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Frank Micelotta, Getty Images Few musicians possess the talent and character to retain ‘Rock God’ status nearly 20 years after their demise, but since 1994, the memory of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain has not faded one bit. Countless tributes have been paid to Cobain since his suicide, with the latest being a strange and multidimensional stage show featuring Sonic Youth ‘s Thurston Moore . The artistic tribute , simply called ‘Kurt,’ was showcased at the Gusman Center for the Arts in Miami, Fla., on Dec. 6, as part of the city’s Art Basel extravaganza. The Cobain experiment began with a 12-minute film by contemporary artist Adarsha Benjamin, which depicted a Cobain-like figure wandering through a Super-8 world and tearing up musical instruments while Pacific Ocean waves violently crash along Northwestern shores. The face of the Kurt Cobain figure was never fully revealed, although flashes of the late musician’s physical characteristics were shown as a mysterious tease. After the film’s conclusion, a bizarre dance based off Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ video began, complete with flannel shirts and a smokey atmosphere. After some strange conceptual dancing, a proverbial snake charmer with a left-handed guitar blasted out a solo guitar piece with piercing distortion, entrancing the grunged-out dancers. To conclude the night, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore introduced himself, speaking informally about his own life before focusing on the life of Kurt Cobain. “I want to read a couple of things I wrote,” Moore stated, “now or maybe later, with Kurt in mind. I thought the film was beautiful and I was happy to see that film. I love the idea that we can just be expressionistic in our feelings towards people, whether we were intimate with them or not, as long as they brought beauty and feeling into our lives.” Moore concluded the night with a multitude of spoken-word poetry along with an experimental and massively distorted noise piece. Check out some of Moore’s performance from ‘Kurt’ below. Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore Performs in ‘Kurt’
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Sevendust have a busy year ahead of them in 2013, as the band is set to drop its ninth studio album, ‘Black Out the Sun,’ on March 26 of next year, with the lead single ‘Decay’ debuting Jan. 22. The band will also embark on a headlining trek with Italian rockers Lacuna Coil. Loudwire recently had the opportunity to catch up with singer Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist John Connolly as they were aboard the ShipRocked 2012 cruise. Sevendust, having been ShipRocked veterans, talked all about how much they enjoy the experience of rocking out on a boat, as well as Witherspoon’s snorkeling fail. They also spoke about the new album, the upcoming tour with Lacuna Coil and plans to hit the road with Coal Chamber. Sevendust Talk Shiprocked 2012, ‘Black Out The Sun’ + Upcoming Tour [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lacuna-coil-sevendust-early-2013-u-s-tour/” title=”Sevendust + Lacuna Coil 2013 Tour Dates” align=”center”]
A&M/Octane Hollywood Undead have unleashed the music video for the track ‘We Are,’ the first single from their upcoming 2013 album, ‘Notes From the Underground,’ due Jan. 8. The video was directed by Slipknot percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan and is available below for your eyeballs to experience. The sinister video is shot masterfully by Crahan, with his creative vision complementing both the song and the performances showcased by Hollywood Undead. The clip is not one to be missed, as each member gets their own little vignette, whether it be writing messages with a massive amount of cocaine, smashing televisions, robbing liquor stores or setting people on fire. The video for ‘We Are’ has arrived just in time for fans to pre-order ‘Notes From the Underground’ at iTunes . Hollywood Undead have also revealed a string of North American tour dates beginning on Jan. 8 to celebrate the release of ‘Notes From the Underground.’ Check out the video for ‘We Are’ and the ‘Underground’ tour dates below. Watch Hollywood Undead’s ‘We Are’ Video Hollywood Undead 2013 ‘Underground’ Tour Dates: 1/8 – Hollywood, Calif. – The Key Club 1/9 – Sacramento, Calif. – Ace Of Spades 1/11 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Club Sound 1/12 – Denver, Colo. – Bluebird Theatre 1/14 – St. Paul, Minn. – Station 4 1/15 – Chicago, Ill. – The Bottom Lounge 1/16 – Detroit, Mich. – St. Andrews Hall 1/18 – New York, N.Y. – The Gramercy Theatre 1/21 – Cambridge, Mass. – Middle East 1/22 – Montreal, Quebec City – Corona Theatre 1/23 – Toronto, Ontario – Virgin Mobile Mod Club
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire In Flames kicked off the year with a headlining trek with Trivium and Kyng , and they are currently on a major U.S. tour with Lamb of God , Hatebreed and Sylosis . Loudwire recently had the chance to catch up with In Flames guitarist Bjorn Gelotte before the band played New York City’s Roseland Ballroom. Gelotte talked all about his relationship with the bands on the bill, as well as offering his view on Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe ‘s incarceration in the Czech Republic. He also spoke about owning a pub with his bandmate, what In Flames will be up to in 2013 and much more. Describe your relationship with the bands on this bill? Lamb of God is a fantastic band to work with — we’ve toured with them before and all the other guys as well. We didn’t know Sylosis before, I didn’t know them before but they are perfect English gentlemen and they’re really good at what they do and of course Hatebreed [laughs], who doesn’t love Hatebreed? When you heard about Randy Blythe’s arrest, what did you think about this whole situation? I had such a mixed feeling — of course you feel really sad about somebody getting hurt as bad as dying from it, at the same time you know how it is onstage. I highly doubt he did anything in rage; I just think that was a very unfortunate accident. I felt really bad, at the same time I felt like [Blythe] handled it really well — he stood up for it and said, “I’m here, you know where to find me if there’s anything, I won’t hide. If you guys find a case around this I’ll be there,” and that’s a standup thing to do. Whether you crowd surf or not, there’s always a possibility of getting injured at metal shows … It’s sometimes surprising that it doesn’t happen more often. I’ve seen some really crazy pits, circle pits and it could get really violent. Most of the time I think people in the pits try to take care of each other – if somebody falls down they try to pick them up and seem friendly about it. It’s a weird thing – you would never find me in a circle pit or mosh pit. Does the experience of what Randy went through affect the way you perform onstage or your mindset of what a fan might do when you are onstage? No. We’re really aware of the audience and we try obviously to spur them to stage dive, well maybe not stage dive but to crowd surf and run around a bit. At the same time we have big confidence in the security working because they’re not there to save us from the fans, they’re there to save the fans – maybe from each other sometimes but they’re actually doing a really good job. It’s a lot of big men taking care of small kids, it’s really funny sometimes — they just carry them up with one arm. ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading’ is only a year and a half old, but has there been any progress on material for a new album? Not really. I know it sounds weird but being on tour, it’s not very inspirational. It’s a great forum to talk about music, it’s a forum to meet other musicians but to create it’s not — it’s also very impractical. It’s a bunch of gear that you need, the right software to work and I’m just like “F— it, I’ll just wait until I get back home.” I have a studio at home so I just push the power button and I’m rolling. What do you usually find inspiration from, when creating music? I don’t look for a theme or story or anything, I just go with whatever melodies seems to be bouncing around in this empty head of mind — melodies and riffs and when you just warm up or noodle around, ideas come up. Throughout this year, what has been the funniest moment on tour or the funniest thing a fan has said to you? We hear all sorts of s—t. [Laughs] One funny moment was on this tour actually. I came into the dressing room in San Antonio and I saw this big stuffed bear in the dressing room and at that moment I knew how this tour was going to be. Sure enough, the bear ended up on the bus and stays with us. Where did the bear come from and where is it now? It’s still here – he was a hazard being up in the front lounge so we had to have him in the merch trailer but he’s all dressed up and nice. He joins us for walks and stuff, it’s funny if you’re on the road. What are your touring plans for 2013? We have lots of plans actually, there’s going to be a lot of touring – hopefully coming back over here, fairly soon, right after New Year’s. We’re doing the 70,000 tons of metal Caribbean Cruise thingy – weather wise it should be fantastic but I don’t know about the stage conditions and all that. We’ll try to link that to some more touring. We, of course, have the summer festival season coming up and we’re going to try to hit a lot of festivals – nothing really confirmed yet. Most of that will be confirmed by a month or two. [Editor’s note: Shortly after the interview, In Flames did in fact confirm a 2013 U.S. tour with Demon Hunter, All Shall Perish and Battlecross.] You and your bandmate, bassist Peter Iwers, have a restaurant in Sweden 2112, how is that venture going? It’s great, it’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of different things to think about. We’ve been talking about it for years — he wanted a restaurant , I wanted a bar. I like beer, he likes food. It was hard in the beginning to mix the two because it was really fine dining, great menus, a fantastic chef but now we’ve tried to relax it a little bit, so it’s not that white table cloth setting. It’s more like burgers and beer which works really good with the rock, metal attitude – for grownups. Would you ever think about bringing it to the States? I would love to, that’s a whole different ball game. We’re really strict in Sweden when it comes to alcohol and there’s a lot of bulls—t you have to deal with in order to get the license. I have no idea whatsoever how to get a liquor license here but that’s probably in the future. Have you learned any cooking techniques from being in the restaurant / bar business? Yes, to make an awesome coleslaw for instance. It’s not as easy as you think. I’ve learned to not be afraid to try out things – it’s not science, it’s very much feeling when you season food and the right temperatures and everything. When you see the [workers in the kitchen] they have a stove on all day and it’s really inspiring to see them cooking for 50 people and they do it in no time. I haven’t been in the kitchen working – I’ve just seen them and it’s like, “Okay I’ll stay in the bar,” and I’m not even working there, I’m on the outside of the bar drinking beers – one of the perks of being the owner. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lamb-of-god-in-flames-hatebreed-sylosis-rock-new-york-city-with-vigorous-show/” title=”Check Out Photos of In Flames Performing in New York City” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire The Monster Energy Outbreak Tour made its stop in New York City on Sunday night (Dec. 9) for a sold-out show at the Best Buy Theater. Headliners Asking Alexandria set fans into a frenzy, as did As I Lay Dying , Memphis May Fire, I See Stars and Attila. The night was bittersweet. As much as fans enjoyed the performance of the bands, there was also a wistful vibe throughout the night as many fans remembered frontman Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence, who were supposed to be on the tour’s lineup before the untimely death of their vocalist. The night kicked off with a decent set by party metal band Attila, followed by I See Stars, who got fans bouncing and brought on the first Wall of Death of the night. Memphis May Fire were up next and delivered an intense performance. One of the best sets of the night went to As I Lay Dying, who ripped the place apart with massive pits, a heap of crowd surfers and the night’s second Wall of Death. The main act of the night, Asking Alexandria, kicked off their set but without frontman Danny Worsnop, but fans, who were a tad confused, still sang along. Eventually, Worsnop came out onstage to screaming fans and explained that he tore his vocal cord and wouldn’t be able to perform, but that his buds from I See Stars and Attila would take over the vocal duties. The band also got help from a multitalented roadie, who was busy setting up the equipment and taping down wires before they began, but graced the stage and tore it up on a few Asking Alexandria songs. However, it was the fans who really took over the vocal duties and belted out all of the words to all of the songs they performed. The most poignant moment of the set was the band dedicating their track ‘Someone, Somewhere’ to Mitch Lucker. The tune was sung by Us, From Outside vocalist Kenny Davis. When Asking Alexandria left the stage, the Suicide Silence classic ‘You Only Live Once’ played in honor of Lucker. Fans remembered him in the best way possible with massive pits, some serious crowd surfing and by singing the song word for word. Danny Worsnop did come out for the encore to perform the fan favorite ‘The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel).’ Worsnop and a bunch of his buddies destroyed the stage. As he invited fans up onstage with him, security couldn’t keep up with the swarm of crowd surfers. Check out all these bands on the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour; go here for the remaining dates. See photos of the NYC gig below: Asking Alexandria: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire As I Lay Dying: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Memphis May Fire: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire I See Stars: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Attila: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire
Scott Gries, Getty Images Here’s a look at the top stories of the day on Loudwire and around the Web: – Legendary Pantera guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott was memorialized onstage over the weekend by his brother, Vinnie Paul, along with his Hellyeah bandmates, Lamb of God, In Flames and Sylosis. [ Loudwire ] – Big news for Nine Inch Nails fans! Trent Reznor has announced that he will be releasing new NIN songs on an upcoming compilation album. Reznor will begin to write a new Nine Inch Nails after the compilation’s release. [ Loudwire ] – Machine Head also paid tribute to ‘Dimebag’ Darrell during their Dec. 8 set by performing the Pantera standard ‘F—ing Hostile.’ [ Loudwire ] – Shinedown + Three Days Grace add second leg to their 2013 co-headlining U.S. tour. [ Loudwire ] – Buckcherry are now offering a free download of their new single ‘Gluttony.’ [ Loudwire ] – Metallica release ‘The Four Horsemen’ live performance from ‘Quebec Magnetic’ DVD / Blu-ray. [ Ultimate Metallica ] – Rolling Stones add Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga and the Black Keys to Dec. 15 pay-per-view event. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 inductees to be announced tomorrow. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut new song, ‘Dispair,’ at Hurricane Sandy benefit. [ Diffuser.fm ]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire / Rick Diamond, Getty Images As one of metal’s most aggressive vocalists in history, it’s no surprise to learn that Pantera / Down vocalist Philip Anselmo is a huge fan of boxing. Surely tracks such as ‘F—ing Hostile’ and ‘Mouth for War’ have inspired many fists to bust through walls, along with faces, so Boxing Insider welcomed Anselmo for an exclusive interview, but here’s the catch: Philip Anselmo was brought in to conduct an interview with yet another musician and boxing fan … rapper 50 Cent. In an hilarious piece of truth, Anselmo admitted to have no effing clue who 50 Cent was, but penned kind words about the rapper. “Call me morbid, call me pale, call me a victim of pugilistic dementia, but I must say, speaking to this man was an interesting experience,” writes Anselmo. “I was beyond impressed with his smarts, his sense of humor, his accomplishments and his future plans.” Although not one to follow the hip-hop game, Anselmo’s interviewing skills were spot-on: Anselmo : “Do you see any parallels between music and boxing on a business level?” 50 Cent : “Well yes. In the past the majority of the record companies were run continuously. Artists would come up and be really exciting at certain points and eventually go through that cycle of entertainment. Then, they (record companies) built entertainment to destroy them (the artists) for the sake of entertainment. And as you go up, and keep going up in an artist’s career, there’s no place to go but down shortly thereafter. And if you look at some of those older artists that are so talented, then ask yourself, ‘What happened to them?’ or ‘Why aren’t they still recording?’ or ‘Why aren’t they still exciting to the general public?’, it’s because the public follows that system. The shadow of doubt is cast over artists and music culture at different points. You have to be independent in order to work things out through that shadow. Because it’s this system that decides who is relevant, and companies have to see if they’re gonna continue to market and promote the actual projects anymore. And it’s the same with fighters; they’ll grow up and they’ll see some excitement around them and they’re having their moment, but in boxing if there is no opponent, the general public will make one for you. If a guy happens to be a shining star in his weight class, there’ll be another fighter that may have a great performance in the same division, so that guy will be perceived as the guy that can beat the shining star. And the public and press will make the challenger as relevant as you, because the star fighter needs to fight! And like music culture is to boxing, you’re only as exciting as your last hit record, or in boxing/music terms, your last performance or fight.” Check out Philip Anselmo’s full interview with 50 Cent at Boxing Insider. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-metal-albums-of-2012″ title=”Down – 10 Best Metal Albums of 2012″ align=”center”]