Hey folks! I’m writing this week’s column from a Denny’s in Anaheim, California, exactly two minutes after the NAMM Show wrapped up. NAMM is the annual musical instrument trade show and it’s huge. I’ve seen some great stuff this year, hung with the Periphery lads, interviewed Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine for Seymour Duncan, Dream Theater’s John Petrucci, nerded out over guitars with Dethklok’s Brendon Small, visited Grover Jackson at his GJ2 Guitars workshop(they’ve secured Australian distributorshiop so you’ll be able to play these beautiful guitars soon) and got to visit Zakk Wylde to see his new guitar and amp line, Wylde Audio. If you ever get the chance to go to NAMM, do it. It’s an amazing experience.
WHAT’S ON AT THE BENDIGO?
From The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood for Saturday January 31: “The most electrifying band in all of entertainment.” While that’s indeed a bold statement and not necessarily entirely true, there’s still no doubt that Tassie’s Melodic Metallers Taberah are a whole lotta fun live. It’s been a while between Melbourne appearances so this special headlining set will definitely be one not to miss. Expect a great selection of tracks from both the debut and also latest release, Necromancer. Album number three will be part of 2015’s plans so we won’t be sure how long till the next Melbourne gig? There is also a monster support cast for the show headed up by the mighty Damnations Day who have just returned from a massive run of European shows supporting the godly Accept. These guys will be tighter than a metallic frog’s you know what. Melbourne speed metallers Maniaxe have been quiet of late but return to frenzy it up at The Bendigo for you all as part of this show. Patch Jackets are optional but preferred people. Devastating on your ears and on the bar tab. Getting things warmed up early is new Trad Metal sensations Espionage wielding the Steel the way the classic Godz love it and opening the show we have Stormtide bringing the Folk/Symphonic Metal to you all. Total quality from the get go. A massive bill at The Bendigo. Loudly and proudly brought to you by Metal Evilution, Espionage Bookings and Screaming Symphony.
SLATES TO TOUR
Hailing from the cold, industrial city of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, Slates are a straight up punk band. Not fashion driven, screaming for the sake of it, look at my tattoos, scene punk – but real, gritty, we live in this city and it lives in us, straight up no bullshit punk. They are 100 per cent a product of their environment. With two albums and three 7 inchers under their belts, Slates signed to Canadian label New Damage Records for their third full length album, Taiga, which was released in early 2014. It was produced by the legendary Steve Albini who recorded it on tape, sans effects and in the unique acoustics of an old pinball factory converted to a studio to best capture the bands ferocity and rawness as only a producer like Steve can. Slates will be in Australia for most of February, playing 11 shows across all capital cities and some key regional areas. They’ll be in Melbourne on Wednesday, February 18 at The Old Bar with Speech Patterns and Initials,and then on Thursday, February 19 at Public Bar with Ride the Tiger and Pitt the Elder.
ACE FREHLEY TOURS
Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ace Frehley has announced his first Australian shows since 2010 and his first ever New Zealand shows. “I can’t wait to get down to New Zealand and Australia with this new lineup,” he says. “I’ll be performing Ace classics as well as songs off my new CD Space Invader for the enjoyment of the fans. Let There Be Rock.” Joining Ace on stage will be Richie Scarlet, who rode shotgun performing rhythm guitar and vocal duties on Ace’s Trouble Walking album and has toured with Sebastian Bach; bass guitarist Chris Wyse (Ozzy Osbourne and The Cult); and Scot Coogan (Lita Ford and Nikki Sixx’s Brides Of Destruction). Ace will be at the Forum Theatre on Saturday May 2.
FAREWELL MOTLEY CRUE
Mötley Crüe have announced the details of their final performance, marking the end of their touring career and their two-year Final Tour cycle at the end of 2015 on New Year’s Eve, December 31 at Staples Centre in their hometown of Los Angeles where the band’s career began 34 years ago. The 2015 leg of the Final Tour will see the band play Japan in February, then Australia/New Zealand in their autumn. In June Mötley Crüe will say farewell to the European Festival circuit with three massive performances at Download (UK), Sweden Rock (Sweden) and Novarock (Austria) Festivals before taking their show back to the US, Canada, and Mexico for 34 final North American shows due to tremendous fan demand. “In some of the cities, we could only reach a fraction of the fans who wanted to come see us play last year because of ticket demand so we’re coming back to those places to bring them our full production including the Crüecifly drum coaster, as well as all pyro and every other bell and whistle,” Nikki Sixx says. “Even despite the overwhelming fan demand we can only add so many new cities in North America because of our commitment to take the Final Tour global on our final year.” The band’s new single and video All Bad Things is out now.
NEW SCORPIONS ALBUM
German rock legends Scorpions will release their new album, Return To Forever, in Australia on February 20 via Sony Music Australia. “Actually, we only wanted to finally record some song ideas for the fans, which we had worked on in the past but never put on an album, and then release them without much fanfare,” guitarist Matthias Jabs says. “There had been quite a few over the years, ideas that were really good, but in the end didn’t make the cut back then due to the limited space on vinyl and later on CD. We quickly had eight songs, which partly had to be finalised first and were then recorded from scratch. During the work, increasingly new song ideas were added from our end, as well as from the two Swedes. We had so much fun working and suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of the songwriting process once again. And in the end, it turned out to be a brand-new Scorpions album after all.”
