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
Quickly shaping up to be the biggest music festival in the USA this year, Blue Ridge Rock festival has announced their full line-up of 180 bands. Headlining the massive 4 day festival are Five Finger Death Punch, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, and Limp Bizkit. There is a special club warm up show which includes headliner Ludacris, T-Pain, and Lil Jon. Also on tap: the Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow Revue, a vaudeville freak show of wonder by Hellzapoppin’s Ringleader and Producer, Mr. Bryce “The Govna” Graves. In addition, excitingly, the festival will be hosted by Steve-O (MTV’s Jackass); and special guest Lou Brutus (SiriusXM). The fest takes place September 9th – 12th at Blue Ridge Amphitheater, a long-awaited large-scale concert venue in Southwest Virginia. Tickets are on sale now at the link below and here is the full lineup:
Former Ill Niño members Cristian Machado (vocals), Ahrue “Luster” Ilustre (guitar), and Diego Verduzco (guitar) have launched a new band called Lions At The Gate. The group’s lineup is completed by bassist Stephen Brewer (Westfield Massacre) and drummer Fern Lemus. Their debut single, “Not Even Human”, arrives this week, on Friday, June 4. A teaser for the track is available below. The band has completed their debut album as well, with more news and tour dates to come soon. Continue reading →
Yesterday we brought you the news that Ill Niño had split from three fo their core members, with only Dave Chavarri and Laz Pina. In a message to Blabbermouth, Vocalist Cristian Machado, lead guitarist Ahrue Luster (ex-Machine Head), and rhythm guitarist Diego Verduzco have dismissed reports that they have left Ill Niño and have vowed to continue with their own version of the band, with details to be revealed soon.Continue reading →
Long-running Latin-influenced Nu Metal band Ill Niño is back! The band has announced a radical lineup change with some mainstay members departing and new blood coming in. The new members include Shattered Sun vocalist Marcos Leal, rhythm guitarist Sal Dominguez, formerly of Upon A Burning Body, and Sons of Texas’ Jess Dehoyos on lead guitar. Hear their new single, their first in five years, ‘Sangre’, right now! Continue reading →
Before you listen to Terror Universal’s Make Them Bleed (Minus Head) make sure to take a good look at the album for a minute or two. Approach this experiment as a Heavy Metal Rorschach test. What do you see? How does it make you feel? I see four blokes that look like they walked off the set of Max Landis’ latest “masterwork” Bright. Then I hopped on the Wayback Machine and was transported to the wild west that was the nu-metal years. Continue reading →
The 2017 Hellfest Open Air Festival will be taking place from June 16th-18th in Clisson, France next year, and the final lineup has now been confirmed. Continue reading →
After a dark rendition of the United States of America ‘s national anthem as the albums intro, Amerakin Overdose kicks you in the teeth with a series of fast pacedsongs. If you are not strapped in yet, you might want to be, because this is the beginning a heavy ride. Continue reading →
Fifteen years ago, a Latin metal band from New Jersey took over the air waves. Fifteen years ago, my twelve-year-old life was forever changed. Fifteen years later and the boys in Ill Nino are celebrating Revoluton/Revolucion’s (Roadrunner Records) quinceanera by playing the album in its entirety and I just happened to be lucky enough to have two of those tour dates nearby.
They always play a good chunk of songs off of this record in general but there was still an air of excitement and anticipation at both locations as many of us weren’t quite sure what to expect. Now, when I say that Revolution/Revolucion was played in its entirety, I mean, every single song. Yes, even that one, the last track and possibly the only one your mother likes; ‘With You’. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much and part of me believed that, with the rest of the set list being so much heavier, that ‘With You’ would be forgotten and left out. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Did I cry? Like a giant, metal baby.
I would have loved to have seen ‘Fallen’ for the first time, maybe next time. For those of you playing at home, it’s a bonus track on the fancy red edition of Rev. As in the past, we were also treated to some favorites off of Confession (Roadrunner Records) with ‘Te Amo…I Hate You’, ‘Cleansing’, and ‘How Can I Live’, plus ‘This is War’ from One Nation Underground (Roadrunner Records). Still waiting on getting my Spanish renditions of ‘How Can I Live’ and ‘What Comes Around’…Someday…
All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I think anyone else who has been able to catch the boys on this 15 Years of Revolution tour will agree. The crowd sang along to every word of every song and we truly were a family.
A lot has happened since I picked up Revolution/Revolucion back in 2001. Ill Nino has remained close to my heart both as a band and as people and they have allowed me to form some incredible, life long friendships with fellow fans from around the country and even the world. I don’t think there will ever be an Ill Nino show where I am not immediately transformed back into that weird twelve-year-old girl, just starting middle school, and I’m okay with that because it just means that I get to hold onto that thrill and adoration for a little bit longer. Here’s hoping we get another special tour for when Confession hits fifteen in 2018.
Ill Niño has released their new video for the track ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ from their 2014 album Till Death, La Familia (Victory Records). You can watch the clip at this link or below:
Having wrapped up their headlining dates on the “Civil Unrest Tour” in the US, Ill Niño has performed the international festival circuit this summer, appearing at Wacken Open Air in Germany and Rock al Parque in Colombia.
