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SIXX: A.M PERFORM MOTLEY CRUE SONGS EVEN THOUGH NIKKI CLAIMED, “THE DAY MOTLEY PLAYS ITS LAST SHOW, I WILL NEVER PLAY ANOTHER CRUE SONG AGAIN”

Nikki Sixx has once again reneged on his promise to never play a Motley Crue song. On Saturday, he and the other members of Sixx:A.M. sat in for a cover of Shout at the Devil during Disturbed‘s set at Hellfest in Clisson, France.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” singer David Draiman told the crowd. “We have a rather special series of treats comin’ up for you right now. Please welcome … from Sixx:A.M., Nikki Sixx, James [Michael] and DJ Ashba onto the stage. I think we’re gonna play something from Nikki’s old band, if that’s okay.”

Last year, as Sixx was planning his post-Motley Crue career, he spoke of his willingness to want to move forward and not trade on his band’s legacy. “A lot of times, I see people try and do ‘the next thing’ and it’s just kind of the same as the other,” he said. “[If that were me] I’d think, ‘Well, why not just do Motley Crue?’ But why would I do another version of Motley Crue? Sixx:A.M. is completely different musically, spiritually, emotionally, visually … and that gives me pride,” Sixx insisted. “The people who are coming to see us, are coming to see Sixx: A.M. We don’t play Motley Crue music, and we never will play Motley Crue music. The day Motley Crue plays its last show, I will never play another Motley Crue song again … even if it’s one I wrote.”
But just two weeks ago, Sixx:A.M. performed “Live Wire” during an appearance at a French radio station. Sixx justified the decision by tweeting, “The band had a great idea to do a haunting version just for French Radio. We are not living off of it.”

additional source: ultimateclassicrock.com

GIRAFFE TONGUE ORCHESTRA, FEATURING MEMBERS OF MASTODON, ALICE IN CHAINS, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, DETHKLOK AND MARS VOLTA, TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ON SEPTEMBER 23RD

Giraffe Tongue Orchestra – a collaboration band, featuring current and former members of Mastodon, Alice in Chains, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dethklok and the Mars Volta – will release its debut album Broken Lines, on September 23rd through Party Smasher Inc/Cooking Vinyl.

“During the time Mastodon was there for Soundwave, I was at the zoo in Sydney, Australia and was checking out the giraffes,” Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds said explaining the band’s colorful name. “[Giraffes] are amazing animals – one just grabbed a bunch of bananas from my hand with its tongue and peeled them with it as well – by the time the bananas got to its mouth, they were ready to be eaten. I saw Ben and said ‘Man I think I found the name for our band.'”

The band includes Alice in Chains singer William DuVall, Mastodon’s Hinds, Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman, Dethklok bassist Pete Griffin and former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen. Actress-musician Juliette Lewis contributes backing vocals on the album and Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore appears on two tracks.

Listen to the audio for the song, Crucifixion, below.

Broken Lines is available to pre-order at PledgeMusic, Amazon and iTunes.

additional source: rollingstone.com

DRUMMER BUN E. CARLOS DISCUSSES HIS SOLO ALBUM AND HIS FAVORITE CHEAP TRICK RECORDS

Greg Parto of the Long Island Pulse spoke with former Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos. Highlights from the interview appear below.

Long Island Pulse: How did the idea come up to do a solo album now?

Bun E. Carlos: Rick Nielsen and I used to talk about doing [an all-covers album] in the late 70s—different singers and stuff like that. And of course it never happened. Then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame called and it seemed like a good time to do it.

Pulse: How did you come up with the list of singers?

Carlos: It was people that I knew and worked with. And since I did it at the last minute, it was, “Who was available?”

Pulse: Who were some of the most pleasant surprises out of the performances?

Carlos: The guys in Candy Golde [a band that Carlos is a member of], they’re on three songs and I kind of knew what I was getting there. The stuff with Hanson, Robert Pollard, Dave Pirner and Alex Dezen, I didn’t know what was going to happen. But it turned out well, so I’m pleased.

Pulse: And the singer who preceded Robin Zander in Cheap Trick, Xeno, appears on two tracks.

Carlos: Yes, Xeno was in the band for a year-and-a-half and then Robin joined. We went all over the place with Xeno.

Pulse: How did Hanson get involved in the project?

Carlos: I’d worked with Taylor Hanson on a project called Tinted Windows with Adam Schlesinger and James Iha from Smashing
Pumpkins. Since then, Rick and I went and sat in with the Hansons once in Chicago. We’re friends and I called Taylor to see if he could put vocals on one song [Paul Revere & the Raiders’ Him or Me]. I sent the recording to him and it came back with all three brothers on it, which was fine by me. It sounds real good.

Pulse: I take it that Hanson are big Cheap Trick fans?

Carlos: Oh, Hanson are Cheap Trick fans, Cheap Trick are Hanson fans. They’re a good power pop band.

Pulse: What are your favorite Cheap Trick albums?

Carlos: The first album [1977’s self-titled]. The next three with Tom Werman [1977’s In Color, 1978’s Heaven Tonight and 1979’s Dream Police], they all sound good, too—they’re power pop classics. The one with Sir George [1980’s All Shook Up, produced by George Martin] is a favorite.

Pulse: How would you describe your current relationship with Cheap Trick?

Carlos: The other three guys of Cheap Trick [Zander, Nielsen and Tom Petersson], we are cordial when we are in the same room together. And that’s about as far as it goes.

Read more at the Long Island Pulse.

source: lipulse.com

CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE REVIEWS BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW “MONSTERS OF ROCK” SHOW

Joerg Staude of Classic Rock Magazine has written a review of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow Monsters of Rock show. Read excerpts below.

Rumours are spreading like wildfire: “They may open with Highway Star.”

Instead of Kill The King?

What the hell is going on? Well, the answer’s simple: it’s Ritchie Blackmore, and he’s back in business. The Man in Black. The man who plays by his own rules. The master of practical jokes. A man with the balls to capture the first gig of his reunited Rainbow line-up on film for a future DVD release, with a band that has never played live before…

…Almost 13,000 fans have made their way from all over the world (some from as far away as South America) to see one 71-year-old man playing his guitar and his songs for the first time in almost twenty years, and you can tell from the opening chords of that classic Wizard Of Oz intro Over The Rainbow that they’ve been starved.

When Blackmore (in black bell-bottoms and fringed jacket) enters the stage at last, the crowd goes nuts, and the whistleblowers were right: they open with Highway Star, but in a singalong style (Black Night gets the same treatment later on).

Thumbs up for 34-year-old Ronnie Romero: he hits the first note right and never falters the rest of the night. The young Spanish resident from Chile may look like Adam Lambert in sneakers, but his voice is simply awesome: his version of Coverdale’s signature tune Mistreated is terrific, and he even takes Gillan’s Child In Time to another dimension. After he dedicates Man On The Silver Mountain to the late Ronnie James Dio, he has the audience in the palm of his hand. Nice move…

…Quibbles? Blackmore could have hired a more appropriate rhythm section: bassist Bob Nouveau’s style is way too funky for this classic hard rock set, and Bob Keith’s drum set looked like one Cozy Powell might have received for his ninth birthday. And maybe, just maybe, Rainbow could have played more Rainbow songs.

If you promote a series of comeback rock shows as being “nostalgic”, why not give people the nostalgia they might expect from the Rainbow Rising tour shirts – with the 1976 dates on the back – available for 25 euros at the merch stall?…

…The crowd’s reaction to last night’s climax of Long Live Rock N’Roll and Stargazer was truly amazing…

…And maybe they could open with Kill The King.

Read more at Classic Rock Magazine.

source: teamrock.com

FAN FILMED FOOTAGE OF RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW POSTED ONLINE

Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow made played their first of three shows on June 17th at the Monsters Of Rock festival at Freilichtbühne in Loreley, Germany. Fan filmed footage of concert appears below.

The set list was reportedly:

1. Highway Star
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Mistreated
4. Since You Been Gone (Russ Ballard cover)
5. Man On The Silver Mountain
6. Catch The Rainbow
7. Difficult To Cure
8. Perfect Strangers
9. Child In Time
10. Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll
11. Stargazer
12. Black Night
13. Smoke On The Water

The band is scheduled to play June 18th at the Monsters Of Rock festival at Festplatz am Viadukt in Bietigheim-Bissingen and on June 25th at the Genting Arena in Birmingham, UK.