That's an interesting question, and has a lot to do with the nature of the show.
In '77, the ELP Works 1 tour had to stop carrying an orchestra with them because of Led Zeppelin, sort of. Zep cancelled the last few dates of their tour due to the death of Plant's son; and the last-minute, day-of-show notice in New Orleans (the band were already there when Plant got word) gave rise to something near riots.
One of the side effects of this was that other big ticket shows (note, the GA tickets for Zep were $10 for that show...) that went on sale in the days afterward sold poorly (in NOLA). The ELP show, in particular, sold very poorly, meaning that the band was going to lose big money on that show. They bit the bullet and sent the orchestra home, quickly redoing the set list so that they could perform at least some of the Works material without an orchestra...
I saw that tour in August, in Oakland. It was a mostly-great show, but it seemed to lack a certain zip, which I guess came from the band's frustration at the situation. (The opening act, by the way, was Journey, introducing their new vocalist Robert Fleischman ... who sucked, in the opinion of myself and my concert-going buddy...)
Impera littera designata delenda est.
And Rolling Stone weighs in on this “nuclear option”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-ZQ1uJ0tGHBsYY
“I’m willing to do anything to stop the fake band; they’re taking [Bachman and my] life story and pretending it’s theirs,” Cummings tells Rolling Stone. “They’re not the people who made these records and they shouldn’t act like they did. This doesn’t stop this cover band from playing their shows, it just stops them from playing the songs I wrote. If the songs are performed by the fake Guess Who, they will be sued for every occurrence.”
If this succeeds we might see some other legacy acts with no original members getting in hot water as well. This is going to be really interesting.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Cummings and Bachman have won. They got the "The Guess Who" name trademark back, and the "fake Guess Who" seem to be re-branding themselves after the title of their last album, “Plein D’Amour”. Not sure who is going to know who “Plein D’Amour" is if they try to tour under that name.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...ent-1235092842
Bachman and Cummings declined to give details about the settlement beyond confirming that they acquired the trademark through the settlement. Cummings says he, Bachman and Peterson spent
“many hours” in mediation in Los Angeles to reach the agreement.
“It was an impossible task, and suddenly the impossible became possible,” Bachman tells Rolling Stone. “We fulfilled our dream of writing hit songs and performing them, then to have it kind of fall apart. To be able to come back together as partners and shut down the bad reputation being formed by the false advertising and fraudulent band is really good, and I look forward to what’s ahead.”
Thanks for the good news. I didn't know Rolling Stone was paywalled now.
It was just announced that Bachman Turner Overdrive is playing near me this fall, although it does not appear that Turner is actually in the lineup which would leave Bachman as the only former member. Anyone seen the current version of BTW lately and are they worth seeing?
I saw Burton Cummings on Tuesday night. He was fantastic. A very good six-piece band. I had seen recent set lists and would have preferred a couple more solo tunes, but that's not most people were there for. He sounded really good, better than some of the videos from the earlier shows. Compared to the old days, I'd say his voice is about 85% there, more-so when he stays in his range, which is still better than most people and quite impressive for a 76-year-old. He also has a new album out that is getting rave reviews.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
The double dash is a stronger break than a comma.
And, yes, I am a bit of a pedant. Why do you ask? (Not that you did; it was a rhetorical question...)
Impera littera designata delenda est.
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