So shocking to wake up to the news coming out of Paris. When will this world be safe again?….Well, it is safe to say the line up at Coachella has been announced. The headliners are AC/DC, Jack White and Drake. The dates are April 10-12, 17-19. Hit www.coachella.com if you want to see more…..Carolina Rebellion line up was announced yesterday! It’s MASSIVE! Slipknot, Korn, Slayer, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, Rise Against, the return of Breaking Benjamin, Bush, Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Halestorm, Cheap Trick, Papa Roach, Of Mice & Men, In This Moment, Live, Queensryche, Beartooth, Marmozets, Young Guns, Motionless in White, Hatebreed, Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts, The Pretty Reckless, Tremonti, Suicidal Tendencies, Islander, Jackyl, Starset, We Are Harlot, Exodus, Butcher Babies and Sammy Hagar and the Circle (memebers include Jason Bonham and Michael Anthony.) Hit www.carolinarebellion for tix and more…..Here is a great story on Slipknot courtesy of Pulse Of Radio: Slipknot took six years to make its latest album, .5: The Gray Chapter, and that time was filled with tragedy and turmoil. In a new interview with Music Radar, guitarist Mick Thomson said with the band members being able to write music on the road on their laptops, there should be less time between records from now on. He explained, “It enables us to have songs in the can already before we go in a studio to work on a new album. We hope to do our next record sooner after touring .5. We don’t want to spend the same amount of time between albums as we’ve done with the last two.” Guitarist Jim Root added he wrote most of the music on the new disc, saying, “When you had Paul (Gray, late drummer) and Joey (Jordison fired drummer) writing, you had to find your place . . . With .5, it seems like I basically did the whole record. That’s why last November (2013), I really put my nose to the grindstone and put together enough arrangements so that we could finally get going.” Root also revealed he played bass on a good portion of the record, saying, “I played bass on six, maybe seven tracks. I can’t even remember which . . . Some of the lines were taken from the demo versions I recorded in my garage, because they were moody and had a unique vibe that was too hard to recreate. ‘Goodbye’ uses the full bass line that Corey (Taylor, singer) recorded for his demo.” Root also said he was hesitant to play bass on the record, saying, “No one will ever replace Paul, and Paul will always be a part of what we’re doing . . . There was a speck of me that out of respect for Paul didn’t want somebody new to play everything.” Percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan told us a while back Paul Gray will always be an important part of the band: “Paul will always be part of that nine. He will be there ’til the end of time. Number Two (Gray’s number in the band) will always be represented. Paul Gray will always be talked about, he will always be onstage, he will always be part of the real nine.” Although the band has not revealed the identity of its new bassist, he is all but confirmed to be Alessandro “V-Man” Venturella. .5: The Gray Chapter is the first new Slipknot record since the 2010 death of Gray and the 2013 dismissal of Jordison. Slipknot will tour Europe and Australia through the end of February before kicking off a series of U.S. festival appearances in late April….Kid Rock released the music video for his new single “First Kiss.” Brought back some memories for me, for sure. His new album, First Kiss, drops Feb 24th…Ozzy Osbourne will tentatively perform a concert production in Las Vegas next Halloween, according to British tabloid The Sun. Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon told the newspaper, “I’m working right now on a Vegas production for Ozzy. It’ll be in time for Halloween and be called Hell Gate.” Ozzy launched a Facebook page with that name last September but did not reveal what it was for. A source told The Sun, “Ozzy has never done a stand-alone show in Vegas and there has been huge interest in what he has to offer. Vegas is an amazing spot, which has been a huge hit with the rock crowd. Ozzy would be a top draw and really do something unique.” Sharon has not indicated whether the show will be a one-off or a residency. Ozzy told us a while back what motivates him to keep performing live: “I was watching 60 Minutes and there was a segment on Bruce Springsteen where they asked him the same question, and he said, ‘You know what? It’s fun. It’s what I like doing. I like making them have fun and I like having fun for me by seeing them have fun.’ And it’s pretty true, you know. It’s because I just love to see the kids. It’s like a challenge for me.”…Former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland has revealed his new solo album with his backing band The Wildabouts will be called Blaster and will arrive on March 31st. Weiland will issue the disc through his own Softdrive Records. The singer told Rolling Stone, “Blaster is definitely a band sound — a stripped down, furry sound with a lot of space between the notes. But it’s tight and to-the-point while keeping that garage rock vibe to it.” See Road Rage for tour dates for Scott and the Wildabouts and watch this video with Scott discussing it all….And speaking of festivals, the Bottlerock Music Festival is set for May 29-31 in Santa Rosa, CA (Napa Valley.) Basically it’s Coachella north sort of. Robert Plant, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, Cage The Elephant, The Avett Brothers, Foster the People, you get the drift…..Rolling Stone founder Jann S Wenner is 69 today.