Neil Young Leans Hard Into Obscurities — as Promised — in Magical Tour Opener at L.A.’s Ford: Concert Review

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Landing a first headlining slot at the Hollywood Bowl is a cherished milestone for any major musical acts who claim Los Angeles as their home base. It can even mean a little more, probably, when it’s a sibling jubilee. Last summer, it was a homecoming-queens coronation for the Haim sisters, who got the honor a mere nine years into their professional career. This year, the Bowl debut honor for cherished locals goes to the Mael brothers, who only had to wait 52 years for their own crowning gig. What’s five decades among friends and family … everybody loves a slow build, right? The brothers would never be mistaken for rank sentimentalists, but Sunday night’s Sparks show might have brought a hint of a tear to a waggish eye, knowing it was a boyhood dream. Or at least when Ron and Russell Mael’s mom brought them to see the Beatles at the venue in 1965, it was “probably some good education,” as Russell allowed near the beginning of the show. At the Bowl Sunday, Mom was likely not around, but they did have the closest thing they’ve probably had lately to a surrogate parent, director Edgar Wright, whose consciousness-raising documentary “The Sparks Brothers” can be loosely said to have kind of nurtured them across a sort of finish line. (The show-closing photo seen above, plus some video snippets below, are courtesy of Wright’s backstage camera.)

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic It’s not many tours that take a complete left turn from the style, content and tone of how they started with just a few dates left on the itinerary before everyone heads home. That’s coasting time. Yet that’s exactly what happened with the final six shows on Elvis Costello & the Imposters’ “We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday Tour,” where no one who saw any of the first 17 gigs on the outing would have much recognized how things transpired in the final half-dozen. It was all due to the transformative presence of a three-man horn section, which the advertising had accurately promised would only be showing up for the tour coda. What was unexpected was just how thoroughly Costello retooled the whole show to build it around these new brass arrangements, discarding certain set staples and adding new ones to show just what different flavors could be realized with horns o’ plenty.

Neil Young’s legendary music catalogue is about to be catapulted to a whole new level.

A.D. Amorosi From a private show in Dubai and its official opening in Stockholm to its Canadian dates last week, most of the globe has gotten at least a glimpse, from afar, of Beyoncé on the Renaissance World Tour — her first in nearly five years. Last night, the United States got its first in-person peek at the vibrancy of Club Renaissance with an opening show at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Center. Four words immediately come to mind in trying to do justice to the show: Daring. Elastic. Silvery. Very. With the wealth of knock-off mirror-ball cowboy hats and barely-there sequined outfits in the crowd to the wide staging of Club Renaissance and its accoutrements — flying horses, group costumes, pianos for Bey to sit on — nearly everything was reflectively silver. Everything. From its epic concept videos between changeovers and its athletic dancers to a sound system that pulsated crisply with each deep house reverberation, Club Renaissance never missed a beat. Over-the-top, yet still elegantly refined, pretty much everything surrounding the show’s vocal and visual centerpiece was exquisitely executed and bolder for it.The only thing more very than all of the technology and vigorous dance moves of Club Renaissance was Beyoncé herself. As a singer, she proved to be righteously elastic with trills to thrill and vocal runs that ran fluidly atop every different musical interlude (and there were many sharp turns and frantic rhythms in which to contend). As a performer and as a curator-producer, her sonic choices and visual cues were often daring. Ballsy even.

rep told ET, “This is a big milestone. I just want to see him happy, which he is.”The notorious recluse spent much of the ‘80s and ’90s squarely in the public eye.

Manchester United forward Joe Hugill is set for a big pre season having impressed playing for the club's U21 side.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Sorry, Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy: Marjorie has stolen the show again. Not that Taylor Swift’s beloved grandmother actually puts in a vocal appearance from the great beyond, as she did on the “Evermore” album three years ago. But Marjorie Finlay still manages to be a dominative force in the Vault Tracks for the newly released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” by having her photos appear throughout the lyric video for the closing track, “Timeless,” and having her relationship with Taylor’s granddad be a focus of the inspirational ballad. Twenty-first-century pop-punk or emo can hardly compete with that emotional a capper. But for those less sentimentally inclined, Paramore’s singer and Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump will be way up there in what Swift fans immediately take away from the six previously unheard compositions that have been appended to the previous 16-track running order of 2010’s “Speak Now.” The duet with Williams, “Castles Crumbling,” is particularly pungent, as a lament that just about could have been an outtake from the more recent “Folklore” or “Evermore” instead of an album that came out a full decade before those. As for the FOB-aided track, it’s the farthest thing from a Swift classic. But — having been written, like the rest of these tracks, when the artist was 18 or 19 — the number does hark back to an era when girls (and Fall Out Boys) could just wanna have fun.

Drake is the latest celeb to have something thrown at him on stage.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic European Taylor Swift fans won’t have to look closely at the fine print on a grid to figure out who will be opening for her on which nights on the “Eras Tour” next year, as American fans did this year. Swift revealed Wednesday that Paramore will be preceding her on stage for her entire European tour. Additionally, she announced that 14 shows have been added to the lineup, all representing second, third, fourth or even sixth nights in cities that were already on the itinerary for May through August of 2024. “Really can’t contain my excitement because… we’re adding 14 new shows to The Eras Tour,” Swift wrote on social media. “And I get to travel the world doing shows with Paramore!! Hayley and I have been friends since we were teens in Nashville and now we get to frolic around the UK/Europe next summer??? I’m screaming???”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Live music was back, in 2022, but in 2023 it’s really back-back. Taylor Swift is soon to have history’s first billion-dollar-grossing tour, and in an era when music can sometimes feel shunted off to the side in pop-culture conversations, the “Eras Tour” feels bigger than any movie or TV show.

“The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage” by Nick de Semlyen (Crown).“In the context of these ’roid-rage, superhuman heroes we had at the time, this character seemed like a pu–y.”The character in question, of course, was John McClane, who transformed Bruce Willis from a wise-cracking, Chandler Bing-esque TV banterer into an action movie legend with the 1988 now-classic. Even though it almost killed him.

Neil Young kicked off his first tour in four years on Friday (June 30) – watch him play a host of rarities at the Los Angeles gig below.As announced last month, Young will play a series of solo acoustic dates on the west coast this summer in his first run of headline gigs since pre-pandemic.Upon the announcement, he also revealed that he would be filling the setlists with mostly songs he has never performed live.True to form, his first show of four at Los Angeles’ John Anson Ford venue on Friday featured a host of deep cuts and rarities, including the first performance of ‘If You Got Love’ since 1986 and the first performance of Neil Young & Crazy Horse track ‘Prime Of Life’ since 1994.He also gave a full live debut to 1994 track ‘A Dream That Can Last’.See footage from the gig and the full setlist below.‘I’m The Ocean’‘Homefires’‘Burned’‘On The Way Home’‘If You Got Love’My Heart’‘A Dream That Can Last’‘Song X’‘Prime Of Life‘When I Hold You In My Arms’‘Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)’Ohio’‘Days That Used To Be’‘Don’t Forget Love’‘Heart Of Gold’Earlier this year, Young made his live comeback at a march and rally in support of the United For Old Growth campaign, which is looking to stop the Canadian government from allowing logging companies from destroying old-growth forests.Since then, he has reunited with Stephen Stills at a show in Los Angeles in April and performed at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday party alongside Snoop Dogg, Beck and more.Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in early 2020, Young said he wouldn’t tour until the virus was “beat” and called on promoters to cancel “super-spreader” gigs.See the remaining dates of Young’s comeback tour below.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic In “Into the Woods,” the audience laughs at the gluttony of the Little Red Ridinghood character, especially in the earliest, most deliberately cartoony parts of the production. But in a sense, the crowd is getting off on gorging, as well, since this is the ultimate having-your-cake-and-eating-it-too show. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine weren’t too proud to cook up their 1987 classic with copious amounts of Mad magazine-style spoofery — or Looney Tunes-level laughs, even — and yet you can feel like those seemingly empty calories are justified, knowing you’ll be gulping back salty tears by the end. “Into the Woods” is as overstuffed with characters and ideas as any musical ever has been, but if everyone does their job right, you leave feeling like you’ve just been fed a perfectly balanced meal, and not a morsel more.

Neil Young has announced that he will finally release his legendary ‘lost’ album ‘Chrome Dreams’ this summer.The 12-track LP was originally set for release in 1977, but ended up being shelved and has never seen the light of day.On August 11, Young will release ‘Chrome Dreams’ via Reprise Records, presented in its original form.Four of the 12 songs are originals, and many have never been presented in recorded form before.See the tracklist and recording dates for ‘Chrome Dreams’ and its artwork, by Ronnie Wood, below.1. ‘Pocahontas’ (August 11, 1976)2. ‘Will To Love’ (December 3, 19763. ‘Star of Bethlehem’ (December 13, 1974)4. ‘Like a Hurricane’ (November 29, 1975)5. ‘Too Far Gone’ (September 5, 1975)6. ‘Hold Back The Tears’ (February 6, 1977)7. ‘Homegrown’ (November 19, 1975)8. ‘Captain Kennedy’ (August 11, 1976)9. ‘Stringman’ (March 31, 1976)10. ‘Sedan Delivery’ (May 22, 1975)11. ‘Powderfinger’ (August 11, 1976)12. ‘Look Out for My Love’ (January 20, 1976) The release of ‘Chrome Dreams’ is the latest in a long line of new and archival releases from Young in recent years.Late last year, he released a 50th anniversary reissue of his 1972 album ‘Harvest’, while he also recently released ‘World Record’, a new album he created with his band Crazy Horse.2022 also saw him release ‘Toast’, a previously shelved album he recorded with Crazy Horse all the way back in 2001.According to Young, ‘Toast’ is “an album that stands on its own in [his] collection”.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is headed for a couple of important benchmarks that have a “B” attached, according to a report in Pollstar. As the global trek moves on from America and proceeds to Europe in 2024, it will assuredly become the first tour in the history of the business to gross a billion dollars. It won’t stop there, though; Pollstar is estimating that the final gross will wind up around $1.4 billion. The live music trade publication concedes that it is doing a fair amount of estimating on current and future grosses, but says its “crack numbers team” believes the tour will cross the historic $1 billion mark at some point during Swift’s shows in Singapore, which will take place during the March 2-9, 2024 window.

EXCLUSIVE: Just a day after announcing Black, White, & Blue as his first film under a four-picture deal with Amazon inked back in November, Tyler Perry has named Divorce in the Black as his second. Starring in the pic, which Perry will direct and produce from his script, are Meagan Good (Harlem), Cory Hardrict (All American: Homecoming), Joseph Lee Anderson (Young Rock), Taylor Polidore (Snowfall), Shannon Wallace (City on a Hill), Richard Lawson (For Colored Girls) and Debbi Morgan (Power Book II: Ghost). 

Sparks that hasn’t already been expounded upon in great detail in Edgar Wright’s excellent Netflix documentary “The Sparks Brothers.”Yet, you haven’t really experienced Sparks until you’e caught them live.The Mael brothers — Russell is the buoyant 74-year-old frontman and Ron, the 77-year-old, deadpan keyboardist with an acidic sense of humor — rocked New York City’s Beacon Theatre with their no-frills, no-fat power pop for approximately 90 minutes on Tuesday, June 27.Their show, comprised of catchy hits “The Number One Song In Heaven” and “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us,” as well as goofy crowd pleasers like “Balls” and “Beaver O’Lindy” and select tracks from their 2023 album “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” was exquisitely arranged; no moment felt extraneous.Of course, the six-piece band “started” with their hook-y piano confection “So May We Start” which set the tone; this would be a cheeky, self-referential evening.They maintained that ironic yet inspired high-wire act for the remainder of the gig (the song “Nothing Is as Good as They Say It Is” told from the perspective of a 22-hour-old baby that’s “seen it all” is an ace example), certainly an impressive feat for a group that’s been performing in some capacity since 1968.Plus, Ron’s stoic, mustachioed face behind the keys, only breaking when absolutely necessary, is one of music’s greatest running gags.More than anything though, Russell’s soaring Freddie Mercury-like pipes — why isn’t he fronting Queen instead of Adam Lambert for the group’s 2023 ‘Rhapsody Tour?’ — was reminiscent of the glam rock of the ’70s.At 74, he hasn’t lost a step and sounds just as powerful, unhinged and controlled as he does on Sparks’ 26 (!) studio records.That being said,

A major cancer research project in memory of singer Sarah Harding will look for early signs of breast cancer in young women.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large MANILA — Anyone who lived in Hawai’i in the early 1990s remember the story of the pint-sized Elvis impersonator in a Waikiki revue named Bruno Hernandez. He wasn’t even in grade school yet when he appeared on the cover of the local Midweek newspaper (which we all still remember), dressed fully as the King, and it soon landed him a role as an Elvis impersonator in the film “Honeymoon in Vegas.” In Hawaii, local fame is a big deal. And before he even hit 10, Bruno was a bit of local celebrity. The cute kid already had the kind of style, performing chops and showmanship that some spend a lifetime trying to attain. Definitely not the kind of thing that even crossed my mind when I was in elementary school, living in the Philippines. Coincidentally, that’s where I was on Sunday night, watching Bruno Mars perform so effortlessly on stage at the Philippine Arena (in Santa Maria, Bulacan, about 30 km north of Manila, and about 75 km away where I once lived).

The ever-controversial Ice Cube took to Twitter today to promise he’ll shake things up in an upcoming podcast tour that promises to burn a few bridges.