Noted blues guitarist Jeff Healey, who I’ll admit I know mainly because of his appearance in the Patrick Swayze movie Roadhouse, has passed away at the age of 41 after a bout with cancer. Apparently he’s been battling cancer pretty much since the time he was born as it took his eyesight at the age of one.
RIP Jeff Healey.
Here he is playing his “hit”, “Angel Eyes” in August of 2007.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=JFmNeZvyqIg[/youtube]
EDIT: Looks like TMZ may have jumped the gun.Â
TMZ.com is reporting that the Van Halen tour – which still has a month and a half of scheduled dates – is about to be canceled due to “issues” with Eddie Van Halen. A recent YouTube posting from a Van Halen show on February 20 appears to offer some evidence that Eddie Van Halen isn’t playing up to par as he was when Van Halen first reunited with David Lee Roth in 2007. Sit through the entire performance of “Jump” or fast-forward to the 4:47 mark where you’ll see Eddie throw his guitar on the floor and the 5:30 mark where you’ll see Eddie knock over a stack of amps and nearly take over David Lee Roth in the process.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0f2N5ae3wU[/youtube]
And, while on the topic of reunion tours, it looks like the rumored Led Zeppelin tour is not going to happen. Robert Plant has reportedly turned down a deal that would have made his great-great-great grandchildren wealthy beyond all belief despite the fact that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones seemed ready to go full speed with a reunion tour.
It’s been two years since Mudhoney last released an album but news is that one of SubPop’s most legendary bands is set to hit the road this spring. Is a new album in the works? Guess we’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, check out Mudhoney at one of the following dates:
4/19/08 Dante’s. Portland, OR
5/30/08 Bottom Lounge. Chicago, IL
5/31/08 Headliner’s Music Hall. Lousiville, KY
6/1/08 Southgate House. Newport, KY
6/2/08 Crofoot Ballroom. Pontiac, MI
6/3/08 Cafe Bourbon Street. Columbus, OH
6/4/08 Mohawk Place. Buffalo, NY
6/5/08 Pearl Street. Northampton, MA
6/6/08 Middle East (Downstairs). Cambridge, MA
6/7/08 Highline Ballroom. New York, NY
6/8/08 Note. West Chester, PA
6/9/08 Rock and Roll Hotel. Washington D.C.
6/10/08 Cat’s Cradle. Carrboro, NC
6/11/08 The Earl. Atlanta, GA
6/12/08 Common Grounds. Gainsville, FL
6/13/08 Churchill’s. Miami, FL
6/14/08 Back Booth. Orlando, FL
6/15/08 Sluggo’s. Pensacola, FL
6/16/08 One Eyed Jack’s. New Orleans, LA
7/31/08 Forum. London, England
8/2/08 “Storas Festival”. Trondheim, Norway
You’ll be reading much more about Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters’ other gig, The Press Corps here real soon. The band also features Erik, Garrett, and Marcus of Alta May and Bruce of Mother Love Bone/Love Battery.
How about a live performance of Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick”?
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=WSCyMAnPi_o[/youtube]
When I was in college, my friend Paul told me that his best friend growing up was the guitar player for Nine Inch Nails (this was back in the ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ days). It seemed like every time Paul’s friend came to visit him at Ohio State, I was out of town and I never did have the chance to meet Rich Patrick. A few years later, another friend’s brother married Rich’s twin sister and, once again, I missed out on a chance to meet Rich. By this point Rich had left Nine Inch Nails and started Filter and become a big rock star. (I did have the opportunity to finally meet Rich when he was touring for ‘Title of Record’ but it was a quick handshake after a show).
Recently I’ve been craving some Filter music and loaded up all 3 CDs on my iPod along with the overlooked project Rich did with the DeLeo brothers of Stone Temple Pilots, Army of Anyone. And, not so surprisingly, the music sounds as good to me today as it did when it came out over ten years ago (Filter’s debut, ‘Short Bus’, was released in 1995).
I was listening to Tim Young’s Contrast Podcast, episode #95, (“My Brush With Fame”) today and heard one of the guest commentators Sid from Too Much Rock talk about how he had the opportunity to audition for Filter back when Rich started the band but didn’t pursue the gig because he didn’t want to move to Cleveland (oh the horror!).
For those who haven’t heard the news, Rich is putting the finishing touches on Filter’s fourth album, ‘Anthems for the Damned’, which is scheduled to be released in May.
It was just announced that Filter will be on the Rock on the Range bill in mid-May in Columbus, Ohio, a two-day festival featuring some huge names in modern rock (Kid Rock, Disturbed, Staind, Papa Roach, etc.) including the first reunion show for … Stone Temple Pilots. That might be kinda weird for Rich and the DeLeo brothers, don’t ya think?
Filter – “Welcome to the Fold”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYmMj-tEL10[/youtube]
Army of Anyone – “Goodbye”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k1VpTR4lJc[/youtube]
Am I the only one who gets confused everything I spy a Hoosiers CD cover or the band name in a blog post? I swear, everytime I see the name The Hoosiers I get butterflies in my stomach and think, “Did they REALLY reunite? Is there REALLY a new album?” and then I realize that I’ve misread the name as The Hooters. But, here’s the crazy thing, The Hooters (the Philly pop band from the ’80s) DID reunite last year and put out a new CD (which includes a cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”) that somehow didn’t find it’s way onto my radar.
The Hoosiers (from the UK) definitely don’t sound anything like The Hooters but, rather, wear the XTC/Supertramp/Talking Heads influence on their sleeve. It sounds like it could be good stuff, maybe even better (gasp) than The Hooters.
Check out tracks by both bands for yourself just to confirm that a) The Hoosiers and The Hooters are NOT the same band and b) The Hoosiers and The Hooters sound NOTHING alike. Though, truth be told, I think it would be awesome if The Hoosiers decided to cover “All You Zombies”.