FRONT ROW

Taylor Hawkins tribute kicks off

We joined 80,000 fans and family as the Foos drummer got a legendary send off

Dave Grohl had been understandably quiet since the death of his drummer Taylor Hawkins. A Glastonbury appearance with Macca briefly broke the silence but the sheer ambition of this London tribute concert was a bigger deal than any Foo Fighters gig.

With a cracked voice during his approach to the stage mic, an emotionally charged Grohl led the Foo Fighters through a 6 hour set which included guests as diverse as Liam Gallagher, Mark Ronson, The Darkness, Chrissie Hynde, Travis Barker and Paul McCartney. Members of Rush, AC/DC, The Police and Led Zeppelin created more excitement while Taylor’s son Shane and Grohl’s daughter Violet also performed on drums and vocals respectively after watching from stage left. 12 year old YouTube drumming sensation Nandi Bushell also lit up the stadium without an ounce of fear. Not even the sound issues in the first 30 minutes of Mark Ronson’s DJ set could quell the atmosphere. A quick Google will recount the classic moments of which there are too numerous to mention but here’s a couple: Josh Homme and Nile Rodgers performing Let’s Dance and The Foos backing Brian Johnson for a epic take on Back in Black. A reborn Kesha delivered a brilliantly raw cover of Children of The Revolution after her 2020 studio take on the track. Cult UK favourites The Darkness got a real chance to shine, showcasing their considerable talents without the tongue in cheek attitude that had perhaps held them back from bigger global ambitions in the past. All that now changes of course, as anyone on this bill will become even bigger while, as a fitting tribute, millions of younger online viewers will have discovered the talents of Supergrass, Rush and Stewart Copeland just like Taylor before them. And as tributes go, if it celebrates one of the best drummers in the world and creates a newfound respect for undiscovered artists that Taylor loved, surely that’s as good as it gets?

Taylor at the Islington Assembly Hall, 2014 Macca and Hynde play Oh! Darling The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert hits the LA Kia Forum on Sept 27th. Guests include Alanis Morrisette, Joan Jett and Miley Cyrus.

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Vinyl goes green as bioplastic records arrive in the UK and US

Bioplastic records are the brainchild of UK company Evolution Music. Because polyvinyl chloride is used to make many records, it’s attracted attention as we need to stop the amount of plastic in our oceans. Bioplastic records are made from plant based materials such as sugar and starch. Talking to CBS, producer Rob Cass tested a bioplastic record and said “we believe the quality is extremely high, just about as high as vinyl. Maybe 95%”.

How the industry embraces the new format is yet to be seen but early endorsers include

“Bioplastic records are made from plant based materials such as sugar and starch”

Michael Stipe and as the vinyl industry passed $1 billion in 2021, there’s plenty of potential as consumers wake up to the impact of traditional vinyl and music streaming. Last year the New Statesman led research that suggested the global impact of a hit track on Spotify generates more carbon emissions than 400 return flights from London to New York. And in 2020 Lorde announced that her new album would not be released on CD. The latter statement sounded like a token effort for a press release but the trend for environmentally aware brands and products are everywhere from food to fashion, cars to beauty creams. As the vinyl industry faces mounting production and supply issues, a new material for records is ideal fodder for Bandcamp and artists selling direct. Ultimately the biggest challenge is to get the major labels to sign up and work with record plants to press a new kind of disc for a new kind of vinyl audience.

Shazam turns 20 years old, Apple celebrates

Owned by Apple since 2018, it’s easy to forget that Shazam started as a basic text message service before it became an app and then an intergrated offering within the Apple eco system. Shazam now boasts 225 million monthly users and the stats around users have helped break artists and give Apple a clue of who’s on the up.

“The fact that people all over the world took time out of their day to pull out their phone and Shazam my songs is a huge honor for me as an artist,” said Masked Wolf. “You know you’ve got something special if you see the Shazam stats moving.” The success of the Stranger Things Kate Bush sync was spotted weeks before by Shazam and gave a clue of how Running Up That Hill would reach Number 1, decades after its release in 1985.

“With its continued commitment to innovation over the past two decades, Shazam is pioneering new ways to bring fans closer to the music and artists they love with new tools like the concert discovery feature, which spotlights concert information and tickets on sale for shows nearby, simply by Shazaming a song, or by searching for it in the Shazam app or website” commented Apple.