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German modern metalcore outfit VENUES open the door to an entirely new chapter with their brand new single EDEN, a fierce and deeply personal statement of liberation featuring an explosive guest performance from The Oklahoma Kid vocalist Tobias Rische, formerly of Alazka and Novelists. More than simply a new song, EDEN represents a breaking point […]

Canadian hardcore heavyweights GET THE SHOT return with a devastating new single, CRUCIFIXION DEPICTION, a brutal and deeply personal confrontation with loss, failure and the painful death of a dream. The track also marks the launch of the pre-order for the band’s upcoming EP of the same name, CRUCIFIXION DEPICTION, set for release on October […]

Review by Jordan West
Photos by Ron Lyon

On a day that all of us will be reflective of the events that took place long ago on this date, I thought it was interesting that Gustav Holst’s “Mars the Bringer of War” served as the intro music for the evening’s headliner. Maybe I’m just a bit sensitive about that subject, but I am passionate about things that affect me, be it good or bad. That being said, bands like Deep Purple and Kansas, and the music they have produced, has always been kept close to my heart. They have been around a long time, in many shapes and forms, and still to continue to make me smile.

Despite the retirements from the road of original drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams, leaving them with no original members, opener Kansas have continued to move forward. Despite taking time off to recover from thyroid cancer surgery, singer/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, who has fronted the band since 2014, is about as enthusiastic and solid as a classic rock singer there is. The band opened with the title track of their 1977 Point of Know Return release and sounded great. “Are ya kidding me, me Long Beach? Welcome to Kansas! Platt excitedly exclaimed to the still arriving crowd, as he stepped off the riser that held his keyboard setup and led the band in playing “Paradox” another great track from Point of Know Return.

The band, now featuring Tom Brislin on keyboards and vocals, guitarists Zak Rizvi and Scott Bernard, drummer Eric Holmquist, bassist/vocalist Dan McGowan, and violinist/vocalist Joe Deninzon, were excellent and very tight. They literally nailed every note. They would have to, as Platt exclaimed as he prefaced the intricate “Child of Innocence” as being one of the more difficult songs that Kansas performs. Outside of the brilliance of the instrumental performances Kansas now features 6 members who can sing, and at this point in their career, helping out vocal-wise is very important.

Another song with plenty of musical changes was the title track for their second album Song For America  that gave drummer Holmquist quite a workout. He’s very solid, and can channel original drummer Phil Ehart’s every move and tempo change. The band is VERY well rehearsed and had no problem pulling this one off, and it was impressive to hear and see. In other words, they were “on point” (of no return, perhaps?).

Ronnie Platt prefaced the hit ballad “Dust In The Wind” by telling a story about original Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren’s creation of the song, which initially began with a finger-picking exercise. The crowd sang along with the chorus, reminding many of us, what a huge radio hit it was when it was released, way back in 1977.  “Down The Road” from Song For America was dedicated to the late Kansas violinist and singer Robby Steinhardt and gave the band a chance for individual spotlight as they turned it in to an all-out jam. This led in to the steady drumbeat and organ intro to one of my favorite Kansas numbers, “Portrait (He Knew).” How many times I have cranked this one up on the car stereo is beyond my comprehension, and got me thinking about how much great and listenable material this band has produced over the years. At songs end, Platt introduced the band members to a huge applause.

Kansas then closed out their set with a couple from their huge album from 1976, Leftoverture. The bouncy “Miracles Out of Nowhere” featured great vocals from both bassist Dan McGowan as well as Platt. And the lovely violin melody is the glue that keeps the song together. Predictably, Kansas mega-radio smash “Carry On Wayward Son” finished things off and brought the crowd to their feet, singing along and using their phones to capture plenty of shaky video’s. Although I was surprised to not hear anything from the band’s latest album, 2020’s outstanding and appropriately titled The Absence of Presence, credit is due to the current version of Kansas. They put on a great set and did the songs justice.

During Deep Purple’s intro, a video that included many images of the band, their album covers, and such, played on a huge screen at the back of the stage. To the right of the stage, (stage left to be precise…) was the majestic retired ocean liner The Queen Mary. Seeing that, and the Long Beach skyline, reflected on Long Beach Harbor behind it, adds to the uniqueness of the F&M Long Beach Amphitheater. It’s an impressive sight, and added to the fact that I would be surrounded by classics throughout the evening.

Immediately after the video ended, the familiar rumble of the long-time rhythm section of bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice provided the intro to the Deep Purple classic “Highway Star.” Soon, the sharp chords from guitarist Simon McBride and the gigantic sound of keyboardist Don Airey and his Hammond organ fill the arena and make the song swell to an apex that comes crashing down momentarily, before singer Ian Gillan, looking spry at the age of 81 years young, takes that microphone like he’s taking the wheel of a hot rod. This is exactly what the song is about. Even though the song was released in 1972, it never gets old. To me, it has always been the perfect opener to a rock concert.

Deep Purple has been on quite a run the last few years. They released a new record in 2026 entitled SPLAT!, the band’s sixth release since 2013 with producer Bob Ezrin. It’s been called their “heaviest record in years” by critics and I can’t argue with that. They did play three songs from that particular album, but this set compiled songs from a variety of their recorded material, both new and old. There were plenty of surprises for me, such as “Bit on the Side” and the British pub shuffle of “Lazy Sod” both from their 2024 Ezrin produced =1 that seemed to go over well with the curious crowd. Gillan, his eyes twinkling, joked about the latter song being “Number 1 in Scotland” when it was released.

Another unexpected surprise was the performance of and updated version of “Into the Fire” from 1970’s In Rock album. This was not a song I have ever heard them perform live. The band has updated the arrangement a bit, and it sounded great. Guitarist McBride and keyboardist Airey have really given Gillan, Paice, and  Glover a boost it seems, in terms of heaviness in the material the last few years. The first single from SPLAT!, “Arrogant Boy,” is very fast paced, and sounds very contemporary, and went over very well with the audience. The abrupt ending of the song made Gillan smile, and he laughingly exclaimed, “Those sudden endings get you every time!”

Airey has been a godsend for Deep Purple. His mastery of the keyboards is legendary, and long before he joined the band, he made his mark with many bands in the hierarchy of British rock. Making good on material from the late DP founder Jon Lord and expanding those sounds, he has succeeded in that quest. Airey soloed on his large rack of keys and it led into “Lazy” the Jon Lord workout from 1972’s Machine Head album. Paice, his drumming sounding like his days of yore, turns the song into a bluesy swing, and, combined with McBride’s stinging guitar, and Gillans vocals and harmonica, make it all the more enjoyable. By now, the band was really cooking. Paice and Glover were totally locked in and smiling at each other as they brought “Lazy” to a crescendo and its eventual ending.

It was then that Deep Purple took a complete “left turn” with the performance of the ballad “When a Blind Man Cries.” This B-side, which was initially left off Machine Head, has been known to be a favorite of Gillan. Unfortunately, his vocals sounded very strained during this soulful number and the song just sounded very dated to me. The droning pace (or Paice is it may be) was an extreme letdown after all the buildup and excitement of the material that was performed before it.

Fortunately, Deep Purple immediately regrouped after songs end and broke into the wonderful “Diablo” the second single from SPLAT! The driving, chunky guitar riffs of the song from McBride especially, brought to mind the “Steve Morse era” of Deep Purple, and hilariously featured a “valet” clad in short-shorts and a construction workers vest and safety helmet, who brought out a box onstage containing a harmonica for Gillan. The crowd loved it. Even the 20-something girl next to me asked me the name of the song when it was finished, and said she really enjoyed it.

Airey again took the spotlight and showed off his incredible skills once again. This time he included amongst other wizardry, a bit of the famous “Mr. Crowley” intro, that he wrote and performed for the late Ozzy Osbourne during his solo. This led into the famous organ intro to the title track of the 1984 Deep Purple Mk 3 “Comeback” album Perfect Strangers that brought out a huge roar from the crowd. Joe Deninzon, the extraordinary violinist for Kansas, joined the band for this one as well. Gillan did his best to duplicate his recorded vocal on the number, but alas, even with the song played about an octave lower than the original version, the octogenarian’s tone seemed a bit off.

But the 81-year-old Gillan is a true pro. He seemed to be still having a lot of fun onstage. His quips and joking between songs kept the smile on his face and kept his bandmates laughing as well. Roger Glover jumped to center stage and led the band into yet another classic from Machine Head, a stellar version of “Space Truckin’” that featured Ian Paice showing off his signature drum rolls that have been described by many contemporaries as some of the best and smoothest in rock.

“Smoke on the Water” which followed, seemed to have been reborn. This overplayed classic was solid, due to Paice and Glover’s letter-perfect drive, combined with McBride and Airey’s mighty tones, and kept the song chugging along. Gillan did his best to recreate the vocal style of Deep Purple’s live Made In Japan version and they mostly succeeded, as the band nailed the famous MIJ ending. McBride then jumped into the pit in front of the stage and presented a fan with a guitar, and posed for pictures with him.

Deep Purple then performed “Guinnesis” a “bonus track” from the SPLAT! sessions that is included on a “boxed set” of the recording. The song is a complete workout for the band and gives each member, sans Gillan, extended room in the spotlight, led by Airey and his keyboards. It was like witnessing an impromptu, but very tight, jam session and I loved it. The band seemed to be enjoying it as well, smiling as opposed to grimacing throughout the performance.

Gillan returned to the stage and led the band in its set-closer, an extended fun-filled-version of Deep Purples first big hit, the 1968 cover of Joe South’s “Hush.” The audience delighted in singing the “Na-Na-Na-Na’s” of the chorus and many were dancing in the aisles. The band, clearly inspired, improvised, and the clever interplay between McBride and Airey especially brought on a lot of unexpected bits of musical fun. I even noticed McBride riffing on a bit of The Simpsons theme song at one point. Glover even had a bit of spotlight for a bit. He and Paice are truly the force that drives this machine and it showed all evening.

“What an amazing evening. Magnifique” Gillan exclaimed as he thanked the audience before serenading them with a bit of Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene.” The band and audience were all smiles and clearly pleased with the performance of these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who clearly enjoy doing what they have done for well over 50 years.

Although the F&M Bank Amphitheater is in its inaugural season, and, among its issues, has very little onsite parking, it was a very comfortable evening in the LBC. The sound was great, the seating and site lines were adequate, and both acts were terrific. I saw nothing but smiles all around. Credit the legendary Deep Purple as well as Kansas for keeping fans like myself happy.

Roll up, roll up! The punk circus of your craziest dreams is coming to town. Live and direct from the underground party scene comes Cirque Le Strange by Oozing Future. This unforgettable collection of carnies and queers has to be seen to believed! Featuring surreal and unusual acts that test the limits of the human […]

Singer-songwriter Rick Springfield has spoken about killing a man during a visit to Vietnam in 1968. Springfield, who was 18 at the time and a member of the band Rockhouse, had been hired to entertain American troops and spent four months in the country.

“We had befriended some Navy guys at Marble Mountain, which is outside Da Nang,” Springfield tells Joe Rogan. “They wanted connection with home, so they’d take you into the tents, and we’d play Hendrix and get stoned, and even though we’re Australian, there still was a connection there.”

Springfield goes on to say that his band stayed overnight with the soldiers when their encampment was attacked by Viet Cong guerrillas, and he was invited to “throw some mortars down the tube.”

“It was John Wayne time, you know?” says Springfield. “I mean, as a young kid, I didn’t really understand what I was doing. I said, ‘Oh, yeah! Let’s fire a gun!’

In his 2010 autobiography Late, Late at Night: A Memoir, Springfield describes the action.

“There’s a loud whump as each mortar takes flight, then a shower of lethal red-hot sparks and blistering metal as it lands and erupts in the brush,” he writes. “A radio call comes in requesting a change of trajectory, so I drop more mortars down the tube and watch them detonate, alarmingly close to us. We stay up all night. How could we sleep?”

The following morning, Springfield was told that one of his mortars had hit a Viet Cong soldier.

“Everyone is jumping around and slapping me on the back,” Springfield wrote in his memoir. “I feel sick. Thinking of it now, I still do. All in all, not a real good day for anyone.”

“It’s hard for me to face that I was responsible for the end of a life, even though it’s distant and it’s war and I didn’t really have anything to do with it and didn’t really know what I was doing,” he tells Rogan. “But it’s pretty heavy when I think about the reality of it.”

Annette Funicello began her recording career in 1958 while she was still one of the most popular Mouseketeers on The Mickey Mouse Club. She had never considered herself much of a singer, but the response to “How Will I Know My Love” helped move her into a recording career with Disney. Working with producer Tutti Camarata, she developed the double-tracked vocal style that became known as “the Annette sound.” Her breakthrough came with “Tall Paul,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by hits including “O Dio Mio,” “First Name Initial,” and “Pineapple Princess.” Her records followed

The post 10 Annette Funicello Songs From the Mouseketeer and Beach Party Years appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Cheetah Chrome, founding guitarist with legendary Cleveland punks the Dead Boys, has died at the age of 71. The news was confirmed by the band in a social media post.

“We are incredibly sad to announce the news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Cheetah Chrome,” the band wrote. “Cheetah was a true original, an architect of the punk rock movement. A one-man hurricane tearing up the musical landscape with his feral guitar riffs and manic energy.

“Beyond all that, Cheetah was also just a really sweet guy who loved rock’n’roll. We extend our deepest condolences to Cheetah’s family, friends and fans around the world. His music lives on and will continue to inspire others for generations to come.”

Chrome – born Eugene Richard O’Connor in 1955 – joined cult Cleveland proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs in 1974, before hooking up with vocalist Stiv Bators, guitarist Jimmy Zero, bassist Jeff Magnum and drummer Johnny Blitz to form the Dead Boys the following year. In 1976, encouraged by Joey Ramone, they moved to New York and became a fixture in the nascent CBGB scene.

“We realised that there were a lot of people like us out there,” Chrome told Classic Rock. “Why it didn’t occur to us earlier, to just jump in the damn van and get a gig out of town… we weren’t rocket scientists, we were the Dead Boys.”

Armed with several sure-fire punk anthems from his Rocket From The Tombs days – Sonic Reducer, Down In Flames and What Love Is – the Dead Boys signed to The Ramones’ label, Sire Records, and recorded their debut album, Young, Loud And Snotty.

The album was not a commercial success, and the follow-up, We Have Come For Your Children – produced by ex-Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi – fared no better, although it did produce the classic Ain’t It Fun, later covered by Guns N’ Roses on The Spaghetti Incident?.

The Dead Boys broke up in 1979, but reformed several times over the following years for a series of ill-fated reunion dates as Chrome battled drug addiction.

“We had a hard time,” he told Classic Rock. “The reason that we broke up in the first place was because of reasons. So as soon as we were together for any length of time, they reared their ugly head. There was no management – we were it. And there were no band meetings, except for van rides. Who wants to argue for four hours in a van? It was unpleasant and stressful.”

In 2003, Chrome reformed Rocket from the Tombs with original frontman David Thomas (leader of post-punk band Pere Ubu), while Television guitarist Richard Lloyd filled in for original singer Peter Laughner, who had died in 1977. The band released two albums with Chrome in the band: Rocket Redux in 2004 and Barfly in 2011.

Six years later, the Dead Boys reformed with Jake Hout on vocals – Bators died in Paris in 1990 after being hit by a car – and released a re-recorded version of their debut album entitled Still Snotty: Young, Loud and Snotty At 40.

In late 2024, plans were announced for a new Dead Boys album featuring Chrome alongside Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums and Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) on bass, plus James Williamson (The Stooges) and Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks) making guest appearances. The band’s label, Cleopatra, revealed that the project would use cleaned-up early vocal demos from Bators, but the album has not yet materialised.

An official cause of death has not been confirmed.

No other act in the history of rock and roll seems more appropriate for the “bootleg” treatment than Velvet Underground. As purveyors of the proto-punk movement, the Velvet’s brand of raw, sexually charged, drug-addled, avant-garde rock aptly lends itself to the medium. In the case of Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes, we get a collection of recordings of a much more personal nature — a hardcore VU fan’s labor of love encouraged and extolled by the band itself.

The story goes that Robert Quine, who would later play guitar on some of Lou Reed’s solo albums, ducked into a couple of different venues in San Francisco during the band’s month-long visit, flipped the switch on his Sony cassette recorder, and with a single microphone proceeded to catch each and every note. While the sound quality suffers from the usual maladies, Quine managed to capture some truly remarkable performances.

With John Cale out of the picture, singer/songwriter/guitarist Lou Reed, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Maureen Tucker recruited bassist Doug Yule. The artsy edge of Cale’s eclectic tendencies set aside, the band adopted a more straightforward approach.

They remained as scorned and unpopular as ever. Their San Francisco engagements of 1969 almost stripped away the city’s flower powered veneer as completely as Altamont — but only a handful of people were there to witness it. The first disc chronicles the November 7 – 9 run at the Family Dog. While the hippies were somewhat oblivious, the Velvets belted out some sweltering sets that included Reed’s sordid tale of scoring drugs, “Waiting For The Man,” the out-of the-closet “What Goes On” and the thrusting finale from the second VU album, “Sister Ray.” Of note are the vocal contributions from Tucker on “After Hours” and “I’m Sticking With You” — which just goes to show that the group never stopped experimenting even when the end results failed to measure up.

The second and third discs traverse the Velvet’s stand at the Matrix, a small San Francisco club with even smaller audiences. Here is where Quine apparently struck up a relationship with the band. They aimlessly swing through “White Light / White Heat.” They attack “Heroin” with a Doors-like assault. A 38-minute version of “Sister Ray” has Reed and Yule battling it out on the frontline with a wielding guitar and organ exchange, while Morrison and Trucker vigorously push the rhythm forward. The drive behind “Rock and Roll” and “New Age,” both predating their appearance on Loaded, find the Velvets in an usually melodic state.

Only months later, this direction would destroy the band. At this point, however, the surrealism of “Black Angel’s Death Song,” the only Cale/Reed song from the Velvet Underground catalogue, packs enough sonic fire to transcend the commercial detours or inferior reproduction. Another heady version of “I’m Waiting For The Man,” along with a slow and roving “Ride Into The Sun,” would have brought the set to a suitable conclusion, but there’s a rousing bonus: a third installment of “Sister Ray” merged with “Foggy Notion” from a show at Washington University, St. Louis on May 11,1969.

Altogether, this three-disc box may dissuade the audiophiles in the crowd, but for the purists, completists, and lovers of no-nonsense rock and roll, Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes is a vital piece to one of rock’s most puzzling entities.

~ Shawn Perry

Purchase Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes

MISS MAY I — Levi Benton [vocals], Jerod Boyd [drums], Ryan Neff [bass], and Elisha Mullins [guitar ] — will unleash their new album NO PLACE FOR ME on October 2 via Solid State Records. Now, they are Highbrow Thieves. Actually, no, they’re not. That’s just the title of their new single. The track isn’t […]

London based Norwegian and Scottish duo amilost released their energetic new single “I Know Better” on September 11 via Icons Creating Evil Art. The track serves as the second preview from their forthcoming extended play How Scary Am I?, which is scheduled to arrive on March 12, 2027.

Musically, the new release pushes the Scandinavian pop foundations of the group into much heavier territory. Driven by explosive electric guitars, live drums, and thick electronic textures, the song builds around a massive chorus designed for crowd participation. Thematically, “I Know Better” operates as a fierce alt rock anthem about rejecting the expectations of others, trusting personal instincts, and reclaiming control over your own identity.

The post amilost Releases Defiant New Single “I Know Better” first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.