Good Monday! Lots in news today, so let’s get to it!
First off, even though hardDriveRadio had to do it over two days, we interviewed Volbeat, Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica during the opening days of the WorldWired Tour. Friday, Lou Brutus had our winner, Tressa E. and her guest, along for the interviews with Michael Poulsen of Volbeat and Lars Ulrich of Metallica, but earlier in the day, we were informed our scheduled interview with Synyster Gates would be dashed as his wife Michelle went into early labor and he rushed home to California to be by her side. We understand all are doing well.
So Paulie Walnuts and James Sheff from our great video crew went to talk to Zacky Vengeance on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium stop in E. Rutherford, NJ. I will be editing the audio for the radio shows, while James works feverishly to get the video portions done, so keep your eyes peeled to the hardDriveRadio YouTube Channel for these clips to be uploaded! The video above was shot at the opening night stop in Baltimore.
Oh NO! Then this happened to my friend Jonathan Davis! The Pulse Of Radio says Korn canceled its appearance at Pointfest in St. Louis scheduled for Saturday night (May 13th), with a post on the band’s Facebook post with singer Jonathan Davis explaining and was ordered by doctors to rest his vocal cords.
In a later video message, Davis said: “My voice is thrashed. I’ve had to cancel some shows. This stuff happens sometimes. There’s nothing I can do about it. I need to rest up and get my voice back in good singing shape. I’ll be out there rocking you guys hopefully next weekend at Rock On The Range. Again, my apologies, I’m sorry for everything, but sometimes this stuff just happens.”
The band just returned from a short run of shows in South America on which Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo‘s 12-year-old son Tye played bass. Tye filled in for Korn’s regular bassist, Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, who was unable to make the tour due to what the group also called “unforeseen circumstances.” It is not clear at this point if the postponed dates are also connected to why Arvizu missed the South American tour.
Korn’s summer trek with Stone Sour, Baby Metal, Skillet, Yelawolf, DED and Islander is set to get underway on Jun 16th in Salt Lake City.
OK, and then THIS happened this weekend, which has many scratching their heads! I first got a glimpse of it when my pal from Beats 1/Apple Music Suzy Cole posted the picture on her Facebook page! Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose joined Billy Joel on stage Saturday night (May 13th) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to perform AC/DC‘s “Highway To Hell” and Joel’s own “Big Shot.” Rose, of course, did a string of European and North American concerts with AC/DC in 2016, mostly to fan and critical acclaim, while Joel has frequently performed “Highway To Hell” during his concerts in recent years, often recruiting his roadie Chainsaw to sing lead vocals.
It is unknown whether Rose will continue singing with AC/DC. The band’s future remains in doubt after the band completed its world tour in support of 2014’s Rock Or Bust, a cycle that saw a massive turnover in the group’s personnel. Guitarist and sole original member Angus Young has not yet indicated whether the group will continue recording and touring.
In March 2016, AC/DC’s singer of 35 years, Brian Johnson, had to leave the band’s North American tour after doctors told him he might lose his hearing, while 40-year bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement at the rescheduled trek’s conclusion. Meanwhile, Rose is touring this summer with the “reunited” Guns N’ Roses in Europe and North America.
Well, lookie here! My pal, Gustav Wood of Young Guns, is working on a project with two members of Duran Duran in London. Hmmm. Wonderers are now wondering what this is all about! Guess we’ll have to STAY TUNED!
Oh man, and THIS HAPPENED! Blabbermouth reporting AC/DC singer Brian Johnson and Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant joined Paul Rodgers for an encore performance of Barrett Strong‘s 1959 classic “Money (That’s What I Want)” earlier tonight (Sunday, May 14) in Oxford, England. Fan-filmed video footage of their appearance can be seen below. The gig at the New Theatre Oxford was part of Rodgers‘s “Free Spirit” tour, which is celebrating the music of his first band, Free.
Plant and Johnson were recently seen filming an episode of Johnson’s “A Life On The Road” television series. Read more here.
And finally today, from our friends at RAMP, this! Longtime rivals Microsoft and Apple have apparently set aside their long-simmering philosophical differences “for the sake of music and money.” That’s the good word from Fortune, which reports Microsoft has caved, announcing that the company will make Apple’s iTunes service available to the rest of humanity through the Windows Store by the end of the year. The news is noteworthy, considering Microsoft’s new Windows 10 S operating system; essentially a cheaper and streamlined version of its flagship Windows 10 will only let people download Microsoft-approved apps from the Windows Store.
Microsoft formally announced the big news last week during its annual Build conference for developers in Redmond, WA. As Fortune says, “The decision to bring the iTunes app is significant given both companies’ past reluctance to make that their respective services, like Microsoft Office, compatible with the other’s. Bringing iTunes to the Windows Store helps improve the perception that Microsoft is more open to working with other companies and technologies than previously. Microsoft also said Thursday that it would let people download three different versions of the Linux operating system from its Windows Store, which is a big change considering Microsoft once considered Linux a threat to its proprietary Windows operating system.” Naturally, Apple stands to gain through this potentially lucrative arrangement if those Windows users are now able to download iTunes to their PCs and sign up to the Apple Music streaming service. |