Bloodstock Adds More Bands, Releases Day Tickets, And New Entertainment Plans


Bloodstock Open Air, the UK’s biggest independent metal festival, is just six weeks away. The fest will release a limited number of day tickets at 9 am (BMT) this Friday, 29th June! Adult day tickets are priced at £65 (+ booking fee) and child day tickets at £20 (+ booking fee) and will be available at http://bloodstock.seetickets.com. You can still also pick up four-day ‘weekend tickets with camping’, priced £145 (+ booking fee), and children’s weekend tickets at just £35 (+ booking fee). Children under 4 years old go free! Weekend tickets are selling faster than ever and may sell out in advance.Continue reading


Bloodstock Adds More Bands, Closes In On Festival Weekend


Bloodstock Open Air 2018 continues to grow in stature with a little over two months to go until the fest kicks off at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 9th-12th August. New blood added to the bill includes Metal 2 The Masses contest winners Vulgore, Severn Hells, Turbyne, Ashborn, 13, Valafar, Crawlblind, Autocracy, Drudge, as well as Jagermeister Stage bands Kamikaze Test Pilots, Luke Appleton (Iced Earth), Alpha Omega, Dawn of Anubis and more. Continue reading


Ozzy Osborne Declares No New Sabbath Album After All


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In an interview Ozzy Osbourne has contradicted previous statement, now saying there will be in fact no new Black Sabbath album to coincide with “The End” World Tour dates. The band had spent several years touting the work towards one more album following the smash success of 2013’s 13 comeback album.

 

Ozzy on the change of direction about a new Sabbath album:

We were gonna do one before the tour, but I’m 67 in December, it would take three or four years to write and record an album, by which time I’ll be f—ing 73 or 72 or something,” Ozzy tells veteran rock journalist Gary Graff in a new interview. “So we decided just to do a farewell tour. If we did an album and it went to No. 2, people would go, ‘It’s over.’ There’s only one more place you can go after No. 1 and that’s No. 2, you know.”

You can here the entire interview between Ozzy and veteran music journalist Gary Graff at this link:

 

Both Ozzy and Tony Iommi had both gone on record confirming a new record was in the works. A second US leg of the “The End” tour dates went on sale today (pre-sale) and go on sale tomorrow.

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Black Sabbath USA tour dates, summer 2016:
Aug 17: Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Aug 19: Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
Aug 21: Washington DC Jiffy Lube Live
Aug 23: Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug 25: Boston, MA Xfinity Center
Aug 27: Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug 29: Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Aug 31: Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theater
Sept 02: Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center
Sept 04: Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sept 07: Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
Sept 09: Albuquerque, NM Isleta Ampitheater
Sept 11: Salt Lake City, UT USANA Ampitheater
Sept 13: Portland, OR Sunlight Supply Arena
Sept 15: Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
Sept 17 :Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
Sept 19: Hollywood, CA Hollywood Bowl
Sept 21: Phoenix, AZ AK-Chin Pavilion

Other Black Sabbath tour dates, 2016:

Jan 20: Omaha, NE CenturyLink Center
Jan 22: Chicago, IL United Center
Jan 25: Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Jan 27: Winnipeg MN MTS Centre
Jan 30: Edmonton, AB Rexall Centre
Feb 01: Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
Feb 03: Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Feb 06: Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Feb 09: San Jose, CA SAP Pavilion
Feb 11: Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Feb 13: Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay
Feb 15: Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Feb 17: Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Feb 19: Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
Feb 21: Hamilton, ON First Ontario Centre
Feb 23: Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Feb 25: New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Feb 27: New York, NY Madison Square Garden


Apr 15: Perth, AU Perth Arena
Apr 17: Adelaide, AU Entertainment Centre
Apr 19: Melbourne, AU Rod Laver Arena
Apr 23: Sydney, AU Allphones Arena
Apr 25: Brisbane, AU Entertainment Centre
Apr 28: Auckland, NZ Vector Arena
Apr 30: Dunedin, NZ Forsyth Barr Stadium


Jun 01: Budapest,Hungary Groupama Arena
Jun 08: Berlin, Germany Waldebuhne
Jun: 11 Donington, UK Download **
Jun 13 Verona, IT Arena Di Verona
Jun 15: Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadon
Jun 17: Dessel,Belgium Grasspop **
Jun 23: Halden, Norway Tons of Rock **
Jun 25: Copenhagen, DE Copenhell **
Jun 28: Vienna, Austria Stadthalle
Jun 30 Prague, Czech Rep. 02 Arena
Jul 02: Krakow, Poland Tauron Arena
Jul 5: Riga, Latvia Riga Arena
Jul 07: Helsinki, Finland Monsters of Rock **
Jul 09: Stockholm, Sweden Monsters of Rock **
Jul 12: Moscow, Russia Olympisky Arena
**Denotes festival appearance

 


My Favorite Concert Memory: Don Slater of Battlecross


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Don Slater of Battlecross, Photo by Emma Parsons Photography

 

We get lucky once in a while on tour. I mean *really* lucky. My most favorite memory comes from playing Nova Rock in Austria. This was one of the shows we played on our festival run in 2014 where our backstage laminates let us go anywhere we pleased. That rarely happens, to be honest with you. With festivals, you’re typically only allowed to go back stage at the stage you performed, and even then with limited access. Not Nova Rock. It started off as any festival does. A little bit of confusion, many faces (some familiar, most foreign to us), and a whole slew of music to be heard. We were to perform on one of the side stages to a very receptive crowd, and as pleasing at it was, I couldn’t get a simple yet nagging thought out of my head. As much as I tried, I simply couldn’t contain my excitement: Black Sabbath is here.

Not on the same stage, or anywhere near us, but the fact they were in the vicinity and performing that evening was tantalizing, to say the least. We finished our set, ate our fine catering, and after some rest (and many beers), it was time. Time for me to see good ol’ Geezer Butler in action. Being a bass player, I’ve always held a ton of respect for him, even before I picked up the low-end guitar. As I aforementioned, our passes were the golden ticket this time around. There’s a common misconception that backstage is the absolute best place to be. Sure, you’ll be seen by your peers, maybe get a thumbs up or a high-five from one of the band members on stage, but I wasn’t watching Black Sabbath to be noticed; I was there to watch them perform with the best audio I could from a live show. That only happens at one place, and that place is where the front of house mixing board resides. That’s where the sound gets mixed overall, adjusted, and quite frankly, you get to witness the whole show.

Black Sabbath in 1970, photo by Warner Brothers Records

Black Sabbath in 1970, photo by Warner Brothers Records

With all that in mind, that’s where I went. The FOH was elevated, so I had no issues seeing the entire stage, the whole show, every effect and they even had large screens to show closeups of the entire band. I couldn’t take my eyes off Geezer Butler. As much as I wanted to watch Ozzy and Tony tear it up, Geezer’s playing is his own. He plays so hard, but his tone is second to none. I didn’t have to fight sweaty dudes or get crammed together to witness all of this, either. I simply had to make sure I stayed out of the way of the gentlemen that were working. Easy to do if you have respect, you know? As it goes, in recent memory, that was the best concert I’ve attended in a long time. I simply had the luxury of performing it as well. Such an occurrence doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, you’re a fool not to take full advantage of it. It goes without saying that I highly doubt I’ll ever have such an experience again, but if I do, you know damn right I’ll make sure to remember every bit of it.

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Don Slater and Battlecross can be seen on tour on the ‘Summer of Doom’ tour with Crowbar and Lord Dying. Battlecross’ new album Rise To Power releases on August 21st from Metal Blade.


Black Sabbath – 13


Iconic. Revered. Pioneers. Influential. Just a few words that describe the legendary Black Sabbath. Add one more. Reunited*. Note the asterisk, however. Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Geezer Butler have teamed up for the first time in 35 years but they did it without drummer Bill Ward. RATM’s Brad Wilk takes over on skins for 13, the Sab 4’s first album of new material since 1978’s Never Say Die! The Rick Rubin produced 13 sounds like Black Sabbath should sound in 2013. It’s been said that Sabbath are guilty of recycling their own riffs here but it’s more a case of Sabbath sounding almost exactly like Sabbath. It’s a trait that has appeared polarizing to critics but what did you expect?Continue reading


Suicidal Tendencies – 13


Suicidal-Tendencies-13Suicidal Tendencies first album in thirteen years is the culmination of the legendary hardcore punk/crossover/thrash bands’ resurgence the last few years. The reason the band reached icon status in the first place was their ability to innovate and lead in the early days, change with the times and still be relevant years later. What separates ST from many bands of that era, is that now that they have finally delivered new music, it is as refreshing to hear as it is vital. That’s what makes 13 so very special.Continue reading