Sex Change For Life Of Agony Singer? Early Rare Led Zeppelin Now Online- Rocker Dies Following Suicide Attempt- BBQ Ratt Sauce- Tygers Of Pan Tang- more

Cheap Trick Narrowly Escape Stage Collapse

(Rock News Desk) Cheap Trick last night narrowly escaped injury when they abandoned a stage just moments before it collapsed in a heavy storm.

Five people were hurt in the drama, at least one of them seriously, following a freak gust of wind which tore a festival roof canopy apart.

The power-pop rock icons were performing a set at the open-air Bluesfest event in Ottawa, Canada, when the weather turned bad.The four-piece abandoned the show and were being evacuated from the area when the stage roof and lighting rig crashed down on the place they'd been playing. It's thought a gust as strong as 90mph forced the construction to collapse. more on this story

Serious Injury For Testament

(Gibson) Testament have revealed the title of their widely-anticipated new album. The Dark Roots of Earth will arrive in October on Nuclear Blast Records, and the guys are currently recording the disc with British producer Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Machine Head, Arch Enemy).

Citing a "serious injury," Testament drummer Paul Bostaph is not involved with the album's recording sessions, but he will meet up with the band for future tours.

Taking his place on the album is Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan (Fear Factory, Dethklok), as well as Chris Adler (Lamb of God), who makes a cameo on a few bonus tracks. more on this story

Slipknot Will Tour Again

(RockAAA) Stopping off in Birmingham, England, on the publicity tour for his #1 selling book 'Seven Deadly Sins' Corey Taylor took part in a Q & A session with fans and performed a number of acoustic songs.

During the session he talked fondly of Paul Gray and gave fans an insight into how he perceives the future of Slipknot. He said: "I will say that I am completely open to doing some more touring, but there's a lot of healing [that needs to happen first].

"First of all, thank you very much for this last tour. That tour was one of the hardest things we've ever had to do, and the amount of respect that you guys showed us, I will never f**king forget it, so thank you so much for it," He continued. "As for the immediate future, we've already talked about maybe doing some touring and what-not. I'm still kind of on the fence about how I feel about making a new album right away." more on this story

Trivium Slam Metal Fakes

(Rock News Desk) Trivium frontman Matt Heafy is so upset about the explosion in metal bands using backing tracks on stage that he wants them made illegal.

He insists a live show should be just that, and the paying public should be able to buy a ticket in the expectation of seeing and hearing an act playing the entire show live.

Heafy tells The First 3 Songs: "Most pop stars are using backing tracks and Autotune live – but I cannot believe the amount of metal bands who are doing it. They have the actual album playing while they're supposed to be playing live." more on this story

New Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Out Today

(Gibson) The Red Hot Chili Peppers released the first single from their new album, I'm with You, today. "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" will be the first taste of the album, coming in late August. The song hit the airwaves on July 18.

The Chili Peppers' also have launched a new Facebook page, where fans will receive updates from the Chili Peppers camp before the release of the album.

I'm with You is the band's first album since Stadium Arcadium, and the first album with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. It will be released on August 30 in the U.S., and August 26 in other parts of the world.

Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler Team Up For Tour

(Gibson) Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler will team up for a European tour this fall. Knopfler's band for the tour will consist of Richard Bennett on guitar, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Jim Cox on piano, John McCusker on violin and cittern, Mike McGoldrick on flute, whistles and pipes, Glenn Worf on bass and Ian Thomas on drums.

Knopfler has been recording his next album, but was happy to interrupt sessions to hit the road with Dylan. Knopfler and Dylan first worked together in 1979 on Dylan's Slow Train Coming album and Knopfler produced Infidels.

Knopfler said on his website: "I'm much looking forward to going out on the road with Bob in such a special year. Also, it was an honor to be asked to record one of Bob's songs on the forthcoming Amnesty International 50th anniversary album to mark his 70th birthday." more on this story

Anthrax Excited About New Album

(Gibson) Anthrax bassist Frank Bello recently spoke to Sweden's Metal Shrine blog about the band's new album, Worship Music, and how he thinks it will go over in concert.

"I haven't been this psyched about a record… We just got the masters the other day and it's a great [expletive] time when you're finally finished after eight years," Bello said. "Listening to it I was like, 'Oh, [expletive], man, I really can't wait to play this [expletive]!' Everybody says that, but I really… I think we could play every song on this record if we wanted to."

Bello said he thinks the album finds the perfect balance between sounding like classic Anthrax, yet also something totally new. "It sounds new and fresh and I think it's definitely what we want and I think it's what people are looking for," he said. "I don't think anybody's gonna be disappointed… I haven't been this stoked in a while!" more on this story

Metallica Synchronized Swim and Destroy

(Gibson) It's not surprising that many world-class athletes use Metallica songs to get themselves pumped for competition… except when they're a pair of synchronized swimmers. According to The Canadian Press, Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon and Elise Marcotte brought a little bit of metal into the genteel world of synchronized swimming.

The two did a routine set to "Master of Puppets" during this weekend's world championships in Shanghai, China.

"It's pretty cool for our sport," Boudreau-Gagnon said. "It's new. Everyone in the rest of the world really thinks Metallica is a great routine physically. It's well received by the judges and the rest of the coaches around the world. We have made a good impact for sure." more on this story

Drive-By Truckers Compilation Coming

(Gibson) In their 13 years of recording, the Drive-By Truckers haven't come very close to having a hit single, but they've amassed more than enough material for a "greatest hits" compilation (maybe even two).

The Alabama-via-Georgia rockers will release Ugly Buildings, Whores and Politicians: Greatest Hits 1998-2009 on August 2 on New West Records.

The album features songs from seven of the Truckers albums (excluding their two most recent records for ATO Records). Included in the tracklist: tributes to Ronnie Van Zant and Neil Young ("Ronnie and Neil"), Sun Records ("Carl Perkins' Cadillac") and a nearly missed ménage a trois ("3 Dimes Down"). more on this story

Motley Warrant Zeppelin Jam

(hennemusic) What does Vince Neil do on a day off from the traveling circus that is the Motley Crue/Poison/New York Dolls tour? He finds a place to rock.

As the big tour rolled into Uncasville, Connecticut for a show last Friday at the Mohegan Sun arena, Vince and other members of the Crue tour popped in to the Sun's Wolf's Den to check out a show by '80s rock pals Warrant on Thursday.

Warrant invited Neil up on stage for the Led Zeppelin classic, "Rock & Roll," much to the screaming delight of fans in the room. Check it out here

Frank Carter Quit Gallows Via Email

(Rock News Desk) Gallows singer Frank Carter admits he told the band he was quitting via email – because his relationship with his colleages had broken down so far he couldn't do it any other way. And he admits matters are made worse because his brother is staying with the acclaimed next-generation classic punk outfit.

The band broke the news last week, saying they'll complete their touring commitments until August 1, after which the two parties will go their separate ways.

"I didn't want to email them, but I had to," Carter tells Kerrang. "I haven't been happy for a long time, and the difficulties we've had pulling new music together was the realization for me that now isn't the right time for Gallows – not with me signing anyway. more on this story

Killing Joke See Dark 2012

(RockAAA) Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman caught up with Rock Radio's Tom Russell at Sonisphere UK. In an extraordinary interview he talked about the bands new album and how it has been put together in synch with world events which he says will come to a head in 2012.

When asked if he seriously though the world would come to an end he said: "The 2012 album sounds a lot darker and heavier. We are so close to a huge event. A cataclysmic event on our planet that mankind is going to be in shock over

"People feel something is afoot. I just try to capture these premonitions on a Killing Joke album... It's (the new album) got more tension than the last album. It's certainly darker." more on this story

Full Van Halen II Era Show Goes Online

Chris Gossett keeps the Van Halen rarities flowing with the addition of a show from the Van Halen II era.

Gossett has posted the entire 15 song set from the 1979 Seattle show, played in its entirety in an online player here

This latest edition puts ChrisGossett.com up to 117 videos including 10 documentary vids. Check out the entire collection here

Dropkick Murphys Shamrock-N-Roll Festival is Coming

Dropkick Murphys are launching a new touring festival called Shamrock-N-Roll Festival that will also feature Street Dogs, Chuck Ragan, The Mahones, The Parkington Sisters and local bands, as well as additional yet-to-be-announced national acts performing on two alternating stages.

A boxing demonstration and signing with special guest, renowned boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (The Fighter), will also be featured at the family friendly, all-ages festival.

The Dropkick Murphys Shamrock-N-Roll Festival will kick off with the September 8 and 9 sold-out hometown shows at Boston's Fenway Park and will visit Bangor, ME; Altamont, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; Columbus, OH; Portsmouth, VA; Rochester, NY and Philadelphia, PA. more on this story

Why The Talking Heads Stopped Making Sense

(Gibson) Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz said he once hoped for the new wave band to do a reunion tour, but that it's just not in the cards. Frantz, who's been touring with wife and fellow Talking Head Tina Wemouth in the Tom Tom Club, told The Quietus that the group's reunion performance at their 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction left fans and band members hopeful.

"I think we all hoped – Jerry [Harrison] and Tina and I – that David [Byrne] would just kind of wake up and think: 'What was I thinking? Talking Heads was a great band, wonderful chemistry, why don't we just take one more lap around the track just for the hell of it?' But I guess in the back of our minds we knew that was not on David's agenda."

Frontman Byrne officially broke up the band in 1991, having begun his solo career. In the meantime, Frantz and Weymouth devoted more of their time to the Tom Tom Club and Harrison became an in-demand record producer. "It's really no secret that David always had his sights set on a career outside Talking Heads – he felt like that was just one phase of his development," Frantz said. "But bless David's heart, I don't really want to disparage him because the stuff that we did together was so remarkable and outstanding… but, you know, nobody's perfect." more on this story

Lemmy Hopes For A HeadCat Tour

(Rock News Desk) Lemmy says his side-project band HeadCat will tour next year – if he can find time between his Motorhead commitments.

He reports: "As I'm getting older it's a lot easier to play with HeadCat. I don't have to hit it quite as hard, and some of the songs are downright singing. But I love Motorhead too – it's my baby."

He's also aiming to complete the solo album he started a decade ago. Get more rock news here

Anniversary of Def Leppard's First Gig

(Gibson) On this day in 1978, Def Leppard made their live debut at the Westfield School in their hometown of Sheffield, England. They performed for 150 students. Gibson takes a look back: Def Leppard's rags-to-riches story, including their meteoric rise to fame that at the time only the King of Pop could rival, as well as the numerous tragedies that tried but failed to derail the band, all started when three students, living in the depressed steel town of Sheffield, England, decided to start a band.

Rick "Sav" Savage – who, at one point in his teens, was a good enough soccer player to catch the eye of the mighty Sheffield United – chose to pursue a career in music instead of one on the pitch. He loved the guitar and taught himself by playing along to such classic rock fare as Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" and Don McLean's "American Pie." Savage attended the Tapton School with fellow guitarist Pete Willis, himself a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. Along with drummer Tony Kenning and a couple of other friends, they started a band called Atomic Mass and played covers from the big rock bands of the day, groups like Queen, Slade and Deep Purple. It was determined that Willis was the better guitarist, so Sav switched to bass.

In November 1977, Willis met fellow musician Joe Elliott after Joe had missed a bus. He told Joe about Atomic Mass, and he was immediately interested in auditioning for the band. The group was impressed and hired him to be their vocalist. Joe quickly suggested a name change for the band. For a while he'd envisioned being in a band called "Deaf Leopard," and the boys liked the idea. At the time, animal names were somewhat popular, especially with many of the punk bands. It was their initial drummer Kenning who suggested the spelling change to "Def Leppard," and they all agreed. Many have later speculated that the new spelling was also created to mimic the odd spelling of Led Zeppelin.

The final piece to the first incarnation of Def Leppard came when, in search of a second guitarist, "Steamin'" Steve Clark auditioned by playing a note-for-note rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird," which landed him the gig. With the lineup complete, the band quickly began rehearsing, day after day, for weeks, then months. Perfectionists from the beginning, a trait they seemed to acquire even before uber-perfectionist producer (and future Leppard Svengali) Mutt Lange came into their lives, the band rehearsed like there was no tomorrow. They rehearsed so much that at one point, many months into rehearsals, Clark threatened to quit the band if they didn't actually play a proper gig.
more on this story

We Came As Romans, Miss May I, Of Mice & Men, Texas In July, and Close To Home Tour

Equal Vision sent over word that We Came As Romans will headline the 'I'm Alive Tour' this fall.

The tour will feature support from Miss May I, Of Mice & Men, Texas In July, and Close To Home.

We Came As Romans sophomore full-length album, Understanding What We've Grown To Be, is set to be released on September 13th. The tour will kick off on the same day, with a hometown CD release show at The Crowfoot Ballroom in Pontiac, MI. more on this story

Thin Lizzy Announce Tour With Clutch and In-Store Jam Today

(RockAAA) Thin Lizzy have just announced dates for a UK headlining tour in January of 2012, with openers Clutch in tow.

To help promote the on-sale date, Lizzy will appear at HMV's flagship London store (150 Oxford Street) on Monday at 6 PM.

The group will play an exclusive live set in-store, as well as do an autograph signing session for fans. more on this story

Roger Daltrey Heeded Owsley Stanley Drug Warning

(Gibson) Discussing the glory days of The Who, singer Roger Daltrey says he was the one in the band to keep off the "heavy stuff."

In an interview with Britain's Daily Mail newspaper Daltrey says: "I wasn't a goody-goody; I dabbled in the natural. But I was in a band with three alcoholics and someone had to be straight. They were three lunatics.

"I also got warned off chemicals very early on by the man who made Purple Haze [LSD]. His name was Owsley Stanley, The Bear. He told me to never touch chemicals and I believed him because he was the man."
more on this story

The World According to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons

(Gibson) No one can say Billy Gibbons doesn't have a way with words. Ask him about the key to ZZ Top's staying power, and you're as likely to get an analysis of hot rod maintenance as you are to hear music-related thoughts about long-term success. Fact is, however, ZZ Top's run of four decades with the same lineup is the rock and roll equivalent of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak – a record that will likely never be broken. In the choice quotes gathered below, Gibbons addresses that issue, as well as such topics as his love of the blues, his beloved Pearly Gates and some early advice he received from both Alice Cooper and Ike Turner.

On getting his very first guitar, as told to Gibson.com in 2009: "On Christmas Eve in '63, Santa stopped by with a Gibson Melody Maker. While the kids from my neighborhood were into The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, I was trying to learn licks from Little Richard, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed records."

On playing with Dusty Hill and Frank Beard for the 1st time, as told to BMG Discovery in 1997: "We wanted to see how our talents mingled. A little 30-minute thing turned into a three-hour jam. When we wrapped it up, we said, 'Well, that felt pretty good. I think we've got ourselves a band!'" more on this story

Paul McCartney's Space Message

(Gibson) Beatles legend Paul McCartney was the latest music superstar – following Michael Stipe and Elton John – to help wake up the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. The NASA shuttle is on its final mission.

McCartney played a clip of him and his band performing The Beatles classic "Good Day Sunshine" and then said, "Good morning, guys – wake up! And good luck on this, your last mission. Well done!"

It's far from the first time that the Fab Four's tunes have been beamed into outer space. "Good Day Sunshine" has been sent out three times, including once directly from a McCartney concert. Other songs, including "Birthday," "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "A Hard Day's Night" have also made their way off the planet.
You can listen to the message here

Keith Urban Cites AC/DC, Mellencamp, Gilmour and Knopfler As Influences

(Gibson) Country star Keith Urban shared some of his influences in a new interview with Taste of Country. He said that his new single, "Long Hot Summer," has shades of Bryan Adams, John Mellencamp and even AC/DC.

"I never thought that much about John, but [Mellencamp] is a huge influence on me," he said. "I'm thinking of a song like 'Paper in Fire,' or even 'Summer of '69,' and… it's a heartland rocker in that vein. It's probably my AC/DC upbringing. I've always loved 4/4 tunes that are four-on-the-floor and just really want to rock."

He also spoke about the guitarists who had a big impact on his playing, singling out Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. "I've always been drawn to lyrical playing like Mark Knopfler and those long outros he did, like on 'Tunnel of Love,'" he said. "Or those songs that have two parts like 'Layla.' They're not complicated guitar songs but all this raw emotion is right there."
more on this story

The Last Felony Lose Member

(Lifeforce) The Last Felony have announced they are parting ways with drummer Vincent Menard.

Guitarist Dom Grimard comments: "His priorities began to differ from ours while on the road until it became clear to us that he was no longer enjoying the touring lifestyle. He will be playing is last gig on a hometown show Montreal at the Foufoune Electrique on Aug 12 2011 with Misery Index."

"On the same note, TLF lineup has change a little bit in the past year and we never really did an update. Our guitarist Felix Roberge has quit the band almost a year ago just after the release of Too Many Humans. He was suffering of tendinitis in his arm that makes him unable to play our songs anymore. He was soon replaced by Max Gelinas of the Quebec City band Unfallen. Also our bassist Seb Painchaud left the band this past February, mainly for the same reason as Vince is leaving us. He was replaced by David Rousseau also from the band Unfallen."

More including what they are looking for in a replacement... criminals need not apply for The Last Felony

Tedeschi Trucks Band To Rock Conan

Tedeschi Trucks Band will perform their new song "Learn How To Love" tomorrow, July 19 on Conan.

The track comes from Tedeschi Trucks Band recently released debut album, Revelator.

U.S. dates kicked off yesterday in San Diego with the trek culminating with a final show at the Beacon Theater in NYC on Sept 10th. more on this story

Beady Eye Football Anthem

(Gibson) Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye have filmed a video in which they cover the classic ballad "Blue Moon." Why? It's to advertise football team Manchester City FC's new home kit. "Blue Moon" is City fans' own anthem, often sung at matches.

Liam Gallagher (and brother Noel) are both ardent Manchester City fans; other guitar-playing fans include Johnny Marr and The Cult's Billy Duffy.

The video shows frontman Liam kissing the badge on the new shirt of his beloved football team, before he and Beady Eye launch into the song. Their version of the track also mixes into their new single "The Beat Goes On," which will be released on July 18. more on this story

Singled Out: Opensight's Only When

Today Ivan David from Opensight tells us about "Only When" from their album "The Voice Of Nothing". Here is the story:

I used to think that our song 'Only When' wasn't as strong as the rest of the material that I was writing for our record 'The Voice of Nothing'. But as soon as we tracked the whole song we realized that it was very strong, actually. During the mixing process, everyone kept humming it unconsciously after listening to it. 'Only When' proved to be a catchy Opensight song thanks to the main riff and the chorus, and we were so happy with it that we ended placing the song first on the record and choosing it as a 'single'.

Some years ago I was listening to the soundtrack of the Dario Argento film 'Deep Red' and wanted to figure out the chords and catch the particular vibe that the band Goblin gave to the music. The main riff for 'Only When' came from it and I stored it for some time until I came back with ideas for the chorus and the proggy midsection. 'Only When' had a particularly smooth writing process which gives the song a simple feel even if some of the arrangements, chords and time signatures are a bit complex.

The Lyrics deal with isolation, disillusion and the feeling of being incompatible with your own environment. Some phrases are inspired by movies. The line 'Colors are real only when I see them on the screen' is inspired by the movie 'A Clockwork Orange' when the main character Alex states that 'It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen'; and the line 'Able to see when I realize that lights fade too soon' is lifted from a conversation that takes place in the movie 'Peeping Tom', about a serial killer called Mark Lewis who likes to film his victims:

"Mark Lewis: It's no good. The lights fade too soon
Mrs. Stephens: They always do.
Mark Lewis: I... I have to try again.
Mrs. Stephens: What do you think you've spoiled?
Mark Lewis: An opportunity. Now I have to find another one."

For the video we hooked up with the guys from Larissa Moon prod. We used mannequins to create the inert atmosphere (we always wanted to have a video with mannequins as the audience), and used suits and old fashioned instruments for the Reservoir Dogs/Jazz band approach. It was done very carefully. We wanted something different, with a bit of drama and a bit of cinematic quality, which are the aspects we try to evoke with our music. 'Only When' along with its video helps to introduce people to OPENSIGHT. It reveals some of our inclinations and is faithful to what the band is really about.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself with a free download here and watch the video right here!

. First Look: Catnaps

If you could personify the word cute and slap a band along with the image, youd stumble across Catnaps, formerly, When I was 12, of Philly/New Jersey. antiMusic caught up with the band just before they took off their first national summer tour. - Read the full First Look: Catnaps review