Holy Moly! Did WE get clobbered with snow! Nearly 27″! Second highest snowfall on record for NYC. My block still isn’t plowed completely. Had to scale the snowbank to get to my door. Good ole NYC. Takin’ care of BIZ.
FLINT! We hear you! Pearl Jam hears you! Help is on the way! Pearl Jam has raised $300,000 to help the people of Flint, MI as the city reels from a water crisis that has gone on for two years. According to Billboard, the band has donated $125,000 of its money, while pulling another $175,000 out of recording, publishing and touring partners Republic Records, the Universal Music Publishing Group and Ticketmaster for a grand total of $300,000.
The money is going to the United Way of Genesee County, which will channel the money to the Flint Water Fund and benefit the city’s ongoing drinking water contamination crisis.
Pearl Jam has also launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise more money for Flint. At press time, that fund had raised nearly $10,000. A dangerous amount of lead has been contaminating Flint’s water supply for nearly two years, following a switchover in which the city manager stopped getting water from Detroit and started pumping it in from the Flint River to cut costs. The governor and the officials there should be ashamed!
photo credit: Blabbermouth
My friend Kim was at this event in LA. I saw pics of her with Dave backstage. Everyone had an outstanding time that, I believe, also included some Crown Royal! Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl led members of Metallica, Stone Sour, Pantera, Slayer and others in performances at the Monster Energy Ride For Dime Dimebash 2016, a benefit honoring late Pantera and Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, which was held Friday night (Jan 22nd) at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, CA.
Grohl was a last-minute fill-in for Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, who reportedly went to the emergency room on Friday night for an undisclosed ailment. Cantrell’s publicist informed Alternative Nation the guitarist was “totally fine” after his visit and underwent a “minor outpatient procedure.”
Among the songs performed were Motorhead‘s “Ace Of Spades,” featuring Grohl on guitar, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo on bass, ex-Slayer member Dave Lombardo on drums and former Pantera singer Philip Anselmo on vocals.
Proceeds from the event were slated to benefit the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Dimebag was shot to death along with three others during a Damageplan performance at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, OH on Dec 08, 2004. Hit this page on Blabbermouth for more!
Oh man! Really? The Pulse of Radio reporting Guns N’ Roses are offering a “Signature VIP Experience” at their upcoming Las Vegas shows for $2,500. According to Alternative Nation, the package does not include a meet and greet opportunity with Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan. It does include one ticket in the first 10 rows, a signed, numbered, limited edition tour poster, a photo on the stage before the show, a backstage tour, pre-show cocktails, access to a VIP hospitality lounge, a dinner buffet and drinks, prizes, private merchandise shopping and other “perks.”
Customers will also get the “Essential Guns N’ Roses VIP Gift Bag,” including special merchandise and a commemorative VIP laminate and matching lanyard. Guns N’ Roses will play on April 8th and 9th at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas before headlining California’s Coachella Festival on April 16th and 23rd. A summer tour is also rumored for the reunited group.
Meanwhile, longtime Gun bassist Tommy Stinson, who was in the band from 1998 until 2014, says that a partial reunion of the group’s classic lineup “will be a healing thing” for the musicians involved. And Blabbermouth reported former Guns N’ Roses (Chinese Democracy version) guitarist DJ Ashba says he “couldn’t be happier” for the band’s fans that a partial reunion of GN’R‘s classic lineup is finally coming together.
Ashba, who became a member in March 2009 following the departure of Robin Finck and stayed in the band until last July, was asked by Jaxon of Philadelphia’s 93.3 WMMR radio station in a new interview if he had heard about singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan reuniting for an appearance at California’s Coachella Music And Arts Festival. He said: “I did. And as far as that [goes], man, as a fan myself, I couldn’t be more stoked for the fanbase. They’ve waited a long time for this to happen, and, God, it’s so good that it’s happening. I couldn’t be happier for the fans, you know.”
I had heard this from another band who said they would never do the Soundwave again unless the promoter paid them IN ADVANCE. So apparently this news has now come to light. Soundgarden, Slipknot and Smashing Pumpkins are among the bands owned vast sums of money by the promoter of Australia’s Soundwave Festival, who has not paid more than 50 acts who participated in its 2015 edition last February. Soundgarden is owed nearly $1.5 million, while Slipknot is out almost $1.2 million and the Pumpkins are waiting on a check for $887,000. Other artists owed six-figure sums are Slash, Incubus, Godsmack, Faith No More, Marilyn Manson and many more. Both the 2016 and 2017 editions of Soundwavehave been canceled. (Music Feeds)
Loudwire says Deftones seem to have definitively set Apr 8th as the release date for the band’s seventh studio album. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter said in an interview with ESP Guitars, “I’m sitting around waiting for the release of our new record. It comes out April 8 and we have some dates in Texas in March and there’s nothing I can remember or recall for April, but May/June off to Europe for some festivals out there.” (NOTE: the band is playing the Carolina Rebellion in early May.) The album title, artwork and track listing have yet to be revealed. (I know the title and song titles, but I am bound and sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you the music is great. I can not WAIT to have a copy of the album and there’s a killer track on there with Jerry Cantrell on guitar!)
Halestorm, Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and others are among the artists who have contributed to a second wave of covers of the Eagles Of Death Metal song “I Love You All The Time.” All royalties from sales of the covers are being donated to the families of the victims of those killed during the band’s Nov 13th gig in Paris, France, which was part of a series of attacks by armed terrorists. The first wave of covers featured contributions from Florence + The Machine, Kings Of Leon and more. (Diffuser)
He’s Baaaaaccccckkk! Marilyn Manson will make a guest appearance on the upcoming third season of the WGN America series Salem. According to Loudwire, Manson will play Thomas Dinley, a barber and surgeon who is the go-to man in Salem for all things requiring a blade — whether it be a shave, a haircut, being sliced open or sewn up.
Manson already has a connection with Salem, having granted the show permission to use his song “Cupid Carries A Gun” as the theme of the TV series. Manson and Salem composer Tyler Bates worked on the song together before Manson gave it to the program.
Salem is a supernatural series that takes place during the Salem witch trials of the 17th century. Manson has been steadily working in television in the past few years, making appearances on FX’s Sons Of Anarchy, Showtime’s Californication, the Sundance Channel’s Wrong Cops and HBO’s Eastbound & Down, along with voicing a demonic character on ABC’sOnce Upon A Time. Manson toured last year behind his most recent album, The Pale Emperor.