It has been announced that the classic 1970s line-up of Status Quo – featuring mainstays Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, alongside Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan – have reunited and will be working on new material followed by a few live appearances.

Drummer John Coghlan quit the band in 1981, while bassist Alan Lancaster left the band following an appearance at Live Aid in the summer of 1985.

It is a reunion that most fans have hoped for for many years, though always looked hugely unlikely.  Rossi says the “classic Quo” line up will co-exist alongside the regular Quo (with Rhino Edwards and Andy Bown), though suspects it won’t be a long-running project.

With two versions of Quo now existing and with the classic Quo primarily a vehicle to play material they’ve not played to an audience in decades, is this the last hurrah for one of Britain’s fondest loved rock outfits?

Read the full story at Classic Rock Magazine, by clicking here.

Read a review of Quo’s debut album here.

Peter Black (aka Blackie), guitarist with cult Australian punk band The Hard-Ons has been hospitalised after a brutal assault.

The attack took place while Black was driving his taxi cab.  Two teenagers (whom, according to reports are aged 14 and 16) were arrested at the scene.

The band have posted the following message on their facebook page:
“Blackie has been in hospital since Thursday night with a skull fracture and 16 stitches, swelling on the brain. We will be there for a few days still, while the docs make sure all tests are done. Thankfully he has been moved from the critical room to where they keep stable patients. He does not remember all details but he is getting better every day. Not sure when he can play music again. We will know more in the coming days. He has already been told he cannot drive for 6 weeks due to his head trauma. Please send him a get-well message through facebook , he’ll read it all when he gets out in a few days. I’m sure he’ll get better soon. He is a pretty tough cookie. I’ve known him for many years and I know he wants to get back playing music again as soon as possible, but he will go with medical advice, it’s gonna be best to give playing live for a while, so that he can fully recover and come back fitter than ever. Will keep everyone posted. By the way thanks for all those messages. I’ll pass ’em on to Blackie and I’m sure he’ll really appreciate them.”

The band, active since the mid 80s, released their 15th album in 2010.  Despite such a huge back catalogue, outside of their native Australia, they remain best known for their cover of AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’ with Henry Rollins and their 1990 LP ‘Yummy’.

Alt-metallers Enter Shikari are offering a free five song live EP as a free download via their official website.

Those interested can download the EP as well as a bunch of remixed tracks from this location: entershikari.com/downloads

Enter Shikari’s 2012 release ‘A Flash Flood of Colour’ peaked at #4 on the UK album chart.

On May 13th 2012, Backstage Entertainment conducted a short interview with members of P.O.D., prior to the release of their new album. You can now watch the chat below, via the embedded YouTube link.

P.O.D.’s 2012 release ‘Murdered Love’ is released on July 13th in the US on Razor & Tie Records. It will be P.O.D.’s eighth full length studio release, and amazingly their twelfth overall release. It is produced by veteran producer Howard Benson, whom as well as producing previous P.O.D. releases is known for his studio work with Bang Tango and ska-punk kings Less Than Jake.

[By clicking on the TouTube logo, you will be taken to Backstage Entertainment’s official YouTube channel where you can view other interviews]

In support of his second “solo” album, Slash has announced dates for Australia and New Zealand as part of his lengthy world tour.

Fans in the southern hemisphere can catch the legendary guitarist in August at the following venues:
Aug 17 – Auckland, NZ – Vector Arena
Aug 19 – Addington, NZ – CBS Arena
Aug 23 – Brisbane, AU – The Riverstage 
Aug 25 – Sydney, AU – Entertainment Centre 
Aug 26 – Melbourne, AU – Hisense Arena 
Aug 28 – Adelaide, AU – Thebarton Theatre 
Aug 30 – Perth, AU – Metro City 

These seven shows are just part of Slash’s ‘Apocalyptic Love’ tour which also includes a show at the UK Download Festival in June.