The Young Guns Tour made a much-anticipated stop at Big Night Live in Boston Massachusetts featuring Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey. The two up-and-coming rock bands treated the crowd to blistering sets of no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll. Each band is out on the road supporting their debut albums that were released in 2021.
It’s always a special occasion when Killswitch Engage comes to town. This time, however, fans got an extra special treat as the band brought along supporting acts August Burns Red and Light The Torch.
With a wave of excitement you could feel in the brisk winter air, fans filed into the Reno Events Center for the first date of the Ghost and Volbeat co-headline tour kickoff show. Ghost had been through town right before the pandemic began, and for a lot of fans I talked to, this was their first show back. Not only is the band a singularly interesting and creative Heavy Metal band, their faithful followers are fast becoming legends on their own for their voracious appetites for all things Ghost. And they didn’t disappoint on this night, many dressed in costumes and churchly garb, as a tribute. Over ten years in existence, the rapport between the band and flock has been inspiring to watch them bloom over time.
I pull up to the parking lot of the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts. It’s been two years and a couple of months since the last time I was at one of these things. One 40 ounce of malt liquor is disposed of while sitting in a warm car as ice and rain pounds away on the roof. Must make my way inside and show no weakness. My body has been in a state of mosh retirement for too long and there’s no telling how I’ll fare in a sea of savage longhairs.Continue reading
A Frank Turner concert is as much a spiritual experience, like an old southern revival church meeting, as much as it is a rock concert. He has been at this for a long time, over twenty years in music. Stripped-down from his usual full band experience, Frank has spent years honing his Punk – Folk stylings as a solo artist or with a small group. He doesn’t need a full band to deliver an impactful riff, lyric, or song. So after a year of bedroom livestreams, Frank finally started small with a handful of shows and made it over to the USA for a tour including Punk Rock Bowling. For nights like tonight, just a few guitars and Frank’s one of a kind voice and narrative storytelling ability captivates the crowd. It’s hard to break the spell if you see him in person.
Massive music festivals are commonplace now, but they were far and few between fifty years ago. They are hard to produce well, but can be great moments in time for fans and musical artists. For every Lollapalooza, Wacken, and Ozzfest, we have Altamont, Woodstock 1999, and Fyre Fest as well. No festival sets out to fail or do harm and hurt the trust of fans, but sometimes that happens. Blue Ridge Rock Fest, as it turns out, became a perfect storm of too many fans, too small a town, to support those fans. Purpose Driven events had put on severa
(Note: This show was before the bands’ current COVID-19 related cancelations)
Say what you will about KISS, they still live up to the legend almost 50 years after forming as a band and releasing their debut album. If the band is going out, it’s guns ablazing and on their own terms. Which, after theory got famous, is all they have ever done. Sure, causal fans and haters will mock, but there is a KISS show, and there’s everyone else, to paraphrase the great rock writer, Chuck Klosterman. On this night in Mansfield, they pulled out all the stops: great songs, fire, full-on rock and roll excess to the fullest, and yes, the synchronized rocking out every band since has copied. The band has even changed up their set list from years passed, really paying tribute to most era’s of the band, makeup or not. It was great for the band to paly “Say Yeah,” “Lick It Up,” “Tears Are Falling,” “Heaven’s On Fire,” and “War Machine” among their best known greatest hits. The clock is definitely ticking on this tour and there will never be another band quite like KISS. Don’t cheat yourself of the chance to experience KISStory before it’s over.
Here is your last chance to enter our GIVEAWAY! Presented by Danny Wimmer Presents and originating from Los Angeles, Anthrax will host their 40th-anniversary livestream even, in North America on Friday, July 16, beginning at 4 PM PT and 7 PM ET, and in the UK on Saturday, July 17, starting at Midnight BST. Livestream event tickets and special 40th-anniversary ticket bundles – one including a live video chat with the members of Anthrax – are on sale now. You can also win tickets for FREE from GHOST CULT! Enter to win on Instagram at the link to the post below, and tag your friends and share the post in your feed and stories for extra chances to win! Full giveaway rules at the bottom of this post.
Time for another GIVEAWAY! Presented by Danny Wimmer Presents and originating from Los Angeles, Anthrax will host their 40th-anniversary livestream even, in North America on Friday, July 16, beginning at 4 PM PT and 7 PM ET, and in the UK on Saturday, July 17, starting at Midnight BST. Livestream event tickets and special 40th-anniversary ticket bundles – one including a live video chat with the members of Anthrax – are on sale now. You can also win tickets for FREE from GHOST CULT! Enter to win on Instagram at the link to the post below, and tag your friends and share the post in your feed and stories for extra chances to win! Full giveaway rules at the bottom of this post.
Shows are starting to come back as both the pandemic is lessening vaccination rates are going up, as well as bands and fans have the desperate itch to rock out again. As long as it continues to be safe, we’ll see more socially distanced smaller gigs and even bigger theater shows and festivals start happening. One such return to the stage was Crowbar who performed a pair of shows near their hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Southport Music Hall. The band played some crushing classics as they get tight for more live demonstrations of their power soon. They were even joined by former band member Sammy Duet of Goatwhore! n their way to releasing new music later this year or early next year via eOne Music. Check out this photo set from Evil Robb Photography who was there in person to document the night!