Newsbites: Stones plan ‘secret’ shows

Hint: The Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood

The Rolling Stones are planning to play a handful of “secret” club shows in Paris during rehearsals for their upcoming London and New York concerts. Ronnie Wood says they may use their Cockroaches monicker, and reports the sessions are going well. “We’re all making a concerted effort of being there on time every day. We start at three o’clock in the afternoon, go through to dinner time and we have one break. So far everything’s been like an operation. We want to give 200percent.” Of the “secret” shows he adds: “We’ll bung in a few next week or the week after – we’ll turn up somewhere and put a few songs to the test. Tiny, 200-300 people kind of places.” [NME]

Deep Purple have recorded 14 tracks for their 19th studio album, due out next year. Of those, it’s likely a dozen will appear on the record, which is pencilled in for a February release. The band are considering several titles but haven’t revealed any details. [The Highway Star]

Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden and Steve Rothery of Marillion make guest appearances on the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Rush tribute album. It features nine tracks from the Canadian giant’s career and will be released on November 9. [Prog Magazine]

Joe Bonamassa will perform four shows at four different venues in London next year, with the group of performances to be released on DVD in autumn 2013. The guitarist aims to play homage to the rise of his career through the venues he’s played in the English capital. He’ll start at the Borderline on March 26, followed by the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on March 27; the HMV Hammersmith Apollo on March 27 and the Royal Albert Hall on March 30. Bonamassa says: “London is like my second home. I want to give the fans a ‘thank you’ for their unwavering support. It feels right that we delve into the back-catalogue and give London fans unique versions of tracks they’ve never experienced live.”

Earache Records boss Digby Pearson says Clutch were so naive when they were signed that they didn’t understand why the label wanted a producer to work with them. In a blog discussing the best and worst musicians he’s worked with, Person says: “We were the first proper label to work with Clutch. We had to explain why they needed producer during the recording process. They didn’t figure out how anyone outside the group could every contribute anything to benefit the records or the songs. We persuaded them that an outside voice and opinion would boost the performance, and the recording would benefit. It was breaking news to them. Clutch didn’t get the concept when they were starting out and stood firmly against it.”

Anvil‘s next album will be called Hope in Hell. It will be their first outing with bassist Sal Italiano, who replaced Glenn Five in controversial circumstances after his departure in January. Mainman Lips says: “It’s a so much more relaxed, comfortable feeling on stage. Sal steps back for me to do the front things rather than trying to compete or being a distraction. The ill feelings are gone.”

Jyrki 69 of The 69 Eyes enjoys any excuse to make a video. He explains: “Recording an album in a studio is great, but it’s not all that pleasurable. The video should be like kind of a reward for doing the album – you get a lame excuse for the record company to pay us to go to Hollywood and party for a long weekend.” [MetalShrine]