Don’t ever go to an Emo Punk show with a broken heart. This is not based on any empirical evidence, just advice from my own experience with this show. Maybe I went to my first long-term romantic post-break-up show 15 years ago, but it was Slapshot and Sam Black Church, so different vibes that night. But take my word for it, it’ll wreck you if you do. Continue reading
The highly anticipated destination music festival aimed at Punks, elder Emos, and millennials, When We Were Young Festival featuring My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Avril Lavigne has been forced to cancel day one of their sold out event. The cancellation was announced at 10 AM PST, just an hour before gates were to open at Las Vegas Festival Grounds. due to high winds. Winds were forecasted for up to 30-40 MPH which increases the safety hazard for an outdoor stage. The fest is still expected to take place tomorrow and again next weekend; on October 29th, 2022.
Let’s take it way back to Warped Tour ca. 2004 as When We Were Young Festival has announced their 2022 lineup. A Punk, Emo, and Metalcore kids dream, the lineup includes headliners My Chemical Romance and Paramore. Other bands on the bill include Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, The Linda Lindas, Alkaline Trio, Thursday, AFI, Meet Me @ The Altar, Avril Lavigne, Senses Fail, The Wonder Years, ADTR, Ice Nine Kills, Black Veil Brides, Motionless in White, Atreyu, Four Year Strong, Palaye Royale, Acceptance, Anberlin, Knocked Loose, Silverstein, Bright Eyes, Dance Gavin Dance and more are among the bands announced. The festival will take place October 22 at Las Vegas Festival Grounds in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets go on sale January 21. Check out the lineup and the ticket link below.
Hard rock heavy weights, Asking Alexandria, have set and maintained an exceptionally high bar for themselves. It’s extremely disheartening to admit that their new record, See What’s On The Inside (Better Noise), falls slightly short of their usual standard. To be clear, there are very few bands that can achieve AA’s technical prowess. Critically, the record ticks a lot of boxes it’s supposed to. If this had come from a band like Buckcherry or Shinedown, it’d be a great release. The very problem is that this doesn’t sound like an Asking Alexandria album; It’s completely devoid of the biting, soul-exposed, gritty back-alley-of-a-rundown-city sound that made the band who they are.
Aaron Meltzer, the one-time frontman, and vocalist of San Diego post-Hardcore band Secrets has died. No cause of death has been revealed. The news was broken on Secrets Facebook page via a post. While Aaron had been out of the band several years, he was on their most successful releases on Rise Records, including 2013’s Fragile Figures. On the strength of that album, the band toured the US with major bands, including Warped Tour 2014. We will keep track of this story as it develops. Rest in Power, Aaron.
In a story Ghost Cult broke several months ago, Mayhem Fest co-founders Kevin Lyman and John Reece had been in talks about bringing the fest back and confirmed by Lyman on social media. However, now due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, those plans are on hold until 2021. No further details had been shared yet about a new version of Mayhem Fest, but the rumor of the Megadeth/Lamb of God Tour being the headliners was debunked by Lyman and the bands. Reece even polled his fans to see if they wanted it back AFTER our news story broke. The final Mayhemfest wrapped in 2015 with Slayer and King Diamond co-headlining. Lyman’s Warped Tour celebrated 25 years last summer with a final few all-day festival dates, but not a cross country tour. Reece and Lyman were also responsible for The Uproar Festival Tour and A Taste of Chaos Tour as well. Perhaps Mayhem Festival will return as an all-dayer or an all-weekend destination fest like Lollapalooza did. The traveling summer-time metal festival was the metal answer to Warped Tour, also co-founded by Kevin Lyman and John Reece and saw Slipknot, Slayer, System of a Down, King Diamond, Five Finger Death Punch, Amon Amarth, Mastodon were among the many headliners over the years. Continue reading
Post-Hardcore is a sub-genre that gets tossed around today as commonplace, but in the early 1990s, it was a new little brother that the older sibling was not ready to cede attention to. As Hardcore Punk mutated into other offshoots, post-Hardcore started to gain ground. In New York City alone, the epicenter for many new waves of hardcore music, a lot of bands crossed over (see what we did there) and bands started to absorb elements of both with Prong, White Zombie, and Biohazard were all leaning more on metal vibes, Quicksand formed by members of ex-hardcore legend status bands we’re pushing towards a new sound. Heavy, but not in a tough guy way, vulnerable, but smart. By the time the members of essential musical outfits Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Beyond, Bold, Burn, and Collapse formed an anti-supergroup, released demos and the amazing Slip (Polydor) album, and toured tirelessly, fans in the scene could feel they were building to something huge. They walked in both worlds of Punk and Metal but were also world-building themselves at the same time. Continue reading
Regardless of where you get your start in the music business, it’s crucial to grind hard at your goals every single day! Dumb and Dumbest #305 is streaming now and it’s an interview with Austin the Manager! Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading
Once again the Podcast welcomes in Zimbabwe metaller Chris Van of the band Dividing the Element! Dumb and Dumbest #304 is streaming now and it’s all about Metal in Zimbabwe Part II. Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading
When it comes to Music Marketing, innovation is overrated. Dumb and Dumbest #303 is streaming now and it’s all about Did it Work? Do it Again! Dumb and Dumbest is hosted by Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR), in addition to the podcast, Matt and Curtis host The Music Marketing Challenge, a low-cost, super high-value private training to bands and artists. Today is the last day to sign up for the current challenge, the Tuning Up Your Social Media for Labels Challenge! Get hands-on practical experience to market your band like a pro today! Message them at the links below. Continue reading