One of Pink Floyd's most unique concerts took place amid the ancient ruins of Pompeii 46 years ago. In 2016, David Gilmour revisited the setting and did a spectacular performance that recently was released as a DVD.  Gilmour recently sat down with Mary Beard in a BBC studio to discuss the original and more recent concerts.

A 1963 Martin D-28 guitar that Bob Dylan played during George Harrison's Bangladesh benefit concert and used extensively during his Rolling Thunder Revue tour is being put up for bids by Heritage Auctions in Dallas on November 11.  The instrument was bought from Dylan for $500 by a guitar tech in 1977. The receipt from that transaction also goes to the high bidder.  Larry Cragg says the guitar hasn't been played since he got it and nothing on it has been replaced.  He has kept it in a humidity and temperature controlled enclosure. 

  Photo: Heritage Auctions

Metallica will headline a benefit concert lineup that also includes the Dave Matthews Band on November 9 at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, to raise funds to assist residents that lost homes that ravaged areas north of the city in recent weeks.

AXS TV preview of Dan Rather's discussion with Rush veteran Geddy Lee (airs starting 10-24-2017).

Bob Seger revealed Monday (10/23) that he had surgery Friday to alleviate the vertebra problem that forced him to postpone tour dates a few weeks ago (story).  Official word came from the Detroit Rocker's social media and web sites in a statement that read, "Bob is on the road to recovery after undergoing surgey on Friday to address the medical issue causing the postponement of his tour."  The account includes that his doctors feel the operation '...couldn't have gone better', and adds that make-up dates for the concerts that were postponed should be setg soon.

Billboard.com

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Fan based initiative to help bands gain entry to the Rock Hall Of Fame got some added traction when the Hall announced it would add a popular vote to the selection process that had been exclusive to a bunch of music indusrtry and related business insiders. One nominated band is taking direct action in an effort to get fans to vote on its behalf.  Judas Priest has cut a video designed to drive votes for its induction in 2018.

Black Sabbath's final show on the band's farewell tour took place in Birmingham, England last February. In the months since, a film and the recording of the concert have been getting produced. Eagle Rock will release the concert in CD and DVD formats on November 17. The CD will include some recent live studio recordings of five of the group's biggest songs.

Bob Dylan, who regularly rearranges his own songs in concert to the point they are hard to recognize, did a true to the original version of Tom Petty's Learning To Fly during his Denver concert over the weekend.

ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill has come down with a stomach ailment that has forced the Texas trio to scrap the remaining dates on the 2017 Tonnage tour. The group hopes to work all 18 of the cancelled dates into its 2018-2019 schedule.  The exact nature of the problem was not addressed in the band's notification to fans, which just said Hill neededd to '"ay low for the next few weeks"

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The list of limited edition releases for the 11/24/2017 fall Record Store Day is impressive. Here are the highlights of ones most likely to be of interest to ROCKinsights readers...

Anthrax - Carry On Wayward Son (lp)

Chuck Berry - The London Sessions (lp)
Blue Oyster Cult - Rarities Vol 1 (lp)
Byrds - You Movin'/Boston (single)

Cheap Trick - Christmas Christmas (lp)

Gary Clark Jr. - Come Together(12" vinyl)

Dimebag Darrell - The Hitz (lp)
Doors - Absolutely Live (douple lp)
Steve Earle - El Corazon (lp)
Jerry Garcia & Howard Wales - Side Trips (double lp)
Grateful Dead - Grateful Dead Records Collection (lp)

Wake Of The Flood, From the Mars Hotel, Blues For Allah, Steal Your Face
John Lee Hooker - Black Night Is Dalling (lp)
Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas (10" single)
Ziggy Marley - Love Is My Religion (lp)

Dave Matthews - Live at Luther College (lp)

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime (7" single)

Willie Nelson - Spirit (lp)
Willie Nelson - Yesterday's Wine (lp)

Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris - Live 1973 (lp)

Iggy Pop - New Values (lp)
Procol Harum - The One & Only One (10" vinyl)

Queen - We Are The Champions (12" vinyl)
Raspberries - Pop Art Live (lp)

Otis Redding - Live in Europe (lp)
Lou Reed & Kris Kristofferson - Bottom Line (interviews with Vin Scelsa)

Rush - Closer To The Heart (7" vinyl)

Son Volt - Ballymena (EP)

Southside Johnny - Detour Ahead (lp)
Roger Taylor - Journey's End (12" vinyl)

Toto - Hold The Line/Alone (10" picture disc)
Twisted Sister - A Twisted Christmas (lp)

Utopia - P.O.V. (12" vinyl)
Neil Young - Harvest Moon (double lp)

Frank Zappa - Lumpy Gravy/Primordial (12" vinyl)

No matter how many times people ask the question, the answer remains the same; Robert Plant has zero interest in joining Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on stage to perform a set of Led Zeppelin songs.  The front man man made that clear yet again to the Daily Telegraph when talking with the publication about his most recent solo album. As he put it this time afround, 'You can't ever really go back.  It's tough enough repeating yourself with something that's a year old, never mind 49 years old. I've got to keep moving.'  The last time the trio of survivng members of the group played together was in 2007 at London's 02 arena, a performance released as Celebration Day in 2012.

HenneMusic.com
 

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Tom Petty's funeral was held Monday  (10/16) in Los Angeles. The family and close friends only ceremony was conducted at the same site fellow Traveling Wilbury George Harrison's was held.  One of Tom's daighters shared some photos taken at the event on Instagram.

 

The dark of the sun we will stand together????

A post shared by @inviteloveinvitelove on

Oct 16, 2017 at 4:19pm PDT

Bob Seger's new solo album was recorded in appreciation of several of the artists he considers  to have had a major influence on him. I Knew You When includes song by or about Leonard Cohen, Glenn Frey, Lou Reed and others.  It is due November 17.

MORE BOB SEGER INSIGHTS

Roger Daltrey says the time is right for him to put his storied life and career in the Who into book form.  The charismatic lead singer plans to have his memoire published next fall.  Speaking of the undertaking, Daltrey said 'It's taken three years to unpack the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon's 21st birthday.'  Given the volume of legendary tales about Who tours, it is bound to be a fascinating read.

MORE ROGER DALTREY INSIGHTS

Jukebox Hero: The Musical will use the that song and others from the group to tell the story of who the boy '...standing in the rain' without a ticket to a sold out show was and later became.  Set in a blue collar  town in Pennsylvania with shrinking jobs and growing despair, the production is set to debut in Calgary with premier performances August 10-12.  The show includes 16 Foreigner songs, among them, Cold As Ice, Hot Blooded and Waiting For A Girl Like You.  Guitarist Mick Jones says, 'I am so proud that these songs will now be reinterpreted for stage, and am honored by the team that is helping to bring this music to life.'

HenneMusic.com

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Bruce Springsteen opened his multi-month residency on Broadway last week.  In addition to developing the concept of how those performances will be staged, Bruce spent time during recent months finishng up a new solo album.  Talking with Variety, Bruce says he resisted going political on the next album, saying he '...got a lot of what I had to say in that vein on Wrecking Ball.'  He calls the new one more of a 'singer-songwriter' release influenced by artists like Jimmy Webb, Glen Campbell and Burt Bacharach.  No release date has been set.

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Close to 100,000 strong, Florida Gators football fans joined in singing I Won't Back Down in tribute to Tom Petty in his hometown of Gainsville.

The Rock Hall Of Fame has introduced a ballot that includes 18 bands or artists in contention for induction in 2018.

Leading the list of nominees (in our opinion) are Dire Straits the Moody Blues, Judas Priest, Bon Jovi, The Cars and the J. Geils Band.  Also included are Depeche Mode, Rage Against The Machine, the Zombies, the MC5, Radiohead, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Te Meters, Eurthymics, LL Cool J, Nina Simone, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Kate Bush.

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The last venue Tom Petty played on his final tour was a close to home tour closing date at the Hollywood Bowl.  It took place on September 25, one week before the heart attack that took his life. The encore included a rollicking version of one of his relatively recent songs, followed by the one that introduced him to most of his legions of long time fans.

Bob Seger's Runaway Train tour has been derailed by a bum vertebrae.  The veteran Detroit Rocker's web site posted notification that remaining dates on the tour are off on "doctor's orders" while Bob gets the matter tended to.  Seger himself commented, "I'm so disappointed to have to suspend the tour as the band is on a great roll.  It's a privilege to play for our amazing fans.  Hoping to be back out on the road very soon."  Indications are that Bob plans to reschedule the 19 dates between September 30 and November 17 getting knocked off the schedule.

BobSeger.com

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Tom Petty was stricken by a major heart attack at his Malibu home in the early hours of Monday (10/2) and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica where tests indicated that his brain showed no activity and the decision was made not to continue life support measures.  Numerous usually relaible sources incorrectly interprpreted that as meaning Petty had passed away, but he did not die until Monday evening.  Official word came from his long time manager, Tony Dimitriades, who said that Tom "...died peacefully at 8:40pm (Pacific Time)) surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends".

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Although nothing addressing his condition appeared on his web site as of this writing, reports were circulating that CBS news had apparently confirmed that Tom Petty died Sunday night after being rushed to UCLA Medical center in Santa Monica.  TMZ had reported that the 66 year-old Petty had been found in full cardiac arrest and was transported to the hospital where tests indicated that his brain showed no activity and the decision was made not to continue life support measures.  Official confirmation that Petty had died has not come as of 5pm Eastern time Monday, but he may be clinging to life under a do-not-resussitate protocol.
This hearbreaking news for Heartbreaker fans comes as Tom and the band were coming off triumphant and critically acclaimed concerts at the Hollywood Bowl just days ago.  While many of his contemporaries settled for doing 'victory lap' tribute concerts that paled in comparrison with shows they did in their prime, Petty continued to pour everything into his shows, often surprising fans with archive tracks and outstanding covers of unexpected titles written by others. 
He was as big a fan as he was an artist.

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Two of the top musicians from the host country and its closest neighbor got together in Toronto for the closing ceremony of Canada's Invictus Games, a multi-sport competition involving athletes from 17 countries.  Bryan Adams invited Bruce Springteen to join him on stage.  The pair did Badlands and Cuts Like A Knife together on Friday night (9/30).

Steven Tyler calls reports evidently triggered by a Boston Globe story on the reason Aerosmith had to cancel the remaining dates of a South American tour "creative speculations".  The tour came to a halt last week after Tyler was ordered to get immediate attention for a medical condition (story). A Globe report suggested a source supposedly with connections with Aerosmith had passed along the info that the singer had experienced a seizure.  Tyler took to his social media accounts to discount the credibility of the account, writing, "I give you all an A+ for creative speculations but I certainly did not have a heart attack or a seizure (unless Joe Perry is takin' a rippin' lead). Sorry to have to cut the tour short, but I had to have a procedure that only my doc in the States can perform." 

HenneMusic.com

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