Formed in a seedy Pennsylvanian cantina in 2015, the rise of Star Wars obsessionists Galactic Empire has been noticeable even to those not blessed with force sensitivity. What began as a bit of fun jamming with Ortolans and Pa’lowicks has quickly led to world tours, videos with millions of views, and seen more costume changes than a shopping trip with Princess Leia and Padmé Amidala.
Part of San Francisco’s famous Bay Area thrash scene, Blind Illusion may have only produced one full-length studio album during their initial eleven-year existence but that record, The Sane Asylum (Combat Records) still remains an undisputed classic of its time. Not only famous for adding more technicality, diversity, and flavour to a scene that ran predominantly on speed and aggression, Blind Illusion also ended up being responsible for the creation of alternative funk metal act Primus, the band at the time featuring former Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde and batshit bass wizard Les Claypool.
The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts will benefit charities in both the UK and the US and was chosen by the Hawkins family. Beneficiaries and further details will be announced shortly. Performing alongside The Foo Fighters, the first guest artists for Los Angeles announced are Chris Chaney, Stewart Copeland, Miley Cyrus, Omar Hakim, Joshua Homme, Joan Jett, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Mark Ronson, Alanis Morissette, Gene Simmons, Nikki Sixx, Chad Smith, Luke Spiller, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Jon Theodore, Wolfgang Van Halen, Brad Wilk, Pat Wilson, and a special appearance by Chevy Metal. More artists and guests will be announced. The Los Angeles concert takes place on Tuesday, Sept 27th, 2022 at The Kia Forum. You can sign up for a pre-sale code at the Foo Fighters website.The LA public on sale will begin Friday, 16th of June at 9am local time. The first guests for the London show were announced earlier today and details can be found here.
The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts will benefit charities in both the UK and the US and was chosen by the Hawkins family. Beneficiaries and further details will be announced shortly. Performing alongside The Foo Fighters, the first guest artists announced for the London show are Chris Chaney, Stewart Copeland, Liam Gallagher, Omar Hakim, Joshua Homme, Chrissie Hynde, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Mark Ronson, Supergrass, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Wolfgang Van Halen, Chevy Metal, plus a special appearance by Dave Chappelle. More artists and guests will be announced. The London concert takes place on Saturday, Sept 3rd, 2022 at Wembley Stadium. You can sign up for a pre-0sale code at the Foo Fighters website. The London public on-sale will begin Friday, 17th of June at 9 am local time. The California lineup first announcement will be later today.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Queen guitarist Brian May has said that there is still “a chance” that his much-rumored collaboration with Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi will see the light of day. “We do more talking than anything else, but we do a lot of talking,” Brian said. “He is really my dearest friend in the business and has been for so many years. I could write books about Tony because he’s just the most [pauses]… I don’t even know how to put it into words. You know, he’s a luminous human being is Tony, with a wonderful, kind nature and an incredibly baffling sense of humour. And, of course, he is the father of heavy metal. He did that. He made that happen. And it’s from his fingers and his mind. That young ex-welder, he made that happen. So, you know, he forever wears that medal, I think. He founded this stuff, heavy metal, in my opinion. I mean, I think probably most people would agree.”Continue reading
Queen are sharing their famous 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness via Youtube. The band is raising money to donate to COVID-19 relief efforts and they’ll be sharing the show for 48 hours via their Youtube live on Queen’s Youtube from 2pm EST on May 15th. May. Queen’s’ Benefit Concert took place in London’s Wembley Stadium on Easter Monday (20th, April). The surviving members of the band: Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor wanted to perform the benefit concert in memory of Freddie Mercury, who had passed away the previous November. The concert featured Queen and friends like David Bowie, Elton John, Axl Rose, and James Hetfield among others to pay tribute to Freddie Mercury. The setlist included some real treats like Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, and a special rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Five Finger Death Punch has shared the “Outlaws Remix” of their hit cover of ‘Blue On Black” featuring Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Brantley Gilbert and Brian May. Continue reading
In a pairing of two of the greatest guitarists ever, Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi and Queen’s Brian May shared a photo together of them hanging out with a boom box! The two have been going through Iommi’s unreleased riff archives, with the potential for releasing a future album project. Check out the Instagram post from them below!Continue reading
Queen’s biopic movie Bohemian Rhapsody is coming this November 2nd from 20th Century Fox studios. In a new trailer for the film, you can watch the cast reenact the moment when they wrote and recorded the iconic song ‘We Will Rock You’ from the 1977 album News Of The World (EMI). Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Mr. Robot’s Rami Malik is coming soon. Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Movie Soundtrack will be released this week, on CD and digital formats on October 19.Continue reading
At the peak of their power in the late 1970s, Queen released News Of The Day (EMI/Elektra) to only solid reviews at the time. The band was riding high on a string of mid-70s chart-topping albums, with already some of the biggest hits of all time, that established them as one of the biggest bands in the world. Becoming of those bands changed Queen, a group of highly accomplished master musicians and live performers. Their concerts were already the stuff of legend since they were the first band in the world to book sold-out gigs at sports stadiums worldwide when arenas could not contain the scope of their shows. So as a response, the band began writing with the crowd in mind even more, creating entire passages meant for audience participation, not just the choruses. Critics at the time dissed them for this, but in hindsight, they presaged Metallica, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Guns ‘N Roses, Judas Priest, Queens Of The Stone Age, Muse and just about every other arena rock band since in this regard. Continue reading