It's been a minute since we've heard from Nandi Bushell - who basically won the internet in 2020 - posting videos of her original songs, covers, and a drum battle with Dave Grohl.  

But the fierce AF 10-year-old is back at it - this time laying down an amazing cover of Muse's Plug and Play ... and yes - she plays all the instruments

She called the song one of the hardest projects yet - 

“The guitar and bass are so fast I really had to practice a lot to get my playing up to speed.  Everything you hear is me. No backing tracks. I recorded each track using Logic Pro. This is my third Muse cover now. I want to be able to play like all three members of Muse: Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard.”

Well - seems the band took notice of the cover - and sent her a gift - one of frontman Matt Bellamy’s signature Manson MBM?1 guitars.

The guitar came with a note - “Hi Nandi, love the new covers ... Thought you might like to perform some on my signature model. Best wishes, from Matt and the guitar team.”

I think she liked it - exclaiming - “Thank you, thank you, thank you Matt Bellamy for giving me your signature guitar! I love Muse and hope to jam with you, Dom and Chris one day, too.”

Garbage have announced that their seventh studio album No Gods No Masters - will be released on June 11th via Stunvolume/Infectious Music.

Along with the announcements - the band released the album's first single and opening track “The Men Who Rule the World”.  The politically charged song (which has some St Vincent vibes going in) addresses the issues of  capitalism, racism, sexism, and misogyny happening daily around the world.

Garbage - The Men Who Rule The World 

Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson said of the album: 

“This is our seventh record, the significant numerology of which affected the DNA of its content: the seven virtues, the seven sorrows, and the seven deadly sins.  It was our way of trying to make sense of how fucking nuts the world is and the astounding chaos we find ourselves in. It’s the record we felt that we had to make at this time.”

The album is the band's first LP since 2016’s Strange Little Birds.

Fans wanting to see Pearl Jam live in concert will have to wait another year :/ 

Photo: @redtesssanchez

The band has postponed their summer 2021 tour dates to summer 2022 ... and one would assume the same will happen to the never rescheduled US tour dates. 

Fans wanting to see a Pearl Jam concert - won't have to wait quite long - as a way of thanking fans for their patience - the band will stream their 2010 London gig for free.

As a thank you to fans for their patience during these times, Pearl Jam will offer a free video stream of the band’s 2010 Hard Rock Calling Festival (Hyde Park, London) concert, in support of their 2009 release, Backspacer.

The stream will run from Friday, April 2nd at 8 PM ET through Monday, April 5th at 11:59 PM ET on Pearl Jam’s YouTube and Facebook as well as on nugs.net. There will be no cost to stream this performance. 

This 27-song show was professionally filmed by the Hard Rock Calling crew and the audio was remixed by Gigaton producer, Josh Evans. “Red Mosquito” features guest Ben Harper on slide guitar.

 

Here's to hoping this is the last postponement and we get those US dates sooner than later! 

Rather than guitar power chords - Weezer's latest album is chock full of piano and orchestral arrangements. 

Since the band hasn't been able to tour to support the album (yet - their show in DC with Fall Out Boy and Green Day is still scheduled for August 8, 2021) they have decided to give a live preview of the album - with a twist.

The band will perform the album in full (along with some other songs from their extensive library) with help from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. 

The stream goes live April 16 at 9 PM ET (along with some other times for viewers in Asia and Australia).  Tickets are on sale now HERE

Jack White has a penchant for playing some unconventional pop up shows - he's shown up at baseball fields, record stores, and high schools to play impromptu shows.  

But in 2003 - the new to the scene  White Stripes may have played their most wholesome pop up - at a New Zealand elementary school.  

Check out the recently unearthed video of the band performing  (the kid friendly) “We’re Going To Be Friends" 

The White Stripes - We're Going to Be Friends (Live at Freeman's Bay Primary School)

Jack White later turned the song into an adorable children's book.

With all this waxing nostalgic around the release of The White Stripes Greatest Hits album - we have a small glimmer of hope that Jack and Meg will finally reconnect and play some shows again. 

On April 1 - The Lumineers will debut  a special double feature in movie theaters - consisting of a full-length concert film, The Lumineers: Live from the Artists Den and  III, the acclaimed companion film to the prolific folk-rockers’ landmark album of the same name.  

 The Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz commented: 

“Pairing our Artists Den show from the Kings Theatre with the film III, the motion picture companion to our album of the same name, is truly special ... We are excited to partner with CineLife to bring our film to the world, providing a unique night of both a live show and a visual album.”

The Lumineers: Live from the Artists Den will be shown in the DMV at Cinnemark theaters in Towson and Arundel Mills plus Angelika Mosaic in Northern Virginia.  You can get tickets and more info HERE

Last year, when live music went 'on hiatus' - Perry Farrell told KERRANG Magazine: 

“Live music will endure, and I want to put together the best party to make people happy and entertain them. It doesn’t always have to be a gigantic spectacle either. If you put together a quality gathering, it guarantees you eternity.”

Over the weekend - the Lollapalooza founder took to twitter to give us a double dose of good news - he got his COVID vaccination and that he'll see us "at Lollapalooza… soon!”   

My heart smiled a little more this morning. We’re growing closer. pic.twitter.com/jSEU4gKmnR

— Perry Farrell (@perryfarrell) March 20, 2021

So could we see a return of music festivals this summer?  2021 dates for the Chicago (and worldwide) festival have not yet been revealed but after the 2020 event was cancelled - team Lollapalooza said in a statement, ?“Rest assured, we will be working hard behind the scenes to deliver Chicago a spectacular celebration of Lollapalooza’s 30^th anniversary in the summer of 2021, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you.”

You know that person who shows up everywhere with their acoustic guitar and asks you to  listen to their songs?  Well maybe you should give them a chance before telling them no immediately ... you never know who they might turn out to be.  

Before Black Pumas were Grammy nominees - heck before Eric Burton moved to Austin and met  Adrian Quesada and formed a band together - he was busy busking and playing backyard BBQs.  

Luckily - a friend decided to film one of those performances - and the band has recently shared the 2014 of Eric perforning a stripped-down version of the song “Colors” : 

Eric Burton (of Black Pumas) - Colors (Live in 2014)

OK - so maybe not EVERYONE who asks you to listen to their music will turn out to be a Grammy nominee - but you never know ... 

One half of the musical duo Hall and Oates - John Oates and his wife Aimee will host a star-studded virtual fundraiser this weekend - “Oates Song Fest 7908” 

The show will feature Dave Grohl, Daryl Hall, Bob Weir, Sammy Hagar, Jim James, Keb Mo, Shawn Colvin, Michael Franti, Big Kenny, Malina Moye,  Sheila E.,  Jim Lauderdale Dan + Shay,   Michael McDonald, Darius Rucker,  Sara Bareilles,  Gavin DeGraw,  Jewel, Matt Nathanson, Infinity Song, Louis York , and Quinn Sullivan. 

Plus, celebrity guest appearances by Tichina Arnold, Monica, Angie Harmon, Mike Wolf (American Pickers), The Professor (Basketball Genius), Hayley Orrantia (Goldbergs), Margo Rey.

 John’s co-host for the evening -  the mysterious, mystical and musical internet sensation saxophone playing Sasquatch -  Saxsquatch.

During the broadcast of “Oates Song Fest 7908” viewers will be able to donate to the organization - Feeding America.  

Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot is grateful for the event

“We estimate approximately 50 million people could face food insecurity due to the ongoing economic fallout from COVID-19 and recovery will be long ... We are deeply grateful to John & Aimee Oates and all of the participants of Oates Song Fest 7908 for helping to raise awareness and funds to continue our support for our neighbors in need.”

 

The show will stream live on NugsTV on March 20th at 8pm - you can view it HERE

Irish rock icons - U2 - have announced an archival concert series -  'U2: The Virtual Road'. The series of four live shows,  with enhanced visuals and remastered audio, will broadcast on the band's YouTube channel.

The shows being streamed: 

Wednesday 17 March - U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle - IRELAND 2001

Thursday 25 March - U2: Live At Red Rocks, Denver, Colorado - USA 1983

Thursday 1 April - Popmart: Live From Mexico City - MEXICO 1997

Saturday 10 April -  iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE: Live in Paris - FRANCE 2015

The band says: 

Every show is memorable for us but these four particularly so… It's exciting to be on the road again… Embracing all the wonder of the virtual road…

U2 – The Virtual Road – Starting March 17 (Trailer)

The band has enlisted Dermot Kennedy, Fontaines D.C., Carla Morrison and Feu! Chatterton to exclusive opening act performances

One year ago on Wednesday (3/17), when the coronavirus lockdown had just kicked in for many Americans, people were looking ways to occupy their time  - including the musicians who's touring live was instantly put on hold.     

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie decided to use his time to live stream  a series of solo livestream sets. He was a pioneer of the live streaming content we have all become accustomed to these days.   The streams continued daily and featured some amazing renditions of songs from his personal catalog and covers as well 

Ben Gibbard: Live From Home (3/17/20)

To mark the one year anniversary of his first streaming show -  will be doing doing another "Live From Home" set, on Wednesday, March 17 at 7 PM ET. It'll air on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch, and you can also RSVP to watch it below: 

Ben Gibbard: Live From Home (3/17/21)

We would like to thank Ben and all of the other artists that have provided us streaming content of the past year- helping to make it a little more bearable

Throughout the pandemic - comedian Jordan Olds has kept busy with his weekly web series  Two Minutes To Late Night  - featuring clever covers of non metal songs redone in a totla metal fashion.  

This week’s video is pretty much peack juxtaposition - featuring a medley of ’90s techno tracks and is quite  fittingly called “NOW That’s What I Call A Metal 90’s Club Mix.”

 Sleigh Bells’ Alexis Krauss takes the reins on most of the tracks - including  Alice DJ’s “Better Off Alone” and DJ Sammy’s “Heaven”  and  Vengaboys’ “We Like To Party! (The Vengabus).”

Amazing  .... 

NOW That's What I Call a Metal 90's Club Mix

Thank goodness for the internet to keep us mindlessyly entertained ! 

Brandi Carlile performed an amazing cover  “I Remember Everything” by the late John Prine at the 2021 Grammy Awards to honor  the late singer-songwriter, who died last April of COVID-19 complications at age 73. 

Today - Carlile released her studio recording ofthe song that will appear on the upcoming tribute album Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol 2.

I Remember Everything

The song - was Prine's final recording - and won two Grammy's at the 2021 award ceremony 

Dialing the wrong number - we've all done it ... and when you assume how massive the contact list in Dave Grohl's phone probably is - it's no surprise to learn that he once dialed up the wrong person ... to produce Foo Fighter's 4th album - One By One

In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe (watch it below), Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins reveals how Dave ?“accidentally called the wrong Nick” one day.  

Dave actually wanted to dial up Queens Of The Stone Age?’s Nick Oliveri for the job ... but he hit the wrong Nick and called Nick Raskulinecz.

Dave explains: 

“I meant to call Nick Oliveri, who was the bass player of Queens Of The Stone Age, and my friend Nick Raskulinecz answered ... I knew him from Sound City, he’s a great engineer. He had worked at that studio for years…”

Taylor adds 

“Dave accidentally called the wrong Nick ... Nick Raskulinecz showed up and that guy who produced it and he just was a great cheerleader for us, you know? And, he really was enthusiastic about us.”

The band just rolled with the misstep - because as Dave says -  “This is how we work, dude!”

 The album, which includes the successful singles "All My Life" and "Times Like These", sold over one million copies in the United States and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2004

Sharon Van Etten has announced a reissue of her 2010 LP epic ... with a twist - it will be released as a double album with the firs side being  original record and the second - an LP of artists covering the album's tracks.  Artists doing the covering include Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, Big Red Machine (Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner of The National), and Courtney Barnett.  

“epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist,” Van Etten said in press materials. She continued:

Going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.

epic Ten is out digitally April 16 and physically June 11 via Ba Da Bing.  She will share one of the album’s cover songs Each Thursday leading up to epic Ten’s release.  

The first cover we've heard from the project is Big Red Machine's take on A Crime: 

A Crime (By Big Red Machine)

The full track list for epic Ten covers:

1. “A Crime”—Big Red Machine

2. “Peace Signs”—IDLES

3. “Save Yourself”—Lucinda Williams

4. “DsharpG”—Shamir

5. “Don’t Do It”—Courtney Barnett (ft. Vagabon)

6. “One Day”—St. Panther

7. “Love More”—Fiona Apple

With so many artists couped up at home and writing music for most of 2020 - we are in store for a big year of releases.  One of those anticipated records is from Annie Clark - aka St Vincent - who began teasing a new record earlier this month with some good ol' fashioned wheat pasted posters 

Followed up with some more current social media teases ... 

Hello? pic.twitter.com/xqfkZoNzUh

— St. Vincent (@st_vincent) March 2, 2021

Based on the imagery - we figured St Vincent was going to reinvent her sound and style up again - and we were right - she's traded in the latex dominatrix vibe from Masseduction for a slinky 70's vibe on the new record, Daddy's Home (due out May 14 via Loma Vista Recordings)

 Clark explained the loose concept behind her sixth album in a statement:

“Daddy’s Home collects stories of being down and out in downtown NYC. Last night’s heels on the morning train. Glamour that’s been up for three days straight...Music made in sepia-toned downtown New York from 1971-1975. Gritty. Grimy. Sleazy,”

You surly get the 70s vibe in the lead single - there's some Bowie, some Prince, some New York Dolls ... and it's all amazing  

St. Vincent - Pay Your Way In Pain  

 Losing your wallet can be a major inconvenience ... finding the lost wallet can make you break out in song! And that's just what happened to Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando

Dando recently lost his wallet in Cape Cod, MA and took to internet (the solver of all mystereies these days)  to help track it down.  Dando tweeted out: 

I dropped my wallet with my drivers license and two debit cards in it . i was walking from the mariner hotel to the palmer lot

— Evan Dando (@Evan_Dando) February 27, 2021

The internet did its thing - and Twitter user and Walgreens employee Mike Ghelfi let Evan know his wallet turned up at the store. “I work at Walgreens in Falmouth and your wallet was just turned in to us. I’ll keep it in the office safe until you can get it.”

Dando was so appreciative of the good samaritan - he gave the Walgreens staff   an impromptu serenade in the potato chip section - notcie the abundance of UTZ chips and not Cape Cod chips. Check out the performace of the  It's a Shame About Ray cut "Confetti," which Gelfi tweeted out: 

Just had a special guest appearance at Walgreens by artist @Evan_Dando (lead singer of the group the Lemonheads). Thank you Evan, you sounded great as always! pic.twitter.com/GB6XOBPfnS

— Mike Ghelfi (@GhelfiPC93) March 1, 2021

ITS HAPPENING!! I’m gonna play a full band show on an actual stage for the first time in a year!

Yeah - Brandi Carlile seems a little excited about the news that was shared this week - she will be playing  a special pay-per-view livestream from the Ryman Auditorium, marking her first full-band performance since the COVID-19 crisis began.  The same room she hosted a six night residency in 2020 .... before 2020- ya know - 2020'd. 

It feels like much more than a year since we played those six sold-out shows at the Ryman!  Since we can’t do it in person again quite yet, we're dusting off our rock-n-roll clothes and heading to the Ryman for our first full-band livestream show! The Looking Out Foundation will donate $2 from each ticket sold to benefit two very important causes in Nashville: The Rainey Day Fund (www.raineydayfund.org) and Fanny's School of Music (www.fannysschoolofmusic.org).

Additionally, funds raised from this livestream will continue to go to support Brandi's band and crew.

Purchase tickets to the show - that will remain available for rewatch until 11:59pm CT on April 11 - HERE 

In an effort to support mobile COVID 19 vaccination efforts, Linda Perry (of of 4 Non Blondes fame)  has teamed up with CORE Response for a benefit festival that will be live streamed this week  (March 5 and 6) on TWITCH . The two-day fundraiser event will feature performances and appearances by artists including Linda Perry, Foo Fighters, Perry Farrell, Carly Simon, Sheryl Crow, Silversun Pickups, SHAED, Dawes,  Kevin Bacon, and many more.

“As a mother and fellow member of this community, I wanted to do something to lift spirits and send a positive message of hope and humanity to all the healthcare workers and those on the front lines, as well as raise awareness and funds to support CORE and their relief efforts ... When I first put the word out, many jumped on board to contribute; we had over 150 bands submit to play… Our goal is to do everything we can to thank CORE and the self-sacrificing people who keep us safe during this unprecedented crisis.”

The event will be will be streamed over Twitch on March 5 and 6.

On March 1, 1994, Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear played live with Nirvana for the very last time.  

The 23 song show took place at Terminal Einz, a 3,050-capacity hanger in Munich, Germany. 

Midway through the set - there was an issue with the venues electricity - prompting bassist Krist Novoselic to comment:

“We’re not playing the Munich Enormodome tonight. Because our careers are on the wane. We’re on the way out. Grunge is dead. Nirvana’s over… Our next record’s going to be a hip-hop record!” 

 

Throughout the show - it was clear all was not well with Kurt -he was pushing through from recent bronchitis and laryngitis issues ...  The last words uttered onstage were a simple, ?‘Well, thank you.’ 

Following the show - under doctor’s orders - the band canceled the remainder of their   European tour. Three days later in Rome while Cobain slipped into an overdose-induced coma.  A little over a month later - on  April 5 - his body was discovered at his home in Lake Washington Boulevard, where he died by suicide at the age of 27.

Nirvana - My Best Friend's Girl (Live In Munich, Germany/1994)

Nirvana - Drain You (Live In Munich, Germany/1994)

Nirvana´s Last Song At Their Last Show. Original Record ´94. Heart Shaped Box

Nirvana’s setlist from their final show

My Best Friend’s Girl (The Cars cover – Moving In Stereo by The Cars was sung by Krist and Kurt as an outro)
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Drain You
Breed
Serve The Servants
Come As You Are (aborted due to power failure and played again)
Dumb
In Bloom
About A Girl
Lithium
Pennyroyal Tea School
Polly (Acoustic)
Very Ape
Lounge Act
Rape Me
Territorial Pissings

Encore

The Man Who Sold The World (David Bowie cover)
All Apologies
On A Plain
Blew
Heart-Shaped Box