Vince Neil Lands In Hospital
At the time of writing, Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil is laid up in hospital in Sydney after having to cut the band’s set short due to internal pains. Turns out he’s been suffering from kidney stones, poor bugger, and he was operated on early Monday. Vince promised to be up and running for the band’s Brisbane show with KISS and Thin Lizzy.
Black Star Riders Name Debut
Speaking of Thin Lizzy, offshoot band Black Star Riders will release their debut All Hell Breaks Loose in May. The album features current Thin Lizzy members Ricky Warwick, Scott Gorham, Damon Johnson and Marco Mendoza, along with drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (ex-Megadeth), and the album was produced by Kevin Shirley (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion). “I was watching a documentary about World War II bombers and saw ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’ painted on the side of one of the aircraft,” Warwick explains. “It just resonated with me – it seemed to encapsulate the turmoil that we, as a society, are currently experiencing. The past few years have been such a wild ride. It sounded like a bad-ass album title that summed up what Black Star Riders is all about.” I had a chat with Gorham and Johnson last week and they tell me that there’s a certain amount of Thin-Lizzyness to the sound but that they’ve also tried to take the trademark guitar harmonies into new, uncharted territories. Can’t wait to hear that.
Fireballs Play Bendigo Double-Header
Before Fireballs head off to Finland to play the inaugural Club Sin 13 party in Tampare for the Mavericks Rock ‘n’ Roll Association (with Graveyard Johnnys, Monster Klub, Bullet Biters and Relentless), they’ll be tearing heads off at two shows at the Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood. Catch them on Friday May 3 with Murder Rats and Royal Cut Throat Co, and on Saturday May 4 with The Yard Apes and La Bastard. Tickets are $20 plus booking fee via Oztix.
Relentless Gets Funeral For A Friend Support
Destroy All Lines and killyourstereo.com have announced that Aussie hardcore band Relentless are national supports for May’s Funeral For A Friend tour. The Sydney-based quartet released their second full-length album Turn The Curse on January 25 via Dogfight Records. They’re heading to the USA to play the Sound And Fury and This Is Hardcore festivals later this year too.
Queensryche. This Is Getting Good.
It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to report about the Queensryche soap opera, so how’s this: Geoff Tate’s version of the band have just announced Frequency Unknown as the title of their album, with the cover featuring a fist wearing rings that include the letters F and U. A not-so-subtle reference to Tate punching on with his former bandmates in Brazil, no? The Jason Slater-produced album features cameos by Brad Gillis (Night Ranger/Ozzy Osbourne), Ty Tabor (King’s X), Chris Poland (Megadeth), Lita Ford and Dave Meniketti (Y&T), in addition to Tateryche members Kelly Gray, Robert Sarzo, Rudy Sarzo, Randy Gane and Simon Wright. But perhaps the biggest surprise is that it also includes Paul Bostaph (Slayer) and Craig Locicero (Forbidden), two folks who are extremely well-versed in very heavy music. Could Tate have recorded some super-heavy stuff as an additional F-U to his ex-bandmates, who are playing up the metal on their forthcoming Queensryche record? Oh, and last week Glen Drover, who was initially announced as a member of Tate’s version of Queensryche but bailed without playing a note, played Take Hold of the Flame with the other Queensryche (with Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield and Eddie Jackson) on the weekend. Interesting.
Trainwreck (not to be confused with Kyle Gass from Tenacious D’s band of the same name) and Pledge This are at Gasometer Hotel Collingwood (18+) and Phoenix Youth Centre, Footscray (all ages) on April 20 and 21, respectively. Tickets are $10 at the door. Also on the bill: Ennui Breathes Malice, Good Will Hunting and Culprits.
Soilwork Return To Oz
Sweden’s mighty Soilwork head back to Australia in October (jeez, are we already plugging gigs for October? This year’s going fast!), promoting their new double album (the first double album in death metal history) The Living Infinite. They’re at Billboard on Friday October 4, and tickets are on sale Friday March 15. Exclusive VIP meet and greet packages are available for each show.
Steve Stevens Guitar Masterclass
Guitar legend Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Vince Neil, the Top Gun theme) will be in Melbourne on March 23 for a masterclass for Roland and World of Music (Brighton East). It’ll be at Ding Dong Lounge, with doors opening at 3pm, and tickets are available from World Of Music. This is great news for folks who were bummed out when a previously planned tour was cancelled last year. If you go, be sure to ask him about the stuff he’s been writing with Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach.
Learn Guitar From Bruce Bouillet
Bruce Bouillet was one half of Racer X’s shred attack (the other half being Paul Gilbert), and he’s now accepting new guitar students world wide via Skype and PayPal. It’s only $40 an hour, and he’s taking students of all levels. You can email him at [email protected] for bookings.
