Rock News, April 25th..(Page3)

The steam engine that is rock band "Foreigner" is racing full steam ahead.

 

Even without the presence of founding guitarist-singer-songwriter Mick Jones — the 67-year-old Jones recently had heart surgery and is recuperating away from the stage — Foreigner put on a solid concert on April 10 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event was a fundraiser for the Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Fayetteville-based Washington Regional Medical Center, and showed Foreigner to be tight and ready to deliver the hit singles.

Jones’ trademark, punchy riffing that drove the studio versions — and recent tour versions of — “Feels Like the First Time,” “Urgent,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Dirty White Boy” and “Urgent” all came from Bruce Watson, a fill-in guitarist for the departed Jones.

Lead singer Kelly Hanson and bassist Jeff Pilson bonded to help keep the front-of-stage energy up on the up-tempo cut “Head Games” 

Multi-instrumentalist Tom Gimbel played the haunting piano introduction of “Cold As Ice” that usually is played live by Jones. Resembling a taller version of Journey’s Neal Schon, Gimbel blew terrific, dirty-sounding saxophone for “Urgent” and played key rhythm parts on his Les Paul.

Giving the songs a stomping, dependable beat was drummer Mark Schulman, while keyboardist Michael Bluestein provided moody atmospherics, sound effects and crucial piano parts. The band even did a mostly acoustic version of “Say You Will” that was greeted with some of the most screams, cheers and whistles of the night.

To be fair, Watson seems as equally gifted as Jones as a guitarist and performer. Boasting a thick, curly mane of hair, Watson ate up every chorus and verse in the roaming, multi-colored spotlights with grins and 110-percent effort.

Despite Watson’s gifts and warm persona that can be found both on the stage and in the band’s dressing room, Jones was missed. Usually bespectacled with white, sky-pointing hair, Jones resembles a cool-looking, rock-and-roll version of a Koala bear. Let’s hope that Jones quickly bounces back to strong health, rejoins Foreigner for more tour dates and adds Watson as a full-time member.

-Realrocknews.com

Rock News, April 25th..(Page 2)

Freddie Mercury Meets Wolverine in Lost Comics Page

Sci-fi blog io9 has unearthed a comic book page featuring Wolverine and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury drawn by an unknown artist as a submission to Marvel Comics at some point in the Nineties. The page depicts the X-Men antihero prowling through the woods only to stumble upon the Queen singer standing in a confident pose.

The only dialogue on the page has Wolverine uttering "Freddy Mercury?," because, really, what else would you say if you unexpectedly ran into the Queen singer a few years after his death? Also, obviously, Wolverine must be wondering what Mercury is doing in a comic book to begin with.

The page has been in circulation online for some time. Back in 2010, former Marvel Comics staffer Steve Bunche shared the page on his blog, saying that while the art was not up to snuff for the top superhero comics publisher, he admired the artist's imagination. "Seriously, how the fuck does someone even make the leap in narrative logic from depicting Wolverine stalking through the forest to having him run into Freddie Mercury of Queen for no apparent reason?" Bunche wrote. "That, dear readers, is a sign of true creativity."

-Rollingstone.com

Rock News, April 25th..(Page 1)

Slash Says Hall of Fame Performance Was “Homage to the Fans”

Earlier this month, Guns N’ Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  While frontman Axl Rose and former guitarist Izzy Stradlin decided not to show up for the induction ceremony, the band’s original members -- guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKaganand drummer Steven Adler -- partnered with ex-guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alter Bridgefrontman Myles Kennedy to perform at the event.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, ex-GN’R guitarist Slash says that he initially struggled with his decision to perform at the induction ceremony.  “In my heart of hearts, I wanted to have the whole original band get together and actually perform, which I sort of knew was wishful thinking,” reveals Slash.  “It became apparent that that wasn't going to happen.  I was sort of disillusioned with the whole thing…I thought Axl was still going to go, and it wasn't until the last minute that I heard that he wasn’t coming, and that’s when we all decided we were just going to go ahead and play anyway.”

Slash added that he felt that performing at the event “closed the book” on any hopes of a full GN’R reunion and that it was the right thing to do for the band’s fans.  “We felt a sense of loyalty to the enthusiasm from the fans,” explains Slash.  “I think that was really the glue that held us all together to get past whatever the differences were and just go up and be there.  It wasn't because we were trying to wag our finger at anybody or try to be vengeful in any way.  It was an homage to the fans.”

-Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio