Author Archives : Dana

CALIFORNIA BREED TO MAKE NYC PERFORMANCE DEBUT MAY 31ST AT THE GRAMERCY THEATRE

The powerful new rock trio California Breed which features legendary vocalist-bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), drummer extraordinaire Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and 23-year-old newcomer guitarist-singer-songwriter Andrew Watt will be performing in New York City at Gramercy Theatre on Saturday, May 31st. Tickets on sale now.

Their self-titled debut album, due out May 20th on Frontiers Records was produced by Dave Cobb (Jamey Johnson, Rival Sons, Shooter Jennings), recorded at his Nashville studio and features equal co-writing credits among the three-man lineup. The album features 23-year-old guitarist Andrew Watt, who was originally introduced to Glenn Hughes by Julian Lennon at a party in Los Angeles in 2013.

Mixing massive riffs, gutsy vocals and gale force rhythms, the hard-hitting trio’s first single Sweet Tea is a Top ten hit on the Classic Rock chart. The video for the explosive track premiered on USA Today. Recently, the group debuted an animated lyric video for the new song Midnight Oil on Classic Rock. The video was created by Nev Todorović who spearheads the interactive media production company The Young Astronauts.

Watch “making of the album” clips airing on Guitarworld.com and expect California Breed to announce a U.K., European and U.S. tour soon.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH AND VOLBEAT JOIN FORCES TO BRING FANS ONE OF THE BIGGEST TOURS OF THE FALL

Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat announced today (5/6) on their Facebook pages that they’ve joined forces to bring fans one of the biggest rock tours of the year produced by Frank Productions/NS2. Special guests on the tour will be Hellyeah and Noting More. Fred Frank, President of FRANK PRODUCTIONS offers: “We are excited to put two of the globally most relevant and hottest bands of the genre into major arenas across the country to bring fans an amazing night with 4 bands on the bill at a great value”.

The co-headlining arena tour across North America (itinerary below) will kick off on September 16th at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, UT and run through October with the final performance taking place at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 9th and Saturday, May 10th at 10am local time. Pre-sales start tomorrow (May 7th) at 10am local time. For tickets go to www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com or www.vobeat.dk. For 5FDP VIP experience info go to tickets.artistarena.com. Also, several additional show dates will be announced on June 3rd. In honor of the announcement, both headliners will feature huge sweepstakes on their Facebook pages where fans can enter to win grand prizes such as a guitar signed by all bands on the tour, meet & greets with all four bands on the tour, as well as tickets to the shows and many other cool prizes.

Check out 5FDP and Volbeats’s co-headlining tour at the following dates this fall:

September:

16 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center
17 Billings, MT Rimrock Auto Arena @ Metrapark
18 Bismarck, ND Bismarck Civic Center
20 Cedar Rapids, IA US Cellular Coliseum
21 Grand Rapids, MI Deltaplex
23 Syracuse, NY The Oncenter
25 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Arena
26 Lowell, MA Tsongas Center
27 Albany, NY Times Union Center
28 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
30 Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center

October:

1 Reading, PA Santander Arena
3 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
7 Ft. Wayne, IN Allen County War Memorial
10 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
11 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena
12 Knoxville, TN Knoxville Civic Coliseum
14 Orlando, FL CFE Arena
16 Biloxi, MS MS Coast Coliseum
17 Little Rock, AR Verizon Arena
22 Rio Rancho, NM Santa Ana Star Center
24 Las Vegas, NV The Joint @ Hard Rock

NIKKI SIXX SLAMS STRYPER’S MICHAEL SWEET OVER BOOK CLAIMS

Bassist Nikki Sixx has bit back at Stryper singer Michael Sweet’s claims that Motley Crue’s biography is full of tall tales.

Crue bass player Sixx responded to Sweet’s swipe by posting a message on Facebook, claiming that the Stryper frontman had no right to comment on his experiences and his battle with drug addiction.

His post reads: “Non addicts talking shit about people who have fought for their lives to beat their addiction…..‪#‎MichaelSweet‬ #‎OhHeHasABookForSale? #‎GodBlessTheChildrenOfTheBeast #SobrietyRocks #‎Sad.”

In a previous interview with Music Enthusiast, Sweet claimed Motley Cure’s official biography The Dirt – Confessions Of The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band and Sixx’s own memoir The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star were “stretched.”

In the interview, to plug his own book Honestly: My Life And Stryper Revealed, Sweet says: “Is it as controversial as Motley Crue? No, but I think half of what we hear about Motley Crue is BS anyway, like when you hear stories about Nikki Sixx dying three times and whatnot. It’s, like, how stretched is that?

Half of the stuff I read in these autobiographies I just kind of roll my eyes at, because I just think that a lot of these guys just did so many drugs and drank so much booze that their minds aren’t too clear in terms of remembering the past exactly as it went down.”

Sweet is not the first to question the credibility of Sixx’s book. Former member John Corabi previously said he found it hard to believe someone on heroin would be capable of keeping a diary.

additional source: metalhammer.co.uk

JOE SATRIANI ANNOUNCES SPECIAL EAST COAST SHOWS

Joe Satriani will return to the east coast for three special appearances this June to celebrate the release of both, his career-spanning box set, Joe Satriani: The Complete Studio Recordings and his first-ever autobiographical memoir, Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir.

The first of these three shows finds Satriani returning to his hometown, playing The Space at Westbury in Long Island on June 7th. This will be Satriani’s first appearance on Long Island in a number of years and the anticipation level is high. The following Monday, in honor of Les Paul’s 99th birthday, Joe and his band will perform a 2-hour concert at the Iridium in NYC, the home of Les Paul’s legendary, weekly performances for many years. This event will be recorded for a fall 2014 PBS TV Special called Front & Center. Lastly, Joe and the band will wrap their brief east coast run with a stop in Ridgefield, CT for a show at The Ridgefield Playhouse. Following these special engagements, Joe and his band (Marco Minnemann – drums, Bryan Beller – bass and Mike Keneally – keys & guitar) will head to Europe for a number of Festival appearances and other shows ending in late July.

Joe Satriani: The Complete Studio Recordings is the ideal audio accompaniment to Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir, Satriani’s autobiography coming out May 6th.

Special Engagements with Joe Satriani:

June 7th The Space at Westbury Westbury, NY
June 9th The Iridium New York, NY *
June 10th The Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT

*Tickets on-sale Friday, May 9th at 1:05pm

JUDAS PRIEST’S SIRIUS/XM INTERVIEW WITH EDDIE TRUNK POSTED ONLINE, LISTEN HERE

Judas Priest members guitarist Glenn Tipton, guitarist Richie Faulkner, and the one and only Metal God, himself, Rob Halford were guests on Eddie’s Sirius/XM show, Trunk Nation, on April 5th. Listen to interview below.

Judas Priest recently announced that they will be releasing a new album, Redeemer of Souls in the States on July 15th (click here for dates elsewhere).

Redeemer of Souls track listing:

Dragonaur
Redeemer Of Souls (listen here)
Halls Of Valhalla
Sword Of Damocles
March Of The Damned
Down In Flames
Hell & Back
Cold Blooded
Metalizer
Crossfire
Secrets Of The Dead
Battle Cry
Beginning Of The End

Bonus tracks:

Snakebite
Tears Of Blood
Creatures
Bring It On
Never Forget