Metallica Announce Special Scaled Down Show at Historic Venue

The Apollo Theater is revered for its role in black entertainment history, having through the years featured such legendary figures James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson. In recent years, rock and roll artists such as Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen have appeared there as well. more on this story

Motley Crue To Launch Farewell Tour Next Year

(Gibson) Motley Crue's Vince Neil says recent talk that the band's days are winding down is true. Speaking to Billboard.com, the veteran singer revealed that a farewell tour is being mounted for next year.

"I think we'll start the tour around May—I'm just kind of guessing on that, but in the spring of '14, and we'll do one more time around the world and kind of call it quits," said the Crue frontman.

"It's just that time. We're going out on top. We don't want to be some band that people are like, 'Oh, they're playing a club now,' that kind of band. We still sell out arenas, have stadium stuff and things like that, so let's go out when it's a big deal."

Neil added that new music from Crue would be forthcoming, most likely to accompany the film adaptation of the band's autobiography, The Dirt. The movie is currently in development. "It's going to come out at some point before our tour starts," he said. "We're hoping an early spring kind of thing." more on this story

The Cult Singer Explains Confrontation With Fan

(hennemusic) Last week, Ian Astbury of The Cult stopped the band's show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to address a fan who was filming and texting during the concert, and now the singer is explaining his side of the story in a new interview.

"Initially the guy was filming the whole show — he was filming everything," Astbury tells Vanyaland.com. "When you've got someone visualizing the show through a cell phone, that action spreads out through the crowd. And this genius, first of all, I politely asked him to stop filming; I don't mind if you take pictures, that's cool, filming little bits – but don't film the entire set; enough's enough. At first I was kind of amused, but the next thing, he's texting during a song. That's incredibly disruptive, watching people in the front row so disconnected from the process — not even present. You might as well stay at home."

"I commented to this guy, 'Will you please stop texting?' He didn't pay attention," Astbury explained. "I had water in my mouth, I sprayed it right next to him, and he just exploded — exploded; trying to climb over the barriers, trying to get into a fight with me, he's flipping me off, he's screaming at me, 'F**k you…' And I was just like, 'You're rude. This is our house, you're behaving disrespectfully, you're disruptive, you're affecting the functioning of the whole evening, and you're disconnected — so why bother coming?'" More.

Blink-182 Plan To Release Album Next Year

(Radio.com) Blink-182 are going to release a new album next year. They just have to start writing it first. In the latest issue of Kerrang! (via NME), bassist/singer Mark Hoppus revealed that the trio will release a new album in the "late spring/early summer" of 2014. It would be their first studio album since 2011′s Neighborhoods. Last year, they released the digital EP Dogs Eating Dogs.

The band, which recently turned 21, plans to get in the studio before the end of 2013 to start working on new music. "We haven't thought about any new songs yet," Hoppus told the magazine.

The guys plan to plot things out once they actually get into the same room together, which as Hoppus explained, doesn't happen that often.

"When [we're not touring], Tom lives in San Diego, Travis lives in Los Angeles and I live in London, so we don't really talk all that much," he said. "But then when we get in a room together, it all falls into place and we start making jokes. That's when we start writing songs and reconnecting with everything." more on this story

Roger Daltrey Taking Part in Special Queen Benefit Show

Queen have announced that an special AIDS Benefit show and auction in support of The Mercury Phoenix Trust that will be taking place at One Mayfair in London on September 5th. The band founded the AIDS charity following the death of their singer Freddie Mercury, who died from the disease.

The event will be taking place on what would have been Mercury's 67th birthday and will feature The Who's Roger Daltrey, Melanie C, Alfie Boe and Al Murray with a house band lead by Queen's regular musical director and keyboard player Spike Edney and his All Star band.

The band announce that in addition to the entertainment at the event there will be an auction that will include items like "a signed Katy Perry photo (with Katy dressed as Freddie!), a Taylor Swift signature red guitar and a box for 10 at the Royal Albert Hall. The main prize is a 3 night stay in New York with VIP guest passes to the Tribeca film festival with a meet and greet with Robert De Niro." More details here.

Judas Priest Headed To Rock Camp

(hennemusic) Judas Priest have announced an early 2014 appearance at the Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas for the special event that has been dubbed "Hell Bent For Vegas".

Set for the weekend of February 27, 2014, "Hell Bent For Vegas" will feature four of the five members of Judas Priest (guitarist Glenn Tipton is unavailable).

They will be jamming with camp attendees, along with special guests Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, ex-Ozzy Osbourne), Queensryche singer Geoff Tate, and more. more on this story

Steve Vai's Story of the Light Live TV Special Airing This Weekend

AXS TV will be broadcasting Steve Vai's "The Story of the Light Live" special this Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 8:00 pm ET with an additional encore broadcast on Monday, August 26, 2013 at 12:10 am ET.

The special will feature a concert filmed in Los Angeles on Vai's Story of the Light tour in support of his studio album of the same name. It's unclear from AXS TV and Vai's announcement if this Sunday's broadcast is a rebroadcast of their special from last October which they broadcasted live from the Club Nokia (details about that show here).

His Story of the Light Tour proved so popular with fans last year that Vai has continued the tour this year with the next North American leg set to kick off on October 16th in Santa Cruz, Ca. more on this story

Nirvana Only Got $600 Advance From Original Contact

(Radio.com) In honor of the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's final studio album, In Utero, Sub Pop has been having fun revealing little tidbits about the band.

The latest being the original contract Kurt Cobain and the guys signed back in 1989. Sub Pop posted the document on their Tumblr with the message, "Six hundred bucks well spent—not that we had it at the time."

Yes, the contract reveals that at the time, the young Seattle label signed the band for a mere $600. It also states that Nirvana was signed for one year, with the option to re-up the contract for two more years, with the band agreeing to provide three albums for the label. Of note: that $600 would eventually net Dave Grohl about $225 million or so. More including a photo of the contract.

Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots Lead Soundwave Lineup

Organizers have announced the lineup and details for next year's Soundwave Festival which will be taking place across Australia next February and March.

Green Day lead the lineup for next year's festival. The band was supposed to tour Australia earlier this year but canceled the trek due to frontman Billie Joe Armstrong going to rehab last Fall.

The 2014 Soundwave will have a strong lineup including Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington, Alice In Chains, Avenged Sevenfold, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, Down, Five Finger Death Punch, and Korn.

The festival will also feature performances from Placebo, AFI, Alterbridge, Biffy Clyro, Living Colour, Trivium, Newsted, Rocket From the Crypt, Devildriver, Asking Alexandria, Clutch, Alkaline Trio, Baroness, August Burns Red, Testament, Letlive, Motionless in White, Gwar, Pulled Apart by Horses, Nancy Vandal, Black Dahlia Murder, Finch, Bowling for Soup, Trash Talk, Skindred, Volvbeat, Amon Amarth, Terror, Whitechapel, Tesseract, The Story So Far, Walking Papers, Coliseum, Your Demise, Real Friends, Heaven's Basement and more. more on this story

Skeletonwitch To Join Black Dahlia Murder North American Tour

Skeletonwitch have announced that they will be hitting the road with The Black Dahlia Murder for a North American tour this fall that will also feature Fallujah and other special guests.

The band is embarking on the tour in support of their forthcoming album, "Serpents Unleashed," which is set to be released on October 28th in Europe and the UK and October 29th in North America.

The tour will be kicking off on October 24th at Peabody's Concert Club in Cleveland, OH and the first part of the tour will also feature support from Noisem.

During the second part of the tour, beginning on November 20th in Oklahoma City, OK, Wolvhammer will be taking over the support slot from Noisem.

The tour will wrap up on November 27th at the famed Machine Shop in Flint, MI. Skeletonwitch's Chance Garnette had this to say about the tour:

"We can't think of a better way to release the venom that is Serpents Unleashed than by getting back on the road with our buds in The Black Dahlia Murder. It's going to be a killer tour that you won't want to miss! Don't sleep on this one -- come out and get your face melted!" more on this story

Gwar Pay Tribute To The Late Flattus Maximus With New Album

Metal Blade Records have set a September 17th release date for Gwar's new studio album, "Battle Maximus," which the group's first studio album release since the death of longtime guitarist Flattus Maximus.

"This album is both a tribute to Flattus and a telling of the next chapter in the story of Gwar," says Gwar frontthing Oderus Urungus. "The combo of the brand new album and show should satisfy even the most hardcore Flattus devotee with the fact that Gwar's slay-skills are as supreme as ever, and the band stands poised to embark on our most earth-shattering world tour yet.

"We have mourned, we have honored, and now it's time to f**king Devastate in the name of Flattus and the supreme entity
that is Gwar.

"This is our first record in our brand-new Slave Pit Studios, which Flattus had a lead role in designing, but without him we had no one left to twiddle the buttons, much less play the blazing metal leads and provide the musical direction that rescued Gwar from the depths of clown-band obscurity. I mean, Balsac is no slouch, but Flattus' departure left a huge hole in our band. We had no choice. We had to blow the Horn of Hate..."

New Gwar-tarist, Pustulus Maximus adds, "It is a highlight of my corpse-littered life to join my Scumdog brothers and continue the legendary legacy of the Maximus clan. I am not so happy that Oderus vandalized my space-ship, effectively marooning me on Earth, but f**k it...it's time to ROCK!"

Madina Lake Change Farewell Tour Plans

(TeamRock Radio) Madina Lake have made changes to their farewell UK tour, which kicks off next month. The US band announced earlier this year it was time for them to split up and move on – but that they wanted to first say goodbye to their adopted home country.

Now they report: "It's never easy to make drastic changes to a tour, especially only a month out. We've been put in a precarious position due to circumstances out of our control.

"As some of you may or may not know, Dan and his wife are expecting. Obviously, we're thrilled for them, but it's a circumstance that affects the logistics of our tour.

"We had two choices: do the tour with a hired drummer or adjust the dates to accommodate the needs of Dan and his family.

"Family always comes first, which is why we decided to adjust the tour and is also why we wouldn't do a farewell tour without him." Check out the dates.

The Story So Far Announce Fall Tour

The Story So Far will be hitting the road for a North American headline tour this fall and announced the dates and the various support acts that will be joining them on the trek.

The tour will be launching on November 1st in Santa Cruz, CA at The Catalyst and is set to conclude on December 13th in Santa Ana, CA at The Observatory

The band announced the tour will feature support from Stick To Your Guns, Such Gold, Rotting Out, Souvenirs (11/1 – 11/21) and Heart to Heart (11/22 – 12/13).

The Story So Far will be launching the tour in support of their new album, "What You Don't See," which was released in North America back in March of this year. more on this story

Dinosaur Jr. Telling Their Story in New Book

(Gibson) Alt-rock band Dinosaur Jr. is the subject of an ambitious, limited-edition book. Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr. is being billed as "the first official book to tell the story of the band, by the band."

Led by guitarist-singer J Mascis, the trio formed in the mid '80s and rose to prominence as a favorite of such peers as Sonic Youth, Nirvana and Iggy Pop.

The band is sometimes credited with restoring lead guitar to indie rock--a reputation well-earned, given Mascis's penchant for flavoring his songs with shards of guitar noise and shrieking feedback.

The text of Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr. consists of interviews with band members Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph, as well as former members and long-time friends. Previously unseen photos are also featured. more on this story

UFO Change North American Tour Plans

Veteran hard rockers UFO have announced that they have made some changes and additions to their previously announce North American fall tour.

The trek is now set to launch on October 4th in Poughkeepsie, NY at The Chance and will conclude on October 23rd in Houston, TX at Concert Pub North, according to the latest routing.

Frontman Phil Mogg had this to say about the tour, "USA and Canada tour this October? Are we looking forward to it? Bet your socks we are. So bring your mates, loved ones, earplugs and hangover remedies. UFO will be delivering. See you there!"

The band will be hitting the road in support of their latest studio album, Seven Deadly, which was released in North America in February of last year. more on this story

How The Scream Lost Their Voice To Motley Crue

The latest episode of Talking Metal features an exclusive interview with Bruce Bouillet (Racer X/The Scream) and during the chat he talked about The Scream losing John Corabi to Motley Crue.

Corabi was hired by Motley Crue when Vince Neil left the group (or was fired depending who is telling the story) and the group put out one album with Corabi on lead vocals before the band reunited with Neil.

Bouillet had this to say about the moment he realized that Motley Crue wanted their lead singer, "We were at the point where we were doing pretty well. We had just gotten back from playing the Astoria Theater in London.

"The reception in London was really pretty amazing but in the same sentence, Alderete and myself were hearing the musical change coming. Juan was always interested in the new underground music coming up. I think The Scream would've transformed more into that heavier grungier sound because we were basically laying and sitting on the fence on it already.

"We were driving to what would have been one of our last shows, I'm driving with the bass player, Juan, and we hear on the radio that Vince Neil is out of Motley Crue and we are like 'wow that is pretty big news', you know.

"We get to the gig and there is this big commotion out in the audience and we are getting ready to go on, it is a pretty full club. We look out and it is Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx. I remember Alderete and I looked at each other and said 'we think we know what is going on. ' We wished John all the luck. Those guys are icons and they did an amazing album (referring to the album that Motley Crue did with John Corabi.)" Check out the full interview here.

Strange Karma Asking Fans to Kickstart New Album Completion

Strange Karma have launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to fund the completion of their new studio album, which is being produced by Grammy-nominated producer David Ivory.

The band has completed a majority of the work on the album but has launched the campaign to fund the finishing touches for the new studio effort.

Chipster sent over these details: Depending on their level of support, backers of the project will get rewards directly from band, including album downloads, limited edition CDs and vinyl, as well as chances to party with the band in either the US or Australia.

You can find the Kickstarter campaign page here.

Singled Out: The Hickoids' The Working Man's Friend

Today Jeff Smith of the Hickoids tells us about the song "The Working Man's Friend" from their brand new album "Hairy Chafin' Ape Suit," which was released this week. Here is the story:

Sometime in the last half of the 1980's I was living with Hickoids bass player Richard "Dick" Hays and his wife in South Austin on El Paso Street. Dick was a super sweet guy, soft spoken and a great musician. He was also very stubborn and could be quite the ham.

We were perpetually broke. (We had another tune called "Wishin' For Chicken" about starting a fire in hopes that someone would bring by something to slap on the grill, but that's another story.) One of Dick's erstwhile occupations was flower delivery man which gave him a pretty good knowledge of the city streets and surrounding Hill Country area. He always had some commentary on the landmarks and routes along the way which he delivered with a great deal of authority in his voice.

So, maybe two miles away from our house there was a gas station called "The Working Man's Friend"…I think all they sold was gas and cigarettes, super no-frills. The gas was normally maybe a penny or two cheaper a gallon than everywhere else around. If memory serves gas was somewhere around a buck at this time. Dick insisted on buying gas there even though there were at least three or four stations nearer to us. Also because of our impoverished circumstances it was normally bought in increments of couch change or with pennies, maybe two or three bucks at a time, so the savings was highly negligible.

If this ritual wasn't maddening enough, Dick also insisted on taking what he referred to as a "shortcut" instead of going the direct route that only required one turn. It involved driving the opposite direction about a mile out of the way through multiple stop signs and stop lights.

Dick passed away in 2001. I still miss the sweet and stubborn man. I wish I could take that "shortcut" with him again.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album and find out where you can see the band live right here!

Green Day Pay Tribute to Joe Strummer On His Birthday

(hennemusic) Green Day paid tribute to the late Joe Strummer during their show Wednesday night in London on what would have been The Clash frontman's 61st birthday.

At the O2 Academy Brixton, Billie Joe Armstrong wished Strummer a happy birthday before Green Day tore into "Letterbomb" from the "American Idiot" album.

The Brixton show featured a full run-through of the band's 1994 smash, "Dookie", ahead of performances this weekend at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Check out video of the tribute here.

Katatonia Release 'The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here' Video

(Prog) Katatonia have released a lyric video for their new version of "The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here," featuring guest vocals by The Gathering's Silje Wergeland.

The track comes from upcoming album Dethroned And Uncrowned, which sees the band reinventing the material that appeared on acclaimed 2012 record Dead End Kings.

Guitarist Anders Nystrom says: "Think of the album like a person's face in the hands of a surgeon – their appearance is going to change, but it's still the same person behind that face.

"An important factor is that the surgeon himself is obviously Katatonia, not a stranger! If there's one album in our repertoire that's suited for a thing like this, it's Dead End Kings." Check out the video here.

Joanne Shaw Taylor Releases Track From Upcoming Release

(Classic Rock) Joanne Shaw Taylor has released "Diamonds In The Dirt" a track from her upcoming live album. It's taken from the CD/DVD set which forms part of Ruf Records' Songs From The Road series, and it's released on November 4 to tie in with her tour of England.

The show was recorded at the Borderline in London on May 12 this year, with only one chance to get it right due to her hectic schedule. But despite the stress Taylor says: "I'm really pleased with it – it's everything I wanted it to be.

"My fans have been asking me for a live album for a while now. I'm glad we waited, and didn't do it two years ago, because hopefully I've improved." Check out the song here.

Isolated Vocal Tracks From Pixies' 'Doolittle' Posted Online

(Radio.com) Ever wonder what classic Pixies songs would sound like if you just has Black Francis' vocals? Well, no, why would you wonder that? But hey, thanks to the SoundCloud account IsolatedVocals, you can hear two Pixies songs with isolated vocals anyway.

And it turns out, if you strip these Doolittle tracks of everything but vocals, Black sounds a bit like a mental patient. On "Debaser," he screams maniacally about being an un chien andalusia and it would be best not to question him. Though, there's no shame in giggling as he shouts "debaser" over and over.

And with "Hey," he sounds like one of those guys on the train who doesn't seem to realize how loud he's singing with his headphones on. The near minute of silence in which Black doesn't sing really helps justify the above description. more on this story