Hello. I want to start off today with this report from Blabbermouth. Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has broken his silence over his latest exit from the group, saying he is “very disappointed” over the breakdown of his relationship with his bandmates. Last month, Rudd pleaded guilty to a charge of threatening to kill a former employee after his first solo effort, Head Job, flopped. It was a month later he called an associate and asked him to “take out” Rudd’s personal assistant, who he then called himself and said, “I’m going to come over and kill you.” Rudd offered the associate $200,000, a motorbike and the choice of one of his cars or a house as payment for the hit, which the associate turned down. After his initial call to his assistant, Rudd made several more, but the assistant hung up each time. Prosecutors said the assistant “was genuinely fearful of his safety.” When police later raided Rudd’s waterside home in the New Zealand town of Tauranga, while speaking with Phil, at one point he picked up a container from the coffee table and put it on the floor. Later testing of the container found cannabis crumbs. When police searched his jeans, they found a bag of methamphetamine. There were more drugs in the bedroom and stashed in the hallway cupboard. “I was pretty stressed at the time,” Rudd told Australia’s “A Current Affair“ (see video report here). (Note: Wait, what? Stressed out while on meth???!!!) “I got back here and the people who I had working for me for this [ album] launch — it was a total fucking disaster. So I was really pissed off.” In an interview with USA Today last fall, AC/DC guitarist Angus Young stated about Rudd: “Phil created his own situation. It’s a hard thing to say about the guy. He’s a great drummer, and he’s done a lot of stuff for us. But he seems to have let himself go. He’s not the Phil we’ve known from the past.” Speaking about his relationship with his bandmates, Rudd told “A Current Affair”: “I wrote them a letter, I tried to get in contact with Angus… I’ve had no contact with anybody. I’m very disappointed … But, you know, that’s life.” “There’ll be another tour and another and I’ll be on it,” he said. “It’ll go until we all die. We’ll probably all have to be dead before it stops.” He added: “I’ve seen the errors of my ways… It’s onward and upward from here.” Rudd also pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge. A second charge of threatening to kill was dropped. Rudd could face up to seven years in prison for the threatening to kill charge. He is currently out on bail until his sentencing hearing on June 26.
Last year’s Shindig Festival boasted Jane’s Addiction, Rise Against and Halestorm, among others. This year, the September 19th “shindig” (love that word) features Godsmack, Stone Temple Pilots, Anthrax, Nothing More, Chevelle, Helmet, Reverend Horton Heat and Crobot. Find out more and buy tix here.
Another festival is the Austin City Limits Festival Oct 2-4 and 9-11. And what do you know, the Foo Fighters are headlining! Does it matter who else is there? (May have to wrangle a way there!) Hit the site to get your tickets at 10 AM today (May 5.).
Are you a fan of Orphan Black and actress Tatiana Maslany? Must read here (Thanks Rolling Stone)…..I didn’t speak out about the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight yesterday because I didn’t see it, but I know a ton of friends who did who poo-pooed the overblown-over paid-over-hyped match. I know David Draiman and Dan Donegan were hating on it on Facebook. And now comes news Axl Rose is demanding a free re-match! Dude, those “rope-a-dope” days are over! People want to see a FIGHT. Why do you think UFC matches and the like have become so huge! People want blood! They want punches! They was robbed on Saturday night, yo!….And I don’t know how I missed this, but this dude needs to be kicked in the head by an MMA expert. Some idiot lead singer from a band called Nuclear Hellfrost (I’m not even highlighting their name!) defiled the gravesite of Dimebag Darrell. See the story here on MetalSucks.
Celebrating life today: Bill Ward is 67, Mont Python’s Michael Palin is 72 and my former Rolling Stone co-worker Kurt Loder is 70!