Seether blew me away last night! They PACKED the Gramercy Theater here in NYC and they never sounded BETTER! They ripped through a nearly 2 hour set with all the hits, and new tunes, “Words As Weapons,” and Shaun Morgan‘s favorite tune on Isolate & Medicate called “Crash.” I gotta say, with the addition of guitarist Bryan Wickmann (he also does the band’s album covers!) their show is tighter and stronger than ever. Can’t say enough great things about Seether and where they are today! Go get the album this week!…..Here’s a surprise I learned about this morning from Pulse of Radio: Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin and guitarist Tony Rombola are playing in a new blues-rock act called The Blue Cross Band. According to News-Press.com, they formed the group with frontman Ray Cerbone and bassist Brian Carpenter. Larkin said, “I see myself doing The Blue Cross Band after Godsmack. This is a style of music I can see myself playing well into my 60’s.” Larkin added that his style of playing in the new band will enable him to extend his career, explaining, “When I hit the drums in Godsmack, I’m trying to kill ‘em. In The Cross, I shut my eyes and I’m into the lyrics and the song and Tony’s guitar playing and Brian’s bass. It’s a band thing, whereas in Godsmack, it’s like a gang thing. We’re out to pummel.” Rombola said about the project, “I’ve spent my life playing different styles . . . (with the Blue Cross Band), I get to play all the stuff I’ve learned with the blues and apply it to these songs. It’s a lot of fun.” The Blue Cross Band will play two shows in Florida this weekend after making their live debut last month, with plans to record and release an album after the current Godsmack album and touring cycle is over. cool stuff…..They’re back! The Red Hot Chili Peppers announced via Twitter yesterday (Jul 01st) drummer Chad Smith has picked his five favorite live recordings and compiled them on a free EP available through the band’s website. According to Diffuser, the set contains “Strip My Mind,” “Wet Sand” and “Snow” from 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, along with “Breaking The Girl” and “Power Of Equality” from 1991’s breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. All the recordings were captured on the band’s world tour behind its 2011 album I’m With You. That tour only just came to an end earlier this year. The Chili Peppers are officially back in the studio working on their 11th album….Pulse also reports Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett will head down to San Diego Comic-Con later this month to perform at the “Fear FestEvil After Party” on July 25th at a downtown venue called F6IX. The event is the result of a partnership between Scion Audio Visual and Hammett’s namesake toy company, Kirk Von Hammett (KVH) Toys. Fear FestEvil was the name of Hammett’s own horror-themed convention, which held its inaugural edition last February in San Francisco. Hammett launched KVH Toys in 2011 and published a picture book of his personal and extensive horror memorabilia collection, called Too Much Horror Business, in 2012. He explained to us that he wanted to share his passion with others: “There’s a certain part of being a collector, you know, that’s based on selfishness. You know, you’re buying stuff for yourself. You’re collecting stuff for yourself. You know, I’ve always been aware of this, you know, selfish aspect of collecting, and after a while, it came to a point where I just decided to start being generous. I wanted to share my collection with people who are into this sort of thing.” Bay Area thrash act Exodus will be the main performers at the July 25th party, with Hammett joining them onstage for a few numbers. Hammett was a member of Exodus’ original lineup before replacing Dave Mustaine in Metallica in 1983. Metallica is currently on the road in Europe on its “Metallica By Request:” tour, with the band playing a set list each night comprised almost solely of fan requests….Flyleaf sent out a new tune yesterday called “Set Me On Fire” via SoundCloud. The track is the first single off the group’s fourth studio album, Between The Stars, which is now set for release on Sep 16th. “Set Me On Fire” hits radio July 7th. Flyleaf singer Kristen May said about the song, “It’s about the passion we feel when we first fall in love and our emotions are running high, along with our thirst for this great life and all it has to offer.” (Thanks Blabbermouth)….Islander is a new band on Victory Records who are out of Greenville, SC. They’ve just headed out for the opening of the #RockstarEnergyMayhem tour. Bunch of cool guys fronted by Mikey Carvajal, who will be speaking with Lou Brutus on the hotLine soon. Check them out on their Facebook: weareislander. Their album, Violence & Destruction, is out now….Lou was also speaking with Jake Scherer of New Medicine and he will be joining Lou on the air very soon as well. Be listening! Their new album Break The Model is out later this summer! Missed those fellas from Minnesota!…..Blabbermouth is also reporting on this! Black Veil Brides has posted the first in a series of video blogs featuring footage from the recording sessions for the fourth album from the Los Angeles act. The new disc will follow up last year’s Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones. Singer Andy Biersack said about the new CD, which is due out Oct 28th, “I feel like we’ve found our definitive sound. It’s a lot more heavy, traditional rock ‘n’ roll than anything we’ve done before.” Watch!…..Billboard reports No Devotion is the name of the new band consisting of former members of Lostprophets and singer Geoff Rickly, formerly of the group Thursday. Lostprophets broke up last year after its former vocalist was convicted of sex crimes involving young children. Rickly initially planned to sign the new band to his new label and make a documentary about their efforts to leave the past behind, but ended up singing for them as well. A first track called “Stay” is now online, with a full album on the way….Have a great day!