Power Trip is the most exciting collection of veteran hard rock / heavy metal bands since Monsters of Rock. The difference is, instead of having to sit through lesser bands all day as in most festivals, next weekend there will be just two bands a night playing full sets.
October 6: Guns N' Roses & Iron Maiden
October 7: AC/DC & Judas Priest
October 8: Metallica & Tool
Here's six things we hope are in the works and come true in that magical desert of Indio, CA.
Guns N' Roses reunites with Steven Adler for the night
Drummer Steven Adler and Slash were best friends when they were 13 and that bond was the root of the formation of Guns N' Roses.
Adler's struggles with substance abuse is well-documented and even televised, so it makes sense that Guns had to cut him loose to work on his recovery. And although it has been nice of them to bring him on stage from time to time in the past, those moments were few and far between for how vital he was to the group's beginnings.
His last gig with the band when he was not a special guest was in 1990 where they live debuted "Civil War" - ironic. But they only rocked two tunes that night.
Why not give him another full show out in the desert surrounded by rock legends?
Judas Priest brings Dolly Parton on stage for "Bygones"
As you may have heard Dolly Parton has a new album coming out next month which will be the 77-year-old legend's first foray into rock. Rockstar drops November 1, just a few weeks after Judas Priest opens Power Trip.
Of the 30 tracks, mostly cover songs of classic hits, are eight originals... one of them features Priest's 72-year-old singer Rob Halford.
What a better way to live debut their duet and get the PR machine behind Rockstar than a surprise appearance from Dolly in the very first set of the weekend? Especially if Priest provides a harder bedrock to the music than what will be on the album. Social media will be all abuzz to see Dolly in leather and chains fronting Judas Priest from the desert: precisely the type of attention a new album could use.
Iron Maiden brings out original singer Paul Dianno for two songs
Let's get one thing straight: Bruce Dickinson is a phenomenal singer and performer who even pilots the jet the band tours in. He should be and hopefully will forever be the forceful frontman of Iron Maiden with his operatic chops.
However...
As in many bands' career, there are those obstinate fans who swear the group's earlier material was their strongest. Paul Dianno was the singer of the first two Maiden records, their self-titled debut and Killers. His style is different than Dickinson's but the songs off those first two albums are dear to the loyal fans and are often performed by the band who are now on their 17th studio album.
Fly his rock n roll booty from England to California on Flight 666 and give him his due. Look, there's even a hole in his schedule from the Croatian date on the 5th of October (the Euros list it as 05.10.23) to show on 10/7 in Birmingham.
Maiden's current tour is called Future Past - how fitting to let the singer from the past front two tunes "Running Free" and "Iron Maiden" on the jewel date of the tour? Give the 65 year-old frontman his moment in the spotlight for the first time since 1981.
Make it so, Eddie.
AC/DC plays "Moneytalks" and "It's A Long Way to The Top" live
Another tale you may have heard here is the curious one about AC/DC and their relationship with their top charting single and the one they did with the bagpipe: namely they don't play either of them live.
"Moneytalks" from 1990 broke the logjam for the band who had quite a dry spell after 1981's For Those About To Rock and with the feedback of Grunge becoming loud and clear in the early '90s, it spelled doom for many mainstream hard rock bands.
But AC/DC's The Razors Edge gave the gift of "Thunderstruck" and "Moneytalks" and with it the Aussies were blessed with a second life. "Thunderstruck" has remained in the AC/DC set, but "Moneytalks" dropped out after '91.
Why? No one has explained.
Peaking at #23 it is the best any of its singles have charted - yes even higher "Shook Me All Night Long."
They should give it one last blast.
And also the bagpipe infused "It's A Long Way To the Top" needs to be dusted off as it hasn't been performed since 1979 back when Jimmy Carter was POTUS.
Perhaps Angus & the crew has had a hard time finding a piper to properly play the tune. We're here for you. There's Ally The Piper who has close to a half million followers on the YouTubes.
There's also the Red Hot Chili Pipers who put on quite the show themselves.
Metallica reunites with Dave Mustaine for a song or two
Speaking of Metallica, most fans know the quartet's first album, Kill 'Em All; was performed by Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett, but Kirk only got the gig because Dave Mustaine was a nightmare to work with.
He had alcohol issues that sometimes led to violence. But he wrote amazing songs with unforgettable riffs. Legend has it "Jump in the Fire" from Metallica's debut was the first song he ever wrote and Hetfield rewrote the lyrics to make them even more evil from Satan's point of view.
Regardless, the band bought him a bus ticket in NYC, drove him to the station and put him on the bus.
He would quickly create his own band, Megadeth, which would have its own success and over the years Metallica would be gracious and have him as a guest from time to time on stage, most notably the Big 4 in Europe where Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica all rocked out for a number of shows that was captured on a DVD.
A year later Metallica would have him back at their side for a one-off performance where they pulled out all of their original bandmates.
They should do the same thing with him, and only him this time, no more parading him out with so many others, just Mustane and Metallica. And play some of the tunes he wrote or co-wrote that they've had in their sets for their whole career.
And rock.
Ozzy should make an appearance during an all-star jam
The Prince of Darkness was originally scheduled to be the opening act of the AC/DC Saturday show. But then he had to bow out due to health reasons. Judas Priest took his slot.
Recently he has said he is healthy.
Ozzy doesn't need to run around throwing water on people. Strap him in a Batman costume and let a crane fly him over the crowd as he sings "Over The Mountain."
Is the existing lineup unbelievable even without these guests? Of course. But seeing Ozzy with Angus Young on one side, Slash on the other, Nicko McBrain on drums, and his one-time bassist Robert Trujillo is something that would break the Internet.
Or at least leave the concertgoers of Power Trip float home with giant smiles on their faces.
Power Trip is October 6-8. Get there. Tickets available here.
