – Behind the Iron Curtain, Metal-Rules, Kerrang!, Forbes

The Beast are back! One year after kicking off their blockbuster 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives shows in arenas and stadium across Europe, Iron Maiden will return to their native continent for a victory lap of epic proportions. Their 11 2026 summer dates will bring the tour – where they’re set to continue playing material exclusively from their first nine albums, Iron Maiden to Fear Of The Dark – to new markets such as Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. Plus, they’ll return to Paris’ La Défense Arena for a spectacular where phones will be banned and filming for an upcoming release will take place, and there’s a mysterious UK date on July 11 to look forward to.

Hopefully, with their second go around Europe, Maiden will shake up their setlist and pull out some long-unplayed stuff. Here are our suggestions for what they should dust off. And, if you want more Maiden coverage from us here at Hammer, make sure you grab our new issue, which contains exclusive interviews with Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris that explore the heavy metal titans’ five-decade history. Order now and get it delivered directly to your doorstep.

Remember Tomorrow (Iron Maiden, 1980)

As of 2025, it’s been exactly 20 years since Maiden last treated a live audience to Remember Tomorrow. Frankly, that’s criminal. This slow-burning ballad may be a Paul Di’Anno-era track, but it’s perfectly suited to the vocal range of his successor Bruce Dickinson, as it rises from pensive verses to hardy riffing, backed by bombastic cries of “Fiiiiiiiiire!” Plus, if you want evidence of how beloved this debut album number is, it’s been covered by fucking Metallica. Get on it boys!

Another Life (Killers, 1981)

Initially, Maiden couldn’t get enough of playing this Killers ripper. Another Life was a fixture of their setlist after the album came out, even persisting into the first full-length tour with Dickinson in 1982. After that, though, it would take 23 years and a leg of shows dedicated to material only from the band’s first four albums for it to rear its head again. Now, it’s been another two decades since it last got busted out, and it’s increasingly looking like a ‘now or never’ situation.

22 Acacia Avenue (The Number Of The Beast, 1982)

There are songs from breakthrough opus The Number Of The Beast that Maiden have never played, namely Invaders and Gangland. However, they’re a bit wank. So instead we’re nominating 22 Acacia Avenue. This proggy saunter into the brothel where Charlotte The Harlot works has gone unperformed since 2003, despite it flaunting the vocal heroics of Dickinson and the masterful songwriting of guitarist Adrian Smith. For all its winding riffs and tempo changes, it still has that excellent “22, the avenue!” hook at its heart.

Sun And Steel (Piece Of Mind, 1983)

The rarest of the rare. In the more-than-40 years since Piece Of Mind came out, The Beast have never once brought Sun And Steel to the stage, and that’s a damn shame. This late-in-the-tracklist entry is a barrelling rocker. It matches its high energy with words about the excitement and violence of a good sword fight (unsurprisingly, lyricist Dickinson started competing in fencing championships just a couple years later). Bring this out during next year’s tour and we’ll see who the real Maiden aficionados are.

Flash Of The Blade (Powerslave, 1984)

Bloody hell, another sword fighting song?! Yes, but with just cause: Flash Of The Blade is badass. From those opening tap-along guitars to the lyrics about St George and dragons, through the virtuosic soloing, this Powerslave number almost bleeds adrenaline. By the time that closing chorus kicks in with its army of backing vocals, we feel exhilarated enough to benchpress a tectonic plate. Somehow, Flash… has never once graced a Maiden setlist, so imagine the stadium-wide joy when that riff finally kicks in.

The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner (Somewhere In Time, 1986)

Maiden played Loneliness… on the very first date of the 1986 Somewhere In Time world tour, then immediately shelved it. It’s remained on the sidelines ever since, to the chagrin of diehard fans and even some band members themselves. Harris told Classic Rock in 2023, “That’s something I would love to play.” Respectfully, do it you cowards! That slick lead guitar, those sprinting verses, those empowering howls of “I’ve got to keep running!” – it’s all so fucking good! And it needs to come back.

Infinite Dreams (Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, 1988)

Seventh Son… was the prog metal apex Maiden had been building towards since their debut, and songs like Infinite Dreams – with its six-minute run-time, tonal shifts and lack of a chorus – showed it. The monolith was a fixture of the band’s 1988 world tour, but hasn’t been heard live since. Even their 2013–14 setlist, which emphasised Seventh Son… material above all else, ignored it. Who knows, now could be Maiden’s very last chance to dig this buried treasure up for their shows.

Tailgunner (No Prayer For The Dying, 1990)

We’ve all heard your jokes about how naff No Prayer For The Dying is, and it seems Maiden have too: the last time they played something from it was when they added Bring Your Daughter… to their 2003 setlist. The one No Prayer… song that almost matches the band’s former glory is Tailgunner, which weaves through complex riffs and a punchy chorus. Given it’s not been performed since 1992, why not give this diamond in the rough a well-deserved and long-overdue dust-off?

Be Quick Or Be Dead (Fear Of The Dark, 1992)

Fear Of The Dark isn’t the strongest Maiden album, but it’s been immortalised by its stone-cold classic of a title track. Why the hell hasn’t Be Quick Or Be Dead enjoyed even a sniff of that recognition? Released as a single in 1992, this is a no-holds-barred thrasher where Dickinson tears into contemporary politics, and it’s arguably the most alive the band sounded that decade. It’s languished in retirement since 1993 and needs to come back, especially with its lyrics remaining tragically relevant in the 2020s.

Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives 2026 tour dates:

May 23: Athens OAKA, Greece
May 26: Sofia Vasil Levski Stadium, Bulgaria
May 28: Bucharest Arena Națională, Romania
May 30: Bratislava Národný Futbalový Štadión, Slovakia
Jun 02: Hannover Heinz von Heiden Arena, Germany
Jun 10: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Jun 17: Milan San Siro Stadium, Italy
Jun 22: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Jun 28: Lyon-Décines Groupama Stadium, France
Jul 07: Lisbon Estádio da Luz, Portugal
Jul 11: TBA, UK

Country rock legends Eagles have extended their record-breaking residency at Sphere in Las Vegas again. The news comes eight months after they announced that the "final" four shows of their current run of shows would take place in March 2026.

Since then, the residency has been extended twice, and now another four shows have been confirmed for December.

The band, who played their first date at the venue in September 2024, will now complete a total of 68 shows over 34 weekends, with the final Sphere shows scheduled for December 11 and 12. Full dates below.

Eagles have now played to more than a million fans at the venue and own the record for the longest Sphere residency, comprehensively breaking the record held by Dead & Company, who played 48 shows between May 2024 and May last year.

According to the promoters, the shows will "offer fans the ultimate connection to the band’s legendary catalogue in an immersive experience that only Sphere can provide."

Ticket prices at the 20,000-capacity venue start at $175. The presale for the new seats begins on July 15 at 10am, with registration for early access to tickets now open on the Eagles website.

Also available are "Experience & Hotel" and "VIP Experience & Hotel" packages. The latter retails at $1451 and includes a choice of premium seat at Sphere, with guaranteed full view of the screen and priority access into the venue, a two-night stay at The Venetian Resort hotel, airport transfers, a VIP fan experience, commemorative Eagles keepsakes and a souvenir Eagles laminate and lanyard.

Sphere was opened in 2023 by U2, who played 40 shows at the revolutionary venue. Since then, Phish (13 shows across two residencies), Dead & Company, No Doubt (18 shows), country star Kenny Chesney (25), vocal group Backstreet Boys (35) and The Zac Brown Band (8) have completed residencies. Metallica have confirmed 24 shows between October and March.

Other bands rumoured to be in talks with Sphere include Guns N' Roses, Tool and Queen + Adam Lambert.

The next Eagles show at Sphere is on September 18.

Eagles @ Sphere, Las Vegas, 2026

Sep 18: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Sep 19: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Nov 13: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Nov 14: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Nov 27: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Nov 28: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Dec 04: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Dec 05: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Dec 10: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Dec 11: Las Vegas Sphere, NV

Get Eagles tickets.

Metal has existed in Morocco for almost 30 years. Despite that, the scene is still in its relative infancy, few international bands ever playing the country while even local acts can struggle to get gigs.

But Amine Hamma is looking to change that. One of the organisers of the Tricinty Festival, Morocco’s first dedicated metal festival, Amine is helping to shape the future of his country’s metal scene.

“People come from all across Morocco to attend Tricinty,” Amine says. “But this event is growing and becoming a beautiful platform to showcase local bands. My ambition is to help bands get over to Europe and sign record deals.”

The first Tricinty Festival was held in April 2023, at the Cinéma Renaissance in the Moroccan capital Rabat. Four local bands were invited to play to a few hundred metal fans to commemorate the release of a compilation Amine had made of bands from across Morocco, spanning styles from grunge and death metal to Amazigh rock, a subgenre that mixes rock, metal and traditional Berber folk music.

“We realised there was a real need, not just to give these bands a stage, but to bring the rock and metal community together,” Amine explains. “It gives Moroccan bands a reason to rehearse for something bigger, and opens up new opportunities to perform.”

Amine’s passion is more than just a hobby – it’s something he’s pursued for decades. He first discovered rock and metal via satellite TV in the early 90s, watching videos of Metallica and Nirvana.

By the time nu metal blew up in the mid-90s, an alternative scene had formed around tape-trading networks, allowing Amine and his friends to discover thrash and death metal and form their own bands, Amine first playing in Immortal Spirit in ’96 before forming Reborn in the early 2000s.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however. In 2003, Amine and 13 other metalheads were arrested and charged with “shaking the foundations of the Islamic faith”, receiving prison sentences for their activities playing in bands and helping promote the scene.

“We went to jail for playing heavy metal,” Amine admits. “They came in and took a load of my shirts and CDs, which really hurt because we didn’t have that many record stores so I’d spent a long time building my collection! The authorities didn’t really understand us. They just saw ties between Satanism and heavy metal.”

Although things looked bleak for a moment, intervention came from an unlikely place – King Mohammed VI helped secure the prisoners’ release and got the charges dropped. Amine admits a terrorist attack months later also softened the government and media’s stance on metal – “After that, they wanted to know what their kids were making,” he explains.

After his release, Amine moved to France, living in Europe for 11 years while he got his Master’s Degree. There, he frequently attended shows and became involved in the organisation and running of events, even attending Hellfest when it was still known as Furyfest. By the time he moved back to Morocco in 2014, he was passionate about promoting his home country’s scene and created a compilation of bands from across the rock and metal spectrum, ultimately founding Tricinty almost a decade later.

Tricinty may be Morocco’s only dedicated metal festival, but it isn’t the only event to invite metal bands over. The Boulevard Festival, hosted in Casablanca, has also hosted bands like Sepultura, Moonspell, Gojira and Kreator in previous years.

“But one festival is not enough,” Amine insists. “When we first got Kreator over, I remember people cried and it was like, ‘Come on, it’s Kreator not Justin Bieber!’”

Tricinty has grown since its inception in 2023. Working as part of the HIBA Foundation – a charity set up by King Mohammed VI to help promote and sustain the arts – and with organisations like the French Institute and Spanish embassy, Tricinty were able bring international bands to the festival for the first time in 2024.

The festival grew even more for its third edition in 2025. Held on May 23 and 24 – the first time the festival has run over multiple days – it featured local bands Thrillogy, Mycose Of You, Old School and We Come For War as well as international acts including French post-metallers Klone, Spanish thrashers Angelus Apatrida and UK alt weirdos Sugar Horse.

The event also featured a drum workshop with UK-based drummer Jack Wench and producer/sound engineer Chris Coulter, an air guitar competition – where the first prize was a brand new guitar – and an academic talk by Gérôme Guibert, a professor of Sociology who has co-authored multiple academic pieces exploring the world of metal.

Once again hosted at Rabat’s Cinéma Renaissance, a short walk from major tourist attraction The Kasbah of the Udayas, the event attracted hundreds of metal fans to headbang, mosh and even stagedive over an orchestral pit in front of the stage.

“For some of these kids, this might be the only metal event they come to this year,” Amine admits. “But it means a lot to us to get international bands over, too. They then can also act as ambassadors for our scene in Europe – ‘Oh, there’s metal in Morocco?’ Yeah! We’re not just into camels and palm trees.”

Follow Tricinty on Instagram to learn more about the festival.

Full footage of the whole of Genesis' 1973 show at the Paris Bataclan venue has surfaced on YouTube.

Back in 2021, Prog reported on just under forty minutes of the band's show having been restored to 4k by the Genesis website The Genesis Museum on their GMusic YouTube channel.

Now the full show has appeared on the ikhnaton YouTube channel, who says: "For the first time ever, the entire show from Watcher Of The Skies to The Knife. Please note that it’s a rough edit with a very loose sync. The original Bataclan audio recording is missing half of the concert, so the sound was reconstructed from 3–4 different sources, and a perfect sync is not possible anyway. Audio reconstruction by someone who will recognise himself. Thanks to him for his help."

Originally recorded on January 10, 1973 while the band were touring the Foxtrot album and shot on 16mm film, now featuring the full set of Watcher Of The Skies, The Musical Box, Supper's Ready, The Return Of The Giant Hogweed and The Knife.

Genesis will release their long-awaited 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway on September 26.

No one will ever agree upon exactly how many people turned out to witness the Rolling Stones perform at Hertfordshire’s Knebworth Park on August 21, 1976.

Promoter Freddy Bannister claims today that: “We expected 100,000 and got 104,000.” Bill Wyman of the Stones reckons that 110,000 presales were augmented by 30,000 tickets sold on the day, but that between 150,000 and 200,000 actually attended. Stage announcements on the day estimated 300,000. Whatever way you look at it, it was one hell of a crowd.

In 1976 the Rolling Stones were not only the world’s biggest band, they wholly defined what rock’n’roll should be. Dissenting punk voices had yet to dent their legend and the gushing music press was still very much on side. If you were a rock fan in 1976, you wanted to go and see The Rolling Stones at Knebworth. There was simply no excuse not to.

A series of early summer gigs at Earl’s Court had been massively over-subscribed, had sold-out rapidly and, thanks to appalling sound, were disappointing. Demand for the Stones had never been so acute and with rumours rife that Knebworth was to be their last ever show, even those unable to secure one of the precious £4.25 tickets were determined to attend.

We set off at 6am and ultimately abandoned our car by the side of the road to make our way to the site on foot as the traffic gridlocked. An unmanageable sea of humanity jostled to gain entry as The Don Harrison Band came and went. The narrow entrances were hopelessly inadequate, but following a three-hour heave we popped through the fence like corks from a bottle to witness the last knockings of Hot Tuna and to marvel at a crowd that surpassed the horizon.

Picking our way forward we finally secured a square foot of discomfort at least 100 yards from the stage; in other words, surprisingly near the front. At which point Todd Rundgren led Utopia onto the stage to a polite ripple and delivered a workmanlike set that concluded with an appropriately explosive Hiroshima.

After breaking out the fish-paste sandwiches – we knew how to live in the 70s – a band we’d never heard of launched, without fanfare, into a song that was evidently called Freebird and, as it gradually metamorphosed from gentle uplifting ballad to all-out guitar firefight, the vast audience’s response went from indifference to adulation.

Decades on and I’ve never witnessed a crowd react to a support band in the same way that Knebworth did to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Somewhere between the first chorus and the second verse the band went from unknown names to full-fledged stars. “Skynyrd caused a real buzz backstage,” remembers Freddy Bannister. “We all wondered how anyone could follow them.” An hour later, we all began to wonder if anyone would even try.

10cc were the next billed attraction, but as the break between bands lengthened, rumours began to circulate that they were facing serious technical problems.

“It was their own fault,” insists the promoter. “They’d been trying to upstage the Stones ever since arriving the previous day. There was a buzz in the sound system that the engineers were trying to sort out. But after 90 minutes, I went on stage and told the band either play or go home. Their response was, ‘Would you still pay us if we didn’t play?’. Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer, because the roadies then sorted it out. But I’m convinced that they induced that buzz, in order to take the Stones’ slot.”

We plebian field-dwellers, meanwhile, were more worried about the potential non-appearance of the Stones than any catastrophe that might have befallen 10cc. As we took our courage in both hands by visiting the toilets (effluent-brimming plague pits that mere words cannot even begin to describe) and considered investing our hard-earned 18 pence in intimidating giant hot dogs, the Stones themselves were roughing it at a pre-show champagne reception with Jack Nicholson and John Paul Getty III – a scenario akin to The Masque Of The Red Death with vol-au-vents.

10cc’s long-awaited appearance, meanwhile, proved a singularly soulless and clinical affair. Their latest I’m Mandy, Fly Me single and its iconic predecessor I’m Not In Love were both heavily dependent on pre-recorded inserts that many in the audience considered tantamount to miming. Standard practice now, of course, but utterly unacceptable in the mid-70s’ climate of Luddite authenticity.

There was beer available somewhere on the vast site apparently, but it was a luxury we could neither find nor trust our bladders to retain. One visit to the medieval latrine was enough for one lifetime and so, as darkness fell, we simply stood our ground, tried to banish all thoughts of Altamont and prayed that the local constabulary didn’t intend to enforce the midnight curfew that was already drawing close.

As festival infrastructure (second stages, novelty hat vendors, healing fields, comedy tents, bungee jumps, noodle bars… arena lighting, urinals) simply didn’t exist in 76, our only extracurricular entertainment was provided by a streaker who took to the stage and enthusiastically masturbated before diving triumphantly into the heaving throng. Popular legend provided the bittersweet postscript that he broke both ankles on landing, but in that he provided us with the finest entertainment we’d witnessed since Free Bird, we could really only wish him well.

As the delays continued, an ominous mood descended. Amid wildfire rumours that the Stones had already left the site and an official announcement of cancellation was imminent, the already minimal crowd lights were extinguished and the mid-section of Pink Floyd’s Echoes (the bit that sounds like ghostly seagulls) began looping repeatedly over the PA.

Tensions rapidly increased and time seemed to stand still as the unmistakable sound of fights breaking out was only punctuated by increasingly desperate demands for the lights to be turned back on that were simply ignored. Presumably at their Satanic Majesties’ request.

“A lot of it was down to 10cc,” Bannister says of this purgatorial wait. “But the Stones delayed things for another hour because they were too busy posing and acting like rock stars.”

Finally, after an interminable pitch-black ordeal in Hell’s own waiting room, countless searchlights seared our eyeballs as Aaron Copland’s Fanfare For The Common Man heralded the arrival of The Greatest Rock’N’Roll Band In The World. The overall effect was totally staggering – probably unlawful under the Geneva Convention, but totally staggering all the same.

The purpose-built stage’s canopy had inflated under cover of darkness into a pair of immense lips, and as Keith Richards punched out the riff to Satisfaction at the end of an extensive walkway at stage-right, Mick Jagger pranced onto its tongue in a leather jacket and tights combination that (according to the following morning’s Daily Mirror) made him look like ‘a gay Richard III’.

One hundred and fifty minutes later than billed the Stones delivered a performance that was, to Wyman’s calculations, “the longest show we had ever played”. From the brand new (Fool To Cry), to the vintage (Around And Around); the rarely heard (Get Off Of My Cloud) to the seasoned set-pieces (Mick Jagger whipping the stage with his belt at the climax of Midnight Rambler), the Stones perfectly précised their already vast legacy into a crowd-pleasing set of, apparently effortless, world-beating class. As traditional show-closer Street Fighting Man finally reached its climax there were sighs of relief backstage.

“We were supposed to finish by midnight,” Bannister remembers, “and it eventually ended at about 2am, I think David (now Lord) Cobbold, who held the licence, got fined £2,000.” As The Who’s Baba O’Riley provided the triumphal soundtrack to our first stumble into an unlit ditch, we staggered off into the breaking dawn. It took four hours to find the car, but as we’d just seen Keith Richards smoking a cigarette, we didn’t mind a bit.

This feature was originally published in Classic Rock issue 109, published in August 2007. Freddy Bannister died in 2019.

A play based on the story of a young man who bought a derelict cinema for just one pound and turned it into one of London’s most prestigious music venues opens at Southwark Playhouse Borough on July 23.

Simon Parkes was just 23 in 1983 when he stumped up a quid in an audacious deal that led to the birth of Brixton Academy. What makes the tale even more remarkable is that Parkes, a Thalidomide baby born with only one arm, had no background in entertainment nor any investors behind him.

He spent 15 years painstakingly building the Academy, previously an old Victorian beer hall located in a rough, politically charged area of South London, into a venue of legends, its stage welcoming the cream of the music world, including Page & Plant, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Brian May and Ozzy Osbourne.

Parkes learned most of what he achieved on the fly, and his memoir Live At The Brixton Academy: A Riotous Life In The Music Business was full of tales of brushes with gangsters, drug dealers, police stings and, at the other end of the spectrum, tedious council bureaucrats.

Following publication in 2014 it became a best-seller. When a copy fell into the hands of a writer and producer named Alex Unwin, the seeds of the play, Brixton Calling, were sown rapidly. Within months of a meeting with Parkes in a pub in Brixton – where else? – Unwin had written the play, brought in the Olivier-nominated director Bronagh Lagan and booked a run of performances at the Southwark Playhouse Borough, located just 15 minutes from the Academy itself.

Talking to Classic Rock, Parkes, who left the Academy in 1997, is thrilled by the prospect of the production, as well as being slightly nervous at being thrust back into the spotlight again. He had just met Max Runham, the actor and musician who plays him in Brixton Calling, although rehearsals were still to commence. “Like me, Max has one arm,” he marvels. “I was shocked that besides acting he also plays guitar – I’m not even sure how he does that.”

The play includes many songs by well-known bands that played the Academy, and Parkes reveals that its content is coloured by the era’s political nature. “One of the events that first put us on the map was five nights from The Clash, who were raising money for [union leader] Arthur Scargill’s Christmas parties for striking miners,” he explains. “In the early days we booked a lot of reggae before being in a position to break into [the market for] rock bands. The play follows those changes.”

What followed is what the press release terms a “white knuckle ride” that, along the way, included Parkes having a gun thrust into his face. “I went in there very naively, but with an enormous amount of enthusiasm,” Parkes admits. “I had no idea of what Brixton was like as a place, and in a way that helped. When gangsters hustled me, talking in riddles, I showed no fear because I was unaware of what was going on.”

Among his greatest early coups was persuading the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play the Academy during a time when no British agencies would take Parkes seriously. So he flew to Los Angeles and told the band’s management that his venue was 10 minutes away from Buckingham Palace (which technically is true, if calculated as the crow flies, across Victoria Park).

Recalling how he became involved with the Academy, Parkes tells of meeting with its owners, a brewery who sought £120,000 to sign it over. “The place had been shut for two years after reopening briefly as The Fair Deal, but it was in bad shape,” he says. Armed with a spreadsheet that proposed using beer sales to cover the venue’s costs, he convinced the brewery to accept a down payment of one pound, plus 10 for every barrel of beer sold.

“Over my tenure with the place, I think we sold seven million pounds worth of beer,” he says, adding with a grin: “They loved me”.

Purchasing the venue’s lease allowed Parkes to put on bigger and bigger shows, However, there were dips along the way, including a personal bankruptcy when the bank foreclosed on him around the time of the Gulf War in the early 90s. “We lost a lot of bookings, and they panicked,” he sighs. “I ended up losing my house. But I was young and single, and given the chance I’d do it all again.”

Following a run that included Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones, Parkes sold up in 1997. The Academy had additionally begun putting on raves, which wasn’t his cup of tea. When plans for a summer music festival were unexpectedly torpedoed by the suicide of Kurt Cobain, Parkes admits: “I had achieved everything I could with the venue, and after the festival collapsed, so did my enthusiasm. I hung up my boots.”

Long after Parkes had departed, the Academy made headlines for all of the wrong reasons. It was shut for 16 months after two people died and others were injured during a crush in December 2022. “The whole thing was tragic, as people lost their lives, but I’m glad that the venue wasn’t closed down permanently, as I believe that it changed Brixton for the better,” he says. “And besides, too many live music venues are shutting their doors.”

It has been reported that the UK now loses a grassroots venue every fortnight. “It’s all very shortsighted, as live entertainment generates a significant amount of money for this country, which is also exported across the world,” Parkes points out.

“The play is flattering, and there’s a real hope that it will do well,” Parkes concludes. “There’s even talk of it being moved into the West End – even to Broadway, apparently.”

Brixton Calling runs from July 23 until August 16 at Southwark Playhouse, with shows Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, and also Tuesday and Saturday at 3pm. Tickets can be booked online.

It ends as it began: the sounds of rain and tolling bells, four boys from Birmingham together to make history. Back To The Beginning isn't just the farewell performance of the original members of Black Sabbath, it's also amongst the biggest and most important metal gigs of all time.

Even before kick-off, the streets of Aston are abuzz. Fans congregate in just about every direction, some heading off to see Ozzy's first home while others join huge queues for exclusive event merch. The sounds of Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper signal an unofficial start, Slipknot's Sid Wilson DJ'ing in an Aston Villa jersey between sets.

The actual start comes from a now Brent Hinds-less Mastodon. Kicking off with Black Tongue, new guitarist Nick Johnston seamlessly fits into the unit and they sound colossal as they launch into Blood And Thunder, feeling as ferocious as ever, before teeing up the first Sabbath cover of the day in Supernaut, drummer Brann Dailor going full Phil Collins as he belts out the verses while clattering the kit, only to be joined by Gojira's Mario Duplantier, Tool's Danny Carey and Slipknot's Eloy Casagrande.

It's a steady trickle of bodies for the first few bands, but the atmosphere is electric. Giant Villa/Sabbath beach balls fly around the crowd as Rival Sons sail out with some classic rock - and a mean but thoroughly faithful take on Electric Funeral - before Anthrax up the pace again in a short but oh-so-sweet set, Joey Belladonna leading big "whoah-ohs" on Indians before the thrashers offer a spiky rendition of Into The Void.

Halestorm break the Sabbath run by opting for a magnificent rendition of Ozzy's Perry Mason. It's already been a solid start to the day, but they feel a cut above, Lzzy exuding pure star charisma and power as her voice towers on Love Bites (So Do I) and Rain Your Blood On Me.

Lamb Of God are ferocious, seeming especially furious as they kick off pits to Laid To Rest, chased with anthem Redneck and a storming Children Of The Grave that sees Blythe chuck his shoes out into the crowd. It's a masterclass in pure, unbridled aggression and quite possibly takes the crown for best heavy performance of the day.

Changeovers are short, but not uneventful. Videos from well-wishers including Dolly Parton, Jonathan Davis, Ricky Gervais and Elton John pay tribute to Ozzy and Sabbath's influence, while compere Jason Momoa introduces many of the acts. There's also comedy clips that were once used as intro videos for Ozzy gigs; Ozzy spraying a super-soaker during the famous "Ezekiel 25:17" scene of Pulp Fiction, Ozzy replacing Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense...you get the picture. For all of Ozzy and Sabbath's status as supreme influences on metal, they've never been above poking fun at themselves, adding to the joy around the stadium.

It's not all joyous, however. The inclusion of Marilyn Manson among the well-wishers elicits boos from the crowd following well-publicised accusations against the singer. The boos return and even intensify when Disturbed's David Draiman joins the first supergroup of the day, presumably responding to controversy around the singer signing artillery while on a visit with the IDF in Israel last year.

They are thankfully blips in an otherwise triumphant event, however. The first supergroup performance brings together Lzzy Hale, Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, sometime Sabbath keyboardist Adam Wakeman and former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson alongside sometime Ozzy Osbourne band members Jake E. Lee and Mike Bordin; Bettencourt's tribute to footballer Diogo Jota, who was killed in a ar crash earlier in the week, gets an emotional response before the band have even played a note.

This all-star cast lead a glorious rendition of The Ultimate Sin, before Draiman replaces Hale on Shot In The Dark and Sweet Leaf, Anthrax's Scott Ian replacing Lee on the latter. For all the vocal disapporval Draiman receives, he seems to win over the crowd with his renditions and by the time he leaves, making room for Ugly Kid Joe's Whitfield Crane, Frank Bello and Sleep Token drummer II (in full costume, naturally), there's more love in the air as the band thump out Believer.

Of these supergroup performances, one shines brightest. Yungblud might be a surprising addition amidst the heavyweights of rock and metal, but his colossal take on Sabbath ballad Changes sets Villa Park alight, the crowd joining in for the first truly epic sing-along of the day.

A video of Jack Black covering Mr. Crowley follows, and when sets resume, it feels like we're into the big leagues. As Alice In Chains kick off with Man In The Box, you can feel the spectre of Iommi and Butler in the interplay between Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez, only getting more Sabbathian on Would? and a cover of Fairies Wear Boots; their set feels like a triumph.

Gojira sound massive in Villa Park, trumping just about everyone who came before them in terms of sheer grandeur. Stranded and Silvera rage hard, but the choice to repeat the Olympics performance of Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!) with Swiss-French soprano Marina Viotti astounds even without jets of flame and severed heads, managing to even outshine their stomping take on Under The Sun.

More supergroup performances follow. Tom Morello has served as the whole event's musical director, and steps on stage to cheers to introduce a "drum-off" between Blink-182's Travis Barker, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Chad Smith and Tool's Danny Carey, with bonus appearances from Nuno Betterncourt, sometime Ozzy bassist Rudy Sarzo and Morello himself on a clattering instrumental rendition of Symptom Of The Univers. It's a nice twist.

Sarzo, Morello and Carey are then joined by Billy Corgan, Tool's Adam Jones and former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing. The crowd response is rapturous; Priest were clear about how gutted they were not to be here celebrating in their hometown, so crushing takes on Breaking The Law and Sabbath's Snowblind makes it feel like they're here in spirit, if not in flesh.

Sammy Hagar offers a solid take on Flying High Again with Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith and Vernon Reid, but Rock Candy seems to fall flat, but things soon pick up: much like Sleep Token's II earlier in the day, Ghost's Papa V Perpetua is in full regalia for his take on Bark At The Moon, only helping to add to the inherent theatricality of that song in a delightful way.

But then Steven Tyler steps up with Ronnie Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo and Travis Barker, and the place erupts, Tyler's take on The Train Kept A-Rollin' nothing short of magic. Leaning hard on the mic like he's trying to fuse with it, he introduces a stompy Walk This Way before adding one last dash of love for Birmingham and the wider Midlands area by ripping out a stunning take on Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.

The controversy around the Pantera 'reunion' has long since died down and Phil Anselmo receives no obvious jeers as he takes to the stage and pays tribute to the Abbott Brothers. Instead, fans clearly revel the opportunity to belt out Walk after intro Cowboys From Hell, while Jason Momoa sheds his jacket after introducing the band and jumps down into the crowd to find a moshpit.

You never know what you're going to get with Tool, but sticking to the old school in the choices of their own songs - Forty Six & 2 and Ænema - they sound tremendously bizarre and all-conquering in Villa Park. Their take on Hand Of Doom might be the best cover of the day, too, the band subsuming Sabbath's original composition into their own weird world of prog metal jams and punk attitude.

Tool's meditative riffs are a contrast of extremes when stacked alongside Slayer. The thrash metal legends have already made a fantastic return to UK stages just a couple of days earlier, but there's still a renewed intensity and vigor to their performance as they slot a thrashy Wicked World cover amidst the likes of Disciple, War Ensemble, Raining Blood and Angel Of Death, inciting multiple massive pits.

Footage of Guns N' Roses in more recent times has definitely dulled some of the excitement around their reunion. Axl tickles the ivories for It's Alright before abandoning it partway through to pull out Sabbath's Never Say Die and Junior's Eyes. It says a lot about the lack of ego in this gig that they're going for such deep cuts, but isn't the most thrilling start. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is at least familiar enough to get some sing-alongs going, but Axl's falsetto has definitely seen better days even when he perks things up with a roar of "DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE" to introduce Welcome To The Jungle and Paradise City.

Metallica could have filled this stadium on their own, but their appearance on this bill is testament to Sabbath's influence. "Without Black Sabbath, there would be no Metallica," James Hetfield insists after an absolutely ripping Hole In The Sky. From there, they're staying old school; Creeping Death and For Whom The Bell Tolls are still two of metal's most thrilling metal anthems, while their own take on deep cut Johnny Blade feels in keeping with a band who can do whatever the fuck they like. Closing on Battery and Master Of Puppets, Metallica could otherwise have ruled the day.

"Six fucking years I've been laid up!" He might be confined to an ornate throne, but there isn't a soul in Villa Park who isn't ecstatic at the live return of Ozzy Osbourne. The singer's battle with health issues has been well-documented and just about every statement he's made over the past few years has spoken about just how much it means to him to be on-stage, but it's not until he's actually there, thanking fans and getting tearful ("you've got no fucking idea what this means to me") that it sinks in just how emotionally resonant this is.

As Zakk Wylde strikes up the chugging riff of I Don't Know, it all comes together like magic. Sure, Ozzy isn't pacing around like a barely constrained animal, but he's hardly expressionless either. Gurning, grinning and lifting himself up on the seat, he's arguably never looked more like metal's most beloved madman.

The chants of "Ozzy!" are thunderous, but die off whenever the singer speaks. He's not always the clearest, but the meaning is understood: thank you, god bless you, I'm so fucking happy. Continuing on, the band rip out Mr. Crowley and Suicide Solution with a 40,000 backing choir, and the set hits its emotional peak with 1991 ballad Mama I'm Coming Home. One punter next to us sums up the mood: "I think it's broken my eyes."

There's no time to get too weepy yet, though, as there's another set to come - but not before Ozzy picks the crowd back up with a farewell rendition of Crazy Train.

It's been 20 years since the original Black Sabbath played together, and in many ways their appearance in Aston, just a short walk from their childhood homes, feels like the balance has been redressed since Ward was left off the band's last reunion.

It's an unbelievable way to go out. The opening notes of Black Sabbath announce their arrival to the stage, but the band quickly change track to the colossal War Pigs.

It's a fitting way to reintroduce Bill Ward, whose drumming has always been wholly unique even in the genre he helped invent. Granted, the faster, more skittering jazz approach he had in his younger years isn't apparent - this is a slower, more precise take on it all - but it hardly matters. It's pure ecstasy.

Next up, it's Geezer Butler's time to shine. The lurching bass of N.I.B. still feels infernally magic even after 55 years, the Satanic menace lurking beneath the surface in heavy metal helping extricate it completely from the heartbreak-blues rock and good-times grooves of 70s rock.

Tony Iommi's riffs never struggle for the spotlight in Sabbath, but the trudging, leaden stomp of Iron Man feels like the ultimate payoff for his damaged digits; even Ozzy's maniacal face-pulling can't detract from its sheer malevolence.

Which leaves us with the final song, the last triumph. Paranoid was the first UK metal album to go to number 1, so it's fitting that the title-track is the last the members of Black Sabbath will ever share on-stage. Ozzy has to contend with a euphoric crowd for sheer volume and force. His insistence that everybody "Go fucking crazy, this is the last one!" is very much heeded and as fireworks light the sky over Aston, heavy metal's original heroes bow out. Their story has been one of triumph - over poverty, over illness, over the world. But back home in Birmingham, they return - and depart - as conquering champions.

To see the full list of songs and performers, check out our extensive run-through.

Another year, another absolute banger of a Glasto officially behind us. With the world's most celebrated music festival now taking its traditional two-year break, we won't be able to set foot on Worthy Farm again until 2027, so indulge us as we wallow in some instant nostalgia and celebrate our favourite moments from a vintage year in the Pilton sunshine.

Native James brings System Of A Down to Glastonbury

Not literally. That would be batshit. But grime metal star-in-waiting Native James sparked the first mosh pits of Glasto 2025 when he brought his irrepressible mash-up of hard-hitting rap and bouncy nu metal to two separate sets on Friday. The second saw him play to hundreds of people over on the Greenpeace stage for a raucous hour, culminating in a perfectly deployed cover of early System Of A Down rager War?. Lovely stuff.

Ironic sparks one of the biggest Pyramid singalongs ever

It's pretty much ironed on that you're gonna get some big-ass singalongs at Glastonbury, but the lung-bursting scenes that greeted Alanis Morissette busting out one of the biggest songs of the 90s were something else. Honestly, we could have picked at least three other tracks from her brilliant Pyramid set here - You Oughta Know runs it mighty close - but the smile beaming from the woman herself as she let the crowd take the mic showed just what a special moment this was.

Biffy give us all the feelings (and a sweet Brian Wilson tribute)

Few modern rock bands can pull on your heartstrings and your neck muscles with equal force like Biffy F'n Clyro, and Scotland's finest three-piece did exactly that with a warmly received set at the Pyramid Stage on Friday evening. There were a few highlights, but a cheeky crowbarring of God Only Knows into the middle of Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies to pay tribute to the recently departed Brian Wilson was a lovely touch.

Red Arrows and Common People

It was the worst-kept Glastonbury secret since...well...the last time a massive band played a 'surprise' slot on the Pyramid Stage, but that didn't stop Pulp's arrival on the scene being a pure, full-circle moment of glory. Almost exactly 30 years since they headlined the festival, Jarvis et al smashed out the classics - plus a couple of very decent new cuts - even managing to time Common People with a stunning fly-by from the Red Arrows.

The sign language interpreter at Amyl and the Sniffers being an absolute punk rock queen

Amyl and the Sniffers' boisterous Other Stage set pretty much stole the day on Saturday, such was the immediate and enduring bedlam that greeted their arrival. As great as the Aussies were, though, we have to give a shout out to this absolute hero, who signed her way through the quartet's set with the kind of punk rock energy we're channelling right now to survive our post-Glasto blues.

Turnstile bringing hardcore to Glasto

You never quite know how things are going to go when a 'proper' alternative band plays Glastonbury. Will it be a career-defining triumph on away soil, a fun curio or a bit of a mishit? Looking back, what were we even thinking? This is Turnstile we're talking about. Hardcore's most polished graduates obliterated a roasting hot Other Stage on Sunday afternoon, drawing some of the biggest and most enthusiastic pits ever seen on Worthy Farm soil. This is officially Turnstile's world now. We're all just moshing in it.

Uncle Robert comes out to jam with Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo made her Glastonbury headline debut count with a raucously entertaining set of angsty alt-pop bangers, but bringing out Robert Smith - a man she described as "perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England" - to jam two Cure classics was a classy touch that went down a storm with the Pyramid Stage crowd. Goths the world over approved.

The Prodigy pay emotional tribute to Keef

The Prodigy carved their names into Glastonbury lore with two incendiary performances in the 90s, before returning to headline the Other Stage in 2009. Their first Glasto appearance for 16 years would be special regardless, but it marking their first slot there since the shocking death of Keith Flint made it all the more emotional. A classy tribute to 'Keef' during Firestarter that saw an iconic silhouette take over the Other Stage screens was a rare moment of true poignancy during a set that was otherwise standard Prodigy chaos. Now can we do all this again next year? Oh? We can't? Bollocks.

Glastonbury may have wrapped up, but there's still loads of archived sets and highlights available throughout July. Here's how you can rewatch Glastonbury 2025 - from anywhere.

For almost half a century, Iron Maiden have been singing about how they’re gonna getcha, no matter how far. Tonight, their fans have saved them the trouble of searching. 75,000 have descended upon London Stadium, grounds of bassist Steve Harris’ beloved West Ham and a stone’s throw from where he formed his heavy metal titans, to witness a homecoming for the ages.

’Arry and the boys have returned as part of their 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives tour, which is seeing them pull out material from their first nine albums, 1980’s Iron Maiden to 1992’s Fear Of The Dark. As nostalgic as that means this evening’s setlist will be, it will be performed by a band refreshed. Simon Dawson joins them behind the kit, filling in for longtime drummer Nicko McBrain following his retirement from the stage last year, and the slideshow of massive posters they used to haul along has been replaced with a high-tech video backdrop.

It takes a while for Maiden to realise the full, larger-than-life potential of their new production. With opener Murders In The Rue Morgue, they begin a trilogy of cuts from second album Killers, throwing back to their East London, punk-flecked roots. The Paul Di’Anno-era lyrics, relayed via the air raid siren that is current singer Bruce Dickinson, are grimy and streetwise: a far cry from the fantasy the band would fully embrace once Dickinson came aboard in 1981.

It’s with Phantom Of The Opera that proceedings hit their theatrical stride. Dickinson is jokingly exhausted as he acknowledges the “50 bloody years” on him and his colleagues’ mileometer. Then, the ‘curtain’ on the backdrop peels away to reveal images of a ghostly theatre stairwell. For all his banter about getting older, Dickinson powers through everything with a grace and a volume that belie his age, although a hyper-passionate crowd keeps up with him during megahits The Number Of The Beast and Run To The Hills.

As well as time-defying vocal cords, the singer has packed his most robust wardrobe to date. Of course, he sports the classic Crimean War uniform for The Trooper, plus that mask he bought at a sex shop for Powerslave (google it), but Hallowed Be Thy Name finds him aptly locked in a cage as he sings from the perspective of a prisoner en route to the gallows. The backdrop takes over after he disappears side-stage, depicting a digital Dickinson being chased to his death by a shadowy ghoul.

As for Dawson – with no disrespect to McBrain, who powered through Maiden’s previous tour after suffering a mini-stroke in 2023 – his presence re-energises everyone else. The more direct attacks in Maiden’s repertoire land with a force unfelt in some time, especially The Clairvoyant and the anthemic 2 Minutes To Midnight. The main set ends with a thrashed-up take on the band’s namesake track, during which an avatar of Eddie The Head dominates the screen and ‘pulls the plug’ to send sparks flying.

Things power back up for an encore, and finale Wasted Years lets London disperse in high spirits. “Realise you’re living in your golden years!” the lyrics command, before Dickinson makes it clear that he’s doing just that, grinning while calling tonight’s audience his “best friends”. After returning to Maiden’s birthplace for a mammoth show and playing in magnificent form, it’s easy to understand why he’s so bloody happy.

Iron Maiden setlist: London Stadium – June 28, 2025

Murders In The Rue Morgue
Wrathchild
Killers
Phantom Of The Opera
The Number Of The Beast
The Clairvoyant
Powerslave
2 Minutes To Midnight
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Run To The Hills
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
The Trooper
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden

Encore:
Aces High
Fear Of The Dark
Wasted Years