THE STOOGES AND JIMMY CLIFF WILL PERFORM AT ROCK HALL INDUCTION

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President and CEO Joel Peresman tells The Cleveland Plain Dealer that The Stooges and Jimmy Cliff will perform at thier inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the 15th. This is a cool opportunity for The Stooges to show off their new lineup, including reinstated guitarist James Williamson (I hope he is being inducted with the rest of the group, since he played on their classic album Raw Power).

It seemed pretty obvious that Genesis wouldn't be performing, since Peter Gabriel said he wouldn't (and he is in fact not even attending the ceremony, a bit of a dick move). Phil Collins, who will be there and who can sing, can't play the drums due to an injury.  So, I think that Phil, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett (and maybe Anthony Phillips, he is the band's original guitarist/leader, I think he's being inducted as well) will attend and not perform. I'm not an ABBA expert, but I don't think there's a chance in hell that they will perform.

The Hollies can't perform, because original singer/leader Allan Clarke can't sing anymore, and two of the other former members can't be there. But Graham Nash is apparently planning on performing Hollies songs backed by some of the members of Maroon 5.

The Plain Dealer article also says that Faith Hill, Chris Isaak, Ronnie Spector, Peter Wolf and Eric Burdon will be among the other artists who will appear, but it wasn't clear if all or any of them were performing. The show will air live on Fuse Monday night.

KNEBWORTH GETS A 20TH ANNIVERSARY REISSUE

Wow, it's been twenty years? I remember working at sleepaway camp over the summer and listening to the live broadcast of this concert over the radio. The concert featured British rock royalty, and raised funds for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and the Brit School of Performing Arts. Nordoff -Robbins "specializes in transforming the lives of children and adults constrained by illness, disability, trauma or isolation, through the power of music." It's easy to understand why so many musicians would donate their time and efforts. Learn more about Nordoff-Robbins here.

The concert itself was incredible.  Tears For Fears, a very hot band at that time, opened. They were followed by two legendary U.K. bands that never caught on here, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Status Quo. And then it got really good.

Robert Plant, who was absolutely huge at that moment thanks to his hit album Now & Zen performed, and towards the end of his set was joined by Jimmy Page. Phil Collins, one of the biggest stars in the world played a solo set.  After a few songs, most of his band (minus drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer) left and Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks joined for a Genesis set. Then Phil's band rejoined for a huge-ass "Turn It On Again" medley. Eric Clapton and The Dire Straits (both at their commercial peaks) performed a set together, playing songs from both catalogs, and then were joined by Elton John for some of his songs (including his then-#1 single "Sacrifice"). 

Paul McCartney, who was at the time on his first tour in over a decade and played an abbreviated version of his usual show. And, believe it or not, he wasn't the headliner: Pink Floyd (the post-Roger Waters version, alas) closed the show. I lost my CD version of the show, and ended up finding it on eBay and buying a new copy. I really like some of it: especially Plant's set, but before and after Page joins.  He was really enjoying having a hit album, I think. I also liked the Clapton/Elton/Dire Straits thing. Plus it brings back memories of listening to it over and over that summer (of course we taped it off the radio. I wish I still had the tape, since not all the songs made it to the album).  But now, Eagle Rock Entertainment is reissuing it (unfortunately with no bonus tracks).  It comes out March 23.

GENESIS: PROG ROCK'S "CATS"?

A friend of mine who is a jazz and classical musician used to work on Broadway musicals, and he told me this story. When Cats first hit Broadway, the show used the most cutting edge synthesizer sounds of the day; it was considered pretty hip, at least by Broadway standards. Broadway shows, he explained, rarely change anything about the production once the show opens. But seven or eight years in, the decision was made to update the synth tones, because they sounded so dated. You can probably figure out where this is going.

I attended Genesis’ recent Madison Square Garden concert with this same friend (a mutual friend hooked us up with a pair of tickets). My musician friend has rarely attended arena concerts – but after the show, he said that he felt that maybe Genesis might consider doing taking a cue from Cats. I thought it was an interesting comment: on one hand, Genesis, like most “prog rock” bands, aren’t big on changing the arrangements when they play their classics. Given the beatdowns that these bands have received for years from music critics, you can’t blame them for being a bit obstinate.

On the other hand, few prog rock bands – or any bands, period – have been able to evolve the way Genesis did through the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s. I don’t love everything the band has ever done, but I do respect the fact that, at a certain point, the guys said, "Well, maybe every song doesn’t need to be an epic." As adults, they addressed stuff that adults think about – relationships and the state of the world. Although always accused of being pretentious, they never made any pretensions of hipness, and I always respected that.

They have an interesting problem in concert: that they have at least four audiences to cater to: the people who love the Peter Gabriel-era prog stuff (and the longer pieces they’ve done with Phil Collins singing), the fans of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s rock radio stuff, the ‘80s MTV fans and the folks who like the adult contemporary stuff. I think they hit all the bases during the show.

Phil Collins isn’t just a great drummer, he’s also a great frontman, which is good because bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks have very little stage presence, and Rutherford is a very laid back player. The show wasn't like a religious experience, but I had a great time and I’m glad I went. They played most of my favorite songs from Phil’s era (notably the creepy “Mama,” the epic “Home By The Sea,” “Turn It On Again” “Throwing It All Away” – which I didn’t “get” until years after it came out, I think you need to have a certain amount of maturity to "get" some of these songs – “Follow You Follow Me” and a really rocking and fun version of “I Can’t Dance”) and Peter’s (“Firth of Fifth” and “The Carpet Crawlers”). The “Drum Duet” between Phil and their touring drummer Chester Thompson was pretty awesome, it reminded me of Stomp more than anything. I should also mention that touring bassist/guitarist Daryl Steurmer played some pretty great leads.

I bet Phil would have been down with making some changes to update their sound, but Mike and especially Tony are probably way too stubborn for that. And this tour isn't about proving how contemporary they are: I think it was about... well, money of course, but also I think Phil missed the guys. It was a nice way to say goodbye, because I don’t think that they are going to record more music or even tour much anymore. But when they did their last tour in 1992, no one really knew it was going to be their last. So it was a fine, if belated, goodbye. Anyway, here’s hoping they do it one more time – but with Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett.