Author Archives : Dana

SEASON TWO OF EDDIE TRUNK’S “TRUNKFEST” PREMIERES JULY 7TH AT 9:30 P. M. ET ON AXS TV

Music historian Eddie Trunk takes viewers on an immersive journey through some of the country’s biggest rock festivals and music events, as the popular AXS TV original series TrunkFest returns for season two—premiering Sunday, July 7 at 9:30pE/6:30pP. TrunkFestairs as part of the Network’s Sunday Night Rocks lineup, which also includes the star-studded talk-and-rock series Rock & Roll Road Trip With Sammy Hagar at 8pE; the hilarious and heartfelt reality series Real Money, starring Eddie Money and his family.

TrunkFest season two begins on July 7th with a trip down to sunny southern California for a day of classic rock and classic rides at Sammy Hagar’s High Tide Beach Party And Car Show. While there, Eddie Trunk takes in the sights and sounds of the summer’s ultimate beach bash, and sits down with a slate of rock n’ roll icons such as Eddie Money, Vince Neil, REO Speedwagon, and the Red Rocker himself, Sammy Hagar. Check out the first look clip here from the premiere, below.

Trunk has also been added to this summer’s lineup of Sammy Hagar’s High Tide Beach Party on September 28 and 29 in Huntington Beach, CA. For more information, click here.

Also during the season, Trunk boards the Monsters Of Rock Cruise to sail the high seas with Tesla and Extreme (July 14th); saddles up for a Country Jam weekend packed with tricked-out RVs and trailers, and interviews with Country stars Jon Pardi and Craig Campbell (July 21st); chills out at Vail Snow Days with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and hits the slopes on a ski-lift with talented rock progeny Devon Allman and Duane Betts (July 28th); lives the life of a Super VIP at the Hangout Music Festival, joining Judah & The Lion and lovelytheband on the Gulf Shores (Aug. 4th); and heads to the world-famous NAMM festival to talk with six-string superstars Dave Amato and Vivian Campbell, and check out the latest top-of-the-line music gear (Aug. 11th). Other highlights include a celebration of the 50^thanniversary of Woodstock (Aug. 18th); trips to Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp (Aug. 25th) and INKcarceration (Sept. 1st); and a special recap reflecting on “The Best” moments of the year (Sept. 8th).

“One of the things I’m really excited about with season two is the growth and variety of events and experiences we cover. I am literally learning and experiencing many things right along with the audience for the first time,” said Trunk. “It’s been awesome and at times an education for sure.”

“The response to TrunkFest’s first season from our viewers was incredible. Our audience loved Trunk’s inside views of festivals and how he experienced them firsthand,” said Evan Haiman, AXS TV’s Vice President of Music Programming and Production. “We’re proud to give our viewers even more epic interviews and in-depth festival coverage in season two. Eddie Trunk is beloved by fans and artists, alike, and his knowledge of music is unparalleled—I couldn’t think of a better host, or a better series, to serve as one of the cornerstones for our new Sunday Night Rocks block.”   

RAVEN’S JOHN GALLAGHER DISCUSSES TOURING WITH OZZY AND METALLICA

Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist John Gallagher of British metal legends Raven. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by Blabbermouth.net).

On being part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene: 

John: We had the first independent metal album out in England, which was Rock Until You Drop back in 1981. There’s plenty of other bands out, but the funny thing about the NWOBHM, it wasn’t a club. It was just basically a moment in time where there was a lot of bands spread out over England, over the U.K., really, who loved this music and wanted to play this music. The only thing we really had in common was the passion and the energy because Iron Maidenare nothing like Def Leppard, who are nothing like Raven, who are nothing like Venom, who are nothing like Angel Witch. They are all totally different and that’s what made it really special, that it was so diverse. We always had our own thing. We were a three-piece, so that made it different immediately from ninety-nine percent of all the other bands.

Discussing playing shows with Ozzy Osbourne in 1980: 

John: We did shows. It was Ozzy’s first solo tour. He heard our single, Don’t Need Your Money on the John Peel [radio] show. John Peel was a DJ who played new music, didn’t matter who it was. He played our single and Ozzy heard it when he was somewhere and went, ‘I want that band.’ We played Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesboro and the Hammersmith Odeon. It was awesome, Randy Rhoads [guitar], Lee Kerslake [drums], Bob Daisley [bass]. Bob’s a genius, genius lyricist, incredible bass player. What a musician. Very influential. Really cool.

Speaking about whether he had any interactions with Osbourne during the shows: 

John: We didn’t talk to him a great deal. We talked to him quite a bit at the first show. I really didn’t talk to Ozzy on the last show. Ozzy and [wife/manager] Sharon [Osbourne] had me sat at a table and Sharon said, ‘Ozzy wants a hand in your future.’ My jaw hit the floor. We talked for a minute, then Sharon’s father [record label exec Don Arden] turned up. That was the end of that. [Laughs] You could maybe say we dodged a bullet. [Laughs] We played with Ozzy, a guy on that tour who was just a kid wondering around was Ozzy’s minder. He was on all the TV shows and everything. There’s a connection there with Newcastle. We played a couple of festivals and stuff with him over the years. Black Sabbath is like royalty, you know? There’s always that. Those early Ozzy albums are incredible. Can’t take that away, that’s for sure.

On helping introduce Metallica to American audiences in 1983: 

John: “We took Metallica out on their first tour. No one knew who the hell they were, but we heard them and said, ‘Yeah, these guys are great. Let’s do it.’ What’s the point of having a bad opening act? You want to make an evening of it. You want to have a trajectory. You want to start somewhere and go somewhere. The same thing with Anthrax. Anthrax were booking us from the first time we arrived in America. Scott [Ian] was at all the shows. Great guys, great band. We were lucky enough to get to open for Metallica a few years ago back in Brazil, with 70,000 people, which was unbelievable. They were more than gracious. They said thank you to us during the show, which we didn’t find out until afterwards because we left early. You don’t want to be stuck behind 70,000 people leaving the arena when you got a show the next night. We’ve run into Anthrax at a couple of festivals. They’ve never changed; they’re still great guys and they’re a great band. There’s very much that camaraderie between most of the bands actually now these days. I’ll run into Death Angel and Mark [Osegueda] is always, ‘I always was such a huge Ravenfan.’ We definitely got a lot of people fired up. [Laughs] We continue to do so. Now we go and play and it’s three generations of fans. We’re going to Mexico and South America and I swear when you play there, there’s nobody over 25. It’s crazy. They know everything. It’s awesome. The music is alive. It stays alive and it’s more alive now than ever, even though it’s kind of driven underground. Sometimes the best place for it.”

Raven’s forthcoming new album, the follow-up to 2015’s ExtermiNation, will mark the band’s first effort with Heller, who replaced Joe Hasselvander in 2017.

Earlier this year, the group released a live album, Screaming Murder Death From Above: Live In Aalborg, through SPV/Steamhammer.

SONS OF APOLLO TO RELEASE “LIVE WITH THE PLOVDIV PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY” ON AUGUST 30TH

Sons Of Apollo–former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force)—are pleased to announce the release of Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony on August 30th. 

Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony documents the band’s remarkable one-off performance at the Ancient Roman Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria alongside a full orchestra & choir, playing tracks from their debut album, Psychotic Symphony, as well as a selection of tracks by legendary bands. It will be available as a limited deluxe 3CD + DVD + Blu-Ray Artbook, Special Edition 3CD + DVD Digipak, standalone Blu-ray and digital album. 

Mike Portnoy says, “I’ve released several dozen live albums through the years with about a dozen different bands, but I have to say that this live release from Sons Of Apollo may indeed be the most special one of them all. Everything was aligned that evening: an absolutely beautiful Roman amphitheatre and a perfectly gorgeous summer evening, one set of SOA material and one set of specially chosen cover songs, and to top it all off being joined by a symphony orchestra and choir…it was a magical evening for everybody in attendance and now we can share it with the rest of the world immortalized in this incredible live package. This package will serve as a nice souvenir to capture the band’s first year on tour and should tide over all of our fans while we complete work on our sophomore studio release that will coming in Jan 2020.”

Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony track list:

CD 1:

1. God Of The Sun
2. Signs Of The Time
3. Divine Addiction
4. That Metal Show Theme  
5. Just Let Me Breathe
6. Billy Sheehan Bass Solo
7. Lost In Oblivion 
8. Jeff Scott Soto Solo Spot (The Prophet’s Song / Save Me)
9. Alive
10. The Pink Panther Theme
11. Opus Maximus
 
CD 2:

1. Kashmir
2. Gates Of Babylon
3. Labyrinth 
4. Dream On
5. Diary Of A Madman
6. Comfortably Numb
7. The Show Must Go On
8. Hell’s Kitchen 
9. Derek Sherinian Keyboard Solo
10. Lines In The Sand
 
CD 3: 

1. Bumblefoot Guitar Spot
2. And The Cradle Will Rock
3. Coming Home

Released October 20th, 2017 via InsideOutMusic / Sony, Psychotic Symphony is available as a 2CD Mediabook (featuring a second disc of instrumental mixes and extended booklet with an exclusive Studio Diary), Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD (which comes with an etching on side D and the entire album on the CD), Standard Jewelcase CD & digital download. It was produced by the dynamic production duo of Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” which is the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater. Get your copy here.

Sons Of Apollo online:

sonsofapollo.com
facebook.com/SonsOfApollo1
Twitter.com/SonsOfApollo1

DEADLAND RITUAL FEATURING, GEEZER BUTLER, FRANKY PEREZMATT SORUM AND STEVE STEVENS, RELEASES NEW VIDEO “BROKEN AND BRUISED”

Deadland Ritual;, featuring bassist Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), vocalist Franky Perez (Apocalyptica, Scars on Broadway), drummer Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) and guitarist Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) has released a brand new single and video, Broken and Bruised, see it below.

Broken and Bruised is the first song Deadland Ritual wrote and recorded. It signifies the birth of the band incorporating each band member’s celebrated past, and moving forward into new musical soundscapes. Get the single here.

Listen to Down In Flames, here.

After playing a sold-out world debut show this week at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the band is gearing up to play some of the biggest rock festivals in the world, including Download Festival, Hellfest and Louder Than Life Festival.

Deadland Ritual 2019 dates so far:

June 6     Solvesborg S. Sweden @ Sweden Rock Festival
June 7     Nurberg, Germany @ Rock AM Ring
June 9     Nuremberg, Germany @ Rock IM Park
June 10   Berlin, Germany @ Bi Nuu
June 11   Hamburg, Germany @ Logo
June 13   London, United Kingdom @ 02 Academy Islington
June 14   Castle Donnington, United Kingdom @ Download Festival
June 15   Glasgow, United Kingdom @ Garage
June 19   Pratteln, Switzerland @ Z7
June 21   Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain @ Azkena Rock Festival
June 22   Clisson, France @ Hellfest Festival
June 23   Dessel, Belgium @ Graspop Metal Meeting
Sept 29    Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival 
Oct   13    Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park

To purchase tickets and for further updates visit:  deadlandritual.com.

Follow Deadland Ritual:

Facebook
Instagram
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YouTube

GUITARIST GEORGE LYNCH SAYS THAT MICK BROWN HAS “RETIRED TEMPORARILY” FROM PLAYING THE DRUMS

Guitarist George Lynch was guest on Eddie’s Sirius/XM’s Trunk Nation show on May 30th. Speaking with Eddie, he stated that Dokken drummer, Mick Brown is “retired temporarily” from playing the drums.

As for why Brown is taking a break from playing drums, Lynch said (as per blabbermouth.net), “Drumming is a very physical thing, obviously. And doing it all your life at that age, it’s tough. And especially with the kind of power that he plays with — he puts his whole body into it. He’s one of those kinds of drummers — like Cozy Powell or [John] Bonham; a power drummer. So, it just takes its toll. Everything aches, everything hurts. So, he’s just gonna take some time off.”

He continued, “I’m not saying he isn’t gonna come back. He may come back and do The End Machine [Dana’s note: The band that also features Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and vocalist Robert Mason]. I don’t know what his plans are other than that, but we spoke about that. He says, “Keep me in mind for down the road. But I just wanna rest up and heal up,” and rest his brain and his body for a little while. And I get that.”

Brown did not perform with Dokken at some of their recent live shows, including, May 5th at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland. He was replaced by BJ Zampa(House Of Lords), who has filled in for Brown in the past.

Dokken is currently working on material on a new studio album, tentatively due in 2020 through Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival. It will mark the group’s first disc since 2012’s Broken Bones.

SAXON CELEBRATES THEIR 40TH ANNIVERSARY WITH “THE EAGLE HAS LANDED 40 (LIVE)”

On August 2nd, Saxon will salute their 40th anniversary by releasing The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) through Militia Guard/Silver Lining Music, a cracking, crunching and wholly representative celebration of four decades as one of the U.K.’s leading heavy metal lights.

Entire musical genres have been born and died since Saxon released its self-titled debut in 1979, and through all the eras and all the trends, Saxon has continued to both entertain fans everywhere and prosper with albums and tours saturated in the band’s consistent trademark sound and quality. The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) celebrates all the classics from the group’s early years with the modern classics which have continued to define them as legends

Forty songs covering four decades, from State Of Grace to Machine Gun, from the blistering 20,000 FT to the thunderous Battering Ram, Saxon brings you on a victorious, boisterous journey through the human waves at Wacken, the stalwart supporters in Berlin, the mad dogs and Englishmen in London and other illustrious international cities via a selection of songs chosen by none other than Biff Byford himself. There are also tributes to their old friends and former colleagues Motörhead, with the supercharged They Played Rock’N’Roll and a cover of Ace Of Spades, featuring an appearance from the dearly departed “Fast” Eddie Clarke. And to round off the MotörSaxon magic, there’s a roaring version of the classic 747 (Strangers in the Night) featuring Phil Campbell from Helsinki in 2015.

The final result is not simply a triple album of great music, but a stirring and gloriously loud odyssey through golden years of metal history guaranteed to bring the headbanger out of even the mellowest rocker in the room.

Saxon supporters can enjoy The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) in various formats: a triple-CD combo packed in a six-panel digipack with a 16-page booklet, digital download and streaming. The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) will also be available as a 12-inch lid-off boxset, containing 5 x 12″ 180-gram vinyl, The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) tour pass and slipmat and an exclusive 40-page book.

The pièce de résistance, however, is the 747 Signature Edition Boxset — limited to 747 copies — which also includes an exclusive 23-plectrum set featuring album artwork from all 22 Saxon studio albums and a limited-edition The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) plectrum. The 747 Signature Edition Boxset also comes with Biff Byford’s original hand-written lyric sheet of the 747 (Strangers In The Night) song, with each print being hand-numbered and autographed by the man himself.