It was heavy metal heaven Saturday at the sun-baked Blockbuster Bowl as an estimated 50,000-plus headbangers took in this year’s 12-hour-long edition of OzzFest, featuring a strong roster of young rock outfits and headlined by the granddaddy of metal bands, Black Sabbath. The main stage, the largest of three, got rolling mid-afternoon with Taproot, Mudvayne and former Ozzy Ozbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde offering varied styles of heavy rock under a blinding sun that pushed temperatures to around 100 degrees. Occupying the middle of the day was Crazy Town, whose members sent numerous shout-outs to the other bands on the bill;… Read more »
This ninth edition of the KROQ Weenie Roast, which saw the annual all-day charity festival return to its traditional Irvine home after it was held in Anaheim last year, was largely divided into distinct segments representing two contrasting sides of modern rock music. There were the angry young hard rock bands (Disturbed, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Crazytown), who toiled under the hot afternoon sun, and the superior veteran headliners (Jane’s Addiction, Blink-182, 311, surprise guests Stone Temple Pilots), who brought the better music and benefited from their post-sunset show times. Occupying a mid-day space somewhere between those groupings was the… Read more »
Slipknot have run afoul in a Missouri ballpark, their onstage cussing allegedly despoiling the wholesome name of a Midwest supermarket chain. Ramey/Price Cutter Supermarkets, which owns 29 stores throughout southern Missouri and southeast Kansas, expressed concern following Slipknot’s profanity-laden performance Sunday at Price Cutter Park in Springfield, Missouri. The show apparently offended many neighbors, who filed obscenity complaints with the Ozark Police Department, according to an Associated Press report. A spokesperson for Ramey/Price Cutter president Larry Willis said that the store wishes to meet with concert promoters to decide whether or not it “agrees” with artists booked at the venue,… Read more »
The heavy metal community is uniting to help save one of its own. Death metal forefather Chuck Schuldiner, of the band Death, has been battling a malignant brain tumor for two years, and is currently undergoing expensive experimental treatments in an effort to save his life. So, various artists – including Korn, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kid Rock and Slipknot – are auctioning off memorabilia on Allbeat.com to help Schuldiner’s family pay his medical bills. Since the auction began on June 1, Allbeat.com has received total bids of over $1,000. Among the items for which bids have been placed… Read more »
Capitol recording group OTEP, the provocative Los Angeles-based band whose signing to the label was celebrated with an A-list midnight hour convocation at the Viper Room last month, will join this summer’s all-star OzzFest 2001 lineup, featuring headliners Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and Crazytown. OTEP’s OzzFest 2001 dates, which commence June 8 in Chicago and run through July 13 in West Palm Beach, Fla., coincide with the release of “jihad,” the debut EP by OTEP, whose full-length debut album will follow next spring 2002. OTEP, whose nightly “ritual of mental alchemy” is fronted by the… Read more »
Columbia/Loud Records’ Stereomud will be headlining what promises to be one of the most aggressive, exultant and satisfying underground hard rock tours of the summer: the “Pain & Suffering” Tour featuring Columbia/Dv8 Records’ Endo. The “Pain & Suffering” Tour kicks off Monday, May 21 at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan and will feature either Columbia/Portrait Records’ Spike 1000 or Columbia Records’ Flybanger. Inspiration behind the name of the “Pain & Suffering” Tour can be found in the music of the bands: Stereomud’s current hit, “Pain”; Endo’s first single “Suffer,”; and “Make Me Suffer,” the first single from Spike 1000. Currently… Read more »
Green Day dominated the California Music Awards Saturday night (April 28) at the Henry J. Kaiser Arena in Oakland by earning so-called “Bammies” in all eight categories in which the group was nominated; including artist of the year, outstanding group, and outstanding album for Warning. Bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool both bested all comers in their individual instrument categories, while frontman Billie Joe Armstrong earned outstanding male vocalist honors and songwriting props over Neil Young, Aimee Mann, and others. The group also grabbed the award for outstanding punk/ska album for Warning. Other winners at the 24th annual celebration… Read more »
Following much hemming and boatload of hawing, all is set in stone for Weezer’s many-moons-in-the-making third album. Produced by Ric Ocasek, The Green Album will drop as planned on May 15th, it’s cover art closely resembling that of the band’s eponymous debut (lovingly called “The Blue Album”) – a picture of the foursome against a solid backdrop. The nod to their 1994 nerd-core breakthrough is no doubt intentional, a clear signal that Rivers Cuomo and Co. have returned, at least in part, to the signature neo-New Wave sound somewhat absent from 1996’s poorer-selling second album, Pinkerton. According to a posting… Read more »
July 24 will be ground zero for Slipknot’s as-yet-untitled second album, according to a Roadrunner Records spokesperson. The follow-up to their eponymous 1999 debut was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Ross Robinson. Next week production will move cross-country to New York, where Andy Wallace will start mixing new songs “People Equal Shit,” “The Heretic Anthem,” “Disaster Piece” and just-announced “New Abortion” among other album tracks, with the help of two unnamed band members. The nine masked Iowans, who’ll take to the main stage of this year’s Ozzfest, might also be simultaneously making the club rounds this summer. A tour… Read more »
Forget Punk Goes Pop! YUNGBLUD has released his version of the 1979 KISS classic “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.” The song is set to be featured in The Fall Guy, starring Oscar-nominated actors Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and arriving on May 3. The emotional cover features a black-and-white video posted to his Instagram on Wednesday, May 1. In contrast to the original legendary rock, high-octane sound, Dominic Harrison, aka YUNGBLUD, takes a somber yet sultry approach, leading us to a new perspective of the track. Additionally, the slow-moving beat, paired with softened vocals, ushers listeners in while paying… Read more »
