Photo archives – Behemoth
A few shots of Behemoth from their Detroit performance on the Mayhem Fest tour last summer. Behemoth has been nominated for best underground band at the upcoming 2nd Annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards to be held April 8.
A is for Australia, AC/DC…and Airbourne
Is it just me, or is this band the heir apparent to AC/DC? I have to admit when I saw the over-the-top, rock-star-posturing photos, I almost thought this was a parody. Ah sure, they sound an awful lot like Brian Johnson-era AC/DC
, but hell, most of AC/DC's songs sound a lot alike too, and we don't mind because they kick ass, and it looks like these guys do, too.
I wanna party with these guys. For real.
I have a feeling Airbourne
is a band one needs to see live. If you are Canadian, you can catch them opening for Motley Crue till Feb 5.
Behind the scenes with Killswitch Engage in South America
I think this is pretty cool, and I would love to see music coverage go back to its roots with more behind the scenes, documentary type coverage rather than the glossy posed stills that fill all the magazines these days.
I’ve shot Killswitch Engage live a couple of times, and like these guys. They seem like a fun, down to earth bunch of guys, and Howard Jones even tried to get me to give him my camera to take a shot of the crowd when I shot them in Kalamazoo opening for Disturbed.
Nice as he seems to be, no one touches my camera but me, baby.
Anyway, here’s the first clip of footage courtesy of Roadrunner Records. Killswitch Engage
will be playing the Royal Oak Music Theatre Feb 20 with The Devil Wears Prada.
I will be shooting some TDWP promos that night and likely KsE as well, so I’m pretty damn excited.
From the Roadrunner website:
This past October, Killswitch Engage
embarked on their first ever tour of South America. With stops in
Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia, the Massachusetts
natives played in front of ravenous crowds eager to catch the rare
glimpse of KsE live in their respective countries.
The landmark trek was documented by the band, and starting today
we will be releasing one behind-the-scenes clip every Monday over the
course of the next six weeks.
While the videos range from tour bus shenanigans to backstage
experiences, the band can be seen interacting with fans and engaging in
some typical, hilarious Killswitch fare. The first offering (below) sees the band arriving on Brazilian soil and being greeted by their mass of eager fans.
Watch as Killswitch conquer new territory and don’t miss the band on tour starting February 4th as they embark on a US headlining run with The Devil Wears Prada.
Slayer’s Araya sidelined with back injury, Slayer tour postponed
Apparently Tom Araya joins Pete Townshend as another casualty suffering injury in the name of rock and roll.
Araya has developed a back injury requiring surgery, and resulting in the cancellation of Slayer’s immediate tour plans that include
the American and Canadian Carnage Tour dates that were set to kick off
on January 18, as well as the band’s UK/European tour scheduled for
March and April. Booking agents for both Slayer
and Megadeth
are
already hard at work to see if these dates can be rescheduled, so those
holding tickets are asked to sit tight as more info will be announced
as progress is made.
The headbanging Araya, known for aggressively swinging his long mane of
hair while performing, began experiencing back problems while on the
band’s Australian/New Zealand/Japanese tour last October. In spite of
his rapidly increasing pain and discomfort, he carried on with the
tour, but immediately upon returning home saw an orthopedic specialist
who diagnosed a Cervical Radiculopathy. The rocker initially did not
want to take the major surgery route, so the specialist recommended a
series of minimally-invasive procedures. While those procedures have
resulted in some improvement, Araya continues to deal with intermittent
bouts of severe pain, numbness and muscle spasms. The surgical
procedure that Araya will undergo, called an Anterior Cervical
Discectomy with Fusion, is a relatively routine practice and the
recovery rate is excellent.
So there you have it kids. Bring ear plugs if you’re going to be close to the stage. And bang your head…but not too hard.
Love Slayer? Check out this awesome selection of authentic Slayer apparel and gear from Rock.com!
What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding? Sevendust live at the Emerald Theater in Detroit
Since Barack Obama’s nomination and subsequent election as the first African-American president of the United States, we have been bombarded with commentary about how he has broken racial barriers, winning traditionally “red” states and southern states. But political superstar that he is, Obama would likely have his hands full winning over a crowd of beer-guzzling, good ol’ boys into metal and hard rock.
For Lajon Witherspoon, it’s all in a days work, and has been for years as the frontman for Sevendust. Witherspoon is one of only a few African-American vocalists in heavy metal, yet has garnered such respect he was named #35 on Hit Parader’s list of 100 Best Rock Vocalists of All Time in 2008.
And when you see Sevendust live, you can see he’s earned his place. He may be short in stature, but he thrashed his muscular frame around the stage, Keith Morris-esque dreads whipping around him as the band covered songs from their full discography, going back as far as “Denial” from 1999’s Home, to “Inside” from their current release, Chapter IIV: Hope and Sorrow.
You’d expect Witherspoon to be a total badass, but he showed the Detroit crowd a bit of a different side that night. At one point, he called out to a couple of soldiers in the crowd still in camouflages, and as they were hoisted over the crowd to the pit, Witherspoon stopped security from booting them out, and took one of the soldiers on stage to thank him for his service. To roaring applause, as you can imagine.
If that won’t win over a rough crowd of metalheads and biker types I don’t know what will.
Then as the set resumed, a drumstick had been thrown in the audience. I watched as two men both had a deathgrip on it, struggling to rip it from each other, neither giving it up. They seemed on the verge of blows, but Witherspoon quickly put an end to that. It’s one thing to have a pit, but he’s not having any fights at their shows — he called to them to stop and handed the men a second drumstick, ending the brewing fight and inspiring the men to hug each other to the crowd’s applause.
Who knew he could be such a sensitive guy and ambassador of peace and goodwill?
The Emerald Theater was sold out for this show supporting Black Label Society, and as I looked up from the front row into the balconies in that old theater, I could see about every face in there, and I only saw one that was African-American. But I didn’t see any that weren’t rocking out.
I can’t see Obama as a rock star, but for Lajon Witherspoon, who knows…maybe he has a promising future in politics and diplomacy, should he ever get tired of rock and roll.
But given the show Sevendust put on in Detroit, I can’t see that happening anytime soon. And thank god for that.