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Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, Jason Bonham The Best of All Worlds Summer 2024 Tour

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer SAMMY HAGAR today announced the long-awaited “THE BEST OF ALL WORLD’S” 2024 tour. Hagar will be joined by rock heavyweights and longtime bandmates MICHAEL ANTHONY (bass, backing vocals), JASON BONHAM (drums) and revealed exclusively on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show this morning that JOE SATRIANI, one of the best guitar players in the world, will complete the band. Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Loverboy, the 28-date tour will commence on July 13 in West Palm Beach, FL and will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, MO.  Pre-sales begin on Wednesday, November 15 at 10 am. General on-sale begins Friday, November 17 at 10am local. For tickets and more details, go to RedRocker.com.

Image Credit Timothy Norris

Following their interview and performance on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Channel 100, Hagar, Anthony, Satriani and Bonham will participate in a press conference starting at 10am PT from SiriusXM’s Hollywood Studios, hosted by Eddie Trunk and airing on Wednesday, Nov. 15 on Trunk Nation/Faction Talk Channel 103. In addition on Wednesday, Sammy will be interviewed on Access Hollywood and Access Daily, and on Thursday, Nov. 16 , he chats with Rob Lowe on his podcast Literally! With Rob Lowe.

The tour follows on the heels of the chart-topping success of THE COLLECTION II, the box set released October 6 featuring newly remastered versions of the four consecutive #1 albums released during the Hagar era of Van Halen: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (1991), and BALANCE (1995). A reminder to fans of the arsenal of hits, many which haven’t been played live since the band’s 2004 reunion tour. Collectively, Anthony, Satriani and Bonham have played together in nearly every phase of Hagar’s career including Van Halen, Chickenfoot and The Circle, so fans can expect a setlist which draws from some of the biggest rock anthems of the last 4-decades, including, Finish What Ya Started, 5150, Your Love is Driving Me Crazy, Best of Both Worlds, Poundcake, Sexy Little Thing, One Way To Rock, Right Now, Good Enough, Eagles Fly and more. They’ve also enlisted lege ndary Australian musician, Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboard and backing vocals. The tour represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this band of brothers deliver one of the most legendary hits-packed live shows of their career.

“It’s crazy to think that it’ll be 20 years since Mikey and I played these songs with Van Halen on the 04’ Best of Both Worlds Tour,” said Hagar. “With Joe on board, we can take a deeper dive into those years. We’re going to touch on some hits from my entire career but seeing fans old and new really embrace the new collection set off something in Mikey and I. We were at my Birthday Bash in Cabo for my 76th and looked at each other and high fived, like ‘let’s do it.’ We pulled out a couple of them and it was an instant lovefest with the fans from our first riffs. The music we created is going to outlive us all. They deserve to be heard so it’s time we go out and serve the fans that music, while we still can.”

2024 TOUR ITINERARY

July 13            West Palm Beach, FL                     iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre

July 14            Tampa, FL                                         MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre

July 16            Alpharetta, GA                                 Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

July 19            Charlotte, NC                                   PNC Music Pavilion

July 20           Bristow, VA                                       Jiffy Lube Live

July 22            Saratoga Springs, NY                     Saratoga Performing Arts Center

July 24           Bridgeport, CT                                 Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater

July 26,           Mansfield, MA                                  Xfinity Center

July 27            Holmdel, NJ                                      PNC Bank Arts Center

July 29           Cuyahoga Falls, OH                        Blossom Music Center

July 31            Toronto, ON                                      Budweiser Stage

August 2        Clarkston, MI                                    Pine Knob Music Theatre

August 3        Tinley Park, IL                                   Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre

August 9       Las Vegas, NV                                  MGM Grand Garden Arena

August 11       Morrison, CO                                    Red Rocks Amphitheatre

August 13      Spokane, WA                                     Airway Heights, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest

August 14      Ridgefield, WA                                 RV Inn Style Resort Amphitheater

August 16      Wheatland, CA                                Toyota Amphitheatre

August 17      Concord, CA                                     Toyota Pavilion at Concord

August 19      Los Angeles, CA                               Kia Forum

August 20     Phoenix, AZ                                      Talking Stick Resorts Amphitheatre

August 22     Dallas, TX                                           Dos Equis Pavilion

August 23      Houston, TX                                      Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

August 25     Rogers, AR                                        Walmart AMP

Tour dates continued

August 27     Cincinnati, OH                                 Riverbend Music Center

August 28     Nashville, TN                                     Bridgestone Arena

August 30     Noblesville, IN                                  Ruoff Music Center

August 31      St. Louis, MO                                    Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

About Loverboy:

For more than 40 years, Loverboy has been “Working for the Weekend” (and on the weekend), delighting audiences around the world since forming in 1979, when vocalist Mike Reno was introduced to guitar hot shot Paul Dean – both veterans of several bands on the Canadian scene – at Calgary’s Refinery Night Club.  Along with Reno and Dean, Loverboy still includes original members Doug Johnson on keyboards and Matt Frenette on drums, with Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve replacing the late Scott Smith on bass.

With their trademark red leather pants, bandannas, big rock sound and high-energy live shows, Loverboy has sold more than 10 million albums, earning four multi-platinum plaques, including the four-million-selling GET LUCKY, and a trio of double-Platinum releases in their self-titled 1980 debut, 1983’s KEEP IT UP and 1985’s LOVIN’ EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Their string of hits includes, in addition to the anthem “Working for the Weekend,” such arena rock staples as “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “This Could Be the Night,” “Hot Girls in Love,” “The Kid is Hot Tonite,” “Notorious”, “Turn Me Loose,” “When It’s Over,” “Heaven In Your Eyes” and “Queen of the Broken Hearts.” In September of this year, the group was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto, ON .

About Sammy Hagar:

For more than four decades, Sammy Hagar has been recognized as one of the best and most accomplished lead singers and songwriters in rock music. From breaking into the industry with the seminal hard rock band Montrose, to his multi-platinum solo career, to his ride as the frontman of Van Halen, Chickenfoot and his latest best-selling supergroup, The Circle, Hagar has amassed 25 Platinum albums on sales surpassing 50 million worldwide. Along his journey, he has set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written with songs like “I Can’t Drive 55,” “Right Now,” and “Why Can’t This Be Love,” and earned the highest respect of the music industry with a Grammy Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since opening his flagship Cabo Wabo Cantina in 1990, he’s turned a lifelong passion for great food, music and spirits into a thri ving and iconic lifestyle brand encompassing restaurants and spirits. A pioneer in the spirits industry, he launched Cabo Wabo Tequila in 1996 and catapulted it into the #2-selling premium tequila brand in the United States. In 2010, Hagar sold his interests in Cabo Wabo Tequila to Gruppo Campari in a 9-figure deal that’s widely credited as the start of the celebrity-owned spirits trend. He now owns an award-winning portfolio of top-shelf spirits and beer that embody that same spirit of Baja beach life and rock ‘n’ roll. They include Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, a partnership with rock icon Rick Springfield, Santo Spirits, a partnership with tastemaker Guy Fieri, Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co. and Red Rocker Brewing Co. Never one to hit the brakes, Sammy’s also expanded his successes into publishing, TV, radio and beyond, including five seasons of his hit TV show “Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar” and as host of “Sammy Hagar& #8217;s Top Rock Countdown,” a weekly syndicated radio show on 90+ US stations. He’s a #1 NYT bestselling author and his cocktail book, “Sammy Hagar’s Greatest Cocktail Hits,” was awarded the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards. He’s also a dedicated philanthropist, donating millions back to local communities through his private non-profit Hagar Family Foundation, and the first Honorary Ambassador to Los Cabos, an honor he was bestowed in 2022 in recognition of his longtime investment in the people and economy of Mexico. Visit RedRocker.com for more information.

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY: Armor For Sleep Dream To Make Believe Tour 2023

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At The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ on November 11th, 2023

North Jersey has always been the epicenter of Emo. With bands like My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, Thursday, Major League, Midtown, The Early November, and of course, Armor For Sleep all hailing from Jersey. So when it was time for Armor For Sleep to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of their album, “Dream to Make Believe,” what better place to end the East Coast leg of the tour than right here in Montclair, NJ.

Written by Stephen Moss / New Rock City


Montclair is about 15 minutes away from the childhood home of lead singer, Ben Jorgensen. This show was very sentimental for Ben. During the show, he even said multiple times how the New Jersey Emo scene is so special because it gave him a place to feel accepted and a sense of camaraderie at a time when people like us were deemed “freaks”, “weirdos”, and “losers.” Ben went on to say, “Thank you for not only making the New Jersey scene a safe place for me, but also a safe place all these years. And for keeping it a safe place for my kids and the new generation.”
Despite being a nearly sold out show, it had the feel of the small VFW shows back in the early 2000’s. The venue was filled with the bands local friends, and family. One of the opening bands was The Early November, who were also pioneers of the New Jersey Emo scene of the early 2000’s.
At the end of Armor For Sleeps set, Ben took a band photo with the crowd and said it was their favorite New Jersey show and again expressed just how special New Jersey is to him.
The band played the album “Dream to Make Believe” in it’s entirety. They also played hits off their first album and even threw in a couple off their brand new album. It was such an amazing night.
Emo is, in fact, not dead in Jersey!

Armor For Sleep social links

Photo Gallery form Armor For Sleep performance below. Photography all rights reserved by Stephen Moss / New Rock City.

Armor For Sleep upcoming Tour dates:

December 1st: Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
December 2nd: Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
December 3rd: Las Vegas, NV – 24 Oxford
December 4th: Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater
December 6th: San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
December 7th: Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
December 8th: Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
December 9th: Roseville, CA – Goldfield
December 10th: Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
December 11th: Seattle, WA – Corazon

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY: The Glorious Sons The Glory Tour 2023

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At the Abbotsford Centre in Abbotsford, BC, Canada ON November 10th, 2023

Juno and SiriusXM award winners The Glorious Sons visited Abbotsford BC on November 10, 2023. The Glorious Sons are a band that doesn’t fit into any one strictly defined, framed musical genre. Or even two. In the songs of the group you can hear rock, alternative rock, country, blues motifs. And this list is not complete, because as already mentioned – the group cannot be framed in any specific style – sorry, styles. This variety seems to be what makes both the band’s recordings and live concerts interesting.

Written by Arturs Feists

The concert in Abbotsford BC was another proof of how talented and diverse this group is. Songs of different rhythms and melodies followed each other, naturally merging and creating an unforgettable atmosphere. Songs with a faster rhythm naturally and masterfully intertwine with slower, but no less energetic songs. There is no way that this is a band that uses slow-tempo songs to sort of relax. In the course of the evening, such songs as Mercy, Mercy / Panic Attack / White Noise / Josie / S.O.S / Dreams were played. The Glorious Sons, of course, perfectly brought a breath of fresh sound to many compositions, thus delighting the gathered audience even more.

FOLLOW THE GLORIOUS SONS

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | YouTube

Photography all rights reserved by Arturs Feists / artursfeists.photography

Glory, the fourth studio album from 2x JUNO Award winning rock band The Glorious Sons is out now via Warner Music Canada and ADA Worldwide.

GLORY Track Listing:

1. Glory

2. Mercy Mercy

3. Cellular

4. Dream

5. House Lights

6. Speed of Light

7 Lightning Bolt

8. You Stay Young

9. Time Will Reign Down on Me

10. Cosmic Beam

THE GLORIOUS SONS are:

Brett Emmons – vocals, guitar, harmonica, keys

Jay Emmons – guitar, vocals

Adam Paquette – drums, vocals

Josh Hewson – piano, guitar

Peter van Helvoort – bass, vocals

Remaining dates of The Glory Tour 2023:

11/13 – Prince George, BC at CN Centre * – TICKETS
11/14 – Grande Prairie, AB at Bonnett’s Energy Centre * – TICKETS
11/16 – Cranbrook, BC at Western Financial Place * – TICKETS
11/17 – Edmonton, AB at Edmonton Convention Centre * – TICKETS
11/18 – Calgary, AB at Grey Eagle Casino * – TICKETS
11/21 – Winnipeg, MB at Canada Life Centre * – TICKETS
11/22 – Regina, SK at Conexus Arts Centre * – TICKETS
11/23 – Saskatoon, SK at Sasktel Centre * – TICKETS
11/25 – Thunder Bay, ON at Community Auditorium * – TICKETS
11/29 – Sudbury, ON at Sudbury Community Arena * – TICKETS
11/30 – Oshawa, ON at Tribute Communities Centre * – TICKETS
12/01 – Hamilton, ON at First Ontario Centre * – TICKETS
12/02 – London, ON at Budweiser Gardens * – TICKETS
12/06 – Charlottetown, PEI at Eastlink Centre * – TICKETS
12/07 – Sydney, NS at Centre 200 * – TICKETS
12/08 – Moncton, NB at Casino New Brunswick * – TICKETS
12/09 – Halifax, NS at Scotiabank Centre * – TICKETS
12/12 – Montreal, QC at MTELUS * – TICKETS
12/14 – Ottawa, ON at TD Place * – TICKETS
12/15 – Rama, ON at Casino Rama * – TICKETS
12/16 – Kitchener, ON at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium * – TICKETS
12/31 – Kingston, ON at NYE at Leon’s Centre ** – TICKETS
02/15 – Owen Sound, ON at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre ** – TICKETS
02/16 – Peterborough, ON at Memorial Centre ** – TICKETS
02/17 – St. Catharines, ON at Meridian Centre ** – TICKETS

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

LA Music Scene series by Don Adkins

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Antigroupies, XYZPDQ, Side Chicks and Minor Strut at Club L in Anaheim, CA on October 20th, 2023

A relatively new entrant for a venue in the LA area is Club L in Anaheim. A Google search of the address reveals an automotive performance business in small industrial park, but this place actually exists as a rehearsal studio space that is now doing weekly concert events. These events are done unofficially as “suggested donation” which probably skirts a lot of formality that would burden this emerging performance space.

Written and photography all rights reserved by Don Adkins / https://donadkinsphoto.wixsite.com/mysite

On Oct 20th they played host to 4 of the newest high energy female-fronted bands Antigroupies, XYZPDQ, Side Chicks and Minor Strut.

Antigroupies is an all-female group that delivers edgy riff-heavy rock reminiscent of The Bangles.

Photo Gallery from Antigroupies performance:

XYZPDQ is fronted by 16 year old phenom Salem Meade. Decent vocals but her guitar chops are first-rate for someone her age and she has been on the Kelly Clarkson show! Their music is straight-ahead rock that includes some very nicely done covers.

Photo Gallery from XYZPDQ performance:

Side Chicks is heavy on attitude (in a good way) and super heavy on energy, sorta-like Alanis Morrisette but with humor.

Photo Gallery from Side Chicks performance:

Lastly Minor Strut is one helluva heavy alt rock band that is getting some serious attention as they’ve garnered cool sponsorships and radio airplay here in SoCal.

Photo Gallery from Minor Strut performance:

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY: HANABIE – A Sold Out Show At The World Famous WHISKY A GO GO, on October 5, 2023

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HANABIE, a 4 piece all female Kawaii-Metal band from Japan came to America and visited us in Los Angeles and ROCKED the house of The World Famous Whisky A Go Go. Their music is hard and electrifying and the ladies are all cute and adorable but fierce and wild on stage and in command of the show with constant interaction with the audience.

Written by Don Marcelo

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As written on Wikipedia:
“HANABIE is a Japanese metalcore band from Tokyo, formed in 2015 The band consists of Yukina (vocals), Matsuri (guitar, vocals), Hettsu (bass) and Chika (drums). They are known for combining loud and heavy music with contrasting Harajuku aesthetics in a style self-described as “Harajuku-core”. – [source] Wikipedia
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HANABIE is fronted by the petite yet powerful and strong presence of Yukina (lead vocalist). She has such great command of the audience that she can tell you what to do and can command you to open up a space for “the wall of death” so that participants can start a mosh pit. The venue has maybe a capacity of 500 or 600 people. To have a mosh pit inside this small venue is almost unheard of (at least I’ve never seen one this big in the past 3 years I’ve been coming to The Whisky to photograph). Participants can sometimes get kicked out when a mosh pit gets started from my understanding. But not at the Hanabie show. Hanabie’s fans are/were respectful on that night that the mosh pit was non-violent and fun (though I’m sure some people had small bruises the next day…I made sure I got topside since I knew a mosh pit was coming up and stayed away from the floor and pit section).

Anyway, the action was non-stop full of intensified energy and emotions from all the members and from the fans. The fans and oh the fans. I love JROCK FANS. They are passionate about the music and the band despite the language barrier. That is the beauty of music. There is no language barrier and despite the differences in language. The audience loved every single minute of the show. I’ve never seen so many flailing hands raised up at The Whisky A Go Go. I became part of the fun with the audience jumping up and down. Flailing my one hand and shooting with my camera with the other hand. I was drenched in sweat after the first song and I wanted to get out of the front row pit area and get on upstairs and continue to shoot from above. But I stayed for at least 4 or 5 songs and the rest of the night I stayed upstairs and continued to cover the show.


One last note, The venue doesn’t allow crowdsurfing and you WILL definitely get kicked out if you do, but if you are the performer, and you’re light weight and petite and can sell out tickets to the venue, I’m sure the staff of The Whisky can make an exception for you, especially since Yukina is small and light weight and she was able to crowd surf and she didn’t get kicked out…oh wait, she’s part of the act…she can’t get kicked out. Nothing really else to say except that this show was EPIC and was so much fun and it has to be one of the best concerts I’ve covered this year. Thank you for coming to visit us in Los Angeles, HANABIE. We all hope to see you again soon. Have a great rest of your 2023 tour. Let’s do this again in 2024. Arigato Gozaimasu!

Photo Gallery of the Hanabie performance. © Don Marcelo Photography 2023


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FOLLLOW HANABIE on all their social media platforms for some hard rockin Japanese Style Metal Core Music AKA Kawaiimetal.


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FOLLOW The World Famous WHISKY A GO GO for all upcoming shows happening at this venue. Also a very huge shout out to the staff of Whisky A Go Go and for being the best music venue on The Sunset Strip. Thank you for being a great host and always taking great care of us pro-photographers. On behalf of all the pro music photographers, I thank you very much for being amazing.
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HANABIE MEMBERS on INSTAGRAM
@ha_na_bie_
@yukina_hanabie – vocals
@hanabie_hettsu – bass
@hanabie_chika – drums
@mtr_hanabie – guitar
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LOCATION:
WHISKY A GO GO
@thewhiskyagogo (INSTAGRAM)
October 5, 2023
Thursday
📸: ©️ @marcdphotos 2023
📸: ©️ Don Marcelo Photography 2023

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY: Psycho Thunder North America 2023 tour

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At Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ on September 17, 2023

Psycho Thunder tour is tearing and rumbling through North American cities as we speak, wreaking havoc in every city as they go. Or we can say that British rock luminaries Asking Alexandria and Mongolian rock sensation THE HU joined forces on a run across the U.S. The co-headlining jaunt — billed as the “Psycho Thunder” tour with special guests ZERO 9:36. Whatever way you are comfortable to put it. This last Sunday Psycho Thunder rolled into New Jersey.

Written by Andris Jansons

American heavy metal band Bad Wolves were also previously scheduled to join the tour, but the band withdrew because of circumstances beyond their control. Zero 9:36 stayed as the lone support for both heavyweights.

The Mongolian band The Hu came roaring into the metal scene a few years ago. Bands folk metal style incorporating Mongolian traditional instruments along with singing their songs in their native language gained attention to many music lovers as a breath of the fresh air. Their megahit Wolf Totem back in 2018 has gathered above 90 million views on YouTube in its original version and another 38 million views with their collaboration with Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix.

Personally, I admire all folk metal, let it be Mongolian, Indian, Nordic, Oceania or Asia. Incorporation of traditional music and native instruments is what makes metal music rich not only in tradition but also invention and truly international.

The band calls their style of music “hunnu rock”. The Hu consists of Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar, Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts, Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal, and Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar. To date The Hu have released the studio albums The Gereg and Rumble of Thunder. There are at least three to four traditional instruments band consistently uses – including the morin khuur, the tovshuur, tumur hhuur and tsuur.

Setlist included all the bands singles known to most fans “Wolf Totem”, “This Is Mongol”, Yuve Yuve”, “Black Thunder” and more. Band also performed cover of Metallica’s “Through The Never”.

Throughout the band’s set fans joined together for the “Hu, hu, hu, hu …” chant.

See The HU performance photo gallery below.

Asking Alexandria is on tour without their founder and lead guitarist Ben Bruce, for the reasons he previously communicated to the fans. While his charisma is sorely missed, Paul Bartolome nicely fills in his spot.

While the band is on the heels of their new album “Where Do We Go From Here?” which was released on August 25th, this tours set list is not heavily tilting towards it. There are only three songs “Dark Void”, “Bad Blood” and “Let Go” form their latest release. Rest of the set is pretty much evenly spread out throughout the bands discography. As Danny Worsnop said addressing the crowd that we are here celebrating their new and old music.

Some of the biggest hits performed were “Into The Fire”, “Alone In A Room”, “The Final Episode”, “Moving On” and “A Prophecy”. All together this set had bit heavier feel then other recent ones I attended, and was a bit more closer to the roots of the band, which for me personally was a welcome development.

To summarize everything that was heard and witnessed this night, I can give this experience a solid 10/10. Some inspirational folk metal coupled with modern rock and metalcore was an amazing experience. Psycho Thunder is a perfect way to summarize.

See Asking Alexandria performance photo gallery below.

See below list for future dates and get your tickets here: https://www.askingalexandria.com/tour

Sep. 20 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit

Sep. 22 – Ft Wayne, IN – Piere’s Entertainment Center

Sep. 23 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life ^

Sep. 25 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory

Sep. 26 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre

Sep. 27 – Green Bay, WI – EPIC Event Center

Sep. 29 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave/ Eagles Club

Oct. 1 – Council Bluffs, IA – Harrah’s Stir Cove

Oct. 3 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium

Oct. 4 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union

Oct. 6 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock &

Oct. 7 – Las Vegas, NV – The Industrial Sound

Oct. 8 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern

Live Music, Live Reviews

LIVE REVIEW: WDHA Rock The Rock Fest 2023.

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Written by Andris Jansons

andrisjansons.com

For the second year in the row New Jersey’s rock station WDHA 105.5 organized a true rock fest at the biggest arena in New Jersey The Prudential Arena (nicknamed The Rock), home of the NHL team New Jersey Devils. For the second time they assembled killer lineup. This years bands rocking the rock were – Dorothy, Sevendust, Beartooth, The Pretty Reckless and Breaking Benjamin. Just as good as last years edition, for which you can read the material and see the picture galleries here:

2022 WDHA Rock The Rock Fest

As I was able to witness only the band’s first three songs during this event, I will write only general information and about some of my impressions. So here is “Live Review” 😉

Rock fans flocked to the arena early as there were no “warm-up” bands. First came an already well-established act from Los Angeles – Dorothy. The bands set was only seven songs from which most came from their latest release “Gifts From the Holy Ghost”. The band’s vocalist and leader Dorothy Martin’s wardrobe choice for this night was an amazing leopard bodysuit, as the band’s Instagram defined this look “RAWR”. Bands last years tour performance in New Jersey’s Wellmont Theater also went under WDHA flag, read live review here.

See Dorothy performance photo gallery here.

Melodic and bluesy Dorothy was followed by hard hitting Sevendust. Widely known for their amazing live shows, the band did not disappoint. Mostly concentrating on their hits, Sevendust’s set also contained seven songs. Band is currently working on a new album “Truth Killer” to be released on July 28th this year. Besides stage banner I did not notice any other tease.

Read about the upcoming Sevendust album here.

See Sevendust performance photo gallery here.

Next on the bill were American hardcore rock band Beartooth. Their music style stood out from the rest as more aggressive. Bands vocalist Caleb Shomo performed shirtless (showing off his fitness and tattoos, yes I’m a bit jealous), and proving his good jump skills. Beartooth is as old (young) as Dorothy and have released four studio albums to date. Their setlist touched all of them.

See Beartooth performance photo gallery here.

The Pretty Reckless. So … what can I say about them. One of my favorite rock bands. Since their debut album the band has released a hit after a hit. Of course Taylor Momsen’s extravagance in her fashion and larger than life rock’n’roll persona (in a positive way) contribute to the bands success. Band opened set with their almost iconic Rock anthem “Death by Rock’n’Roll”. Their set contained all the fan favorites Going To Hell, Heaven Knows and Only Love Can Save Me Now.

See The Pretty Reckless performance photo gallery here.

Nights main band was Breaking Benjamin. As headliners, their set consisted of eighteen songs and included all of their hits – Diary Of Jane, Breath, Give Me A Sign, Red Cold River and so on. Most notable moment from their performance was, from what I’ve been told, the bands vocalists Benjamin Burnley’s son being on stage with his dad with his own guitar. While I’m not allowed to have photography of that, it was very nice moment, and as I searched up internet, I see Ben has been doing Bring Your Kid To Work thing quite often lately.

See Breaking Benjamin performance photo gallery here.

In between the sets, WDHA radio personalities led by the one and only Terrie Carr came on stage to introduce the next band. For what I can say, they all had tons of fun. My hope is that they will continue this and make it a tradition to have Rock fest here in New Jersey.

Live Music, Live Reviews

LIVE REVIEW: STEEL PANTHER ON THE PROWL TOUR 2023

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There was no excess when it came to the glam metal. Drugs, alcohol, ladies, money and a lot of hair spray and tight spandex pants. I happened to grow up during that time, with my favorite records coming from bands like Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and others. I did embrace the music, but not fashion, so I guess I can’t call myself a true fan, but nonetheless it is always nice to bring back the memories of that time. This is exactly what Steel Panther provides us. Steel Panther is the full-blown time machine. Currently on tour to support their latest studio album On The Prowl. Extensive tour that spans over a month and covers all major US markets and will continue in May in UK and Ireland. This last Friday tour came to New York City. Welcome back to 80’s.

Written by Andris Jansons

This was the second time for me to witness Steel Panther live. They stay true to their script of providing the fans with good feel music of days gone by and entertain the crowd with their profane and suggestive (or I must say pretty direct) comedy act. There was one difference that I must note , that stuck out to me since I saw them last time back in 2019. They have gotten more cohesive in sound. Sonically they are impeccable. There was one downside for me though. Four years back their comedy act felt fresh and spicy, now it felt that most jokes were recycled, and that tanginess was missing. I’m sure that is something they can work on. Overall it was the same old no fucks given Steel Panther performance.

Music wise I was expecting a bit more new material, as they are touring to support their latest album On The Prowl, from which we got three songs from it – 1987, Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight) and Ain’t Dead Yet. Most represented was bands first album Feel The Steel, with six songs. Band opened their set with Eyes Of A Panther and Let me Cum In, followed by little stand up comedy time by “Satchel” introducing band members and cracking jokes. Band also played Whitesnake cover of Slide It In, featuring Frank Bello from Anthrax on bass and Mike Tirelli on vocals. Just before the encore band invited ladies and some gents on stage to dance during the Party All Day (Fuck All Night). For an encore fans were treated to Community Property and Gloryhole.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Steel Panther performance photo gallery here.

Steel Panther is absolutely excellent live show band and their performances are always memorable. Don’t miss out the chance to see them in your area. Tour will continue tonight in New Jersey and follow the route back to bands home state of California, before heading out to Europe.

Mar. 18 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom

Mar. 19 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium

Mar. 21 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore

Mar. 22 – Columbus, OH – The Bluestone

Mar. 24 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room

Mar. 25 – Chicago, IL – House Of Blues

Mar. 26 – Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre

Mar. 28 – Milwaukee, WI – The Eagles Club Stage

Mar. 29 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore

Mar. 31 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre

Apr. 01 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore

Apr. 02 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot

Apr. 04 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom

Apr. 06 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go

Apr. 07 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go

Apr. 08 – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues

 United Kingdom + Ireland:

May 14 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy

May 15 – Newcastle, UK – O2 City Hall

May 17 – Manchester, UK – Academy

May 18 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy

May 20 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town

May 21 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy

May 23 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy

May 25 – Belfast, UK – Ulster Hall

May 26 – Cork, IE – Cyprus Avenue

May 28 – Dublin, IE – Vicar Street

Live Music, Live Reviews

LIVE REVIEW: ELUVIETIE NORTH AMERICA TOUR 2023

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Eluveitie returned to North America for a 2023 headlining tour with Omnium Gatherum and Seven Spires. The tour which kicked off on March 2nd in Baltimore, MD and will run through April 1st in Richmond, VA made a stop yesterday in New York City’s The Gramercy Theatre. However just before the first show Eluveitie announced that bands vocalist Chrigel Glanzmann could not join them and released following statement on their website:

“Chrigel has had to make the difficult decision to stay at home and take care of certain matters, and we fully support him in this time of need.

This decision was made at the very last minute, which is why we are only able to announce it today, on the day of our first show. We understand that this news may come as a surprise, and we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause. However, we want to assure you that we are fully prepared to deliver a one-of-a-kind Eluveitie set, with Fabi taking the lead and showcasing her incredible talents.

In addition to Fabi, we are excited to announce that we will be joined by two amazing guest performers: Adrienne Cowan from Seven Spires and Jukka Pelkonen from Omnium Gatherum. They will be taking over Chrigel’s part, and we are confident that they will do an incredible job.”

None the less – the show must go on! And if you did not sing the last part of this sentence, you might not be real rock fan 🙂

Written by Andris Jansons

First ones on the stage came American Melodic / Symphonic metal band from Boston called Seven Spires. To the date band has released three studio albums, with latest two years ago called Gods of Debauchery. Band opened with the title song from that album and followed with Cursed Muse and Succumb. Bands vocalist Adrienne Cowan provided excellent vocal range from growling to melodic singing. While performing the band expressed the gratitude of being back to perform stateside upon their return from touring Europe. They concluded set with Shadow on an Endless Sea and Dare To Live. All songs except Succumb represented latest release. Their set was a success as sold out venue roared in approval.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Seven Spires performance photo gallery here.

Finnish Melodic Death metal band Omnium Gatherum came on next. Just as Seven Spires, their latest release Origin saw daylight in 2021. Finnish guys are more experienced and have been around since 1996. Though their first album Spirits and August Light was released only in 2003. Since then the band has release nine studio albums. From the original lineup only Markus Vanhala is still with the band.

Their set was a trip down the memory lane as seven out of nine songs were from their earlier releases, with only Paragon and Reckoning hailing from latest album Origin. Their sound was different from Seven Spires as it was more technical and progressive and bands vocalist Jukka Pelkonen delivered blistering vocals. Crowd was immersed in their set as crowd surfers started to flow towards the stage and some brave men and women opened pit in a packed house. Bands “oldie” Ego from their 2011 album New World Shadows brought crowd to frenzy as moshers responded to Jukka’s request to open up that mosh pit for real. This was a strong and loud performance by the band, and it brought up the level of excitement to already pumped up crowd.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Omnium Gatherum performance photo gallery here.

Just as Omnium Gatherum was different from Seven Spires, the nights main attraction Eluveitie plays fundamentally different style. The clean vocals of Fabienne Erni stood in sharp contrast with Adrienne’s and Jukka’s strong singing styles. And while Eluveitie incorporates unclean vocals by Chrigel Glanzmann their composite style is much more folk and melodic. As you read in the beginning on this tour exactly Adrienne and Jukka are filling in for Chrigel.

The first thing that strikes you when you see Eluveitie take the stage is abundance of all sorts of different instruments. While traditionally drum set is in the middle of stage, Eluveitie has it set up more to the side to have more room for other instruments, as to the other side they had set up Celtic harp which is played by Fabi and place for Matteo Sisti who plays bagpipes and whistles. Nicole Ansperger who plays violin usually finds herself next to Annie Riediger who plays hurdy-gurdy (I will not explain this instrument, just search it up). All that while you still have bass, lead guitar and rhythm guitar players. So, the stage is pretty crowded.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Eluveitie performance photo gallery here.

Some considerable parts of Eluveitie songs are sang in extinct Gaulish language, which was part of Celtic language for the people of continental Europe before Roman Empire, and covered the land that is now Switzerland from where Eluveitie hails. You would normally think that while only handful people in the whole world are familiar with this language, that it would not be helpful to sing in it. I would say Eluveitie has shown us that the contrary is true. It adds beautifully to the mysticism that the band embraces. Their lyrics are based on texts written in Gaulish such as prayers, invocations of the gods and other spirits.

Bands setlist spanned though their discography, while four songs were from latest release from 2019 called Ategnatos, which was bands eight studio album to date.

Atmosphere during Eluveitie performance was simply incredible as everyone enjoyed heavy riffs mixed with folk instruments fitting to satisfy even most strict music critics.

The tour just started in will go on till April 1st. Future dates below.

03/04 Worcester, MA @ Palladium

03/05 Quebec City, QC @ Bell Theater

03/07 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda

03/08 Ottawa, ON @ Brass Monkey

03/09 Toronto, ON @ Opera House

03/10 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater

03/11 Joliet, IL @ The Forge

03/12 Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze

03/14 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

03/15 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot

03/18 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon

03/19 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater 

03/21 Roseville, CA @ Goldfields

03/22 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent

03/23 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater

03/25 Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live

03/26 Austin, TX @ Come And Take It Live

03/27 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

03/29 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum

03/30 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (heaven) 

03/31 Charlotte, NC @ Underground

04/01 Richmond, VA @ Canal Club

Photo by Andris Jansons
Live Music, Live Reviews

LIVE REVIEW: I PREVAIL TRUE POWER NORTH AMERICA TOUR 2022 AT THE FILLMORE DETROIT

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After ten and a half weeks on the road the “True Power Tour” made its final stop in Detroit for two back-to-back sold out shows at The Fillmore Detroit. The first leg of the tour included special guests Pierce the Veil, Fit For A King, and Yours Truly. The second leg of the tour included special guests Pierce the Veil, Fit For A King, and Stand Atlantic.

Written by Jessica Trail

The Australian pop-punk band Stand Atlantic started the evening off on the right foot. The four-piece band from Sydney is made up of lead singer/guitarist Bonnie Fraser, David Potter on guitar, Miki Rich on bass, and drummer Jonno Panichi. They started the set with “Hate Me (Sometimes)” from the 2020 Pink Elephant. Singer Bonnie was a very energetic singer who was able to easily draw energy from the crowd and project that energy back into the crowd to make for a fun and lively show. After several songs there was a break for the band to partake in the Australian tradition of drinking from a shoe, known as doing a shoey. It was a great set, and they said they were grateful to join the three other bands for night one and let the crowd known the first night was their last night on the tour.

Photo by Jessica Trail

See full photo gallery for Stand Atlantic here.

Up next was Texas metalcore band, Fit for a King, who ensured that the growing crowd was wide-awake on the Tuesday night. They started their set with “Eyes Roll Back” from their brand-new album The Hell We Create. The crowd was excited to see the new music live. The band’s lineup has changed drastically over the last fifteen years but that hasn’t changed the energy and enthusiasm that they bring to the stage. The band’s current lineup is fronted by Ryan Kirby who brings the growling vocals, Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary who plays bass and provides clean vocals, Daniel Gailey on guitar and provides backup vocals, and Trey Celaya on drums. During the set they took a pause to hype up the crowd for Pierce the Veil and express their excitement to be on the tour with Ryan telling the crowd, “we’re excited to be part of such a huge tour!” They ended the night with the heavy and powerful song “God of Fire” from the 2020 album The Path.

Photo by Jessica Trail

See full photo gallery for Fit For A King here.

Pierce the Veil was up next. They are a pop-punk/metalcore band from San Diego, California. Their front man Vic Fuentes started the band in 2006. Shortly after the band started Tony Perry on lead guitar and Jamie Preciado on bass joined the band. For the tour they were accompanied by Lionel Robinson on drums. This tour was a long run and even included two stops in Las Vegas for the epic “When We Were Young Festival” on October 23rd and 29th. (Sidebar: Pierce the Veil’s set was the first one I caught of the day at the Sunday date of the festival, and they were simply amazing to put it mildly!)

They started out the night in Detroit with “May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight” from Collide with the Sky and the crowd was loving it from the moment it started. They continued with “Hell Above” also from Collide with the Sky. The third song was “Pass the Nirvana” from their upcoming 2023 release The Jaws of Life. As the song ended, they had to take a long break to ensure someone got the medical attention. They continued the set with “Bulls in the Bronx” once everyone was ok. The crowd was very appreciative of the band’s willingness to stop and check on the crowd when needed. This amped up the crowd to finish out the set. They ended the night with “King for a Day”.

Photo by Jessica Trail

See full photo gallery for Pierce The Veil here.

If there is one thing to know about, I Prevail it is that Michigan and specifically metro Detroit is their hometown show; they made sure to make special call outs to the venues and fans who come out to support them. The five-piece band consists of Eric Vanlerberghe on growl vocals, Brian Burkheiser with clean vocals, Dylan Bowman on rhythm guitar, Steve Menoian on lead guitar, and Gabe Helguera on drums. They also played the “When We Were Young Festival” on October 23rd and 29th. Their set was later in the evening for those dates and played their hearts out on the Stripes Stage.

After being on the road from early September until late November they still brough a solid performance to The Fillmore Detroit that in no way indicated they were at the end of 10-and-a-half-week tour. They came out swinging with their newest single, “Fear of Letting Go” from their 2022 release True Power. The next song up was “Body Bag”, a fast-paced song with a lot of harsh vocals that make it worthy of all the headbanging and moshing that had picked up by this point. As they continued, they started playing the opening riffs of “Raining Blood” by Slayer before going into “Judgement Day”. The next two songs, “Breaking Down” and “Paranoid” were notably slower than the rest of the set. These songs were very well received as it shows the band’s great versatility.

Singer Eric took a pause to shout out to Stand Atlantic for their last night on the tour and wanted to “send them out with a fucking bang.” And wished them “much luck and success on their ventures” He also asked the crowd to “make some noise for our good friends in Fit for a King.” Then he continued with “last and certainly not least make some noise for those handsome motherfuckers in Pierce the Veil!” He then welcomed anyone who had never seen I Prevail before to the family.

The band continued to play three more songs from True Power including “Choke”, “Fake”, and “FWYTYK”. Eric then took a pause to address the crowd again saying “Goddamn, it’s good to be home!” and mentioning how they grew up coming to shows at the venue and showing love for the Midwest and especially Michigan. They ended the main portion of the set with “Come and Get It” from the 2016 album, Lifelines. They left the stage and came back out for an encore of heavy hitters and “Gasoline” and ended the evening with “Bow Down which the whole crowd sang and growled along with. It was really a great ending to an amazing evening of a seemingly perfect blend of metalcore and pop-punk music.

Photo by Jessica Trail

See full photo gallery for I Prevail here.

All Rights Reserved by Jessica Trail / JETRAIL Photography, LLC