Tour Reviews



ALMOST COOPER Brings Their Nightmare To Minnesota [Review & Photo Gallery]

The one and only Alice Cooper is one of rock’s most adored figures. His legacy of music and theatrical stage shows is nothing short of legendary. The precision of his performance and the way the songs create a soundtrack that play along with the madness on stage is sheer brilliance. Alice Cooper doesn’t live in Minnesota but we have a man, Bobby Jensen, who can amazingly embody Cooper’s spirit and take it to the stage. Jensen took his Alice Cooper Tribute band called Almost Cooper to Myth Live in Maplewood, Minnesota for the Almost Cooper Christmas Fruitcake show. The event is a take on the Annual Alice Cooper Christmas Pudding Show held in Phoenix, Arizona. Proceeds and donations from the event went to the Alice Cooper Solid Rock Foundation and Toys For Tots. Before Almost Cooper played, local acts Fookey and Blue Felix warmed up the crowd. Continue reading

STATIC-X Brings Wisconsin Death Trip Over The Border To Minnesota [Review & Photo Gallery]

Fans packed the Myth Live in Maplewood, Minnesota to relive the sonic explosion that Static-X released decades ago with ‘Wisconsin Death Trip.’ The evening was dubbed “Wisconsin Death Trip 20th Anniversary Tour & Memorial to Wayne Static.’ The tour package featured Mushroomhead, Dope, Wednesday 13, and Raven Black with Static–X closing the night. Continue reading

EXIT 111 FESTIVAL 2019: Sunday [Review & Photo Gallery]

Days one and two of the inaugural Exit 111 Festival in Manchester, TN featured 30 bands and over 20 hours of southern rock, thrash, metalcore, alt rock and just about every other heavy music genre on one small farm in Middle Tennessee. Day three was poised to wrap things up with a bang, with another 15 bands and a scheduled three hour set from headliner and recently resurging late 80s rockers Guns N’ Roses. So pitter patter, let’s get at’er.

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KING DIAMOND Brings His Institution To Minnesota [Review & Photo Gallery]

 

King Diamond brought his “The Institute North American Tour 2019” to the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s been four years since the last North American tour and his loyal fan base was ready to see the shock rocker take to the stage. Before the theatrics started, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats along with Idle Hands provided support for the night. Continue reading

EXIT 111 FESTIVAL 2019: Saturday [Review & Photo Gallery]

Day one of Exit 111 (review and pics here) really set the bar high with a great mix of bands like Black Stone Cherry, Anthrax, 10 Years, Slayer, Killswitch Engage and classic rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd. Not to mention the amazing sunny fall Tennessee weather, with highs in the low 80s and the low reaching a cool but comfortable 44 degrees. But with temperatures promising to turn much cooler and steadily drop into the low 30s by nightfall, day two had to turn up the heat on stage in order to keep the campers toasty and the party rolling. So, at noon on Saturday, with college football in full swing at the Mega Sports Bar and a lineup of 18 bands scheduled for the day, the gates opened and the fans started pouring in. Continue reading

LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019: Saturday [Review & Photo Gallery]

Halestorm

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

TOM KEIFER & L.A. GUNS Rise To The Occasion In Minnesota [Review & Photo Gallery]

 

The Medina Entertainment Center in Medina, Minnesota was packed to hear some hard rock classics that still have as much life today as they did when they were released decades ago. Tom Keifer, of Cinderella fame, brought his #Keifer Band and a catalog of hits while L.A. Guns featured Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns supplying their own fuel injected adrenaline the duo introduced on their debut record back in 1988. Continue reading

SABATON & HAMMERFALL Bring Plenty Of Firepower To Minnesota [Review & Photo Gallery]

 

“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

EXIT 111 FESTIVAL 2019: Friday [Review & Photo Gallery]

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

LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019: Friday [Review & Photo Gallery]

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