Here I am, writing the 2nd part of my Vans.com tour blog!
Jan. 25 – Montreal, QC – Le Medley
Jan. 26 – Quebec City, QC – Theatre Imperial
Jan. 27 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
Jan. 29 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Jan. 30 – Minneapolis, MN – The Rock
Jan. 31 – Winnipeg, MB – The Garrick Centre
Feb. 02 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall Ballroom
Feb. 03 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Events Centre
We had such amazing shows in Canada! Over 5000 metal heads across Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary celebrated the sound of extreme, non-conform, anti-mainstream, in-your-face, brutal rebellion with us. We simply call it Heavy Metal ;-)
Big fat smiles all around. Our brothers in Exodus and Arsis tear up the place so hard every night that its almost too easy for us to bring the house down. We leave nothing but shadows and dust and happy metal hearts behind. We love Canada. Luckily, Canada loves us too!
Thus said, the show at the House Of Blues in Chicago was just incredible too. Crazy vibe, lots of of backstage media frenzy, meeting good old friends.. Fun!
Minneapolis rocked as well! And oh.. we have a lot of ladies at the shows. No sausage fest at an Arch Enemy gig. I got a whole army of brutal chicas behind me, hehe:
Check out some cool footage from the last week:
‘Snowbound + Nemesis’ in Montreal
‘Dead Bury Their Dead’ in Montreal
The Tyrants Of Evil are about to conquer the sold out Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver and then continue down the west coast of the USA:
Feb. 05 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
Feb. 06 – Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market
Feb. 08 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Center @ The Grand
Feb. 09 – West Hollywood, CA – House of Blues
As usual, we will park our busses backstage @ the Commodore Ballroom, also called the ‘crack alley’. Beware the drugged crack zombies walking around and keep the bus door locked at all times! Oh yeah.. Hard drugs turn people into monsters. Don’t do it or you will lose your soul.
I'm about to bring it up again because we have yet another rad track featuring some of our buddies mixed by DJ Teenwolf of Ninjasonik.
I seriously can't remember the last time I wanted to get up and shake my stuff this much. If you are having a party or get together, all you need to do is let this baby play. I'm serious.
The song is called SEX DRUGZ N ALCOHOL and is a sweet danceable mix of:
Soundwavve feat. Ninjasonik - Sex Drugz And Alcohol Buraka Som Sistema - IC19 (Toadally Krossed Out Remix) Kidstreet - Penny Candy The Death Set - Distressed (Bonde Do Role Remix) DJ Teenwolf feat Zelda - Wassshup (demo) Hasil Adkins - Chicken Walk (Dirty Finger Remix) Scott Melker - Give It Up/Push The Feeling Blend Roxy Cottontail - Double Dare (Woo Hoo Remix) Michael Jackson - Workin Day & Night (Funktomas Regroove) What? Cheer Brigade - Saiyan Re Saiyan Ninjasonik - Bastardmore (Shimmy Shimmy Ya Remix) The Death Set - Around The World (Karn Remix) DJ Webstar - Dancing On Me (Morsy Remix) James Nasty feat. Ninjasonik - I Wanna Fuck Ninjasonik - Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant (Gumar's Italo Magic Mix) Hydroponic Sound System - Saturday Night Dread Ludacris - Splash Waterfall Armand Van Helden - I Want Your Soul Mr. Andersonic - Doin Coke, Gettin High Mikix The Cat - Freeze (Kanji Kinetic Remix) Fully Fitted - It's A New Day Neil Young - Rockin In The Free World/Planet Rock (Teenwolf Blend) Sanitgold vs Ninjasonik - L.E.S. Tight Pants Rye Rye vs. Ninjasonik - Hardcore Art School Girls
The track is available to download for free! And as always, from a secure download site- we promise.
And in the instance you sadly missed my lame-o MPFree's joke from my previous post about getting some free tunes, I suggest you get on that.
This spring, we're happy to announce 2 new pairs of Kiss Vans and a super new and super awesome Rise Against slip-on!
Our new Kiss shoes hark back to the "Hotter Than Hell" album artwork and will be available in a SK8-Hi and our classic Slip-On. The hottest part is that sick yellow lining and those purple laces.
The Rise Against Slip-On features the same figure from the "Appeal To Reason" album thrown into a Andy Warhol-ish rendition. No doubt these are going to hit it big this year.
These goodies hit retailers in March. Along with this Kiss collab t-shirt!
Yes, that's right. We've developed the official Warped Tour App available for your iPhone or iPod touch!
The app is packed with features to keep you in the know about everything happening at Warped, help you get prepped for the tour and even let you schedule the bands you want to see with our super sweet set scheduler.
You can also check out all the bands playing the tour (with a convenient link to purchase music from that artist) and view all the dates of the tour that will let you easily see which bands will be at your stop.
Punk rockers Street Dogs will be hitting the studio this month to record their newest release. After wrapping up some extensive touring with The Offspring, Alkaline Trio, Anti-Flag and hitting the UK, the guys seem to be ready to get the tracks they wrote on the road laid down.
If you haven't heard of Street Dogs, you should know they are fronted by Mick McColgan- former Dropkick Murphys singer. And! Rick Barton, original Dropkick guitarist, is going to be producing the album with Street Dogs' bassist Johnny Rioux.
The album will be recorded at the Blasting Room in Colorado. This studio was built by members of the Descendants, All and Black Flag- digging deep into punk rock roots. Basically, I'm just trying to drive the point home that this album will friggin' rule.
Bassist Johnny Rioux says
Our next and fifth record will capture the purest form of the band to date. We are making it as if it were our first record. The punk and hardcore songs will be MORE punk and hardcore. Our Celtic influence and songs will be more Celtic, the folk, folkier and so on. It's almost as if we are making records in the reverse of most bands. Ending up back at square one, and square one never sounded better. Basically, we want to make our new favorite record.
Jump on checking them out and give the video below a peep to see what's in store!
Bad Religion is hitting the big 3-0 and to celebrate has planned a So-Cal tour! Not many bands can make it this far, so what better way to take it all in than some sick shows in the area you got your start?
Singer Greg Graffin says
The greatest feeling about this anniversary is that it is happening at all. I'm mostly uplifted by the fact that a vibrant and evolving punk scene still inspires young people all over the world. If Bad Religion somehow serves as a symbol for the lasting importance of punk, then I am satisfied beyond words by reaching this milestone.
To top it off, we are guaranteed more touring, a new website, special merch and even a new album for 2010! The band is currently writing and planning to record their 15th studio album this spring for a release later this year. Which, most likely, will lead to even more touring!
I'm ecstatic to see these guys still going strong. It takes commitment to still stick it to the man after all this time. The absolutely least we can do is show our support by rocking out at a show!
SO-CAL TOUR DATES (More dates to be added soon) Mar 17 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues Mar 18 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues Mar 19 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Mar 20 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Mar 21 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Mar 24 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues Mar 25 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues Mar 26 - Las Vegas, CA - House of Blues Mar 27 - Las Vegas, CA - House of Blues Mar 31 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues Apr 1 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues Apr 2 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
It's like there's no break when it comes to working on the Warped line up for 2010! There's a new batch of bands who just been added to this summer's festivities:
7 Seconds : 8/11 - 8/15 Anti-Flag : 8/5 - 8/15 Assorted Jelly Beans : 8/11 - 8/15 Brass Tackz : 7/9, 7/10 Death Punch : 8/11 - 8/15 Dirty Little Rabbits : 7/20 - 8/5 Discharge : 6/24 - 6/26 Dropkick Murphys : 8/7 - 8/15 Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide :/9, 7/10 Eddie Rap Life : 8/5 - 8/15 Gardening, Not Architecture : 6/24 - 8/15 ShiraGirl : 8/7 - 8/15 Spinlight City : 7/23 - 7/25 Street Sweeper Social Club : 6/24, 6/25 Swingin' Utters : 6/24 - 6/27 Tess Dunn : 6/26 The Adolescents : 6/24 - 6/27 The Bots : 8/11 - 8/15 The Early Strike : 8/1 - 8/12 The Germs : 6/24 - 6/27 The Jukebox Romantics : 8/7 - 8/15 The Scary Mondelos : 7/1 Walk Off The Earth : 7/9, 7/10
For the full line-up, jump over to WarpedTour.com where you can also find the tour schedule to see when it's coming to your town.
Pre-sale tickets go on sale March 26th. Mark your calender, phone, little sister's journal- whatever you need to remember!
Since 2006, Honus Honus of Man Man has had the idea of working with Islands' Nick Thorburn.
Here we are, 4 years later, and the two have been meeting and writing and working to form what will surely be an epic collab suitably dubbed as "doom wop." They call themselves Mister Heavenly.
See, kids? Dreams do come true! Not for only musicians, but for the rest of us craving something musically new. And I don't know about you, but this new genre or what have you sounds perfect.
To top it off, the guys will be may releasing their tunes for free. According to Honus, they are..
...trying to have fun with it at this point. We don’t want it to get too serious or too involved and anyone to have too high of expectations, because naturally that’s when it gets destroyed. So far so good, it’s been fun. We’re even thinking about maybe doing an album. But just because we only put together four songs and it happened very quickly.
To get the low-down and all the details on the side project, you can catch the rest of the interview with Honus over at YANP.com.
Considering these song-writers, I think we'll be in for something rad. I'm excited to see the outcome of this. Until then, wrapping my head around combining the two sounds is going to drive me crazy...in a good way, mind you.
This is Angela from Arche Enemy checking in from the ‘Tyrants Of Evil US Tour’. We joined forces with Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within and are currently devastating the Northern part of America with our extreme brand of METAL ☺
We all had a rather lame start in Towson, Recher Theatre. Old venue, crap PA, tired audience, all bands struggling with the ‘first show chaos’ and technical problems, haha.. boring.
The show at the TLA in Philadelphia was a lot better and we all felt confident to face the 1700 cap. crowd at the Nokia Theatre in NYC the next day and rock ‘em hard.
All bands get thrown out of the tour bus at 11am in the morning (middle of the night, so to speak) and we all crawl into the venue and to the coffee machine.
Michael and Chris are jamming new and old tunes backstage all day long:
I am snoring on the couch, until Carmine Appice and my metal sis Doro Pesch burst into the backstage room!
Time to hit the stage! We are all massively excited. Just got news this is the biggest metal show in town since months. Hells yeah! Awesome crowd. We are loving it! Fantastic night.
Here are some cool clips from the show:
Nokia Theatre
Beaten and bruised, but happy we throw our corpses into the bus in the morning and drive on to Worcester – The Palladium. 4th show in a row. We are hurting a little.
The Palladium is an old, classic theatre. Big stage, great room, good sound! Exodus are kicking butt and we get the last drops of blood out of the crowd. Hell of a show!
Now we have to face the challenge of the US/Canada border crossing. It will be an 8am misery morning affair as usual. We are certain not to carry firearms, pyros, illegal drugs or dead hookers on board and manage to jump over the fence within 2 hours.
Next report will be from the Canadian carnage shows ☺
The remaining dates are:
Tyrants of Evil Tour
Featuring Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis, and Mutiny Within
Jan. 27 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
Jan. 29 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Jan. 30 – Minneapolis, MN – The Rock
Jan. 31 – Winnipeg, MB – The Garrick Centre
Feb. 02 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall Ballroom
Feb. 03 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Events Centre
Feb. 05 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
Feb. 06 – Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market
Feb. 08 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Center @ The Grand
Feb. 09 – West Hollywood, CA – House of Blues
What goes better with Vans than skate decks? Ok, music of course, but you should know how we feel about skateboarding. Oh hey- how about combining those two?
I just discovered this today and not only do I think it's terribly clever, but flat out awesome. Our friends Millencolin paired up with Sweet Skateboards to release their own "Polarbeer" skate deck. Get it? They are from Sweden. Who say "bear" like "beer." Get it!?!? I love it.
So you may be asking yourself "what would go perfectly with this deck?"
SHABLAM!
Yes, those are in fact Millencolin Vans. They are a Chukka Boot with embroidery on the back. That feeling you're experiencing right now is called total shoe lust. Don't worry- I go through it daily.
Now, where you can get these items I think is left up to you. The skateboard is available through a Swedish website and the shoes are limited. If you are lucky enough to have already snagged these, kudos. For the rest of us, the hunt shall begin!
Shadows Fall, Lamb of God and Hatebreed have all been busy the past few months...
Shadows Fall has had a merch design contest at the end of last year, already planned a tour for this spring, and, most recently, just released their track "Still I Rise" available for download on Guitar Hero. Careful...it's blatantly been added to give you a thrash challenge!
Lamb of God I'm sure is sitting tight while waiting for the Grammy's next week after their nomination for Best Metal performance. 2009 brought for them not only the Grammy nod, but also a lengthy fall tour and a platinum selling DVD, too. Needless to say, 2010 will undoubtedly be good to the guys.
As for Hatebreed, we are wishing them the best at the moment. Frontman Jamey Jasta has been ill and the band unfortunately had to drop a few shows for the Black Procession tour. They'll jump back on January 29th and let's hope Jasta's back in full force- especially since they have a full spring head of them!
The relation? They'll all be hitting the road together later this year on the Mayhem Festival. These bands are all going to give you an awesome performance, and if you aren't already listening to any and all of them, what are you doing with your life!?
For all of our avid readers, I'm sure you recall the posts about Dillinger Escape Plan writing and their fun video updates from the studio. Well, now we can go ahead and hear what all of their hard work has brought us!
DEP's new album Option Paralysis isn't due until March 23, but we can grab the album's first single "Farewell, Mona Lisa" on iTunes or Amazon.com. It was released earlier this week and is already making some headway on the digital charts.
Since I know you just downloaded the single and are amped for the album, you can pre-order it in iTunes, too!
As with any new release, the guys also have a very, very busy schedule ahead of them with touring. They are kicking off in the beginning of February and will carry all the way through August- so that means you have a few times to catch them this year. There's also a US headlining tour in the works for March and April, so we'll get the details to you as soon as we know them!
Our buddies have so gracefully given us an entire CD's worth of remixes and other tracks. The mix-tape...err...mix-CD is called STRICTLY FOR MY HIPSTAZ and features tracks from our generous Brooklyn duo, remixes of their songs, their remixes of other songs and tunes from some rad artists. Grab the album here for free (we promise it is a safe download link) and don't forget to share it with your friends...because it'll be totally legal! They are like MPfree's!
Ok...that was a bad joke. But here's the tracklist:
Duck Sauce - aNYway (Ninjasonik's Boosted Hot Sauce Mix) Udachi & Jubilee - Paypur (Ninjasonik Remix) Major Lazer VS Ninjasonik - Pon De Floor vs Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant Major Lazer - Pon De Floor (Ninjasonik Remix feat. Tasleems and MNDR) Johnny Nelson & Ease Da Man - Watch Yo Girl Theophilus London - Humdrum Town Ninjasonik - She's My Pharmacist Q Lazarus - Goodbye Horses Abstract Truth - (We Had) A Thing (Matty's Body & Soul Remix) Kenna - Say Goodbye To Love (Ninjasonik Remix) Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (Ninjasonik Remix) AC Slater feat Ninjasonik - Take You Ninjasonik & Kicks Like A Mule - It's Ok (Extended Mix) Mr. Starcity - Welcome To Starcity Ninjasonik feat Ease Da Man - NOFUNFORUGLYGIRLS Memberz Only - Fuck Outta Here Johnny Nelson feat Ninjasonik - Put Em In A Bodybag
We just got word that Shadows Fall will be heading Canada for the first time in February and March. It's a full fledged tour kicking off in Calgary and spanning through to Quebec City. Front man Brian Fair said:
All of us in Shallows Fall are very excited to finally be heading to Canada for a full headlining tour!! We look forward to rocking with all the metalheads in the great white north and sharing a few extra strong beers with you all!!
Not in Canada you say? Oh not to worry, my children. Shadows Fall will wrap up a tour in the states before crossing the boarder. And tickets? Check out this sweet deal! The band is offering a VIP ticket pack that includes:
-General Admission Ticket -Pre-show meet and greet with Shadows Fall 30 minutes before doors -SF Laminate -Choice of "Retribution" on CD or limited edition VINYL (sick!) to be picked up at show -An autographed Shadows Fall Poster -Access to a fan photo pass (limited to first 4 requests per show) That's honestly one of the coolest ticket packages I've ever come across. 6 shows have already sold out of them, so if you want it, you better get your grubby hands clicking while you still have time! Don't forget you gotta register before you can get them
Be sure to check out the tour when it comes through your town, or province, and if you are one of the lucky 4 to get a photo pass, we'd love to check out your shot!
SHADOWS FALL US TOUR (w/ Five Finger Death Punch, Throwdown and 2 Cents) 1/21 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues 1/22 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues 1/23 Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues/Mandalay Bay 1/24 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater 1/26 Houston, TX @ House of Blues Houston 1/27 McAllen, TX @ McAllen Convention Center 1/28 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit 1/29 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas 1/30 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues 1/31 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade 2/2 Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom 2/3 Greenville, SC @ The Handlebar 2/4 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar 2/5 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance 2/6 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium 2/8 Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club 2/9 Jacksonville, NC @ Hooligan’s Music Hall 2/10 Huntington, WV @ Club V 2/11 Buffalo, NY @ Town Hall 2/12 Flint, MI @ Machine Shop 2/13 Dayton, OH @ McGuffy’s House of Rock 2/14 Sauget, IL @ Pop’s 2/15 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room 2/16 Rapid City, SD @ Rushmore Plaza Civic Center 2/17 Billings, MT @ Shrine Auditorium 2/19 Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory 2/20 Chico, CA @ Senator Theater 2/21 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater SHADOWS FALL CANADIANTOUR 2/24 Calgary, AB @ Republik* 2/25 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite* 2/26 TBD2/27 Regina, SK @ The District* 3/1 Winnipeg, MB @ WECC* 3/2 Thunder Bay, ON @ The Roxy* 3/4 Toronto, ON @ Opera House 3/5 London, ON @ Music Hall 3/6 TBD 3/7 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks 3/8 Montreal, QC @ National 3/9 Quebec City, QC @ Imperial
Mike Herrera has been busy with his latest endeavor Tumbledown- a folk Americana/alt country quartet who has been blending old school riffs and twangs harking back to Hank Williams and Johnny Cash with the punk mentality of his other, more known band MxPx. It's practically the perfect concoction.
They made a guest appearance on Warped Tour last summer and since then I've been waiting to see them again. Thankfully, the band has just announced a tour across the mid and far west that shouldn't go unattended. Really- any band who offers shotglasses as merch deserves to be checked out (sorry, but they are actually sold out of them at the moment).
Fri, March 05 Somewhere, WA @ TBA
Sat, March 06 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Sun, March 07 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Tue, March 09 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
Wed, March 10 Colorado Springs, CO @ Triple Nickel Tavern
Fri, March 12 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
Sat, March 13 Kansas City, KS @ The Riot Room
Sun, March 14 Fayetteville, AR @ George's Majestic Lounge
Tue, March 16 Austin, TX @ End Sounds SxSw Pre-Party
Wed, March 17 Hot Springs, AR @ Valley of the Vapor Festival
Thur, March 18 Dallas, TX @ The Doublewide
Fri, March 19 Austin, TX @ Plush- 1pm
Fri, March 19 Austin, TX @ The Coffee House
Tue, March 23 San Antonio, TX @ TBA (Date Subject To Change)
Have you heard that the one and only Vans Warped Tour has had another band announcement? Get ready for a sick old school stage in the works, some more punk and a little more ska. We are getting everything fleshed out very nicely!
Agent Orange (8/11, 8/12, 8/14, 8/15)
Angry Samoans (6/25 - 6/27)
Automatic Loveletter (whole tour)
Cobra Skulls (8/7 - 8/15)
Deas Vail (8/1 - 8/15)
Dickies (6/24 - 6/27)
Die Mannequin (6/27 - 7/8)
Face To Face (whole tour)
Fear (6/24 - 6/27)
Four Year Strong (whole tour)
Green Jello (8/11, 8/12, 8/14, 8/15)
Hope For AM (6/27 - 7/3)
Hot Chelle Rae (7/17 - 8/2)
Ice Nine Kills (7/21 - 8/1)
Left Alone (whole tour)
Longway (8/5 - 8/15)
Mike Posner (whole tour)
Neo Geo (8/7 - 8/15)
Our Last Night (8/7 - 8/15)
The B Foundation (8/11 - 8/15)
The Bouncing Souls (6/26, 6/29 - 7/11)
The Downtown Fiction (7/7 - 7/16)
The Fabulous Rudies (8/7 - 8/15)
The Mighty Regis (6/24 - 7/22)
The Sparring (whole tour)
The Untouchables (8/11, 8/12, 8/14, 8/15)
This Time Next Year (8/2 - 8/15)
Victory In Numbers (7/1 - 7/8)
Aaaaand considering all of these announcements, I think it's about time we caught up. You can join me in a web-chat via the Warped Tour Stickam to talk about bands, the past and upcoming summer, questions you already have...you know...everything Warped. Oh- and of course Vans, too!
Tune in on this Friday, January 15th, at 7pm EST/4pm PST.
I hope you've heard of Ninjasonik. I just discovered this pretty sweet Soundkeepers remix of their track "With the K not the C." Oh- and check this out. You can download it for free!
Motion City Soundtrack is obviously getting stoked about their album release- and I believe I can speak for everyone else when I say we are just as excited. It doesn't help that they've been a bigger tease than that cheerleader from high school but tonight, my friends, we can get our MSC full throttle.
Tonight at midnight, the band's MySpace will have the highly anticipated "My Dinosaur Life" streaming in it's entirety. Start to finish, track by track, we can finally piece together all of these snip-its and videos and discussions and perplexities that we've been so thoughtfully handed thus far. The album will be released on January 19th and is still up for pre-order. That Deluxe Edition looks gnarly! 6 vinyls?! Surely you jest.
If you still don't know if you want to join the listening party tonight, you silly thing, you can not only preview a track, but check out their newest music video from the album below.
And what's this!? You are touring soon, too? You never stop giving, Motion City.
Totally Michael has a new music video for his infectiously catchy tune "Summertime." Have you heard of not only this song, but Totally Michael himself? If you don't feel like dancing maybe you should wait until you have ample room to shake your bum.
Warm up from these record setting lows with this video to remind you of all the fun-filled memories of summer...like wizards, hot dogs playing drums and chicks eating chicken legs!
This is my first blog for the Vans site, so I guess I should take some time and introduce myself. My name is Joel, I play guitar and sing for the Speed Metal band Toxic Holocaust. I live in Portland, Oregon, but I'm originally from the east coast. I've been into Metal and Punk music since before I was a teenager. Some of my favorite bands are Accept, Kreator, Sodom, Venom, Discharge, Exploited, Bathory, Motorhead and AC/DC.
For my first blog I've decided to do a year end recap of 2009. I'm sitting here cranking the Blackfoot “Strikes” record while trying to make some sense of it all....it was a very chaotic and eventful year that's for sure!! A lot of people have dubbed us the hardest working or most touring band in Metal, while I'm not sure if that's true we definitely toured our asses in 2009! We played a grand total of 188 shows and did tours with 3 Inches of Blood, Napalm Death, Hatebreed, Satyricon, Goatwhore and Black Dahlia Murder to name a few. To actually call Portland home is a misnomer, I should call “wherever our van is currently parked” home.
The year started of with a (head)bang! We kicked 2009 off by touring with our friends in 3 Inches of Blood and Early Man down the west coast. It was a short run but it really was one of those situations where each show was better than the last. 3 Inches can definitely pack a club and their fans were very receptive to us. Plus partying with them and Early Man is always a good time. Highlights of this tour were the Bellingham, Washington show (where each member of Toxic did stagedives during the 3 Inches set and had the bruises the next day to prove it) and the Chain Reaction show in Anaheim, CA.
(Anaheim Pics - Photos by Angela Boatwright)
Up next was the totally raging Scion Fest show @ the Masquerade in Atlanta, GA. So many cool bands like High on Fire, Kylesa, Converge, Evil Army, Neurosis and many many more. And it was FREE!! The energy from the crowd was insane at this show, one of my favorites all year!
In March we got the offer to come to Mexico. It was our first time playing there. What can I say? UNREAL! The crowds and energy were nothing like I have ever experienced. The first show was in Monterrey and it was a fest type show with a ton of cool local bands. One of them was Holocausto Nuclear who had a 15 year old guitar player that can out shred anyone I know. We played in an old gym, on top of a makeshift “stage” in the middle of a basketball court. It was packed. Actually, now thinking of it, maybe it was an active gym because our drummer got a basketball to the head mid song! HAHA!! I remember the lighting being so bad that I couldn't see my frets....or the stagedivers. Needless to say, there was some close calls. The second show was Mexico City where we played with 1349 and Grave. This show was huge! Lots of circle pitting and diving. Our stage monitors were feedbacking so much that our bass player Phil and I both got vertigo from the piercing sound. Phil actually unplugged all of them because it was so loud. I had never seen so many Toxic Holocaust bootlegs in my life: Bumper Stickers, Patches, Posters, Shirts, Hats, Lighters (!), wrist bands, etc., etc. It was pretty rad actually.
(Photo Top: that gymnasium in Monterrey, Photo Bottom: The gym filled up)
(Photo Top: a small sample of the bootlegs that were made, Photo Bottom: Mexico City maniacs)
(Live video in Mexico City)
After we got back from Mexico it was time time to shoot our second video for the song “Nuke the Cross”. Being drunk and playing with fire is always fun. We shot this totally DIY. My roommate Jaime Robillard directed and my other roommate and tour manager Dave Schiff was a “technical adviser”. The video took two days to shoot and we did it in two locations just outside of Portland. I really can't believe we didn't get arrested shooting this. Oh yeah, and MTV banned it. I guess it's because the opening scene shows my arm lit up in flames and I was breathing fire, but what didn't end up making it to the video was a funny incident with a gas can and my leg getting caught on fire too...
After the video shoot we did a short headlining run down the west coast to meet up with Carcass in San Francisco @ the Grand Ballroom. The band before us went over their set time so we got screwed and had a 20 minute set. Kinda sucked, but it was cool to see Death Angel and Carcass. After this show we did a another show with Carcass, but this time it was at the California Metal Fest in Anaheim, CA. Some of the bands that night were Suffocation, Exodus and Repulsion (!!!!).
(Clip from the California Metal Fest)
After this, we toured with Napalm Death, Trap Them and Coliseum across the U.S.A. The Napalm guys are super cool, and it was awesome to have Trap Them and Coliseum on this tour. Everyone got along super well and the new Napalm record “Time Waits For No Slave” rules!
(I'm smelling Barney from Napalm's hand I guess??!)
Canada, O Canada. I love touring Canada! We always have a blast up there. Good shows, good beer, hot girls. What more do you want? We did something not a lot of bands do: toured Canada for a month straight. We hit a lot of places that most bands don't go and it seemed like they really appreciated it. Favorites included Halifax, Moncton, Prince George and Victoria. We played dates with bands like Cauldron, Iron Giant and Hellacaust.
(Photos Top and Bottom: Canadian BBQ!)
Toxic Holocaust, touring with Hatebreed?!? That was the reaction from a lot of people. But ya know what?? F**K 'em. I will always do what I want regardless of what people say. The crowds at these shows were definitely hard to win over. Sometimes it worked other times it didn't. To be honest the best part of this tour was just getting to hang out with Hatebreed on their bus and crank tunes. Every night was total debauchery!
(Photo Top: A typical night on the Hatebreed tour, Photo Bottom: Phil beer bonging whiskey)
Then, all the way from Norway comes Satyricon. This was a tour I was looking forward to for a while. This was a good fit for us and the last two Satyricon's records are so good! I like the Black Rock 'n Roll direction they have went into. The shows were small but the people at them were true metalheads. Plus I got to see Satyricon every night.
(We played an unannouced gig with D-Clone from Japan in L.A.)
Almost directly after the tour with Satyricon ended we went right into our tour with Black Dahlia Murder, Skeletonwitch and Trap Them. Black Dahlia fans are young and energetic and came to have a good time. This was a good tour for us, seems like we corrupted a bunch of kids, which is always a good thing! Highlights were Halloween night in Augusta, GA where we dressed up as ZZ Top and Black Dahlia dressed up as the Village People, and the show in the Christian run venue in Nashville that made national news because of the controversy we caused. Read about that here: http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundcheck/2009/10/christian-club-rocketown-plays.html
(This is the news report about the show)
(And this is what we did at the show......had our tour manager dress up as the devil)
Also on this tour I got my first of three yellow guitar cabs from Emperor. I got turned onto Emperor Cabs from Brian of Trap Them and Ryan of Coliseum on the Napalm Death tour. They sound amazing and they build 'em anyway you want. They are made in Chicago and the guys running it are super rad. Support these guys!
(Emperor building my cab)
The night after this tour ended we went up to Canada with Black Dahlia to play at the Trois-Rivières Metal Fest, so intense!!
About 2 weeks after that we flew to Helsinki, Finland to do a one off show before our Euro Tour with Goatwhore and Skeletonwitch. There was a rumor that I was mad at the 20 or so kids who came up on stage with us at the end and were headbanging, to clear it up, I thought it was hilarious and awesome. I wasn't mad at all. I actually thought it was pretty cool.
The Euro Tour with Goatwhore and Skeletonwitch was amazing. It was the first time we'd been to Europe since 2006. So many good shows and played a lot of places we didn't hit last time. Highlights include Poland, Czech, and France. Thanks to all my old and new friends from over there for making it so good! Also, this was the last tour of the year and I'm glad it ended on such a high note.
As you can see, 2009 was insane!! And averaging one hotel every two weeks, our van really was our home. In reality this is just scratching the surface, there was so many crazy one off shows, basement shows, warehouse shows etc. Let's hope that 2010 brings more good times!
In case anyone is wondering here are the dates of these tours:
3 Inches of Blood/Early Man Tour: Jan. 10 – Jan. 24 Scion Metal Fest: Feb. 28 Mexico shows: March 06 and 07 Carcass show: March 26 California Metal Fest (with Carcass, Exodus, Repulsion): March 28 Napalm Death Tour (with Trap Them and Coliseum): April 10 – May 18 Canadian Headlining Tour: May 21 – June 19 Hatebreed Tour: July 31 – Sept. 02 Satyricon Tour: Sept. 25 – Oct. 10 Black Dahlia Murder Tour: Oct. 13 – Nov. 13 Trois-Rivières Fest: Nov. 14 Helsinki, Finland: Nov. 26 Euro Tour (with Goatwhore and Skeletonwitch): Nov. 27 – Dec. 19
I recently caught up with Trash Talk's front man Lee Spielman to catch up with what's going on now, the US punk/hardcore scene compared to the US and exactly why you should check out his band. And who listens to Lady GaGa!? Thanks again Lee for taking some time out of touring to talking with us!
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So let's start out with what you guys are doing at the moment! You are on tour with my friends Gallows in the UK and they tell me the tour is going well. What's it like for you guys?
We actually just got home to California last night from the UK just in time for Christmas with our families! The tour with Gallows was so rad. We got to play to a bunch of new people who probably would have never heard of us if it wasn't for that tour. Playing to a new audience is the best. It's like starting over from scratch. We went down pretty well with all of their fans and what not so it worked out perfect. Touring with Gallows was super easy too because we all clicked right off the bat. It was like we've known each other forever or something haha. Touring with people you actually like to hang out with/get along with makes tour so much better.
I've also heard your live show is intimidating even Gallows fans. I know their antics are pretty intense, so what is it you guys are bringing to the table?
Haha we definitely scared a few people over there in the UK. When we play we just go for it 100%. There is no reason not too. It's hard for me to get into a band that doesn't give it their all when they are playing. Why should anyone be into a band that doesn't even seem to be into the music they are playing? We all feel that we should put 100% into everything we do with this band. Live show included... even if that means flipping your body off of everything in the building and throwing your guitar to the back of the room.
I've seen you have a release Eyes & Nines planned for 2010. Can you tell us a little more about that? What else do you have going on for next year?
We just finished recording our new LP "Eyes & Nines" with Joby Ford of The Bronx right before we left for the UK. The record is in the mixing stages right now. The final recording should be in our hands within the next few days. We are all super excited about this record. It's the first time that we have actually taken longer than 2 days to record a record! We took our time writing this record/recording it and I think it'll show. There are tons of surprises all over the record that will throw you for a loop. I think it is our best shit to date. It should be out sometime early [this] year. Keep your eyes and ears open for more details on that as they come. After the record comes out we plan on hitting the road full force like we always do. In 2010 I would love to hit Australia/Japan/Europe again plus some new places like Afghanistan and Africa.
What's the hardcore/punk/music scene like in Sacramento? Seems like you've been in the UK for the most part lately as well- how does that compare to the music scene in the States in general?
I honestly can't speak on the music scene in Sacramento that much because I'm barely ever here! We are on the road more than we are home as of late but there are tons of shows that go on here in Sacramento. There seems to be a solid scene with a good amount of bands and people working hard to keep it afloat. Northern California in general is always on top when it comes to hardcore/punk in California! The music scene in the UK/Europe is so different than the scene over here in America. It seems like people over in Europe are so much more pumped when bands come through because it doesn't happen all the time. Here in America it seems like people kinda take shit for granted sometimes cause they get to see every band they want too all the time. Both places are awesome in their own ways.
On a personal note, what music are you guys into? Do you typically listen the type of music you write?
Haha our music tastes are all over the board. It's insane! Our guitar player Garrett listens to a lot Soul/R&B/Rap. He actually just made a sweet soul mix tape for our friends clothing company Actual Pain(www.actualpain.org). You can download it for free from our blog(www.trashtalkca.blogspot.com). I highly recommend checking it out if you like groovin. Our bass player Spencer only listens to David Bowie/Little Boots. Our drummer Sam listens to a lot of different music. It's hard to put my finger on all of the shit he listens too. I exclusively listen to Tegan & Sara/Lady GaGa haha (joking.. kinda). It's pretty wild that our band sounds the way it does with all of the shit we listen too. I would like to think that we take influence from tons of different styles of music and create our own sound out of that.
Who are some of your favorite people you've worked it? Be it label-mates, who you've toured with, became friends, etc. etc.
This is such a hard question! I love most of the people we have worked with in one way or another. I would have to say my favorite person we have worked with would be Keith Morris (Circle Jerks/Black Flag). Having that dude sing on our record was gnarly. I've been listening to his music for a long time so to have him come into the studio and work with us was insane.
And of course I have to ask- if you could pick one style of Vans to live in the rest of your life, which would it be?
Vans Half Cabs! My favorite skate shoe of all time! Real shredders know what's up.
Let's wrap up with 3 reasons someone should check out your band.
1. It's a different experience every time. No two shows are the same when it comes to the crowds and us. 2. We are on tour for about 80% of the year so there is no reason you shouldn't come check us out when we come through your town!. Chances are we will probably be coming through pretty soon. 3. We know how to party.
As always, give them a listen. And luckily for you, Trash Talk will be heading out again soon (in the US) with Anti-Flag and Cancer Bats. It's a small run, but that's a tour you don't want to miss if it's coming near you.
1/19/2010 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater 1/20/2010 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon 1/22/2010 - Hollywood, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater 1/23/2010 - San Diego, CA @ Soma 1/25/2010 - Tempe, AZ @ Clubhouse 1/27/2010 - Austin, TX @ Red 7
Mike Muir of Suicide Tendencies was cool enough to take some of your questions via Twitter just for Vans! If you've ever wondered what makes him angry, what he thinks about Senses Fail's cover or what his take on the future of cholo metal, I suggest checking out our videos. And though there are many, they are a fun, short watch.
We started this a week or so ago and I can say it's gotta be one of the coolest things ever...
We have a massive digital billboard space up in Times Square New York. If you're familiar with it, it's across from MTV. What goes up on this space, you say? YOU DO! We are letting you post YOUR photos with YOUR messages to be displayed in one of the busiest places on the planet! Crazy, right?! We even give you a photo to prove that you were up! We are giving you a 37.5 x 25.8 foot space to say whatever you want.
Sign up and upload here! Or if you don't want to register you and send us an email at BeHere@Vans.com. The message goes in the subject line and should be no longer than 160 characters. If you attach a photo, it should be no bigger than 5mb. Of course, all content is subject to approval.
Have fun and go to town- and get your face HUGE at New Years!
Aquabats, we love you. And we think you love us, too. Know why?
Because you are throwing free music our way! The Aquabats have 2 free Christmas tracks available for download straight from their website. And now, here. To get them, just right click and "save link as" for the freebie MP3s.
The first is a cover of the 1980's Lyndsey Buckingham jam HOLIDAY ROAD. To jar your memory, this is the theme song of National Lampoon's Family Vacation...yes, that toe-tapper! The second track, produced by Warren Fitzgerald of the Vandals, is SANTA CLAUS'S PARTY. Who doesn't want a little ska on this Christmas Eve?!
And lastly, because the guys are so considerate, they are wishing everyone their respective holidays wishes:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great.
Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.
You guys make me happy...and laugh lots. And for the readers who for some reason are hesitating to download music we are throwing at you, feel free to preview it below!
The Bouncing Souls are going to have an Asbury Park, NJ screening for a special sneak preview of the new documentary. The film features a behind-the-scenes look at The Gold Tour with tons of never before seen footage. Keep in mind it will be a "rough cut" of the editing process- so you may get the chance to see footage that doesn't make it to the final draft! This is a one time showing on Dec 29th at 3pm. Tickets are on pre-sale for $10.
If you can't make the 29th, on Dec 27th there will also be a screening of the "Do You Remember? 15 Years of the Souls" documentary at 3pm. Tickets are also on pre-sale for $10. The band will there to have a Q and A after the showing.
Both event details and tickets can be found on The Showroom's website. Not only can you check out both of the movies, but feel free to see the band perform later that night! The Souls will have their 4 last dates of the year at Stone Pony.
12/26 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony, w/ Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, Detournement 12/27 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony, w/ The Pietasters, Worthless United, Dave Hause (of The Loved Ones) 12/28 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony, w/ Bayside, P.O.S., Static Radio NJ 12/29 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony, w/ Chuck Ragan (acoustic), Screaming Females, The Night Brigade
Check out the trailer for the "Do You Remember?" documentary below and see what you can look forward to! Lucky, lucky East Coast!
Despite the buys year for The Devil Wears Prada in 2009, the band have already been working on new material for a late-2010 album release.
Guitarist Jeremy DePoyster has said:
We are working on stuff right now, and I want to put the right amount of time into it since there was pressure and eyes on our current record. There will be more pressure and eyes on the next record to see if we can keep doing it.
We're still writing and have tours planned, so hopefully we can find some studio time. It's a little early to say. We'll see. We spend so much time on the road and working together that it's like we find time. We already wrote some songs, and Chris [Rubey] has been writing on his laptop. I'll chime in, change parts or record vocals. We have a mobile setup.
What we did last time was take six weeks before a tour, met four or five times a week, and six weeks after a tour, five or six days a week and cracked down. We rented a warehouse space and wrote everything. We will do the same thing this time. That environment creates more of a vibe than demos on laptop.
Sounds like the guys have it under control. And in terms of pressure? I totally believe it. Their popularity grew throughout the summer as seen on Warped Tour alone. I say there's quite a bit of work ahead of them, but I know it's a release people are excited for.
The bands for 2010 for the Vans Warped Tour have been announced today! The line is looking good, bringing back some oldies but goodies and mixing them with some great newcomers that you guys will be jazzed about! No word on ticket sale date, but keep an eye out for it. Warped's going to be crazy this go around!
I went ahead and brought the rest of the line up to you:
...is actually happening. I think a few people died or at least crapped their pants when this was announced.
This is actually the first time in history this has ever happened. Think you can handle this...?
Metallica+ Slayer + Megadeth + Anthrax will be on tour together.
MIND = BLOWN
They are on the bill for Sonisphere Festival 2010 which as of now is scheduled for 15 dates throughout Europe for June, July and August of next year. I can't even tell you how much tickets are because the currency varies across the board, but they are all well over $200...assuming you can find any left at face value.
Megadeath's Dave Mustaine says these shows will be
a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity for heavy metal 'fans' to see the four greatest heavy metal 'bands' in American history back together on one stage. If there are any heads left at the end of this Festival that haven't banged, they don't belong there.
There's speculation if the four will do a US tour together. Right now signs point to we-haven't-the-slightest-idea-but-really-want-it-but-it-will-probably-be-too-good-to-be-true. Considering Megadeth and Slayer will be touring together soon and Metallic have toured extensively in 2009, I say it's a long shot. Here's to hoping...and thankful I have strong ties in the UK.
Europe, enjoy your envy from the rest of the world.
I had the privilege of talking with hip-hop artist Stef Alexander, better known as P.O.S., today about his current tour, punk rock band, and ideal pair of Vans.
P.O.S. is currently in the running for Spin's Best Rap Artist of 2009. Pretty sweet, huh!? Vote for him everyday until the poll closes on January 5th. He's actually beating Jay Z, Little Wayne AND Kayne West. He deserves it- so grab your friends and let's keep him #1 in the ranks.
And if you're lucky, there's one week left to catch P.O.S. on the PacSun tour with Saosin, InnerPartySystem and Eye Alaska:
Mon/12-14 McAllen, TX @ Las Palmas Race Park Tue/12-15 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit Thu/12-17 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre Fri/12-18 Phoenix, AZ @ The Marquee Sat/12-19 San Diego, CA @ Soma Sun/12-20 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
Before I was the Vans music blogger, I was the Pit Reporter for Warped Tour. I have the first big announcement for the tour already! I'll be back in 2010 as your trusty pit reporter bringing you all the latest and daily news, photos and videos from the pit. I can't wait to take this upcoming summer and top everything I did last year. I'm ready to start now with your questions, thoughts and ideas of what you want to see for the tour, so bring it on!
First off, welcome to our new site over at vanswarpedtour.com! We've integrated videos and photos more so you can keep up with our content even easier. Sweet, huh? Plus we already have the dates up for next year, too. This is just the beginning of the new year.
But more importantly: BANDS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON DECEMBER 18TH! Yeah- I said Dec 18th. Yeah- that's not far away at all. It seems unreal that we've got all of this ready for you this quickly, but like Kevin said last day of tour- as soon as it's wrapped up, he's already working on the next year.
So here's to the new year and I look forward to talking to all of you guys again!
I'm taking a break from the artist news today for some serious music news going down right now.
Universal, Warner, Sony BMG and EMI are being sued for piracy.
Seriously! The big 4 are being taken down by a group of Canadian artists who are taking a stance against the major labels using songs without permission, like putting a track on a compilation CD without asking the band first. The suit as it stands right now is over a huuuuge 300,000 tracks. That's $6 billion in damages.
The majors have actually admitted to owing $50 millon for artist infringement. (full story)
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Now, let's open this up as a forum because I want to know your thoughts. Personally, I'm torn.
A: An artist should in fact have a say in what ways their songs are used. Absolutely. They retain rights, unless of course it is a work for hire, but we aren't taking about those. We are talking about bands, writing songs and not having a say in where those songs end up. That's wrong.
However!
B: It's a label's job to promote those songs. They sign an artist to market and promote that artist for record sales. Adding a track to a comp, commercial, video game, whatever is going to expose the artist to a variety of audiences. They will be heard- which can result in interest of the artist, and then in eventual album sales.
The relationship with bands and labels is continually changing. No doubt. I wonder what effect this can have on the entire label industry? Chime in.
Guess what East Coast? We get a sweet Christmas party! The Baltimore Bass Connection presents XMas Part 6: CHOPPED AND SCROODGED taking place this year on Christmas Eve's Eve. Don't think too hard kids- its just December 23rd. There's a sweet bill of artists performing, including our buddies The Death Set and Ninkasonik, as well as some sick DJ sets. According to Spin Magazine, it's the "funnest party in America" so it should be good! I just may be taking the trek up there to partake in the festivities myself.
The party will be held in honor of original Death Set member Beau Velasco who passed away this September.
The party features live performances from:
SPANK ROCK THE DEATH SET AMANDA BLANK NINJASONIK SICK WEAPONS
And DJ sets from:
BLU JEMZ DAVE NADA DJ HOFF CULLEN STALIN ADAM GONZO D LAKE
The event is 18+ and tickets are available now for $15. Day of show, it'll be $20. Bring your friends celebrate the holidays while you dance your little butt off!
Word on the street (sorry, I just couldn't help myself) is that Street Dogs are in the middle of some new tunes. According to the band's twitter, they just wrapped up:
My deductive intuition tells me that new songs are recorded and should be in final part of the first stage of production. I think. It would be safe to say that mixing is just now getting off the ground. Seeing as the band is on tour for the rest of the year, Round 1 of (for real) Production will probably happen in the new year.
Their current tour WRECK THE HALLS will take you all the way through December 20th, with a few goodies booked after the holidays through January 2nd.
Dec 9 - Walter's on Washington. Houston, TX Dec 11- The Social. Orlando, FL Dec 12- The Masquerade. Atlanta, GA Dec 14- Cat's Cradle. Carrboro, NC Dec 15- Jewish Mother. Virginia Beach, VA Dec 16- Black Cat. Washington, DC Dec 17- North Star Bar. Philadelphia, PA Dec 18- The Gramercy Theatre. New York, NY Dec 19- Paradise Rock Club. Boston, MA Dec 20- Paradise Rock Club. Boston, MA
With Revered Horton Heat Dec 28- Marquee Theatre. Tempe, AZ Dec 29- House Of Blues. Las Vegas, NV Dec 30- House Of Blue. Anaheim, CA Dec 31- House Of Blue. Anaheim, CA
Shadows Fall got its fans involved with the band in a pretty rad way. They are in the midst of having a merch design contest where they invited fans to submit shirt ideas that would be voted on by fellow fans. 6 have been chosen for consideration. Let's call them the semi-finalists!
The winner will be determined by how many "likes" the design gets on the band's Facebook.
Votes will be tallied until 12pm (EST) on December 9th, then the winner will be announced the following day on http://www.Ultimate-guitar.com
The grand prize winner gets 2 pieces of their merch design created, their Myspace and Facebook links on the band's page, and a Shadows Fall box set while 2 runners up get whatever shirt they like from the merch store.
Here are your choices! Make sure your vote counts by clicking "like" on their Facebook page!
The Grammys hit 52 this year. With the recent release of nominations, we always perk up our ears for the metal and rock categories. Am I right or am I right? This year we have some of our favorite bands in the mix of all the hype.
AC/DC – “War Machine” (track from: “Black Ice“) Alice In Chains – “Check My Brain” (track from: “Black Gives Way To Blue“) Linkin Park – “What I’ve Done” (track from: “Road To Revolution: Live At Milton Keyes“) Metallica – “The Unforgiven IIII” (track from: “Death Magnetic“) Nickelback – “Burn It To The Ground” (track from: “Dark Horse“)
Best Rock Album:
AC/DC– "Black Ice" Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood– "Live From Madison Square Garden" Green Day– "21st Century Breakdown" Dave Matthews Band– "Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King" U2– "No Lines on the Horizon"
We wish you guys the best of luck! To see who's nominated for other categories, the full list is available online. Personally I'm not too blown away by our rock album nominees this year.
Anyone else confused how Dave Matthews falls in the same category as AC/DC and Green Day?
And Nickleback under hard rock? Surely you jest...
The official show revealing the winners will be "GRAMMY Sunday," Jan. 31. It will air on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
MXPX is good at promises! Over the years, the punk trio have released Christmas songs available to the fan club. They said there may in fact be a full length album of all these holiday jams- and it's out now!
The album is ready for a digital download at iTunes OR! You can check out all the multitude of physical options. There's a RED CD which is out today. The GREEN CD is limited to 1,000 copies and can be pre-ordered. Lastly there's a sweet 4 track 7" vinyl up for grabs- of which only 500 were made.
Want to preview a track? They have one up on MySpace!
You can grab all your copies here and enjoy the your Christmas cheer in true MXPX fashion!
Darkest Hour and Bring Me The Horizon have both began working on new releases for next year.
Darkest Hour, who just got off tour with Trivium, are in the midst of finding a new label and are starting to write for an upcoming album during the process. They plan to start recording early in 2010. We wish them the best in finding an awesome label for the release!
For now we are waiting on the new music video for "The Tides." It's been shot and currently being edited.
Bring Me The Horizon seem to already have some material written and will be hitting the studio over the next few weeks with producer Fredrik Nordstom; he's worked on albums with Dimmu Borgir and In Flames...so we know it's legit.We can expect the album in summer 2010.
What Oli Sykes has to say about it:
It’s been one hell of a year, non-stop for us really! Our second album Suicide Season has taken us further than we ever thought was possible. I think we found our unique sound with that album and the next is going to be using Suicide Season as a base, but pushing it further in every single way imaginable.
It’s happening with Fredrick Nordstrom again, since he made us sound so amazing last time – all very exciting, stay tuned!
Want more BMTH? Their merch store is 50% off right now. CRAZY!
So last Wednesday I got a chance to go check out KISS at Staples Center. Even though Ace & Pete have been replaced, I have to say it was a really good show! They went through a whole mess of classics and some of the new stuff. Still, it would have been way cooler if Ace & Pete were still in the band. Seeing them reminded me that we are nearing the end of the KISS collab (Hotter Than Hell coming out this January). Make sure you complete your sets. Here are some of the pictures from the show. For the whole set of pictures, go HERE
And here is a sneak peek at the upcoming "Hotter Than Hell" collab:
Our buddies The A.K.A.s have their newest CD "Animal Summer" streaming all weekend long!
If you like what you hear, which I know you will, check out their web-store for other goodies. Here's a tip: The band often posts on twitter coupon codes, limited for a short time only of course, to save on items in their store...sometimes even get you extra free things!
That's right Party People! This is gonna be absolute destruction! Specially at Ground Zero (read Mosh Pit)! DANZIG, PENNYWISE, TSOL AND SUICIDAL TENDENCIES FOR $5 BUCKS! All I know is that this line up is SO sick even the President of Vans wants to go! "Scream for me Long Beach!" INDEED! Details to the shindig below:
What happens when you mix up Every Time I Die's Keith Buckley, Fall Out Boy's Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman, and Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano of Anthrax? Apparently a new metal band called The Damned Things. I can't help but sing "one of these things is not like the other," but word is the side-project is already pretty developed. The new band has recorded 15 demos- which explains Fall Out Boy's latest hiatus/break/whatever they are calling it this week.
Joe Trohman says:
Scott's right hand is the reason I got into playing punk rock, hardcore and metal! Having Keith as part of the mix is insane, we all know he writes incredible lyrics but he is also a really good singer. That is showcased in Every Time I Die, but we want him to go more into singing than screaming on this project.
As for Ian who initially had "reservations" about meeting the FOB guys:
We just started working on songs together and I really dug it. It just felt really good....These two guys, man, they're fucking hardcore dudes. Joe writes some amazing riffs. We have this song called 'A Great Reckoning' that I swear to God, this song could be on any Thin Lizzy record. He fucking blew my mind with this song and I just can't wait for people to hear it.
So we have 1. Fall Out Boy writing metal riffs 2. Buckley singing more than screaming 3. Anthrax says it will sound like Thin Lizzy
That crazy combination is more than enough to keep me on edge as this side project unfolds. As of now they have a MySpace, but nothing is on it yet.
NOFX's newest music endeavors "Cokie The Clown" and "My Orphan Years" are out now! To celebrate, Punknews.org is having a neat-o contest to win autograph copies, shirts and all kinds of goodies.
A few days ago, this music video featuring Fat Mike's alter-ego came out. That flower would be less harmful if it just shot out water, but nooooo leave it to Fat Mike to come up with something even better:
The band recently announced a few December tour dates and assures they'll be back on the road next year:
Dec 4th 2009-Pomona, California-The Fox Theater Dec 5th 2009- Tijuana, Mexico- TIA JUANA TILLYS Dec 8th 2009- Monterrey, Mexico- ESCENICA Dec 10th-Mexico City, Mexico-Vive Cuervo Salón Dec 12th-San Jose, Costa Rica- Autodromo La Guacima SKATEDRA TOUR COSTA RICA 2009, Dec 13th-Panama City, Panama -Figali Convention Center SKATEDRA TOUR PANAMA 2009
Forever The Sickest Kids recently had a CD release party in New York for their album "The Weekend: Friday." Our lovely Vans Girls blogger Miss Amanda Rae caught up with the guys and has an exclusive video of highlights from the acoustic performance!
FTSK are still on their Cheap Date Tour with The Rocket Summer and last year's Warped Tour band Sing It Loud:
November 24 Memphis New Daisy Theatre November 26 Dallas House of Blues November 27 San Antonio White Rabbit November 28 Houston Meridian November 29 McAllen Jagz December 1 Tucson Rialto Theater December 2 San Diego Soma December 3 Los Angeles Avalon December 4 San Francisco Grand Ballroom December 5 Anaheim House of Blues
I have no clue where this is. And since I can't read this crazy language:
Hva gjør man når artisten som skal spille på Lydverket blir syk dagen før opptak?
I'm not sure what's going on... But! I do know that these performance videos are awesome. As fantastic as these outfits are, the red slip-ons are like the cherry on top!
If you haven't checked out this band, do yourself the favor. Right now. Love it.
A.F.I. have wrapped up their new music video for the latest single "Medicate" off the recent album "Crush." You can now go behind the scenes and see the shenanigans.
Best line in this video?
We usually end our videos with some sort of dessert filling seeping out of our butts.
If you want more A.F.I. tune into MTV2 this Saturday to catch them hosting Rock The Deuce.
The Bouncing Souls have announced they will release a fourth and final 7" EP in celebration of their 20th anniversary. If you've been keeping up on the Soul's, this is the last piece to the puzzle if you will. Putting all 4 albums together creates a larger Souls logo. They have been released every 3 months throughout the year and now you can complete your collection!
The record includes songs "Like the Sun," "Big Eyes," "When You're Young / Never Say Die" and "Ghosts On The Boardwalk (acoustic)" and is available starting December 15th.
All 3 vinyls are still available with the most recent up for pre-sale. This will make a nice collectible for any Souls fan and for $5 a pop, you can't beat it. They are also limited to under 2,800 pieces each.
Though Slayer postponed their UK tour just a few days ago, they are planning on hitting North America full throttle in early 2010. For the tour, they are taking Megadeath and Testament. It's called the American Carnage Tour...and for good reason. Plus they promise to have $10 tickets available! Be prepared to have your face rocked off. Pre-sale begins November 18th.
As for the UK and European tour: it was reschedule due to vocalist and bassist Tom Araya recovering from a serious back injury. However, he's vastly improving and they will head across the pond in March.
1/18 Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theatre 1/19 Portland, OR @ Memorial Coliseum 1/21 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace 1/22 Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Arena 1/23 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre 1/25 Denver, CO @ Magness Arena 1/26 Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum 1/27 El Paso, TX @ El Paso Coliseum 1/29 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless 1/31 Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium 2/01 Duluth, GA @ Gwinnett Arena 2/02 Louisville, KY @ Broadbent Arena 2/04 Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium 2/05 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion 2/06 Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena 2/09 Wallingford, CT @ Chevrolet Theatre 2/11 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center 2/13 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Center 2/14 Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena 2/16 Quebec City, QC @ Pavillon de La Jeunesse 2/18 London, ON @ John Labatt Centre 2/19 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre 2/20 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre 2/22 Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum 2/23 Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre
3/07 ENG, Manchester Academy 3/08 ENG, London Forum 3/09 ENG, London Forum 3/11 FRA, Paris Bataclan 3/13 GER, Bochum Ruhrcongress 3/15 HOL, Tilburg 013 3/16 HOL, Tilburg 013 3/17 BEL, Brussels AB 3/18 GER, Herford X 3/20 GER, Berlin Columbiahalle 3/21 GER, Hamburg Docks 3/22 GER, Cologne Live Music Hall 3/24 GER, Dresden Alter Schlachtof 3/25 AUT, Vienna Gasometer Early Show 3/26 GER, Munich Zenith (transferred from Tonhalle) 3/28 ITA, Milan Alcatraz 3/29 ITA, Milan Alcatraz 3/30 SWI, Zurich Volkshaus Late Show 3/31 GER, Wiesbaden Schlachthof 4/02 ENG, Nottingham Rock City 4/03 SCO, Glasgow Barrowland 4/04 ENG, Leeds Academy 4/05 ENG, Birmingham Academy
The Bled announced their recently titled "Heat Fetish" will be released on Rise Records in March. This album also features a new line-up. Guitarist Jeremy Ray Talley comments on working with the new guys:
There's new members in the band. And before they were in the band, they were fans of the band, so it's been cool to get an outside perspective and bring that into the writing process, and they have a different idea of what kids like about our band, so its cool from that perspective. We just wanted to make a record we'd have fun playing live. That was the main goal.
Want to check out their studio time? Spoiler alert: Watch video 4 for some skateboarding and Vans!
Motion City Soundtrack is busy at work with their new album "My Life As A Dinosaur" which just recently became available for pre-order. Justin has been on what's known as the Dino Trail. He's doing acoustic performances across the country in a few major cities. They've been pretty hush-hush from what I've seen in photos and videos and as a result have been some pretty intimate shows.
To see the recaps, videos and upcoming shows, you can follow Justin on mydinosaurlife.com
Justin is also taking some time off the Dino Trail for a live Facebook chat on Monday, November 16th at 3pm EST. Tune into the video chat on the band's Facebook page.
MxPx will post up their new song "End" on the band's MySpace page this Friday, Nov 13th at 9 am PST. The EP "Left Coast Punk" will be released the following week on Nov 17th. The EP features 6 songs and will be released on the band's label Rock City Recording Company. It will be sold digitally, but there is a limited edition CD version that will have 4 extra tracks- 3 instrumental tracks and "On a String," a previously unreleased demo track. There are only gonna be 500 of these babies which also includes an autographed poster. You can only get it on the band's website.
If that's not enough to make your little pop-punk heart happy, then you can also look forward to their Christmas album! Every year, they record a Christmas tune for the fan club, but this year looks like we all may be getting a little more...
Hey, went to the Pixies show but forgot my camera. These pictures are courtesy of my friend Brandy Booth! The show was amazing (but if Nikki asks, it sucked HARD!) If you get a chance go catch their show (tour dates).
Anthrax "Among The Living" DELUXE edition out now!
Anthrax has released "Among The Living" deluxe edition today. This album is pretty much the core of Anthrax, at least in my opinion, and the re-release has all kinds of extra goodies for you! There are outtake versions of a couple of songs, an instrumental of "I'm The Man" as well as some live tracks. The DVD packaged with the CD is the 1987 Live-in-London concert (originally released on VHS...how good is that?). Plus the whole this has been digitally re-mastered so it's going to sound even heavier. Check out the track listing below and pick up a copy!
Among The Living (Deluxe Edition) - Track Listing Disc One (CD): Original Album
'Among The Living' 'Caught In A Mosh' 'I Am The Law' 'Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)' 'A Skeleton In The Closet' 'Indians' 'One World' 'A.D.I./Horror Of It All' 'Imitations Of Life'
Bonus tracks: 'Indians'(Alternate Lead) 'One World' (Alternate Take) 'Imitation Of Life' (Alternate Take) 'Bud E Luv Bomb And Satan's Lounge Band' 'I Am The Law' (Live in Dallas) 'I'm The Man' (Instrumental)
Disc Two (DVD): Oidivnikufesin (N.F.V.) Live in London 1987 'Intro' 'Among The Living' 'Caught In A Mosh' 'Metal Thrashing Mad' 'I Am The Law' 'Madhouse' 'Indians' 'Medusa' 'Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)' 'Armed And Dangerous' 'A.I.R.' / 'I'm The Man' / 'A.I.R.' 'Gung Ho'
Caught In A Mosh: Bbc Live In Concert - Tracklisting
Disc One - Hammersmith Odeon 2/15/87:
'A.I.R.' 'Metal Thrashing Mad' 'Panic' 'The Enemy' 'I Am The Law' 'Madhouse' 'The Howling Furies' 'Medusa' 'Armed And Dangerous' 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' 'God Save The Queen' 'Gung Ho'
Disc Two - Donington Festival 8/22/87:
'Among The Living' 'Caught In The Mosh' 'Madhouse' 'I Am The Law' 'Medusa' 'Indians' 'God Save The Queen' 'A.I.R.' 'I'm The Man'
The Dillinger Escape Plan finish recording Option Paralysis
DEP have been recording their new album "Option Paralysis" for the past 5 weeks. Today the band announced they have finished! The release date is still unknown but if the guys had half as much fun as it seems in their videos below, we should be in for a pretty solid release.
This is an amazing video of Rise Against talking about punk mentality, newest album "Appeal The Reason" and more. It's spliced with some great live footage from a performance in Moscow. I'm glad we have these guys representing us from the US when it comes to matters of politics!
Ninjasonik recently did a remix of Matt & Kim's "Daylight." I think I actually like this version better. I'm also a big fan of one-take videos and this one has a rad ending. Check it out!
Yesterday, The Pixies kicked off their fall Doolittle tour at the Palladium in LA. This is the band's 20th Anniversary tour- which seems to be a trend with The Bounching Souls out on the road also celebrating their 20 years in punk! Anyway, The Pixies are playing through the month of November, but in limited cities. And the set list? The 1989's "Doolittle" in its entirety. However, considering these shows are at smaller clubs (hey, 2,800 capacity is fairly small for The Pixies), tickets are going to hard to come by. I say if you are trying to go, keep an eye out for contests and such...but maybe if you make them a nice cake they'll let you in...that's my game plan at least!
Check out this video of the band performing "Here Comes Your Man" and the kick off show last night:
Nov. 4: The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA — No Age Nov. 5: The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA — Black Gold Nov. 6: The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA — Rain Machine Nov. 8: Fox Theater, Oakland, CA — Rain Machine Nov. 9: Fox Theater, Oakland, CA — No Age Nov. 10: Fox Theater, Oakland, CA — Black Gold Nov. 12: Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA — Rain Machine Nov. 13: Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA — No Age Nov. 14: Hult Center, Eugene, OR — Rain Machine Nov. 16: The Fillmore, Denver, CO — No Age Nov. 17: The Fillmore, Denver, CO — TBA Nov. 19: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL — Bad Lieutenant Nov. 20: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL — No Age Nov. 21: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL — Jay Reatard Nov. 23: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY — Bad Lieutenant Nov. 24: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY — Jay Reatard Nov. 25: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY — Rain Machine Nov. 26: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY — 1 a.m. show; no opener Nov. 27: Wang Center, Boston, MA — Jay Reatard Nov. 28: Wang Center, Boston, MA — Rain Machine Nov. 30: Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. — Jay Reatard Dec. 1: Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. — Mew
The Aquabats have announced some HOLIDAYS WITH THE AQUABATS! dates in California later on in December. Tickets have recently went on sale. As of now there are 4 dates listed and the band assures they will have some surprise guests!
