LIVE and Bush are back on U.S. soil after a successful UK tour! And to top it all, it’s the original line-up of LIVE, featuring, Ed Kowalczyk (vocals, guitar), Chad Taylor (guitar, backing vocals), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums, percussion). The enough can’t be said about Bush who have been keeping ALT rock alive since the 90’s. Led by frontman Gavin Rossdale the band still sounds as good if not better than they did well over 2 decades ago.
Welcome back to our ongoing series of LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019 artist profiles, our weekly guide through the lineup of acts who’ll take the stage at Louisville, Kentucky’s Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Expo Center September 27-29 in what’s sure to be one of the biggest concert events of the year. This week, we’re checking out DED.*
If you haven’t had a chance to hear or see the band DED you have truly been hiding from all the good things in the world. The band released their Fred Durst directed video for “Anti-Everything” in March of 2017 and it was like a haymaker to the metal world waking us up from the same old generic regurgitated metal we have had for years. DED had a fresh new sound that re-awakened the nu-metal scene and had everyone screaming for more. The band formed in Phoenix, AZ in 2016 with the goal of putting listeners on edge. They have achieved various other goals in the process as well. The band has been one of the best up and coming bands of the past couple years and has helped revive the nu-metal scene that once was considered endangered. Over the course of their first year they have took the music scene by storm with their first two singles. They were collecting fans from all over the world even prior to their album dropping. Their live performances and EP led to a quick amount of success including shows with Beartooth, Atreyu, Every Time I Die, and then a massive tours with Korn and Stone Sour. They will be one of the must see bands at this years Louder Than Life Festival performing on Sunday September 29th. Of course the lads are no stranger to festival stages and have previously played Carolina Rebellion and played Epicenter’s inaugural year this year, Chicago Open Air, Shiprocked, Rock Allegiance, Revolution Rock Fest, Rocklahoma, Aftershock, Knotfest, and they are also Louder Than Life veterans after performing on the festival in 2017.
Immolation (Photo credit: Rodrigo Fredes)
Death metal legions, unite! This is gonna be one hell of a bad motherfucker of a tour. New York death metal giants IMMOLATION are pleased to announce “The Last Atonement Tour – North America 2019”. Joining them as direct support on their headlining run are Denver-based death metal merchants, BLOOD INCANTATION.
New Year’s Eve is just around the corner and what better way to spend it by rocking it out to OzzFest 2018 with some of the greatest acts in modern rock music. New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles this year will see the man himself OZZY OSBOURNE headlining along with ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON and a few more acts that are ready to entice you.
This 31st night, the show will take place at Los Angeles at the famed The Forum, which also includes an indoor and an outdoor large stage, some fun and frolic festivities, and some good food trucks. Joining the headliners are JONATHAN DAVIS, ZAKK SABBATH, BODY COUNT(first OzzFest debut performance), DEVILDRIVER and WEDNESDAY13. If this doesn’t convince you to get on those moshing boots, then I don’t know what will!
Tesla
Minnesota’s own HERICANE ALICE opened up the final day. In 1990 they released “Tear The House Down” and we got some of the great cuts off that album. The band is fronted by Bruce Naumann and also features Johnny Holiday (guitar), Johnny (Super J) Keyte (Bass) and Jerry Babcock (drums). The band opened with a cover of “Radar Love” but the crowd really reacted to “Tear The House Down” and “Wild, Young, and Crazy”. There is new material on the way and I know a lot of people looking forward to that. They were a great way to get the day started.
Tuff
The Stevie Rachelle lead TUFF brought a great show to the stage next. Flanked by founding member Todd Chase on bass the band opened with “God Bless This Mess”. The roster was filled out with Jimi Lord on drums and Billy Morris on guitar. They were a lot of fun and Rachelle’s personality kept you dialed in. Some songs that made the playlist included “Spit Like This”, “Ruck A Pit Bridge” and “In Dogs We Trust”. Stevie gave a nice shout-out to Nicci Wikkid and dedicated “Good Guys Wear Black” to him. He was the guitarist for one of Minnesota’s most loved metal bands, Slave Raider, and sadly past away recently. “The All New Generation” and the anthem “American Hair Band” brought the TUFF gang’s time on the stage to an end.
Autograph
AUTOGRAPH launched into “Deep End” and then “Loud and Clear” to get people moving. Steve Lynch (guitar) and Randy Rand (bass) have been waving the Autograph flag since the beginning and have recruited drummer Marc Weiland and singer Simon Daniels to carry the band forward. They released a new album in 2017 called “Get Off Your Ass” and showcased the title track along with “Every Generation” and “You Are Us, We Are You” during the set. It’s hard to imagine an AUTOGRAPH without a Steve Plunkett on vocals but I’ve seen this line-up multiple times now and they have won me over. Daniels is a true talent and his vocals play well with the Autograph catalog. Your not leaving an AUTOGRAPH show until you get the built in closer, “Turn Up The Radio”, and it still consumes everybody within earshot of it.
Lynch Mob
George Lynch would make his second appearance of the Festival with LYNCH MOB. “Street Fighting Man” was the opener and then they jumped into “She’s Evil But She’s Mine” and “River Of Love”. Nathan Utz handled the vocals while Sean McNabb (bass) and Scot Cogan (drums) took on the rhythm section. A couple highlights for me were “Tangled In The Web” as loved that second LYNCH MOB record and the DOKKEN cover of “When Heaven Comes Down”. I not sure I’ve ever heard that song sound so heavy and epic, it was brilliant. Utz was very entertaining and was all over the stage and George put in another great performance to follow up the DOKKEN show the night before. The rest of the set included “Mr. Scary”, “It’s Not Love”, “No Good”, and the closer “Wicked Sensation”.
Queensryche
QUEENSRYCHE struck gold when they were able to replace Geoff Tate with Todd LaTorre. He is a true talent with a voice that perfectly fits within the bands sound. Every time I see them I’m still amazed how seamless that transition was. Michael Wilton on guitar and Eddie Jackson on bass are the only original members playing with the band now. Scott Rockenfield is still listed in the band but hasn’t played with them in some time as Casey Grillo has been filling in behind the kit. Guitarist Parker Lundgren was absent and Mike Stone took over those duties for the evening. The band opened with “Best I Can” with a rousing response from the crowd. I like hearing the stuff from the pre-mindcrime era and we got a few, “The Whisper”, “Queen Of The Reich”, “Take Hold Of The Flame” and “Screaming In Digital”. The staples of every set were also present in the forms of “Silent Lucidity”, “Empire”, and “Jet City Woman”. These guys never sound bad and they played a great set that was capped off with “Eyes Of A Stranger”.
Tesla
TESLA would close out the three-day festival. These guys seem to never come off the road and remain one of the busiest rock bands out there. With a ton of great material to choose from, the band opened with “I Wanna Live” and then “Hang Tough” and “Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)“. There isn’t much left to say that hasn’t already been said but TESLA is simply a great rock-n-roll band. Jeff Keith on vocals, Brian Wheat on bass, Troy Luccketta on drums, and the twin guitar attack of Frank Hannon and Dave Rude powers the TESLA machine. The crowd loved every minute of the set that also included an acoustic section that included “Cumin’Atcha Live/Truckin’”, “Lazy Days, Crazy Nights”, “Paradise” and the ultimate sing-along song “Signs”. All the usual hits like “Love Song”, “What You Give” and “Little Suzi” were played but it was “Mama’s Fool” and “Edison’s Medicine (Man Out Of Time)” that got my attention. A perfect ending to the event was TESLA filling the nighttime air with “Modern Day Cowboy” and I’m sure I’m not alone in that thought.
Grand RockTember VI comes to an end after three days of some of the most iconic material written from a time period that so many hold near and dear to their hearts. The guessing game is already in progress to who will be on the bill in 2019 as hotels are already being booked for next years pilgrimage to the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN. Let the countdown begin…
This summer, heavy revolutionaries OTEP unleashed their most uncompromising, candid, all-inclusive and controversial assessment of the current residing political regime that they have ever released – the new album ‘Kult 45.’ In support of the album, OTEP recently announced her upcoming “The Art of Dissent” U.S. headline tour, kicking off in Bakersfield, CA on Friday, November 23. Tickets are available now via all venues – see below for a full listing of tour dates. Continue reading
The band of outlaws that is the Texas Hippie Coalition rolled into Johnson City, TN and The Hideaway with their friends Kobra and the Lotus, Brand of Julez, Granny 4 Barrel and Clockwork Asylum. The “Year Of The Bull tour” was about to be unleashed on Johnson City, TN. The intent was to tear apart The Hideaway and they came real close!!
All those “stand by” posts and teasers have finally been laid to grave today, as Monster Energy AFTERSHOCK FESTIVAL 2018 finally takes those curtains off the festival’s line-up. California’s biggest rock festival AFTERSHOCK 2018, returns for another year at the famous Discovery Park near downtown Sacramento, CA to be held this year on October 13th and 14th, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. With the fest posting a lot of teasers on their social media pages, fans put their thinking caps on and a lot of predictions were made. Some were right and some went wrong. Those who vouched in on their favourite bands give yourself a pat on your back as this year’s edition will be headlined by none other than SYSTEM OF A DOWN, who will be returning to the States after three years, as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of their landmark self-titled first album.
Last year, Bay Area thrash vets TRAUMA announced their long-awaited comeback and new member additions. In advance of finishing their upcoming third album, TRAUMA are set to hit the road on a brief headline tour beginning April 13 in Cool, CA. Additional east coast and mid-western dates have also been added.
TRAUMA was born in California’s Bay Area in 1980, a crucial year for metal music. It was within that fertile musical climate that TRAUMA developed a sound evoking the electric energy in the air around them. Donny Hillier consumed a steady diet of LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH and shared a love of JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN with original guitarist Mike Overton. And of course there was TRAUMA’s legendary early bassist, Cliff Burton.
Harsha Vardhan with Nergal from BEHEMOTH
While the priority of us metalheads is the music itself, and rightly should be, we often forget about the real heroes who sit behind the scenes, lending the necessary helping hand in building the band’s legacy. Be it organizing the to-be-most famous and successful tour, signing bands and promoting their all new album, which you’re all so pumped up about, they are the real back bone of the music industry. Promoting a new musical release could be successfully be pulled off by making use of the services of Northwest Signs who can produce custom signage and apparel for basically any business project you may have. So, whether it’s a new album, upcoming concert, or just merchandise, they’ll be able to help you with your promotional needs for it all.
