Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield today handed over command of the International Space Station ahead of his planned return to Earth on Monday — and then sent a truly amazing farewell message in the form of a cover of David Bowie’s classic “Space Oddity” that he recorded on the space station.
Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This week featured posts about David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Spacemen 3, New Order, Simple Minds, The Breeders, The Cult, Black Francis, Kitchens of Distinction, Alison Moyet and more.
The Cult have been teasing fans the last couple days via social media that they plan to announce a new tour called “Electric 13” on Monday — a trek that presumably will find Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy revisiting their 1987 hard-rock turn Electric on stage each night. The tour is poised to come to the U.S. and U.K.
Fans of Black Francis who plan to see the Pixies frontman’s solo-acoustic show in New York City next week who are older than 30 — and let’s face it, that’s a lot of us — might want to consider something they haven’t done in a couple decades: investing in a fake ID. Tickets are $15 cheaper for fans 30 and under.
Still struggling from the loss of planned headliner The Human League, the promoters of this summer’s Regeneration Tour today announced they’ve been forced to scale back to a West Coast-only trek, unveiling new shows and lineups in Portland, Ore., Sacramento and Mexico City while also canceling a date in Atlanta.
New Order will mark its highly successful reunion with the release this summer of a new 13-track live album recorded at the U.K.’s Bestival last September, according to the NME. Live at Bestival 2012 will be released July 8 in the U.K. via CD and download, with all profits going to the Isle of Wight Youth Trust.
Simple Minds continue to toy with the emotions of their long-suffering North American fans, hinting that the band is set to finally tour the U.S. and Canada for the first time in more than a decade, pronouncing this morning via the group’s Facebook page that such concerts may be coming “sooner than you might think.”
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 