Wednesday March 23, 2011
Source: Leighton Media
In celebration of the park bench, dribbly-nosed voyeur’s 40th Anniversary, Ian Anderson returns to the USA with his band Jethro Tull, starting June 8 in Denver, CO and ending on the 27 in Chicago, IL.
The group features longtime members Ian Anderson (flute, vocals, acoustic guitar) and Martin Barre (guitars), Doane Perry (drums), as well as David Goodier (bass) and pianist John O’Hara.The latter two joined in 2006 after working with Ian on some of his solo projects.
The group will be performing the Aqualung album in its entirety plus a range of their other favorites from the lat 42 years.Critics dubbed AQUALUNG “a concept album,” particularly for Ian’s critical, skeptical views of organized religion, mostly on side B (“My God,” “Hymn 43”). Anderson has disputed - almost resented - the assessment seeing the record as “just a bunch of songs.” This led the band to give the critics a full-blown concept album with the following studio release THICK AS A BRICK which topped the Billboard charts in 1972.
On AQUALUNG, the group explores the struggles of the less fortunate in our society (e.g., “Aqualung,” “Cross-Eyed Mary,” “Up to Me”).Teenage angst and formal education difficulties (e.g., “Wind Up”) are explored, and Ian returns to his parental themes with “Cheap Day Return,” a tune encompassing Anderson’s feelings while traveling North on the train to visit his sick father. “Locomotive Breath” touches on the issues of globalization, population expansion and runaway economics. Sound familiar?
Formed in 1968, Jethro Tull released its first album THIS WAS late in that year and followed up in 1969 with STAND UP. In the 1970s, the group was one of the most successful live performing acts on the world stage, rivaling Zeppelin, Elton John and even the Rolling Stones. Surprising, really, fora group whose more sophisticated and evolved stylistic extravagance was far from the Pop and Rock norm of that era.
With now some 30-odd albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, the apparently un-commercial Tull continues to perform over a 100 concerts per year with its rich variety and depth of expression, wherever fans, young and old, want to hear Rock, Folk, Jazz and Classical-inspired music.Music for boys in long trousers and girls with brains.
In 2011, Tull will tour in Australia, Ireland, and Germany.And Ian will perform solo shows in Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, Czech Republic, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland finishing with his customary charity Christmas concerts at three UK cathedrals.
In 2006, Ian was awarded a Doctorate in Literature from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement in Music and, in the New Years Honours List 2008, an MBE for services to music.In 2012, he expects to be awarded the Smithsonian Medal of Honor for smelling OK for someone his age and having ears still in proportion to the rest of his head. His bladder remains elastic and his prostate the size of a pinhead.
June 8: Red Rock Amphitheater, Morrison, CO
June 10: Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
June 11: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
June 12: TBA, Valley Center, CA
June 13: The Grove, Anaheim, CA
June 14: TBA, Saratoga, CA
June 16: Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
June 17: McMenamins Edgefield Concerts On The Lawn, Troutdale, OR
June 18: TBA, Woodinville, WA
June 19: Centre for the Performing Arts, Vancouver, BC
June 21: Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB
June 22: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, AB
June 23: Casino Regina, Regina, SK
June 25: Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
June 26: Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL
June 27: Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, IL
Friday March 18, 2011
Source: Herfitz PR
March 17, 2011
Hello my friends. How are you all? I hope you’re all kicking ass.
I know there’s been a lot of rhetoric out there regarding upcoming Anthrax shows, Big 4, and otherwise. I’ve been debating on whether or not to make a public statement about this as it really pertains to my personal life, and I generally like to keep that personal. Because this is affecting my band life, I feel like you, my friends, deserve to hear from me personally.
I will be playing the Big 4 show April 23 in Indio, CA as well as the shows in Manila, Bangkok, and Japan that will follow the Indio show.
I won’t be playing the shows scheduled from July 2-16 in Europe and the UK. My wife Pearl and I are expecting our first child, and she is due literally the day of the Big 4 Sonisphere show in France.
This decision to miss these shows was a deeply personal one. I co-founded this band July 18, 1981 and for almost thirty years, I have been there for everything we’ve ever done. I have never been faced with anything that would make me even question being there for anything Anthrax related. Becoming a father is the biggest, best thing that’s ever happened to me and it made the decision relatively easy. My priority is with my wife and the birth of our first child.
As soon as I was faced with this decision, I knew, as Freddie Mercury so eloquently said, “The show must go on.”
I started thinking about guitar players I knew, guys that I am a fan of, guys that I respect, guys that headbang like Angus was watching them, guys that I listen to, and guys who I thought had the spirit to enable the show to go on. This wasn’t a hard decision at all. I asked the rest of the band what they thought, and we were on the same page. We chose Andreas [Kisser from Sepultura] because we feel he can do the gig better than anyone. He has the fire, the attitude, and the crushing right hand to do the gig. I’ve played with Andreas at the Roadrunner 25th anniversary show, and I’ve gotten up and played with Sepultura, and we are kindred spirits. We both play every show like we’re going to jail the next day— like it’s the last show we’ll ever play. He has what it takes, and he has the experience and history to fucking bring it and make these Anthrax shows something special. I can’t wait to see and hear it for myself.
This year will bring our tenth Anthrax studio record featuring the return of the one and only Joey Belladonna. We’re hard at work finishing it, and I can say that from the tracks I have heard, it is going to tear your fucking heads off. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road with the band that is now better than we’ve ever been, and seeing all your sick faces and banging heads.
Cheers,
Scott
(Scott will play the following dates)
APRIL
23 Empire Polo Club: Indio, CA (Big 4 show)
30 Pulp Summer Slam Festival: Manila, Philippines
MAY
2 AP Parking: Esplanade, Ratchada, Bangkok, Thailand
5 O-East: Tokyo, Japan
6 O-East: Tokyo, Japan
7 Diamond Hall: Nagoya, Japan
9 Big Cat: Osaka, Japan
(Andreas Kisser will play the following dates)
JULY
2 Veltins Arena: Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Big 4 show)
3 Ullevi: Gothenburg, Sweden (Big 4 show)
5 Komplex AG: Zurich, Switzerland
6 Fiera Open Air Arena: Milan, Italy (Big 4 show)
8 Sonisphere Festival: Knebworth, UK
9 Sonisphere Festival: Amneville, France
11 Garage: Saarbrucken, Germany
12 Vega Musikkenshus: Copenhagen, Denmark
14 Slottsfjell Festival: Tonsberg, Norway
15 Dour Festival: Dour, Belgium
16 Zwarte Cross Festival: Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands
Thursday November 11, 2010
Source: Last Crack
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Underground metal legends LAST CRACK have announced they will be broadcasting their upcoming November 13, 2010 concert in Madison, Wisconsin to the world on www.infernalrockradio.com. Listeners will be able to tune in and hear a 2+ hour concert featuring many of the songs from their critically acclaimed albums on Roadrunner Records “Sinister Funkhouse #17” and “Burning Time” plus a few new songs not yet released on an official album.
“it’s pretty cool to think we could be playing a show in Madison and our friend Tamme from Holland or Geert from Belgium could be drinking his morning coffee or driving to work while listening to us live,” says guitarist Paul Schluter, “it will be the first time Last Crack has ever done anything like this.”
“European fans lamented on not being able to attend the show on the Last Crack event page on Facebook,” Schluter continues, “But now we’ve come up with a great solution thanks to Infernal Rock Radio.”
Tune in to www.infernalrockradio.com starting at 8pm to hear the pre-show which will include interviews of the band, longtime fans and much more. Then at 11pm listen to the entire live concert simulcast live.
Find out more by signing up at the bands’ Facebook page at www.lastcrack.com/facebook
Friday October 15, 2010
Source: Chipster pr
KnuckleBonz Unveils a Ronnie James Dio Limited Edition Collectible! A Portion of all Proceeds at KnuckleBonz.com will be Donated to the ‘Stand Up and Shout’ Cancer Fund Created in Honor of Ronnie James Dio. KnuckleBonz is excited to announce its production of the Ronnie James Dio Rock Iconz® statue. This is a limited edition statue with only 3000 created, making these highly collectible. Each figure in the edition is hand-painted, numbered and includes a certificate of authenticity.
This is an officially licensed product, approved and endorsed by Wendy Dio and Niji Entertainment. Wendy Dio remarked about the project, “Ronnie would be very proud.” KnuckleBonz is honored to be creating a tribute piece of Ronnie James Dio, widely recognized as one of the most powerful singers in all of heavy metal.
The Ronnie James Dio Rock Iconz Statue: The sculpture of Dio is displayed with his signature devil horns and iconic crouched stance. This is a hand-crafted statue. Every piece is painted by hand and numbered. A certificate of authenticity is included on the base of each statue. The statue is approximately 8” hiqh and stands on an attractive wooden display base. The Ronnie James Dio limited edition statue will be available December 2010. Pre-orders are available at www.knucklebonz.com.
“We learned that Ronnie wanted to work on a statue project before he fell ill. We are honored that Wendy Dio and his management called on us for this project,” remarks Tony Simerman, President and Creative Director of KnuckleBonz, Inc. “It’s been a real pleasure to work with Ronnie’s family and the people at Niji on this project. I was a fan of Ronnie’s very early and owned all the original Rainbow records. I was fortunate enough to see him out in front of Sabbath. RJD was one of the greatest live performers I have ever seen,” adds Simerman.
KnuckleBonz creates hi-end sculpture that features rock’s most highly influential artists. Dedicated to honoring rocks greatest through master artistry, KnuckleBonz has established the music-based sculpture series: Rock Iconz.
This is a limited edition statue created by KnuckleBonz; only 3000 will be created.
Wednesday October 13, 2010
Source: MSO
Location: Los Angeles, California
Ozzy Osbourne to kick of the first leg of of his North American Tour on Nov 12, 2010 with Halford to open.
Ozzy Osbourne announces second leg of North American dates to kick off Jan, 16 2011 in Omaha, NE. Slash to open all dates on the second leg of the arena tour.
Ozzy Osbourne, who will kick off his fall North American arena tour November 12 in Victoria, B.C—has now announced a second leg of U.S. dates which will get underway January 16, 2011 in Omaha, NE. The six-week 2011 trek, part of the multi-platinum Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s in-progress 8-month world tour, will include a pair of intimate shows: January 26 at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix and Feb 1 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Ozzy’s longtime friend and musical collaborator Slash will open all the concerts on the second leg. Tickets for the Live Nation-produced tour go on sale beginning Friday, October 15.
Osbourne recently completed a run of overseas festival appearances and headlining overseas performances including his first-ever concert in Israel: A September 28 OZZFest show at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv show was described by the www.ynet.co.il as “one of the most important rock events in Israel, if not THE most important…There is no one that can contest Ozzy Osbourne’s charisma and madness. Park Hayarkon was awash with energies and foam at the main performance of the Ozzfest…” Elsewhere www.mako.co.il noted: “We have waited for years and finally it happened—Ozzfest arrived to the holy land. And as much as the anticipation was high—it shrinks in comparison to the real thing that happened on stage. Ozzy Osbourne lifted Tel Aviv with a crazy show. Osbourne managed to lift people up as only he can do. With simplicity and (relative) modesty, the prince of darkness gave his heart and soul with big love to the Israeli crowd and managed to jump and touch every single one of the tens of thousands of fans present.” The www.mouse.co.il added, “The crowd was versatile and colorful, the other bands on the bill were great, but the real star of Ozzfest was, undoubtedly, Ozzy Osbourne. The metal legend last night at Hayarkon Park gave a show worth living for.”
Later this week, OZZY will perform shows in Japan (October 16 in Kobe and October 17 in Tokyo) before returning to the U.S. to headline the Voodoo Experience festival Halloween weekend in New Orleans, LA; he will rock the three-day event at City Park City Saturday, October 30. OZZY will then launch his first leg of solo dates which includes a December 1 show at Madison Square Garden in New York and wraps December 12 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. HALFORD, featuring legendary Judas Priest front man, Rob Halford, will perform on the 2010 dates.
The fall dates will coincide with the October 5 release of an expanded two-CD version of the SCREAM album. This “Tour Edition” package will feature seven bonus songs: a mix of previously unreleased tracks and live recordings. Epic Records has also issued a four-sided vinyl edition that includes five bonus tracks: the three aforementioned songs from the SCREAM sessions and the live version of “Let Me Hear You Scream,” along with the single version of “Life Won’t Wait” (the second single from SCREAM).
OZZY’s 2010 dates are as follows:
Sat Oct 30 Voodoo Experience (City Park) New Orleans, LA
Fri Nov 12 Save On Foods Memorial Centre Victoria, BC
Sun Nov 14 Rogers Arena Vancouver, BC
Tue Nov 16 Pengrowth Saddledome Calgary, AB
Thu Nov 18 Rexall Place Edmonton, MB
Sat Nov 20 MTS Centre Winnipeg, MB
Tue Nov 23 Bell Centre Montreal, QC
Thu Nov 25 Scotiabank Place Ottawa, ON
Sat Nov 27 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON
Mon Nov 29 1st Mariner Arena Baltimore, MD
Wed Dec 01 Madison Square Garden Arena New York, NY
Fri Dec 03 Izod Center E Rutherford, NJ
Sun Dec 05 Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
Tue Dec 7 Van Andel Arena Grand Rapids, MI
Sun Dec 12 Target Center Minneapolis, MN
OZZY’s 2011 dates are as follows:
Sun Jan 16 Qwest Center Omaha, NE
Tue Jan 18 Toyota Center Houston, TX
Thu Jan 20 American Airlines Center Dallas, TX
Sat Jan 22 Sprint Center Kansas City, MO
Mon Jan 24 AT&T Center San Antonio, TX
Wed Jan 26 Comerica Theatre Phoenix, AZ
Fri Jan 28 Mandalay Bay Resort Las Vegas, NV
Tue Feb 01 Gibson Amphitheatre Los Angeles, CA
Thu Feb 03 HP Pavilion San Jose, CA
Sat Feb 05 Tacoma Dome Tacoma, WA
Tue Feb 08 Pepsi Center Denver, CO
Thu Feb 10 BOK Center Tulsa, OK
Sat Feb 12 The Palace of Auburn Hills Detroit, MI
Sun Feb 14 i wireless Center Moline, IL
Tue Feb 16 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN
Fri Feb 18 St Pete Times Forum Tampa, FL
Sun Feb 20 BankAtlantic Center Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tue Feb 22 Jacksonville Veterans Mem. Arena Jacksonville, FL
For the most up-to-date on sale information, please visit Ozzy.com or LiveNation.com.
Thursday October 7, 2010
Source: MSO
Location: Los Angeles, California
“I am sickened and disgusted by the use of ‘Crazy Train’ to promote messages of hate and evil by a “church,” singer Ozzy Osbourne said in response to news that Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church used lyrics from his song at events surrounding Tuesday’s (10/6/10) Snyder v. Phelps Supreme Court hearing. An attorney—a daughter of the church’s founder, along with her sister—paraphrased lyrics from Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” at a post-Supreme Court hearing press conference in Washington D.C.
The church is described by the Wall Street Journal (10/6/10) as a “tiny Kansas church…[that]…preaches that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for American’s tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.”As the Examiner.com noted (10/6/10) of the church, “their flamboyant demonstrations at the funerals of non-gay service members using the events to highlight their belief that military deaths overseas are justified punishment for U-S tolerance of homosexuality. (‘You’re Going to Hell,’ ‘Thank God for Dead Soldiers,’ and ‘God Hates You’ are popular Westboro slogans.).”
Sunday May 16, 2010
Source: Blabbermouth
Wendy Dio, wife/manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW), has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
“Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.
“Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.
“We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us.
“Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss.
“Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”
It was only a month ago that Dio, 67, spoke about his battle with cancer with the Artisan News Service on the “black carpet” of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which took place on April 8 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. When asked about how he had been feeling since he was diagnosed with the disease late last year, Dio said, “Well, I feel good and bad at times. It’s a long process. Chemotherapy is a… I never realized what a difficult thing it was to go through. It’s a real cumulative effect — the more you have, the more it piles up on top and it takes longer and longer to get over it. I find it very difficult to eat. I don’t like to eat anyway, so I guess that’s OK. But I know I have to. But this makes it very, very hard. But if you’re determined to beat it, then you have to go with what you believe is going to beat it for you, and in this case it’s that. I go to a great hospital in Houston called M.D. Anderson, which I think is the best hospital in the world, I have the best doctor in the world, Dr. Ajani, who I really trust and I really believe in, so I think I’ve done all the right things. It makes me feel positive about my life and positive that there is a lot more of it to live.”
Earlier this month, HEAVEN & HELL canceled its summer tour plans in Europe due to Dio’s treatment for stomach cancer. The band said in a statement that Dio wasn’t “well enough to tour this summer. We hope that everyone understands and want to thank fans and industry colleagues for their continuing support at this time.”
Ronnie James Dio had performed with ELF, RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, and his own band DIO. Other musical projects included the collective fundraiser “Hear ‘n Aid”. He is widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the “devil’s horns” hand gesture in metal culture. He was most recently involved with HEAVEN & HELL, a project which also included former BLACK SABBATH bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice. Their first and only studio album, “The Devil You Know”, was released on April 28, 2009.
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