Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock

We have a shorter report than normal today due to the Easter holiday.


Rolling Stones Tease Big Tour Announcement?
(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones spent the weekend teasing what could possibly be the impending announcement of their rumored spring North American tour.

Under the heading #StartMeUpWednesday, the band released an image of the theme on a billboard in San Francisco, as well as a photo of song lyrics displayed on a message screen on a train platform in Chicago.

As part of the teaser campaign, the Stones also posted a video on Sunday that featured lyrics from 10 songs projected on the side of an anonymous building.

Pollstar recently reported that the Stones had confirmed AEG Live as the promoter for an 18-date arena tour of North American starting in early May, with official news to be released in early April. See the video and billboard here.



Willie Nelson May Appear On New Megadeth Album
(hennemusic) Could Willie Nelson end up playing on the new Megadeth album? Dave Mustaine ran into the country legend in Austin, TX., Thursday night and posted a photo of the two.

"Willie Nelson is in the restaurant I am eating at," tweeted the guitarist. "I just met him! How cool is this???" Dave is in the city doing some house-hunting.

Later, Mustaine re-posted the image, writing, "I'm talking to Willie about a guest appearance on 'The Blackest Crow'" … a track from the forthcoming album, "Super Collider." Check out the photo here.




Paramore Premiering New Album Over Four Nights This Week
(Radio.com) Paramore is returning to the music scene in a big way this spring, with the band releasing its first album in four years on April 9. But the Tennessee rockers' self-titled fourth album won't just drop via CD and download - Paramore will premiere the new songs with a very unique online presentation.

"Starting Monday (April 1), we're going to be premiering our album over four nights, on Paramore.net," frontwoman Hayley Williams said in a video announcement on YouTube.

"Each night, for four nights, we're going to show you one side of the album. So, for instance, Monday night we're going to show you side A. Tuesday night, we'll show you side B, and then so on and so on."

"There's four sides, so four nights," added guitarist Taylor York during the brief video announcement, revealing that the vinyl version of the release will be a double-album affair. more on this story




Robert Plant and Johnny Rotten In Forthcoming Film
(hennemusic) Robert Plant, Johnny Rotten and Patti Smith are set to appear in a new film by director Terrence Malick. Ryan Gosling spoke to Indiewire about the film, which follows two intersecting love triangles within the music scene in Austin, Texas.

Plant lives in Austin with Patty Griffin. It is expected that Robert's role will be a cameo of some sort, but no further details are available at this time regarding his participation or a proposed release schedule.

Indiewire asked which Malick film he was going to appear in – two pictures were shot last summer. "I'm in the music one," said Gosling. "[Michael] Fassbender, Val Kilmer, Patti Smith, Robert Plant, Johnny Rotten, the Black Lips, just I mean every day was unlike anything."

Gosling also explained how the approach to the film also took an interesting turn from the conventional. Read about that here.




Metallica Star Jams With Anthrax
(hennemusic) Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett joined Anthrax at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco Thursday to perform the AC/DC classic "TNT."

Hammett's appearance on the tune follows Slash's guest spot with the band in Hollywood this past Wednesday to jam the same song.

The song is featured on Anthrax's newly-released EP of covers called "Anthems." In addition to the AC/DC classic, "Anthems'" also features Rush's "Anthem", Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak', Boston's 'Smokin', 'Big Eyes' by Cheap Trick, Journey's 'Keep On Runnin', as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax's "Crawl", from the band's 2011 album, "Worship Music."

Anthrax are currently on the road headlining the Metal Alliance tour, along with Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail. Check out video of the jam here.




Iron Maiden Legend Clive Burr Laid To Rest
(hennemusic) A funeral service for former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr was held on Monday, March 25 at the City Of London Crematorium in London, England.

Burr died on March 12 in his sleep at his home at the age of 56 after suffering from multiple sclerosis for many years.

Burr joined Maiden in 1979 and performed on the band's first three albums: "Iron Maiden" (1980), "Killers" (1981) and "The Number Of The Beast" (1982). Prior to that, he was a member of Samson.

At the time of his passing, Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris commented, "This is terribly sad news. Clive was a very old friend of all of us. He was a wonderful person and an amazing drummer who made a valuable contribution to Maiden in the early days when we were starting out. This is a sad day for everyone in the band and those around him and our thoughts and condolences are with his partner Mimi and family at this time." more on this story




Bon Jovi Provide Theme Song For TV Series
(Gibson) Bon Jovi fans who tune into the Discovery Channel's upcoming seven-part "North America" series are in for a surprise, as the group's track "Army of One" has been selected to be the theme music for the show.

"Bon Jovi's 'Army of One' captures the daring, wild spirit of Discovery's upcoming landmark television event that presents our homeland as an extreme world all within one continent," said Eileen O'Neill, group president of Discovery Channel and TLC, in an official statement.

"Army of One" appears on Bon Jovi's latest full-length, What About Now. The series, which actor Tom Selleck will narrate, premieres on the Discovery Channel at 9 p.m. ET/PT on May 19. more on this story






Famed Music Venue In Danger
(Classic Rock) The future of Hammersmith Apollo as a live music venue is under threat from a property developer who wants to turn it into a giant furniture warehouse.

Sheik Farhi Erl Pitts, who made his riches building and furnishing skyscrapers in Dubai, has tabled a £75 million bid for the iconic West London venue, which is owned jointly by AEG Live and Eventim.

"I have great affection for the Hammersmith Apollo – or Odeon, as I prefer to call it," said Farhi Erl Pitts. "As a rock fan myself I have seen many great gigs there, including Kiss in 1976. But with the live music scene in the doldrums, I believe the Apollo's days in its current guise are numbered."

Talking about his plans to convert the Apollo into a giant furniture warehouse, Farhi Erl Pitts said: "This part of West London is currently undergoing massive redevelopment and regeneration, with many new houses and apartments being built. I feel there will be great future demand in Hammersmith and its environs for furniture of all shapes and sizes.

"But I will do my best to preserve some of this great building's rock'n'roll identity," he vowed. "Our bed department, for example, will be called No Sleep Til Hammersmith. I will also sub-let part of our floorspace to World Of Leather, and get my good friend Rob Halford to attend the grand opening. Plus any band who recorded a live album there will be able to claim a free three-piece suite." more on this story




Megadeth Plan Another Gigantour
(hennemusic) Megadeth have nailed down the lineup for this year's Gigantour. "[I] finalized the bands for Gigantour 2013 and have to admit, I am hella impressed!!," posted Dave Mustaine. "Details coming soon."

Mustaine personally selects the artists for the festival, which Megadeth first founded in 2005. Gigantour made its return last year for the first time since 2008 with a bill that included Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil.

Megadeth recently completed recording their forthcoming album, "Super Collider," which will be released on June 4. more on this story




6-Year-Old Drummer Takes On Van Halen Classic
(hennemusic) A new video that's sure to go viral features a 6-year-old drummer rocking Van Halen's 1984 classic, "Hot For Teacher."

Known as Avery Drummer, Avery Molek is a Washington, PA-based musician who can be seen nailing Alex Van Halen's drum parts on the tune.

In addition to doing covers, Avery has played 15 shows all at the age of 5. Six shows were solo 1-hour concerts & 9 shows were playing in 4 different live bands spanning in 4 states. Most notable were The Hard Rock Cafe, The Illinois State Fair & Sturgis Fest "Bike Week" in Michigan.

Avery has posted videos of himself performing classic tracks by KISS, Motley Crue, Jimi Hendrix and Guns N' Roses. Check out the Van Halen jam here.




Sebastian Bach Premieres 18 and Life Video From New DVD
(Classic Rock) Sebastian Bach has premiered a video for 18 And Life, taken from the ex-Skid Row frontman's new live package ABachalypse Now.

The ABachalypse Now Ultimate CD/DVD Edition comprises two CDs and a DVD, and includes footage from last year's GrasPop Festival in Belgium, Hellfest in France and the Nokia show from Los Angeles, as well as bonus music videos.

If you don't want the full-on the bumper fandango, ABachalypse Now is also available as a standalone DVD, with a running time of approximately 160 minutes. Both are available via Frontiers.