Fan Fare

Soundgarden the real Warriors of Rock at Hollywood show

Reunited rockers Soundgarden took time out from rehearsals in Seattle to play a corporate gig in Hollywood on Monday, the band’s fourth show since it announced an end to its 13-year hiatus on New Year’s Eve.

Singer Chris Cornell (pictured at left), guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron whipped up a mosh pit with old favorites like “Rusty Cage,” “Spoonman” and “Outshined” during their 50-minute set on the Paramount Pictures lot. Apart from a grin exchanged between Cornell and Thayil towards the end, the studious quartet barely interacted. Cornell’s occasional comments were muffled by the sound system.

The occasion was the launch of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, the sixth entry in Activision’s videogame series. Among the tracks on the game is the new Soundgarden tune “Black Rain,” which the band premiered Monday. The tune also appears on a newly released hits package called “Telephantasm.”

Notwithstanding its Seattle roots and close identification with the “grunge” rock era of the early ’90s, Soundgarden performed in a replica of the defunct Manhattan punk-rock venue CBGB’s. With Los Angeles baking in record temperatures earlier in the day, the narrow venue certainly evoked memories of its dank progenitor.

Soundgarden played its first reunion gig in April in a Seattle club, and warmed up for its Aug. 8 concert at Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival with a theater show three nights earlier. There’s still no word on any tour plans.

(photo: Fernanda Ezabella)

The kids are all right as Beatles’ White Album gets a fresh coat

The good thing about cuts to music education in schools is that wannabe rock stars flock to savvy entrepreneurs like Paul Green — the Philadelphia musician who inspired the Jack Black movie “School of Rock.” 

Green — himself the subject of the 2005 documentary “Rock School” — has set up a nationwide School of Rock chain that helps kids unleash their inner Ozzys, Jimis and Janises. It’s certainly more fun than learning “Home on the Range” and “Kumbaya” in a public-school setting. 

In Los Angeles on Sunday, 19 future stars from the Hollywood school recreated the Beatles’ “White Album” at the Whisky a Go Go, the Sunset Strip site where the Doors and the Byrds cut their teeth. Even though it was a midday show, there was a surprisingly long line at the bar as parents and grandparents stocked up for the 30-song marathon. 

The musicians ranged in age from about eight to 17, with girls slightly outnumbering the boys. All were dressed in white, with a few accessorizing with John Lennon glasses or Sgt. Pepper jackets. The lineup changed after each song, giving everyone at least several shots in the spotlight. The all-star champ was the youngest: Stanford Fram (pictured at left), who sang lead on three songs, played drums and keyboards on most of the others, and even provided nasal snorts on “Piggies.” 

Among the others, Ronnie Connell — a dead ringer for Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington — pounded the drums on “Don’t Pass Me By”; William Lancaster (pictured below), almost dwarfed by his bass, studiously replicated Paul McCartney’s melodic stylings; Genessa Gariano did some elegant finger-picking on “Blackbird”; and Waylon Rector tore up a guitar solo on “Yer Blues.” The vocalists, naturally, basked in the spotlight, and who wouldn’t want to belt out “Helter Skelter” on stage?         The songs were surprisingly faithful to the originals, although the full-cast take on “Revolution No. 9″ came in at a mercifully short 90 seconds. In a technological innovation that George Martin would have been proud of, singer Ava Cohen played bird noises from her iPhone at the end of “Blackbird.”  

The musicians were actually in the beginners class at the Hollywood school, which has about 120 students in total, said their teacher Pablo Signori. Armed with a 90-page dissertation on the Fab Four, they started intensive rehearsals and lessons in February. Signori joked (or maybe not) that fist-fights broke out along the way.

The Beatles songbook is a tough challenge for the best of musicians, with songs such as “Sexy Sadie” and “I Will” full of deceptive chord progressions. “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” sung by Matthew Ernst, also presented hurdles with its time changes, but ended up being the highlight.        Up next for the school is a tribute to Jane’s Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Saturday and Sunday, while the following weekend will see students loading up on spandex and Aquanet as they take on hard rock tunes from the 80s.

Jakob Dylan daydreams on stage

The next time you see Jakob Dylan pouring his heart and soul into his songs while performing in concert, be aware that the rock musician could be faking it and pondering some completely random notion.

“I can sing just about anything, and think about almost anything else. I really can. You’d be surprised,” Dylan told fans during a Q&A at the Grammy Museum on Monday, a day before the release of his second solo album. ”I’m not above playing songs that people want to hear whether I’m necessarily so into it. I won’t make an audience wait 4 hours ’til I get to that (mental) spot.

“The only time I try to avoid songs is when I think that it just sounds like, ‘Oh boy, for those 4 minutes I’m probably going to check out too much and that’s not good for anybody.’” 

The 40-year-old rock ‘n’ roll scion begins a U.S. tour near Pittsburgh on Friday to promote the new disc “Women + Country.” As the married father of  four children, he said he has become increasingly aware that concertgoers are shelling out good money for babysitters and gas, “and I think you’ve got to honor that to some degree.”

Dylan, the youngest son of Bob Dylan, rose to fame in the 1990s at the helm of the Grammy-winning band Wallflowers. Their second album, 1996′s “Bringing Down the Horse,” yielded such hits as “One Headlight” and “6th Avenue Heartache.” Both that album and “Women + Country” were produced by T-Bone Burnett, who won an Oscar this year for co-writing a song from “Crazy Heart.” He also won the album of the year Grammy last year for producing the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss hit “Raising Sand.”

Dylan said he first met Burnett on his father’s Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour in 1975-76. “We swap stories, but we saw different things,” he joked.

The Q&A inevitably touched on  his famous dad, with Dylan being his usual guarded self. Coincidentally, and unremarked upon, “Women + Country” was recorded last summer at The Village Recorder, the West Los Angeles studio where Bob Dylan recorded the tracks for his 1974 album “Planet Waves,” including the ode to his children “Forever Young.”

Rockers, Sharona pay tribute to Knack frontman Doug Fieger (UPDATE)

(updates with statement from Sharona Alperin)

As the family of Doug Fieger prepared a private cremation for the frontman of 1970s pop-rockers the Knack, tributes poured in from the music world. Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver veterans Slash and Matt Sorum took to Twitter to describe Fieger as, respectively, “one of the most spiritually enlightened people I’ve ever known” and “a true man of grace.”

Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, who got to know Fieger through their work with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp and also enlisted him for his recent solo album “BK3,”  hailed him as “a fellow guitar freak who had an amazing collection of gear.” (Befitting his Detroit heritage and musical leanings, Fieger was also an auto enthusiast and a collector of Beatles memorabilia.) 

Fieger died at his Los Angeles-area home on Sunday after battling lung cancer for six years. He was 57. His sister, Beth, said he would be cremated at a private ceremony, and tentative plans were underway for a public memorial in late March.

The Knack are perhaps best known for their single “My Sharona,” which was Billboard’s biggest hit of 1979 in the United States. Fieger was 26 when he wrote the song (with guitarist Berton Averre) in a successful attempt to woo a 17-year-old Los Angeles high school girl named Sharona Alperin. She now sells real estate in Los Angeles. 

“Since the song first hit the airwaves more than 30 years ago, whenever I meet someone new or give my name, the response is always the same, “Oh, Sharona, like “My Sharona?” The fact this continues to happen daily, no matter the person’s age, serves as a testament to the enduring impact of Doug’s amazing talent,” Alperin said in a statement.

Its six-week reign atop the Hot 100 ranks as the third-longest-running No. 1 in the rock era for Capitol Records after seven-week stretches by the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” Officials at Capitol, whose enthusiastic hyping of the Knack led to a backlash, said they had no plans to release a statement. 

Ringo Starr: “I’m the greatest”

After more than 50 years in the music business — eight of them in the most scrutinized band on the planet — Ringo Starr would rather do anything than submit to even more questions. But the former Beatles drummer has a new solo album to promote, and that means more interviews — most recently at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on Tuesday, when he took part in a Q&A and mini concert for about 230 fans.

Dressed in black, including an Elvis Presley t-shirt and Nike tennis shoes, the 69-year-old Starr lived up to his reputation as the “funny Beatle.” The fans were eager to project a Beatles connection onto his every word, and Starr knew it.

It also helped that Paul McCartney played on the new album “Y Not,” the first time the pair have been in the studio together in 12 years. Starr told the audience — including E Street band drummer Max Weinberg, Edgar Winter and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh — that he invited McCartney over to his house in Los Angeles for a cup of tea, his guest pulled out his bass and played along on two tunes. ”He understands my drumming because we used to play together,” Starr deadpanned.

It was hard to tell if Starr was being serious when he discussed playing with the revolving cast of A-list musicians who tour with him in his All-Starr Band. “I always say that they’re great, but I’m the greatest. The drums are holding it down, holding it together,” he said.

But at least it gave him the opportunity to segue into another Beatles anecdote. ”I learned a great thing in the ’60s in that band I was in that it doesn’t matter who has the good idea, let’s use it. It’s no use standing on that principle when it’s a sh—y chord.”

After asking his inquisitor, museum executive director Robert Santelli, to fire off one last question, Starr eagerly teamed up with Ben Harper to perform some new songs and old favorites. The “Y Not” tunes might best be considered an acquired taste, especially given Starr’s rough-hewn vocal stylings, but the fans lapped up “Photograph,” “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Boys.”  Starr took to his Ludwig drum kit for the latter tune, a Beatles B-side he was singing long before he joined the Fab Four.

In fact, it ties in with perhaps the evening’s funniest — if not most politically correct — recollection. An audience member asked about Starr’s time with Merseyside skiffle stars Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, whose exuberant frontman was born with a stammer. ”He stuttered so bad, and we were teenagers so the game was get him angry then he wouldn’t say a word,” Starr recalled.

UPDATE: Aerosmith wife no fan of band’s albums

(updates with comment from Joe Perry)

The wife of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry doesn’t particularly care for the band’s recordings, and has never listened to any of their albums in their entirety. 

“I am not a fan of Aerosmith’s music without the live performance behind it,” Billie Perry (at right with her husband) wrote on her Twitter page on Sunday.

“Honestly I have never listened to 1 CD all the way through. I listen in the studio when they record. I’ve never put an Aero CD on my player. I did order a few songs from iTunes, but have not listened.” 

She considers Aerosmith to be one of the greatest live acts in rock ‘n’ roll, but “… without the live show the songs n lyrics don’t move me.”

Perry’s comments come at a sensitive time for the veteran rock band. Aerosmith was forced to cancel a troubled tour two months ago after singer Steven Tyler fell off the stage, and he has not spoken to his bandmates since.

Joe Perry, who is promoting a new solo album that will keep him on the road through March, recently told Reuters he has not written a song with Tyler in 10 years.

Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley releases first album in 20 years

These are heady times for KISS fans. The hard-rock band is gearing up for the Oct. 6 release of its first album in 11 years, “Sonic Boom”, and will hit the road to mark the 35th anniversary of its breakthrough concert album “Alive!”

And then there’s the band’s former guitarist, Ace Frehley, who on Tuesday will release his first solo album in 20 years, “Anomaly”. The date is also significant because it marks his third year of sobriety.

But don’t look for the two camps to work out some cross-promotion efforts. Frehley was asked during a fan Q&A at the Grammy Museum on Monday whether he would join KISS on stage for the first time since he left the band in 2002. (He first left the band 20 years earlier.)

“I haven’t gotten a call,” Frehley said to laughter. “I’m not holding my breath. They took one road, I decided to take another. It’s a little late in the game for me.” 

Instead, Frehley has a busy concert schedule: Japan and Australia next month, followed by dates in the United States, and then “probably a complete worldwide tour” next year. 

Frehley, 58, said it took so long to issue a follow-up to 1989′s “Trouble Walkin’” because “I just didn’t have my act together at certain points on my life.” He had hoped to start making an album in 1995, but was invited to participate in the KISS worldwide reunion tour, which ran from 1996 until 2002.

“I got off that tour and was ready to blow my brains out,” he said. “It took me a while to get my head screwed on straight. I went into outer space for a while … came back.” 

U.S. arena tour awaits Web music phenoms

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

The road to rock stardom is increasingly going through the Internet. Fledgling bands can get a modest share of revenue from online streaming of their music on the site Last.Fm, and becoming a sensation on video sharing site YouTube.com can quickly make a singer a star.      The next step in turning the Web into a launching pad for emerging bands is to give bands the chance to tour. The Amsterdam-based company SellaBand.com is holding a contest for musical acts to not only join a U.S. tour in summer 2009, but to play in giant arenas in major cities. The contest basically comes down to which bands can attract the most support from fans online.      The biggest rock bands have always had relatively unknown bands open for them, but often those emerging bands had a following in the local area where the headlining act performed that night. What the Internet has done is allow bands to skip past becoming a local sensation, and instead appeal to a wider audience on the Web.      The nearly 20 bands chosen through the SellaBand contest will open for major headlining acts in venues that include American Airlines Center in Dallas, The Palace in Detroit and the Toyota Center in Cleveland.      “It’s the dream of lifetime for these guys,” said John Ossenmacher, president of ArenaWorks Entertainment Inc., which is working with SellaBand on the project.   “It is a chance for them to really get out there and show people what they can do,” he said.      The first round of the competition began on Dec. 1, and it ends on Feb. 28. More information is available at http://arenafest.sellaband.com.      Will tomorrow’s rock stars all emerge from the Internet, or will the major record labels still play a big role in serving as tastemakers? SellaBand began in 2006 as a way for bands to collect money from supporters and use the cash to go record an album. So far, 29 bands have done that through SellaBand, but the top band has only sold 5,000 albums.      “It would be great if ultimately the next Coldplay would emerge from SellaBand, but that’s not the basic goal,” said Johan Vosmeijer, CEO of SellaBand. “The basic goal is to get an artist to the next stage in their career.”       And for some groups, the next stage could be to stand in an arena and yell out “Hello, Detroit!”