Sex and Drugs and Guns N’ Roses
Steven Adler, the infamous former drummer for Guns N’ Roses, kicked off his book tour to promote My Appetite for Destruction tonight at Book Revue in Long Island to a rapt crowd of fans.
In his memoir, Adler shares the shattering untold truth of GNR and his own personal struggles with addiction, as seen on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Adler bares it all in My Appetite for Destruction including:
- His childhood: As a young teen Steven was lured into a private party where he was sexually assaulted and beaten. Never before has this shocking, harrowing tale been told. Steven emerged a less trusting, but wiser 14 year-old. He reveals how he discovered a way to learn how to play from some of the best rock drummers in the world.
- His love life: One of Steven’s lovers, thinking Steven was leaving her, tried to commit suicide by jumping out a fifth-floor window. And his first wife went out with one of her girlfriends one night, never to return…
- His health: Steven delves into the brutal depression and humiliation borne of his botched suicide attempts, his drug-related heart attacks, and the debilitating stroke that caused him muscular paralysis and permanently slurred speech.
- His band-mates: How Slash, against all reason, reached out to help Steven one last time after the rest of Guns N’ Roses had given up on him. How Duff snubbed Steven, humiliating him in front of thousands of fans at Farm Aid. And what Slash and Axl Rose did to Steven that can never, ever be forgotten.
- His heroics: How Steven discovered a seemingly unconscious and non-responsive Nikki Sixx all alone, and saved his life.
- …and his endless antics: How Steven managed to earn the seething wrath of Axl Rose, Eddie Van Halen and Rod Stewart. And incredible accounts of how Guns N’ Roses’ endless partying made virtually every night a gamble on whether they’d make it to the stage or to the morgue.
*Expires October 27, 2010.
It Books signs Sammy Hagar for Autobiography
PRE-ORDER now at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
NEW YORK, NY (June 24, 2010) – It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced today a deal to publish Sammy Hagar’s autobiography in 2011. Hagar, the multi-platinum Red Rocker, is best known as the bombastic front man of Van Halen, one of the biggest-selling rock groups in history, and the lead singer of the hard rock group, Chickenfoot.
The book was acquired by Lisa Sharkey, Senior Vice President and Director of Creative Development for HarperCollins from Frank Weimann, President of The Literary Group International. Senior Editor Matt Harper will edit the book.
Hagar will provide readers with incredible behind-the-scenes stories from his multi-platinum career, including his rise as a solo artist and his eleven years with Van Halen, after the controversial departure of original lead vocalist David Lee Roth. During Hagar’s time with Van Halen, the band released four consecutive No. 1 albums. From worldwide stadium concerts tours to private jets, Hagar enjoyed the trappings of fame and success with Van Halen until he was, as he puts it, “unceremoniously fired.” Hagar later thrived as a solo act, leading his band, the Cabo Wabos, before returning triumphantly to Van Halen for an historic reunion tour after which he set off on his own once again.
“I’ve been writing this book my whole life,” says Hagar. “It’s time to put it between two covers.”
Honest and compelling, Hagar’s account spares no one, least of all himself. Hagar’s autobiography reveals the inside story of one of rock music’s most recognizable voices, from his humble beginnings in the town of Fontana, California, to his incredible business success with Cabo Wabo Tequila and the Cabo Wabo Cantinas. The book will be co-authored by Joel Selvin, longtime pop music writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
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About It Books:
Launched in September 2009, It Books is dedicated to publishing exceptional books in entertainment, music, fashion, design, art, celebrity, pop culture and sports. It Books has published numerous New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestsellers including Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie, I Love Your Style by Amanda Brooks, and Satiristas by Paul Provenza and Dan Dion. Upcoming publications include Blow by Blow by Detmar Blow with Tom Skyes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, How to Beat Up Anybody by Judah Friedlander, True Whit by Whitney Port, Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss and Al Jaffee’s Mad Life by Mary Lou Weisman. It Books is an imprint HarperCollinsPublishers, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV).
It Books can be found online at www.YourItList.com, www.Facebook.com/YourItList, www.Twitter.com/YourItList and www.Twitter.com/ItBooks.
PUBLICITY CONTACT: Alberto G. Rojas, Senior Director of Publicity, 212-207-7891; alberto.rojas@harpercollins.com
YOURITLIST.COM CONTACT: youritlist@harpercollins.com
IT BOOKS CONTACT: itbooks@harpercollins.com
Why Pearl Jam matters
Its taken a week to wrap my head around Pearl Jam’s show at Madison Square Garden on May 21st - and to get my voice back to normal. Without a doubt, Pearl Jam always puts on an amazing show. Though not seeing them for several years (after seeing them a dozen times in a few short years with the exception of Eddier Veder’s solo acoustic show), maybe I forgot how incredible a group they are.
So…my thoughts on why Pearl Jam matters….
- Ed’s ever-present bottle of wine on stage to, you know, keep his throat from getting dry
- Tribute song, “I’m Open,” dedicated to Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States
- How Eddie still acts amazed when he stands on stage and lets the crowd sing “Better Man” to him
- The crowd clears out for bathroom breaks during a “popular radio song,” (ie “Daughter”) but no one moves when he stands on stage and talks to the crowd
- No matter how massive a Pearl Jam fan you are, you will hear at least one, possibly two, songs you don’t know
- No matter how massive a Pearl Jam fan you are, and how many times you’ve seen them in concert, you will hear at least one song performed that you have never heard them perform live before
- After doing this for twenty years, the band still brings it like its their first concert and keeps it going like it might be their last
- Because even though they will forever be linked by time and place, Pearl Jam is not Nirvana, which is a good thing for both bands
As incredible as the show was as a whole (I would have paid just to hear Eddie belt out “Neverman”), the show was stolen when Eddie invited Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) out to accompany him on “Hunger Strike.” Watch that performance and sometime around 45 seconds into it Bridwell seems to realize what he is singing and who he is singing with. The only thing better than the look of awe on his face is the look of pride on Ed’s face.
Pearl Jam, Madison Square Garden, May 21, 2010
Main Set:
Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do the Evolution, Worldwide Suicide, Got Some, Breath, Nothingman, I’m Open (Dedicated to Howard Zinn), Unthought Known, Grievance, Amongst the Waves, Present Tense, Not For You/Modern Girl, Push Me Pull Me, Rats, Daughter/WMA, The Fixer, Why Go
Encore 1:
The End (w/ string quartet), Just Breathe (w/ string quartet), Slow Lukin (w/ strings), Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew, Given to Fly, Spin the Black Circle, Rearviewmirror
Encore 2:
Wasted Reprise, Betterman, Black/We Belong Together, The Real Me, Hunger Strike, Alive, Kick Out the Jams, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner
Green Day loves rock’n'roll (and Joan Jett)
As our frequent readers have seen before (here and here and here), Your It List is a big fan of Green Day. And as you’ve seen before we also love The Runaways, Joan Jett (and of course Cherie Currie!). Oh, we also love Europe.
So it was just a matter of time before this trifecta of love came together.
It was just recently announced that Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be joining Green Day on their European tour this summer. The thought of Billy Joe singing “I Love Rock’n'Roll,” of Joan singing “Longview,” I’m just hoping Joan decides to stick around for the US leg of the tour. Or at the very least the August 14th show at PNC in Jersey so I can see if for myself.
Joan Jett and The Black Hearts Join Green Day:
- June 2 in Denmark
- June 4 in Oslo
- June 5 in Gothenburg
- June 8 in Helsinki
- June 11 in Munich
- June 12 in Austria
- June 16 in Manchester
- June 19 in London
- June 21 in Glasgow
- June 23 in Dublin with Paramore
Bon Jovi, it’s their life
Bon Jovi, America’s favorite band, has a busy fall coming up.
Their new single, “We Weren’t Born to Follow” is currently playing on every station. Their new studio album The Circle drops on November 10th, they just announced today a tour in early 2010 (including the first concert at the new Meadowlands in May), Showtime will air a behind-the-scenes documentary about the band on October 24th and on top of all of that the band has a book coming out November 3rd - Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful – which celebrates their 25th anniversary with never-before-seen photos and stories from Jon, Richie, David and Tico.
The book is available now to pre-order and you can get an exclusive, early SNEAK PEEK INSIDE THE BOOK before it goes on sale.
Check back with YourItList.com as we will be releasing more information about the book and the band over the next few weeks.
Green Day sets a new stage on fire
I know I’m not the only Green Day fan who wishes he lived in San Francisco.
Photo c/o Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Ever since American Idiot first exploded in 2004 comparisons to The Who’s Tommy were endless. Rolling Stone‘s review called the album an “old school rock opera” and there’s been continuous talk of bringing the album to the stage. And that time has finally come – almost 5 years to the day since the album came out - with the recent world premiere of American Idiot: The Rock Opera at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
National reviewers have not been invited to see the play, though the New York Times has a decent feature about the opening. The San Francisco Chronicle seems to have the most extensive review coverage of the play itself (as well as photos):
Heidi Schumann for The New York Times
“Wildly entertaining…The music of Green Day practically blasts the lid off Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre. The cast and creative crew match the pulsating wall of sound for sheer energy and pump it up with Broadway-quality pipes, stage-rattling, thrashing choreography, flying bodies and walls crammed with pulsating video and projected images. Never has the Roda appeared more expansive yet bursting with images and action…The rock opera that opened Wednesday, in a world premiere with Broadway aspirations written all over it, packs plenty of excitement and entertainment into a remarkably theatrical rock concert…The lyrics are crystal clear as well. Every poetic twist and angry pun of Armstrong’s words comes through.”
One comment I’ve been reading about – which is something that I can see being an issue – is the flow of the narrative of the play seems to stall at times. The play follows the songs of the album, bringing in the songs’s charaters (St. Jimmy, Johnny, Whatshername, Jesus of Suburbia) to life. The problems lies in the fact that the entire play is only the lyrics from the album. No additional text has been added, no bridges to connect different scenes, no overarching narrative to connect the storylines.
That said, it still must be one helluva show. American Idiot has some of the most powerful music Green Day has ever written, mixed with director Michael Mayer and starring John Gallagher Jr. (both of whom just won Tony awards for Spring Awakening) an eventual Broadway debut seems likely.
At least that’s what I keep telling myself to keep me from booking my flight to San Francisco (the limited engagement has been extended to November 1st).
John Gallagher, Jr. and Tony Vincent star as Johnny and St. Jimmy. Photo courtesy of mellopix.com
John Gallagher, Jr. as Johnny, Rebecca Naomi Jones playing Whatsername, and Tony Vincent playing St. Jimmy. Photo: Liz Hafalia / The San Francisco Chronicle
AC/DC: Angus, The Devil-Schoolboy
It is at first odd to see a grown man dressed up as a private schoolboy. Even odder, I suppose, to see other grown men emulating him in a sea of 60,000+ people. But this is Angus Young in concert, on stage at Giants Stadium on July 31st, and unless you had classmates in boarding school who could play the guitar until it turns into a gelatinous mass, then he must be the Anit-Schoolboy. Or Guitar God. Take your pick.
He appeared on stage with the trademark hat, jacket (green velvet?), tie and shorts after a lascivious little video about a runaway train that crashed into the stage (check out the setlist) . Brian Johnson is the lead singer, yes, and while he yowled and danced and marched up and down the cat walk, he had no problem ceding the stage to Angus, who before long had stripped down to his shorts (he wears AC/DC boxers, if you’re wondering). It was Angus whose hair was matted, drenched in sweat, saliva sometimes running out of his mouth, Angus who at one point disappeared into this structure on the floor of Giants Stadium, only to rise up on a platform as he played a raging solo bathed in spotlights. As he collapsed and fell into his trademark seizure mode, confetti blasted out of air cannons. A wild scene.
He was transported, and there was joy there, but you couldn’t help but feel that he was in agony, too, as if he were trying to wring more music out of that Gibson than it was capable of giving. After what–four decades?–of playing, does he sometimes feel that he and his instrument hit a wall? Or is it that he’s channeling the thing that all great artists do? I don’t know. But Brian, not the most talkative guy on stage, did say, “There’s the devil in his fingers.” There may be an answer there.
Lurking in the lights and confetti is Angus.
Angus possessed.
Angus in uniform.
All Points Wet
It was a rainy, soggy, muddy mess and yes, I spent most of the day wearing a black garbage bag with my head poked out of the top, but ALL POINTS WEST rocked thanks to bands Vampire Weekend and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
All Points West was held in the gorgeous (and wet) New Jersey’s Liberty State Park overlooking the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty. It’s an amazing feeling to be holding a plastic cup of Bud Light and listening to your fav band with Lady Liberty looking over your shoulder.
The day’s surprise: The National played the main stage early in the day, and the indie rockers stopped me in my tracks on the way to the beer tent (which is no small feat)! I predict good things from them in the future.
Though Vampire Weekend was the first band to break the spell of the rain and get crowds rowdy! They were lively and upbeat, singing crowd favs like “Mansard Roof” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.”
As the mud turned into a giant, sloshy mosh pit, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the stage, bringing with them a giant inflatable eye ball for the crowd to bat around during their set. And Karen O is nothing if not a showman! She was all over the stage, wearing a crazy head covering, and deep throating her signature pink mic while gyrating to songs like “Date with the Night” and “Y Control.”
And then I witnessed festival history. Jay-Z made his festival debut, filling in for the Beastie Boys. He started with a cover of the Beastie Boys’ classic “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” which rocked! I never thought I’d say that about Jay-Z… I was covered in mud and out of money for beer. I certainly had 99 problems, but Jay-Z wasn’t one.
Green Day: Anger, Rage and Alienation can be Fun!
Drunk bunnies, crowd surfing, mosh pits, f-bombs, fire at MSG. That’s rock n roll!
It opened with a pink bunny, apparently drunk, chugging bottles of beer and leading the crowd with “YMCA.” It ended with the final encore, “Good Riddance.” In between, Billie Joe Armstrong ruled from the stage, puckishly playing the 15,000-plus Madison Square Garden crowd like a maestro. He and Tre and Mike along with some extra and talented musicians completely rocked it out.
Posted by Mauro
A small gathering of friends
www.rockhall25.com
The evite went out today for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Birthday Party at Madison Square Garden in October. So far a few friends have replied that yes, they will be attending. Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills & Nash, U2, Aretha Franklin, Metallica and Eric Clapton. More friends expected to reply in the next few weeks.
Tickets go on sale for Amex card members on July 27th and to the rest of the world on August 3rd through Ticketmaster.
Bono is baking the cake.
