DEVIN TOWNSEND CLINIC SELLING FAST
Tickets are selling fast for Devin Townsend’s Australian master class tour for Thump Music (at St. Kilda Town Hall on Wednesday October 22). I had a chat with Devin the other day and he had this to say: “It gives me an opportunity to dig into some of the things I’ve wanted to share with people. I’ve spent a long time making records and I’ve kinda’ gotten to this point recently where it’s like, ‘shit, now it’s time to step it up and get other people to start taking over.’ I think it’s an opportunity as well not only guitar-wise but production-wise, vocal-wise, recording techniques and questions, essentially. I’ve found recently that a lot of people have a lot of questions about production and I think an opportunity to do this is a forum for me to share some of that with people.” Devin’s next album, Z2, will be released in October. It’s a double-disc set and multimedia event that will include a website, puppets and ultimately a huge show at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
VERUCA SALT TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
It started with one show; now Veruca Salt’s Australian tour has proven so successful that there will be three shows at the Corner Hotel in Richmond. Two have already been sold out (Friday September 26 and Tuesday September 30) but tickets are available for the third show on Wednesday October 1. This tour sees the reunion of the original line-up. Tickets from metropolistouring.com.
JOE BONAMASSA THIS WEEK
Blues-rock virtuoso Joe Bonamassa is in town this week for a very special show at The Palais in St. Kilda on Friday September 19, in a unique ‘Joe Bonamassa supports Joe Bonamassa’ format: the first set will be all acoustic with one band line-up, and the second will be all electric with a different group of musicians (including former Dream Theater/Black Country Communion keyboard player Derek Sherinian). And Joe’s new album Different Shades of Blue will be released on Monday September 22. “It’s original material and I’ve owed it to my fans for a while to do an all-original record,” Bonamassa says. “To take the time to write and to be an artist that records his own music. So it’s been a great experience. I went to Nashville and worked with some great writers, and it took a year to put together but I’m really glad we did it. When I go to write, I’m there to write. That’s my job: I was in Nashville to write. And the reason why I don’t own any home recording equipment is that by the time you set something up the idea has gone away. That’s why I have this little thing called Voice Memo. If I have an idea and I’m wherever, I’ve got it right away. And the efficiency of that is much better. That’s what I did on this record and the good ones stick in your head while the ones that are kinda’ marginal just go by the wayside.”
METAL AT THE BENDIGO
This is a killer show at The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood Saturday September 20. For the first time, witness the wild combination of the relentless Eye of the Enemy war-machine attack, the ugly brutality of the In Malice’s Wake onslaught, the masterful and intense melodies of Envenomed and the crushing groove/thrash terror of Cryptic Abyss. Doors 8pm, $12 Entry, 18+.
KILL TV EP LAUNCH
Kill TV launch their debut EP Soulcatcher (which has already had a spin on Triple M) on Friday September 19 at The Espy Basement in St Kilda. Entry is free and there are some awesome support bands so head on down for a great night of local grunge/punk.
CRASH TRAGIC RAISES FUNDS FOR MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE RESEARCH
There has been a lot of talk about Motor Neurone Disease lately. Thousands of Ice Bucket Challenges have brought the topic some wide-ranging exposure and Wollongong trio Crash Tragic, who have been personally affected by the horrible disease (bass player Paul Ditton lost both his father-in-law and uncle-in-law to it, and recently his brother in law has been diagnosed at age 30), will release their track You Break Me on Friday September 19 to help raise further awareness. All proceeds from the sale of the song will be donated to the Motor Neurone Disease Research Centre at Macquarie University via the Regal Regiment to help find a cure. Paul’s wife and her sister founded The Regal Regiment, a fund raising organisation that started as a running group of six people and has now grown to have over 50 members. They will be participating in the 2014 Sydney Running Festival this September and have so far raised over $12,000, and the proceeds from You Break Me will be added to their efforts.
NEW ONLINE RECORD STORE MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING
Sick of waiting for that limited edition or even standard edition album you ordered from overseas? Tired of paying the equivalent of the CD price again to get it posted to you? Are you interested in buying your favourite heavy music goodies locally from an Australian company who offers you free shipping? Want exclusive and cool stuff when you pre order? Then you need Nerve Gas: Australia’s premier online heavy and extreme music store. Partners include: Metal Blade, Relapse, Season Of Mist, Peaceville, Indie Recordings, Prosthetic, Southern Lord, Profound Lore and Napalm Records. For more information head to any of the Nerve Gas online outlets: nervegas.com.au, facebook.com/nervegasmusic, twitter.com/nervegassed and instagram.com/nervegassed.
