On November 22, My Chemical Romance will return with their supercharged new album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, and if they seem rather invigorated this time out — what with frontman Gerard Way’s radioactive-red dye job and their newfound affinity for Trans Ams and DayGlo leather jackets — well, they owe it all to one song: the hyperkinetic first single, “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na).”
NEW YORK – Longtime New York radio newsman George Weber was found stabbed to death in his Brooklyn apartment Sunday morning, cops said. The bloody body of Weber, a passionate fan of the city who spent a decade doing local news on WABC morning radio, was found just after 9 a.m. when he didn’t show up for work. “I used to hear his voice in the top and the bottom of the hour. It’s a voice New Yorkers know. Now that voice has been silenced,” said Aaron Katersky, 33, an ABC colleague who found himself covering a friend’s murder. Weber,… Read more »
Los Angeles – Saturday night’s double shot of pop-punk bands Good Charlotte and Sum 41 at the Universal Amphitheater may have been kids’ stuff, but there were plenty of ’em there for it. Taking the closing spot, Good Charlotte was clearly the bigger draw. Screams from the teen and pre-teen girls told the story. The Florida band – especially frontman Joel Madden and his twin brother, singer-guitarist Benji – are the tattooed rock boys you can bring home to mom. There were plenty of moms present, too, with 12-, 13- and 14-year-old daughters in tow. A stage decorated with tombstones,… Read more »
Despite their hackneyed interchangeability, there’s a difference between a rock concert and rock show. Anyone thinking of challenging this should check out a stop on Blink-182 and No Doubt’s monthlong co-headlining trek. Even though they recorded a song called “The Rock Show,” Blink’s set Thursday night at the PNC Bank Arts Center definitely fell on the concert side of the spectrum. Bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge stood dwarfed by the vast, mostly barren stage, save for five trapezoidal video screens positioned behind them. Were it not for a shirtless, mohawked Travis Barker peering down from a massive drum… Read more »
If the 6 million fans who made Avril Lavigne’s first album, Let Go, among the best-selling records of 2002 think they know what makes the 19-year-old rocker tick, they’re just scratching the surface. As her second album’s title, Under My Skin, suggests, Lavigne’s about to show them what lies beneath. “There are some songs that are really deep,” she said. “I have this song called ‘How Does It Feel.’ It’s just a very mature song. Just me stepping back and looking at my life, talking about how I am small and the world is big. I’m a deep person and… Read more »
A near-death experience on his ATV bike has convinced Ozzy Osbourne to take a break from the road. In light of the serious injuries he suffered in last month’s accident, the Prince of F–ing Darkness has decided to scrap a 20-date British tour to give himself more time to recover. “I am deeply disappointed, but it’s out of my control,” the 55-year-old heavy metal icon said in a statement released through his London-based publicist. “Right now I need to concentrate on my recovery and unfortunately this is something I cannot rush.” Osbourne suffered several broken ribs, a fractured collarbone and… Read more »
Just when some old-school Metallica fans were ready to write the band off for crafting St. Anger – which prominently features a snare drum that sounds like a screwdriver hitting a trashcan – and for playing snippets of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and Lenny Kravitz’s “Are you Gonna Go My Way” at the VMAs, the band has redeemed itself. OK, they were doing fine before the VMAs. Few who attended Metallica’s Summer Sanitarium concerts walked away disappointed. The tour featured the band in peak form, bashing out its oldest and heaviest songs. However, a show on Friday for fan club… Read more »
In a year fraught with political turmoil, turbulence and insecurity, music fans turned to their favorite songs to take them away from many of their problems and help them come to terms with others that were impossible to escape. Whether it was Eminem rapping, “Lose yourself in the music,” or Bruce Springsteen singing, “Come on up for the rising/ Come on up, lay your hands in mine,” the messages of unity were universal. At the 45th annual Grammy Awards, held Sunday (February 23) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, apolitical hedonists and social activists alike rallied together to celebrate the… Read more »
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, timber cutters, miners, construction workers and truck drivers face the highest risk of injury on the job. Perhaps the Labor Department would add “musical performer” to that list if it bothered to assign someone to study the goings-on at say, Ozzfest or the Anger Management Tour – or even Britney Spears’ Dream Within a Dream Tour – to take note of the amount of blood spilled and number of fingers/arms/knees/backs injured onstage. While many imagine that a music superstar’s day on the job involves such trappings as free-flowing Cristal, gold grills, hovering hotties… Read more »
No-Cal scenesters, local yokels, friends and even fans of Jason Newsted’s old band showed up in force to witness the launching of Echobrain’s first tour at an all-ages show at the Mystic Theatre. Echobrain, with drummer Brian Sagrafena and singer/guitarist Dylan Donkin, is Newsted’s first steady gig since leaving Metallica in January 2001. The bassist seemed overjoyed at the intimacy of the show, which took place in a small theater in a town known more for its chicken industry than its cosmopolitan culture. “It’s the first day of spring today, and it’s a fresh start for all of us right… Read more »
