This Week's Top stories

Here are the top stories from this week's Day in Rock and the top Day in Rock digest stories

Scott Weiland Plans Christmas Album- Unreleased Dio Songs On Ice- Disturbed Rule?- Slipknot Singer Conflicted- New Underoath CD- Lamb of God- CoC- Megadeth- more

Last year Stone Temple Pilots/ex-Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland surprised fans by releasing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as a single (see story here). Now he apparently wants to do a full Christmas album. ExploreMusic's Alan Cross sat down with Weiland to talk about the launching of English Laundry apparel in Canada – and more specifically his own clothing line. Other than Rock and Roll fashion, the two talked about the future of the Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, and Scott's next project: a Christmas album. more

Pantera issued an explanation of the new song which was posted this week on Facebook: Lots of you seem to be confused about 'The Will to Survive'. Just to clarify, this is a demo track from the Cowboys From Hell demos. It was recorded in 1989 and was not included on the original release of Cowboys From Hell. It is going to be included on the 20th Anniversary 3 CD deluxe set (in stores September 14th) as well as the Ultimate box set (in stores November 22nd). And yes, that is Philip singing.. Check it out here

Activision has released a new video game trailer highlighting Megadeth's involvement in the upcoming release of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which is due out on Sept. 28. Check it out here

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have written the score for The Social Network film. Get a taste of what to expect here

Underoath have announced their next album. The record is titled Disambiguation and is due out October 26, 2010 . The record is the first from the band since the departure of longtime drummer Aaron Gillespie. more

The UK's Daily Star issued a report based on the word of one of those infamous unnamed sources which claims that Axl Rose was napping backstage this weekend when he should have been on stage and that he has fired his "entire tour crew" after Guns N' Roses' set ran late. That's was Friday and he supposedly hired them back for Sunday's show after he reportedly couldn't find replacements in time. If you put much stock in unnamed sources, read the report here

Wonder how hard it is to write a Limp Bizkit song? NME had this headline: Limp Bizkit at Leeds Festival: 'We wrote a new song backstage' Fred Durst also admits band were warned about any stage invasions more

Ozzy jumps on the "let's make our fans buy the same songs all over again a few months after they bought them the first time" bandwagon: Just four months after the release of his 2010 album 'Scream,' Ozzy Osbourne has announced plans to re-release the record as a two disc set. more

Corrosion Of Conformity have announced their participation in the upcoming 2010 edition of Riot Fest Chicago. The formerly all punk festival has now opened it's doors to include metal and hard rock acts and in turn expanding the festival to a four day event. more

Sepultura have pulled out of the "Persistence Tour 2010" and have been replaced on the bill by Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.). more

Alexisonfire will be releasing a new digital-only release via iTunes this fall. The record is titled iTunes Originals and is due out September 28, 2010. The session encompasses interview clips of the band members reflecting on their career and revealing the inspirations behind their songs, more

Alter Bridge have signed to Roadrunner in worldwide deal for everywhere, except in North America. Their new album AB III is due out on October 11 more

When former Dio guitarist Rowan Robertson was asked if there was any chance we might get to hear some of the unreleased songs he was working on with Dio before Ronnie returned to Black Sabbath in 1991. He said there are Dio songs and recordings that exist, but they will remain unreleased and in his archive. more

Disturbed's new album 'Asylum' is likely to sell between 145,000 and 160,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at the top of next week's Billboard 200 chart, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. more

Lamb of God's Chris Adler says, "We're going to take the month of January off, see if we can reconnect with our family, see what that life looks like [laughs]. Then maybe we'll get together and start writing a new album!" more

In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink revealed in a Facebook posting that she was involved in a motor vehicle accident yesterday (Tuesday, August 31) that left her with injuries that required a trip to the hospital. more

Grave has parted ways with bass player Fredrik Isaksson due to personal reasons and issues. Fredrik played his last show with us in late July at the Eisenwahn festival in Germany. more

Veteran rock act Heart makes its first appearance on Billboard's Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart in more than 16 years, as "Hey You" debuts at No. 30. more

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin gave Apple employees a special treat on Wednesday, September 1 when he took to the stage at the end of an Apple press conference in San Francisco and performed Coldplay songs "Yellow" and "Viva La Vida" and debuted new track "Wedding Bells" more

KISS Drummer Eric Singer - "We've Already Been Talking About Going Into The Studio And Doing Another Record" more

Corey Taylor "Conflicted" About Continuing Slipknot. The Stone Sour singer says it's too soon to tell what will happen with his other band. more

A man was recently captured on video at a recent Megadeth concert (Aug 30, Long Beach Arena) driving his electric wheelchair in the middle of a rowdy pit. here

Entombed has announced the permanent addition of bass player Victor Brandt, who has filled in for the group before. Meanwhile, bassist Nico Elgstrand will apparently move to second guitar. more

Eric Clapton is one of the owners of the Ferrari 458 Italia, which have been involved in a recall because a design flaw has seen five of the $230,000 cars burst into flames. more

Iron Maiden's "The Final Frontier" (EMI) starts a second week atop Billboard's European Albums chart more

Radiohead help fans 'bootleg' their own gig. Band get involved in free 'by the fans for the fans' concert film more

Korn's video for the song "Let The Guilt Go" can be viewed here

Classic Rock Magazine is reporting that Deep Purple are to have two more albums reissued by EMI on October 25.The first is Come Taste The Band, the sole studio album from the MKIV line-up, including the late great guitar wizard Tommy Bolin and originally put out in 1975. Did someone say bonus tracks? more

Fuse On Demand pays tribute to legendary Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath , Heaven & Hell, Rainbow, Elf) who passed away from metastasized stomach cancer this past May 16th. Check out members of Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage and Godsmack paying homage to the metal icon here

The vinyl pressing for Bad Astronaut's "Acrophobe" is finally happening. The limited release will come as 150 on transparent brown (whiskey coke colored vinyl, Vinyl Collective Exclusive) * 250 on white vinyl (Hot Topic Exclusive Color) * 300 on solid baby blue (light blue) (Joey Cape/Bad Astronaut exclusive color, available from Joey Cape) * 300 on black vinyl (represses will be on black vinyl) more
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Van Halen Reality Show

Van Halen News Desk has a very special treat for Van Halen fans. They have posted a 1984 MTV special, "Lost Weekend With Van Halen," that includes everything that aired on the network as well as previously unaired footage.

VHND dubs the special MTV's first reality show and had this background info: When MTV announced it's Lost Weekend With Van Halen contest, the network received over a million postcard entries for a chance to spend three days with the band during their 1984 tour. The lottery couldn't have found a more perfect average Joe than twenty-year-old Kurt Jefferis, a department store loading dock employee from Phoenixville, Pennsyvania.

Kurt's catch was the American boyhood dream, 1984-style. A couple days spent tasting the life of Van Halen! Kurt's hometown newspaper ran the headline, "Would You Let Your Son Spend A Weekend With These Guys?" His mother quipped she wished her son had won a lost weekend with Perry Como instead. - more on this story

Scorpions Will Return

Last week we brought you a review of what we thought was the Scorpions final North American concert but Gibson informs us today that the mighty Scorps will return to America: Call it animal magnetism or, perhaps, an elevated lovedrive, but the Scorpions just can't get enough of North America. And so, the German metal legends have extended their farewell tour with more U.S. dates to come next summer. The band are currently booking next summer's shows but have yet to announce any specific dates.

The North American leg of the Get Your Sting and Blackout Tour just concluded in Chicago on August 21, with the band playing in Mexico this Saturday and then heading back to Europe for further dates.

In a recent Billboard interview, singer Klaus Meine said, "What can I say? It's a celebration… We feel we owe it to our fans and ourselves to keep this energy level. What we pull off every night on this tour, we want to keep it that way to the very last show. We don't want to see ourselves rocking like a hurricane when it's not a hurricane anymore." - more on this story

Fans Turn on Axl at Guns N' Roses Concert

Note to Guns N' Roses fans: don't throw stuff at Axl if you want the show to go on. Fans in Dublin found out this lesson the hard way. Rock Radio has the tale: Support act Danko Jones played for 70 minutes and went off at 9.10pm. But GnR didn't appear until 10.30, by which time the restless Dublin O2 audience had begun booing and hissing.

Eyewitnesses say Rose's performance was uninspiring until the band broke into Welcome to the Jungle. At that moment some bottles were thrown onto the stage, and Rose stopped the song to warn the crowd: "One more bottle and we're going home – we're here to have fun but one more and we're gone."

At 10.50 another bottle hit the stage while Rose was introducing the band. He said "Goodnight" and walked off, leaving the unhappy audience furious. Ten minutes later a venue official announced they were experiencing "technical difficulties" but hoped to bring GnR back on, but at 11.10 the house lights came up and arena staff began advising people the night was over - The story doesn't end there

Guided by Voices Reunion

Acclaimed indie rock favorites Guided by Voices return, but only for a short time. Here is the announcement and reunion dates:

After breaking up Guided By Voices in 2004, Robert Pollard is reuniting the "classic" Guided By Voices line-up for just one brief US tour. Tobin Sprout (guitar) Charles "Mitch" Mitchell (guitar), Greg Demos (bass) and Kevin Fennel (drums) will be joining Pollard on classic GBV songs from 1992-1996 from the albums Propeller, Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes and Under The Bushes, Under The Stars.

Robert Pollard recently released a solo album in July called Moses on a Snail, and will be releasing another album with his band Boston Spaceships September 7th called Our Cubehouse Still Rocks. - more on this story

John Lennon Remasters Details

John Lennon's 70th birthday will be a very happy one for fans as EMI Music has announced details for a broad selection of remastered John Lennon albums and new collections to be released on CD and digitally on 4 October (5 October in North America).

Announced last month, EMI Music's global John Lennon 'Gimme Some Truth' catalogue campaign is being overseen by Yoko Ono and commemorates the music legend's 70th birthday on 9 October, 2010. Featured in the sweeping initiative are eight remastered John Lennon solo albums and new titles including Double Fantasy Stripped Down, Power To The People: The Hits, Gimme Some Truth, and the John Lennon Signature Box.

For the first time, Lennon's classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes. Double Fantasy, 1980's GRAMMY Award winner for Album of the Year, will be presented with a newly remixed 'Stripped Down' version produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, Lennon's original co-producers for the album. Some Time In New York City has been restored to include the six 'Live Jam' recordings featured on the original album. - more on this story

Duff McKagan's Loaded Complete New Album

Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame informed fans in his Seattle Weekly column that not only has his band Loaded gone with a different producer for their new album, but they are done with the album and are ready to find a label to release it. The band parted ways with Century Media, the label that released their last effort "Sick" in 2009.

Here is part of Duff's update: "Famed producer Terry Date (Soundgarden, Pantera, Deftones, Prong, Screaming Trees, just to name a very few) came in to the Loaded fold somehow just before we were to start this record and offered his assistance in a producer role. Yeah, when Terry Date wants to do your record, you run and not walk straight to that man. Actually, who could blame Terry? We are all pretty smokin' hot dudes, and our collective wit and charm has yet to be matched anywhere west of the Mississippi. Truth be told, though, Mr. Date is probably still scrubbing himself in the shower a whole week now after we have finished, in an attempt to get our off-color humorist hue out of his skin.

"For those of you who follow the band, you will also know that having Terry produce this new record is a departure from Martin Feveyear, the producer of the first two Loaded records. Martin is not only our producer, but one of my dearest friends, and I can probably speak for the other fellas in the band when I state that this was a very tough decision for us. Martin totally understood and told us to make a great record. I love you, pal. - more on this story

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Didn't Want To Repair Old Relationship with Metallica's James Hetfield

San Francisco Bay Guardian Online has a great feature with Megadeth's Dave Mustaine where they discuss his new autobiography "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir." During the interview they cover a lot of ground where Dave explains why he felt compelled to cover his troubled childhood but they also discussed Dave's troubled past with his former Metallica bandmates and how they have finally been able to lay the past to rest. Here is that part of the interview:

"I saw [Metallica] over in Europe, we had dinner and it was fine. I was sitting there at the table with Lars and James, and I thought it was so great that we were together again — we're in different bands, but the fact that we as three young little guys, what we accomplished, how we changed the world. I mean honestly, you can't even listen to a television program anymore without hearing music that's [evolved from] what we created. To be able to sit there with our brethren and knowing that in this room stands the cream of the crop of American heavy metal talent, and it was such a great feeling."

"My relationship with Lars and James has been publicized a lot, so I went up to James and I said, 'I don't want to try to repair our old relationship. That would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. I want to have a new relationship with you,' and I think that's what we have now, it's great, and I'm going to see the guy when I get into town." - more on this story

Behemoth Frontman Shocked By Reaction To Cancer Fight

Behemoth frontman Nergal (real name Adam Darski) broke the news to fans last month that he has leukaemia and he has been shocked (in a good way) with the fan response and inquires about what they could do to help. He issued thisstatement:

"I haven't intended to manifest myself in any way and, especially at this stage, to share my feelings or any other news with the world for obvious reasons. It is simply too early for it. But it was YOU who provoked me to say a few words. Regarding my personal low opinion of humankind, I'm shocked by the reaction to my illness. I actually expected NOTHING yet received feedback which surpassed all expectations. I want to ensure you I read EACH mail I receive, although I'm unable to reply to all of them. The power of your words is pure magic and I thank you all for it. You are a gigantic indestructible army that truly inspires me in this difficult time. The fact is that a fight with this illness is going to last for many months. Most of this time I will spend in hospital and I will go through various psychophysical states. If you know the history of Behemoth you also know we achieved everything by hard work and a steely determination. The same goes for my private life. I happen to be a strong son of a bitch. I have no faith but rely on a 100% victory and I am sure I will get out of it stronger than ever. Sun Tzu in his 'Art of War' said that if you know your enemy and yourself the result of a thousand battles will not surprise you… I enter the ring with this Nietzschean attitude and I will leave it as a winner, as usual. Just watch and see!

"So I want to emphasize that Behemoth will by no means goes through any hibernation state. Obviously all concert plans must be postponed until some unknown point in the future, but things are happening! Lately our newest video for '…Alas, Lord is Upon Me' has premiered and stirred up quite a storm in mass media, which fills us with utter pride. Plus we've just finished the project of our new DVD; Evangelia Heretika is a three disc release, a real encyclopedia of Behemoth with nearly 5 hours of material and a bonus audio CD that will be out in November (Metal Blade US - Nuclear Blast Europe). Expect an experience of visual madness as we went to hell and back to make it! Our official Webstore has been functional for a couple of days and official merchandise and some very exclusive stuff can be bought there. At the beginning of 2011, Peaceville in Europe and Metal Blade in US will reissue the EPs with new artwork, bonuses, liner notes, and more. As you can see, despite a complicated situation and difficult circumstances we're remaining active wherever we can. - more on this story

Ben Moody Explains Evanescence Split

We told you a little about this last week but Gibson has more from Ben Moody about why he split with Evanescence: In 2003, after Evanescence has released the first album and hit the big time with the hard rock single "Bring Me to Life," founding guitarist and co-songwriter Ben Moody abruptly left the band, citing artistic differences with his former best friend, frontwoman Amy Lee. Although Lee talked about how Ben's focus was being on commercially successful and hers was on being creative, Moody never went on record about his departure. Seven years later, he's ready to talk.

In a post on an Evanescence fan site, Moody (who is now a member of We Are the Fallen) explained his point of view on the situation: "A cruel fact of life is that the person you are at 15, doesn't resemble the person you are at 18 and 21… and today I in no way resemble the person I was when I was in Evanescence. Sometimes you grow together and sometimes you grow apart. We both contributed to the resentment of the deterioration of our friendship that quickly turned into a downward spiral of animosity, conflicting opinions, and a very volatile environment. By the time we went on tour to support Fallen, it sadly was over. Ironically, it was Amy and my absolute equal devotion to Evanescence that drove us to such extreme opposition. We had such opposing desires and personalities that mixed with the pride of youth and inexperience (and an extreme amount of insecurity and loss of direction on my part) led to an all out war."

According to Moody's post, he was trying to force Lee – his friend since 1994, who had gotten most of the media attention as singer – out of the group. "I had tried before, out of ignorance, pride, and resentment, to convince Amy that she should leave. That we'd be better off and Evanescence didn't need her," he wrote. "I was hurt, and wanted her to hurt like me. Amy, if for some reason you happen to see this, I hope you know I never truly believed that. There was no way I would ever let someone walk on that stage and sing your lyrics." - more on this story

Axl Rose Posts Statement About Reading and Leeds Controversy

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose continues his war with the organizers of the Reading and Leeds festivals after both of his sets were cut short this past weekend after the band arrived late on stage. Rose posted a long statement on Twitlonger with his side of the dispute:

Whatever other nonsense anyone's choosing to write would appear intentionally false. Having the fans or our show penalized for how the event was ran or simply the natural flow of events those evenings and for such minimal amount of overtime along with distortions and falsehoods by media, the promoter and or event organizers regarding the events seems a bit draconian and more than unfair to the fans.

A simple question: If you are aware of our changeover time, the average length of our show and the general nature of how these types of festivals run, all of which are no big secrets... why book us? Is it simply because the lineup on our nights at both festivals sold well? So it's a cash grab with no respect for the fans or the band and somehow an unwanted inconvenience for the cities and law enforcement? - more on this story

Linkin Park To Rock The VMAs

Linkin Park is the latest top selling act added to this year's MTV Video Music Awards. According to the announcement the band will be performing their #1 single on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Songs Chart, "The Catalyst" for the first time on television.

Other performers on the show include Usher, Paramore, Eminem, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, B.o.B, Florence + The Machine, along with Travie McCoy, Jason Derulo and Robyn who will perform with this year's VMA house artist, deadmau5.

"After 2 years of working on our new album, we're looking forward to sharing our first live performance of new music with our fans around the world on the MTV Awards," said Chester Bennington, lead vocalist of Linkin Park. - more on this story

Green Day Plan Live Album

Green Day reportedly recording a new song during a recent concert which is set to be included on a new live album. Gibson has the story: During Green Day's Saturday night stop in Denver, Colorado, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong announced that the band were recording the show for a forthcoming live album.

As with all the shows on the punk-rock band's current tour, the concert at Denver's Comfort Dental Amphitheatre featured a mix of tunes from 2009's 21st Century Breakdown and well-known Green Day hits like "Minority" and "Longview." However, it also included a new song, according to PunkNews.com.

After making the announcement about the live album, Armstrong launched his band into "Cigarettes and Valentines." Actually an older song that never saw the light of day, "Cigarettes" was to be the title track of an album Green Day were working on after 2000's Warning. As Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Coolwere finishing the tracks for the record – intended as a throwback to their early punkier days – the tapes were stolen. Rather than recreate what they had done, Green Day chose to start over and ended up with the blockbuster, American Idiot. - more on this story

Switchfoot Announce Fall Tour With The Almost

Switchfoot are apparently hungry for the road. They just finished a summer run with the Goo Goo Dolls but they are turning right back around and heading out on the road again this fall. This time they'll be touring with The Almost.

The tour will kick off October 1st in Lynchberg, VA. The band will also perform at Celebrate Freedom Atlanta, the largest free one-day concert in Atlanta, on September 4th, and the Austin City Limits Festival on October 10th. (See below for itinerary.)

"The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)," the band's current single, is one of eight songs included on the new Switchfoot iTunes Session, which was released yesterday. - more on this story

Guess Who Was Robbed At Music Fest

The Guess Who was robbed at a music festival in Cincinnati, Oh this past weekend. Gibson has the story: The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that a Gibson EC-30 acoustic guitar has been stolen from Canadian rockers The Guess Who. The axe, worth more than $4,000, was snatched during the band's appearance at a Cincinnati festival over the weekend.

The Guess Who were performing at the Taste of Blue Ash food and entertainment event. According to Police, the Gibson was stolen from the backstage area on Saturday night, following the band's show. Apparently, a band assistant put the sunburst acoustic into a case and left it unattended for a few minutes. When he returned, it was gone.

The current lineup of the band includes founding members Jim Kale (bass) and Gary Peterson (drums), along with Leonard Shaw (flute, keyboards), Derek Sharp (vocals, guitar) and Laurie MacKenzie (guitar, vocals). Lately, founding guitarist Randy Bachman has been working with his Bachman Turner Overdrive bandmate Fred Turner. Founding frontman Burton Cummings has been working on his solo career. - more on this story

Trey Anastasio Writing New Music, May Go Unplugged and Likes Paramore

Trey Anastasio reveals in a new interview that he is keeping busy during the down time between Phish tour legs writing songs and he may even play some unplugged shows. Oh, and he like Paramore.

Gibson reports: Having just come off the road with Phish after a successful summer tour, Trey Anastasio has every right to take a knee and get a little breather before the band hits the road again in October. But resting doesn't seem to be in the plans for Anastasio, who is already writing new material with an eye on testing it live in the near future. "I'm trying to write songs that work for both (Phish and TAB)," Anastasio told Relix. "Or I'm actually thinking, after this run of Phish shows, of maybe doing a couple of very, very small sort of acoustic shows. And I was just thinking this morning that I'm trying to get songs that work in every context."

As for inspiration, Phish fans may be surprised to hear what has caught Anastasio's ear recently: "My younger daughter got into Paramore and she took me to the Paramore concert at Webster Hall and I thought it was an incredible concert. I really liked the whole band. I loved the drummer and I thought the band was tight, the guitar players are tight and obviously the singer's just fantastic. You know, I never would have gone to see those guys if my daughter wasn't into it. I can see the world through their eyes a little bit, it's exciting." -

Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley Announce Free Relief Concerts

Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley have both announced free concerts that they hope will help bring attention and tourists back to the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The two free concerts on the beach are slated for the weekend of October 15th-17th in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with Bon Jovi performing on Friday, October 15th and Brad Paisley performing on Sunday, October 17th. These two shows signify the next installments of Alabama's "Concerts For The Coast" event series.

The shows, which are FREE to the public, will be ticketed events. Tickets will be available through Gulf Shores and Orange Beach lodging partners starting Wednesday, September 8th. - more on this story

Slipknot Frontman Radio Take Over

Our friends at Rock Radio had some exciting news for Stone Sour and Slipknot fans: Corey Taylor will guest host a five-episode series shows on Rock Radio next week. Tune in every weeknight at 1800BST to hear tracks from the new Stone Sour album, Audio Secrecy – and find out just how eclectic Corey's taste can be.

Through the week you'll find out what he thinks of Kim Wilde, Debbie Harry, Barry White and Elvis Costello. He's not abandoning his heavy roots – far from it, there's plenty of dark-end noise to be heard. But as Corey says himself, how many radio presenters will follow Metallica with Tom Petty?

He's made notes in his Hello Kitty diary and he's getting ready to drink Rock Towers dry of coffee. To find out more, listen to the man himself as he becomes the latest in a long line of world-class Rock Radio takeover shows - here

Crowded House 25th Anniversary Collection

Capitol/EMI are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Crowded House with the release a 19 track hits CD and a 32 track digital hits collection on October 26th.

The Very Very Best Of Crowded House features the hits "Don't Dream It's Over," "Something So Strong," "Better Be Home Soon" and other standout singles and album tracks.

For fans who want more, an expanded digital-only edition features 32 tracks and will also be available on October 26 for download purchase from all major digital service providers. - more on this story

AC/DC Book This Roctober

This Rocktober 15th AC/DC will release a brand new book chronicling their ascent from the Sydney club scene to massive world tours. Gibson reports: AC/DC: High Voltage Rock 'N' Roll — The Ultimate Illustrated History is the ultimate testament to Australia's hard rock heroes.

The tome contains over 400 rare photos, including handbills, posters, backstage passes and vinyl from around the world, as well as private and concert photography.

In addition, a roster of top writers from the music industry (including Gibson.com's own Dave Hunter) examine all of the band's studio albums and chronicles the group's various personnel changes, as well as the Young brothers' guitar gear. An all-star array of musical artists also lend their commentary on one of the greatest bands in rock history, including Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, who provides an afterward. - more on this story

Steve Miller Band's Rock & Roll Formal

Steve Miller Band has announced they will perform a one-night-only exclusive "Rock & Roll Formal" (Black-Tie/Leather optional) concert at The Fender Center in Corona, California with all proceeds from the event going to benefit the non-profit organization's Kids Rock Free music education program.

Founded in 1997, the Fender Center in Corona, CA has provided free and low cost music education classes to more than 14,000 children from over 100 cities throughout Southern California. The Fender Center conducts events throughout the year to bring musical experiences to the general public and raise funds to continue the important work of children's music education. The Steve Miller Bands summer tour extravaganza has become an anticipated annual event for millions of rock fans, and this once-in-a-lifetime benefit concert event proves to be nothing less.

The one-night-only VIP gala event will support the "CAMPAIGN 800" program. A fundraising platform designed to address the needs of the 800 kids currently on the waiting list to participate in the Kids Rock Free® music education programs. Supported by performing artists, music industry executives, community leaders and individuals in support of music education, "CAMPAIGN 800" aims to alleviate the void created by diminishing music education resources. - more on this story

Free Arcade Fire Drums

The Drums are offering a free MP3 of their cover of Arcade Fire's "We Used To Wait" which was performed live at BBC Three Live Lounge with Huw Stephens. Want it?

The band also released a new video for album track, "Down By The Water," and will hit the road on a national tour with Surfer Blood this month.

Produced by Brian and Brad Palmer of SURROUND and The Drums the video reflects the band's vision of elegant simplicity. "Both the video and song are a tribute to the girl groups of the 50's and 60's, a great inspiration to the band and one of the reasons we started it," explains the band. A true departure from earlier singles the band slows the tempo showing their versatility with this new track. - more on this story