Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day took to Instagram to post a heartfelt message and plea for help for the victims of the Oakland, CA fire at the Ghost Ship artists’ collective building that took nearly 40 lives last weekend. The Pulse Of Radio and Consequence Of Sound said Armstrong, an Oakland native, wrote, “It’s been many years since I’ve lived in warehouses and communal spaces like Ghost Ship. Those were some of the best and most fulfilling times in my life. Living with other weirdos, artists, activists, and musicians. Spaces like this allow the strange ones to thrive and be the people that normal society rejects.” He added, “We inspired each other, laughed together, and created new friends and family we didn’t know existed. The city of Oakland provided that for me and my closest friends. This tragedy hits close to all of our hearts. please do what you can to help heal this intense loss.. more information to come .. let’s take care of each other.. BJ.”
Green Day has been a fixture in the Bay Area punk rock scene for 30 years. The band was originally part of the punk scene and fan collective based around 924 Gilman Street, a club in Berkeley, CA. Revolution Radio, Green Day’s latest album and 12th studio effort, debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 album chart in October.
Following a European tour in early 2017, the band will embark on a North American run in the spring, beginning on Mar 1st in Phoenix.
A criminal investigation has been launched into the Ghost Ship fire. The building lacked proper permits and was under investigation for its cramped conditions, electrical wiring issues, and unlicensed interior building structures. The venue also lacked sprinklers and working smoke detectors.
In the wake of the fire, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has announced a $1.7 million fund to “support sustainable, long-term solutions to creating affordable, safe spaces for Oakland’s artists and arts organizations.” Funding will assist at-risk artists and artist organizations by finding them spaces to work where conditions are up to code and costs are reasonable.
Don’t be surprised if you see Green Day announce a benefit show or shows to help the victims of this terrible tragedy that hits home for them.
Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer became the latest rock musician to make a statement of sorts against fans using their smartphones at concerts. According to Team Rock, the band was playing a show in Turin, Italy recently when Klinghoffer whipped his phone out of his pocket and filmed the audience — instead of playing the guitar solo during the hit song “Californication.”
Ironically, Klinghoffer’s stunt was captured on a number of fans’ phones and posted online. He did not offer any other comment or explanation to the crowd at the show.
The Chili Peppers are among a group of artists who have spoken out against the constant use of phones by fans, who either film the concert or text and email friends while the band is performing.
Singer Anthony Kiedis told Journal de Montreal, “The problem today, is the cameras during concerts. This keeps you from living in the moment. It is not important to have these pictures in megabytes. It is better to have them in your heart and your memory. We try to create an environment which is going to encourage them to keep their phones in their pockets and to look at us directly.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers have just released a music video for “Sick Love,” the latest single from the band’s chart-topping 11th studio album, The Getaway. The band recently expanded their 2017 North American tour, confirming 27 additional dates beginning on Apr 12th in Washington D.C. and concluding on Jun 30th in Chicago. This follows the previously announced initial leg that kicks off on Jan 5th in San Antonio and ends on Mar 18th in Vancouver, BC. (The Pulse Of Radio)
The Pulse Of Radio also reporting today our friend Rob Zombie has directed seven feature films over the course of a 13-year career, but just like any filmmaker, there are a number of projects he worked on that never made it to the screen. Zombie discussed some of those films in an interview with horror streaming service Shudder, touching on movies like The Crow 2037, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Broad Street Bullies and even a remake of the classic The Blob.
Zombie told us a while back that getting any movie project off the ground is much tougher than people realize: “For every movie I’ve gotten made, there’s been five movies in between that I put a lot of work into that never happened. But people only see the ones that happen, so they don’t know, so they think, ‘Oh, every time you want to make a movie, it just happens, because you want it to.’ But it just doesn’t work that way, you know, it’s really hard getting things made and sometimes you spend a lot of time and a lot of money working on these things and they just don’t happen.“
Zombie’s most recent film, 31, opened in limited release and on VOD earlier this fall, and will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on Dec 20th. The film, about five carnival workers who are kidnapped and forced to play a game of survival in a large compound, stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Malcolm McDowell and others.
Zombie’s next announced movie project is a film about the last days of legendary comedian Groucho Marx.
Finally today, yesterday marked the 12th anniversary of Pantera and Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott‘s death (Dec 8th), professional rock photographer Chad Lee has uploaded previously unseen video footage of Damageplan rehearsing the Pantera classic “Becoming” on Oct 23rd, 2004, less than two months before Abbott was shot to death onstage by a disturbed gunman during a Damageplan show at a Columbus, OH nightclub.
Dime’s murder at the age of 38 stunned the rock world and launched a worldwide outpouring of grief from fans and fellow musicians, while also forcing artists to reconsider the safety measures they took onstage.
“Dimebag” and his brother, Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, formed Damageplan in 2003 after the break-up of Pantera, which they had founded in the early ’80s and taken to platinum-level success. Since his brother’s murder, Vinnie has released several Dimebag-related items through his Big Vin Records label, including DVDs and the book He Came to Rock.
He told us a while back that he continues to work to keep Dimebag’s memory alive: “It’s very important to me to make sure that Dime’s legacy lives on forever, and I think without anybody even tryin’, it will, you know. But I just want to make sure that the things that are still here that he was part of, can increase that and just be one more thing that lends credence to his legend, you know.”
Vinnie eventually co-founded the band Hellyeah in 2006 with former members of Mudvayne and Nothingface. The band’s fifth and latest album, Unden!able, came out this past June. The disc includes a cover of the Phil Collins hit, “I Don’t Care Anymore,” which contains a previously unheard guitar track laid down by Dimebag in 2002 and kept in the Abbott brothers’ archives until now.
My friend and the woman who runs the Pantera estate, Kim, posted some awesome pictures of Dime on her Facebook page, including this very special shot.
Eddie Van Halen was one of Dime’s biggest idols. I love seeing the look on his face with Eddie in this picture. Hope you are having a good ole time, Dime, hanging with some of your favorite musicians up there! Getcha Pull! Dime4ever!
Celebrating life this weekend: today, Tres Cool of Green Day is 44, and a man who grew up with my Mom, actor Kirk Douglas is 100. Sunday, Zacky Vengeance of Avenged Sevenfold is 35.