FRIDAY
With energy levels and festival excitement still high, quality acts such as Welsh black metallers Agrona, Norfolk thrashers Shrapnel, Liverpool doom/sludge merchants Conan, and a reinvigorated and retooled Evile invade the Sophie Lancaster Stage, decimating all before them. Birmingham grindcore legends Napalm Death complete the day’s entertainment with a reliably devastating set, the crowd gathered outside the tent almost as huge as the one inside.
With Limp Bizkit cancelling all of their 2021 concerts and festivals, Faith No More has stepped in to headline the Thursday night lineup of Aftershock Festival. Also appearing that night, Anthrax, Testament, Exodus, Knocked Loose, Death Angel, Fit For A King, and Oxymorons.
We’re back!
Sure, we might be having to follow a series of new Coronavirus safety protocols which may or not become a regular thing for live shows, but we’re back. And judging by the size of the opening day crowds spilling out from the main entrance, car parks and campsites, not a moment too soon. Since its inception Bloodstock Open Air has always attracted early birds who like nothing more than to arrive long before the gates even open, but this time feels different. Everyone seems to be here early. Coiled springs desperate for release. The festival’s twentieth anniversary isn’t just a celebration of metal this year, it’s a genuine escape.
Dee Snider is sixty-six years old.
Sixty-six.
What the hell happened there? When I was a teenager, sexagenarians looked and acted like sexagenarians, damn it. Politicians, gardeners, doctors, Victor Kiam (Google him, kids). The lady down the road who only ever seemed to buy tea bags and cat food, and that embarrassing uncle who used to try and Moonwalk at every family party.
Quickly shaping up to be the biggest music festival in the USA this year, Blue Ridge Rock festival has announced their full line-up of 180 bands. Headlining the massive 4 day festival are Five Finger Death Punch, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, and Limp Bizkit. There is a special club warm up show which includes headliner Ludacris, T-Pain, and Lil Jon. Also on tap: the Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow Revue, a vaudeville freak show of wonder by Hellzapoppin’s Ringleader and Producer, Mr. Bryce “The Govna” Graves. In addition, excitingly, the festival will be hosted by Steve-O (MTV’s Jackass); and special guest Lou Brutus (SiriusXM). The fest takes place September 9th – 12th at Blue Ridge Amphitheater, a long-awaited large-scale concert venue in Southwest Virginia. Tickets are on sale now at the link below and here is the full lineup:
Well, that was quite the trip, but in like, a good way. There wasn’t some breakthrough moment of introspective self-discovery or anything of the sort for me but making it through Asclepius (Southern Lord) does feel nice. Where these songs written well ahead of time or were they discovered and jammed out through the recording process? Don’t know and don’t quite care. Iceburn somehow made it work and sound natural.
Aftershock, a festival part of the Danny Wimmer Presents family of events, has announced that The Original Misfits will be the new Saturday Night Headliner, following the departure of My Chemical Romance from the fest due to the pandemic. The original Misfits had booked a slew of arena shows and festival slots in North America from 2018 to 2020. Aftershock also features Metallica as the headliner the other two nights of the fest. Tickets are on sale now. Recent additions to the festival bill now are Limp Bizkit, Rancid, The Offspring, Social Distortion, Rise Against, Volbeat, Machine Gun Kelly, Mastodon, Gojira, SEETHER, Parkway Drive, and many more. A special first time ever Thursday night date, presented by Jack Daniels, is headlined by Limp Bizkit and also hosts Parkway Drive, Testament, Hatebreed, Exodus, Knocked Loose and Fit For a King. Brought to you by Danny wimmer Presents, the West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival–to Discovery Park in Sacramento, CA on October 7, 8, 9 and 10. Passes are on sale now at the link below and you can watch a special trailer video now.
Bringing together the best bands in Metalcore, Punk, Rock, and Metal, Furnace Fest has been announced for this fall at Sloss Furnaces September. 24-26 this year and features a plethora of huge bands such as Killswitch Engage, Taking Back Sunday, Andrew W.K., Underøath, Astronoid, Cave In, Converge, Defeater, Eighteen Visions, Emery, End, ERRA, Every Time I Die, All Get Out, Anberlin, The Appleseed Cast, The Beautiful Mistake, Beloved, Better Off, The Bled, As Friends Rust, August Burns Red, Bad Cop Bad Cop, Be Well, Boy Sets Fire, The Casket Lottery, Comeback Kid, Counterparts, Darkest Hour, Face to Face, Fit for a King, The Get Up Kids, Hatebreed, Zao and more! The full day-by-day lineups and tickets can be found below!
In a new interview with New York’s Q104.3 radio station to promote his involvement with Rock Me Amadeus – The Musical, Dee Snider dropped that his new solo album will be called Leave A Scar, due out tentatively in July, via Napalm Records. Dee’s last album, For The Love Of Metal, released in July 2018 via Napalm Records. That effort, which was produced and co-written by Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta, who again produced the new album. 2020 saw the release of For The Love of Metal Live (interview here) on cd/vinyl and blu-ray and marked the 35th Anniversary of Dee defending music and Freedom of Speech against the PMRC. Watch the full interview below. Continue reading
Alcohol
The best Christmas gifts are the most useful ones. Slapping a bow on a bottle of Jack is the easiest gift you can give a metalhead. The great thing about it? Even if they have a preference, they aren’t going to turn down free alcohol. Type any brand and the words “gift set” into Google and you’ll find something. However, premade gift sets have a tendency to be overpriced and generic. You’re better off grabbing an empty box and filling it up with a variety of airplane bottles. It’s kind of like a box of chocolates—But booze.