Loud Planet News!
MONDAY 5th JUNE 2006
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL IS A SELLOUT
It is now confirmed that all weekend tickets for this weekend's Download festival have completely sold out! A limited amount of day tickets are still available, but only for Friday 9th and Sunday 11th. Stay tuned for set times which are to be announced very soon.
NEW ROB HALFORD DVDS ON THE WAY
Judas Priest's Rob Halford will release two new DVDs via his newly formed imprint label, Metal God Entertainment. The first to drop will be Fight, War Of Words - The Film, a docu-film recorded throughout 1992 and 1993 as Halford makes his decision to leave Judas Priest and record and tour with his first solo band, Fight. Visit www.robhalford.com/trailers for a sneak preview. The second is Halford - Live at Rock In Rio 2001, a live concert recorded at Brazil's legendary Rock In Rio music festival. The new imprint label will also re-release Halford's three solo albums, Resurrection, the two-CD concert recording Live Insurrection and Crucible.
THURSDAY 1st JUNE 2006
TOUR DATES: GUNS N' ROSES
Guns N' Roses have confirmed a full UK tour for July, their first since 1993. In addition to their Download festival appearance and their warm-up show at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 7th June, the band will now play a further seven shows. Dates are as follows: 18th July 2006 - Sheffield Hallam FM Arena; 19th - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena; 21st - Glasgow SECC; 23rd - Manchester MEN Arena; 25th - Birmingham NEC; 27th - Nottingham Arena; 30th - London Wembley Arena. Tickets go on sale on Friday 2nd June at 9am.
TOUR DATES: BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society have confirmed a handful of UK shows for the spring of 2007. Dates are as follows: 4th March 2007 - Glasgow Academy; 5th - Manchester Academy; 6th - Newcastle Academy; 8th - Birmingham Academy; 9th - Brixton Academy. Tickets are priced £19.50. Black Label Society's new album, Shot To Hell, is set for release on 25th September 2006.
TOUR DATES: PANIC! AT THE DISCO
Panic! At The Disco have announced two UK headline shows. The band will play at London's Brixton Academy on 23rd and 24th October 2006. Tickets are on sale now priced £14.00.
36 CRAZYFISTS INSTORE SIGNING
36 Crazyfists will be at London's Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street for a signing session on Monday 12th June 2006 at 1pm, the day their new album, Rest Inside The Flames, is released. Fans planning to purchase the album at the Oxford Street store on the day of the signing may get a pleasant surprise, as five pairs of tickets to that evening's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards will be sealed inside five random copies of the album. One of the five lucky winners will also win an i-Pod, which will be presented to them by the band after the instore signing.
IN BRIEF: Napalm Death are currently recording their new album, tentatively titled Smear Campaign, due for a September release. Bullet For My Valentine will release 'Tears Don't Fall', the third single from their album The Poison, on 17th July 2006.
TUESDAY 30th MAY 2006
GWEN STEFANI GIVES BIRTH
We'd like to congratulate Gwen Stefani and husband Gavin Rossdale on the birth of their first child, Kingston, a baby boy, who was born on Friday 26th May 2006, weighing 7lb 5oz.
WATCH KORN'S NEW VIDEO
Korn will release their new single, 'Coming Undone', on 12th June 2006 and we've got the video for your viewing and listening pleasure right here.
IN BRIEF: Sonic Youth will release their new album, Rather Ripped, on the 5th June 2006
WEDNESDAY 24th MAY 2006
LORDI CONFIRMED FOR DOWNLOAD
Eurovision winning Lordi have been confirmed for this year's Download festival. They will play the Gibson/MySpace.com stage on Sunday 11th June. Also just confirmed are Wicked Wisdom. Fronted by actress Jada Pinkett-Smith (Collateral, Matrix Revelations and Reloaded, Ali) Wicked Wisdom have been confirmed to play their first UK festival appearance on the main-stage on Friday 9th. Two more additions are Gojira (formerly Godzilla), who will play the Snickers Stage on Friday 9th and : ( (that's colon open bracket!) who will play the Gibson/MySpace.com stage on Saturday 10th. It has now been confirmed that all tickets for Saturday 10th are sold out and the final day tickets for Friday 9th and Sunday 11th have just been released. As previously announced, all campsite spaces at the festival have now also sold out. For more information on the Download festival visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk.
TUESDAY 23rd MAY 2006
MORE TICKETS FOR CARLING WEEKEND
A strictly limited allocation of three-day packages for the Carling Weekend at Leeds are on sale now. Visit www.meanfiddler.com for more information. The Carling Weekend takes place in Leeds and Reading from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th August 2006. This year's line-up includes: Pearl Jam, Placebo, Muse, Feeder, My Chemical Romance, Slayer, Less Than Jake, Taking Back Sunday, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fall Out Boy, The Subways, Panic! At The Disco, Wolfmother, Coheed and Cambria, Jet, Mastodon and Towers Of London.
MONDAY 22nd MAY 2006
LORDI WIN EUROVISION!
Finnish monster-metallers Lordi have won this year's Eurovision Song Contest! It was a landslide victory with 292 points, 44 points clear of second place Russia. The UK awarded Lordi the highest possible point allocation of 12 points.
DOWNLOAD 2004 PHOTO GALLERY
With Download 2006 fast approaching and to whet your appetite, we've put back online the photo gallery from 2004's event. Click here for exclusive pictures of Metallica, Linkin Park and more. Also, don't miss our review and photo gallery of 2005's event here.
TUESDAY 16th MAY 2006
GUNS N' ROSES ANNOUNCE DOWNLOAD WARM-UP SHOW
Guns N' Roses will play London's Hammersmith Apollo on 7th June 2006, as a warm-up show in advance of their headlining appearance at this year's Download festival. Avenged Sevenfold have been confirmed as support personally hand picked by Guns N' Roses themselves! Tickets are priced £37.50, plus booking fee, and go on sale at 9am Friday 19th May.
DOWNLOAD CLOSE TO SELL OUT
It has been announced that day tickets for the Download festival are close to selling out, with only a few hundred weekend tickets still available. It is also confirmed that campsite spaces at the festival have now completely sold out. For more information on ticket availability visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk
MEGADETH SIGN TO ROADRUNNER
Megadeth have singed a new record deal with Roadrunner Records and have begun work on their as-yet-untitled new studio album. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine had this to say about the band's new home: "It is exciting to be some place you are respected, understood and appreciated. The truth is there are a lot of people I've known there over the years. I'm stoked we're all coming back together again to work on this project."
IN BRIEF: Hot Water Music have announced their break up. Singer/guitarist Chuck Ragan announced the news in a statement on Engineer Records' website. Head Automatica will release their new album, Popaganda, on 5th June 2006, via Warner Bros.
FRIDAY 12th MAY 2006
SLAYER ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
Slayer will release their as-yet-untitled new studio album, their first since 2001's God Hates Us All, on 24th July 2006 via Warner Bros. A digital release of the album track 'Cult' will precede the album on 6th June. Recorded in Los Angeles, the new album is produced by Josh Abraham, with Rick Rubin as executive producer. Guitarist Kerry King commented, "It's definitely going to be a riff-fest. There are riffs all over the place. As much time as we had to work on it, there better be riffs on it. I think anybody who likes Slayer, musically, is going to love it." Slayer will play at the Leeds and Reading Festival on 25th and 27th August respectively.
FESTIVAL UPDATE: DOWNLOAD
A number of stage changes have been announced for this year's Download festival, which takes place at Donington Park on the 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. Moving from their original Friday slot to the Sunday is Funeral For A Friend, who will now play directly before Guns N' Roses on the Main Stage. Other changes for the weekend are on the Saturday and Sunday Devildriver are to swap with Sikth on the Snickers stage, Stonegard are trading places with To My Surprise on the Gibson/MySpace.com stage both on Saturday and Streetlight Youth have moved from the Snickers Bowl to the Gibson/MySpace.com stage on the Sunday. Also now confirmed for the weekend are ex-Queens Of The Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri's solo project Mondo Generator, Khoma, I-Def-I, Art of Dying, Keiko and The Hedrons.
Stage line-ups are now as follows:
Friday 9th June 2006
Main Stage: Tool, Deftones, Coheed & Cambria, Soulfly, Strapping Young Lad, Soil, Amplifier.
Snickers Stage: The All-American Rejects, Atreyu, InMe, Clutch, Sevendust, Fishbone, Dredg, Bleeding Through, Throwdown.
Gibson/MySpace.com Stage: Ginger & The Sonic Circus, Backyard Babies, Cathedral, Engerica, Bullets And Octane, My Awesome Compilation, Animal Alpha, The Audition, Enter Shikari, Art of Dying.
Snickers Bowl: Gay For Johnny Depp, Keiko, Sintuition.
Saturday 10th June
Main Stage: Metallica, Korn, Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Alice In Chains, Arch Enemy, Blood Simple, Satyricon.
Snickers Stage: Alter Bridge, Opeth, Within Temptation, Secret Machines, Billy Talent, Henny Rollins Spoken Word, Devildriver, Sikth, Johnny Truant, Khoma.
Gibson/MySpace.com Stage: Killing Joke, Reuben, Mondo Generator, Louie, This Is Menace, 10 Years, Flyleaf, Manic, It Dies Today, Exit Ten, Stonegard.
Snickers Bowl: Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Get Amped, The Hedrons.
Sunday 11th June
Main Stage: Guns N' Roses, Funeral For A Friend, Bullet For My Valentine, Cradle Of Filth, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, 36 Crazyfists, Dragonforce, Hatebreed, Breed 77.
Snickers Stage: The Prodigy, Alexisonfire, Eighteen Visions, Hundred Reasons, Aiden, Fightstar, From First To Last, Soilwork, Zebrahead, God Forbid.
Gibson/MySpace.com Stage: Sick Of It All, Skindred, Moneen, Darkest Hour, Blindside, Protest The Hero, Mendeed, Bring Me The Horizon, Lauren Harris, Voodoo Six, The Zico Chain, Winterville, Streetlight Youth, I-Def-I.
Snickers Bowl: Viking Skull, Betty Curse, Evergrey.
THURSDAY 11th MAY 2006
ANGELS & AIRWAVES ANNOUNCE EXTRA DATE
After all 2000 tickets for their London Astoria show were snapped up in less than ten minutes, Blink-182 frontman Tom Delonge's new band, Angels And Airwaves, have announced a new date at London's Brixton Academy on Tuesday 13th June 2006. Tickets are on sale from 9am Friday 12th May. Angels And Airwaves' debut single, 'The Adventure' is released on 15th May, with the album, We Don't Need To Whisper, following on 22nd May.
TOUR DATES: LOSTPROPHETS
Lostprophets have announced the following tour dates: 3rd July 2006 - MANCHESTER, Apollo; 4th GLASGOW, Academy; 6th - NEWCASTLE, Academy; 7th - LONDON, Brixton Academy; 10th - BRIGHTON, Dome; 11th - DONCASTER, Dome; 12th - NOTTINGHAM, Rock City; 14th - CARLISLE, Sand Centre; 15th - BLACKPOOL, Empress Ballroom; 16th - LIVERPOOL, University; 18th - NORWICH, UEA; 19th - EXETER, Great Hall; 20th -BIRMINGHAM, Academy; 22nd - CARDIFF, International Arena. Tickets are priced at £16.00, expect London and Cardiff which are £17.50. Lostprophets will release their new album, Liberation Transmission, on 26th June, which will be preceded by the single 'Rooftops (A Liberation Transmission)' on 19th June.
FRIDAY 5thMAY 2006
FESTIVAL UPDATE: DOWNLOAD
Henny Rollins has been confirmed to appear at this year's Download festival, which takes place at Donington Park on 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. After his Sunday Sermon at Download 2005, Rollins is set to make an appearance on the Snickers Stage on the Saturday. Rollins had this to say about his return to Download: "I was happy to be part of the festival last year and I am blown away that I get to be part of it again this year. I can't wait." With the stage line-ups confirmed for the Main Stage, Snickers Stage and the Gibson/MySpace.com stage, the organisers have announced details of the Snicker Bowl stage. Gay for Johnny Depp, Sintuition, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Get Amped, Streetlight Youth, Viking Skull, Betty Curse and Evergrey will play the Snickers Bowl stage across the three days. Also returning is the Snickers Bowl the size of an Olympic swimming pool, but twice as deep. Previously open to invited international skate and BMX pros only, the Snickers Bowl at Download on the Friday will give the best of established and new UK talent the chance to ride the bowl in an invitation-only jam. Saturday and Sunday sees the pros take centre stage with Rune Glifberg, Renton Millar and Koji Kraft competing. Check out www.downloadfestival.co.uk/snickers for more information.
SOULFLY CONFIRM DATES
Soulfly have confirmed two UK shows to follow their appearance at this year's Download Festival. Catch the band at Leeds Cockpit on 10th June (tickets £14.00) and Peterborough Cresset on 11th June (tickets £12.50).
TAKING BACK SUNDAY ADD EXTRA DATE
Taking Back Sunday have added an extra date to their upcoming UK tour, which is all but sold out. The band will now play at Nottingham Rock City on 23rd May 2006. Tickets are priced £13.50. Full tour dates are as follows: 17th May 2006 - Manchester Academy; 19th - Bristol Academy (sold out); 20th - Birmingham Academy (sold out); 21st - Southampton Guildhall; 22nd - London Astoria (sold out); 23rd - Nottingham Rock City (new date); 25th - Newcastle Academy; 26th - Glasgow Barrowlands (sold out); 27th - Liverpool University.
NEVERMORE GUITARIST HAS KIDNEY DISEASE
Nevermore guitarist Steve Smyth has been diagnosed with end stage kidney failure. Smyth explains: "I have been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and have been advised to preserve my health as much as possible at this time, as I am facing 'complete renal failure' within six months, and ultimately, a transplant. Due to my recently diagnosed condition, I have decided not to join the band on the In Flames US tour. I want to be fair to the fans, and be able to give them a show I know I can deliver night after night. I will, however, join Nevermore on all four of the European festivals on our itinerary in early June: Gods of Metal, Rock Hard, Rott Fest, and Sweden Rock, after which, the doctors should have some news about the next step in my treatment. I will say this: I will fight this, and I will be back". We send our best wishes to Steve and hope he makes a speedy recovery.
TUESDAY 2nd MAY 2006
LESS THAN JAKE RELEASE NEW ALBUM
Less Than Jake will release their new studio album, In With The Out Crowd, on 22nd May 2006, via Reprise. The album will be preceded by the double A-sided single 'Overrated (Everything Is)'/'Still Life Franchise' on 15th May.
IN BRIEF: Taking Back Sunday will release new single 'MakeDamnSure' on 22nd May 2006, taken from their current album Louder Now.
WEDNESDAY 26th APRIL 2006
DOWNLOAD STAGE LINE-UPS ANNOUNCED
Sick Of It All, In Flames, Atreyu, The Audition, Johnny Truant, Devildriver, Mendeed, Moneen and Winterville, are the latest additions to the Download festival, which takes place at Donington Park on the 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. Also, just announced, here are the finalised stage line-ups, including which bands will play on each day and details of who will be playing which stage.
Friday 9th June 2006
Mainstage: Tool, Deftones, Funeral For A Friend, Coheed & Cambria, Soulfly, Strapping Young Lad. Snickers Stage: The All-American Rejects, Atreyu, InMe, Clutch, Sevendust, Fishbone, Dredg, Bleeding Through, Throwdown. Gibson/MySpace.com Stage: Ginger & The Sonic Circus, Backyard Babies, Cathedral, Engerica, My Awesome Compilation, The Audition.
Saturday 10th June
Mainstage: Metallica, Korn, Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Alice In Chains, Arch Enemy, Blood Simple. Snickers Stage: Alter Bridge, Opeth, Within Temptation, Secret Machines, Billy Talent, Devildriver, Sikth, Johnny Truant. Gibson/MySpace.com Stage: Killing Joke, Reuben, This Is Menace, 10 Years, Flyleaf, Manic, To My Surprise, Exit Ten, Stonegard.
Sunday 11th June
Mainstage: Guns N' Roses, Bullet For My Valentine, Cradle Of Filth, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, 36 Crazyfists, Dragonforce, Hatebreed. Snickers Stage: The Prodigy, Alexisonfire, Eighteen Visions, Hundred Reasons, Aiden, Fightstar, From First To Last, Soilwork, Zebrahead, God Forbid. Gibson/MySpace.com Stage: Sick Of It All, Skindred, Moneen, Blindside, Protest The Hero, Mendeed, Lauren Harris, Voodoo Six, Bring Me The Horizon, The Zico Chain, Winterville.
Weekend tickets for the event are on sale now, with individual day tickets on sale from 9.00am Wednesday 3rd May priced £55.00 each.
Also announced this week is series of thirteen official Download pre-festival Club Nights. Each night will offer one special prize of a pair of full weekend tickets to the festival including entrance to the guest's hospitality area. Other prizes available will be T-shirts and a range of CDs, posters, stickers and badges. Dates are as follows: Friday 28th April - LONDON Sin City @ Electric Ballroom (from 9pm); Friday 28th April - LONDON Rock @ Mean Fiddler (from 11pm); Friday 28th April - NEWCASTLE Legends (from 9pm); Saturday 29th April - LIVERPOOL Krazy House (from 9pm); Saturday 29th April - NOTTINGHAM Distortion @ Rock City (from 9pm); Saturday 29th April - SHEFFIELD The Corporation (from 9:30pm); Saturday 29th April - BIRMINGHAM; Subculture @ The Academy (from 9pm); Saturday 29th April - MANCHESTER Jillys (from 9pm); Saturday 29th April - WOLVERHAMPTON Corrosion @ The Civic (from 9:30pm); Sunday 30th April - NOTTINGHAM Distortion Jnr @ The Rig (from 7pm); Friday 5th May - WOLVERHAMPTON Generation @ The Wulfrun (from 7pm); Saturday 6th May - BIRMINGHAM Teen Culture @ The Academy (from 5pm); Sunday 7th May - LONDON Subverse @ The Underworld (from 2pm). For further information regarding the Donwload festival visit the event's official website: www.downloadfestival.co.uk.
MONDAY 24th APRIL 2006
BON JOVI ADD NEW TOUR DATE
Bon Jovi have added a new date to their upcoming UK tour. The band will play at Hull's Kingston Communications Stadium on 13th June 2006. Tickets are on sale now. Full tour dates are now as follows: 3rd June 2006 - National Stadium, Hampden Park, Glasgow; 4th - City Of Manchester Stadium; 7th - Ricoh Arena, Coventry; 9th - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton; 10th - National Bowl, Milton Keynes (rescheduled Wembley show); 11th - National Bowl, Milton Keynes (rescheduled Wembley show); 13th - Kingston Communications Stadium, Hull.
IN BRIEF: Deep Purple will release a Limited Tour Edition of their current album Rapture Of The Deep on 5th June 2006, via Edel Records.
THURSDAY 20th APRIL 2006
ALICE COOPER TO RELEASE LIVE CD/DVD
Alice Cooper will release a live CD and DVD set on 29th May 2006 entitled Live At Montreux 2005. Track listing is as follows (all tracks feature on both CD and DVD unless stated otherwise): 1) Department of Youth, 2) No More Mr Nice Guy, 3) Dirty Diamonds, 4) Billion Dollar Babies, 5) Be My Lover, 6) Lost In America, 7) I Never Cry, 8) Woman Of Mass Distraction, 9) I'm Eighteen, 10) Between High School & The Old School, 11) What Do You Want From Me, 12) Is It My Body?, 13) Go To Hell (DVD only), 14) The Black Widow (DVD only), 15) Gimme, 16) Feed My Frankenstein, 17) Welcome To My Nightmare, 18) The Awakening (DVD only), 19) Steven (DVD only), 20) Only Women Bleed (DVD only), 21) Ballad of Dwight Fry (DVD only), 22) Killer (DVD only), 23) I Love The Dead (DVD only), 24) School's Out, 25) Poison, 26) Wish I Were Born In Beverley Hills, 27) Under My Wheels. Alice will play a handful of UK shows in May and June before his appearance at the Monsters of Rock festival on 3rd June at Milton Keynes Bowl. Dates are as follows: 29th May 2006 - Sheffield City Hall, 31st - Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland; 1st June - Villa Marina, Isle Of Man.
FRIDAY 14th APRIL 2006
MORE BANDS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Opeth, Hundred Reasons, Reuben, Flyleaf, Backyard Babies, This Is Menace, Manic, Lauren Harris, Billy Talent and Voodoo Six are the latest additions to the Download festival line-up. They will join headliners Tool, Metallica and Guns N' Roses and a host of other bands over the weekend of 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006 at Donington Park. Scroll down to previous news items for further line-up information or visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk.
DEVILDRIVER ANNOUNCE DATES
Devildriver have announced two UK shows. Dates are as follows: 6th June 2006 - Rotterdam Bar, Belfast; 7th June - Cathouse, Glasgow. Tickets for the Glasgow show are on sale now, priced at £7.50.
FRIDAY 7th APRIL 2006
CARLING WEEKEND LINE-UP
Pearl Jam, Muse, Placebo, Feeder, Audioslave, My Chemical Romance, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Subways and Panic! At The Disco have all been confirmed for this year's Carling Weekend, which takes place in Leeds and Reading on the 25th, 26th and 27th August 2006.
THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2006
IRON MAIDEN ADD EXTRA DATE
Owing to "phenomenal demand for tickets", Iron Maiden have added a second Earls Court show to their UK tour. The extra date is Saturday 23rd December 2006. Full UK tour dates are now as follows: 11th December 2006 - CARDIFF, International Arena (Sold Out); 12th - BIRMINGHAM, NEC; 14th - MANCHESTER, MEN Arena; 15th - GLASGOW, SECC Hall; 17th - NEWCASTLE, Metro Radio Arena; 18th - SHEFFIELD, Hallam FM Arena; 22nd - LONDON, Earls Court; 23rd - LONDON, Earls Court. Maiden are currently recording their as-yet-untitled 14th studio album, which will be released prior to the tour. Maiden bassist Steve Harris commented: "The recording is going brilliantly so far and we're all very excited about the new album and how it's sounding. The news that the tour is selling out all over the place so many months in advance is just great and playing two nights at Earls Court right before Christmas means it will be a great party for everyone!"
MONDAY 3rd APRIL 2006
WATCH ROB ZOMBIE'S NEW VIDEO
Rob Zombie's new album, Educated Horses, is out now and we've got the video to the album's first single, 'Foxy, Foxy', right here. Enjoy!
THURSDAY 30th MARCH 2006
EVEN MORE BANDS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Killing Joke, Fightstar, Secret Machines, Dragonforce, Fishbone, Strapping Young Lad, From First To Last, Cathedral, Sevendust, Alter Bridge, My Awesome Compilation, 10 Years, Skindred, Dredg, Blindside, Stonegard, Zico Chain, Evergrey, Exit 10 and Get Cape Wear Cape Fly are the latest additions to the Download festival line-up. They will join headliners Tool, Metallica and Guns N' Roses and a host of other bands over the weekend of 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006 at Donington Park. Scroll down to previous news items for further line-up information or visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk
IN BRIEF: The Vines will release new single 'Anysound' on 15th May 2006. Their new album, Vision Valley, is released on 3rd April.
THURSDAY 23rd MARCH 2006
MORE BANDS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Avenged Sevenfold and Bring Me The Horizon are the latest additions to the growing Download festival line-up, which takes place at Donington Park on 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. Scroll down to previous news items for further line-up information or visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk
TUESDAY 21st MARCH 2006
SOUNDS OF THE UNDERGROUND HITS THE UK
After a successful stint across the US last summer, the Sounds of the Underground tour will hit the UK in May with headliners Chimaira. Also making up the bill will be Madball, Terror, Unearth, All That Remains and Manttis. Chimaira frontman Mark Hunter commented, "We are proud to announce that we are going to be a part of the very first European Sounds Of The Underground tour. Last summer we did this tour in the States and it was a f**king blast! Killer diverse bands, bringing intense metal and hardcore to the masses. The biggest complaint I heard was that it didn't come to Europe and the UK. Well, complain no more and get in line now, 'cause you know these shows are going to sell the f**k out!". Dates are as follows: 10th May 2006 - Manchester Academy; 11th - Glasgow QMU; 12th - London Forum. Tickets are on sale now, priced £15.00 regionally and £16.50 in London.
ZAKK WYLDE SIGNS TO ROADRUNNER
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society have signed to Roadrunner Records. The band is currently working with producer Michael Beinhorn on their new album, Shot To Hell, which is due out in June. A UK tour is planned for the autumn. In related news, Zakk is also writing and recording for Ozzy's forthcoming solo album, which is due out later this year.
THURSDAY 16th MARCH 2006
MORE BANDS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Alice In Chains, Funeral For A Friend, Coheed & Cambria, Ginger & The Sonic Circus, Sikth, Alexisonfire, Zebrahead, Throwdown, The All-American Rejects, God Forbid, Bleeding Through, Protest The Hero and Engerica are the latest additions to the growing Download festival line-up. Scroll down to previous news items for further line-up information or visit the festival's official website: www.downloadfestival.co.uk
FALL OUT BOY ANNOUNCE SINGLE
Fall Out Boy will release new single, 'Dance, Dance' on 17th April 2006 via Mercury. It is the second single to be taken from their multi-platinum-selling album, From Under The Cork Tree. A new version of the album is currently available featuring five new tracks (three non-album single B-sides: 'Snitches and Talkers Gets Stitches and Walkers', 'The Music Or The Misery' and 'My Heart Is The Worst Kind Of Weapon'; and two exclusive remixes: 'Sugar, We're Goin Down (Patrick Stump Remix)' and 'Dance, Dance (Lindbergh Palace Remix)').
THURSDAY 9th MARCH 2006
TOUR DATES: IRON MAIDEN
Iron Maiden have announced the following UK tour dates: 11th December 2006 - Cardiff International Arena; 12th - Birmingham NEC; 14th - Manchester MEN Arena; 15th - Glasgow SECC Hall; 17th - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena; 18th - Sheffield Hallam FM Arena; 22nd - London's Earls Court Arena. Support comes from Trivium. Advanced tickets for fan club members go on sale from 9am Friday 10th March. After that, tickets will go on sale to the general public from 9am Friday 17th March.
MONDAY 6th MARCH 2006
TOUR DATES: STILL REMAINS
Still Remains have announced the following UK tour dates: 15th May 2006 - Oxford Zodiac; 16th - Sheffield Corporation; 17th - Newport TJ'S; 18th - London Mean Fiddler; 19th - Brighton Concorde 2; 20th - Liverpool Academy 2; 21st - Nottingham Rock City; 22nd - Glasgow King Tuts; 23rd - Manchester Academy 3; 24th - Birmingham Academy 2; 25th - Portsmouth Wedgwood Rooms; 26th - Exeter Lemon Grove. Support comes from Sinai Beach and Demiricous. Tickets are on sale now priced £9.00 regionally or £11.00 for London.
TOUR DATES: MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
Most Precious Blood have announced the following tour dates: 19th June 2006 - Newport TJs; 20th - Sheffield Corporation; 21st - Manchester Phoenix; 22nd - London Underworld. Support comes from Ringworm and Damnation AD. Tickets are on sale now priced at £9.00 for Newport and Sheffield and £10.00 for Manchester and London.
WEDNESDAY 1st MARCH 2006
TOOL FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Tool have been confirmed as the third and final headlining act for the Download festival. They will close the first day of the festival on Friday 9th June 2006. Other acts just confirmed to appear are: Soulfly, Cradle Of Filth, Stone Sour, Arch Enemy, 36 Crazyfists, Soilwork, Eighteen Visions, Aiden, Bloodsimple and To My Surprise. Scroll down to previous news items for further information on Download 2006.
MONDAY 27th FEBRUARY 2006
SUBWAYS AND ANGLES & AIRWAVES ADDED TO FOO'S LINE-UP
The Subways and Angels & Airwaves have been added to the line-up for the Foo Fighters Manchester show at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground on 18th June 2006. The bill already includes The Strokes. Angels & Airwaves will also play at the Foo's London Hyde Park show on the 17th June, with Motorhead and Queens of The Stone Age.
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND RESCHEDULE DATES
Funeral For A Friend have announced the rescheduled dates for their recently postponed UK tour. The new dates are as follows: 15th May 2006 - Exeter University; 16th - London Shepherd's Bush Empire; 24th - Bristol Carling Academy; 25th - Liverpool University Academy; 27th - Southampton Guildhall (new show - tickets on sale now); 29th - Reading Hexagon; 31st - Edinburgh Corn Exchange; 1st June - Newcastle Carling Academy; 2nd - Birmingham Academy (new show); 3rd - Manchester Academy (new show); 4th - London Hammersmith Palais. Tickets for the original shows remain valid.
IN BRIEF: The Vines will release their new album, Vision Valley, on 3rd April 2006, via Heavenly/EMI.
WEDNESDAY 22nd FEBRUARY 2006
GUNS N' ROSES FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Guns N' Roses have been confirmed as one of the headliners at this year's Download festival, which takes place at Donington Park on 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. The band will headline Sunday's main stage and will be their only UK show this year. Their appearance will mark 18 years since they last performed at Donington. Guns N' Roses' vocalist Axl Rose said, "The UK and Europe have always been special for me. After our last great shows there, we are all very excited and looking forward to getting back over there and in front of such great audiences. Donington has always meant a lot to me personally, way before I ever played there. To be asked to headline is for me an honour and a privilege that none of us take for granted. We look forward to seeing all of you at Download!" Metallica have already been confirmed as Saturday's main stage headliners, which just leaves Friday's headlining act to be announced. Also just confirmed to play are Lacuna Coil and InMe, who will join Prodigy, Korn, Deftones, Clutch, Within Temptation, Hatebreed, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine. Tickets are on sale now priced £115 for a weekend ticket or £135 with camping and parking. For further ticket information visit the festival's official website www.downloadfestival.co.uk.
TUESDAY 21st FEBRUARY 2006
FOO FIGHTERS ANNOUNCE MANCHESTER SHOW
Foo Fighters, who just two weeks ago announced they will headline a massive all-day rock event in London's Hyde Park on Saturday 17th June 2006, along with Motorhead and Queens of The Stone Age, have confirmed another all-day rock extravaganza which will take place the following day in Manchester. The band will play Manchester's Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Sunday 18th June, with The Strokes also confirmed to play. Tickets go on sale from 9am Saturday 25th February.
MORE BANDS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Within Temptation and Hatebreed are the latest bands to be added to the Download festival line-up. The festival takes place at Donington Park on the 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. Scroll down to previous news items for more information.
TOUR DATES: YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have announced the following UK tour dates: 16th & 17th May 2006 - London, The Forum; 19th - Glasgow Barrowlands; 20th - Manchester Academy; 21st - Birmingham Academy. Tickets are priced at 15.00 regionally and £18.00 for the London shows and go on sale from 9am Thursday 23rd February. Yeah Yeah Yeahs will release the first single, 'Gold Lion', from their new album, Show Your Bones, on 20th March, with the album following a week later.
MONDAY 20th FEBRUARY 2006
TOUR DATES: EVERY TIME I DIE
Every Time I Die have announced the following UK tour dates: 14th May 2006 - Nottingham Rock City; 15th - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall; 16th - Manchester Academy 2; 17th - Glasgow Garage; 18th - Stoke Sugarmill; 19th - London Mean Fiddler; 20th - Newport TJs; 22nd - Oxford Zodiac; 23rd - Brighton Concorde 2; 24th - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms; 25th - Exeter Lemon Grove. Support comes from It Dies Today and Protest The Hero. Tickets are priced at £12.50 regionally and £13.50 in London.
WEDNESDAY 15th FEBRUARY 2006
MORE BANDS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
More bands have been confirmed for this year's Download festival, which takes place at Donington Park on 9, 10th and 11th June 2006. Korn, Deftones and Clutch have been added to the line-up, which already includes Metallica who have now been confirmed as headliners on the Saturday Prodigy, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine. Tickets are on sale now priced £115 for a weekend ticket or £135 with camping and parking. For further ticket information visit the festival's official website www.downloadfestival.co.uk.
CHILI PEPPERS FOR T IN THE PARK
Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Who have been announced as headliners at this year's T in the Park festival, which takes place at Balado, Scotland, on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th July 2006. The Chili Peppers will headline the festival on the Saturday, with The Who closing the show on the Sunday. Tickets go on sale from 9am on Friday 17th February. For further ticket information visit the festival's official website: www.tinthepark.com.
IN BRIEF: Iron Maiden's new DVD, Death on The Road, is to be shown in selected cinemas across the U.S. when it is released there on 21st February.
TUESDAY 14th FEBRUARY 2006
TOUR DATES: BRING ME THE HORIZON
Bring Me The Horizon have announced the following tour dates: 9th March 2006 - Fibbers, York; 11th - Barfly, Birmingham; 12th - Star and Garter, Manchester; 13th - Barfly, Glasgow; 14th - Barfly, Liverpool; 15th - The Underworld, Camden; 16th - Barfly, Cardiff; 17th - Face Off Club, The Escape, Swansea; 18th - Corporation, Sheffield. Support comes from Azriel and Architects.
IN BRIEF: Dragonforce's touring bassist Frederic Leclercq has joined the band on a permanent basis.
FRIDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2006
METALLICA TO PLAY DOWNLOAD 2006
Metallica have announced that they will headline Download 2006. This will be the band's only UK appearance this year. As previously announced, Prodigy, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine have also been confirmed for the festival which takes place on the 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. For more details check out the event's official website: www.downloadfestival.co.uk
THURSDAY 9th FEBRUARY 2006
FOO FIGHTERS PLAY HYDE PARK
Foo Fighters will headline a special all-day rock event in Hyde Park, London, on Saturday 17th June 2006. Support comes from Motorhead and Queens Of The Stone Age, with further bands to be announced. Tickets are on sale from 9am Saturday 11th February.
IN BRIEF: Iron Maiden will enter the studio next month to begin work on their 14th studio album.
TUESDAY 7th FEBRUARY 2006
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND POSTPONE TOUR
Funeral For A Friend have been forced to postpone their current sold out UK tour as singer Matt Davies has contracted laryngitis and has been ordered to rest. "We want to send our apologies to everyone who was coming to see us," explains Matt. "Due to the laryngitis that is still in my system I can't perform to anywhere near the best of my ability, which is something that I want to have happen when we play a show. We will make it up to everyone who bought tickets and I want to personally send a big thank you to all of those people who have sent me their good wishes. We will be back." The cancelled shows are to be rescheduled for late May. Exact dates will be announced soon. Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled dates.
TRIVIUM TOUR SET TO SELL OUT
If you haven't yet bought your ticket for the upcoming Trivium tour then you are advised to do so sooner rather than later. Most dates have already sold out and with just a handful of tickets remaining for the upgraded Glasgow Academy and Manchester Apollo shows, with Stoke Victoria Hall and Folkestone Leas Cliffe Hall also close to selling out.
THURSDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2006
FIRST BANDS CONFIRMED FOR DOWNLOAD
The Prodigy, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine are the first bands to be confirmed for this year's Download festival, which will take place at Donington Park on the 9th, 10th and 11th June 2006. Tickets are on sale from tomorrow. Visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk for more information.
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE ON THE TELLY
This coming Saturday at 1:30am, Channel 4 will be showing a special 4Play of Bullet for my Valentine, featuring videos, unseen interview footage and backstage antics from their last tour.
TUESDAY 31st JANUARY 2006
MORE BANDS FOR GIVE IT A NAME WEEKEND
Hundred Reasons, We Are Scientists, Billy Talent, Thrice and Gym Class Heroes have all been added to the line-up for Give It A Name 06, which takes place at London's Earls Court and Manchester Evening News Arena over the weekend of Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th April 2006. The current line-up is as follows: Saturday 29th London/Sunday 30th Manchester: My Chemical Romance, The Ataris, Atreyu, Thrice, Panic! At The Disco, Underoath, The Bled, Billy Talent, Men Women & Children, Drive By, Paramore, The Honorary Title, Taint. Saturday 29th Manchester/Sunday 30th London: Lostprophets, Taking Back Sunday, Angels & Airways, Goldfinger, We Are Scientists, Aiden, Silverstein, Hundred Reasons, Say Anything, Classic Case, Bayside, Gym Class Heroes, The Blackout. Doors open at 1pm on both days. Tickets are priced at £28.50 for day tickets or £55.00 for a weekend ticket. More information can be found on the event's official web site: www.giveitaname.co.uk
WATCH FALL OUT BOY'S NEW VIDEO
Fall Out Boy will wrap up their sold out UK tour tonight in London and will then prepare for the release of their debut UK single, 'Sugar We're Goin' Down', on 7th February 2006. The single is expected to chart high and thanks to our friends at Mercury Records you can check out the song and its accompanying video here. Don't miss our review of the single in our reviews section.
THURSDAY 26th JANUARY 2006
TOUR DATES: PITCHSHIFTER
After a two-year hiatus, Pitchshifter have announced UK dates for March with their 'Back From The Dead' tour. And just to show what nice guys they really are, every ticket-buying fan will receive a free Pitchshifter 6-track EP! The EP, entitled All For One And None For All, features two brand new previously unreleased Pitchshifter songs, plus three previously unreleased remixes and one "special treat"! Frontman J.S. Clayden had this to say about the new recordings: "What's the use of owning your own record label if you can't give stuff away to your own fanbase? We've missed touring and we've missed the rabid UK fans. Our birthdays are the perfect excuse for a tour (J.S.'s and drummer Jason Bowld's birthdays take place during the tour) and a tour is a perfect excuse to record some new material. It's great to give something back to the fans for their continued loyalty and what better way than new tunes for free?" Tour dates are as follows: 21st March 2006 - Glasgow QMU; 22nd - Manchester Academy 2 (Jason Bowld's birthday show); 23rd - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms; 24th - London Astoria (J.S.'s birthday show); 25th - Nottingham Rock City. Murder 1 have been announced as support, with Skindred also playing at the London and Nottingham gigs.
IN BRIEF: Shadows Fall have signed to Roadrunner Records (excluding USA).
FRIDAY 20th JANUARY 2006
TOUR DATES: BETZEFER
Betzefer have confirmed the following UK tour dates: 4th April 2006 - CARDIFF Barfly; 5th - BOURNEMOUTH Opera House; 6th - MANCHESTER Satans Hollow; 7th - AYLESBURY Multicultural Centre; 8th - NOTTINGHAM Junktion 7; 9th - ABERDEEN Tunnels; 10th - GLASGOW Soundhaus; 11th - LONDON Kingston Peel. Support comes from Koroded and President Evil. Tickets are on sale now priced £6.50.
IN BRIEF: The Subways' 'Rock 'n' Roll Queen' and 'She Sun' will be the soundtrack for two new Rimmel adverts, both starring Kate Moss. 'Rock 'n' Roll Queen' will be re-released as a single on 3rd April 2006. Skindred will release new single 'Pressure' on 6th February 2006 to coincide with their forthcoming support slot on Soulfly's UK tour.
MONDAY 16th JANUARY 2006
BANDS CONFIRMED FOR GIVE IT A NAME
Last year's Give It A Name was the largest indoor all day rock event in the UK and this year's event, Give It A Name 06, will be even bigger. After selling out last year's one day London event in a week, Give It A Name has expanded and will now cover London and Manchester over two days with two stages at each venue making it the biggest indoor rock weekender in Europe. Taking place at London's Earls Court and Manchester's Evening News Arena on the weekend of 29th and 30th April 2006 the event will feature 26 established and emerging acts with My Chemical Romance and Lostprophets already confirmed as headliners. The line-up so far is as follows: Saturday 29th London/Sunday 30th Manchester: My Chemical Romance, The Ataris, Atreyu, Panic! At The Disco, Underoath, The Bled, Men Women & Children, Drive By, Say Anything, Paramore, The Honorary Title, Taint. Saturday 29th Manchester/Sunday 30th London: Lostprophets, Taking Back Sunday, Angels & Airways, Goldfinger, Aiden, Silverstein, Classic Case, Bayside, Fratellis, The Blackout. Tickets are priced at £28.50 for day tickers or £55.00 for the weekend. More information can be found on the event's official website http://www.giveitaname.co.uk
CHIMAIRA DRUMMER REJOINS BAND
Original Chimaira drummer Andols Herrick has rejoined the group. "He is a totally different person," enthused singer Mark Hunter. "We jammed the other day and he's a monster behind the kit. There is a lot of passion and excitement in his eyes, I can really tell he is renewed." The return of Andols means that recent drummer Kevin Talley is no longer in the group. "Kevin is an amazing drummer," stated Hunter. "This decision had nothing to do with his skills and everything to do with getting someone back who has been with us since day one. Some of us have known Andols since we were in High School." The split was amicable and Talley is tapped to play drums with The Red Chord on their upcoming US tour. IN BRIEF: Head Automatica have entered a Los Angeles recording studio to begin work on the follow-up to their 2004 debut Decadence.WEDNESDAY 11th JANUARY 2006
HIM POSTPONE UK TOUR
HIM have been forced to reschedule their forthcoming UK tour as guitarist Linde has fractured his left wrist. Linde will have to wear a cast until the end of the month and so their tour, which was due to kickoff in Glasgow on the 19th, has been postponed until April. Tickets for the original shows will be valid for the rearranged dates. All subsequent shows in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will go ahead as originally scheduled. The new UK dates are as follows: 18th April - Manchester Apollo; 19th - Manchester Apollo; 20th - Birmingham Academy; 21st - Birmingham Academy; 23rd - Glasgow Academy; 24th - Newcastle Academy; 25th - London, Brixton Academy; 27th - Dublin Ambassador; 28th - Dublin Ambassador.MONDAY 9th JANUARY 2006
DISTURBED ANNOUNCE RESCHEDULED DATES
Disturbed have announced the dates of their rescheduled UK tour. The band were forced to cancel their European tour last October due to having vocalist David Draiman diagnosed with inflammation of the vocal chords. The rescheduled tour is as follows: 25th March 2006 - Glasgow Barrowland; 27th - Newcastle Academy; 28th - Birmingham Academy; 30th - Manchester Academy; 31st - Liverpool Academy; 2nd April - Nottingham Rock City; 3rd - London Astoria. Tickets are available at a price of £16.00 for London and £15.00 regionally. Tickets for the postponed shows in Manchester and Glasgow remind valid for the rescheduled dates.TOUR DATES: STILL REMAINS
Still Remains have announced two UK headline dates. These are as follow: 18th January 2006 - Birmingham Barfly; 22nd - Liverpool Barfly - 22nd Jan.CALIBAN ALBUM & TOUR
German metalcore five-piece Caliban are set to tour the UK to coincide with the release of their new album, The Undying Darkness, which is hits stores on 27th February 2006. Tour dates are as follows: 23rd February 2006 - Stoke Sugarmill; 24th - Leeds Joseph Wells; 25th - Manchester Academy 3; 26th - Glasgow King Tuts; 27th - Birmingham Barfly; 28th - Oxford Zodiac; 1st March - London Garage. Tickets are on sale now, priced £8.00 regionally and £10.00 in London. IN BRIEF: Nickelback have been announced as main support on Bon Jovi's upcoming UK tour. HIM will release new single 'Killing Loneliness' on 23rd January 2006 via Warner Bros/Reprise. Testament will headline this year's Metalmania festival in Poland.THURSDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2005
ROADRUNNER BASH
Roadrunner Records' 25th Anniversary celebrations culminate on 15th December 2005 in New York City, when the label hosts a concert at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. The show will feature a RR United 'house band' comprised of Joey Jordison (Slipknot) on drums, Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) on lead guitar, Dino Cazares (ex Fear Factory, Brujeria) on rhythm guitar and Adam Duce (Machine Head) on bass. Special guests, including past and present Roadrunner artists and other metal icons will join the band onstage to play twenty classic Roadrunner tunes along with a few choice cuts from The All Star Sessions album. Tickets for the concert are available now from www.ticketmaster.com and by phone (credit cards only) on 001-212-307-7171.BOWLING FOR SOUP GOES TO THE MOVIES
Bowling For Soup will release Bowling For Soup . . . Goes To The Movies on 28th November 2005. The album is a collection of the songs they have had featured on various soundtracks, including their cover of Britney Spear's 'Baby One More Time', recorded for the Freaky Friday soundtrack, 'I Melt With You' from the recently released Disney movie Sky High and 'Here We Go!' from the Scooby Doo 2 soundtrack. Full track listing is as follows: 1) Jimmy Neutron Theme, 2) Omaha, Nebraska, 3) Greatest Day, 4) Baby One More Time, 5) Here We Go, 6) Undertow, 7) Spanish Harlem, 8) Lil' Red Riding Hood, 9) Live It Up, 10) Star Song, 11) I Melt With You, 12) 5 o'clock World, 13) Gilligans Island Theme, 14) Sometimes, 15) Sick Of Myself.TOUR DATES: TAKING BACK SUNDAY
Taking Back Sunday are set to play two intimate headline shows in January. The band will play at Manchester Academy 2 on 25th and London's Islington Academy on 26th. Tickets are priced £12.00 are are on sale from Saturday 19th November.TOUR DATES: TERROR
TERROR have announced the following tour dates: 21st January 2006 - Newport City Live Arena; 22nd - Milton Keynes The Pitz; 23rd - Aberdeen Moshulu; 24th - Manchester Jilly's Musicbox; 25th - Norwich Waterfront; 26th - London Underworld. IN BRIEF: Throwdown will support Arch Enemy on their December tour. Skindred will support Soulfly on their January tour. Thunder have announced that former Little Angels frontman, Toby Jepson, will support their forthcoming UK tour.WEDNESDAY 26th OCTOBER 2005
FEAR FACTORY RESCHEDULE TOUR
Fear Factory have re-scheduled their upcoming January 2006 UK tour due to unforeseen recording commitments. All tickets already bought are transferable to the new dates or refundable from the point of purchase. The new dates are as follows: 8th April 2006 - Bristol, Anson Rooms; 9th - Manchester Academy; 10th - Nottingham Rock City; 11th - Newcastle upon Tyne University; 12th - Glasgow Barrowlands; 13th - Leeds Met University; 15th - Birmingham Academy, 16th - Portsmouth Pyramids; 18th - London Astoria, 19th - Norwich UEA. Tickets are on sale now, priced £14.00 regionally and £15.00 in London.HIM RELEASE LIMITED EDITION VINYL
HIM will release new single 'Vampire Heart' on limited edition 7" vinyl on 28th November 2005. Each single will be numbered and etched on one side with the band's logo. HIM have recently announced the following UK tour dates: 19th January 2006 - Glasgow, Carling Academy; 21st - Manchester Apollo; 22nd - Manchester Apollo; 24th - Birmingham Academy; 25th - Birmingham Academy; 26th - London, Brixton Academy.TOUR DATES: THUNDER
Thunder have announced the following UK tour dates: 20th January 2006 - Newcastle City Hall; 21st - Glasgow Academy; 22nd - Sheffield City Hall; 24th - Bournemouth BIC (Solent Hall); 25th - Cardiff St. David's Hall; 27th - Brighton Dome; 28th - Cambridge Corn Exchange; 29th - Bristol Colston Hall; 31st - Birmingham Acadmey. 1st February - Norwich UEA; 3rd - Manchester Academy; 4th - London Hammersmith Apollo. Tickets are on sale now priced £18.50 regionally and £22.50 in London.TUESDAY 18th OCTOBER 2005
DISTURBED CANCEL TOUR
Disturbed have cancelled the remainder of their European tour as vocalist David Draiman has been diagnosed with a severe inflammation of the vocal chords. Draiman has been advised by a throat specialist in London to completely rest his voice until he receives a clean bill of health. Consequently he has travelled to Los Angeles to receive further specialist treatment. All cancelled shows will be rescheduled and the new dates will be announced as soon as they're confirmed. Fans are asked to keep hold of their tickets. The rescheduled dates are likely to be set for March 2006.HATEBREED HEADLINE TOUR
Hatebreed are set to headline the Persistence tour in Europe, which also features Agnostic Front, Napalm Death, A Perfect Murder, Born From Pain, Bleed The Sky and Sworn Enemy. The only UK show is at the London Forum on Friday 2nd December 2005. Doors open at 2pm and tickets are on sale now priced at £17.00.TOUR DATES: TRIVIUM
Trivium have confirmed that they will return to the UK in March 2006. Dates are as follows: 2nd March 2006 - LEEDS University; 3rd - DUBLIN Ambassador Theatre; 4th - DUBLIN Ambassador Theatre; 5th - BELFAST Ulster Hall; 6th - GLASGOW Barrowlands; 8th - NEWCASTLE Academy; 9th - BIRMINGHAM Academy; 10th - MANCHESTER Academy; 11th - NOTTINGHAM Rock City; 12th - STOKE Victoria Hall; 15th - LONDON Astoria; 16th - LONDON Astoria; 17th - CARDIFF University; 18th - EXETER Grand Hall; 20th - SOUTHAMPTON Guildhall; 21st - FOLKSTONE Leas Cliffe Hall. Tickets are on sale now priced £13.00 regionally and £15.00 in London.TUESDAY 11th OCTOBER 2005
SIMPLE PLAN ANNOUNCE LONDON GIG
Simple Plan have announced a show at the London Astoria on 11th February 2006. Tickets are on sale now priced £13.50.TOUR DATES: CHIMAIRA
Chimaira have announced the following UK tour: 28th November 2005 - Cardiff Coal Exchange; 29th - Exeter Lemon Grove; 1st December - London Astoria; 2nd - Manchester Academy 2; 3rd - Glasgow QMU; 4th - Birmingham Academy 2; 5th - Sheffield Corporation. Tickets are on sale now priced £12.00 regionally and £14.00 in London.TOUR DATES: OBITUARY
Obituary have announced the following UK dates: 8th January 2006 - London Mean Fiddler; 9th - Dublin Temple Bar Music Centre.TOUR DATES: 3 INCHES OF BLOOD
3 Inches of Blood have announced the following UK dates: 8th December 2005 - Newport City Live Arena; 9th - Norwich, The Ferry Boat; 10th - Aberdeen, Moshulu; 11th - Leeds, The Cockpit; 12th - Manchester, Jilly's Rockworld; 13th - London Underworld.TUESDAY 20th SEPTEMBER 2005
GREEN DAY TO RELEASE LIVE CD/DVD
Green Day are to release a live CD/DVD on 14th November 2005 via Warner Bros. Entitled Bullet In A Bible, the live show was recorded at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in June. Track listing is as follows: 1) American Idiot, 2) Jesus of Suburbia (I. Jesus Of Suburbia, II. City Of The Damned, III. I Don't Care, IV. Dearly Beloved, V. Tales Of Another Broken Home), 3) Holiday, 4) Are We the Waiting, 5) St. Jimmy, 6) Longview, 7) Hitchin' a Ride, 8) Brain Stew, 9) Basket Case, 10) King for a Day/Shout, 11) Wake Me Up When September Ends, 12) Minority, 13) Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 14) Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).THURSDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2005
TOUR DATES: WEDNESDAY 13
Dubbed Tour From The Crypt, Wednesday 13 has announced a string of UK dates for November. Wednesday comments, "I'm very excited about the dates. The band became a machine on the summer festival run and we're ready to step it up and take it to the next level. Expect everything you can't imagine on this tour!". Dates are as follows: 3rd November 2005 - Manchester Academy 2; 4th - Glasgow Garage; 5th - Nottingham Rock City; 6th - Sheffield Corporation; 7th - Oxford Zodiac; 22nd - London Mean Fiddler; 23rd - Brighton Concorde 2. Tickets are on sale now, priced £10.00 regionally and £12.50 in London.TOUR DATES: MASTODON
Mastodon are set to tour the UK this December ahead of the release of their as-yet-untitled third album which is due in early 2006. Dates are as follows: 1st December - Peterborough The Cresset; 2nd - Glasgow Garage; 4th - Swindon Furnace; 5th - London Scala; 6th - Nottingham Rock City; 7th - Cardiff Barfly. Tickets are priced at £12.50 for London and £10.00 regionally. IN BRIEF: Skindred will release new single, 'Nobody', on 3rd October 2005, taken from the re-released and repackaged version of Babylon that follows on 10th October.TUESDAY 6th SEPTEMBER 2005
DOWNLOAD A ROADRUNNER UNITED TRACK
A track from the upcoming Roadrunner United The All Star Sessions album (out 10th October 2005) is available to download from the Roadrunner Records website. The song, 'The Dagger', which was written by Machine Head's Robert Flynn, features Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira) on drums, Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory) on bass, Jeff Waters (Annihilator) on lead guitar, Jordan Whelan (Still Remains) on rhythm guitar and Flynn on rhythm guitar, keyboard and vocals. Go to http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/music to download the track.BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE IN-STORE SIGNINGS
Bullet For My Valentine have announced a bunch of in-store signings to celebrate the release of their debut full-length album, The Poison, which hits the racks on 3rd October 2005. Catch the band in the following stores: Monday 3rd October - Cardiff - 5pm; Tuesday 4th - London - 6pm; Wednesday 5th - Birmingham - 5pm; Thursday 6th - Manchester - 5pm.MADBALL CONFIRM ONE-OFF SHOW
Madball have confirmed a one-off London show on 13th November 2005 at the Camden Underworld. Tickets are priced £10.00 in advance and support comes from Sworn Enemy and Assert. IN BRIEF: Within Temptation won an award for the 'Best Selling Dutch Artist' at the World Music Awards in Los Angeles on 31st August 2005.TUESDAY 30th AUGUST 2005
GARBAGE CANCEL UK TOUR
Garbage have cancelled their October UK tour and have also pulled dates in France and Belgium. A press release from their record company states: "Having been constantly on the road since the beginning of March the band feel they have somewhat overextended themselves and have mutually decided to conclude their tour at the end of September in Australia. The band wish to extend their apologies to all Garbage fans in the territories involved and thank them profusely for their support." The label ensures that all tickets for cancelled dates will be refunded. Ticket holders should contact their point of purchase.SHINODA REVEALS SIDE-PROJECT
Fort Minor, the side project of Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, will release their debut album on 21st November 2005 via Linkin Parks' Warner Bros. imprint, Machine Shop Records. Entitled The Rising Tied, the album features a host of hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z.BOWLING FOR SOUP HELP HURRICANE VICTIMS
Bowling For Soup played a benefit gig in Bossier City, Louisiana on Monday to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina, less than a day after the storm ripped through the southern State. Concertgoers gained entry to the acoustic gig at the city's Rockin' Rodeo club with donations to the hurricane relief fund, which included tinned food, water, pet food, groceries, clothing and monetary donations. The hurricane, with winds of over 140mph, has left millions homeless or without electrical power across the US Gulf Coast and caused extensive flooding. Donations to the relief fund can be made at www.networkforgood.org. IN BRIEF: Disturbed will release their new album Ten Thousand Fists, on 19th September 2005 via Reprise. Deep Purple will release an as-yet-untitled new studio album on 31st October 2005.WEDNESDAY 24th AUGUST 2005
IRON MAIDEN SET SABOTAGED!
Iron Maiden have had their set on the final night of the Ozzfest tour sabotaged, allegedly by Sharon Osbourne and her entourage. Reportedly, the band were spat on and pelted with eggs and beer as they took to the stage at the Hyundai Pavillion in Los Angeles. Maiden continued to play their set but the PA was turned off on several occasions and interrupted with "Ozzy, Ozzy" chants at various intervals. After their set, Sharon Osbourne came onto the stage and thanked Iron Maiden for playing on the tour, but reportedly called Bruce Dickinson a "prick" and said that he had "disrespected Ozzfest". An eyewitness said that the crowd then left in droves and headlining band Black Sabbath played to half the audience that was there prior. It is not clear why Maiden were treated in this way, but the band has responded to the events with a statement on their official website www.ironmaiden.com.ROADRUNNER ANNIVERSARY RE-ISSUES
To coincide with the label's 25th Anniversary, Roadrunner Records will be re-releasing various albums from their back catalogue, each with bonus content, extensive liner notes and expanded artwork. The first six albums in this series of releases will be Sepultura's Roots, Fear Factory's Demanufacture, King Diamond's Abigail, Mercyful Fate's Melissa and both Soulfly's and Coal Chamber's self-titled debuts. These will hit the racks on 3rd October 2005. The series will be completed by Killswitch Engage's Alive Or Just Breathing?, Nickelback's Silver Side Up both released on 24th October and Machine Head's Burn My Eyes due for release in January 2006.BILLY IDOL ADDS EXTRA DATE
Billy Idol has added an extra date to his UK stint of the 'Devil's Playground' tour. Idol will now stop off at Nottingham's Rock City on 17th November 2005. Scroll down to previous news items for full tour dates.TOUR DATES: SKID ROW
Skid Row have announced the following tour dates: 3rd September 2005 - Nottingham Rock City; 4th - Bristol Bierkeller; 5th - Princess Pavillion, Falmouth; 7th - Electric Ballroom, London; 8th - Woughton Centre, Milton Keynes; 9th - JBs, Dudley; 10th - Bradford Rio. Tickets are priced £9.00 regionally and £10.00 for London.WEDNESDAY 17th AUGUST 2005
WIN DOWNLOAD 2006 PASSES
Snickers are running a competition to win Download 2006 VIP passes, plus you can ditch the tent for a swanky hotel! To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is design a brand new wrapper for Snickers. The winners will be off to Download 2006 for free and their winning designs will appear on 18 million Snickers bars across the UK. Check out www.itsthewrapper.com for more information.THE SUBWAYS ON TV
The Subways will appear in an episode of the hit US TV drama, 'The O.C', after being personally selected by the show's producers. The band will perform 'Rock & Roll Queen', along with one other track, in an episode to be aired in the US on 10th November 2005 and in the UK in February of next year.BLACK LABEL SOCIETY RELEASE 'BEST OF'
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society will release a 'best of' album 3rd October 2005, via Spitfire Records. Kings of Damnation, era 98-04 will feature tracks spanning the band's entire career and will also feature two previously unreleased songs, 'Doomsday Inc.' and 'SDMF'. The album also includes a bonus disc featuring Zakk's interpretation of tracks by artists such as Procol Harum, Black Sabbath, Neal Young and The Beatles. The bonus disc also features promo videos for 'Counterfeit God' and 'Stillborn'.TOUR DATES: OPETH
Following their sold-out UK tour in September, Opeth will return to the UK in November for more dates. These are as follows: 27th November 2005 - Nottingham Rock City; 28th - Glasgow Garage; 29th - Leeds Blank Canvas; 30th - London Forum; 2nd December - Exeter Lemon Grove; 3rd - Oxford Brookes University. Tickets are priced at £13.00 and are on sale now.TUESDAY 9th AUGUST 2005
TOMMY LEE ANNOUNCES SOLO ALBUM
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee has completed work on his third solo album, Tommyland: The Ride. The album will feature an array of special guests, including: Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, Fuel guitarist and vocalist Carl Bell, Sum 41's Deryck Whibley, Good Charlotte's Joel Madden and Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter (yes, that's right!). The album will be released by SPV at a low-budget price, at the artist's request. "From the very beginning, I wanted to do something different with this record, something ground-breaking," says Lee. "I wanted to get great new music to my fans without charging them fifteen or sixteen bucks for a CD and SPV are helping me do that. So I couldn't be happier."ROADRUNNER ALL-STAR ALBUM UPDATE
As previously reported here, Roadrunner Records has put together a record to mark the label's 25th Anniversary and we can now reveal that the album is pencilled in for an 11th October 2005 release. The All-Star Sessions album boasts fifty-seven artists from forty-five of Roadrunner's past and present bands and will contain new original tracks written by numerous Roadrunner stars especially for this release.TOUR DATES: TOKYO DRAGONS
Tokyo Dragons have announced the following tour dates: 20th October 2005 - Exeter, Cavern; 21st - Cardiff, Barfly; 22nd - Oxford, Zodiac; 23rd - Southampton, Joiners; 24th - Brighton, Concorde; 25th - Birmingham, Bar Academy; 27th - London, Garage; 28th - Northampton, Soundhaus; 29th - Stoke, Sugarmill; 30th - Wrexham, Central Station; 31st - Carlisle, Brickyard; 2nd November - Newcastle, Academy 2; 3rd - Aberdeen, Moshulu; 4th - Glasgow, Cathouse; 5th - Edinburgh, Studio 24; 7th - York, Fibbers; 8th - Leicester, Charlotte; 9th - Sheffield, Fez; 10th - Manchester, Roadhouse; 11th - Liverpool, Academy 2; 12th - Nottingham, Rock City. Tokyo Dragons will release their debut album, Give Me The Fear, on 26th September 2005. IN BRIEF: Sepultura have entered Trama Studios in Sao Paulo to record their new studio album, tentatively titled Dante 05. My Chemical Romance will release the single 'The Ghost Of You' on 22nd August 2005 via Reprise.TUESDAY 2nd AUGUST 2005
TOUR DATES: DISTURBED
Disturbed have announced the following tour dates: 12th October 2005 - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall; 13th - London, Astoria; 16th - Glasgow, QMU; 17th - Manchester, Academy 2. Tickets are on sale now priced £12.00 regionally and £14.00 for London. Disturbed will release their new album, Ten Thousand Fists, on 19th September 2005 via Reprise.TOUR DATES: BILLY IDOL
Billy Idol has announced the following UK tour dates: 11th November 2005 - Brixton Carling Academy, London; 13th - Manchester Carling Apollo; 14th - Glasgow Barrowlands; 15th - Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Tickets go on sale from Wednesday 3rd August priced £25.00 regionally and £27.50 for London. IN BRIEF: Bullet For My Valentine will release their debut full-length album, The Poison, on 26th September 2005.TUESDAY 26th JULY 2005
TOUR DATES: BOWLING FOR SOUP
Bowling For Soup have announced the following tour dates: 10th October 2005 - Manchester Academy; 11th - Bristol Academy; 15th - Portsmouth Guildhall; 16th - London Astoria; 17th - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall; 18th - Warwick University; 19th - Newcastle University; 20th - Sheffield Octagon; 21st -Cardiff University. Tickets are on sale from Friday 29th July.IRON MAIDEN ANNOUNCE LIVE ALBUM/DVD
Iron Maiden will release a double live album and live DVD on 29th August 2005, entitled Death On The Road, recorded on the band's recent Dance of Death Tour. The band will also have their classic 'The Trooper' single re-released on 15th August, on the following formats: maxi CD, limited edition blue 7" vinyl and 12" picture disc.TASTE OF CHAOS TOUR GETS BIGGER
Two more dates have been added to the Taste of Chaos tour, which features Killswitch Engage, Funeral For A Friend, The Used, Story Of The Year and Rise Against. The tour will now stop off in Doncaster, as well as a second night at London's Brixton Academy. Full dates are as follows: 6th November 2005 - Manchester Apollo; 7th - Doncaster Dome; 8th - Birmingham NIA; 9th - Glasgow SECC; 11th - Brighton Centre; 12th - Cardiff CIA; 13th - London Brixton Academy; 14th - London Brixton Academy.SCARBOROUGH HOST A DAY OF ROCK
Scarborough Castle will be the venue for an open air rock event on 17th September 2005. Terrorvision and The Wildhearts are already confirmed to appear, with more acts to be announced soon. For ticket details visit: www.rockinthecastle.co.uk. IN BRIEF: Ill Nino will release new album One Nation Underground on 26th September 2005, via Roadrunner.TUESDAY 19th JULY 2005
NEW YORK DOLLS TO RECORD NEW ALBUM
The New York Dolls have signed to Roadrunner Records and are to record an album of new material, which is due for release in early 2006. Featuring founding members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, with Steve Conte on guitar, Sami Yaffa on bass, Brian Delaney on drums and Brian Koonin on keyboards, the band are currently touring North America before entering the studio to begin work on the new album.THURSDAY 14th JULY 2005
IRON MAIDEN ANNOUNCE LONDON SHOW
Iron Maiden have announced that they will play at London's Hammersmith Odeon on Friday 2nd September 2005, in aid of The Clive Burr MS Fund. Tickets, priced £40.00, will go on sale to fan club members first, with any remaining tickets going on general sale from 1st August.MONDAY 11th JULY 2005
TOUR DATES: TRIVIUM
Trivium have announced the following UK tour dates: 10th September 2005 - LEEDS Cockpit; 11th - OXFORD Zodiac; 12th - BRIGHTON Concorde; 13th - NEWPORT TJs; 15th - MANCHESTER Academy 3; 16th - GLASGOW King Tuts; 17th - STOKE Sugarmill; 18th - LONDON Mean Fiddler; 19th - WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Hall; 20th - COLCHESTER Arts Centre; 22nd - BELFAST Limelight; 23rd - DUBLIN Music Centre; 24th - LIVERPOOL Academy 2; 25th - NOTTINGHAM Rock City; 27th - PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms. Support comes from All That Remains. Tickets are on sale now priced £10.00 regionally and £12.00 for London.MONDAY 4th JULY 2005
BULLDOG BASH LINE-UP ANNOUNCED
The line-up for this year's Bulldog Bash, at Stratford-Upon-Avon's Shakespeare County Raceway, is as follows: Friday 12th August: The Datsuns (9.45 - 11.00pm); Therapy? (8.15 - 9.15pm); InMe (7.00 - 7.45pm); Winnebago Deal (6.00 - 6.30pm); Hurricane Party (5.00 - 5.30pm); Lord Bishop (4.00 - 4.30pm); Rich Dickinson's Driving Force (3.00 - 3.30pm). Saturday 13th August: Terrorvision (9.45 - 11.00pm); Alabama 3 (8.15 - 9.15pm); Queen Adreena (7.00 - 7.45pm); Casbah Club (5.45 - 6.30pm); Tokyo Dragons (4.45 - 5.15pm); The*Ga*Ga*s (3.45 - 4.15pm); Smother (2.45 - 3.15pm).TOUR DATES: SKINNY PUPPY
Skinny Puppy have announced the following UK tour dates: 8th August 2005 - Manchester Uni; 9th - Nottingham Rock City; 10th - London Astoria. Tickets are on sale now priced £14.00 regionally and £16.00 in London. The band will release a double DVD on 12th September 2005, entitled The Greater Wrong Of Right Live, via SPV. IN BRIEF: The Used will release new single, 'All That I've Got', on 25th July 2005 via Reprise.MONDAY 27th JUNE 2005
TOUR DATES: FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
Funeral For A Friend have announcement that they are to headline the UK leg of the Taste of Chaos Tour. Joining them will be The Used, Killswitch Engage, Rise Against and Story Of the Year. Dates are as follows: 6th November 2005 - Manchester Apollo; 8th - Birmingham NIA; 9th - Glasgow SECC; 10th - Brighton Centre; 12th - Cardiff CIA; 13th - London Brixton Academy; 14th - London Brixton Academy.
THURSDAY 16th JUNE 2005
DOWNLOAD REVIEW NOW ONLINE
Check out our review of the Download festival main stage here.
MONDAY 13th JUNE 2005
THE FIRST PICTURES FROM DOWNLOAD
Check out our pictures from the Download festival here. Full review coming your way soon!
THURSDAY 9th JUNE 2005
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL SET TIMES
Here are the set times for this year's Download festival.
Friday 10th June:
Main stage: 13.00-13.30 - Queen Adreena; 13.45-14.15 - Wednesday 13; 14.35-15.05 - JJ72; 15.25-15.55 - The Others; 16.15-16.45 - Biffy Clyro; 17.05 - 17.55 - Megadeth; 18:15-19.05 - Dinosaur JR; 19.30-20.30 - Garbage; 21.00-22.15 - Feeder.
Snickers Stage: 13.00-13.30 - Flogging Molly; 13.45-14.15 - Fozzy; 14.35-15.05 - Lordi; 15.25-15.55 - Underoath: 16.15-16.45; 17.05-17.35 - The Bled; 17.55-18.25 - InMe: 18.45-19.25 - My Chemical Romance; 19.45-2030 - The Used; 20.50-21.50 - Billy Idol.
Napster Stage: 13.00-13.25 - Planet Of Women; 13.40-14.05 - Crash Diet; 14.20-14.45 - Just A Word; 15.00-15.25 - Slunt; 15.45-16.15 - Colour Of Fire; 16.35-17.05 - Tokyo Dragons; 17.25-17.55 - Hurricane Party; 18.15-18.45 - A Chance Of Pace; 19.10-19.50 - Paradise Lost; 20.15-20.55 - Raging Speedhorn; 21.20-22.10 - Napalm Death.
Snickers Bowl: 13.30-14.00 - The Mascara Story; 15.30-16.00 - Ellis; 18.00-18.30 - TAT.
MONDAY 6th JUNE 2005
ASK BOWLING FOR SOUP!
We shall be interviewing Bowling For Soup this weekend at the Download festival. If you have a question you would like us to ask the band then please email it to us. Please include your name and the town in which you live as we will credit you with the question when the interview goes online. But hurry, you must submit your questions before Thursday 9th June!
FOO FIGHTERS PRIZE DRAW
Pre-order the new Foo Fighters album, In Your Honor, which is released on 13th June 2005, from RecordStore.co.uk, and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a signed presentation disc, plus 1000 lucky fans will also receive a limited edition postcard of the album artwork. Click here to go straight to the relevant page.
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND IN-STORE SIGNINGS
Funeral For A Friend have announced the following in-store signings: 13th June 2005 - 6.00pm - Cardiff (live & signing); 14th - 5.30pm - Birmingham High St (live & signing); 16th - 12.30pm - Oxford Circus, London (signing only). Entry will be via wristbands only these can be collected from the relevant stores from 9am on the morning of each appearance.
ALICE COOPER ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
Alice Cooper will release a new studio album on 4th July 2005, via Spitfire Records. Entitled Dirty Diamonds, the album will feature twelve new tracks and continues the back-to-basics approach established with Alice's 2003 album, The Eyes of Alice Cooper. Track listing is as follows: 1) Woman of Mass Distraction, 2) You Make Me Wanna , 3) Perfect, 4) Dirty Diamonds, 5) Pretty Ballerina, 6) Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies), 7) Zombie Dance, 8) The Saga of Jesse Jane; 9) Six Hours, 10) Steal That Car, 11) Run Down The Devil, 12) Your Own Worst Enemy, 13) Stand (duet with Xzibit). Alice will bring his band to the UK, with special guests Twisted Sister, in November. Scroll down to previous news items for full dates.
TOUR DATES: BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED
Blood Has Been Shed, which features Killswitch Engage frontman Howard Jones and drummer Justin Foley, have confirmed three UK shows for September. Dates are as follows: 28th September 2005 - Birmingham Academy 2; 29th - Manchester Academy 3; 30th - London Mean Fiddler. Tickets are on sale now priced £10.00 regionally and £12.00 for London.
IN BRIEF: Opeth have signed to Roadrunner Records and will release a new album in late summer.
TUESDAY 31st MAY 2005
ROCK ACTS TO PERFORM AT LIVE 8
Bob Geldof has today announced details of LIVE 8 five simultaneous free concerts in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia to be held on 2nd July 2005. The London concert will take place in Hyde Park. Hundreds of thousands of people are set to attend, with billions more watching the international broadcasts. The event is intended to coincide with the G8 summit which takes place in Scotland on 6th July. At this summit the eight leaders of the world's richest and most powerful countries will meet. The problem every single day, 50,000 people are dying of hunger, and diseases like TB and Diarrhoea as a direct result of poverty. When the world's leaders meet they will have the power to save millions of lives by dropping 100% of the debts owed by the world's poorest countries, to double the amount of high quality aid which is spent in those countries and to change the injustices of the trade laws so that those countries can build a future for themselves. The LIVE 8 concerts are not charity events, they will focus the world's attention on the critical decision to be made at the G8 summit. A whole host of big name acts have already been confirmed to play at the concerts, with the UK event boasting rock acts such as Muse, Velvet Revolver and Killers, with Bon Jovi confirmed for the US concert in Philadelphia. Tickets for the London Hyde Park concert will be made available through a special 'text' lottery to be announced at 8am on Monday 6th June 2005 on TV and radio. For more information visit the official website: http://www.live8live.com.
TOUR DATES: CRADLE OF FILTH
Cradle of Filth have announced the following UK tour dates: 1st December 2005 - Southampton Guildhall; 2nd - Norwich UEA; 3rd - London Forum; 5th - Cardiff University; 6th - Birmingham Academy; 8th - Glasgow Academy; 9th - Newcastle Academy; 10th - Leeds University; 11th - Manchester Academy; 12th - Nottingham Rock City. Tickets are on sale now priced £14.00 regionally and £16.00 in London.
TUESDAY 24th MAY 2005
TOUR DATES: DAYS OF WORTH
Days of Worth have announced the following tour dates: 1st June 2005; MANCHESTER Night & Day; 2nd - Thursday WARRINGTON WA1; 3rd - LONDON Mean Fiddler; 4th -BEDFORD Esquires; 5th - LIVERPOOL Barfly; 6th - NEWCASTLE The Archer; 7th -CAMBRIDGE Portland; 8th - NORWICH Ferryboat; 11th - DONINGTON Download; 15th DERBY Vic Inn; 16th - NOTTINGHAM Rock City; 17th - WOLVERHAMPTON Little Civic; 18th - ALDERSHOT West End Centre; 19th - LONDON Barfly; 22nd - YORK Certificate 19; 23rd - STOKE Talbot; 24th - SHEFFIELD Corporation; 25th - LEEDS The Fenton; 26th -CARLISLE Brickyard; 28th - GLASGOW Barfly; 29th - EDINBURGH The Subway, Cowgate; 30th - GREENOCK Connely's; 1st July - DARLINGTON The Forum; 4th - SOUTHAMPTON Joiners; 5th - BRISTOL The Croft; 6th - WREXHAM Central Station; 7th - LONDON Water Rats; 9th - WOLVERHAPLTON Little Civic; 11th - CARDIFF BARFLY. To coincide with the tour, the band release their second single, 'State of Me', on the 20th June.
SHADOWS FALL ANNOUNCE HEADLINE DATES
Shadows Fall have announced two headline shows in the run up to their appearance at the Download festival. Dates are as follows: 7th June 2005 - Oxford Zodiac; 9th - Cardiff Barfly. The band will also support Slipknot at the Glasgow Barrowlands on 8th June and at the Dublin RDS Simmonscourt on the 10th.
IN BRIEF: The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster have parted company with guitarist Andy Huxley and have hired new guitarist Rich Fownes. Gamma Ray have recently finished the final mixing of their new album Majestic, which is scheduled for a September release.
MONDAY 16th MAY 2005
FESTIVAL UPDATE: DOWNLOAD
Henry Rollins, Trivium, 3 Inches of Blood and Still Remains are the latest additions to the Download festival. They are all confirmed for Sunday's Napster stage, with Henry Rollins bringing his "unique" Spoken Word show to the festival. This year's Download festival also boasts and array of facilities and entertainment other than those across the three stages. These include the all-new after hours Campsite Entertainment Zone and the After Shock Arena. In the campsite proper there will be the Download Cafι and Beer stall, fun fair rides, market stalls and a cinema. There's also a wristband exchange where Downloaders can exchange their tickets for the next day's festivities and avoid queuing. This year, Download has also gone environmentally friendly with a recycling scheme. Every weekend camping ticket holder will be allocated a Download Dirt Bag on arrival at the festival and for every two bags of litter, one bag of empty cans and one bag of plastic bottles that are collected, Downloaders will be presented with a free can of beer! Visit www.downloadfestival.co.uk for further information on the festival.
MOTORHEAD CELEBRATE 30TH ANNIVERSARY
In addition to their performance at this year's Download festival, Motorhead have announced a string of live dates including a special 30th Anniversary 'Bomber' show at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 16th June 2005. The special show will feature the classic stage set from the band's now legendary 1979 'Bomber' tour, including the World War II Bomber shaped lighting rig! To commemorate the anniversary show, Sanctuary Records will re-release the band's Bomber album, as a 2-CD deluxe expanded edition, on the very same day. The band have also announced the follow tour dates for later this year: 30th October 2005 - Colston Hall, Bristol; 31st - Regent Hall, Ipswich; 1st November - Nottingham Rock City; 3rd - Cardiff University; 4th - Sheffield City Hall; 5th - Manchester Apollo; 7th - Glasgow Academy; 8th - Liverpool University; 10th - Birmingham Academy; 11th - Newcastle City Hall, 12th - St. Georges Hall, Bradford; 14th - De Montfort Hall, Leicester; 15th - Oxford New Theatre; 16th - Norwich UEA; 18th - Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone; 19th - London Brixton Academy; 20th - Cambridge Corn Exchange; 22nd - Pavilions, Plymouth; 23rd - Southampton Guildhall.
THURSDAY 5th MAY 2005
TOUR DATES: BILLY CORGAN
Billy Corgan has announced two London shows in support of his forthcoming debut solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which is released on 20th June 2005. Corgan will play two nights at the London Forum on 15th and 16th June. Tickets are priced at £23.50.
FESTIVAL UPDATE: DOWNLOAD
American Headcharge are the latest band confirmed to play at the Download festival. Following the death of their guitarist, Bryan Ottoson, on 19th April, the band have pledged to play in his honour. They will perform on the Snickers stage on Saturday 11th June. Scroll down for more information and line-up details for the Download festival.
TOUR DATES: CHIMAIRA
In addition to their appearance at this year's Download festival, Chimaira have announced the following tour dates: 14th June 2005 - Underworld, London; 15th - Zodiac, Oxford; 16th - Arts Centre, Colchester. Tickets are priced at £12.00 and are on sale now. Chimaira will release their new studio album on 1st August 2005.
LIFE OF AGONY ANNOUNCE ALBUM
Life Of Agony will release a new album, Broken Valley, on 30th May 2005 on Epic Records. "Personally, I think it's the best album we've ever done," commented lead singer Keith Caputo. "It's super-raw and aggro and has an energy all of its own. It's amazing that we've been able to come together after all these years and make an album like this." The band have also announced a one-off show at London's Meadfiddler on 23rd May.
THURSDAY 21st APRIL 2005
DOWNLOAD: THIRD STAGE ANNOUNCED
A third stage has been announced for this year's Download festival, which takes place at Donington Park between 10th-12th June 2005. Already confirmed for the Napster sponsored third stage are Napalm Death and Raging Speedhorn for the Friday, Helmet and Towers Of London for the Saturday, with Therapy? and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster lining up on the Sunday. Napster are also offering all Download ticket holders the opportunity to download up to 1 million tracks, absolutely free! All Download tickets carry an access code exclusive to that ticket. Once ticket holders receive their tickets they will be able to visit the Download website and use the access code to gain entry to the exclusive official Download Vault.
TUESDAY 19th APRIL 2005
BRUCE DICKINSON TO RELEASE SOLO ALBUM
Bruce Dickinson will release a new solo album on 23rd May 2005, via Mayan/Sanctuary. Entitled, A Tyranny of Souls, the album sees Dickinson once again collaborating with producer/writer Roy Z. Recording of the album began in February 2004, in between Iron Maiden finishing their tour and Roy commencing work as producer on the new Judas Priest album. Roy also handles all guitar and bass parts on the album, with David Moreno contributing on drums.ROAD RAGE CLUB NIGHTS
In addition to the forthcoming Road Rage tour, which features Trivium, 3 Inches of Blood and Still Remains, Roadrunner Records have set up a number of special club nights as a prelude to the tour. Each night, including three for under 18s, will feature chances to win tickets for the Road Rage tour, plus t-shirt and CD giveaways. Dates for the club nights are as follows: Friday 22nd April: Wolverhampton - Civic Hall "Corrosion" (Under 18s); Saturday 23rd: Birmingham - Academy "Subculture"; Liverpool - Krazy House; Manchester - Jilly's Rockworld; Edinburgh - Studio 24 "Mission"; Leicester - Square "Retribution"; Nottingham - Rock City "Nailed"; Monday 25th: Swansea - Escape "Teen Spirit" (Under 18s); Cardiff - University Union "Fun Factory"; Thursday 28th: Oxford - Zodiac "Sabotage"; Saturday 30th: Stoke - Sugarmill "The Dirt"; Glasgow - Cathouse "Voodoo" (Under 18s); Friday 6th May: London - Electric Ballroom; Portsmouth / Southsea - The Lounge "Inferno"; Saturday 7th: Leeds - Stylus "Whiplash" room at "Rock Of Ages"; Ipswich - The Venue "Riot".
FOZZY ANNOUNCE LONDON DATE
Fozzy, the band featuring WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, will play a show at The Astoria, London, on Saturday 7th May 2005.
THURSDAY 14th APRIL 2005
FESTIVAL UPDATE: DOWNLOAD
More bands have been confirmed to play as this year's Download festival at Donington Park on 10th-12th June 2005. 'A', Wednesday 13, Queen Adreena, InMe, Shadows Fall, Mad Capsule Market, Finch, The Mooney Suzuki, Lordi, Flogging Molly, Fozzy, Apocalyptica and Underoath have all recently been confirmed to play. The line-up is now as follows:
Friday 10th June:
Main stage: Feeder, Garbage, Dinosaur JR, Megadeth, Biffy Clyro, JJ72, Wednesday 13, Queen Adreena.
Snickers stage: Billy Idol, The Used, My Chemical Romance, InMe, The Bled, Lordi, Fozzy, Flogging Molly, Underoath, Apocalyptica.
Saturday 11th June:
Main stage: Black Sabbath, Velvet Revolver, HIM, Anthrax, Alter Bridge, Bowling For Soup, 'A', Mad Capsule Markets, The Mooney Suzuki.
Snickers stage: In Flames, Chimaira, Lamb of God, Bullet For My Valentine, Meshuggah, Unearth, Every Time I Die.
Sunday 12th June:
Main stage: System of A Down, Slipknot, Slayer, Nightwish, Killswitch Engage, Papa Roach, Mudvayne.
Snickers stage: Motorhead, DKT/MC5, Lacuna Coil, Mastodon, Shadows Fall, Caliban, As I Lay Dying, Finch.
Day tickets for the event are now on sale priced £45.00 for the Friday, £50.00 for the Saturday and £50.00 for the Sunday. Both day tickets and weekend tickets can be purchased from the festival website: www.downloadfestival.co.uk.
TOUR DATES: CLUTCH
Clutch have announced the following tour dates: 12th May 2005 - LONDON, Mean Fiddler; 13th - DUBLIN, Whelans; 14th - BELFAST, Limelight; 15th - GLASGOW, Cathouse; 16th - BRADFORD, Rio's; 17th - SHEFFIELD, Corporation; 18th - MANCHESTER, Rockworld; 19th - MILTON KEYNES, Woughton Centre; 20th - NUNEATON, Queens Hall; 21st - CAMBOURNE, College; 22nd - BRISTOL, Bierkeller.
IN BRIEF: Hot Hot Heat will release a new single, 'Goodnight, Goodnight', on 16th May 2005 via Reprise.
TUESDAY 12th APRIL 2005
FESTIVAL UPDATE: DOWNLOAD
Papa Roach and Mudvayne have both been confirmed to play at this year's Download festival at Donington Park on 10th-12th June 2005. Both bands will be appearing on Sunday's main stage. Scroll down to previous news items for the rest of the line-up.
TOUR DATES: AVENGED SEVENFOLD
Avenged Sevenfold have announced the following UK tour dates: 22nd May 2005 - Manchester Academy; 23rd - London Astoria; 25th - Glasgow Arches; 26th - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall. Tickets are available from the usual agents at a price of £10.00 (£12.50 for London). Avenged Sevenfold are currently in a studio in Los Angeles recording their new album with producer Mudrock (Eighteen Visions, Godsmack) which is set for release in June.
TOUR DATES: THE MISSION
The Mission have announced the following UK tour dates: 6th September 2005 - Cambridge Junction; 7th - Reading Fez Club; 8th - Oxford Zodiac; 9th - Stourbridge Rock Cafι; 10th - Nottingham Rock City; 12th - Falmouth Princess Pavilions; 13th - Portsmouth Wedgwood Rooms; 14th - Colchester Arts Centre; 15th - Northampton Soundhaus; 16th - Bristol Bierkeller; 18th - Stoke Sugarmill; 19th - Liverpool Academy 2; 20th - Keighley Victoria Hall; 21st - Preston The Mill; 22nd - Glasgow Garage; 23rd - Manchester Academy 3. A London show will be announced soon, so watch this space. The Mission will also release an as-yet-untitled DVD via SPV on 29th August. A new album is also in the pipeline.
IN BRIEF: Funeral For A Friend will release their new album, Hours, on 13th June 2005. The album will be preceded by a single, 'Streetcar', on 30th May.
TUESDAY 5th APRIL 2005
BILLY CORGAN TO RELEASE SOLO ALBUM
Ex-Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan will release his debut solo album on 21st June 2005, via Warner Bros. Entitled TheFutureEmbrace, the album contains 11 Corgan penned tunes plus a cover of the Bee Gees' 'To Love Somebody', which features Robert Smith of The Cure on backing vocals. Former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin also guests elsewhere on the album. "Many people assume when I do more progressive work that I am trying to move away from something, when honestly what I am trying to do is get closer to who I really am," says Corgan. "I tried to sum up all my feelings about my life and the world around me in the most beautiful ways I could dream up. It is easy to be negative, and much harder to find that silver lining behind the clouds of modern society." A world tour will follow the album release, with Corgan and his band playing "intimate" venues.