hennemusic

Friday, March 30, 2012

Red Hot Chili Peppers offer FREE live EP download

The Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to the road this week to start the North American leg of their “I’m With You” world tour.

The shows were supposed to begin in January, but things were postponed due to multiple foot injuries sustained by singer Anthony Kiedis. Anthony underwent surgery to remove a crushed sesamoid bone and correct a detached flexor tendon in his foot and is expected to make a full recovery.

To mark the band’s return to the stage, the Peppers are offering fans a free live EP from their 2011 European dates.

Drummer Chad Smith handpicked the tracks for the EP, which you can download for free here.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
2011 Live EP

01 – Look Around
02 – Dani California
03 – Monarchy Of Roses
04 – If You Have To Ask
05 – Give It Away

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Look Around

Guns N’ Roses: Bumblefoot accepts Steven Adler’s apology

Past and present Guns N’ Roses members are trying to mend fences after comments made earlier this week by original drummer Steven Adler.

Speaking about the very hot topic of GNR’s reunion status for the band’s April 14 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Adler told Loudwire, “He’s my brother. I know he’s up to it,” said Adler about Slash and the Rock Hall reunion. “He wants to do it. I want to do it. Just from what I hear, Izzy [Stradlin]‘s not gonna show up and Axl will probably want to play with his hack band — his band of hacks. ‘Axl and His Hacks’ — it shouldn’t even be Guns N’ Roses. He’s just driving that name into the freakin’ ground. ‘Axl and His Hacks.’”

Early Friday, Adler offered an apology to the entire current GNR crew.

"Sometimes my emotions get the best of me when talking about my former band,” explained Adler. “It's hard to see your ex in bed with somebody else. We created one of the biggest-selling debut albums of all time and it's no secret that I want to finish what we started 25 years ago and play together at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The guys that Axl has put together are all great players. They're not hacks in the sense that they can't play, they're all incredible musicians. I just meant that they are not the original lineup. I would like to apologize to Axl, Bumblefoot, D.J., Tommy, Dizzy, Richard, Frank, and Chris for my statement."

By midday, current guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, who joined GNR in early 2006 as the replacement for Buckethead, accepted Adler's apology.

"All good, bro. Thanks so much,” posted Thal on his Facebook page. “We all just want to make music and make people happy. As far as all the GN'R hoopla, I'd rather it be what connects us than what separates us. You and I played together in Chicago a few years ago (I was jammin' with Lita Ford) and you guys were great. I won't be at Hall Of Fame. If you go, please give everyone a big hello for me."

Guns N’ Roses: Steven Adler issues apology to Axl Rose and band

Just a day after original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler took shots at Axl Rose and his current band – calling them “hacks” – he is retracting the statement and issuing an apology.

Earlier this week, Adler sat down with Loudwire for an extended conversation about his new project, as well as the GNR Rock Hall situation.

“He’s my brother. I know he’s up to it,” Adler says about Slash and the Rock Hall reunion. “He wants to do it. I want to do it. Just from what I hear, Izzy [Stradlin]‘s not gonna show up and Axl will probably want to play with his hack band — his band of hacks. ‘Axl and His Hacks’ — it shouldn’t even be Guns N’ Roses. He’s just driving that name into the freakin’ ground. ‘Axl and His Hacks.’”

Now, Adler has come forward to hit the reset button.

"Sometimes my emotions get the best of me when talking about my former band,” explains Adler. “It's hard to see your ex in bed with somebody else. We created one of the biggest-selling debut albums of all time and it's no secret that I want to finish what we started 25 years ago and play together at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The guys that Axl has put together are all great players. They're not hacks in the sense that they can't play, they're all incredible musicians. I just meant that they are not the original lineup. I would like to apologize to Axl, Bumblefoot, D.J., Tommy, Dizzy, Richard, Frank, and Chris for my statement."

Guns

Guns N' Roses

Guns N’ Roses – Welcome To The Jungle
The Joint – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV – December 30, 2011

VIRAL VIDEO: Drunken man sings Queen classic in police cruiser

Queen songs have been sung all over the world, and the latest viral video making the rounds continues that tradition, although not exactly under the best of circumstances.

Video of an unnamed man, picked up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for intoxication, shows him in the back of the cruiser singing the full version of Queen’s 1975 classic, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Based on the time and date stamp on the clip, the footage appears to have come from Edson, Alberta, although this has not been confirmed. The date on the video lists November 27, 2011.

Queen

Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody

VIDEO: Slash offers song download to benefit charity

Slash has released a special video and song to help raise awareness for the plight of homeless youth in Los Angeles.

The guitarist has teamed up with the Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN), whose mission to empower abused, neglected and homeless adolescents to become self-sufficient.

LAYN estimates that 7,500 homeless youth sleep on the streets of L.A. each night.

Slash has offered up the song “Gotten,” from his 2010 solo debut, which features Maroon 5’s Adam Levine on vocals.

Slash is giving fans the opportunity to download a new, remixed version of “Gotten” by donating any amount to LAYN.

To download the song with a donation of any size, visit Slash’s site here.

To donate directly to LAYN, please click here.

Slash – Gotten (remix)
With Adam Levine of Maroon 5

Thursday, March 29, 2012

VIDEO: Green Day share more studio footage

Green Day continue their recording sessions for a new album.

The band hit the studio on Valentine’s Day and are now into their second month on the project, which will be the follow-up to 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown.”

Green Day are sharing regular clips of their activity in, out and around the studio, so here’s a few video from the past few weeks to keep fans in the loop.

3/28

3/14

3/2

2/29

Steven Adler: Axl Rose is driving Guns N’ Roses name into the ground

With only a few weeks until showtime, the internal battle to reunite Guns N’ Roses for the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is heating up.

Earlier this week, Slash said he’d “love to play” the event; the next day, drummer Steven Adler backed up the guitarist’s words by saying he “love to do it for the fans.”

Now, Adler has added to his comments by sitting down with Loudwire for an extended conversation.

“If it was up to me, we would have been playing for the fans a long time ago,” says Adler. “Unfortunately, I have no say in that. I’m behind it 100 percent … 111 percent! Put it this way; if the five original GN’R guys don’t get up there and play, I’m going up there just on the drum set and playing a couple of songs from ‘Appetite for Destruction.’ It’s for the fans. To me it’s just a rock ‘n’ roll band, but it’s a rock ‘n’ roll band that I’ve gotten so much love and respect from all over the world.”

“He’s my brother. I know he’s up to it,” Adler says about Slash and the Rock Hall reunion. “He wants to do it. I want to do it. Just from what I hear, Izzy [Stradlin]‘s not gonna show up and Axl [Rose] will probably want to play with his hack band — his band of hacks. ‘Axl and His Hacks’ — it shouldn’t even be Guns N’ Roses. He’s just driving that name into the freakin’ ground. ‘Axl and His Hacks.’”

Guns

Guns N' Roses

Guns N” Roses – It’s So Easy

James Durbin announces spring tour dates

James Durbin is hitting the road this spring for a series of live dates in support of his debut album, “Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster.”

The shows kick off April 12 in Los Angeles; that same night, Durbin returns to American Idol to perform a track from the record.

Many of Durbin’s spring dates are with Buckcherry; check the schedule below for more details.

The day before the spring tour launches, James is up for Best Vocalist at the Revolver Golden God Awards.

Durbin is going head-to-head for fan votes against Sebastian Bach, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Evanescence’s Amy Lee, Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides, and Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch.

If you want to support James, voting continues here.

James Durbin
Spring tour 2012

4/12: Los Angeles, CA - The Viper Room
4/17: Austin, TX - Stubb's
4/18: Corpus Christi, TX
4/21: Lubbock, TX - LoneStar Amphitheater
4/24: Odessa, TX - Dos Amigos *
4/25: Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
4/27: St. Louis, MO - Pops Nite Club *
4/28: Concho, OK - Lucky Star Casino *
5/11: Clear Lake, IA - Surf Ballroom *
5/16: Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy's *
5/17: Baltimore, MD - Power Plant Live *
5/18: Huntington, NY - Paramount Theatre *
5/19: Santa Cruz, CA - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
5/20: Columbus, OH - Columbus Crew Stadium
5/21: Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights *
5/23: Knoxville, TN - Valarium *
5/24: Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Live - Biloxi *
5/27: Carlsbad, NM - Walter Gerrels Performing Arts Center *

* with Buckcherry

James Durbin

James Durbin – Stand Up

VIDEO: Sebastian Bach’s tale of partying with David Lee Roth and Axl Rose

What happens when legendary producer Rick Rubin, David Lee Roth, Axl Rose and Sebastian Bach are in a car together?

Sebastian tells the tale as part of his “Best Story Ever,” a feature that runs on CBC Canada's "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" show.

Last fall, Bach told the QMI Agency about how he first met Roth; it was backstage at the L.A. Forum when Skid Row were opening for Aerosmith in 1990.

"There was a knock on the door — bang, bang, bang — and he [Roth] sticks his head in and goes, 'Sebastian?' And I go, 'Oh, my God! It's David Lee Roth.' And he sits next to me and I go 'Hey Dave, you want to roll up a joint?' And he goes 'Sebastian, you do the honours.' But then that night he took me and Axl to the Rainbow and Rick Rubin drove the car. And can I remember sitting next to Axl in the back seat of Rick Rubin's car throwing up going down Sunset Boulevard, and him holding my hair. I was puking out the door."

VIDEO: American Idol rocks with Led Zeppelin classic

American Idol doesn’t stray into rock territory very often, but the reality series did manage to get the Led out Wednesday evening.

The show is down to the final 9 contestants, and this week’s episode was built on the theme of each singer performing a song by their own idols.

Elise Testone closed out Wednesday’s program with a rocking version of Led Zeppelin’s classic, “Whole Lotta Love.”

Testone received a standing ovation from the judging panel of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to pull that off,” said Tyler, “because nobody can pull that song off. You made Robert Plant proud tonight, girl.”

Testone and the top 8 will see how America voted when they appear on Thursday night’s results program.

Led

Led Zeppelin

Elise Testone – Whole Lotta Love
Original by Led Zeppelin
American Idol – March 28, 2012

Elise Testone – Whole Lotta Love
Original by Led Zeppelin
extended video - includes mentor & judges comments
American Idol – March 28, 2012

See also:

Jimmy Page releasing soundtracks album next week
Led Zeppelin: 2007 reunion funds $41 million donation to Oxford University

Van Halen: David Lee Roth’s handwritten lyrics to Blood & Fire

Van Halen’s David Lee Roth has offered up another goodie from his collection of work on the band’s “A Different Kind Of Truth” album.

Roth is sharing his handwritten lyrics to “Blood And Fire,” a song the group played for the first time on tour this past Monday night in Reading, PA.

VH debuted the song during the group’s final dress rehearsal at the L.A. Forum back in February, before they hit the road with Kool & The Gang as openers.

Like much of the new album, “Blood And Fire” has its roots in a past VH work: the basis of the song comes from “Ripley,” an unreleased track from the soundtrack to the 1984 movie “The Wild Life,” composed and performed by Eddie Van Halen.

“Ripley” was originally a leftover song from the “1984” sessions; it was written on a Ripley guitar, designed by Steve Ripley. Each string on the guitar can be sent to different sides of the speaker through the use of its individual string pan pots.

This weekend, the VH tour rolls into Pittsburgh (Fri) and Rosemont, IL (Sun), before taking a week and half break; the group returns to live action April 10 in Fort Lauderdale.

Click the lyric sheet below for a better view.

Van Halen

Van Halen – Blood And Fire
2012 tour dress rehearsal
The Forum – Los Angeles, CA – February 8, 2012

Van Halen – Blood And Fire (partial)
Sovereign Center - Reading, PA – March 26, 2012

The Darkness announce spring US tour

The Darkness have announced a spring US tour.

The reunited UK band returns to follow-up momentum built from last month’s tour of the States.

The series of shows, which run through the last half of May, kick off with a May 18 gig at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT.

The run also includes three festival appearances: Saturday, May 19 at InfieldFest (Baltimore, Maryland); Sunday, May 20 at Rock On The Range (Columbus, Ohio); and Saturday, May 26 at Rocklahoma (Pryor, Oklahoma).

The Darkness
US tour – spring 2012

May 18 - New Haven, CT – Toad's Place
May 19 - Baltimore, MD - Preakness Stakes InfieldFest, Pimlico Race Course
May 20 - Columbus, OH - Rock On The Range, Crew Stadium
May 22 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
May 23 - New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues
May 25 - Austin, TX – Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre
May 26 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma, Fever Music Festival Grounds
May 27 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues

The Darkness

The Darkness – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us

Metallica festival adds Rock ‘N' Roll Emporium

Metallica’s inaugural Orion Music + More festival continues to grow.

The event has announced the addition of Ktulu's Rock 'N' Roll Emporium.

Fans will be able to check out dozens of vendors hawking their Rock ‘N’ Roll memorabilia - from vinyl and collectibles, to gig posters and gear.

For more information, including how you can be a vendor, visit the festival’s website here.

In addition to more than 30 artist on the two-day bill, Metallica also recently announced details of the Orion Custom Car + Motorcycle Show, curated by frontman James Hetfield.

Over 300 of the best Customs, Hot Rods, Muscle Cars and Custom Motorcycles will be on display at the Orion Custom Car + Motorcycle Show inside the festival grounds throughout the weekend.

For more – including details on how you can enter a vehicle in the event - check out the festival website here.

Orion Music + More happens June 23-24 at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Metallica add sixth Mexico City show

Metallica have added a sixth show in Mexico City this summer.

An August 9th concert joins the previously announced series, scheduled for August 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7.

Tickets for the August 6, 7 and 9 shows go on sale on Thursday, March 29 at 11:00 AM CST at Ticketmaster.mx.

Three new dates have now been added following the fast sell out of the initial three night.

“WOW! A big THANK YOU to our friends in Mexico City for selling out three nights and 60,000 tickets at the Sports Palace in less than 90 minutes last week. There's no way we can stop now,” posted Metallica earlier this week.

See also:

Metallica sell out 3 shows in Mexico City, add more dates
Metallica: Special edition of fan club magazine on sale in May

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

VIDEO: Aerosmith summer tour press conference

Earlier this week, Aerosmith announced the first leg of their summer tour.

Dubbed “The Global Warming Tour,” the show will hit 18 cities when kicks off June 16 in Minneapolis, MN.

Cheap Trick will open the first series of dates; more shows will be announced shortly.

On Wednesday, Aerosmith set up shop at The Grove in Los Angeles for a press conference hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

“Well, we’ve been underground for four months doing what we do best,” began Steven Tyler, “and we’ve been known to set the world on fire with our type of music, for the last couple of years, to say the least. So, we decided to call this The Global Warming Tour, and come from under the hood, to tell you all that we’ve got a new album and a new tour.”

You can watch the full press conference below.

Tickets go on sale March 30 and 31 at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com.

Check out concert dates here.

Rush: New single due next month

Rush fans only have a few weeks until the band issues the first single from the forthcoming “Clockwork Angels” album.

Rushisaband.com reports “Headlong Flight” will hit rock radio on April 19.

The single will featured an edited track, running five-and-a-half minutes; the full album version clocks in at seven-and-a-half minutes.

“Clockwork Angels” will be released on May 23 in Japan and May 29 in North America.

The week before the single is released, Rush will be honored with The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Revolver Golden God Awards on April 11.

The award will be presented by Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D.

“We are honored and delighted to receive this honor—especially because it will be presented by Jack and Kyle,” said Rush drummer Neil Peart. “Our ‘lifetimes’ are not over yet, and we dearly hope our ‘achievements’ are not either, so I suppose you could say that to us this is the ‘So Far, So Good’ award.”

Rush

Rush

Rush – BU2B (2010)

Steven Adler would love to play Rock Hall with Guns N’ Roses

Following this week’s comments by Slash that he “would love to” play with a reunited Guns N’ Roses at the band’s upcoming Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, another former member has been asked about his interest in playing the event.

Steven Adler was asked via Twitter if he felt the same way as Slash, to which the drummer replied, “I would love to [do it] for the fans.”

The two former GNR members connected in the studio two weeks ago, as the guitarist was on hand to record some parts for Adler’s next album.

Original GNR bassist Duff McKagan is also on board to perform, telling Rolling Stone recently, “I think it would be killer. Do I hope to? That's a tricky question. It would be awesome. You have those day dreams like, ‘We'll go up and play 'Nightrain' and 'Brownstone' and throw down the microphone and drop off! That'll be killer!' But I doubt that'll happen.”

“There's been no communication about anyone playing,” added Duff. “There was probably a day in the mid-1990s where I would have tried to gather the troops, but I'm just not that guy anymore. It's too frustrating to change anyone else…I'm not even sure I'd want to change how anyone else sees a situation. But I'm going.”

The rumors continue that the band is not playing the April 14 event in Cleveland; things cranked up a notch earlier this month when a staff member at Envision Radio Networks tweeted – using musical director Paul Shaffer’s account – that GNR would not perform. A management type from the network later attempted to do some damage control on the leak created by their staff, while trying to take the heat off Shaffer, by confirming that the tweet was done in-house and that it was “inadvertent,” while not denying its accuracy.

Speculation continues that the one holding all the cards on the status of a 15-minute performance/reunion of the original GNR is Axl Rose.

See also:

Slash would love to play Rock Hall with Guns N’ Roses
Guns N’ Roses: Thin Lizzy to open UK tour

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Slash would love to play Rock Hall with Guns N’ Roses

It’s very apparent that Axl Rose is the only one preventing the original Guns N’ Roses lineup from playing at the band’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony next month.

Since the band’s nomination last fall – even before GNR were confirmed as inductees – and beyond, various former members have publicly expressing appreciation for the historical recognition the event brings, while cautiously managing fans’, and their own, hopes that the classic lineup will put aside the past for a few minutes and actually reunite on stage to play a couple of songs.

The latest to speak on the subject is Slash, currently doing press interviews for his new album, “Apocalyptic Love,” due out May 22.

In a new session with Loudwire, Slash had this to say:

"I would love to play. It's just, one of those things where I know that it's not going to happen, so… I just did an interview and said, 'I don't think we're playing.' [Laughs]. I mean I think it would be cool to play, but very early on when the whole thing came up, it became apparent that it wasn't going to happen — and you know, that doesn't surprise me. We've been at odds for… well, not at odds, but we just haven't had any sort of communication in a long time so… that's basically it. That's all I can tell you."

In a rare interview last December, Axl spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the event.

“I've got mixed emotions about what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually really is, but at the same time, there's a lot of people — the fans — that it just means something to them, and they're happy. It's like you won the Heisman or something,” said Axl.

Randall Roberts of the Times wrote that the last thing Rose wants to do, he stresses, is ruin it for others. He refers to Marlon Brando sending an American Indian activist to accept his Oscar and give a protest speech "and everybody getting … off, or when Michael Moore got up at the Academy Awards and said whatever about George Bush. People don't want that associated with their awards shows, even if you have a big audience. In one way it might be right, but it usually backfires on whoever does it. So I really don't want to spoil it for everybody else — or take the beating."

Then he said curtly of the induction performance:

"There is no plan yet. There really is no plan. We're still busy with this lineup. We're gonna be busy — we're gonna be busy all next year. We'll be putting out new stuff as soon as we can figure out what our deal is with labels, blah blah blah."

During the extended conversation, Rose went on to explain the source of the friction between himself and Slash.

"It was really a fight with me and Slash," says Rose of the forces that took down the band. "Izzy [Stradlin] was doing the same thing, but the fight with me and Slash started the day I met him. He came in, popped my tape out and put his in and wanted me in his band. And I didn't want to join his band. We've had that war since Day 1."

See also:

Guns N’ Roses: Thin Lizzy to open UK tour
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses guitarist thinks band should reunite for Rock Hall
Slash: Guns N’ Roses not playing Rock Hall induction
Guns N’ Roses hit US top 10 after 25 cent digital sales promotion
Guns N’ Roses: Current lineup not welcome at Reading, Leeds festivals
VIDEO: Sebastian Bach rocks Hollywood with Guns N’ Roses
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses rock Hollywood’s House Of Blues
Duff McKagan wants Guns N’ Roses to play Rock Hall induction
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses guitarist challenges Hulk Hogan
UPDATE: Guns N’ Roses will not perform at Rock Hall induction
Guns N’ Roses will not perform at Rock Hall induction
Guns N’ Roses: Matt Sorum talks Rock Hall induction
Guns N’ Roses announce L.A. shows
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses Axl Rose apologizes to Philadelphia for 2002 incident
Guns N’ Roses announce UK tour
Guns N’ Roses: Slash unsure of Rock Hall induction plans
Guns N’ Roses announce 3 more US dates
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses rock Chicago for charity
RUMOR: Guns N’ Roses to play Israel this summer
VIDEO: Watch full Guns N’ Roses New York Fashion Week concert
Guns N’ Roses: All original members will be at Rock Hall induction
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses launch intimate tour in New York

VIDEO: Hitler learns Michael Anthony not touring with Van Halen

VIDEO: Van Halen play more rarities on tour
VIDEO: Van Halen’s David Lee Roth In A Box
Van Halen: 9 weeks at #1 on the hennemusic Hot 10
VIDEO: The Van Halen interview
Wolfgang Van Halen joins D’Addario roster
VIDEO: Van Halen – full Montreal concert (part 1)
VIDEO: Van Halen – full Montreal concert (part 2)
VIDEO: Van Halen – full Montreal concert (part 3)
VIDEO: David Lee Roth stops fight at Van Halen show
VIDEO: Van Halen – watch complete Indianapolis concert
VIDEO: Van Halen rock Diver Down rarity in Boston
AUDIO: Valerie Bertinelli talks about Van Halen tour
More Van Halen talk from Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar continues to slam the new Van Halen
Classic Van Halen featured on In The Studio this week
VIDEO: Meet Eddie Van Halen’s dog
VIDEO: Van Halen rock Philadelphia
Kool & The Gang talks about opening for Van Halen
VIDEO: Van Halen rock rare Diver Down classic in New York
David Lee Roth: I am Eddie Van Halen’s biggest fan
VIDEO: David Lee Roth’s dog world
Joe Satriani discusses the new Van Halen album
VIDEO: Van Halen perform Fair Warning classic in Indianapolis
Sammy Hagar: Eddie Van Halen underused bassist Michael Anthony
VIDEO: Van Halen pull out 1984 classic in Detroit
VIDEO: David Lee Roth interviews the Van Halen brothers part 2
VIDEO: Van Halen’s Recreational Director
VIDEO: Van Halen open 2012 tour
VIDEO: Van Halen – David Lee Roth explains Stay Frosty
Van Halen land #1 Rock Album on Billboard
VIDEO: Multi-cam footage of Van Halen dress rehearsal

VIDEO: The return of Tenacious D

Tenacious D return May 15 with “The Rize Of The Fenix.”

The magical duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass are gearing up to release their first new album in years, following 2006’s “The Pick Of Destiny.”

“We recorded down and dirty in a friend’s garage with a shoestring budget of 600 dollars, much like Nirvana's first album “Bleach”- or the Beatles first album “Help,” says the D. “Rough and yet a masterpiece.”

From their concentrated effort emerged thirteen profoundly evocative tracks, the making of which the band describes as a “journey similar to that of Gandolph in The Lord of the Rings.”

When the ill received Pick of Destiny movie failed to strike box office gold, it virtually stripped away the duos rock god stature overnight. “There we no more bouncers waving us through the velvet ropes, we were persona non gratta” said Black.

Kyle added, “There we were - just like Gandolph the grey, down in the muck - but we never gave up, We defeated our own personal demons and began chipping away, slowly climbing back to the land of the living- when we emerged we were no longer the old Tenacious D, we were Gandolph the white, with new powers and wisdom and bravery and skills.”

The D hit the road for live shows starting May 23 in Santa Barbara, CA, with dates announced through the end of July.

Tickets for many dates go on sale beginning Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31; check the band's site for details here.

To help introduce the D’s return, the guys are featured in a new video entitled “To Be The Best.”

Look for several familiar faces in the clip!

Tenacious D

Tenacious D – Rize Of The Fenix (preview)

VIDEO: Van Halen play more rarities on tour

Van Halen continued their setlist surprises on the “A Different Kind Of Truth” tour Monday night.

The veteran rockers played the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA, and added two songs in the show that have yet to be performed on the current trek.

The new track, “Blood And Fire,” and the 1978 classic “Jamie’s Cryin’” made their first appearances of the tour; “Blood” was actually performed at the group’s final dress rehearsal at the L.A. Forum on February 8.

“Jamie” replaced “Hear About It Later” in the song order, while “Blood” was slotted in where “The Trouble With Never” was positioned in the set.

And there may be more new rare adds to the show: fan reports say the band rehearsed the Van Halen II classic “Light Up The Sky” during soundcheck Monday afternoon.

Van

Van Halen

Van Halen – Jamie’s Cryin’
Sovereign Center - Reading, PA – March 26, 2012

Van Halen – Blood And Fire
Sovereign Center - Reading, PA – March 26, 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Black Sabbath guitarist issues cancer update

Black Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi continues his cancer treatments, following a diagnosis late last year that he was in the early stages of lymphoma.

Iommi’s illness and timely treatment shut down plans for a full Sabbath reunion tour, which has been scaled back to two shows: the Download Festival in June and an as-yet-to-be-announced US date.

The previously scheduled Sabbath shows were replaced with an “Ozzy & Friends” series of concerts.

In the meantime, Sabbath have been working with producer Rick Rubin on a new album, although drummer Bill Ward has been sitting out the sessions over a contract dispute.

Now, Iommi has posted the following update on his health status:

A little update on how it's all going:

Well, I've had the last dose of chemotherapy so hopefully my body will start to get back to normal soon, the steroids were the worse. I've now got three weeks of radiotherapy coming up which I'm told can be very tiring so we'll see.

A big thanks to Ozzy and Geezer for coming over to England, it was a big incentive for me, we managed to work most days and have some great new tracks.

And, importantly thanks again for your kind messages, hope to be seeing you soon.

- Tony

Friday, March 30, 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

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