The Feelies (from left): guitarists Bill Million and Glenn Mercer, drummer Stan Demeski, percussionist Dave Weckerman, and bassist Brenda Sauter.
A casual listener might hear the Feelies’ version of “I’m Waiting for the Man,” from their 2023 live record, Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground, as a straight-ahead cover. After all, the legendary New Jersey-based underground rock ’n’ roll band didn’t change the chord structure around. They didn’t really alter the instrumentation. They didn’t give it a profoundly new feel that recontextualizes Lou Reed’s paean to a drug deal. No, they seem to simply convey the song with a svelte, efficient delivery.
But on the song, the Feelies do their thing, subtle though it might be. The band have had a knack for stripping songs to their necessary bits and making them their own since forming in the 1970s. Their slightly warped, minimal, high-speed take on the Beatles’ “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” set the tone on their debut, 1980’s Crazy Rhythms, and they’ve since made covers an integral part of their records and live shows.
The Feelies’ history with the music of the Velvets runs deep, including recording the band’s “What Goes On” for 1988’s Only Life. On Some Kinda Love, they paint a bigger picture as they cover 18 songs from the VU catalog. Throughout, the Feelies, in effect, convey an object lesson in how to approach the music of the Velvet Underground, offering refreshing lessons on how to rock ’n’ roll along the way.
Glenn Mercer's Gear
Glenn Mercer’s live rig consists of a modded Squier Telecaster, a simple pedal chain, and a modern Vox AV30 that he runs through a vintage Guild 1x12.
Photo by Tim Bugbee
Guitars
- Two modified Squier Telecasters
Amps
- Vox AV30
- ’50s Guild cab with JBL 12" speaker
Effects
- Boss Turbo Overdrive
- Boss Super Overdrive
- Boss Chorus
Strings & Picks
- D’Addario NYXL (.010-.046)
- Dean Markley triangle picks .50 mm
- Clayton picks
Let’s get back to “I’m Waiting for the Man” and consider its place in the rock canon with some extracurricular listening:
An early version of “I’m Waiting for the Man” appears on Words & Music, 1965, a collection of 23-year-old Reed’s demos for Pickwick Records, where he was a staff songwriter and session musician. It’s a humble slice of Greenwich Village folk, Reed’s vocal accompaniment a loose but grooving fingerpicked acoustic guitar figure.
In 1967, the song made its official debut on The Velvet Underground & Nico. The song is transformed and has arrived. The guitar figure has been boiled down to a droning two-chord vamp, with the exception of a four-measure turnaround that serves as the chorus. It’s electrified and distorted. Guitars sounds like they’re cutting through the tape. John Cale pounds piano clusters along with Moe Tucker’s propulsive tom and tambourine assault. Meanwhile, Reed coolly raps overtop. This is rock ’n’ roll in its most elemental form. All the energy, all the vibe, none of the frills.
“If you have to talk about stuff and work on stuff, then to me, you kind of lose the essence of what’s good about playing music. It’s all instinctual and telepathic.” —Glenn Mercer
A couple years later, in 1969, the band performed a live rendition of “I’m Waiting for the Man” for what would become 1972’s Live at Max’s Kansas City. By now, original Velvets Reed and guitarist Sterling Morrison were joined by the rhythm section of brothers Doug and Billy Yule, and together they deliver a tight, swaggering shuffle. Morrison reaches for the sky with bluesy bar-rock bends and trills and Lou howls and hollers. It’s loud, it’s alive. It’s also an indication of the Velvets’ evanescence. From folky strums to a pulsating psychedelia to proto-punk, nothing in their orbit remained the same in their short span.
There are other versions of the band playing the song, and the band’s approach varies—no matter what anyone tells you, don’t skip the pseudo-minimalist reading on the band’s 1993 reunion record, Live MCMXCIII. It’s not only great, but worth it for guitar nerds to hear Lou play the song in his headless-guitar phase. After their dissolution, Reed continued to reinvent on live albums; the John Lee Hooker-style approach he takes on Take No Prisoners is worth hearing. Tucker also recorded a delicately strummed, breathy version with moodier chords on I Spent a Week There the Other Night.
What the Velvet Underground did with the song within the band and beyond is one thing, but the perquisite reinvention in the hands of others affirmed its status as a rock ’n’ roll standard.
The Yardbirds seem to have been the first to cover “I’m Waiting for the Man,” not long after its release. Though it’s not on any official releases, it’s easy to find their energetic, rave-up version. Bowie’s popular cover glams it up, makes the turnaround chords a little more bluesy—replacing the dominant III chord that gives that part its doo-wop allure—and Mick Ronson plays some Spiders from Mars-era leads that seem take the song to a swankier part of town than Reed originally intended to describe. The U.K. Subs amplified the song’s punkish roots, Beck made a bachelor pad-friendly version, and Cheap Trick brought the song to arenas, with the histrionics that requires.
The Feelies evoke the VU by playing it straight from the heart. “We weren’t, like, super obsessed about it or anything,” says Mercer.
It’s against these covers that the nuances of the Feelies’ signature are laid bare. While other artists have looked beyond the limits set by the Velvets, on Some Kinda Love, the Feelies return “I’m Waiting for the Man” to its central musical premise. There is no stylistic reinvention. Nor do they kneel at the altar of the VU, copying every -ism of the original recording. They simply play the essential elements of the song.
Bill Million's Gear
Million says his preference for Gibson-style guitars evolved in response to Mercer’s Fenders, as a way to differentiate their sounds. Live, he runs his guitars and board into a Music Man with a vintage Gibson extension cab.
Photo by Matt Condon
Guitars
- 1985 Gibson ES-335
- 1986 Gibson ES-335
- Epiphone Hummingbird
- Epiphone J-160
Amps
- Music Man 112 Sixty-Five (no speaker)
- Gibson GA-100 extension cab with 12" JBL speaker
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Regular Slinky
- D’Addario Phosphor Bronze
- D’Addario Chromes (Flat)
- Dunlop picks .73 mm
Effects
- MXR Micro Amp
- Fulltone OCD
- Fulltone Fat-Boost
- Boss Chorus
- Maxon Overdrive
- DeArmond Volume Pedal
- Electro-Harmonix Canyon
- Electro-Harmonix Octavix
- Source Audio Vertigo Tremolo
- Ebow
As early as Crazy Rhythms, the band exhibited a kind of jittery, frenetic feel. As they moved from their early funkier art-rock inclinations to a more pastoral sound on 1986’s Peter Buck-co-producedThe Good Earth—on which they cemented their lineup—it stuck with them.
“I’ve never been that comfortable performing,” says Mercer. “I think that we took that nervousness, that stage fright element, and used it to our advantage. It made us appear to be the nervous awkward band or whatever.” Check out their performance in Jonathan Demme’s 1986 film Something Wild to see what the guitarist means as they take David Bowie’s “Fame” for a spin.
The connection between Mercer and Million is at the front and center of the Feelies’ sound. While they don’t shy from the traditional lead/rhythm route, their rhythmic hookup is notable. Together, they’re percussive, with chord stabs often bouncing between the two forming tense, funky interactions. To describe it, Million points to the Velvet Underground, but more so Keith Richards and Ron Wood’s classic “ancient art of weaving” approach to rhythm. “That’s the feeling I get when I’m playing,” he says. “We’ve been playing together so long that there is a lot of that guitar interaction. My approach is to weave between what Glenn’s doing, and what Stan’s doing as well with the drums, so there’s a reaction, little accents here and there. We’ve all become very good listeners over time with each other, so that stuff just falls into the pocket.”
The guitarists have had plenty of time to form their two-guitar thing—they’ve been playing together for about a half century at this point. “Originally, we started playing together in a different band,” Mercer points out. “Bill played bass, and I played guitar, and Dave played drums. So, that was just three instruments with a singer. Then, Bill suggested switching to guitar and getting a bass player. I think right from the start, we were just playing the songs, we didn’t talk about what each one was going to do. It was understood.”
“They had this sort of quiet energy. It’s just as much energy as the Stooges or the MC5, but in a different way.” —Bill Millon on the Velvet Underground
From that, their style coalesced and evolved, and Mercer says they haven’t second-guessed it. “It’s instinctual. I think if it was anything other than that, it wouldn’t have lasted as long. I mean, if you have to talk about stuff and work on stuff, then to me, you kind of lose the essence of what’s good about playing music. It’s all instinctual and telepathic.”
The Velvet Underground and Nico hanging on a Vox in 1966 (clockwise from top left): Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, Moe Tucker, and Nico.
Their guitar tastes have even evolved around each other, and Million cites his own preference for Gibsons—using a Les Paul early on and switching to ES-335s in the mid ’80s, sticking to them ever since—as a reaction to Mercer’s Fenders, which these days are a pair of modified Squier Telecasters.
The two guitarists also share many influences; they both reference the Stooges, the MC5, the Beatles, and the Stones in our conversations. Mercer points to Ron Asheton as an influence on his leads, which on Some Kinda Love is audible in a simmering-just-before-the-point-of-boiling-over kind of way on “Rock & Roll” and on the tumbling double-guitar tangle-up at the end of “Run Run Run.” Notably, Million talks about being into the Velvet Underground in high school, citing Reed’s vocals, Tucker’s drumming, and how “the guitars were almost approached like drums in a way.”
“We took that nervousness, that stage fright element, and used it to our advantage.” —Glenn Mercer
Mercer, though, took a little longer to come around. “I didn’t like them,” he says. “A couple of songs I thought were pretty good. ‘Waiting for the Man,’” I really liked that. The rest of it just seemed like a hodgepodge of art stuff. I guess by the time the third record [1969’s self-titled album] came along it really sunk in.”
Lou Reed heard something he liked in the Feelies and tapped them to open for his 1989 tour in support of his New York album. He first linked up with the band at a holiday party for Long Island’s WDRE FM. Million remembers the party and says, when the band received their invite to perform, “I think it was me that said, as a joke, ‘If Lou plays a song with us, we’ll do it.’” The next thing they knew they were onstage together. “We were playing those songs at this really incredibly fast tempo! And he just seemed like he really enjoyed himself. Because of that he asked us to go on tour with him.”
Million remembers Reed as “very supportive of the Feelies,” and says they shared dinner with him before most of their concerts together. “There was one show,” the guitarist recalls, “where his soundcheck was running longer. They informed him that they would have to probably skip our soundcheck, and he just said, ‘If the Feelies don’t get a soundcheck, I’m not playing.’ So, that was our relationship with him.”
The young Feelies at Hurrah in New York City on September 11, 1980. From left: Mercer, Weckerman, Million, and drummer Anton Fier.
Photo by Ebet Roberts
It’s by pure kismet that after years of covering the Velvet Underground, and decades after playing the songs alongside Reed, the Feelies have come to pay tribute with Some Kinda Love. They received an invitation from the curators of The Velvet Underground Experience (the 2018 version of the 2016 The Velvet Underground: New York Extravaganza exhibit in Paris), and Mercer explains, “Their idea was to get a bunch of bands that were inspired by or influenced by the Velvet Underground to perform. They contacted us and we thought it would be cool to do.”
But it wasn’t to be. “They were a little bit delayed in moving the exhibit, so that in the interim, they lost their lease and had to find a new venue.” When that venue didn’t have space for a live rock band—though Mercer did end up performing—he says, “We were already kind of semi-rehearsed and getting excited about doing it. So we said, we’ll just do a concert on our own at a different venue.”
On October 13, 2018, the band played the Velvets set that would become Some Kinda Love at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey. (They also played a second set of Feelies songs and delivered three VU-less encores.) The record clocks in at 71 minutes, so it was a long night. And a thrilling one, no doubt. Because the Feelies deliver every song on the record—from their funky “There She Goes Again” to the driving, percussive strums of “Who Loves the Sun” to the droning, gothic “All Tomorrow’s Parties”—with the same natural vibe that they seem to bring to everything they do.
“We kind of use their arrangements as a little bit of a template, basically just to put in enough to evoke the original recordings,” says Mercer. “We weren’t like, super obsessed about it or anything.”
In contrast to every stylistically varied version of “I’m Waiting for the Man” considered here, the Feelies prove the VU’s music, like all truly great rock ’n’ roll, seems to demand nothing more than simplicity and honesty. Nothing more and nothing less.
The Feelies live in that world. It’s not complicated. And it’s not intellectual. It’s elemental. And once you tap into it, it’s inescapable.
And as Some Kinda Love proves, that attitude, that approach, might just make the Feelies the greatest interpreter of the Velvet Underground anyone could wish for.
YouTube It
The Feelies perform their groovy, percussive cover of “Run Run Run” that appears on Some Kinda Love.
Buddy Miller in his home studio posing with a Wandre, one of the first aluminum-neck designs. Buddy has nearly single-handedly inspired a cult around these Italian exports.
Over the decades, and especially more recently, a wild wave of alternative-material possibilities has steadily emerged, captivating many of our imaginations with unique sonic palettes, response, aesthetics, and playability. From the pioneering experiments of the past to the cutting-edge innovations of today, this is the journey of those materials—a testament to the enduring spirit of creativity and the relentless pursuit of excellence across the guitar universe.
As early as the 1950s, Danelectro, known for its budget-friendly instruments, made waves with their Masonite bodies. These guitars’ quirky designs and lipstick pickups offer a distinctive, resonant tone and affordability that appeals to many musicians seeking something unique and familiar. Less popular, but still prevalent, National built instruments from “Res-O-Glas,” a fiberglass-like substance made by combining polyester resin and glass threads.
The 1970s witnessed a surge of experimentation. The Ampeg Dan Armstrong “see-through” guitar was crafted from transparent acrylic. Though it had its drawbacks, the guitar became a bonafide icon. “It’s a pretty dense material. It weighs a lot,” notes James Little, CEO of Aluminati Guitar Co. “But it’s what gives them that midrange—they just cut through.” Together with their futuristic look, that cutting tone captivated players as diverse as Keith Richards and Black Flag’s Greg Ginn.
Adrian Belew’s own signature model Parker Fly, as seen on a recent Rig Rundown shoot. He’s playing the guitar on the current BEAT Tour, celebrating the classic ’80s recordings of King Crimson.
Photo by Perry Bean
While Masonite and acrylic were making headway, Veleno Guitars’ all-aluminum designs were landing in the hands of rock royalty, including Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Marc Bolan. The late producer Steve Albini’s Veleno even supplied the clean tones for Nirvana’s In Utero in the ’90s. Veleno wasn’t alone when it came to using metal, of course. Aluminum was used in the construction of electric instruments going back to the Rickenbacker A-22 “Frying Pan” lap steels, and Italy’s Wandre guitars were some of the first to use aluminum as a guitar-neck material in their radical designs. Later, Travis Bean and Kramer guitars, favored by artists like the Melvins’ Buzz Osborne and Jerry Garcia, followed suit in the ’70s.
These early forays into alternative materials may not have achieved the mainstream success of a Stratocaster. Still, their combination of attention-grabbing appearances and sound paved the way for future innovations and continues to inspire luthiers. As Ned Steinberger, the visionary behind his namesake brand and NS Design, puts it, “It’s not about the materials as much as how you feel when you play the guitar. How it sounds, how it plays, and how it looks—they’re all very important in terms of your enjoyment of playing.”
Ned knows a thing or two about electric guitar innovation. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he emerged as a true disruptor in the guitar world with his headless, carbon-fiber creations. These instruments, devoid of traditional headstocks and tuning pegs, offered unparalleled tuning stability, ergonomic comfort, and a sleek aesthetic that challenged conventional notions of guitar design.
A worker inspects a fresh and shiny body at the Aluminati factory.
Steinberger’s instruments initially faced resistance from traditionalists, but carbon fiber’s undeniable benefits soon won over a legion of progressive players. Eddie Van Halen, in his relentless pursuit of technical perfection, was one of the many who embraced Steinberger guitars for their tuning stability and futuristic TransTrem bridge. And on bass, Sting and Rush’s Geddy Lee also became prominent Steinberger players. These endorsements, as well as the instruments’ undeniable performance and stability, cemented Steinberger’s legacy as a true pioneer in alternative-material guitars.
Sparked by Steinberger’s work, the 1990s witnessed a renaissance of guitar innovation. Companies like Parker, Modulus, and Zon pushed the boundaries by combining carbon fiber and various alternative materials into premium instruments. Parker Guitars, founded by Ken Parker, gained the most recognition for its Fly model, a striking instrument featuring a composite body and a carbon-fiber neck. It symbolized the future for guitarists coming up at the time. “I have a vivid memory of being 15 or 16 and going to a guitar store and seeing a Parker there,” recalls Jake Howsam Lowe of the bands Plini and the Helix Nebula. “I played it, and all I could think was, ‘This thing is insane. I love this so much!’”
The Fly’s unique combination of materials offered a balanced tone, exceptional sustain, and a lightweight feel that has yet to be matched. Everyone from eclectic, boundary-pushing wizards Adrian Belew and Vernon Reid to fingerstyle master Phil Keaggy became champions of Ken Parker’s revolutionary design.
Like Steinberger and Veleno before them, Parker Guitars may have been too ahead of their time. By the mid 2000s, the brand was on the back burner, and the guitar industry was amid a significant shift. With renewed concerns about deforestation and the dwindling supply of rosewood and mahogany, there was a new focus on the search for sustainable alternatives. Much of that energy went into the hunt for alternative woods. Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars was at the heart of a movement to embrace non-traditional tonewoods like ovangkol, sapele, and pau ferro.
A rack of in-progress Aristides guitars, at the company’s factory in the Netherlands.
Sustainability continues to remain a concern across the industry. Even builders who specialize in non-wood construction still rely on plenty of wood in their builds. “We do [use wood],” says Little. “Mainly, we use local poplar and maple, but we also use some sapele, and we’re looking into paulownia. It grows on farms here in the South. So we try to keep it as local and green as possible."
Little’s Aluminati Guitars is at the forefront of today’s alternative-materials movement. Though not afraid to branch into the mentioned tonewoods, Lucite, and carbon fiber, the brand is known for its all-aluminum models. “Aluminum is just the perfect thing to make a stringed instrument from,” states Little, plainly. “It just rings out like a bell.”
Aluminati’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond their choice of materials. They also prioritize how they source their materials, ensuring their instruments are as environmentally conscious as they are sonically impressive. “For example,” says Little, “a company sent us some aluminum cans from a few of their venues in the United States. We recycled those cans into some fretboards and other parts.”
This Aluminati Nebula is all aluminum, but the model is available with customizable options, including fretboard and body material.
The contemporary guitar landscape is a tapestry of innovation and experimentation, where luthiers and musicians push the boundaries of what a guitar can be. Prisma Guitars builds instruments out of retired skateboards; German maker Verso’s minimalist designs are built using sheet metal; and luthier Rachel Rosenkrantz is challenging the conventions of what is accepted as instrument materials by using mycelium and paper within her sustainable avant-garde builds. Some builders, like YouTube-famous Burls Art, craft instruments from unexpected materials like colored pencils and Legos, transforming everyday objects into functional works of art.
Aristides Instruments is a leader in the charge for technological advancements. Engineering their own Arium composite material (a blend including thermoplastic resin and glass bubbles), Aristides crafts their instruments as a single uninterrupted piece. Each comes to life in specialized molds unique to their breathtaking designs. According to CEO Pascal Langelaar, the result is unparalleled consistency and playability. “People could see that as less romantic,” he admits, “but the benefit is that, when you play your neighbor’s guitar, you're getting the same quality [when you order your own].”
This consistency and quality control is a hallmark of the modern alternative-materials movement, offering reliability and predictability essential in today’s online-retail world. That peace of mind can be elusive with traditional wooden instruments.
Alternative materials aren’t without their unique challenges, though. Little acknowledges the hurdles, especially faced by early pioneers. “The main challenges were their weight, tuning stability, and action. They sound fantastic, but [a lot of them are] like 12 or 13 pounds. They’re always cold and have pretty raunchy tuning stability. So, we’ve had to address not only the traditional sound but also the pain points from aluminum instruments from the past.”
Caption: This Aristides 8-string is made from the company’s proprietary Arium composite material.
Aristides Instruments’ innovative approach to creating its own composite material helps solve these challenges. Even their finishing process is a highly technical exercise in innovation and precision. Erik Nieuwenhuisen, the company’s production manager, explains: “Once the guitars are out of the mold, they get painted on a really high level. We try to keep the paint layers extremely thin, but need to be sure that everything is really consistent.”
For decades, guitarists have remained fiercely loyal to traditional wood instruments, most viewing them as the only true path to sonic authenticity. But it seems as though players are embracing alternative materials more than ever before, a significant shift in the industry. So, what’s driving this change?
Little believes it’s a sign of the times. “I think it's the younger generation,” he says. “They want stuff that’s just kind of no-bullshit, something that works all the time when they want it to work without having to do a bunch of maintenance.”
Lowe, an Aristides devotee, echoes the sentiment. “I’m a very low-maintenance guitar player,” he explains. “And the less I have to do to my instrument, the happier I am. I think part of it also has to do with the fact that companies are just getting better.”
Luther Rachel Rosenkrantz’s Mycocaster is made of a unique combination of mycelium, recycled paper, Indian rosewood scraps, wax, and oil.
As part of Plini’s two-guitar live attack, Lowe is one of many guitarists flying the alternative-material flag while leading a new generation of fusion and metal players. According to him, online communities have also been crucial for expanding players’ horizons. Forums and social media platforms have provided a space for guitarists to connect, share their experiences, and discover new builders pushing the boundaries of design.
“Access through the internet is really important,” he says. “I remember cruising those forums and seeing guys like Misha [Mansoor of Periphery] and Nolly [Getgood of Periphery, producer] talking about nerdy guitar stuff. We all seem to start there and move out from there.”
The future of alternative material guitars rests with these newer artists, and the past two decades have seen a surge of innovation in guitar gear in large part driven by artists like Lowe, Mansoor, and Animals as Leaders, who fearlessly embrace everything from new materials to digital modeling and extended-range instruments. As Lowe says, point blank, “The rules have changed for electric guitar design.”
Langelaar also sees a bright future for alternative materials, saying, “I think there’s going to be more and more alternatives and different visions on guitar building. Aristides offers something different that speaks to people. And maybe right now it’s still a niche, but I think that niche is going to get bigger and bigger.”
Ever the innovator, Steinberger also envisions a future of refinement and evolution, but thinks it’s coming a little at a time. “I don’t think there’s a lot of revolution on the horizon,” he says. “There’s nothing quite like what happened when they put a pickup on a guitar. I mean, that was the revolution.”
There’s no denying the allure of alternative-material electric guitars. They represent a bold step into the future, a testament to the spirit of innovation, and carry a long list of benefits unmatched by traditional tonewoods. As guitar designs, these instruments stand as a reminder that the possibilities are limitless.
Whether alternative materials will eventually become the norm or remain a niche remains to be seen. But one thing is certain, the electric guitar, in all its forms, continues to evolve, driven by a relentless pursuit of new sounds, innovative designs, and the quest for musical expression.
The North American leg, produced by Live Nation and SJM, will see Oasis play stadiums in Toronto, Chicago, East Rutherford, Los Angeles and Mexico City next summer with Cage The Elephant as the special guest across all dates.
The news comes 16 years since their last performance in North America. Oasis commented,
“America.
Oasis is coming.
You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along.”
The previously announced dates on the Oasis Live ‘25 tour sold out immediately, with over 10 million fans from 158 countries queuing to buy tickets. Days after their return, the band claimed their 8th UK No. 1 album with the 30th anniversary of their electrifying debut album Definitely Maybe, while at the same time occupying two other spots in the top 5 UK albums chart.
Oasis remain a huge draw in the streaming era, with over 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone – an increase of almost 50% since the announcement of their return – and nearly 12.5 billion streams to date across platforms.
Registration for the presale is currently open at oasisinet.com until Tuesday, October 1st at 8 am EST. General ticket sale will begin Friday, October 4th at 12pm local time and will be available from Ticketmaster.
Plans are underway for Oasis Live ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe and North America later next year.
JULY 2025
4th - Cardiff, UK - Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
5th - Cardiff, UK - Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
11th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
12th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
16th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
19th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
20th - Manchester, UK - Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
25th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
26th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
30th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
AUGUST 2025
2nd - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
3rd - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
8th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
9th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
12th - Edinburgh, UK - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
16th - Dublin, IE - Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
17th - Dublin, IE - Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
24th - Toronto, ON - Rogers Stadium (JUST ADDED)
28th - Chicago, IL - Soldier Field (JUST ADDED)
31st - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium (JUST ADDED)
SEPTEMBER 2025
6th - Los Angeles, CA - Rose Bowl Stadium (JUST ADDED)
12th - Mexico City, MX - Estadio GNP Seguros (JUST ADDED)
27th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
28th - London, UK - Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
Hats off to Carmen Vandenberg of Bones UK, our celebrity Question of the Month respondent.
Guest Picker - Carmen Vandenberg, Bones UK
The cover of Soft, Bones UK’s new album, due in mid-September.
A: My favorite method these days (and to be honest, from when I started playing) is to put on my favorite blues records, listen with my eyes closed, and, at the end, see what my brain compartmentalizes and keeps stored away. Then, I try and play back what I heard and what my fingers or brain decided they liked!
Bone UK’s labelmade, Des Rocks.
Obsession: Right now, I am into anyone trying to create sounds that haven’t been made before—bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White, and our labelmate, Des Rocs! There’s a Colombian band called Diamanté Electrico who I’ve been really into recently. Really anyone who’s trying to create innovative and inspiring sounds.
Reader of the Month - Sam C. Schiff.
Sam spent endless hours trying to learn the solo Leslie West played on “Long Red,” off of The Road Goes Ever On.
A: The best way to learn guitar is to listen to some good guitar playing! Put on a record, hear something tasty, and play on repeat until it comes out of your fingers. For me, it was Leslie West playing “Long Red” on the Mountain album, The Road Goes Ever On. I stayed up all night listening to that track until I could match Leslie’s phrasing. I still can’t, no one can, but I learned a lot!
Smith’s own low-wattage amp build.
Obsession: My latest musical obsession is low-wattage tube amps like the 5-watt Fender Champ heard on the Laylaalbum. Crank it up all the way for great tube distortion and sustain, and it’s still not loud enough to wake up the neighbors!
Gear Editor - Charles Saufley
Charles Saufley takes to gear like a duck to water!
A: Learning by ear and feel is most fun for me. I write and free-form jam more than I learn other people’s licks. When I do want to learn something specific, I’ll poke around on YouTube for a demo or a lesson or watch films of a player I like, and then typically mangle that in my own “special” way that yields something else. But I rarely have patience for tabs or notation.
The Grateful Dead’s 1967 debut album.
Obsession: Distorted and overdriven sounds with very little sustain—Keith Richards’ Between the Buttons tones, for example. Jerry Garcia’s plonky tones on the first Grateful Dead LP are another cool, less-fuzzy version of that texture.
Publisher - Jon Levy
A: I’m a primitive beast: The only way I can learn new music is by ear, so it’s a good thing I find that method enjoyable. I’m entirely illiterate with staff notation. Put sheet music in front of me and I’ll stare at it with twitchy, fearful incomprehension like an ape gaping at the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’m almost as clueless with tab, but I can follow along with chord charts if I’m under duress.
The two-hit wonders behind the early ’70s soft-rock hits, “Fallin’ in Love” and “Don't Pull Your Love.”
Obsession: Revisiting and learning AM-radio pop hits circa 1966–1972. The Grass Roots, Edison Lighthouse, the Association, the Archies, and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds—nothing is too cheesy for me to dissect and savor. Yes, I admit I have a serious problem.