Asking Alexandria Ben Bruce James Cassells with Lou Brutus and Paulie Walnuts on the band’s bus (photo credit: Mike Jakubow)
Well. they came, they saw, they conquered! Lou Brutus and Paulie Walnuts did it again! Killed it at Rock On The Range. Not only did they get every single interview and MORE we had pre-arranged, they also made it through 3 days of rock insanity, rain and seasonally cooler temps.
Lou Brutus shooting Johannes Eckerstrom of Avatar (not really SHOOTING him, but you know)
Lou Brutus also got to take a bazillion pictures. And Paulie took a bunch, too. I’ll be posting many here and you can find more on our Facebook page soon as well!
Trivium with Lou Brutus at Rock On The Range in the mainstage bus parking area backstage
I have to say, as a by-stander listening on satellite radio to some of the performances, I gotta say. I F-BOMB was used, oh I dunno, 5 BILLION times on stage by every single band (ok, not Lacey Sturm) but EVERY SINGLE BAND! For example, I had to post on Matt Heafy of Trivium’s Facebook page, if there was a drinking game going on for every time you heard someone say the F-word to the audience, I would’ve been soooooooo
F-ing DRUNK! (and I was in the car at the time!) It was HILARIOUS! So when I posted that on his Facebook, it opened up a huge amount of laughter, I gotta tell ya!
Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers with Lou Brutus at Rock on the Ranges
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis said in a new interview with ET Canada that he “feels good” a week after he was hospitalized with intestinal flu, forcing the group to cancel two California concerts. The 53-year-old singer said, “It was a painful and sad thing to have to cancel shows; we don’t really do that. I’d rather play deathly ill than not at all, but in this particular instance I was starting to go down to the ground. I got some help and now I’ve got to figure things out.”
Anthony revealed that a combination of inflammation in his “guts” and existing scar tissue from hernia operations led to his condition, which was exacerbated by a recent bout with a virus. He explained, “That becomes an incredibly painful situation where you get a fever and pass out.” As for how he feels now, Kiedis said, “I feel good, not great, but good. I think I had to get sick to take a look at myself and get to the causes and conditions of my overall health.” He added that the incident has forced him to re-examine the way he takes care of himself, saying, “I push pretty hard sometimes and I do take my health for granted on a certain level because I feel strong and capable . . . I think that my body let me know that I had to change my ways a little bit.”
The Chili Peppers performed at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, OH on last night (Sunday, May 22nd), marking Kiedis’ first live appearance since his illness. The band will release its 11th studio album, The Getaway, on Jun 17th. The first single, “Dark Necessities,” arrived earlier this month.
Meanwhile, The Pulse Of Radio also reporting this morning AC/DC singer Brian Johnson said in a new interview on the Sirius/XM program In The Driver’s Seat the hearing problems which have stopped him from touring with the group began eight years ago while he was racing. Johnson, an avid professional race car driver, explained, “I was at Watkins Glen (a race track located in Watkins Glen, New York), and I was getting ready to race . . . And I stuck this helmet on, and for the first time ever, I forgot to put my earplugs in. And what happened was, off I went, and after about thirty-five minutes, my left ear just (let out) a little pop. And I went, ‘What the heck was that?’“
He continued, “All that happened was I suffered tinnitus for about six or seven months, but it cleared up and then I was fine again, because we did another tour after that and I was fine. But, unfortunately, on stage, you don’t have any defense. So when we started the tour, I was just fine; we were just rolling along and rolling along. And I think just age and that industrial noise every night on stage . . . I mean, you’re in a rock and roll band. What the hell do you expect?”
According to Johnson, his hearing issues started interfering with his ability to perform once AC/DC returned to the road in support of the band’s latest album, Rock Or Bust. He said, “I was getting worried because my right ear, my good ear is just about totally deaf . . . it was enough to make things very difficult.” Johnson said his doctor worked to clear up the problem in his ear in time for an Australian tour and the North American leg which was eventually halted, He explained, “We did all the gigs in Australia — that was great — and then we came back and I did ten shows in America, but I’m afraid after that, when I went for my second check, that’s when they said, ‘You’re killing your ears.‘”
Johnson’s doctors told him that he could not perform on stage at large venues where the sound levels were beyond his current tolerance without the risk of substantial hearing loss and possibly total deafness.
He recalled the band’s reaction to the news, saying, “Angus (Young) and Cliff (Williams), they just said, ‘Jonno, you’ve gotta think of your health.’ And everybody else said, ‘Brian, your health comes first. You’ve done a whole year on the road, you’ve done everything. We wanna finish.’ And that’s what they did.”
Although Johnson doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to perform live again, he said he considers himself lucky to have had the career he’s had. He remarked, “I’m lucky. I’m 68 — I’m 69 later this year — and I’ve had a pretty good run. I’ve been in one of the best bands in the world. (The doctor) didn’t tell me I had cancer or something terminal. And I had so many good times with the boys and I’ve had such a lucky and great life, and I’m just thankful, really, that I came out of it in one piece.”
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose took over the mic in AC/DC after Johnson was forced off the road. Rose is slated for now to play AC/DC’s current run of European shows as well as ten postponed North American gigs.
This band was a Rock On The Range a couple of years ago, and on Friday, Atlantic Records sent out their new single, “Feel Invincible.” The Pulse Of Radio says Skillet has definitely returned from a three-year hiatus between studio albums on Aug 5th with Unleashed, their ninth studio effort and first since 2013’s Rise. The first single from the 12-song set is “Feel Invincible,” for which a lyric video has been issued.
Skillet bassist and singer John Cooper said about the new disc, “I wanted to make an album that could make people feel the music. I always aim to write songs to which people can relate, but this time I wanted to see not only how the songs would connect lyrically, but also how they’d connect musically.”
Skillet Unleashed CD cover
Other tracks on the album include “Back From The Dead,” “Stars,” “Undefeated,” “Out Of Hell,” “Watching For Comets,” “Saviors Of The World” and five more.
Skillet has been recording and touring for 20 years now and Cooper told us he enjoys seeing Skillet fans bringing their kids to the band’s shows: “It’s very cool to go to a concert and just see a dad with his 12-year-old son, and they’re both rocking out to Skillet because their dad bought our first record when he was in high school or whatever. You go to a Bon Jovi show or a Nickelback show, Aerosmith, that’s what you see — you see generations of fans. And Skillet is still, you know, quite young, but we have those generations. I think that that’s really awesome.“
Skillet consists of Cooper, his wife Korey on keyboards, Seth Morrison on lead guitar and Jen Ledger on drums. Skillet has been nominated for two Grammys and have one platinum and one gold record award to their credit. The band’s Top 10 rock hits include “Monster,” “Awake And Alive” and “Sick Of It.” Interesting note: Korey co-wrote Lacey Sturm’s “Impossible” which is out now on Lacey’s new album, Life Screams.
Volbeat has posted a lyric video for “Seal The Deal,” a new track from their forthcoming Seal The Deal and Let’s Boogie. Check it out!
STP still looking! Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo spoke with Rolling Stone on Friday (May 20th) about the progress of their search for a new lead singer, which began with open auditions in February and has continued recently with a smaller series of private tryouts. Robert said, “We’re trying some singers out to continue Stone Temple Pilots, and we’ll see where that goes, see where that takes us.” Dean added, “We’re looking for somebody that fills a lot of criteria. Man, woman. There’s a couple of people we really dig and we have some more coming in.”
STP is looking for a new vocalist following last year’s death of founding frontman Scott Weiland and the end of a short-lived collaboration with Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, which produced a five-song EP in 2013.
Weiland and the rest of STP were not on good terms when he died from a drug overdose at the age of 48 during a solo tour last December. Robert admitted, “It’s impossible to replace Scott. It really is. We created something that only the four of us could create. It’s about moving forward, but it’s also about someone honoring that and being able to get their creativity around that.”
Although the members of STP have not revealed the names of anyone who has auditioned for the band, at least two singers have hinted that they were in the running. One was Toryn Green, who sang for the band Fuel from 2007 through 2010, singing on an album calledAngels & Devils. The DeLeo brothers recently appeared live at a charity event, performing STP songs with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor and singer Jordan Wright, son of veteran rock artist Gary Wright.
Here we go again! A warrant was issued on Friday (May 20th) for the arrest of Puddle Of Mudd singer Wes Scantlin after he failed to show up for a hearing before a judge in a Los Angeles courtroom. In fact, neither Scantlin nor his attorney made it to court for the scheduled proceedings. According to TMZ, the appearance was related to Scantlin’s arrest in December of 2015 for driving with an expired registration as well as possession of a controlled substance.
Scantling was actually arrested after he walked offstage at the end of a show in Hermosa Beach, CA on April 30th, reportedly skipping a court date related to his trespassing and vandalism charges from earlier in the year. In early January, Scantlin was arrested on suspicion of breaking into his former home and vandalizing some of the property. He skipped two court dates related to the charges, which led to last month’s arrest.
Scantlin lost the house to foreclosure in 2015 and was arrested while attempting to trash parts of the property with a hatchet. Prior to that, Scantlin was arrested in December 2015 for possession of a controlled substance and had several previous busts that same year for driving under the influence. The December 2015 arrest is the one for which he missed a hearing on Friday.
More recently, Scantlin has been ending Puddle Of Mudd shows early with various meltdowns, including one in which he accused a fan of stealing his house. At one show in England not long ago, the entire band left him alone onstage during one of his rants.
Scantlin was also involved in a standoff with 30 police officers several weeks ago outside his current residence, although it turned out that he and two friends were trying to jumpstart a car and not break in as a neighbor reported.
Nick Menza-RIP (photo credit: Loudwire)
So sorry to hear the news over the weekend about the passing of former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza. He was only 51. Nick passed away on Saturday night (May 21st) while performing with the band OHM: at the Baked Potato in Studio City, CA. The 51-year-old Menza reportedly collapsed just three songs into the band’s set, with early indications suggesting that he suffered a massive heart attack. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Menza joined Megadeth in 1989 and played with the band for nine years, generally considered the group’s most successful era. He appeared on the 1990 album Rust In Peace, 1992’s Countdown To Extinction, 1994’s Youthanasia and 1997’s Cryptic Writings.