Steel Panther Support Announced
Sydney’s The Art have been named national support for Steel Panther’s October Australian tour. These lads have built quite the reputation locally, and they managed to catch the attention of LA booker and former Guns N’ Roses manager Vicky Hamilton. They’ve supported the likes of Them Crooked Vultures, Marilyn Manson and The Pixies. Their latest album is Here Comes The War. Steel Panther and The Art are at Festival Hall on Sunday October 7.
Gig Alert: Alarum, The Levication Hex
Alarum, The Levitation Hex, King Parrot and House Of Thumbs will be at the Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood on Friday September 14. It’ll be the last show for Alarum and The Levitation Hex before they head to Europe in October for their Hemispheres Collide European Tour, which includes both bands playing ProgPower Europe in Holland.
Dimmu Borgir Drum Clinic
Dimmu Borgir drummer Daray will stop by the Bendigo in Collingwood from 1pm on Saturday September 15 for an afternoon drum clinic followed by a meet-and-greet session. There are two ticket classes. Entry to the clinic is $15, and if you’d like your stuff signed you’ll need the Meet & Greet VIP ticket for an extra five bucks. Tickets are available through Moshtix. Proudly sponsored by Meinl, Yamaha, Heavy Mag, Riot Entertainment, Remo, Regal Tip, DV8 Nightclub, Venom Nightclub, High Voltage Merch, Underground Sounds, Allans Billy Hyde and DS Entertainment.
Gig Alert: Linkin Park/Stone Sour Sidewave
Linkin Park and Stone Sour have announced their Sidewaves as part of the Soundwave 2013 megalith. They’ll be at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday February 27. Stone Sour have been hard at work on their fourth and fifth albums, House of Gold and Bones, which will be released in two parts, the first next month and the second in early 2013. Linkin Park’s latest is Living Things.
Go Behind The Scenes With Testament
The mighty Testament have uploaded Part Two of their behind-the-scenes look at the making of their Native Blood music video to the YouTubes. The album recently debuted at – get this – #9 on the Billboard charts in the USA, with sales of around 58,500 copies in the first week. This is an utterly huge result for the band and well deserved.
Megadeth Begin Album 14
Megadeth have begun work on album14. They’re once again using producer Johnny K. Last week I interviewed Dave Mustaine for another publication, and he had a few classically Dave words for the current state of the music industry: “I’m a purist and I don’t want to seem like I don’t care about young people and creativity and doing cool things. I gotta tell you there are certain things that the digital world has made so that very inferior players can get away with sounding like they are good. The problem with that is not that the record doesn’t sound good and is enjoyable, it’s when you go to watch them live. They sound really fabulous on record because they are using Pro Tools, this whole digital world that cradles them, and the listener is thinking ‘wow these guys are really wonderful.’ The economy right now makes it hard to make ends meet and you go spend $40 or $50 for a ticket – if you’re taking a date then a hundred – and parking, gas, food, beverages, programs if they have them and any kind of merch or t-shirts. You’re looking at maybe $100 to $200, maybe even $300 if you’re taking somebody. We are fortunate because we can back it up live and we have super-loyal fans. We have been blessed with being able to write catchy songs and be able to innovate a guitar style – that helps a little bit too. We have always tried to keep the price down with the tickets.”
Go To Sleep, You Little Punk
It had to happen: Punk Rock Baby Lullaby Arrangements transforms 16 of the greatest punk rock songs into beautiful lullabies. Can you think of a more relaxing way to put your baby down to nap than singing along to Misfits’ Where Eagles Dare? I didn’t think so. Check out the track listing – and note that it’s real punk, not pop punk: Social Distortion – Mommy’s Little Monster, The Dead Milkmen – Punk Rock Girl, Ramones – Blitzkreig Bop, Misfits – Where Eagles Dare, The Clash – London Calling, The Stooges – Search and Destroy, Black Flag – TV Party, Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia, Stiff Little Fingers – Alternative Ulster, Ramones – Bye Bye Baby, T-Rex – Children of the Revolution, Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the UK, Ramones – I Wanna Be Sedated, Descendents – Silly Girl, Iggy Pop – The Passenger, The Vibrators – Turning Japanese.
New Ill Niño
Ill Niño will release their sixth album of Latin-influenced, aggressive metal on Monday October 22. It’s called Epidema.
Gig Alert: Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse are heading to Oz in October. I had a chat with guitarist Rob Barrett the other day (largely about guitar-nerd talk) and he’s super-stoked about the tour. He’s also working on a side project with a few metal luminaries, and he’s hoping to get that finished up soon. Cannibal Corpse will lay waste to Billboard The Venue on Friday October 5.
