Rod Stewart's Faces bandmates dismiss 2015 reunion plans

December 20, 2013 9:59

The frontman had previously said that the band would be reforming in a couple of years

Rod Stewart's former Faces bandmates have dismissed his suggestion that the band would be getting back together in 2015.

Ian McLagan has spoken out, claiming that Stewart has not yet contacted him and Kenney Jones regarding a reunion and that even if he did, "they've bigger fish to fry".

Speaking to Uncut, keyboardist McLagan said that he and drummer Jones will first be focusing on reuniting the Small Faces, the band the Faces were later to become, but which did not involve Stewart. McLagan commented: "Why would we fuck around with the Faces when we've got bigger fish to fry?" He added that Stewart will "have to wait until 2016 because 2015 is the Small Faces' year."

Earlier this month, Stewart said that he would likely play with his old band the Faces in 2015. Speaking to WZLX radio station in Boston, he said that he and Ronnie Wood were planning a Faces reunion for the year after next. He commented: "I think we have got much more of a chance of getting the Faces back together, in fact, Ronnie's office is talking to my people, and we're ear-marking 2015." Of this, McLagan said: "It's interesting that Rod announces these things without talking to me or Kenney."

The Faces reunited in 2010 and played a number of shows with Simply Red's Mick Hucknall on lead vocals in place of Stewart, including a headline performance at the Vintage at Goodwood Festival, and the band toured in 2011. In 2012 Hucknall sang 'Stay With Me' at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, even though Stewart had planned to perform with the band, but later came down with the flu. Stewart last played with the band at the Brit Awards in 1993.

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U2 faces 'tax dodge' protest at Glastonbury fest (AP)

LONDON – U2 and its frontman Bono are known for their global poverty-fighting efforts but activists plan to protest their performance Friday at England's Glastonbury festival, accusing the Irish band of dodging taxes.

The anti-capitalist group Art Uncut said it would unfurl banners and placards in front of TV cameras filming the U2 gig on the festival's main Pyramid Stage.

Member Charlie Dewar said Bono campaigns against poverty in the developing world but has avoided paying Irish taxes at a time when his austerity-hit country desperately needs money.

Ireland, which has already accepted an international bailout, is suffering through deep spending cuts, tax hikes and rising unemployment as it tries to pull the debt-burdened economy back from brink of bankruptcy.

"Tax(es) nestling in the band's bank account should be helping to keep open the hospitals, schools and libraries that are closing all over Ireland," Dewar said.

U2, the country's most successful band, was heavily criticized in 2006 for moving its corporate base from Ireland to the Netherlands, where royalties on music incur virtually no tax.

Bono, guitarist The Edge and U2's other members — bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen — are among the country's wealthiest residents. Forbes magazine has estimated the band earned $195 million last year, mostly through its hugely profitable "360 Degrees" world tour.

It's not known how much personal income tax the band members pay in Ireland.

During the years when Ireland was a booming "Celtic Tiger" economy, the members of U2 invested in a wide range of Dublin properties, including a luxury riverside hotel and a planned Norman Foster-designed skyscraper on the River Liffey. Plans for the "U2 Tower" were shelved when property prices collapsed in 2008.

U2 is headlining the first night of the three-day Glastonbury festival, its first appearance at Britain's most prestigious summer music event. The band was due to perform last year but had to pull out after Bono injured his back.

Fans were keenly anticipating Friday's show — and said they would give protesters a hostile reception.

"I don't think the protest will go down well," said 42-year-old fan Sarah Craig. "I for one will be giving them a headache if they plan any protest in front of me."

Some 170,000 people have descended on a farm in southwest England for the extravaganza, which includes sets by Morrissey, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Beyonce and scores of other acts.

Rubber boots are the fashion item of choice after heavy rain turned the 900-acre (364-hectare) site into a mudbath. More rain is forecast for later Friday.

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