NEWS, 22nd June 2010
> EUROPE CONFIRMS iTUNES FESTIVAL WITH FOREIGNER
Europe has been confirmed to play at this year's iTunes Festival at the London Roundhouse on July 25th with Foreigner.
The band will perform music from their current critically acclaimed album “Last Look At Eden”, plus all their classics including the timeless anthem 'The Final Countdown'.
"We'll be well up for playing at the famous Roundhouse in Camden," says Europe's lead singer Joey Tempest. "Recording the event live makes it even more exciting."
Photo credit © Denis O’Regan
More than 60 acts will perform throughout July's 31 nights, including Ozzy Osbourne, Faithless, Scouting For Girls, Foals, Paloma Faith, Ellie Goulding, Phoenix, The Courteeners, Underworld, The XX, Laura Marling, The Drums, Wild Beasts, Scissor Sisters, Goldfrapp, Kate Nash, Pixie Lott and Tony Bennett.
Tickets are free for competition winners. For further information on how to apply for tickets, please visit - http://www.itunesfestival.co.uk/.
> M.I.C. PICS
M.I.C. are now playing the Music House in Chengdu a couple of nights per week. Check out some pictures from their latest show below.
http://www.myspace.com/madeinchine
> BLOOD FOR BLOOD REUNITED AND TOURING
"First off, we would like to thank all our fans for hanging in there over the last six long years. As of December 2010 Blood for Blood will embark on our first tour since 2004. Blood for Blood has agreed to join the Persistence Tour in Europe sharing a stage with long time friends Sick of it All as well as other acts soon to be announced. The decision to play again was not an easy one to make. Over the last few years we have tried time and time again to contact Rob about a possible Blood for Blood reunion, but he has ignored every single attempt we have made. Therefore, we were left with no other choice but to find someone else to fill in for his BFB responsibilities. Now, let’s make this perfectly clear: we have no ill will towards Rob whatsoever. We wish him well and Blood for Blood will always be open to him. That being said, we were left with the conundrum of finding a fill-in for Rob. After some careful thought we believe we found a perfect fill-in. We are pleased to announce that Billy Graziadei of Biohazard will be joining Blood for Blood on stage for Persistence Tour 2010. Again thanks for all the countless emails and support letters from all our fans over the years. We are looking forward to seeing all your ugly faces again". Blood For Blood
If the ghost of Johnny Cash was to unexpectedly rise out of its tomb and supernaturally resurrect its musical soul in the form of a hardcore band, the result would be an anthemic, outlaw punch not unlike Boston’s favourite white trash hardcore hooligans, Blood For Blood.
While Cash grew up as a restless farm boy who longed for fast cars and fast women, the boys in Blood For Blood were reared in the projects and their outlaw spirit reflects the callous surroundings from which they were rendered. Blood For Blood are from outside. They stand on the threshold of society with all but a few toes tangling off the edge with a maniacal desperation, longing for sanity. Theirs is a journey from one end of alienation to the other – only to be flung violently back to the hole from which they crawled out of.
"I been held down my whole life. This band is my opportunity to spit in society's face…” says guitar player Rob Lind.
Inspired by bands such as Sheer Terror, Breakdown, Carnivore and Raw Deal, Blood For Blood formed as a reaction to the existing heavy music scene in Boston back in 1995. "We couldn't relate to anything that was going on in Boston at the time," says vocalist Erick Medina, "We wanted to hear music about the shit we saw and faced everyday. The scene at the time was a fashion show.”
Blood For Blood make no mistake about what their talents are – and what talents they lack. They don’t sing. They don’t rap. They don’t dance. They don’t act. And they definitely ain’t too pretty. They are white trash hardcore rock and roll. And they have just begun their invasion of today’s hair-and-nails conscious heavy music scene. Blood For Blood have cultivated a large, and dangerously loyal, fanbase since their inception almost a decade ago. Having toured with such acts as Dropkick Murphys, Terror, and Sick Of It All, exposing their venom to the nation, the band has left an indelible and hungry mark on the scene.
The band has successfully put five recordings under the belt, with four of them having been released through Victory Records and having had received countless praise in the press worldwide. Blood For Blood has always garnered real, genuine admiration among their fans as well – fans who have been known to willingly bruise, bleed, and become scarred for them at their notoriously ‘high risk’ live shows. Musically, few bands can touch the viscously aggressive hardcore/punk rock sound of Blood For Blood which is served up like a platter full of Sheer Terror, Madball, and The Bruisers. Lyrically, Blood For Blood combines the depravity and pain of the world they see outside their door every day with the experiences of their own dead end lives in an outlaw-poetry style that truly affects its listeners in a deep way.
"We get letters from dudes in prisons in New York, Boston, Detroit and even Alabama, telling us that our shit (music) gets them through and helps 'em face another day," says guitarist Rob Lind. Like Cash playing his outlaw songs to the inmates decades ago, today’s redemption-seeking inmates are turning to the choruses of Blood For Blood for solace in hard times. If you’ve plowed through all your dead ends and need to find friendship in a cold hard world…If loneliness and solitude is all you’ve know and you long to find family when you had none…If rock bottom has ever left you praying under cold street lights…If in your neighbourhood, you’ve seen one too many stolen cars drive by, well, then it’s time you raise your fist in the air and join in the outlaw anthems of Blood For Blood.
http://www.myspace.com/bloodforblood
> WHITESNAKE LINE-UP CHANGES
June 2010 - Whitesnake have officially announced that bassist Uriah Duffy and drummer Chris frazier are going their separate ways from the band after a fun filled & successful journey together.
Whitesnake wish Uriah & Chris every success in pursuing their individual musical careers & express their sincere gratitude for the exceptional contribution they both made to the legacy of the band.
Whitesnake are proud to welcome drummer/vocalist extraordinaire, Brian Tichy (http://www.briantichy.com/). Whitesnake are currently in the studio writing & recording the follow up to their award winning "Good To Be Bad" album, which is expected to be released throughout the world on the Frontiers label in Spring 2011 to coincide with their return to touring.
At this time Whitesnake are still exploring their options for the position of new bass player/singer.
> LEGENDARY STONER ROCK ICONS TOUR
Legendary stoner rock band Sleep split in 1997 after two hugely influential albums. Members went on to form underground heroes OM and High On Fire, and more recently metal super group Shrinebuilder. This Autumn, original members Al Cisneros and Matt Pike will be joined by drummer Jason Roeder of Neurosis to perform the seminal "Holy Mountain" album as well as selections from Dopesmoker and more.
Sleep debuted with 1991's Volume One album, recorded for San Francisco label Tupelo. Earache Records received the band’s next recordings in the mail as a demo. The label - impressed by Sleep's single-mindedness and unique vision - immediately signed the band and released the tape exactly as it was received. Record stores worldwide stocked Sleep’s "Holy Mountain" from November 1992 to this day.
The band then signed to London Records. Their debut album for the major took the form of one mammoth 63-minute leviathan of a track entitled 'Jerusalem'. The band resisted the label’s attempts at radio edits and bringing in their own engineer to remix the album in view of “marketability.” London baulked at the prospect of promoting what probably still is the most extreme music ever recorded for a major label, so shelved the recording and dropped the band.
Sleep's music has been featured in films by Harmony Korine and Jim Jarmusch.
Sleep 2010 US Tour:
9/03/2010 All Tomorrow's Parties - Monticello, NY
9/07/2010 Starlight Ballroom - Philadelphia, PA
9/08/2010 Brooklyn Masonic Temple - New York, NY w/ Lichens
9/09/2010 Logan Square Auditorium - Chicago, IL w/ Lichens
9/10/2010 Mohawk - Austin, TX w/ Sub Oslo
9/11/2010 Roseland Theater/Music Fest NW - Portland, OR w/ Scott Kelly, YOB
9/12/2010 Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
http://www.myspace.com/rifffilledland
