The inaugural weekend of the Rock in Rio festival on the Las Vegas Strip ended with a two-hour blast of Metallica last night, in a concert that was streamed around the world through Yahoo! Live.
The band’s appearance was especially anticipated because Metallica has toured almost exclusively overseas in recent years, with only occasional one-off dates, benefits and awards shows in the U.S. As fans waited impatiently for the set to begin, Hetfield finally stepped up to the mic. “I’m sorry to make this announcement but…” He began slowly, then roared the opening lines to 1997’s Fuel: “Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire!”
The band revealed nothing new from the album now being recorded in their Bay Area studio, the first since 2008’s Death Magnetic (and the 2011 Lou Reed collaboration Lulu). But they did perform Lords of Summer, a demo track released last year on iTunes. “It’s the newest song until the new album is done,” Hetfield said cheerfully. “What’s taking so long? Like, hurry up!”
During the encore, Metallica ripped through the straight ahead rock of Thin Lizzy’s Whiskey in the Jar, which Hetfield introduced as “a song we love playing. It gets people bouncing.”
The crowd was still bouncing when the band closed with the early Metallica standards Creeping Death and Seek and Destroy then spent several minutes lingering onstage to wave their goodbyes, tossing guitar picks and drumsticks into the crowd. It was a fittingly loud and aggressive end to Rock in Rio’s first weekend in the U.S., and it set a high standard for next week’s pop lineup to match.
Greg Prato of Songfacts spoke with Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. Excerpts from the interview appear below.
Songfacts: I recently interviewed the guitarists from DragonForce for the site, and they listed you as a favorite guitarist. How does it make you feel knowing that you’re still inspiring other guitarists at this stage of your career?
Nuno Bettencourt: It’s one of those things where you kind of know, but you don’t know. It’s really nice.
I find out in these crazy little ways. I was at a soundcheck not too long ago for the Grammys at the Staples Center, and of course, when you’re doing the Grammys, there’s a who’s who of everybody that’s around – it’s amazing the people that you run into. I saw Ed Sheeran, and I’m a fan of his writing and singing. I was going to say hi to him, and he ended up coming up to me and saying, “Hey, I wanted to say hello.” And he said the first song he ever learned on guitar was Layla, but the second one was an Extreme song. Knowing what he does, I thought it was going to be More Than Words. Instead, he said he learned Cupid’s Dead. I was like, “What?” And he went up and actually played it. John Mayer was on stage, and everybody just started playing Cupid’s Dead out of nowhere. It feels good, that somebody listened.
Songfacts: How do you compare playing with Extreme to playing in Rihanna’s band?
Nuno: The cool thing is you get to use the same rig and play everything the same way you would do it. I look at it like getting to ruin every one of her songs, doing what I do. That was the first stipulation. I said, “Look, there’s not really any guitar on her stuff.” And they said, “No, but that’s why she wants you there. It’s to make it rock out a little more.” So that was fun.
Doing the Grammys was great, because I’ve played with Rihanna for years, but the fact that I get to stand next to Paul McCartney – who is a master at songwriting – and perform with him, rehearse with him for two or three days and pick his brain, hear his stories and conversations, was cool.
Songfacts: I remember reading a while back that you listed Queen’s Hot Space as an important album for you. What did it teach you?
Nuno: I think it’s interesting because that album taught me two things. It taught me that even if you’re in a band as a guitar player, music doesn’t have to be driven by guitar – it’s about the song, first. But I think the main thing is that Queen actually did an album like that – it was the fans’ least favorite, but it was one of my favorites because it took a risk and branched out. All those synth parts they did and horns, I could always hear them with guitar in my head somehow.
But quite oddly enough, or coincidentally enough, the title Hot Space is exactly what it meant, it’s all the space between the music. That’s what makes it funky and that’s what makes it have a pocket.
Songfacts: What are some memories of playing the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992?
Nuno: Well, it will always be one of the greatest days of my life. You have those “Top 5” days in your career, and to be a part of that and to put together that Queen medley and be able to play to Freddie’s fans and Queen fans, it was just something really, really special. It’s not like covering something, and you say, “Hey, let’s do a Queen cover or a Queen medley.” We did it for his fans. We were able to do that for them and to feel as if he was there – it was like he was on stage with us. It was pretty incredible.
Songfacts: Where did the idea for the song Play With Me come from?
Nuno: I was listening to a lot of Kix at the time. I liked that groove and the way they did this kind of punk-pop thing. I was always – and still am – a big Kix fan. It was definitely a Kix influence.
Songfacts: Who are some of your favorite songwriters?
Nuno: I’m a big Queen fan, I’m a big Beatles fan – great songwriters. I love Bread, I think they’re great songwriters. But there’s people that write rock songs amazingly well, like AC/DC. Journey were great songwriters. Queen was definitely top of the rock, and the Beatles were top of the pop/melodic stuff. Everybody else that I love was in the middle of that.
Songfacts: You mentioned being a fan of Kix earlier, too.
Nuno: I saw Kix probably 12 times through the years. There was a club called Celebration that they’d play in Boston, and we’d go down to watch. I just thought they were one of the coolest bands, especially live. I used to love watching them live, and I thought they were one of those bands that didn’t get their just-desserts.
Songfacts: What are Extreme’s plans to write and record a new album?
Nuno: I’m writing all the time. We’re in the studio right now with a couple of friends that are writers, and we’re working on some new stuff. So we’re constantly writing. With Extreme, we should have done an album ages ago, but we’re slowly but surely starting to write stuff.
Read Nuno’s entire interview with Songfacts, here.
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford and Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French have voiced of their concerns over the future of rock.
Nine months after KISS bassist Gene Simmons rattled the industry with his claim that rock is dead, Halford continues to champion new acts and questions whether the genre will need big names to sustain itself moving forward.
Halford tells 1290 KOIL Radio, “We were pondering about this the other day in the van driving back from a gig. You know, will there be another great, big rock star giant like Ozzy Osbourne? Will there be another great, big rock star giant like Axl Rose, for example.
Does that really matter? I don’t know. But it’s shifted, it’s changed. The good news is there’s an extraordinary display of talent coming from all different quarters in all different genres of rock and roll.”
He adds, “Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Royal Blood. There’s a ton of bands… Rival Sons… I can keep going and going.”
French feels the situation is much more dire, questioning arena and stadium rock’s future while suggesting fans better catch ageing acts now before the genre disappears for good. uestioning arena and stadium rock’s future while suggesting fans better catch ageing acts now before the genre disappears for good.
He tells iradiousa.com, “It’s an ageing genre. Name me any rock bands that are 25 and younger who are blowing up the charts. That’s the scary part – the replenishment of the genre.
Rock itself is an ageing medium and it hasn’t replenished its ranks, and the kids aren’t dreaming about being rock stars and playing air guitar and thinking they’re Jimi Hendrix and all that stuff like they were in my generation.”
With Twisted Sister set to play its farewell shows next year, French feels the clock is ticking on the whole thing.
He adds, “What will happen when the Twisted Sisters and the Whitesnakes and the Def Leppards and the Motorheads and the Black Sabbaths finally call it a day. Who’s coming up and replacing us? I don’t even know the answer to that. So you’ve gotta go see it while you can.”
Slash, the iconic American rock guitarist, songwriter and film producer-today (May 7th) announced the release of the song and video Beneath The Savage Sun.
Slash has partnered with International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to raise awareness of the slaughter of elephants which is leading to their early extinction. To watch the video and get the song for free, donate here . The U.S.-based charity IFAW works around the world on every aspect of the elephant crisis-on the front lines to stop the killing of elephants, in transit countries to stop the trafficking of ivory and in consumer countries to stop the demand for ivory products. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Watch it below.
While on tour in South Africa, Sslah and the lead singer of his band Myles Kennedy witnessed the devastation of the elephants first-hand and knew they had to act. Together, they wrote the song Beneath The Savage Sun from the perspective of an elephant whose family has been wiped out. The hypnotic rock song is a highlight on the group’s critically acclaimed current album World On Fire.
“An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its ivory and the result is the elephant population has declined 95% in the past century,” explains Slash. “Seeing that these majestic animals are on the path to extinction, possibly within the next decade, we wrote Beneath The Savage Sun and partnered with IFAW. Donate to IFAW’s work to take action and protect elephants.”
IFAW’s CEO Azzedine Downes expressed gratitude to Slash and Myles Kennedy for calling attention to the current elephant poaching crisis, “To save elephants from this senseless slaughter, we need everyone to stand up and demand stronger protection and we need to help fund action on the ground in Africa and Asia. We are grateful to Slash, Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators for reaching out to their fans to share this important message.”
Slash and his band Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators are currently in the midst of a U.S. headlining tour which stops at Terminal 5 in New York City, tonight. The month-long tour–encompassing headlining shows and festival appearances–is the first solo trek supporting the group’s acclaimed studio album World On Fire which is Slash’s third straight solo album to debut in the Top Ten in the U.S and the second album with his official band The Conspirators which features Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass) and Frank Sidoris (touring guitarist). Tickets are on sale at www.slashonline.com(see itinerary below).
5/7 New York, NY Terminal 5
5/8 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
5/9 Bangor, ME Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion – Rise About Fest 2015
5/12 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
5/13 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
5/15 Columbus, OH Columbus Crew Stadium – Rock on the Range (Festival)
5/18 Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall
5/19 Sioux City, IA Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
5/21 Austin, TX Stubb’s Waller Creek Outdoor
5/23 Houston, TX House of Blues
5/24 Dallas, TX Southside Ballroom
European Tour Dates:
6/1 Oslo, Norway Sentrum Scene
6/3 Solvesborg, Sweden Sweden Rock Festival 2014
6/5 Nuremberg, Germany Rock Im Park 2015
6/9 Hamburg, Germany Sportshalle
6/10 Berlin, Germany Zitadelle
6/12 Landgraf, Netherlands Pinkpop
6/14 Donington Park, UK Download Festival
6/17 Luxembourg, Luxembourg The Rockhal
6/19 Dessel, Belgium Graspop
6/20 Clisson, France Hellfest
6/23 Rome, Italy Rock In Roma 2015
6/24 Milan, Italy Fiera Arena
6/28 Bucharest, Romania Arnele Romane
6/29 Sofia, Bulgaria Hristo Bostev Hall
7/1 Sopron, Hungary Volt Festival
7/2 Vienna, Austria Castle Clam
7/4 Geneva, Switzerland Arena Geneve
7/5 Nice, France Theatre de Verdure
7/7 Madrid, Spain Barclaycard Arena
7/8 Barcelona, Spain St Jordi
7/10 Aixs-les-Bains, France Musilac Festival
Slash appears to be finally warming to the idea of a reunion with Axl Rose after he said “never say never” in a live television interview.
The guitarist has long distanced himself from any talk of returning to Guns N’ Roses – the band he joined in 1985 and left in 1996 after helping them become one of the biggest groups in the world.
Slash recently said he was sick of being asked about the possibility of a reunion of the classic lineup, but today told CBS News that much of animosity between himself and the singer has dissipated.
He said, “I got to be careful what I say there, I mean, if everybody wanted to do it and do it for the right reasons, I think the fans would love it. I think it might be fun at some point to try and do that. Never say never.”
He added, “There’s no animosity. Over time we all just got sick and tired of the black cloud. The biggest thing that happens when you have a break up that is less than harmonious, you build up a bad energy because of the distance. The bad feelings get exaggerated.”
Rose still fronts GNR and is the only remaining member from the classic-era lineup. Bass player Duff McKagan rejoined GNR for a number of dates last year and later said he wouldn’t rule out a return to the band on a full-time basis.
Meanwhile, Slash debuted the video for his track Beneath The Savage Sun, from his latest release, World Of Fire, on CBS today.
The song was written to highlight the plight of wild elephants and the video is described as a stark imagining of the issue. The video was created with the input of charity IFAW (International Fund For Animal Welfare).
Aimee List of Legendary Rock Interviews spoke with our very own Mr. Trunk. Excerpts from the interview appears below.
LRI: Since there are crazy college courses like the study of Keanu Reeves movies, have you ever considered teaching a class about your incomparable wealth of knowledge in music?
Eddie: No, you know, I haven’t. If somebody approached me about it though, I would actually consider it because one of the things that happens for me when I am out and about in public meeting and people want to know about my history and my career, my experiences and what have you. If there was somewhere out there that felt that was a viable thing I would be open to it. I do a lot of speaking stuff live, I go out in clubs and do my own appearances. I do some of that in that context, in a rock bar setting. But I would be more than happy to do that if somebody came up to me and wanted to approach that. I am happy doing what I am doing, plugging away at my various projects. Anything is possible.
LRI: Do you think [That Metal Show] has exceeded it’s potential, or are you still thinking bigger?
Eddie: I personally don’t think we have even scratched the surface. I think there are a lot of limitations being on VH1 Classic. A lot of people make the error when they talk about my show and they say, “Oh yeah, yeah, VH1.” I’m not on VH1. I’m on VH1 Classic, there’s this huge distinction there. Because VH1 Classic is a much smaller channel with much smaller budgets. As a result, we have a lot of limitations on what we can and can’t do, how often we can and can’t tape, when we can’t have music on the show because of publishing and the fees that go along with that. There’s a lot of ‘workarounds’ that make this work within the budget. Out of anything, I just feel we are slowly beginning, there are a million more things that I would love to do to grow and expand to take it to the next level. But the thing about that is, I don’t own the network (laughs). It’s not my decision, it’s not my call. When and if they want to go to the next level with it, I am there ready to go. It’s not the question of a meeting, it is more of a network decision. The network has been so supportive of the show, it has been the anchor for the channel. It’s been great for us, but it’s more of a question of where they want to take the channel as a whole. VH1 Classic has existed now for probably 15 years as a channel. I think it’s a broader question than just my show, it’s about whether they’re going to go as a channel. If they are really going to the next step and develop it further, or how they want to do things. We will see what they do as we go and I can only worry about things I can control. I’ll roll with the punches.
LRI: Do you have a flat-out idol? Even as a kid, who did you want to be?
Eddie: I certainly did love KISS for decades, and I continue to as far as the good stuff that I loved. The guys and I grew up having these real rock heroes, when it came to KISS it was definitely Paul Stanley. I was always a huge fan of Paul’s. Which is ironic because he is the guy in the band who dislikes me the most. So be it. But again keeping with honesty, I was always a fan of his back in the day and the performances, the singing and the songs. I was always a huge Aerosmith fan, and continue to be a huge Aerosmith fan. I have a big poster of Joe Perry on my wall. All the stuff that anybody who, well I’m almost 50, so anybody who grew up in the 70s and into exploring rock music would be in to: Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Van Halen. I was a huge Billy Squier fan, which I don’t talk about all that much because it never seems to come up, because his band Piper was the first band I ever saw live. And I still love Billy Squier’s music. And of course UFO, and so many other things as I began to discover stuff. All the 70s-based stuff is what really got me going.
LRI: Was it about the hook, song or band itself?
Eddie: It was always about the song, without a doubt. The vocal and the melody. I like heavy music, but I absolutely need some level of singing and melody. One of the big things I have a hard time with is some of the metal is that all these guys are screaming instead of singing. Once I hear screaming or growling, in large doses I am kind of out, you know? I need to have some melody, people singing on any music I really like.
 announced the release of the song and video Beneath The Savage Sun. Slash has partnered with International Fund ... )
