Rare Zeppelin Recording Found- Clash Stars Join Gorillaz?- Free Breaking Benjamin and Stone Temple Pilots Tickets- Another Rock Hall No Show- Cornell Jazz and more

Tributes have been paid to the owner of one of Wales' best known rock venues, who has died at the age of 66. John Sicolo opened TJ's in Newport nearly 40 years ago and was a favourite of the late DJ John Peel. more
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Guns N' Roses No Show Sparks Riot, While Stage Collapse Sidelines Another Show

Guns N' Roses had the weekend for hell down in South America. First on Friday they were linked to a riot after they failed to show up for a "secret" show they previously denied was even happening. Then they were forced to cancel Saturday's show due to a stage collapse.

When reports of several Latin American "secret" Guns N' Roses shows hit the news wires, the GNR camp were quick to deny that these shows were happening. But apparently some wealthy people in San Paulo, Brazil didn't get the memo and a riot reportedly broke out when the band didn't show up. Some reports state the band cancelled at the last minute, contrary to GNR's earlier public denials about doing these "secret" gigs.

The New York Post via Jam! reports that "angry fans waited hours for the band to take to the stage - and when the revellers were told the band would not play at 3 a.m. local time, the crowd descended into mayhem." Read the Jam! report here

Mother Nature caused the cancellation of the next night's gig, which was scheduled to happen. Axl broke the news to fans with this announcement on Twitlonger.com: "ATTENTION: The March 14th GUNS N' ROSES show in Rio De Janeiro at Apoteose Stadium has been officially canceled for this evening due to the stage collapsing because of heavy rains. - more on this story

Godsmack Announce New Album and Festival Dates

Godsmack has set a May 4th release for their new album The Oracle. The band has also announced four music festival appearances in May.

The album's first single "Cryin' Like A Bitch" is available on iTunes US and iTunes Canada and is already making a big impact on the radio charts, hitting the Top 20 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

As for the festival appearances, the band will take part in 89.7's Rockfest on May 14th in Council Bluffs, IA, 103.3's Lazerfest on May 16th in Indianola, IA, Rock on the Range on May 22nd-23rd in Columbus, OH and Rocklahoma on May 28th-30th in Pryor, OK. - tracklisting

New York Dolls / Dead Boys Supergroup Batusis Announce Debut

Smog Veil Records today announced the debut recording by punk rock supergroup "Batusis" featuring the legendary Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls) and Cheetah Chrome (Rocket From The Tombs/Dead Boys).

Batusis makes their highly anticipated live debut concert performance at America's premiere music gathering, SXSW, in Austin, Texas on March 18.

The SXSW performance will be followed by a nationwide UK tour during the first two weeks in May, all of which will coincide with the vinyl and digital download of the 4-track EP on May 4th. - more on this story

The Mars Volta Sibling Band Zechs Marquise Hits The Road

The Mars Volta sibling band Zechs Marquise hit the road once again last week, supporting RX Bandits on a lengthy North American tour.

The El Paso quartet featuring Mars Volta multi-instrumentalist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez and his bassist brother Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez has toured almost incessantly since the August 2009 release of its debut album Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare via the label of the pair's elder hermano Omar's Rodriguez Lopez Productions. See complete tour dates below.

In the limited time since its winter 2009 tour, Zechs Marquise has been hard at work recording its followup album in El Paso, TX. The yet-untitled disc is expected out in Fall 2010. - more on this story

Band of Horses Announce Album and Tour

Band of Horses, the Low Country's premier rock n' roll outfit, will release their third full length LP, entitled Infinite Arms, on May 18th through Brown Records/Fat Possum Records/Columbia Records.

The album package will feature the photography of the band's long time collaborator Christopher Wilson. Produced by Band of Horses with additional production from Phil Ek, mixed by Dave Sardy, and recorded over a 16-month period, the songs on Infinite Arms project the essence of the different locales across America that became the setting for the recording and songwriting process behind the album.

Look for the band to support Infinite Arms with tour dates across the globe in 2010. A current list of dates is below, with many more to be announced very soon - more on this story

New DVD Series Documents the Final 24 Hours of Keith Moon, Janis Joplin, Sid Vicious, Hunter Thompson, Nicole Brown Simpson and more

MVD Visual is proud to announce the DVD release of the Final 24 television series on DVD starting with the first set of titles on April 20: Janis Joplin, Keith Moon, Gianni Versace, and Nicole Brown Simpson. Each DVD will have a retail price of $14.95.

Final 24 is a compelling drama documentary series unlocking the hidden secrets, psychological flaws and events that result in the tragic deaths of global icons. Every episode maps out the final 24 hours of a different famous person's life. The series weaves the star's back-story with events from their last day, which lays bare the threads of fate that led inextricably from childhood to the moment of death. These are no ordinary biographies. They're psychological detective stories attempting to uncover the mystery of why the celebrity died.

"Final 24 goes to the very heart of how these celebrities lived - and died", said Nick Godwin, Executive Producer of Final 24. Final 24 is a Cineflix and Nextfilm co-production in association with Global Television (Canada), BIO (US), BSKY (UK) and Discovery Networks (Europe). - more on this story

Modest Mouse Frontman Releasing Mimicking Birds Debut

Isaac Brock and Glacial Pace Recordings are proud to announce the March 9th release of Mimicking Birds self-titled debut album.

The Portland, OR trio recorded their debut album throughout 2009 in the home studio of Glacial Pace owner and Modest Mouse frontman, Isaac Brock. Mimicking Birds was produced by Isaac Brock and Clay Jones and mixed by Clay Jones. Joining lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Nate Lacy in Mimicking Birds is drummer Aaron Hanson and guitarist Tim Skellenger.

Modest Mouse fans will already be familiar with Mimicking Birds from their tour together in early 2009. To celebrate the release of their new album, Mimicking Birds will perform at a special hometown album release party on March 6 at Mission Theater in Portland, OR. Mimicking Birds have also been pegged to open shows for Black Prairie in Eugene, OR at Sam Bond's Garage on April 2 and in Seattle, WA at Tractor Tavern on April 3. - dates

Alkaline Trio Announce West Memphis Three Auction

Alkaline Trio will be auctioning an electric guitar used in recording their latest album to raise money for the defense fund of three wrongfully-imprisoned Arkansas men.

Damien Echols (who is on death row), Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.—also known as the West Memphis Three (www.wm3.org) —were convicted for murdering three elementary school children in 1994.

This special Japanese manufactured guitar is a black 2009 Fender HH Jaguar with a Gibson '57 Humbucker in the bridge — used on most of the recording of THIS ADDICTION and is featured in the photos within the album and has been used (until now) at almost every show thus far on Alkaline Trio's THIS ADDICTION tour. - more on this story

Jack's Mannequin Deluxe Reissue

Andrew McMahon of Jack's Mannequin will release a special, digital only Deluxe Edition of their sophomore album The Glass Passenger exclusively through iTunes on Mar 23, 2010.

The Glass Passenger Deluxe Edition will be comprised of the full The Glass Passenger album along with the In Valleys EP, The Ghost Overground EP, exclusive footage from Jack's Mannequin on tour, plus ten, never-before-heard, live tracks. - tracklisting

Metal Supergroup Killing Machine Recruit Evergrey's Jari Kainulainen

Killing Machine have revealed that former Stratovarius and current Evergrey bass guitarist Jari Kainulainen will be joining the band. Jari will continue with his position in Evergrey, but the chance to challenge himself in a different field with Killing Machine was an opportunity he did not want to miss.

Commenting on joining the band Jari Kainulainen said "When Peter (Scheithauer) contacted me and asked me to join Killing Machine as replacement for David Ellefson, I had to check it out. And after listening to a few songs I knew straight away that this is something I definitely wanted to be a part of. I especially fell in love with the fast and blasting bass lines and kick ass guitar riffs., so it was an easy decision for me. I'm really looking forward to start playing with these guys."

On welcoming Jari to the band, guitarist Peter Scheithauer said: "First off, I am so thrilled that I can finally announce Jari Kainulainen as the new bass player!!! Once I was done with the demos it was time to think about getting the band together. I wanted people who were ready to tour - no egos. Plus returning to Europe I wanted someone we can hang with who was first and foremost a true metalhead. Csaba (Zvekan) and Jon (Dette) were already in and I knew David (Ellefson) was out of the question for the obvious reasons. I always loved Jari's playing, I saw him several time with Stratovarius and love Evergrey. If someone can play crazy bass lines and be creative it's him. And besides being an outstanding musician he is a very cool guy and at the end that's what really matters." - more on this story

Green Day: Rock Band Is Coming

Green Day, along with Harmonix (and a laundry list of other corporations) today announced that Green Day: Rock Band, the full standalone music video game experience that celebrates Green Day's historic career and genre-defining albums will launch worldwide June 8, 2010, for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and the Wii system from Nintendo.

Green Day: Rock Band allows players to step onto the stage and into the shoes of Green Day, the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning band that jump-started the punk-pop revival and has continued to pave the way for American rock music into the 21st century. Taking on the likenesses of Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, players progress through the story and history of Green Day, gaining access into the band's media vault, where they can unlock more than 100 collectible images, and more than 40 minutes of rare and unreleased video from interviews, outtakes and performances.

Featuring the three-part vocal harmony technology Harmonix introduced with the award-winning The Beatles: Rock Band, Green Day: Rock Band gives players access to an incredible setlist of 47 tracks that span the band's career including "Brain Stew," "Jaded," "Hitchin' a Ride," "American Idiot," "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." All 47 tracks are fully exportable, providing players with the opportunity to play the songs in Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the recently announced Rock Band3! Green Day: Rock Band features an export fee of $9.99 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system. The export feature is not available for the Wii system. In addition, the six Green Day tracks already available in the Rock Band Music Store as downloadable content can be played in Green Day: Rock Band with added vocal harmonies, unique performance visuals, and exclusive archival material. - more on this story

Job For A Cowboy Spring Tour

Job For A Cowboy has announced a spring North American tour in support of its sophomore album, Ruination.

The group will launch a massive 27 city headlining run on April 21 in Newport, KY. The scheduled five week trek is slated to run through late May.

Support on the JFAC tour will come from Tennessee's Whitechapel and California's Cattle Decapitation with Salt Lake City's Gaza (April 21 - May 5) and Boston's Revocation (May 15 - 27) as openers. - more on this story

Piebald Announce 6 Disc Back Catalog Reissue

Starting out in 1994, Piebald released a ton of songs throughout their career. Some of these songs are hard to find because most of the releases they appeared on are out of print now. Well, not anymore. Rise Records is pleased to announce the re-release of Piebald's extensive back catalog.

Volume I, the first of 3 volumes, will feature 2 discs containing their early years including the album "When Live Hands You Lemons". Also included are rarities from their split 7" with Cave In and early recordings with now famed producer Brian McTernan. (in stores April 27th)

Volume II will feature 2 discs containing more from their early years including the albums "If It Weren't For Venetian Blinds It Would be Curtains For Us All" and "Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised". Also included are covers of Slayer, Jawbreaker and Weezer. (in stores May 25th) - more on this story

W.A.S.P. Cancel Show Over Fan Rip Off

This is a direct statement from Blackie Lawless regarding the cancellation of W.A.S.P. show at the Gramercy Theater in New York City last week.

An unfortunate incident arose this evening at The Gramercy Theater in NYC that we need to let you know about. It prevented W.A.S.P. from performing this show, and caused us to disappoint many of our NY fans and friends. About 50 VIP tickets were sold to about 50 different fans for $50.00 apiece, twice the normal ticket price for this show. It turned out that part of that VIP ticket price included a meet and greet with W.A.S.P. These tickets were sold to these 50 or so fans without W.A.S.P. having any knowledge of this, let alone agreeing to this. Upon learning of this late in the afternoon of the show day, W.A.S.P. insisted that the promoter of this venue, who sold these VIP tickets to these fans, return the V.I.P. portion of those tickets back to the fans. This meant that the promoter would have had to give each of those VIP ticket holders a refund of $25.00 of each ticket. W.A.S.P. demanded that this $25.00 be returned to each of these ticket holders in cash prior to the meet and greet, which W.A.S.P was still going to do. The promoter refused. W.A.S.P. then informed the promoter unless these monies were refunded to these fans, in cash, that the band would not perform the show. Again, the promoter refused and W.A.S.P. canceled the show.

We are saddened that it had to result in the cancellation of our performance for this evening, but we believe this unfortunate situation amounts to nothing more than our fans being ripped off. We have never changed a fan for an autograph and WILL NEVER charge any fans for an autograph. - more on this story

Rare Recording of Randy Rhoads' First Show With Ozzy Goes Online

The Metal Den continue to post rare Randy Rhoads content as the anniversary of his death on March 19th approaches. Today they have uncovered the historic first show Randy Rhoads played with Ozzy from September 12, 1980 at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the ultimate introduction of arguably the greatest electric guitar player that ever lived: Randy Rhoads. The actual audio recording of that concert is indeed a rarity.

Sharon Osbourne recalls the show: "We were all really, really nervous. In the days of variety, Glaswegians were said to be the most difficult of any audience in Britain, especially on a Friday night, which this was, when they got paid and got pissed. I didn't tell Ozzy – he was nervous enough already, on and off the toilet shaking with stage fright. Before the doors opened they were lining up round the block, and we were all in shock.

The show was unbelievable. At the end, Ozzy knelt down and kissed the stage. "Thank you, thank you, I love you, love you," he said, his voice breaking with emotion. And we all cried, the three of us: Ozzy, Randy and me, sobbing with tears of joy, and we could still hear voices from the auditorium calling for more… he had done it. He had f***ing done it." - Check it out here

Sevendust Gearing Up For New Album Release

Sevendust are set to release their eight studio album, Cold Day Memory, April 20 on their own 7Bros. Records, through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group.

Cold Day Memory—produced by Grammy Award winner Johnny K (Disturbed, Staind, 3 Doors Down, Plain White T's)—is the band's first new album with their original line-up back together with Lowery's return after his departure in 2003.

The album's first single, "Unraveling," is already getting a great reaction at Rock Radio and is currently #20 on the Active Rock charts (it's jumping to #18 next week). With back-to-back double-digit add weeks at Active Rock before its actual add date, this is the most well-received Sevendust track in the last decade. The song is currently available on iTunes and is available to stream on their Myspace page. A video is currently in the works. - more on this story

A New Way To Play Metallica, AC/DC, Green Day, Pantera and Iron Maiden Classics

The revolutionary and patented i-tab, for the first time ever, offers guitarists a pocket sized unit that scrolls chords and lyrics in perfect time. The i-tab allows users to download backing tracks and video cover lessons from a massive library of fully legal tabs, tracks and lessons on www.i-tab.com. The tab store will be launched with over 5000 songs including Metallica, AC DC, Green Day, Pantera, Rage Against the Machine and many more. i-tab expect the library to grow at over 500 songs per week and welcome suggestions which can be emailed to tabs@i-tab.com

Once downloaded, the i-tab sits conveniently at the end of your guitar and acts as the ultimate prompt giving you a seamless clear display of chords and lyrics at the tempo of your choice. Now you can take your tab library with you wherever you go and this really will be your best friend on your guitar.

Ideal for players of every level, the i-tab will help you learn songs, remember lyrics whilst storing 100's of tabs, backing tracks and reels of video. A 4GB memory gives you plenty of room to organise your songs into handy playlists and build your own song library. If you are learning to play you can also download i-tabs free tuition video modules to help you along. Funky video cover lessons will help build your portfolio of cool songs for gigs and parties. - more on this story

Mumiy Troll Digital EP

Russia's biggest rock band, Mumiy Troll announced today that they will release a digital EP Polar Bear on March 16 from The Village Label. Tracks include a new version of the title track, "Polar Bear" along with remixes from UK producers The Sharp Boys, plus a bonus single "Paradise Ahead."

Mumiy Troll (pronounced MOO-Me Troll) also plans to capitalize on the bands viral buzz from the censored video for "Polar Bear" which features, an oversexed pickle and a rude dancing bear who meets an explosive, fiery fate. More can be seen here.

Additionally, the band will be heading to SXSW this month and playing select cities in the US around their first festival appearance in Austin. - dates

The Wave Pictures North American Invasion

Moshi Moshi Records are proud to announce The Wave Pictures spring tour, including appearances at SXSW 2010 where they are one of Spin's "Must-Hear Bands" at the festival, and the Todd P Mty Mx Festival in Monterrey Mexico.

The band are gearing up for the release of their North American debut, a double CD comprised of their two most recent UK releases, Instant Coffee Baby and If You leave It Alone, out April 27th on Moshi Moshi.

Long time stalwarts of the lo-fi scene in the UK and Europe, The Wave Pictures have released or taken part in over 30 Albums, Singles, EPs, Collaborations, or Compilations. - more on this story

The Sadies Set May Album Release

The Sadies will release Darker Circles May 18, 2010 via Yep Roc Records. Darker Circles is the follow-up to their acclaimed last album New Seasons and sees guitarist brothers Dallas and Travis Good, drummer Mike Belitsky and bassist Sean Dean again pair with legendary Jayhawk and sought-after producer Gary Louris.

Furthering the focused songwriting and recording aspirations reached on New Seasons, The Sadies bring their signature blend of country, psychedelic, rock and surf into rifle scope focus on Darker Circles, further underscoring their reputations as musicians' musicians. The album was recorded in one marathon twelve day session at the 'Bathhouse' studio and five more at Toronto's Woodshed.

Always at the top of the list when discussing musical chops and live intensity, The Sadies are now more intent than ever on making their mark as songwriters. It's an intent that comes naturally says Travis Good, "It's not conscious. Nothing is planned when it comes to The Sadies. We're just better players and we did more homework this time." - more on this story

Lairs are Overachievers

Liars announce a brand new single, "The Overachievers," out May 25th, 2010. The single includes a Devendra Banhart's remix of the title track as well as two brand new B-sides, "Pleasure Is Boss" and "Only Sometimes." "The Overachievers" is taken from Sisterworld, the band's critically acclaimed fifth album - out now CD and 2CD version with very special packaging.

The second disc of the 2CD release sees each track on Sisterworld remixed and reinterpreted by a host of artists including Thom Yorke, Atlas Sound, Blonde Redhead, Fol Chen, Boyd Rice andAlan Vega (full tracklisting below) while the unique packaging, designed by Brian Roettinger / Hand Held Heart (Grammy nominated and Rolling Stone award winning for his work with No Age) allows a surreal glimpse into the Sisterworld concertina.

Liars will debut material from "Sisterworld"at SXSW 2010. The band plays Thursday March 18th, 2010 at theInsound party at Club Deville (set time: 4pm) and will headline the Billions showcase Friday March 19th, 2010 (set time: 1am). The trio – Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross, will be performing as a five piece at SXSW and their forthcoming US tour with Samuel Bing and Alex Myrvold – both of the band Fol Chen. Fol Chen will be opening for Liars on their Spring 2010 upcoming tour. - more including tour dates

Benjy Davis Project Hits the Road

Benjy Davis Project began their latest tour last week in support of "Lost Souls Like Us" with a huge show at the Varsity in their hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The group is touring as a four-piece and will be hitting the road across the United States in support of their new album, featuring founding group members Benjy Davis and Mic Capdevielle and two touring musicians who round out the line-up. (See list of tour dates below.)

"Lost Souls Like Us" was released on March 2, 2010 and features a cast of seasoned studio musicians: Mark "Sparky" Matejka of Lynryd Skynyrd, Danny Chauncey of .38 Special and Jason "Slim" Gambill of Lady Antebellum all contributed guitar parts; Ethan Pilzer (Jewel, Big & Rich) played bass; album producers Jason Spiewak (Pat McGee, Ernie Halter) and Bobby Capps (38 Special) played piano and organ parts; Sara Jean Kelley sang background vocals.

The lead single "Stay With Me," is a dark-and-dusty, mandolin-driven stunner that is already getting support from radio stations in: Baton Rouge, Seattle, New Orleans, Columbia (SC), Charlotte, Leavenworth, St. Louis, Starkville (MS), Ocean City (MD), Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg (VA), Columbus, Lake Tahoe, Breckenridge, Leesville (LA), Lafayette (LA), Amarillo, and Shippensburg (PA). - more on this story