Having all our warfare this morning with that pesky woodpecker family who is determined to kill my precious pussy willow tree. All home organic remedies are not working. What to do? May have to resort to drastic measures!
For several days, Volbeat has been teasing the release of a new animated video for “Black Rose.” The song features Canadian rocker, Danko Jones and currently sits at #1 on the Media Base Active Rock chart.
Volbeat guitarist Rob Caggiano says he and frontman, Michael Poulsen thought of Danko when writing it. He commented, “We were working on this and Michael was singing the verse part, and he was, like, ‘Maybe Danko Jones could sing on this one. It sounds like something that he would do.’ And it totally does! We could almost hear it before it even happened. When we approached him about doing it, he was totally psyched, and he completely nailed it.”
The full animated video is to be released online later today. Meanwhile, the band has posted Michael and drummer John Larsen jamming a new riff. Watch here.
According to a post on Blabbermouth, Rob Zombie‘s plans for the rest of the year? Tour and record another album. Now I’m not trying to be critical, but I hope this next one contains songs that are loner than 2 minutes and have substance. Just sayin’!
In an interview over the weekend, Zombie said, “Right now we’re just doing shows all summer, then we’re starting a new record in August. And then I won’t start a new movie till next year, ’cause it’s all music for the rest of this year. So that’s about it.”
He added his band will continue to play scattered shows while recording. He explained: “These days, as everybody knows, there’s not really, like a proper album cycle where you make an album and you just tour it to death.”
This week Rob Zombie has shows in Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, and France.
This is exciting, and despite their tour manager’s seething complaint about the inadequate sound levels over the weekend at Download in England,which apparently, was amazing from reports I’ve seen, U.S. rock giants Alter Bridge have announced their return to the U.K. for two very special headline shows on Oct 2 and Oct 3. Appearing at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London for the first time, the band will treat the audience to an array of songs never before played live as well as fan favorite hits, drawn from their acclaimed five-album catalog. In another first, the group will also be accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra — a 52-piece London-based symphony orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson — adding an impressive new dimension to their already captivating live show.
Tickets for the two nights go on general sale at 10 a.m. this Friday, Jun 16. Pre-sales begin 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jun 14 via O2 and 10 a.m. Thursday, Jun 15 via Live Nation and the Royal Albert Hall.
Meanwhile, Alter Bridge will release of a new live album and rarities collection, Live At The O2 Arena + Rarities, on Sep 8 via Napalm Records. I was told our acoustic performance with the band in the hardDriveRadio studios will be included in this set! So stoked!
This incredible selection of Alter Bridge gems will be released in multiple formats. In addition to a standard three-CD audio version, fans can also pick up one of the limited deluxe editions (including a four-LP set and a CD/DVD Earbook) which also include an exclusive ALTER BRIDGE documentary featuring extensive interviews with the band, their crew, and family, giving an amazing glimpse behind the scenes of this legendary show at London’s O2 Arena.
One of the biggest moments of the band’s career was the monumental show at London’s famous O2 Arena on Nov 26, 2016. That landmark performance was captured in its entirety. The two-CD, nineteen-track recording documents what an enormous presence Alter Bridge have become on concert stages around the world. So happy for our friends Mark, Myles, Flip and Brian! (Thanks Blabbermouth!)
Also over on Blabbermouth, I found this. Alt rock pioneers Jane’s Addiction will release Ritual De Lo Habitual – Alive At Twenty-Five on Blu-ray, DVD, CD and vinyl on Aug 4.
Captured live in stunning 4K resolution using twenty cameras, the set sees the band — Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and Chris Chaney — performing its multi-platinum alt-rock masterpiece album in its entirety, along with the bands biggest hits. The effort was filmed by director Mark Ritchie (Kanye West, Madonna) on Sep 23, 2016 at the now-demolished Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA, the birthplace of Lollapolooza twenty-five years ago, at the final show of the band’s “Silver Spoon Anniversary” tour celebrating groundbreaking LP that changed the rock music landscape forever. Included are classic songs “Stop!”, “No One’s Leaving”, “Been Caught Stealing”, “Classic Girl”, “Three Days” featuring Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins, along with Jane’s hits “Ted, Just Admit It…” and “Jane Says,” performed before a packed house of 15,000 fans.
“Twenty-five years — what a beautiful milestone for both Ritual De Lo Habitual and Lollapalooza,” says Jane’s Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell. “As both were great achievements in our lives that also helped change the course of music history, we really sought to come up with a special show for this tour so that the fans could celebrate it with us.”
Guitarist Dave Navarro told Billboard: “In preparing for the tour, I had to re-learn quite a bit of the album. It was inspiring to undo some of the rules we have become used to in our later years and get back in touch with a more expansive and unorthodox approach. Staying in this mindset made for an extra special celebration tour and we were oddly able to become our own inspiration… The students teaching the masters.”
And speaking of 25 year anniversaries, Blabbermouth also says on June 23, 2017, UMe celebrates the 25th anniversary of seminal NYC hard rock band Helmet’s Meantime original release with a special vinyl reissue of this modern classic. The anniversary edition will be available in a limited-edition colored vinyl pressing, as well as a standard black vinyl version.
Having cut his teeth playing with avant-garde guitar icon Glenn Branca and indie stalwarts Band of Susans, Page Hamilton launched Helmet in 1989, and the band released its debut album, “Strap It On”, on the independent Amphetamine Reptile label the following year. Helmet soon became the subject of an unprecedented major-label bidding war, ultimately signing with Interscope and releasing Meantime in June 1992.
Produced mainly by the band members, Meantime finds Helmet — the classically trained Hamilton on guitar and vocals plus guitarist Peter Mengede, bassist Henry Bogdan and drummer John Stanier — creating music that’s fiercely aggressive yet hypnotically precise, with such tracks as “Unsung”, “Role Model”, “Give It” and the Steve Albini-produced “In The Meantime” showcasing Hamilton‘s staccato riffs, jazz-influenced chords and ominous vocals. The New York Times called HELMET “a band that made important connections between indie-rock and metal.”