“The Great Tour” came to the Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota with plenty of firepower for the sold out venue. Sabaton and HammerFall, both hailing from Sweden, have a tremendous following with passionate fans that hung on every song throughout the night. Continue reading
One of the most anticipated music festivals of the summer and fall since its announcement in early April, the first ever Exit 111 Festival, planted its rock n’ roll roots deep in the farm that Bonnaroo made iconic just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The three-day experience which took place from Friday, October, 11th, through Sunday, October 13th at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, featured a monster musical lineup including Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Slayer, Killswitch Engage, Anthrax, ZZ Top, Ghost, Mastodon, Deftones, Coheed and Cambria, Lamb of God, and many more. In addition to the top-notch musical roster, Exit 111 featured The Paranormal Cirque, a world of combined theatre, circus, and cabaret presented by Cirque Italia; The Red Bull Freestyle Motocross Experience, showcasing the insane talents of some of the best freestyle motocross riders in the world; the Mega Sports Bar, offering everything from college football and the NFL to baseball and hockey games in the biggest damn sports bar you’ve ever seen; and the Exit 111 Car Show, the first ever all makes, all models car show, free to all Exit 111 ticket-holders. Continue reading
After being forced into a flood-induced sabbatical last year, LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019 roared back to life the last weekend of September. Over 50 artists and nearly 130,000 fans descended on Louisville, Kentucky’s Fair and Exposition Center, making Derby City the undisputed capital of the hard rock world (for at least a couple days). Your intrepid METAL NEXUS away team braved the teeming throngs and the suffocatingly oppressive heat, chasing slivers of shade while soaking in the sights and sounds in order to bring you these dispatches from the front lines of the biggest rock festival in America. Continue reading
Following a sold-out crowd of 60,000 last year, the Aftershock Festival expanded to three full days for 2019 with attendance reaching an unheard of 97,500 this year. The eighth annual edition of the Northern California rock festival, produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, took place on Friday October 11th, Saturday, October 12th, and Sunday, October 13th at Sacramento’s Discovery Park. The massive lineup of over 50 bands was headlined by Tool, who debuted music from their chart-topping new album ‘Fear Inoculum.’ blink-182, who headlined the second night, made their Danny Wimmer Presents debut in support of their new album ‘Nine.’ Slipknot, whose new release ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ has been burning up the Billboard 200 album chart, headlined day one. Continue reading
One of the more interesting tour packages this fall hit the Myth Live in Maplewood, Minnesota. It featured a co-headlined bill with Skillet and Alter Bridge, along with Dirty Honey, who are just starting to make some serious waves across the musical landscape. The tour was dubbed the ‘Victorious Sky Tour’ and fans packed into the venue to see a great show. Continue reading
So on arrival to the Bristol o2 the queue was all the way up the hill next to the venue before the doors opened. I overheard fans chatting before the show and I heard them saying Howard Jones was there, but you hear that at every Killswitch Engage gig, and yes sometimes he does turn up. Also will Adam D wear a cape tonight, or will he go to the bar again and order shots mid set? It was bound to be an amazing night with not only Killswitch Engage taking the stage but also Boston, Massachusetts based band Revocation and the German metal band Tenside opening the show. What would be the stand out memories from tonight’s show? Let’s just wait and see. Continue reading
After an incredible turnout for day one, music and bourbon lovers alike came pouring in for the second day of Bourbon and Beyond. The day would feature a massive array of talented artists including Alison Krauss, Trey Anastasio Band, and the legendary Robert Plant (with the Sensational Spaceshifters) mixed with interactive cooking sessions and bourbon workshops over at the Better in Bluegrass and Kentucky Gold stages. We will keep our focus mostly on the artists that played throughout the day. Continue reading
Amon Amarth brought the “Berzerker Tour” to the packed Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota for night of uncompromised metal. Not only did we get the Viking metal giants, but Grand Magus, At The Gates, and the infectious Arch Enemy made this line-up fantastic. Continue reading
The original Static-X line-up from the 1999 platinum-selling debut full-length album, Wisconsin Death Trip – bassist Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay – have completed their seventh studio album, entitled ‘Project Regeneration’ which is set to release sometime in November. The album will feature 12 brand new Static-X tracks and contains several vocal performances and musical compositions by the late great Wayne Static who passed away on November 1, 2014. The band has been touring with a masked singer who is using the name Xero. In addition to wearing a mask the mysterious vocalist is also dressed as Wayne Static featuring his signature spiked up hair and his long braided beard. The identity of the singer has not be unveiled and the band states they are trying to honor their late fallen singer Wayne. Since the bands first single was unveiled some fans believe that the singer is none other than Dope vocalist Edsel Dope and ironically Dope has been on both legs of the tour as a support act with Static-X. One other thing to notice is that the order in which the bands perform. I would think Dope would normally be direct support for Static-X, however they have Soil as direct support and Dope playing before them. This would allow Edsel time to rest between the two bands sets. However, this is just an assumption other fans and I myself have, the singer could be a singer we all are familiar with or it could be someone completely unheard of. It’s not known yet whether or not they will ever identify their touring vocalist. It doesn’t matter to us who is behind the mask, we are just thankful to be hearing Static X again and honor the legacy that Wayne Static left behind. This UK/Euro tour includes support from Dope, Soil, and Wednesday 13, probably one of the best tours you will find this fall. Continue reading
Black Star Riders are a band that everyone needs to see. The band still boasts a legendary lineup even after the departure of celebrated lead guitarist Damon Johnson last year. Black Star Riders began when members of the most recent line-up of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose not to release it under the Thin Lizzy name. Ricky Warwick as well as Scott Gorham helped found the band and both are formerly of Thin Lizzy. Drummer Chad Szeliga is well versed in the rock/metal world and has had stints in Breaking Benjamin as well as Black Label Society. Upon Damon Johnson’s departure last year he was replaced by guitarist Christian Martucci who is also the guitarist in Stone Sour. Robbie Crane is also a member of front man Ricky Warwick’s band The Fighting Hearts and also previously performed with 80’s iconic band Ratt. You can easily see this band is made up of some of the most talented veterans in music. Seeing them perform is like watching an all star team. We were lucky enough for them to grace the stage at the Bristol o2 along with support from Wayward Sons which boasts vocalist Toby Jepson who rocked in the popular 90’s band Little Angels. Direst support comes from Stone Broken the hard rocking 4 piece from right here in the UK. Continue reading
