Chuck Armstrong, Loudwire Over the weekend, Metallica headlined the 2012 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans after original headliners Green Day were forced to back out. Due to Billie Joe Armstrong ‘s recent trip to rehab, Metallica stepped in on short notice, but took a moment to pay tribute to their friends in Green Day by performing a part of ‘American Idiot’ onstage (as seen in the video below). During Metallica’s two-hour set, frontman James Hetfield addressed the crowd. “We’re Green Day, just a little taller,” joked Hetfield. “They’re getting it sorted out, hopefully they get it fixed because the world needs them.” After paying tribute to the band, Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich played the intro and first verse of Green Day’s ‘American Idiot,’ letting the audience sing loudly back at them as they played festival karaoke. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett recently spoke with Fuse about filling in Green Day’s spot. “We got a message about [in early October] asking us if we’re able to fill in for Green Day, because Billie Joe was having some issues,” said Hammett. “We discussed it between the four of us and we all said, ‘Yeah, it would be great thing for us to do and it would also be great to help out Billie Joe, ’cause he’s a friend of ours and we love Green Day. If we can help them out in any way possible, we’re always happy to do it, ’cause we love those guys. It’s actually an honor for us that they approached us and asked if we can fill in.” Check out our full coverage of Metallica’s performance at the 2012 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience and watch the band play ‘American Idiot’ in the video below. Metallica Play Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ Live at Voodoo Music + Arts Experience [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kirk-hammett-next-metallica-album-3d-film-2013-orion-music-festival/” title=”Next: Kirk Hammett Talks Metallica Film + Orion Festival” align=”center”]
Razor & Tie Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner will be unable to perform at the 2012 PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention) due to a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. The band is currently on a short break from their headlining tour with God Forbid, Thy Will Be Done and Trumpet the Harlot, but Bittner assures fans that he will return to the road. PASIC is the largest percussion event in the world, which consists of over 120 concerts, clinics, panels, presentations and much more. Bittner was scheduled to perform at the Austin, Texas event, but the drummer announced that he’s under doctors orders to rest instead of making the trip. Bittner writes : “Due to my recent health issues, I am under doctors orders to cancel my trip to Austin Texas this week to perform at PASIC 2012. For over a week, what I thought was a stomach bug (and i was still on tour when all of this started), I came home last week and went to the doctors, and it was written off as just that, a bug. This past Saturday the pain came back and lingered into Sunday which forced me into the emergency room yesterday. After a day in the hospital I was poked, prodded, tested and it turns out I have acute Pancreatitis, which I’m told can be very serious if left untreated. They’re not sure what brought it on (my Dr thinks it was viral), but I have been told by my doctors to not leave this week because I need to be sent for more tests/mri, etc to make 100% sure I’ll be road ready for the second leg of the SF tour which starts Nov. 8th — I should be fine, but needless to say I’m very disappointed I will not be able to come perform in Austin this week! Maybe Pasic 2013??” Shadows Fall will return to the road with Bittner once again in Norfolk, Va. on Nov. 8. Click here for the rest of the tour dates. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/shadows-fall-thoughts-without-words-top-21st-century-metal-songs/” title=”Next: Shadows Fall – Top 21st Century Metal Songs” align=”center”] ?
Rise / Candlelight The Acacia Strain have knocked out yet another band in the last Death Match. Having defeated the grind masters of Pig Destroyer , the Acacia Strain have two wins under their belt, but they face an incredibly difficult challenge on the path to win number three. Fear Factory have been unleashing industrialized thrash for over 20 years. The band issued their eighth full-length album, ‘The Industrialist,’ in June of this year, and have just released a music video for the record’s title track. The sound is still very much Fear Factory, and provides deadly ammo for the band in this week’s Death Match. Can the Acacia Strain continue their winning streak? Or will Fear Factory melt them down? Your votes decide the winner. Pick your favorite song in the poll below! (This Death Match ends on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 10AM ET. Fans can vote once per hour! So come back and vote often to make sure your favorite song wins!) The Acacia Strain, ‘Victims of the Cave’ Fear Factory, ‘The Industrialist’ ? Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. ? Email Me When Death Match Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of the weekly winner of the Death Match, as well as our top stories of each day. Email Rules of Death Match Two bands fight to the death each week. Fans can vote once per hour. The triumphant band goes on to compete in the next Death Match. If a band wins four straight Death Matches, its song will be honored as immortal in the Loudwire Death Match Hall of Fame.
Razor & Tie P.O.D. was scheduled to perform in Ventura, Calif. Sunday (Oct. 28), but canceled the gig after some controversy erupted with the venue. Originally scheduled for the Ventura County Fairgrounds, the Monster Jam Fest was moved to a smaller venue after fairground officials objected to the lyrical content of the P.O.D. song, ‘Youth of the Nation.’ According to the Ventura County Star , a fairgrounds official emailed the promoter Ezio Van Horst saying they did not want P.O.D. to play ‘Youth of the Nation’ because some of the song’s lyrics were “too touchy and controversial.” The lyrics refer to a school shooting, and the paper says the email described the song as “too violent to be played at a family event.” Except for a tweet announcing the cancellation and a link to the Ventura County Star article, the band has not commented on the issue. The scaled down show apparently took place without P.O.D.’s participation. P.O.D. will be getting back on the road in November, opening for 3 Doors Down and Daughtry . They will take a few days off from that tour to set sail on the 2012 ShipRocked Cruise Nov. 27 – Dec. 3, then return to land to wrap up the last couple of weeks of the 3 Doors Down/Daughtry tour. Their latest single ‘Higher,’ from the ‘Murdered Love’ album, recently entered Loudwire’s Cage Match Hall of Fame . Watch P.O.D.’s ‘Youth of the Nation’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/in-this-moment-maria-brink-p-o-d-sonny-sandoval-shiprocked-2012/” title=”Next: P.O.D.’s Sonny Sandoval Talks Shiprocked 2012″ align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Behemoth frontman and leukemia survivor Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski ran into some legal troubles after tearing up a Bible onstage during a Sept. 2007 performance in Gdynia, Poland. He did so while calling the Catholic church “the most murderous cult on the planet.” Nergal was cleared of any criminal charges by Polish judge Krzysztof Wieckowski in 2011, but the Supreme Court of Poland has now ruled that the vocalist has in fact committed a crime in the Bible-tearing incident. This new development opens up the possibility of the Behemoth frontman serving up to two years in prison. Poland’s penal code states, “Whoever offends religious feeling of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to two years.” This law is a direct opponent to the concept of Freedom of Speech, and may claim two years of Nergal’s life behind bars. “[The decision] is negative and restricts the freedom of speech,” said Nergal’s attorney Jacek Potulski to Reuters (via Blabbermouth ). “The court decided that this is allowed in a democratic system. We are still arguing that we were dealing with art, which allows more critical and radical statements.” The case will now be taken to a smaller court for another trial. Behemoth had been tearing up the Bible onstage for two years before the Poland incident, with no ramifications until Sept. 2007. “Behemoth fans know what Behemoth is about, know what the lyrics are about, and know at least a little of the philosophy behind the band,” bassist Tomasz ‘Orion’ Wróblewski told Decibel Magazine in 2009. “So, it’s kind of surprising that there are people coming to the shows and feeling offended with what we do onstage. If such a person comes to a show, he comes with the purpose of being offended, I guess, and it shouldn’t be like that. We’re not offending any particular person. We’re just offending the religion that we’ve been raised in.” Stay tuned for more news on Behemoth’s Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski as further legal proceedings occur. Watch Footage of Nergal’s 2007 Bible-Tearing Incident in Poland
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com You may remember an incident in Croatia earlier this year where Megadeth were pelted with beer bottles and rocks after a group of fans blamed the ‘Big 4′ thrash act for W.A.S.P. no-showing at the festival. After frontman Dave Mustaine was hit in the head with a rock, the band ended their set early. Now, nearly four months later, Mustaine has spoken out about the event in a new interview. After being asked by Powerline about the online backlash to some of Mustaine’s controversial comments, such as speaking out against gay marriage and claiming that President Obama “was born somewhere else than America ” even after Obama’s long-form birth certificate was released, Mustaine eventually made his way to the Croatian incident. Mustaine mistakenly placed the event in the Czech Republic rather than Croatia, but he still recalled the situation with vivid detail: I treat people the way I want to be treated. Even when we were in the Czech Republic and people were upset about the whole debacle with W.A.S.P. not playing and took it out on us. That wasn’t our fault but they still were taking it out on us and when we were in Dubai we did a meet-and-greet and a woman and her little boy came up. And she said, “Yeah, he saw you in the Czech Republic and he was supposed to meet you after the concert and you guys finished early.” And I was gonna say, “Yeah, but …” and she said, “He cried because he didn’t get to meet you.” And I thought, “You know what?! Son of a gun …” The guys that acted out there, I understand why they did that. They wanted to see W.A.S.P., they don’t know why that they didn’t play and somebody had said something that it was our fault. It wasn’t our fault. We don’t decide whether W.A.S.P. plays or not. And they had been out in the sun drinking and they thought it was a novel way to express their disdain for the way things took place was to throw objects at us. I understand. I totally understand. I would have handled it a little bit different. I’m not a p—y who throws rocks at artists. They may not love me, but I still have love in my heart for them. And I’m not going to write the Czech Republic off just because of these few people who mishandled themselves that day. I think that if the guys who actually did that, if we sat down and talked, we’d probably have a lot in common. Because I don’t dislike W.A.S.P. I’m actually friends with Blackie [Lawless] and I probably would have wanted to see them play as much as their fans did — well, probably not as much, but it’s funny how similar a lot of us are when you get down to it, but this mob mentality gets people fired up and you’re afraid to say what your convictions really are because … You know, I saw a letter about three years ago. It was the vice president of GE and I’m thinking it was an open letter about how afraid he was about the way things were going and how he doesn’t think he’ll be able to write the same letter several years later because of the fact that if anybody who says anything negative right now about a politician is going to be vilified and, man, damn if he wasn’t right. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-dave-mustaine-shares-concerns-vocal-damage-cursing/” title=”Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Shares Concerns Over Vocal Damage + Cursing” align=”center”]
Ethan Miller / Mark Metcalfe / Kevin Winter, Getty Images The world is keeping a close eye on the East Coast today as Hurricane Sandy’s destruction has wreaked havoc with its high winds, torrential rain, and potential for even more trouble as the storm heads inland. Many across the nation are sending their positive thoughts to those dealing with the storm and its aftermath, including a number of rockers. In addition to all the physical damage the hurricane has caused, there’s quite a financial toll as well as much of the eastern seaboard has lost power and a number of businesses have shut down until the weather passes. It’s also affected a number of bands, who have either canceled or postponed dates on the East Coast or had their travel affected. Papa Roach , Bush ‘s Gavin Rossdale , Disturbed ‘s David Draiman , and Motley Crue ‘s Tommy Lee are among the initial musicians posting their thoughts on Hurricane Sandy, sharing their well-wishes and even posting links for their fans to donate to the aid that will be needed in the aftermath of the natural disaster. Here are their thoughts below: Checking the pictures of #Sandy on buzzfeed.tumblr.com . Sorry for everyone’s loss on the east coast :/ — ? Papa Roach ? (@paparoach) October 30, 2012 hurricane sandy-treacherous times-sorry for all the disasterwatching the news now.it is terrible. — GAVIN ROSSDALE (@GavinRossdale) October 30, 2012 SUCH DEVASTATION. SUCH LOSS. I CANT HELP BUT BE OVERCOME WITH EMOTION SEEING THE IMAGES OF THE DESTRUCTION WROUGHT BY #Sandy . — DAVID DRAIMAN (@DAVIDMDRAIMAN) October 30, 2012 PLEASE DONATE IN OUR NATION’S TIME OF NEED. I DID. redcross.org — DAVID DRAIMAN (@DAVIDMDRAIMAN) October 30, 2012 Hope everyone is doin ok inhurricane Sandy east coast! Damn!!! — TOMMY LEE (@MrTommyLand) October 30, 2012 We want to send our prayers and thoughts to our people at Razor and Tie, The Agency Group, Splitmedia and most… fb.me/ADg259eZ — Nonpoint (@nonpoint) October 30, 2012 We at Loudwire send our positive thoughts and well-wishes to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.