Van Halen Postpone Over 30 Concerts Amid Infighting Rumors
(Classic Rock) Van Halen have taken 31 dates on their current US tour off their website, and they've given no reason for the change of plans.
The band were set to stay on the road until September with original frontman Dave Lee Roth, brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen and Eddie's son Wolfgang promoting new album A Different Kind of Truth. Instead, the tour now appears to end on June 26 in New Orleans.
Rolling Stone cites a band insider who says: "They hate each other. The band is arguing like mad. They're fighting." But Van Halen News Desk notes: "These dates have been postponed, not cancelled. Several shows on their 2007-2008 tour were postponed as well, and all were ultimately rescheduled." more on this story
Pink Floyd Post Wall Reunion Video Online
(Classic Rock) Behind-the-scenes video of Pink Floyd's 2011 reunion has been published online, showing Roger Waters and David Gilmour setting aside their 30-year feud to appear on stage with bandmate Nick Mason. The former bandmates appear at ease and happy in each other's company, in a series of scenes that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
In 2010 Gilmour invited Waters to play with him at a charity show. He agreed, on the understanding that Gilmour would return the favour during Water's final tour of The Wall. That's what happened in London in May 2011, when Gilmour astonished the crowd by appearing at the top of the stage wall to perform during Comfortably Numb. After that bombshell Mason joined them for the end of the show.
The video shows Waters warning his ex-colleague: "Don't dive off the top," as a platform takes him to the height of the wall during rehearsals. Later Gilmour rests his head affectionately on Waters' shoulder during a sound check. The group are seeing chatting with crew and friends, and sharing a backstage dinner table. More including the video here!
Black Sabbath Replace Bill Ward
(hennemusic) Black Sabbath have confirmed that the group has hired a substitute drummer for the band's upcoming shows, following word from Bill Ward that he will not be joining them.
Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler have released the following message: We have decided not to make any detailed comment on Bill's latest statement. There are two sides to every story. We have been working hard at rehearsals making excellent progress after Tony's treatments and we have engaged a substitute drummer for the forthcoming shows. See you at Download.
The Sabbath team have not publicly announced yet who will be joining them on drums; the group's first show is this Saturday in Birmingham.
On Tuesday, Ward posted a lengthy letter online explaining his attempts to work out a fair contract with a mystery Sabbath band representative, his readiness and willingness to be a part of the group's reunion this year, and his disappointment that the band he started will be playing their hometown of Birmingham without him. more on this story
Def Leppard Redo Two Of Their Biggest Hits
(hennemusic) To celebrate the summer of "Rock of Ages," Def Leppard has recorded new versions of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Rock Of Ages."
The songs will be available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and all other digital music retailers June 4th.
Leppard have billed their summer tour as Rock Of Ages, after the band's hit from their 1983 release, "Pyromania," and the upcoming Broadway play-turned-movie starring Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand and Julianne Hough.
The Rock Of Ages tour also features Poison and Lita Ford, and it kicks off June 20 in Salt Lake City. more on this story
Ace Frehley Jams KISS Classic With Pearl Jam's McCready
(hennemusic) Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready is on the road with his UFO tribute band, Flight To Mars.
Joining McCready in Flight To Mars are friends and fellow Seattle-area musicians Tim DiJulio (guitar), Gary Westlake (bass), Mike Musburger (drums) and Paul Passereli (vocals).
Tuesday night, the trip rolled into the Casbah in San Diego where the group was joined by original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for a cover of that group's classic track, "Black Diamond." Check out video here.
The Cult Planning Collaboration With Hip-Hop Star
(Classic Rock) The Cult frontman Ian Astbury is glad he finally gave into demands to record full-length release Choice of Weapon and he says the follow-up will be a "big shock" if the band can turn their plan into reality.
The singer doesn't plan to sit still for long, and says he's working towards a surprising collaboration. "Let's say he's a real illuminati of the hip-hop community. If we pull this off it'll be a big shock."
He says he can't confirm who the artist in question might be, but asked if it's Grammy-winning Wu Tang Clan member RZA, Astbury replies: "Warm." more on this story
Rob Zombie Slams Today's Pathetic Pop Singers
(Classic Rock) Rob Zombie believes rock music has been out of fashion in recent years because the industry prefers pop artists who are prepared to mime on stage.
He says: "Rock bands can deliver it live, whereas a lot of pop acts – you watch the Grammys and it's pathetic sometimes. 60-year-old Bruce Springsteen comes out and he rocks. Whatever pop star of the moment comes out and lip-synchs through some pathetic performance, and you're like, 'Really? Is this what it's come down to?'
"I feel like hard rock and heavy metal has been pushed back underground for the last couple of years. But it doesn't seem like that anymore. So that's why I'm kind of excited to make a record again."
More news including Ratt, Beastie Boys, Chickenfoot and more.
Chad Smith Rejoins Chickenfoot In Boston
(hennemusic) There was a Chickenfoot reunion, of sorts, Wednesday night in Boston. Drummer Chad Smith rejoined the 'Foot for the encore portion of the band's show at the city's Orpheum Theatre.
Smith has been unable to tour with Chickenfoot since the 2011 release of "Chickenfoot III" due to his recording and touring commitments with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Chad's recommendation, Kenny Aronoff, has been handling drum duties in his absence. Smith took the Orpheum stage to perform a drum solo before the group launched into their 4-song encore, which included covers of tracks by Jimi Hendrix and Montrose. Check out video
Slash Headed Down Under
(hennemusic) Slash has announced dates for a summer tour of New Zealand and Australia as part of his latest round of touring.
The guitarist will head down under in August for a series of shows to promote his new "Apocalyptic Love" album, which hits stores next week.
Dates start August 17 in Auckland with one more date in NZ before he jumps over to Australia for five dates that wrap up in Perth on August 30. more on this story
Russell Sorry About Accusing Former Great White/Guns N' Roses Manager
(Classic Rock) Jack Russell has apologised to former Great White manager Alan Niven after he accused the businessman of sharp practise in a recent interview.
The singer said Niven – also known for setting Guns n'Roses and Motley Crue on the road to stardom – took a songwriter's cut for material he helped write, but then subjected band members's cuts to his management commission fee.
The move wouldn't have been illegal – but it's not even true, Russell has since discovered. The singer tells BraveWords: "I recently did an interview and I made a comment about our first manager Alan Niven. In the interview I said something to the effect of: 'When Alan and myself of Mark or Michael wrote songs together he would hake half of the publishing as an outside writer, then he would commission our percentage.'
"This information came to the band and myself after we parted ways with Alan, from a person we felt was reliable. I have since found that this is not correct." more on this story
Zakk Wylde, Sebastian Bach and Vince Neil For Rock Camp
(Gibson) Zakk Wylde will be bringing his rock and roll expertise to the October Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas.
Wylde be joined by KISS bass player Gene Simmons and singers Sebastian Bach and Vince Neil at the MGM Grand from October 10-14.
The Daily Express reports that Simmons said: "I can't wait to reveal the secrets of becoming a rock star. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp is a gruelling, military-style musical training process. And I'm just the guy to be your sergeant. Now, drop and give me twenty." more on this story
Soul Control Going Bore Core in July
Bridge Nine Records have set a July 31st release date for Soul Control's new EP, Bore Core.
It will be released as a five song EP and the digital version will be released with a bonus track, according to the announcement.
Guitarist Jim Connolly commented: "One more quirky cliche phrase on how this is our best material to date. I wouldn't say there's one direct musical influence on the sound of this EP but the fact that we're nothing more than a punk band comprised of people raised in the 90's is becoming more and more evident." He continued, "We tend to write in chunks. This chunk of songs seemed to all fit together nicely as an EP and we're happy that B9 wanted to release more of our chunks." more on this story
Jimi Hendrix Alien Fascination Explained
(Classic Rock) Jimi Hendrix became fascinated by aliens at an early age, his brother has revealed.
The guitar icon is said to have been convinced UFOs exist and beings from other planets walk amongst us. His theories were embedded in some of the music he wrote.
Now Leon Hendrix explains those ideas developed while Jimi was still very young – and forced to be "seen and not heard" by dominating father Al. more on this story
Lynch Mob Revisit Dokken Classics on New 3-Disc Collection
Deadline Music/Cleopatra Records have set a June 19th release date for a special 3-disc audio/video deluxe collection of Lynch Mob's REvolution.
The set features the full-length studio album Revolution with renditions of classic Dokken/Lynch Mob tracks such as "Tooth And Nail," "Breaking The Chains," "Wicked Sensation," and more.
It also includes professionally filmed live performances recorded during the 2005 REvolution Tour, mixed in 5.1 surround sound. more on this story
Sodom Plan Two Limited Edition Releases For 30th Anniversary
(Freeman) Sodom will celebrate their 30th anniversary with the two special limited edition releases in July.
On July 17th a limited edition deluxe box set entitled "30 Years Sodomized - 1982-2012" will be released in North America. There will only be 300 copies made available and it features the following content:
- 2 LPs Official Bootleg - The Witchunter Decade, colored vinyl - 1 CD Official Bootleg - The Witchhunter Decade - 2CD Thirty Years War best of compiled by Tom Angelripper - 30th Anniversary poster - Postcard - Sticker - 32 page book in LP format about the history of the band incl. unseen photos - Size: 35 x 35 cm, hard cardboard material with top more on this story
Rival Sons Releasing New Album This Summer
(EAR) Rival Sons have finished recording and mixing their new album in Nashville, Tennessee and the effort is due to be released on Earache Records in late August.
The as-yet untitled follow-up to the band's 2011 album, Pressure & Time, was recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Dave Cobb and Grammy-winning engineer Vance Powell.
Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday comments: "We have officially completed and turned in our next full length record. We thought we might give ourselves a bit more time to work this time around, as opposed to the 20 days for Pressure & Time... BUT, it was even MORE crazy this time. Everything was finished in about the same amount of time (22 days), but this time we are giving much more music (a much longer record) - nearly twice that of P&T. more on this story
B Sides
Van Halen's David Lee Roth Vs Fan
(hennemusic) Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth called out a fan in Winnipeg during the band's recent show in the city.
Roth spotted a fan throwing garbage on the stage during the group's performance of the Roy Orbison classic, "(Oh) Pretty Woman."
"Wait a second, wait a second," Roth scolded the audience member. "Don't throw your garbage up on stage, throw your girlfriend, a--hole." Check out video here.
To Speak of Wolves Premiere New Video
To Speak of Wolves have posted their brand new music video for the song "Je Suis Fini" online.
The track comes from the band's new album, Find Your Worth, Come Home, which will be released on May 22nd via Solid State Records.
To Speak Of Wolves will also be embarking on a tour this Spring with Harp & Lyre, Wolves At The Gate, Lions! Tigers! Bears!, Set The Sun, and Fallstar. watch it here.
Sacred Oath Release Video Blood Storm
Sacred Oath have posted the music video for the song "Blood Storm" online to celebrate their exclusive digital release "Spells and Incantations" on iTunes this week.
The video contains rare performance clips and photos from the band's personal archives spanning their 25-year tenure in the metal underground.
"I think perseverance is something to be celebrated," says Rob Thorne, the band's singer/guitarist. "It hasn't been easy for us. It isn't easy for anybody, really, but 25 years is a long time to hang in this business without the support of a record label. I like to think of us as pure, uncut. Or stupid."
The best-of collection "Spells and Incantations" was released this week as an iTunes exclusive metal album. Two previously unreleased bonus tracks are included. A digipack CD hits stores and other digital outlets on May 29th through Super D and MVD distribution. Watch the video here.
Singled Out: Six60's Forever
New Zealand's Six60 are getting ready to bring their mix of rock, soul and dub step to North America for a spring tour and to celebrate we asked frontman Matiu to tell us about their latest single "Forever" from their self-titled debut. Here is the story:
We come to you from a small hotel room in Melbourne, Australia where this coming weekend will see us bring a close the first leg of our World tour (we have just toured New Zealand and Australia and the next leg is UK and Europe, then finally USA and Canada).
Its crazy how fast things have moved in the last 2-3 years. From playing flat parties and small bars in Dunedin, to having three sold out shows in London. We couldn't be more excited about our future in music, and our latest single "Forever" is the perfect representation of where we stand right now, and the journey we have been on.
Marlon (synth player) and I (Matiu – lead singer) had planned to get together and share some new demos. After running through the first few (not good enough to remember) we started to question whether or not anything would eventuate, until Marlon played me something. I remember think that this was the worst crap I had ever heard! But somewhere in the mix of this rubbish was a bridge section that immediately made us Feel. Our eyes lit up and we knew we had something.
From there is was a sh*t fight to try and turn this small section in to a song. We tried everything - epic synth lines to heavy rock chords to side chaining and nothing seemed to work. That was until Eli (drummer) suggested we pick up the acoustic guitar and pluck the progression. its weird how people can listen to the same thing but hear something completely different.
From there the lyrics came easily. The music itself made me feel like we had created something that is our own. Something that we can call Six60, so the word 'Forever' came to mind. I started to think about friendships and relationships, but also, our trials and triumphs as a band. Along with that, we wanted make a statement, that we are here to stay and that we are going to do everything in our power to get to where we want to be.
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