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
Chad Childers, Loudwire The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund continues to find impressive ways to raise funds for cancer education and research, and is among the charities that will benefit from the ‘ Icons & Idols — Rock ‘n’ Roll Auction ‘ scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 1, at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif. The extensive auction features guitars from Metallica , Foo Fighters , Pearl Jam and many more. In anticipation of the auction, Ronnie James Dio’s widow and manager, Wendy Dio, and Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund chairperson Gloria Butler ( Geezer Butler ‘s wife), spoke to us about the impressive contributions from the rock community to the guitar auction, as well as Stand Up and Shout’s continued efforts. Also, guitarist Bob Kulick, who performed with Dio and who also contributed one of the guitars in the auction, shared his thoughts on Ronnie James Dio and the guitar he most wanted to see in the auction. Below are two separate interviews. The first is with Wendy Dio and Gloria Butler, followed by a Q&A with Bruce Kulick. Wendy and Gloria, thanks for the time. Can you tell us what was the impetus for putting this great guitar collection together? Gloria Butler: I think we were kind of brainstorming ways to raise money for the fund and we knew that Ronnie had so many not acquaintances, but really true dear friends in the business, that we knew everybody would step up, which they did. Wendy Dio: They did, it was amazing. We’ve got right across the board from Bon Jovi to Robert Pattinson to…. GB: No Doubt ! WD: We’ve got Gwen Stefani, we’ve got Metallica, we’ve got Iron Maiden . GB: Probably a quarter of these called us and said, ‘Do you want our guitar?’ It just kind of snowballed. WD: It’s been fabulous. The Cult [donated one], all these people. The Foo Fighters… GB: They just turned up, and the cool thing is we were actually going to do this like three months after we started and we had like 20 guitars or something and they kept coming. It was like ‘Stop.’ It was like if we don’t do it now, we’re never going to do it. It’s amazing. You mentioned a lot of the people that have contributed their guitars for this and just looking at some of them — the craft and skill that went into them is amazing. For each of you, if you want to talk about a favorite guitar that’s in the collection and why it stands out? WD: Well the Swarovski’s crystal one is fabulous. It was done with love and it took 40 hours for them to make it, which I thought was amazing. That’s the one with the hand [Dio’s devil horns] [laughs]. The carved one that they did of Ronnie’s face, that’s fabulous too. Every one of them was sent with love, and we appreciate it so much, cause it allows us to raise money. We’ve raised a lot of money so far and the metal community has been amazing. We raised over $600,000 and what’s really good about that is that we gave $117,000 of it to MD Anderson for stomach cancer. They had no grants at all for stomach cancer cause it was not the favorite cancer to have, and so with that $117,000, they were able to get 800,000 grants, which then turned into an $100 million grant, so we’re very, very happy about that. One of the ones out there that was really interesting — and I believe there are three of them on display — is the elephant painted guitars. What’s the story behind that? GB: That was very special. We went to Thailand and went to an elephant sanctuary and they had elephants that painted. They weren’t made to paint, there was no … um, we’re very animal friendly here, very animal correct, and everything was just natural. You’d hand the elephant the paintbrush and they would all of a sudden start painting, and someone would put up a picture of a flower and the elephant painted the flower. It was just unbelievable. Almost as unbelievable as the baby one almost knocking me and Wendy over. [laugh] WD: Cause they were like 200 pounds charging us and chasing me with a hose. They took the hose that I was washing them [with] and ran off with it. But we actually got three guitars from there, which are great and 50 percent of the proceeds goes to our cancer fund and 50 percent goes to preservation of the elephants. GB: So that’s obviously only those three guitars, but everything else goes straight to [Stand Up and Shout]. I’m just wowed by the amount that you’ve collected. Have you already started seeing a response? WD: A lot of the guitars are ready. People are bidding online already, and they’ve already exceeded what they said the maximum bid would be. GB: It’s exciting, it’s really, really exciting. And obviously, Stand Up and Shout has been great about raising funds for cancer research over the last few years. WD: And education. That’s the important thing. GB: It’s important to know too with this particular charity, not one penny goes on overhead. Not one penny goes anyplace except to the allocated like a TJ Martell or MD Anderson research centers. WD: We have 14 board members that are fantastic. They work their butts off. We have lawyers that give their time for free. We have accountants that do all our books for free. We have staging people. We have trucking people. We have all kinds of people and they’re all incredibly dedicated, incredibly dedicated. We don’t even charge backup postage. [Laugh] GB: So that’s what makes this so special is that it really is one of the few charities that I know of these days that really do put the money where it’s supposed to go. WD: That’s why put the charity and we give it to other people and we know where the money goes, we ask where the money goes. The money that went to TJ Martell went to Vanderbilt, and we actually went there and met with the researchers. So that’s really good and you can know where the money is going and making sure that if you give $10, it’s going to go where it’s supposed to go, and it’s not going in some fat cat’s pocket. Definitely wanted to ask as well about the label. ‘Very Beast of Dio, Vol. 2′ was released this past year … what’s on the horizon at this point? WD: Next year, I wanna do the full singles box and also on vinyl, and then there’s a bunch of stuff that’s been laying around that we might just put out. But talking about that, we have another thing for the cancer fund. We have our tribute record that will be coming out next year. Metallica has already finished theirs, Anthrax has finished theirs, Glenn Hughes has finished theirs, Rob Halford is getting ready to give it to us, and Alice Cooper , Iron Maiden — Bruce Dickinson , Deep Purple , Scorpions … GB: And this will be another, like the guitar auction, where a few will come in and all of a sudden there’s more and more and it’s like, ‘OK. It’s coming out and we’ve got to stop now.’ WD: Well we thought let’s have all the classic rock bands for the CD, but we were hoping to have a double CD and have some of the younger bands that Ronnie was their idol. But we have things planned all the way through to, well, we want to raise $10 million. When we raise it, we want another $10 million. We need to find a cure for this horrible disease, we really really do. In a separate interview, guitarist and longtime Ronnie James Dio friend, Bob Kulick, also spoke about his involvement with the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund’s guitar auction. The Q&A with Kulick follows: How did you get involved with getting one of these guitars up? Bob Kulick: Well, Ronnie was a dear friend of mine, and I’m still grieving his loss. He was a man short in height but gigantic in stature and this charity, you know, I had my own cancer scare this year, and fortunately I didn’t have it and was okay, but other people that have this, they deserve all the help that they can get. So my brother and I decided that we would donate this guitar through SP, which is our endorser. I love their guitars and it’s a really great guitar, and I hope it raises money to help people, as that’s the aim of this charity. You mentioned you had your own scare earlier this year, and Wendy Dio has stressed the importance of early detection… BK: Yeah, you know sadly, I guess Ronnie waited too long. He recorded that last song, that song ‘Electra’ that he did. I remember now that he’d just leave his food in the refrigerator and he was barely eating and all that, and then after seeing what happened, even with the best of doctors, you know how insidious this disease is and now you can put a man on the moon and do all the things we can do with our cell phones and iPads and all this stuff, but there’s gotta be a way right now how to stop this. You mentioned Ronnie’s last recording. Did you have any idea at the time the significance of what was going on? BK: No one had any idea that anything was really wrong, but I can tell you this. I’m not a person that is easily intimidated, and somebody looks up my track record of the gigantic stars that I worked with, and I was very lucky that one of the last tours that Ronnie did, with Heaven and Hell , that Tony Iommi didn’t want to rehearse and was still in the U.K. and Ronnie wanted to warm up and Wendy called me and said Ronnie wants you to play guitar for the rehearsal, just so he can warm up. I just didn’t feel comfortable. I was like, ‘Where’s Craig Goldy? Where’s Doug Aldrich?’ She said, ‘They’re not around, and he’s asking for you.’ Well, it was an honor for me and I can tell you when I got up there and stood next to Ronnie Dio, I was intimidated. And when he started to sing, he didn’t need any warm-up at all. And I can tell you when we did this Christmas record, with 50 people — Dave Grohl , Lemmy … He was nice enough to give the money to charity. I’ve done a lot of compilation records, and I’ve never seen anyone give their money to charity, but he did, and I’ll never forget that. A lot of great guitars out there, and just looking around, I was wondering aside from the one you donated, do you have a favorite in the bunch? BK: I’m gonna head back there in a minute and check out that Brian May guitar. That’s one that you’ll rarely if ever see. I’ve worked with Brian May once, and that’s another person who is a totally unique wonderful person who just happened to have a gift beyond … almost like the Beatles’ gift. He was that talented, and maybe that’s sacrilegious to say, but Brian May is really, really, really an amazing musician and composer. So that prototype guitar he’s got there, I’m looking forward to picking that up for a minute. The ‘Icons & Idols — Rock ‘n’ Roll’ auction will take place at 2PM PT Dec. 1 at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills. For further info, check here . Guitar Wall Chad Childers, Loudwire Ronnie James Dio crystal guitar Chad Childers, Loudwire Ronnie James Dio carved guitar Chad Childers, Loudwire.com Metallica guitar Chad Childers, Loudwire Foo Fighters guitar Chad Childers, Loudwire Pearl Jam guitar Chad Childers, Loudwire Elephant-painted guitar Chad Childers, Loudwire [button href=”http://loudwire.com/wendy-dio-early-detection-helping-tony-iommi-cancer-recovery/” title=”Next: Wendy Dio Discusses Tony Iommi’s Cancer Battle” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images / DNA Fashion Designs We punk rockers and metalheads are defensive when we spot a poser. The hard-fought careers of underground bands such as Municipal Waste , Suicidal Tendencies , Cro-Mags and Corrosion of Conformity are worth more than just a jacket, especially when that jacket is worn by R&B singer Chris Brown. The online metal community took aim at Brown after he was photographed wearing a leather jacket adorned with the logos of underground legends, and if you had any doubts about Brown’s sincerity underneath the fashion statement, the man who created the jacket, Noel Austin, has come out to say, “That guy doesn’t f—in’ know who Cro-Mags are.” Noel Austin of DNA Fashion Designs recently spoke with Metal Insider about Chris Brown and how the designer felt about seeing him wearing one of his jackets. “I was about s–t myself when I saw Chris Brown with my jacket that said ‘Cro-Mags’ on it,” Austin tells Metal Insider. “That guy doesn’t f—in’ know who Cro-Mags are. I didn’t sell it to him! Do you really think Chris Brown goes online and buys his own clothes? He doesn’t even write his own music.” Austin continues, “I’m 40 years old, an old punk rocker, a single parent, and with not much of an education. I’d always made everyone’s costumes onstage and made my own clothes, and I had a couple people offer to buy jackets off my back. At first, I was like, “f— you, you’re not punk rock, I’m not selling you my jacket.’ But when I almost lost my place to live, the next time someone offered to buy my jacket, I sold it to them, and a light bulb went off over my head and I realized I could stay home and take care of my family and do what I love doing. An opportunity came along, I jumped on it, and the next thing I know, celebrities are buying my s–t!” “The clothes I make are a direct reflection of my life,” adds Austin. “All the bands you see on the clothes, I grew up listening to them, and I still listen to them, or I’ve gotten turned on to them by other people … The beauty of what I do is I go to these shows, I buy the patches and support the bands, and I put these patches on the clothes and sell them on a worldwide level. And it promotes these bands.” Check out Noel Austin’s official website for DNA Fashion Designs , which proudly states, “Noel Austin’s creation WILL change you. This is more than fashion, more than image, it’s a lifestyle.” [button href=”http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/tfTvYMl7KLM/Chris+Brown+Steps+Out+Flashy+Jacket/1JhsKqP7_aQ” title=”See Pictures of Chris Brown Sporting the Metal Jacket” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Intensity is a total understatement when Lamb of God come to town, but when you add In Flames , Hatebreed and Sylosis to the mix, the energy is indescribable. New York’s Roseland Ballroom shook to its core these bands took the stage on Friday night (Nov. 16). UK metal band Sylosis kicked off the night with a great performance that got the blood of early concertgoers pumping. Hatebreed fans are ‘As Diehard as They Come’ and the band is one whose music can elicit a variety of emotions. Their live shows enforce these emotions and definitely tested the strength of Roseland Ballroom’s foundation. The pits were complete chaos and security guards could barely keep up with the amounts of bodies flying over the crowd. Frontman Jamey Jasta’s hardcore roots are evident onstage, not to mention his infectious and uncontrollable stage presence had everyone bouncing to the band’s anthems of strength and power such as ‘Perseverance,’ ‘In Ashes They Shall Reap,’ ‘Live For This,’ and ‘I Will Be Heard,’ among others. They ended their set with ‘Destroy Everything,’ and that they did. In Flames were the ideal bridge to go in between the very volatile Hatebreed set and headliners Lamb of God. They broke up the high intensity sets with a little bit of melody and humor. That doesn’t mean fans took a break – the crowd remained steady with massive amounts of crowd surfing, jumping, mosh pitting and singing. Frontman Anders Friden humorously said that any band who directly follows Hatebreed sounds like a fart, well In Flames set that night was far from the sound of flatulence. Friden sounded phenomenal as the group performed tracks from their most recent release ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading’ — such as ‘Where the Dead Ships Dwell,’ ‘Deliver Us’ and ‘Fear Is the Weakness.’ Of course the Swedes pulled out some fan favorites such as ‘Cloud Connected,’ ‘Take This Life’ and ‘My Sweet Shadow’ just to name a few. The booming sound of Lamb of God took control of Roseland Ballroom and everyone in it. Fans lost their minds as the rumbling riffs and galloping drums of ‘Desolation’ took hold. The band went on to perform their debut single ‘Ghost Walking’ off of ‘Resolution.’ As vocalist Randy Blythe spat out the lyrics with venom, the crowd screamed lyrics word for word back to him during tracks such as ‘No You’ve Got Something to Die For,’ ’11th Hour,’ ‘ Ruin,’ ‘Laid To Rest,’ ‘Redneck’ and ‘Black Label,’ among numerous others. With the year Randy Blythe has had to go with the few weeks New York City and the rest of the Tri-State area has had to deal with, this concert and these bands gave many metal fans a sense of normalcy and command that they might have thought they lost for a while. It’s no wonder why this show is one fans at Roseland Ballroom will be remembered for quite some time. Go here to see where you can catch the remaining dates of this phenomenal tour. Photos of Lamb of God, In Flames, Hatebreed + Sylosis in NYC Lamb of God: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire In Flames: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Hatebreed: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Sylosis: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-lamb-of-god-songs” title=”Next: 10 Best Lamb of God Songs” align=”center”]
It’s time to guess the mustache! Mustaches are synonymous with kung-fu masters and ’70s adult film stars, among others, but there are plenty of legendary musicians who show off some sweet crumb-dusters of their own. We’ve teamed with Ultimate Classic Rock and Diffuser.fm for a game all mustache enthusiasts will enjoy: View a close-up of a rocker’s facial push-broom and then guess who it belongs to. Our first mustache (to the left) is a distinguished one: elegant, yet expressive. It commands respect while conveying the disposition of a man who can kick back with the guys and enjoy a nice pint of lager. Think you know who this ‘stache belongs to? [button href=”http://loudwire.com/mustache-reveal-1″ title=”Find Out Whose Mustache This Is” align=”center”]
Tim Whitby, Getty Images We’re getting closer and closer to a new Black Sabbath album, and the latest update involves bassist Geezer Butler . The band posted a photo (seen below) of an empty stool and a bass guitar where Butler apparently would be setting up shop for the day. If that wasn’t enough, they spelled it out by saying, “Geezer Butler is all set to record some more bass tracks on the new album today.” Guitarist Tony Iommi recently revealed that while the band does intend on having their next album ready by April, recording is still afoot on the disc. Black Sabbath should be in the home stretch though, as not only do they have a specific time frame for the album release, but they’ve started booking tour dates for 2013 , as well. Meanwhile, Black Sabbath fans will have something to tide them over until the new disc arrives, as the group has announced a Dec. 12 release for their ‘Black Sabbath The Vinyl Collection: 1970-1978. The limited edition box set celebrates the iconic albums of the band’s full original lineup. Included in the box set (seen below) are full reproductions of the original album releases, remastered from the band’s personal archives on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl. In addition, the poster from ‘Masters of Reality’ and photo insert book from ‘Volume 4′ will be part of the set. And fans can relish in having a 7-inch copy of the group’s debut single ‘Evil Woman,’ backed by the non-album b-side ‘Wicked World.’ Also included as part of the box set is a hardback book featuring the original tour programs from the band’s 1970, 1975, 1976 and 1978 treks and a “Back to Black Sabbath” download voucher good for easy download of the full set. Facebook: Black Sabbath Universal Music [button href=”http://loudwire.com/catchiest-metal-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Catchiest Metal Songs” align=”center”]
Photos: Century Media / Facebook: Digital Summer With Adelitas Way winning five straight matches to enter Loudwire’s Cage Match Hall of Fame, it’s time for two new bands and their latest singles to duke it out. Otherwise enter the Cage Match with their fresh single ‘I Don’t Apologize (1000 Pictures)’ off of their album ‘True Love Never Dies.’ The band has been on tour nonstop this year including a trek with Lacuna Coil; check out photos from the New York City stop here . Otherwise also have a few dates in the U.S. at the end of November and beginning of December. For a full list of dates and cities, go here . Digital Summer heat things up with their latest track ‘Forget You’ off the album ‘Breaking Point.’ The band’s new track features Clint Lowery of Sevendust. Digital Summer will be playing a benefit show on Nov. 3 in Washington. For more information on this concert, go here . So will Otherwise take an unapologetic win or will Digital Summer gain an unforgettable victory in this matchup? Get in on the action and vote for your favorite track in the poll below! (This Cage Match will run until Monday, Nov. 5, at 8AM ET. Fans can vote once per hour! So come back and vote often to make sure your favorite song wins!) Listen to Otherwise, ‘I Don’t Apologize’