T G I F! And T G I A H W! (Thank God It’s A Holiday Weekend!) Oh yeah!
After teasing a big announcement this week, Guns N’ Roses has unveiled 15 additional tour dates on the next North American leg of its “Not In This Lifetime” trek, extending the band’s itinerary well into the fall. The new string of mostly stadium-sized shows starts on October 8th in Philadelphia and concludes with two arena gigs in the group’s hometown of Los Angeles over Thanksgiving weekend. Tickets for the new dates go on sale to the general public starting Saturday, Jun 3rd.
The previously announced summer leg of the tour kicks off on Jul 27th in St. Louis and wraps on Sep 8th in San Antonio.
Guns N’ Roses have also announced the special guests for the summer shows, including ZZ Top on three Texas dates, Deftones on the St. Louis and Minneapolis dates, Sturgill Simpson on the Denver, Little Rock and Miami gigs, Royal Blood in Vancouver and George, WA, Live on the Winston-Salem, NC and Hershey, PA dates, and Our Lady Peace on four Canadian shows.Opening acts for the fall shows have yet to be revealed. See Road Rage for all the dates!
Wow. This is heavy! Blabbermouth reporting today Corey Taylor appeared on this past Monday’s (May 22) episode of Viceland‘s “The Therapist” to talk in depth about his life behind his public persona, including his history of self-harm and his suicide attempt.
Asked about the significance of wearing a literal mask when he is performing with Slipknot, Taylor said: “With Slipknot, at least for most of us in the band, the mask is part of the art — it’s not just the visual and the shock; it’s a representation of who I am in that album. So, for me, it’s as natural as having a different hairstyle for one album and tour cycle, wearing different clothes for an album and tour cycle. It’s a part of the dynamic. It’s one of the things that you look forward to. Not just writing the songs, not just putting the music together, not just putting the visuals together, but what… who am I in this album? And on the last album [2014’s ‘.5: The Gray Chapter’], the one that dealt with Paul‘s [Gray, Slipknot bassist] death, the mask that I had was two layers, so I could pull one off and there was another mask there. And it was the mask behind the mask — being open to a point, but never really sharing that pain. Even when push comes to shove, pulling that layer away, and it’s still… there’s still something behind it that I’m not willing to share. And that album, ‘The Gray Chapter’, was basically my way of processing everything and hopefully helping the band process it and putting it into perspectives that we can understand. It was me trying to give my friends a voice and letting them know that I was with them and that things weren’t gonna be okay, but we were gonna move on.”
In the program, which premiered on May 8, Los Angeles-based licensed therapist Dr. Siri Sat Nam Singh sits down with some of today’s most influential musicians and artists to take a deeper look into their psyches, their pasts and their presents to discover what makes them tick. He leads them through compelling discussions, inviting them to look at how they’ve faced some of the most formative, troubling or difficult experiences from throughout their lives.
Each of the artists who sit with Dr. Siri quickly realize they are in the presence of a man who is knowledgeable, deeply sensitive, compassionate and highly intuitive. This fact alone provides them with an unparalleled level of comfort allowing them to truly be a part of the experience.
Aside from a cameraman, there was absolutely no one else in the room throughout each shoot. There were no “re-takes,” no “re-shoots,” no “producing.” Each artist was fully immersed in a full-length therapy session which enabled Dr. Siri to truly engage them and break down the emotional barriers and walls we all carry.
There has long been a stigma surrounding mental health care. Dr. Siri Sat Nam Singh and his patients take steps forward to normalize a process which they feel all people should be able to take advantage of, asking for help and trying to truly understand oneself.
Alternative Press says Beartooth have released a new music video for the single “Sick Of Me” that presents a powerful message about depression and anxiety. The clip documents four people battling depression and shows their individual journeys in overcoming the mental health affliction. Part of the way through the video, the music fades to the background as frontman Caleb Shomo details his own battle with the disorder, saying, “Depression and anxiety isn’t something you just get away from. It’s not something you can run from; it’s just inside you. For me it’s just always in my brain, it’s always in there churning.”
He adds, “You can’t run away from it, you have to deal with it and it’s choosing how to deal with it. This song is a big way to help. At least for me, music has been implanted in my body. I come from a musical background. When I go onstage everything goes away.”
Shomo co-wrote “Sick Of Me” with John Feldmann and told us how the latter helped bring the song to life: “Usually when I write with him, we like talk for 20 minutes and he’s just like, ‘What’s going on with you? What’s something that you’re like dealing with or something you want to write about?’ And we just started talking, and as we’re like talking, he’s just writing stuff down and he’s like, ‘Yeah, man, keep going.’ And then he just lays down a rough idea of this chorus he had, and it was pretty cool.“
“Sick Of Me” is from Beartooth’s latest studio album, Aggressive, which is being re-released on Friday (May 26th) in a deluxe edition.
To further raise awareness for mental health issues, Beartooth have released a new line of “Sick Of Me” T-shirts, donating all proceeds to the National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI). Beartooth is currently in Europe and will hit Australia after that, but the band can be seen next in North America on this summer’s Warped Tour, with their stint on the trek starting on Jun 28th in Metairie, LA.
Blabbermouth also reporting today that Projected, the project featuring Sevendust members John Connolly (guitar) and Vince Hornsby (bass) alongside Alter Bridge/Creed drummer Scott Phillips and guitarist/vocalist Eric Friedman (a.k.a. E-Rock; Tremonti; Submersed), will release its sophomore album, Ignite My Insanity, on Jul 21 via Rat Pak Records. The two-disc collection is currently available for pre-order in various configurations at this location.
The follow-up to 2012’s “Human,” “Ignite My Insanity” features twenty-one all-new tracks from Projected and continues to build upon the sound the band established with its debut. It is an album designed to resonate with fans from the members’ original projects and guaranteed to garner new fans along the way. From the melodic piano interlude of the opener “Strike” to the raucous ending of closer “Battlestations”, the new album takes the listener on a journey inside the minds of the band. Songs like “Six Feet Below”, “Gomorrah”, “Inhuman” and “Upside Down” are infectious rockers. The first single, “Reload”, is a frenetic composition that showcases the musicianship of these accomplished performers. Alter Bridge/Tremonti songwriter Mark Tremonti co-wrote “Rectify” and “Call Me The Devil” and Sevendust‘s Morgan Rose co-wrote “Concede” with Projected.
On the subject of Projected‘s new record, Connolly comments: “There are four very strong personalities in this band. Everyone has been in the business doing various things, from Alter Bridge to Creed to Sevendust to Tremonti, and it took all those elements and sounds to make this album what it is!”
Phillips adds: “We’re all part of other bands that we’ve put our heart and soul and life into and this was just a chance to extend that into somewhat of a different direction.”
Friedman comments: “When I think Projected, the first words that come to my mind is a very raw and honest band. Things aren’t overthought. It’s very organic.”
Hornsby says: “We’ve been playing so long together, you know it’s kinda like a marriage to a certain degree. It really warms my heart to be able to play with my friends and these great musicians.”
Celebrating life this weekend: Friday: Lenny Kravitz is 53, Matt Stone (South Park) is 46. Saturday, Sean Kinney of Alice In Chains is 51.
Have a safe and great Memorial Day! Thank you to our veterans and the men and women serving all over the world! We’ll be back on Tuesday morning!