America’s preeminent progressive rock band, KANSAS, finally brought their popular Point of Know Return Anniversary Tour to Thousand Oaks. Originally launched as a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the massive hit album Point of Know Return, the band will be performing the album in its entirety.
This show was over 3 years in the making. Originally scheduled for March 19, 2020 with a presale dating all the way back to 2019, the show was postponed from the day that California effectively shut down due to Covid-19. After a few rescheduled dates (the most recent being May 1, 2022), the show finally took place and was well worth the wait.
The tour showcases classic KANSAS music including hit songs, deep cuts, fan favorites, and includes selections from the band’s latest studio album The Absence of Presence, which is an appropriate name for all the show date changes for this concert….
In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the massive with other classic Kansas music, including hit songs, deep cuts and fan favorites.
Playing to a capacity crowd in Thousand Oaks, CA, the band played a solid 2 hour set of favorites, classics and a few of their new tunes. The band was on fire. The vocals, harmonies, and superb musicianship easily made this one of the best concerts of 2020, 2021 and 2022 combined.
The show started as an acoustic 5 piece band with Phil Ehart taking the drum throne at the end of the short set. The songs sounded incredible.
The second set was electric with another 5 awesome songs before performing the hit album Point of Know Return in its entirety as the third set.
The encore for the solid 2 hour set was “Carry On Wayward Son” where the crowd completely rocked out. What a fantastic evening. Only one more show remains on the tour this weekend.
Due to continued uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, Kansas, at Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks has been rescheduled to May 1, 2022. Tickets from the originally scheduled date will be honored on this new date. For refunds, contact initial point of sale. pic.twitter.com/hh0r9GyFFw
— Nederlander Concerts (@NederlanderLive) April 7, 2021
KANSAS concert schedule update – including re-scheduled dates for dates that had been scheduled in Thousand Oaks, CA; Marietta, OH; and Newark, OH in December 2020 – now moved to 2021 https://t.co/zMeGxNROBU
Established in June of 1998, Mr Musichead Gallery was the first institution in Los Angeles devoted exclusively to the art and visual history of music. Featuring many of Rock’s most renown and celebrated photographers capturing the genres images with verve and style.
Veteran shutterbug, Chris Cuffaro, brought his portfolio of early Janes Addiction (circa 1989-91) for a three day exhibition capturing the iconic L.A. group in all their ragged glory.
In my conversation with Chris I learned he shot his first band at the ripe old age of ten! Growing up in northern California he began shooting for fun and that evolved into a lucrative career spanning over fifty years. During that impressive run he also racked up numerous album covers and publicity shots with such lofty and diverse acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Henry Rollins, George Harrison, George Michael, and INXS’s Michael Hutchence
Early on he earned the trust and respect of the artists by spending thousands of dollars on plane fares and hotel rooms following his dream. This curated display is an homage to the unique symbiosis that exists between photographer and subject.
Original bassist for Jane’s Addiction, Eric Avery, was in attendance this evening and is rumored to rejoin the original line-up of Jane’s for their upcoming “Spirits on Fire Tour” at Madison Square Garden and right here at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday Nov. 19th.
Another aspect to this engagement was the dropping of NFT or Non Fungible Tokens available for purchase. A non-fungible token is a record on a blockchain which is associated with a particular digital or physical asset. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchain, and can be transferred by the owner, allowing NFTs to be sold and traded. This emerging medium is gaining in popularity although regarded as having
MR. MUSICHEAD GALLERY PRESENTS
CHRIS CUFFARO’S GREATEST HITS: JANES ADDICTION By
WILLIAM DERHAM
been used as speculative investments, and they have drawn increasing criticism for the energy cost and carbon footprint associated with validating blockchain transactions as well as their frequent use in art scams.
All in all a festive, enjoyable evening of visual stimuli and interesting conversation with Chris’s close friends and the movers and shakers in the rock/art community. This showing will run from Sept 15th to Oct 1st. For further details check mrmusichead.com.
On Thursday night, veteran photographer/ director Chris Cuffaro launched his Greatest Hits: Jane’s Addiction, an exclusive three-day exhibit of one of rock’s most legendary and influential bands at its incendiary peak.
Opening Night kicked off Thursday, September 15th at 7pm for VIP Industry and Media, with General Admission at 8pm to 10pm.
Cuffaro’s original photography took center stage at Musichead Gallery (7420 Sunset Blvd.) while DJ Fred Sablan kept the beats pumping throughout each night.
NFT Opening Night will take place Friday, September 16 (7:30pm-10pm), with Cuffaro dropping NFTs and collab NFTs alongside artist Chris Arvan and catering to the NFT community and attendees who could not make the Thursday night opening.
On Saturday, September 17, the third day of the exhibit will feature an afternoon ‘Artist Talk’ speaking event at 1pm, followed by musical performances by the band Bexley and surprise guests.
“Way back in 1989, I went to Santa Barbara to see the band Mary’s Danish do a show on the UCSB campus, where they opened for a band I had never heard of at the time… Jane’s Addiction. I was into jazz, funk, R&B and rock, so seeing them come on stage and do their thing blew my fucking mind! I had never seen or heard anything like them before, and it was love at first sight and sound,” he says.
“My first shoot was with lead singer Perry Farrell for Exposure Magazine in 1989. It’s when I got my iconic Jesus Christ Pose photo at the shoot, but the magazine didn’t like the results so I shot him again. This time we painted him silver and the rest is history.
“In July 1990 I got to shoot the Ritual De Lo Habitual publicity photos for Warner Brothers Records, and I got to know them and their management very well. This respect and trust led to me shooting them as much as I could for almost two years. I shot a bunch of live shows, a handful of Lollapaloozas, behind the scenes, portraits and the infamous ‘Last Show’ in Hawaii.
“I will always be grateful for the trust they gave me so that I could get the best photos ever; they let me shoot whatever I wanted and never put any restrictions on me. The best part of this time was the music and all the experiences that I had. I’m so lucky I got these photos to remember it all.”
The Jane’s Addiction exhibit invite is currently up on his official artist newsletter.
California native Chris Cuffaro has photographed the best of the best in the entertainment world – actors, models, athletes and musicians – for more than 40 years. He began his career by shooting local rock shows for fun, then moved to Los Angeles in the early ‘80s to create eye-popping images in the commercial and editorial space for such publications as Rolling Stone, Spin, RayGun, Vibe, Musician, Entertainment Weekly, US, Stuff, Maxim, Premiere, British Elle and W.
More recently, Cuffaro has presented multiple exhibitions celebrating his iconic music photography; he started with Greatest Hits: Los Angeles and then followed up with GH: Martini Ranch, GH: George Michael, GH: Grunge, GH: Pearl Jam and GH: Michael Hutchence. He is currently working on an official Greatest Hitsdocumentary and expanding his popular exhibition to accommodate a worldwide audience.
His natural talent, versatility and tireless pursuit of artistic expression continue to grow, no matter the medium. “Regardless of what I’ve been able to accomplish in the past, there are always new mountains to climb and new borders to cross,” says Cuffaro. “I’m excited by where I’m going and what lies ahead… by the journey as well as the destination.” For more information, visit CuffaroHits.com.
Ozzy signing at Long Beach music store Fingerprints on September 10.
To meet Osbourne, fans pre-ordered a copy of the album, which came out the day before on September 9. Attendees checked in at noon and the signing was at 2 p.m.
Grammy award-winning singer Ozzy Osbourne signed copies of his new album “Patient Number 9”— his 13th solo studio album and a continuation from 2020’s top 5 release Ordinary Man, once again produced by Andrew Watt. This 13-track project, has the most legendary guests ever on an Ozzy Osbourne release. Three tracks alone – “Patient Number 9”, “Degradation Rules”, and “One Of Those Days” – feature Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Zakk Wylde and the late Taylor Hawkins.
American artist, however Australian-born Rick Springfield, British artist John Waite (The Babys/ Bad English) and Scottish/ Australian artist Colin Hay/Men At Work played the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, CA last night. This was a night full of great hits from the 80’s. Waite took the stage first. Waite was the lead vocalist for the Babys from 1975 until they broke up in 1981 then was solo followed by Bad English from 1987-1991 with Journey members Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon while the band was on hiatus, and Dean Castronovo who would join Journey in 1998, as well as Ricky Phillips before 12 years before he joined Styx. Cain and Phillips were also members of The Babys. Waite performed Bad English’s “When I See Your Smile,” his number one hit “Missing You,” The Babys’ “Midnight Rendezvous,” and ended with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” Waite had some difficulty with the sound monitors, but nevertheless gave a great performance. Due to the sound issues, Waite and his guitarist performed “Bluebird Cafe” acoustically.
Hay & Men at Work took the stage after Waite. Men at Work formed in Australia in 1978 and took its first hiatus in 1986 then reformed from 1996-2002. Sax/Flute player Greg Ham was a member of both lineups and passed away in 2012. Hay reformed the band in 2019 with a new group consisting of guitarist San Miguel Perez, drummer Jimmy Branly, sax/flute player Scheila Gonzalez, bassist Yosmel Montejo, and backing vocalist Cecila Noel. Hay jokingly said “I never left Men at Work, but the other members did. Hay was a member of Ringo Starr’s All Starr band in 2003, 2008, and again since 2018. Men at Work is a very global group with the current members originally being from Cuba, Guatemala, Norway, and Peru. Montejo was dressed in a Joker-style outfit with purple suit and green tie. His bass had green strings as well. The Men at Work set was all Men at Work songs like “Overkill,” Who Can It Be Now,” and “Down Under,” Hay performs with the All Starr band every show. The closing song was “Be Good Johnny.” Men at Work won five Countdown Australia Music Awards between 1981 and 1983 and the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1983. Hay had a few funny stories, in one he said “When someone asks him if it’s a good idea to pursue music and song-writing” that “Down Under took him 40 minutes to write and it still makes a good living for him now so F*ck yeah!” Springfield closed the show opening with “Affair of the Heart.”Springfield has won two King of Pop Awards and a Grammy. Springfield has released a whopping 22 albums with the latest solo album being Orchestrating My Life in 2019 and released a self-titled debut album with Red Locusts (Matt and Gregg Bissonette) last year. Springfield has had four consecutive Platinum albums and one Gold album. Springfield’s set was full of hits like “I’ve Done Everything for You,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” for “Human Touch,” he came in the audience, “Love Somebody,” and ended with his number one hit “Jessie’s Girl.” Springfield had the audience sing happy birthday for his 73rd birthday which was a week earlier.
The Shock-Rock/ Hard-Rock tour of a lifetime came to the Five Point Amphitheater in Irvine, CA last night. The Freaks on Parade Tour features a headline set from Rob Zombie and performances from Mudvayne, Static-X, and Powerman 5000. This nearly 5 hour show began with Powerman 5000 led by Zombie’s younger brother Spider One, the only member of the group through each lineup since forming in 1991. The current band is lead vocalists Spider One, drummer DJ Rattan, bassist Murv3, rhythm guitarist Taylor Haycraft, and lead guitarist Dan Schiz. Their electrifying set of eight songs included “Bombshell,” “Supernova Goes Pop,” “When Worlds Collide,” and a cover of The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army.”
Next up was Static-X. Static-X formed in 1994 with Wayne Static (Lead vocals/ Guitar), bassists Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda, and drummer Ken Jay. The original lineup remained together for six years. From 2010-2012 the group was on hiatus then Static reformed the group with new members before going solo until his passing in 2014. In 2018/19 the surviving founding members reformed the band with a new singer/guitarist Xer0 to keep Static’s legacy and music alive. Xer0 recreates Static’s signature look with a mask and similar hair style. Static-X played a set of seven songs including “Love Dump,” “I’m With Stupid,” and “Push It.”
Second to last was the highly anticipated performance from Mudvayne for their first L.A. show in 12 years. Mudvayne were together for 14 years before taking a hiatus in 2010. Frontman Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett went on to continue with Hellyeah with former Pantera/Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul of which they had joined when the group formed in 2006. Tribbett left the group in 2014/ With Paul’s passing in 2018, Hellyeah did one more tour with Stone Sour drummer Roy Mayorga honoring Paul’s life and legacy before disbanding in 2021 when Mudvayne reunited. Mudvayne is still three founding members Gray, Tribbett, drummer Matthew McDonough, however bassist Ryan Martinie joined in 1997 replacing original bassist Shawn Barclay who left just a year after the group formed. Also on guitar is touring member Marcus Rafferty who joined last year when the group reunited.
Mudvayne performs dressed in horror-movie style outfits. The 12-song set opened with “Dig,” and included “Death Blooms,” “World So Cold,” and “Happy?”
Guitar legend Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter is best known as a member of the original Steely Dan band appearing on the group’s first three albums and a member of The Doobie Brothers in which he was on six albums with. Skunk was inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame with the Doobie Brothers in 2020. In addition to Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers, Skunk has an endless list of credits including Dolly Parton, Ringo Starr, Donna Summer, and The Ventures. Skunk embarked on a short tour around Southern California July 30th to promote his first solo album Speed of Heat and stopped at iconic venues like Yoshi’s in Oakland and the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Along with Skunk is keyboardist producer CJ Vanston (Spinal Tap, Joe Cocker), bassist Hank Horton and drummer Mark Damien. Sunday night Skunk stopped at the SOhO in Santa Barbara. Next week Skunk will play Billboard Live in Japan. Skunk’s set included various songs throughout his career like The Doobie Brothers’ “China Grove,” Steely Dan’s “My Old School,” “Do It Again,” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” and eight songs from his new album as well as classic guitar song “Apache.”
