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Boston Music Spotlight
It's been a difficult couple of years for Boston. Since the death of lead singer Brad Delp the band has suffered through band turmoil about who would officially carry on the band's name and songs, and now Tom Scholz is bringing the current formation to the Comcast Center for a homecoming show this Saturday night in hopes that the classic songs themselves can be agents of healing.
Along for the ride is Michael Sweet, lead singer of Stryper, who is sharing lead vocal duties for the tour with Tommy DeCarlo. "I pinch myself every night on stage," says Sweet. "I first heard Boston when I was 13 years old and they really did influence me musically to try and get a better guitar tone, to layer vocals. If you listen to some Stryper stuff you can totally hear the Boston influence."
Ironically, Stryper actually recorded a cover of "Peace of Mind" before Sweet ever knew he'd be singing with the band. His goal in singing with Boston is not to sound as much like Delp as he can, but rather to sound like himself, similar in some ways and different in others. "I'm thinking 'Brad Delp was such an amazing singer, a one of a kind singer, and I don't sound anything like Brad Delp'," Sweet says. "I was kind of nervous, but what happened is that I could sing the songs like Michael Sweet would sing the songs, and, thank God, Tom really appreciated that, and even more than that the fans have accepted it."
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By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
Michigan Live
For Stryper frontman Michael Sweet, touring this summer with Boston as one of its singers is bittersweet.
"As excited as I am, I'm also incredibly concerned and a bit bummed because I'm leaving my wife, who is very ill," Sweet said.
Add to that the 2007 suicide of Boston's lead singer, Brad Delp, and it doesn't make for a pleasant situation. However, Sweet and the rest of Boston are determined to accentuate the positive.
"This is a tour that's certainly honoring him," Sweet said. "Nobody's trying to be Brad, or replacing Brad or anything. We're going out there and carrying on the incredible music and trying to have as good a time as we can doing so. Having fun and encouraging one another. So far it's been a great journey."
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By Gary Graff, Detroit (billboard.com)
Boston leader Tom Scholz tells Billboard.com he hopes to finish recording the band's next studio album after its summer tour and have it out "just after the first of the year."Scholz says the album -- Boston's first since 2002's "Corporate America" -- is a mix of "really straightforward rock 'n' roll songs and some things that are pretty esoteric.
"When I first started," he continues, "I was doing music that had pretty simple themes. Then as I got into 'Third Stage' and 'Walk On' I got a little more technical and a little more involved, more complicated. In this one I'm trying to do both."
The new album will also include several songs from "Corporate America" that Scholz is remixing, rearranging and, in some cases, completely re-recording -- including the title track, "You Gave Up on Love" and "Someone."
"'Corporate America' was a really poor seller," Scholz acknowledges. "Very few people have heard it. I'd like to give some of these songs another chance to be heard."
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By Susan Morse
A Hampton resident and friend of the late Boston lead singer Brad Delp has co-organized a foundation to help other musicians get their start.
The idea for the Brad Delp Foundation came from the singer's adult children, Jennifer and John Michael, as a way to honor their father, said Bill Faulkner, who serves on the foundation's board of directors.
Faulkner lives in Hampton and works for ERA The Masiello Group on Route 1.
The first event to raise money for the foundation will feature some of Delp's former band mates in performances by Boston, Ernie & The Automatics, Fahrenheit, BeatleJuice, Godsmack, Orion the Hunter and RTZ, along with guest vocalists Michael Sweet of Stryper, Mickey Thomas of the Jefferson Starship and Sammy Hagar. Tickets are $35 plus a $5 venue charge and are available through TicketMaster, the box office and LiveNation.com.
"Come Together" will be held at 6 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 19, at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston.
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Brad Delp, who committed suicide earlier this year, gets a proper sendoff August 19 at the Pavilion, with a benefit show that'll feature an original-members reunion of Boston (Sib Hashian, Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan, Fran Cosmo, and Tom Scholz), plus sets by Godsmack, Delp's Beatles tribute band Beatlejuice, and guest spots from Cheap Trick's Robin Zander and Extreme's Gary Cherone. Tickets are $35 (plus fees) and go on sale June 21 at 10 am.
From the inbox:
The families of Brad Delp along with Lynn Hoffman , VH1 Host, will “COME TOGETHER” to share a special musical night that will honor and remember this extraordinary man and his beautiful music. On behalf of the Delp and Goudreau families, this concert titled “COME TOGETHER” will take place on August 19th, 2007 at the Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA.
The “COME TOGETHER” concert is the result of both the Delp and the Goudreau families’ desire to honor Mr. Delp’s legacy as a musical icon and will benefit the newly formed nonprofit Brad Delp Foundation.
In addition, a film about Mr. Delp will be aired during the concert that was written and directed by Delp’s daughter Jennifer, a graduate of the prestigious USC film school. Never before seen footage of Mr. Delp will be shown that expresses not just the lead singer of the hugely successful band BOSTON; but of the man himself, and of those who loved him and called him their friend.