Today's Day in Rock Stories

Stone Temple Pilots Jam With Joe Perry And Johnny Depp

The clip tackles a subject that should be familiar to everyone: smartphone addiction. In the video, crowds of people stand staring blankly at their phones in a quasi-religious situation.

Virtual reality headsets and other tech make appearances in the visual, which highlights how disconnected modern people are from authentic experiences. However, the clip ultimately ends on an optimistic note.

The meetup was also so fans could participate in a new music video Shinoda is working, sharing the new song to the gathered fans after swearing them to secrecy (and asking them to turn off their phones).

The wild night kicked off on Twitter, with Shinoda letting it be known that he was in the mood to socialize. Later, he jumped over to Instagram to share the details of the meetup, asking fans to stop by the Tower Records location and be in his new music video.

"I love to make art and I love to make music, and one reason I get to do that is because of you guys. I am just really, really grateful for that," Shinoda told the gathered fans (via Linkin Park Live forum staff). "I have been writing songs in the moment. As I went on, not every song was a sad song. And they've been about a lot of things. I've started to put them together and it looks like it'll be an album. It isn't an album about grief, but it starts there."

The October 6 and 7 appearances will feature special guests Gary Clark Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan and come on the heels of the guitarist's sold out show at London's Hyde Park this July.

The guitar icon - who will turn 73 on March 30 - has been ravaged by health issues in recent years, including nerve damage that has made playing music, among other things, a challenge for him

Clapton has also revealed that he is losing his hearing to tinnitus, the ailment that causes those affected to detect sound, often as ringing in the ears, when none is present.

"I am still going to work. I'm doing a few gigs. I am going to do a show at Hyde Park [British Summer Time Festival] in July," the guitarist told the BBC. "The only thing I'm concerned with now is being in my seventies and being able to be proficient I mean, I'm going deaf, I've got tinnitus, my hands just about work.

Now, frontman Billy Corgan says the Smashing Pumpkins are putting finishing touches on not just one, but two new EPs. "So almost all the musical side is done with 2 days to go, leaving background vocals and last minute touches/flourishes/drang," Corgan shared on Instagram, sharing the song titles for fans who might have missed them when they were first announced: "Solara," "Marchin' On," "Travels," "Seek and You Shall Destroy," "With Sympathy," "Knights of Malta," "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)." and "Alienation."

The band's first original track since 1996 - with new vocalist Ronnie Romero - is featured on the 2 CD/DVD package that captures the group in concert over three 2017 shows in the UK.

"Memories In Rock II" combines new live versions of classic tracks from Blackmore's time with both Deep Purple and Rainbow alongside backstage footage and interviews with the entire revamped Rainbow lineup.

The set marks the follow-up to 2016's "Memories In Rock - Live In Germany", which delivered the legendary guitarist's return to the rock stage for the first time in two decades.

"Rainbow is part of my life, as is Deep Purple," explains Blackmore. "I just got back together for a few shows because I wanted to have a blast on the Strat. That's always good fun but it's not something I will do all the time. I might do another couple of shows. Japan wants us and a lot of other places. Blackmore's Night is really my main music - that's much more challenging. It's not so easy to play."

Directed by John Vondracek, the clip mixes archival footage of Hendrix performing the song with the Band Of Gypsys alongside photographs and home movies of the iconic guitarist.

Recorded in December of 1969 by the trio that would come to be known as Band Of Gypsys - Hendrix, bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles - "Lover Man" sees the rocker slide in a snippet of the theme from the 1960s TV series Batman.

"Imagine Jimi doing a take and when everything falls apart, he'd start playing the Batman or Peter Gunn theme without missing a beat," producer Eddie Kramer tells Rolling Stone. "He'd do something really silly and stupid and everybody would be cracking up. He wanted to keep it light. He'd also do it to change it up a bit and inevitably those lines would work themselves into songs, and that's Jimi's sly humor."

The band recorded the set last year with producers Andy Sneap and Tom Allom; Sneap will join the band's touring lineup in place of guitarist Glenn Tipton when they kick off a world tour in Wilkes Barre, PA on March 13 after the rocker announced his retirement from the road following a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease.

Judas Priest fans from around the US northeast area will be able to meet the band at a New York City CD signing. Starting on March 9 at 10am, fans who purchase "Firepower" at Sony Square NYC (25 Madison Avenue in New York City) will receive a wristband that will grant them access to the special event on Monday, March 19 at 6pm.

The show is currently in development, with Bravo securing access to the Lennon-McCartney catalog to use in the show's soundtrack (according to Variety).

Kramer has put together a new band consisting of Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Dug Pinnick (King's X), and Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla) to go out on tour with him.

Another band celebrating Record Store Day with a live record are The National. The band will release Boxer Live in Brussels, recorded at a special show last year celebrating the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough album.

The music industry charity is recognizing the rocker for his significant dedication to, and support of, MusiCares and his commitment to helping others in the addiction recovery process.

"Recovery is a journey that you take each day, and mine has been affirming from a musical standpoint and a community perspective," says McCready. "To be able to raise funds for MusiCares and the critical addiction recovery work they do for music people across the country all year long is humbling, and it speaks to the way we can come together to help those in need."

The Concert For Recovery will feature performances by Slash, Duff McKagan, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Mike Ness and Barrett Martin, while the evening will close with a special performance by McCready and friends.

With 2018 being Meltdown's twenty-fifth year, the event chose Robert Smith of The Cure to assemble his line-up, details of which were revealed earlier this week. In a first-wave of artist announcements, it would appear that Smith has leaned towards a darker, more brooding set of acts, as you'd expect.

The first list features global stars like Nine Inch Nails and Deftones, alongside acclaimed British acts like The Libertines, Manic Street Preachers, Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine, Placebo, The Psychedelic Furs, The Church and 65daysofstatic.

The lead single from the band's third album, "Who Built The Moon?", has been described by the former Oasis leader as "one of my favorite pieces of music that I've ever written."

Produced by David Holmes, the project debuted at No. 1 on the UK charts, delivering Gallagher his third consecutive chart-topper in his homeland.

The set, which includes guest appearances by Paul Weller and Johnny Marr, among others, has reached No. 48 on the US Billboard 200.

Wiseau, who was made even more famous after being portrayed by actor James Franco in the movie The Disaster Artist, makes for a striking presence in the ominous and neon-lit visual.

The video finds Wiseau striding into Rae's Restaurant in Santa Monica, a popular old school breakfast spot in Santa Monica, CA. The '80s-inspired clip gets really interesting when Wiseau pulls out a sawed-off laser gun and gets into a fight with the waitress.

"Submit your version of any Guns N' Roses song using #GNRcoversong and we'll share some of our favorites!"�," the legendary hard rock outfit captioned the video of Mr. Coolo's take on "Patience."

JR: Luke thought this song was about accidentally dropping someone off the back of a boat and returning to a pool house in a panic. Why there is a pool house at a lake house, I don't know.

I don't like lyrics to be too clear. I don't think I'm a very gifted storyteller, so I'd prefer to let people make up their own ideas--like Luke did. It was written after a friend's tumultuous breakup. It's about an existential crisis, a moment you wake up and say, "what am I doing here? Why would I keep doing this?"

LK: When Jess brought this in, I instantly liked it. It reminded me of the Swirlies smashed up against The xx. I liked how elegant the middle section was. However, when first playing it, I overcomplicated the introduction, because I was convinced it didn't work tonally. This was stupid of me. Eventually, I pulled back and did exactly what Jess did on the demo. Instead of focusing on the notes, I focused on the whammy bar and the timbre. During the recording process, Jess overdubbed keyboards that play against her lead guitar melody. It feels very finished to me. James (Frazee) added some touches at the ends of select measures that are subtle but helped immensely. Other than the very beginning, this song is structurally almost a palindrome.

JR: After we recorded the song, I felt the introduction was a little thin, so I went into my basement with my guitar and amp, recorded a layer of feedback that I'm sure my neighbors were happy to hear and mixed it into a whisper.