August 27th should be renamed Pearl Jam Day .. 

It was on this day in 1991 - the band released their incredible debut album Ten and in 1996 - their 4th album No Code.

And in 2021 - they've re-released the albums - in newly remixed digital exclusive editions, plus they’re streaming their legendary 2014 “No Code Show” .

Josh Evans, who produced the band's latest album, Gigaton, has given Ten and No Code an 'immersive' makeover using Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio. 

He said of the albums:

“These two albums sound amazing in the immersive format. For Ten, the goal was to create the best version of the record, bigger, wider and higher fidelity; now, it actually sounds as great coming out of your speakers as it does in your memory of hearing it the first time. 25 years ahead of its time, No Code almost sounds like it was intended to be an immersive album; experimental layers, nuance and raw aggression are all amplified and expanded in a simultaneously bigger and more intimate experience.”

You can access the stream of Ten HERE and No Code HERE.  

To make today even more special - the band has uploaded one of their most iconic shows to YouTube, 2014's “No Code Show” from Moline, Illinois.  What makes this show special? The band unexpectedly graced th crowd with a full performance of No Code,  debuted a song written just 10 minutes before the show called “Moline,” and covered Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive,” Jon Lennon’s “Imagine,” Van Halen’s “Eruption,” and Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s “Fuckin’ Up.”

Enjoy the free stream, presented by the Ten Club, through Monday, August 30th at 11:59 p.m. PT/2:59 a.m. ET.

“It happened!!!” and “It was EPIC!!!" 

That's how 11 year old musical phenom Nandi Bushell described the moment her dream of joining Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters on stage came true. 

 

 

 

 

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You may recall - the British drummer had been engaged in an online battle of the bands with Dave Grohl for the past year.  And at the Foos Los Angeles Forum show on August 26, she replaced Taylor Hawkins to play drums on Everlong.  And it was the best, the best, the best! 

All we can say is Nandi Bushell has officially won at the internet for 2021 .

Nathaniel Rateliff is back with his band The Night Sweats.  Not only will they be hitting the road this fall (including a stop at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 9/24) but they will also be releasing a new album The Future via the historic Stax Records. 

This week - the band debuted a new video for the album's first single “Survivor.”

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Survivor

The video premeire was accompanied by a livestream conversation with Nathaniel Rateliff and the video's director Brantley Gutierrez.

In addition to the video, Rateliff  released “The Survivor Fight Tee” to benefit The Marigold Project, his foundation dedicated to economic, social and racial justice. The shirt is now available for purchase.

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats will perform at Merriweather on Sept. 24 as part of Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival - along side Sturgil Simpson, Gov't Mule, and Mr. Nelson.  

News of the passing of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts this week shook the world.  Online tributes rolled in from fans around the world - including his own band mates.  

pic.twitter.com/MrPpJI0Hxd

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) August 24, 2021

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— Keith Richards (@officialKeef) August 24, 2021

This week- many bands have paid tribute to the legend by adding Rolling Stones covers into their concert sets.  

At a show in Boston on Tuesday night, Wilco ( along with Corin Tucker from Sleater-Kinney) surprised fans with a cover of “Honky Tonk Woman.”

Dave Matthews Band was in New Hampshire  on Tuesday night and gave the Stones a couple musical nods - adding covers of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Bitch” to their set.  

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit also busted out some Stones covers in Indianapolis - Check out footage of "Moonlight Mile" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"

Charlie Watts played his last song, Satisfaction, with the Rolling Stones at a 2019 show in Miami .. check it out here

25 years ago, REM released one of their more underappreciated albums - New Adventures in Hi-Fi - an album the band members consider 'the recorded album representative of the band at their peak'

This October - they will release a deluxe reissue of their longest recorded album  - complete with13 B-sides and rarities, a 64-minute outdoor projection film, a 52-page hardcover book, archival photographs, and liner notes from the band, as well as Patti Smith (who added vocals to lead single "E-Bow the Letter"), Radiohead's Thom Yorke (who says this is his favorite R.E.M. album and "Electrolite" was the greatest song of their career), and producer Scott Litt. 

Ahead of the release - the band has revealed one of those rarities - an alternate version of “Leave”

You can pre-order the record HERE

News of the passing of Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts is still settling in  ... the 80 year old  drummer joined  Stones in 1963 and is the only member besides Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to appear on every record.

He didn’t miss a single concert throughout his 58-year history in the band.

On the rain soaked night od August 30, 2019 - he played his last show with the band.  

The last song he played - Satisfaction 

The band is set to resume touring this fall - assuming they decide to go on and Covid doesn't derail the plans ... 

Another day - another Covid-Concert-Change ...

 Phoebe Bridgers, who's looking to play her first shows supporting he album Punisher, has announced  that all of her dates for this tour will be now at outdoor venues. The move is based on the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country

Here's her full statement:

In the interest of safety, I’ve decided to only play outdoors for the upcoming tour. We are moving all previously scheduled indoor shows to outdoor venues and we’ve needed to postpone shows in a couple cities so please check the updated schedule.

At my request, there are updated health and safety requirements. Entry will require proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Where that’s not permissible by law, we’ll agree to proof of vaccination OR proof of negative test result (PCR preferred/Antigen accepted) within 48 hours prior to entering those venues. 

And please wear a mask. I love you. See you soon.

Good news - if you were planning on seeing Phoebe at Firefly - that show is still on ... Bad news - if you were planning on seeing her in DC at The Anthem - that show has been postponed - with no new date announced yet 

After more than a year and half without a proper gig - The Killers, who's band doctor announced they had " tested extremely positive … for rock & roll!” returned to the stage this week at New York's Terminal 5 

“It’s so weird that we’re coming back to the stage,” Brandon Flowers said onstage  “There’s been a lot of trepidation”

 

 

 

 

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The band went on to play a blistering set that included tracks from their new album as well as fan favorites.  

The show was warm up for their appearance at the "WE LOVE NYC: The Homecoming Concert" in Central Park ... It'll be a while before the band comes to the DMV - they play DC at the Capital One Arena on September 29 2022

 

 

 

 

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The Killers @ Terminal 5 - 8/19/21 Setlist ]
Dying Breed
Spaceman
Human
Blowback
Smile Like You Mean It
Run for Cover
A Dustland Fairytale
Runaways
Read My Mind
In the Car Outside
All These Things That I've Done
Caution
Mr. Brightside

Encore:
The Man
Sleepwalker
When You Were Young

At the Video Music Awards next month (yes - they still exist) MTV will award its first ever “U.S. Global Icon Award” ... and before you ask - no, it is not going to Rob Dyrdek for his amazing work with Ridiculousness - it's going to Foo Fighters.

Dave and company will be honored for their “unparalleled career and continued impact” as well as their influence which has “maintained a unique level of global success in music and beyond.”

The VMAs will take place on Sept. 12 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where Foo Fighters will accept the award and perform.

Nathaniel Rateliff is back with his band The Night Sweats.  Not only will they be hitting the road this fall (including a stop at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 9/24) but they will also be releasing a new album The Future via the historic Stax Records. 

According to Mr Rateliff - the songs were written mid-pandemic at his new , Broken Creek Studio in Colorado:  

“I look at the album overall as a big question. When I was writing the record we were in the middle of a pandemic and our future looked pretty bleak. I just continue to try to write from a place of hope. Then my own neurosis, and maybe being a Libra gets in the way, and I can’t make up my mind. There is this constant back and forth battle in me personally and I am sure that comes out in my writing.”

Check out the album's first single “Survivor.”

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats will perform at Merriweather on Sept. 24 as part of Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival - along side Sturgil Simpson, Gov't Mule, and Mr. Nelson.  

Dave Matthews Band played two shows at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana.  Fans there there treated to something new ... new music.  The band debuted a new song on Friday titled “The Only Thing”

Photo: Shots From The Dark/ Lisa Walker 

Before playing the song - Dave exclaimed - “I don’t think I’ve ever played this song before”

Youtube user and video genius ChesterCopperpot5 compiled footage shot by eight fans with two pro taper audio sources to create a video of the new jam:

"The Only Thing" [Song Debut] - Dave Matthews Band - 8/13/21 - [Multicam/HQ-Audio] - Noblesville, IN

This is not the first song to be debuted on this tour - they've also debuted songs  “Walk Around The Moon” and “The Ocean & The Butterfly” - which will likely be on the band's new album that is in the works.  

Dave revealed this summer:  “I think we’re getting really close to being finished with it ... Maybe it will come out in a few months but I’m sure we’re gonna play the songs live.”

DMB plays Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland this weekend - will we hear a new track there?

Over the weekend - at a concert stop in her home state of Washington - Brandi Carlile was joined onstage by Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, and Matt Cameron - her friends who happen to be the surviving members of the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. 

The group performed Soundgarden’s classic “Black Hole Sun” and the band’s fan-favorite “Searching with My Good Eye Closed” .  

Brandi Carlile and Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Brandi Carlile & Soundgarden - Searching With My Good Eye Closed

The group aren't strangers to these two tracks - they had recorded and released on Record Store Day in 2020. 

“Searching” was a staple of Carlile’s set during her early days playing gigs in bars.  

Metallica has a MASSIVE reissue of their self titled Black Album coming out next month (Sept. 10) 

One of the 53 artists who contributed a cover version of one of the album's tracks is Metallica fan Phoebe Bridgers ... and this week we got a preview of her take on the ballad "Nothing Else Matters"

She told Apple Music's

 "It was just so fun to take a part in it ... I feel like my version almost sounds Baroque. Literally, James does all sorts of weird octave jumps and stuff that I can't do, and I almost have a Billie Eilish approach of right by the microphone, performing it the opposite of them, which was really fun to lean into." 

She added,

"I've always been a big Metallica fan. I think it's funny, my intro to them was probably way later than so many people who have always loved them. But when I was a teenager, I went to Outside Lands and I definitely knew Metallica songs from video games and stuff, but I went to Outside Lands and saw their set and was like, 'This is a rock band. It's kind of a gateway to metal because they're so hooky and you can hold onto so much of it and it actually can get stuck in your head.' So that's what I've always loved about Metallica is that they don't shy away from a great hook." 

The remastered (of puppets) record will be available in a deluxe box set featuring the 2xLP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs, six DVDs, a hardcover book, and more on Sept. 10

Brandi Carlile has been a big fan of Joni Mitchell (who isn't?) for a while.  If you've read her memoir, followed her on social media, or seen her in concert you've probably heard about how her wife Catherine turned her into a fan of the iconic Canadian singer-songwriter. 

We might have heard some snippets of Brandi's new album In These Silent Days - and there is some serious Joni vibes on it! 

Well - Brandi is going to show Joni her admiration (again) with a full performance landmark 1971 album Blue November 6 at New York City's iconic Carnegie Hall, and tickets go on sale Thursday, August 12 at 11 AM.  

 

 

 

 

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Yes - in her announcement, she said again ... Brandi performed the album in full at LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2019.  

Brandi Carlile will perform locally at Wolf Trap on Aug. 28 

Foo Fighters played a show in Kansas City, Missouri this week - and right on cue - members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up to protest outside the venue. (It happened in 2011 and again in 2015)

And as is tradition - Dave Grohl and co.  decided to troll the vile hate group.

The band came outside the venue in the back of a pick-up truck and assumed their Dee Gees disco alter-egos and played a cover of Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing” to drown out Westboro’s homophobic chants.

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Prior to their performance, Dave Grohl addressed the protestors and encouraged them to stop “hating” and instead start “dancing.”

Lollapalooza celebrated its 30th anniversary this year - and while the 2021 lineup looked a lot different than the one in 1991 - one of the headliners - Miley Cyrus - did her best to pay homage to the festials OG performers. 

Cyrus - who is becoming known for her live covers -  brought Billy Idol onstage to perform their collaborative song “Night Crawling” and Billy's hit “White Wedding”.  She also worked covers of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”, Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”,  Cher’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”, Temple of the Dog’s “Say Hello to Heaven” and Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” into her set.

Check out some fan captured footage below:

Miley Cyrus - Say Hello To Heaven 

Miley Cyrus - Heart of Glass

Miley Cyrus w. Billy Idol - Night Crawling & White Wedding

Miley Cyrus Performs Wrecking Ball and Nothing Compares 2 U

Miley Cyrus - We can’t stop + Where is my Mind?

Miley Cyrus Lollapalooza 2021 Complete Setlist:
We Can’t Stop
Where Is My Mind? (Pixies cover)
WTF Do I Know 
Plastic Hearts
Night Crawling (with Billy Idol)
White Wedding (Billy Idol cover with Billy Idol)
Heart of Glass (Blondie cover)
SMS (Bangerz) 
Dooo It!
Love Money Party (with G Herbo)
23 (Mike WiLL Made?It cover) (with Wiz Khalifa & Juicy J)
Malibu (Remix)
Nothing Breaks Like a Heart (Mark Ronson cover) (Remix)
Slide Away
7 Things 
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Cher cover)
See You Again
WITHOUT YOU (The Kid LAROI cover with The Kid LAROI)
Midnight Sky
The Climb
Angels Like You
Say Hello 2 Heaven (Temple of the Dog cover)
Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinéad O’Connor cover)
Wrecking Ball
Can’t Be Tamed
Party in the U.S.A.

For their 2017 album Villains - Queens Of The Stone Age recruited producer Mark Ronson to run the recording session. That ended up being a wise decision, as the album was critically praised and it was Grammy-nominated. 

He also served as a hall monitor of sorts - having to keep the band in line - and even keeping the band distraction free - by kicking people out of the studio when the band was in the zone  - including a prankster known as Dave Grohl. 

Ronson recently recalled the events to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe: 

“I didn’t really know Dave at all. He reminded me of how I kicked him out of the studio when he came one time in to crash a Queens session. It was the first time we were doing vocals and I was like, ‘Dave Grohl, rock legend, get the f*ck out of here.’ […] It was like the first day we were doing vocals and Josh was like really in a rhythm and it hit something, and I’m such a fan of Foo Fighters, Nirvana. It was not pleasant to have to ask Dave Grohl nicely to leave the session. […]

 

I think we were doing maybe ‘Villains [Of Circumstance]’ or ‘Fortress,’ a very personal song on the record, and it was the first time Josh had really found that emotional place to get to, to sing that record. We had tried it a few times and I think Dave and Alison Mosshart were maybe next door getting jolly and just came in to like, ‘What’s up, everybody?’ And I was like… that’s why.

 

I think at the beginning, they went next door making their record with Greg Kurstin, the East West, and we were at United. And I think I was, like, the newbie. And at that time, I liked to probably dress a little too involved for going in the studio. I think Dave was hazing me. He was just testing how he could push me. Every now and then. [he’d] come by with three pairs of basketball shorts and be like, ‘Do you ever wear shorts?’ It was like a funny… it was funny and then I was like, I don’t know if this guy even likes me. But I think he was just hazing the new guy a little. But no, at that moment, when you’re the producer, it doesn’t really matter who it is, your job is to just fortress your guy’s studio, protect the artist, protect the vulnerability, all this stuff, at any cost. So unfortunately, even if it was Dave Grohl, Stevie Wonder, whoever would have come in at that moment, I would have had to been like, ‘Please, please come back.'”

Hear the whole interview below: