New Jersey Thrash legends Overkill have been hard at work preparing for the release of their seventeenth LP, White Devil Armory. The band shot two videos over the weekend with esteemed director Kevin J. Custer. “Fantastic to have Kevin on board again, when he’s directing the direction is intense!” says frontman Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth.
This is the fourth video Custer has directed for the band, most notably Electric Rattlesnake from their previous LP The Electric Age. Blitz continues, “each time the prior results have been spot on, so our confidence is high for this shoot. From the directors eye to yours/ours, should be a killer!”
Overkill will release White Devil Armory on July 22nd via eOne Music in North America, and July 18th overseas via Nuclear Blast.
White Devil Armory track list:
1. Freedom Rings
2. Where There’s Smoke…
3. Pig
4. Amorist
5. Down To The Bone
6. Bitter Pill
7. King Of The Rat Bastards
8. Another Day To Die
9. It’s All Yours
10. In The Name
Rocklahoma, America’s biggest Memorial Day Weekend party, wrapped its 8th year with record-breaking attendance of over 60,000 during the three-day camping festival that features the top current active rock artists and classic bands.
Rocklahoma, presented by Bud Light, featured an all-star lineup with Kid Rock, Five Finger Death Punch, Staind, Twisted Sister, Deftones and many more from May 23rd-25th at “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds in Pryor, OK.
Rocklahoma MC Eddie Trunk, co-host of VH1’s That Metal Show said, “I’ve been honored to be a part of Rocklahoma as an MC every year since its inception in 2007. It is truly remarkable to see how this festival has grown and keeps getting bigger and better every year and is such a destination for rock fans from all over the world.”
Rocklahoma also received praise from the media. Here’s a sample of what the press had to say:
“While the three days of hard rock and heavy metal bring tens of thousands of people to this field in Pryor, it’s the rock community that keeps so many of them coming back year after year…the first thing people say when asked why they keep coming back: It’s the atmosphere. It’s the people, the hard rock and heavy metal community.”
–Jerry Wofford, Tulsa World, May 25, 2014
“Rocklahoma 2014 once again went off without a hitch and would leave a lasting legacy for all who were there.”
–Jennifer Reid, Stage Shottz Magazine, May 26, 2014
“Have you ever left a concert and after a couple of hours you felt like you do after eating Chinese food, you feel hungry because you want more? Rocklahoma 2014 was not Chinese food, it was a four course meal at a five star restaurant.”
–Jeremy “Jrock” Heuman, HeavyMetalICU.com, May 28, 2014
Rocklahoma is part of the World’s Loudest Month, which featured the biggest names in rock music performing in seven distinct concert atmospheres across the country on five consecutive weekends.
Rocklahomais located just 45 minutes northeast of Tulsa, in Pryor, OK. The “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds is a premier destination for a multi-day festival and includes onsite camping with access to restrooms and shower house, a general store for campers, VIP reserved seating, hospitality areas and much more.
Rocklahoma is proud to be sponsored by Bud Light, U.S. Cellular, Jägermeister, Monster Energy, Hard Rock Casino, Route 66 RVs and Jack Daniel’s.
Rolling Stone‘s first-ever KISS cover story mostly focused on the original lineup of the band: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. The Rock and Hall of Fame also chose to induct only those members – a decision Simmons and Stanley made quite clear that they opposed. They invited current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer, current drummer Eric Singer and former guitarist Bruce Kulick (who played in the band from 1984 to 1995) to join them at their table for the April 10th ceremony, and thanked them from the stage for their contributions. In that spirit, here are KISStory-spanning conversations with each of those musicians, culled from the cover-story transcripts.
Tommy Thayer:
RS: When Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent wore makeup in Kiss, they had new characters. Did you have any discomfort about simply wearing Ace’s makeup?
TT: No, first of all, I didn’t have any input on that. That was a decision that those guys made. There was not even a conversation about it, because I think it was so obvious, that they weren’t going to introduce new characters 30 years into the band. I never thought that there should be some new designs or something. I thought that would have been ridiculous. And the only thing is, you’ve got a lot of push-back from some of the diehards. And that’s understandable. Hey, you know, if you lived in the Seventies and KISS was your favorite band, and that’s what you grew up with, and suddenly there’s another guy wearing that makeup, I can understand how some people, it might not have appealed to them as much. But as time as gone by, a lot of people have changed their mind.
RS: You can imagine what Ace has to say.
TT: He probably wouldn’t agree with that, would he?
RS: He told me, “A supergroup has one of the most dynamic, greatest lead guitarists in the world leave the band, and who did they hire to play lead guitar? Their road manager, who used to be in a Kiss cover band. How insane is that? You can’t make this shit up.”
TT: [Laughs] You know, that’s one way to… that’s one way to put it, I guess, even though that’s not really accurate. These guys like to say that, oh, he was the road manager. He never paid his dues. Well, you know, if you look back, I’ve been in music professionally for over 30 years now, and I’ve made just as many records as they have, probably. And it’s not to detract from what he’s saying as far as, he was iconic in the Seventies, you know? And he did influence a lot of guitar players, and he did record and write some great stuff. Specifically, the first three or four KISS albums, up to KISS Alive!
RS: He feels that it’s almost like trying to trick people that he’s still in the band.
TT: Yeah. Well, you know, I can understand him saying that, too, but I don’t think that’s really accurate. I don’t think there’s anybody going to a KISS concert thinking that it’s Ace Frehley on stage. I really don’t. And if it is, then they’re really not paying much attention at all. But the vast, 99.99 percent of people that are there, they know what’s going on.
RS: Did you ever play in a KISS cover band?
TT: [Laughs] Yeah, I did, I actually did. One of the guys from Black and Blue, and a couple other friends, we were all KISS fans, obviously, growing up, so back then when Black an Blue had kind of run its course, we said, let’s get onstage at a club in Hollywood and play KISS songs. And this is kind of before tribute bands became kind of common. People went crazy, because nobody had kind of done that thing. And then it was Halloween and for a goof we put makeup on, just for a laugh. And we did that for a while, but it was never like a serious career move or something.
RS: People kind of use this fact against you.
TT: It can be kind of misleading, because it was just for goofs. But then Gene and Paul and the guys came to a few of the club shows we were doing and they got a kick out of it. But I always tell people, it was like the minor leagues or something. It was my segue into KISS, because I think once they finally decided they wanted a new lead guitarist around 2002, they knew I could do it. Because they had known me for a long time, they knew I was quite capable on the guitar, but they also knew I could put KISS makeup on and get onstage and do a great job. So I think, in the back of their minds, I think that might have stuck a little bit.
RS: You [also] worked with Ace and Peter to help them prepare for the reunion tour [in the 90’s].
TT: They were off track and they weren’t playing the stuff in the classic, signature way. So we had to help get those guys back into shape and it took a long time. It wasn’t like it took a week. We spent a month or two working on that, before the actual four of them started rehearsing together as a unit. Ace was a little more on track, and his attitude at the time was a lot more easygoing than Peter’s was, to be honest with you. Peter on the other hand would get more uptight and actually, he would get upset sometimes, with me giving him direction. At least, initially he was, and then he got more comfortable with it once we got going. But I couldn’t believe how upset he got, because he basically said, “Don’t you fucking tell me what to do.”
RS: There was that one show where they had you in makeup ready to go because Ace was so late?
TT: After a while, I did have an outfit, I did have boots, and stuff made and ready, just in case, as an insurance policy really. Because you can’t go on tour, and start canceling shows potentially when there’s millions of dollars on the line. I remember one gig in Irvine, California. I think it was the summer of 2000, and I was completely made up and ready to go because we didn’t think Ace was going to be there. He was in another city still. So twenty minutes before we’re going onstage, we’re all standing there in makeup, and here comes Ace walking in. It was the weirdest thing. He just looked at me, and he goes, “Hey Tommy, how are you doing?'” Like any other day! It was really weird.
RS: How did it start to become clear that Ace might be leaving and you might be taking over?
TT: Well, there were a few more gigs where there were close calls. Finally, the band was scheduled to do this private concert down in Jamaica. Doc called me. He said, “Tommy, you gotta come to Jamaica. You’re going to be on stage, you’re gonna be on.” He goes, “Ace is not coming.” And I was just basically filling in, because I don’t think they knew exactly what they were going to do long-term. But we all knew I was going to go down and do that gig, and step up, and do my first whole, real gig with KISS. And that was really interesting.
Eric Singer:
RS: You played with KISS for a few years, and then they went off to do the reunion tour. How did you handle that?
ES: I never burned the bridges with Gene and Paul. I never slammed them in the press. But I was mad. I was unhappy about the whole situation, but I’ve always told people, you know, you can’t blame Gene and Paul for doing the reunion. It’s like if I gave you the winning lottery ticket but I said, “You’re going to get the money, but you have to do all this work first.” That’s what it was like for them. You have to do the touring, and I’d have done the same thing. I don’t always agree with the way Gene and Paul do things at times, but I don’t have to agree with them, it’s their band. You hear people say, “Well if you want to do it differently, you have your own band.” That is a true statement.
RS: And then around 2000 you started to come back in the picture. How did that all come to happen?
ES: I started hearing that there were some issues with Peter, but I was busy doing my own thing playing with Alice Cooper. Then one day my lawyer calls me up, I was in Japan, and he says, “Hey, I just got a call from KISS’lawyer and they want you to come back and play in the band.” And I remember I asked him, “So what am I going to do about the makeup? Are they going to have me come up with a new design?” He goes, “They haven’t decided that yet.” And this was the beginning of the week. That Saturday I got home, and he said, “Okay, here’s the deal. The show’s on, they’re just going to have you keep wearing the cat makeup.
RS: And how did you feel about that?
ES: I didn’t really give it much thought. I was like, “OK, whatever.” I mean, honestly, I never looked at it emotionally like some people do. I don’t look at it like it’s sacrilegious. It’s just a band. It’s just music. No offense. And some people say, “You don’t understand, though!” No, I do understand! Because I was a big fan of, not just KISS, but a lot of bands, myself, when I was younger. But then I became a musician, and I have a different perspective. I know what it’s like to be a huge fan, really love a band, and then also know what it’s like to be in that band. And that’s a unique perspective. This is just music. It’s not solving the problems of the world. You know, the most important thing is – I tell everyone – “Look around you. If you have a kid, look at your kid. Look at her smiling. Look at your family.” That’s life. That’s what’s really important. Not what some band does.
RS: So you think people get too upset about this stuff.
ES: I’m sorry, but I just cannot put so much value and importance on what a fucking band does. I’m sorry! And I don’t mean that out of disrespect. If somebody loves a band, and has a passion for it? Great. It’s because of fans having passion that bands have a career. But at the same time, you’ve gotta take a step back and look at the reality, and the reality is, it’s just a band.
RS: Some people see what you and Tommy Thayer do in Kiss now as almost an impersonation.
ES: I know, but here’s the thing that’s ridiculous. I love when people say that, because the reality is, I’m not impersonating. Because I wear the makeup that he wore? Did they come up with their designs? Yes. Of course. But it’s not an extension of their personality. Peter wasn’t a cat. Peter Criss was a cat? They had to create a character. You know something? I don’t know if he even had a pet cat. Come on, it’s ridiculous.
RS: When you were singing Beth in his makeup – how about that? That seemed to freak some people out.
ES: But the thing is, I didn’t go out there and do the same thing he did. I didn’t bring out a drum stool and sit out there with a dozen roses. We did it in a different way. The point is, it’s a KISS song. I love when people try to say, “That’s Peter’s song!” or “This is an Ace song!” No, they’re KISS songs.
RS: You’ve argued that there’s a certain hypocrisy to Ace and Peter’s criticisms of other people wearing their make-up, right?
ES: This is something that I notice that nobody seems to point out. When I came in to play with the makeup, Ace was in the band, and had no problem with me playing with Peter’s makeup while he went onstage and made that KISS money. In fact, he loved it, and he didn’t want Peter back in the band. And then go forward the next year, when Ace decided to leave. When we fast forward, all of a sudden they bring Peter back, and you got Tommy Thayer playing guitar wearing the Ace makeup, and all of a sudden, no one minded it was Ace’s makeup design. Peter had no problem, did he?
Bruce Kulick:
RS: How did you feel about the band’s look in your era?
BK: I don’t like to make excuses for the Asylum era. That’s what everybody was wearing! It was ridiculous. Paul, he’s flamboyant with his clothes in any era, okay? So of course he went wild with it, and I fit in the best I could. Gene was lost, completely lost. You know, he buys a sequined, red top from a crazy woman’s shop in Vegas and cuts it up and wears it. I’m like “Come on.” He went through a period there he didn’t know what to do.
RS: Were you bummed that you never got to wear makeup?
BK: When I joined the band they already took it off, the year before. Because they’d kind of reached the point where it was not even that interesting. I was kind of relieved that my whole era I didn’t need to. In the reunion era, I was kind of in panic at times when I was hearing through the grapevine that Ace was potentially going to be exiting. I wondered if they would they ask me, and I was nervous, because what if I left Grand Funk, and then Ace wants back the next year? Who knows? It was stressful, for me. I wasn’t looking forward to becoming the Spaceman if they offered it to me, I’ll be quite honest.
RS: The late Eric Carr was the drummer in KISS when you first joined. How well did he fit in?
BK: He was just, like, not real happy. Usually there were two limos for the gigs, and it was usually Gene and Paul in one and Eric and me in the other, and Eric would just be complaining about various things. And I’d be like, you know, you gotta shut up. You’re killing me. You know how many people would want your gig right now? Every band needs a pecking order – Gene and Paul are kind of like the two presidents, and you’re not gonna get the same power. And I think Eric didn’t know how to fit in with that, just let it kind of bother him, and I just wanted to slap him around. But we became very close. He was the best with the fans, I gotta say. But it drove me crazy that he was that miserable. Now, in time, I got to see what some of the faults are of being part of the band. Things don’t always go down the way you think they might go down. But in general, Gene and Paul run a very, very hard-working, focused kind of band. They’re very dedicated to what they do and how they’re perceived, and how to make it go from A to Z. That might mean your feelings might be hurt to make it happen. So be it.
RS: Then Eric got sick, which must have been awful to deal with.
BK: It was awful. I mean, I was definitely close to him. He really had a valiant fight against a very aggressive, difficult cancer. And it was a really hard time for everyone. It really was. I mean, I was really happy to see him do his last video with us, for God Gave Rock N’ Roll to You with us. And he had more energy than me in that video, even though he was going through the chemo, and he was wearing a wig that really looked like an Eric Carr wig. His hair was always so hair-sprayed and crazy to begin with. The bigger the hair spray, the better. The bigger the hair, you know? “More hairspray! Bring it in.” Eric’s always been a part of my life, just emotionally, but also in some dreams, and some other things that have happened to me. I always feel like he’s been watching over and he’s a part of my life. So I feel very honored that I had that relationship with him.
RS: After Unplugged, how did they break it to you that they were reuniting the original band and that you were out?
BK: We literally just went to Gene’s guesthouse. He just said, “Hey, since Unplugged, this is what’s happened. And we’re gonna do this. We’re probably just gonna do it for a year, but it’s now or never, and we realize we gotta do it.” And I accepted that. But, you know, Eric [Singer] was in denial. He was like, “There’s no way. No way Peter Criss could do this. No way!” I was like, “Uh, dude, they’re gonna do it. They’ll figure it out.” And they did. And they did it well. Obviously, the cracks started to show after some time. And then the machine keeps going. And it’s a big machine, what can you do?
In a brand new interview with Revolver magazine, Guns N’ Roses frontman W. Axl Rose was asked where things stand as with the follow-up to the band’s 2008 album Chinese Democracy.
“We recorded a lot of things before Chinese was out,” Rose said. “We’ve worked more on some of those things and we’ve written a few new things. But basically, we have what I call kind of the second half of Chinese. That’s already recorded. And then we have a remix album made of the songs from Chinese. That’s been done for a while, too. But after Vegas, we’re going to start looking very seriously at what we’re doing in that regard.”
Rose also spoke about his reunion with ex-Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, who filled in for current GN’R bassist Tommy Stinson during the group’s recent South American tour because Stinson went back to The Replacements for two high-profile dates at Coachella.
“It went really well,” Axl said. “[Duff] worked really hard on the parts, and he liked playing the newer songs from Chinese. And, you know, it’s pretty funny because we’d go to talk about certain things from Use Your Illusion, and there’s things he doesn’t remember, there’s things I don’t remember. We kind of finish some of each other’s memories sometimes. And the Duff that played these shows with us isn’t really the Duff that I knew from what I’d call ‘old Guns’ or the Appetite For Destruction lineup or the Illusion lineup. Because with this band, with this lineup, everybody goes out and tries to do their very best, and every guy’s on. I don’t have to tell the other guys what to do or anything, they do it on their own. They push each other really, really hard. That also pushed Duff, and he liked the challenge of that. And he got along with the guys really well. He and some of the band and crew were doing their yoga together during the days we were out there, so…”
Asked if he thinks he and Duff will do more work together, Axl said: “It’s possible. I don’t know yet. It depends on scheduling, or what shows Tommy wants to do with The Replacements and stuff like that. And you know, almost everybody in the band has some kind of issue going on, personally. There’s people who have lost family members. Other people are dealing with separations. Sometimes court gets in the way. Real life!”
Chinese Democracy was released 15 years after its predecessor, 1993’s The Spaghetti Incident.
Guns N’ Roses are celebrating their current residency in Las Vegas with a concert film highlighting their 2012 stay at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas.
Filmed on November 21st, 2012, Appetite for Democracy 3D will first debut in select movie theaters nationwide on June 18th and 19th before being released July 1st on DVD/Blu-ray release, Consequence of Sound reports. Both the theatrical release (click herefor listings) and the Blu-ray will be 3D.
Watch the trailer for Appetite for Democracy below:
Appetite for Democracy 3D: Live from the Hard Rock Casino Track list:
1. Chinese Democracy
2. Welcome To The Jungle
3. It’s So Easy
4. Mr. Brownstone
5. Estranged
6. Rocket Queen
7. Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
8. This I Love
9. Better
10. Motivation (Tommy Stinson song)
11. Catcher In The Rye
12. Street Of Dreams
13. You Could Be Mine
14. Sweet Child O’ Mine
15. Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (Pink Floyd cover)
16. November Rain
17. Objectify (Bumblefoot song)
18. Don’t Cry
19. Civil War
20. The Seeker (The Who cover)
21. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
22. Nightrain
23. Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young cover)
24. Used To Love Her
25. Patience
26. Paradise City
Black Star Riders will be parting ways with bassist Marco Mendoza and will replace him with former Ratt and Lynch Mob member Robbie Crane.
Mendoza, a founding member of BSR, will leave the band when their US tour comes to an end on June 22nd.
BSR guitarist Scott Gorham says Mendoza wants to pursue other musical interests.
Gorham adds: “I am very sad to see Marco go. It’s an amicable parting of ways and we all respect that Marco wants to do other projects outside of Black Star Riders and there just isn’t time to do both.”
Mendoza describes his replacement Robbie Crane as a friend and adds” “I loved my time in Black Star Riders and want to thank all the fans for making the last year on road so successful.
I am sorry to be leaving the band, but I feel it’s time for me to pursue other avenues, some of which I have already been working with, all of which I am very excited about.”
Along with his stints in Ratt and Lynch Mob, Crane has played in the Vince Neil Band, Adler’s Appetite and Saints Of The Underground.
On his new job, Crane says: “I am very excited to be a part of the Black Star Riders family. As a longtime fan of their music, I am thrilled to be a part of the band.”
BSR frontman Ricky Warwick says Crane “killed” in his audition and that he can’t wait to work with the new bass player on the band’s upcoming second album.
The band are set to enter the studio in October to begin work on the follow-up to 2013’s All Hell Breaks Loose.
