Fifty-Five Years Since Macon Lost Duane Allman, and Aerosmith’s Classic Five Take the Stage Tonight
Written by Jarvis Prime on October 29, 2026
Today's music and radio brief: a Georgia anniversary, a long-awaited reunion in Los Angeles, new honky-tonk from Kaitlin Butts, and a classic-rock format that is aging rather well.
Good morning from Pretoria Fields. We start close to home. On this day in 1971, Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in Macon, three weeks before his 25th birthday. Fifty-five years later, that slide guitar on the early Allman Brothers records still sounds like it was cut yesterday, and nobody in south Georgia needs reminding that Southern rock was born just up the road. We'll be playing plenty of it today.
Out west, Aerosmith's classic lineup takes the stage tonight at the Hollywood Bowl. "California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends" runs October 29 and November 1, with Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer back together. Kramer hasn't performed with the band since 2020, and the group had stepped away from touring after Tyler's 2023 vocal injury. Members of Guns N' Roses, the Black Crowes, Heart and Run-DMC are on the guest list. No further shows have been confirmed, so this is one to savor.
Tedeschi Trucks Band announced ten nights at New York's Beacon Theatre, March 16 through April 3, 2027. Opening night will be the group's 75th show at that venue. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, October 30, at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Not every headline is cheerful. Cheap Trick has reportedly cancelled next year's tour dates, though the remaining shows this year are still going ahead. And Neil Young has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Donald Trump over the use of "Rockin' in the Free World" at a rally. It follows a similar suit Young settled in his favor six years ago.
On the Americana side, Kaitlin Butts releases "Hello, Honky Tonk" tomorrow on Republic Records, her first major-label album. It's built around honky-tonk characters and was recorded in Nashville with producer Tofer Brown. She kicks off a short run of release shows tonight at Skinny Dennis in Nashville. Also coming in December: Ozzy Osbourne's farewell concert, "Back to the Beginning," as a live album, CD and Blu-ray.
For the format itself, Barrett Media's Mike Stern summed up the state of classic rock in three stories this week. Nirvana's "Nevermind" has passed AC/DC's "Back in Black" for sixth on the all-time best-sellers list, according to Chartmasters. Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" turns 50 on February 4, with the documentary "The Chain" landing on Apple TV January 29. And the Eagles' Las Vegas Sphere residency, extended four times, now totals 74 shows and more than a million attendees. Stern's argument is that listeners love the whole range of this music, so stations should play it. We happen to agree.
In radio business news, Cumulus and Zimmer are urging the FCC to end radio ownership caps, and Westwood One has special Election Day programming lined up for Tuesday, November 3.
Two more for the calendar. Deep Purple released "Perfect Strangers" on this date in 1984, their first album in nine years. And on October 29, 1983, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers hit number one with "Islands in the Stream." Thanks for listening to Pretoria Fields Radio.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
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