At long last, the Live Metallica vinyl has arrived. With the fans help voting for their favorites, the band pressed four shows from the 2014 Metallica By Request tour on 180-gram vinyl. These quadruple vinyl sets from Bogota, Helsinki, Istanbul and Montreal are limited to 500 copies of each show and a new title will be available each week in November, starting November 9th.
The four disc set from Montreal is available now and if you must have them all, you may pre-order a four-pack reserving all four titles and saving a money in the process. The four-pack is expected to ship by the end of November. Order here.
On the heels of announcing two Monsters Of Rock festivals in Germany, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore will bring his new version of Rainbow to the UK for one show next year – but not to the Download festival.
The former Deep Purple guitarist recently confirmed he was planning a temporary return to rock music from the renaissance-themed material of Blackmore’s Night.
The original band appeared at the first-ever Monsters Of Rock event at Donington in 1982, leading to speculation that the 2016 lineup might perform at Download, its successor festival.
Blackmore’s agent tells Metal Shock Finland, “Rainbow will only be playing three shows in 2016 – two in Germany and one in the UK. The UK performance will not be at Download. The show will be announced on November 2nd.”
While none Blackmore’s bandmates have been named yet, he’s suggested that none of them will be people he’s worked with before. He recently said the unknown singer he’d chosen was “a cross between Dio and Freddie Mercury.”
Former Hades guitarist Dan Lorenzo spoke with Overkill vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth yesterday for Painful Pleasures. Below is a portion of their conversation.
Dan Lorenzo: How old were you when you got your first tattoo?
Bobby Blitz: I was 40…it was the first step to a divorce, the closing chapter.
Dan Lorenzo: Did anybody in your family object to it?
Bobby Blitz: No, not that I remember.
Dan Lorenzo: I know you’re an intelligent person. Did you ever ask the artist what type of ink they’re about to use on you?
Bobby Blitz: I did not…it was a trust situation for me, a close friend. I really knew nothing of the art prior to my first experience.
Dan Lorenzo: Do you have a “go-to” artist you prefer?
Bobby Blitz: Johnny Eagle in West Milford, NJ. I rode in a MC club with him for over seven years, it was a no brainer.
“Bobby, c’mon down, we’ll fix you up.”
Dan Lorenzo: Do you see yourself getting any more ink in the near future?
Bobby Blitz: No, I’m done. My idea was one tattoo in separate places. To add to it would ruin the original idea.
Dan Lorenzo: As a front man, why do you think you connect so well with your audience?
Bobby Blitz: Well first of all I’m a student of the game, I didn’t invent this stuff. It’s Iggy, Freddie, James, Ian, Dee, Ronnie, Lemmy….the list goes on and on. I remember a guy in a young band asking me about it, I told him the same and “steal the good stuff man.”
Dan Lorenzo: Would it be fair to call you a pseudo-jock?
Bobby Blitz: More of an arm chair hockey goalie, baseball manager and quarterback. Though I do get my fair share of injuries. Just last week someone stepped on my hand. Karma, right? (laughs)
Dan Lorenzo: Absolutely. Do you think if the Giants had JPP this year it would have made a big difference?
Bobby Blitz: Well, as we lead the NFC east by one game I would say no, as JPP seems to pick up his game as the season progresses.
Dan Lorenzo: Do you think the Giants can do any damage in the playoffs if Cruz is healthy?
Bobby Blitz: Let’s make the playoffs first, but Victor is the real deal….paired with Odell a lethal combination.
NOLA.com posted a feature article about Ozzy Osbourne on October 27th. In the piece Osbourne stated that Black Sabbath have decided against recording another album, making 2013’s, 13, their last.
The singer said, “It’s the end of Sabbath, believe me.” He continued, “In December, I’ll be f——‘ 68 and I think it’s time to call it the end of the day. I’m not saying I won’t get on stage with Geezer or Tony (Iommi) or any of them some time, but officially we’re going to be done…I don’t want it to dwindle and dwindle and play just for the sake of making another f——‘ sack full of cash. So it’s time, and then I’ll go back to doing my own thing.”
In related news, Black Sabbath recently announced that they added additional dates to their The End tour, you can see the extended itinerary by clicking here.
Queensryche has announced Condition Human 2016 tour dates.
Their dates are as follows:
1/7 — San Jose, Calif. — Rockbar
1/8 — Anaheim, Calif. — House of Blues
1/9 — Las Vegas, Nev. – Hard Rock Live
1/10 — Tucson, Ariz. — Rialto Theatre
1/12 — Phoenix, Ariz. — Marquee Theatre
1/14 — San Antonio, Texas — Alamo City Music Hall
1/15 — Dallas, Texas — Trees
1/16 — Houston, Texas — Scout Bar
1/17 — Corpus Christi, Texas — Brewster Street Ice House
1/21 — Philadelphia, Pa. — Theatre of Living Arts
1/22 — Sayreville, N.J. — Starland Ballroom
1/23 — Boston, Mass. — The Palladium
1/24 — Lancaster, Pa. — Chameleon Club
1/25 — Washington, D.C. — 9:30 Club
1/27 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Bogart’s
1/28 — Peoria, Ill. — Limelight
1/29 — Turtle Lake, Wis. — St. Croix Casino
1/30 — Milwaukee, Wis. — The Rave
1/31 — Chicago, Ill. — Concord Music Hall
2/2 — Kansas City, Mo. — Knuckleheads
2/3 — Denver, Colo. — Summit Music Hall
2/4 — Salt Lake City, Utah — In The Venue
2/5 — Reno, Nev. — Knitting Factory
The band released Condition Human October 2nd through Century Media.
British independent film director Lee Hutchings has announced plans to shoot a documentary about the life and times of hard-rock drummer Cozy Powell, who played for artists such as: Jeff Beck, Gary Moore, Rainbow, and Black Sabbath before perishing in a high-speed car crash in 1998 at the age of 50.
A posting from Hutchings’ website:
“Featuring exclusive and extensive interviews with family, friends, work associates and fans, inbetween various archival footage, Dance with the Devil – The Cozy Powell Story will be an essential, in-depth and personal account of the man who, from humble beginnings, would go on to play an essential part in British and American rock drumming by playing in and alongside multiple bands and solo artists including Jeff Beck, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath and Brian May, as well as his own solo recordings including his signature instrumental Dance With The Devil, up until his tragic death in 1998.”
Powell–who had a fascination with fast cars and motorbikes–died on April 5th of ’98 when the Saab 9000 he was driving at a reported 104 mph went flying off the M4 motorway near Bristol, England, possibly because of a punctured rear tire. As well as speeding in bad weather, Powell had been drinking and was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, either. He once said in an interview: “I drive like I drum–madly.”
Highlights of Powell’s career include performing on two Jeff Beck Group albums in the early ’70s, the Michael Schenker Group’s 1981 debut MSG, Whitesnake’s multiplatinum Slide It In of ’84, Gary Moore’s After the War, also of ’84, and Black Sabbath’s Headless Cross of ’89.
But he’s best remembered for his work in the seventies with Rainbow, particularly on 1976’s Rising and 1978’s Long Live Rock N’ Roll. On the latter album he earned a songwriting credit–along with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and singer Ronnie James Dio–for the barnburner Kill the King, an early example of what would become known as “speed metal.”
[Dana’s note: Thank you to Todd for passing this along.]
