Katatonia, Devin Townsend Project + Paradise Lost Bring ‘Epic Idols & Kings’ to NYC

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Fans turned out in droves for the New York City stop of the ‘Epic Kings & Idols’ tour featuring  Katatonia ,  Devin Townsend Project , Paradise Lost and Stolen Babies. Katatonia are out in support of their ninth full length record ‘Dead End Kings’ and they kicked off their set with ‘Dead Letters’ from the new album. The Swedish metalers also performed new tracks like ‘Buidings,’ ‘Lethean’ and ‘The Racing Heart’ along with older cuts ‘Teargas,’ ‘Walking by a Wire,’ ‘My Twin’ and more. Devin Townsend and the rest of his band had the most energetic set of the night and put on one of the best shows of the year. Townsend has one hell of a voice and he belted out songs such as ‘Supercrush,’ ‘Juular,’ ‘Vampira,’ as well as numerous others. The band also showcased the new album ‘Epicloud’ with performances of ‘Kingdom,’ ‘Lucky Animals’ and ‘Grace.’ Townsend is known for his fun stage presence, and he threw smiles and funny faces to the welcoming and enthusiastic crowd. The Devin Townsend Project is one group of musicians that cannot be missed in concert. Paradise Lost performed a vigorous set that kicked off with ‘Enchantment,’ ‘Erased’ and ‘The Enemy.’ They also played the title track of their latest record ‘Tragic Idol’ and another new tune ‘In This We Dwell,’ as well as older favorites ‘Faith Divides Us’ and ‘Say Just Words.’ Stolen Babies opened up the show and began the night of madness with their carnivalesque, avant garde metal set, which fans really dug. Frontwoman and accordion player Dominique Lenore Persi would later grace the stage again during Devin Townsend’s set. Check out our photos below of the show at New York City’s Irving Plaza. Katatonia Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Devin Townsend Project: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Paradise Lost: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Stolen Babies: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire

Guns N’ Roses ‘Appetite for Democracy’ Las Vegas Residency Prize Package – Enter to Win!

AEG Live Guns N’ Roses are taking over The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas for this fall with their ‘Appetite for Democracy’ residency. The band is set to perform 12 shows Oct. 31 through Nov. 24 when they make The Joint their new home. If that’s not enough to whet your appetite , then how about winning a package for two to see GN’R in Sin City? Loudwire, along with Ultimate Classic Rock and AEG Live, is offering fans a chance to win an incredible prize pack that includes a pair of tickets to the show on Friday, Nov. 2; two nights hotel stay at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Nov. 1 & 2); dinner at 35 Steaks & Martinis at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino; a $500 gift card (this can be used toward airfare; shopping for clothes for the trip, drinks, etc); $25 gift certificate to Vegas.com; and pre-show Black Jack with Guns N’ Roses (Nov 2). Promo chips are provided for play. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of ‘Appetite for Destruction,’ the band will perform hits from the classic 1987 album through their latest disc, ‘Chinese Democracy,’ with a set list that has been created exclusively for The Joint. They also promise many surprises along the way. So, if you don’t want to miss out on a chance to catch Axl Rose & Company rockin’ Sin City, enter your email in the contest form below. (Contest runs from Sept. 24 through Sept. 30.) If you’re not feeling quite as lucky, you can also purchase tickets at TheJointLasVegas.com  or Ticketmaster.com . Guns N’ Roses Las Vegas Residency Prize Pack Enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show on Friday, Nov. 2; two nights hotel stay at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Nov. 1 & 2); dinner at 35 Steaks & Martinis at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino; a $500 gift card (this can be used toward airfare; shopping for clothes for the trip, drinks, etc); $25 gift certificate to Vegas.com; and pre-show Black Jack with Guns N’ Roses (Nov 2). Promo chips are provided for play. Contest ends Sept. 30, 2012. Click here for official rules . By entering this contest, you will receive email newsletters from Loudwire and Ultimate Classic Rock. You may unsubscribe at any time. Email ?

Seether, Sick Puppies, Kyng + Young Guns Bring ‘Triple Threat Tour’ to Boston

Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Whoever said that good things come in threes was obviously referring to the pack of trios that provide the core lineup of the ‘Triple Threat’ Tour. Headlined by the trio  Seether  with support by fellow three-piece acts  Sick Puppies and Kyng , there’s a lot to love about the number three. Of course, opening quintet  Young Guns broke the ‘three’ chain, but more of that later. Seether have quietly churned out five albums over the past decade on Wind-Up Records with their grunge infused brand of rock. Their massive collection of hits seem to sneak up on you and It’s not until you experience their live set that you realize how deep their catalog runs and the range of success they’ve had. Throughout their rock ‘n’ roll tenure they’ve impacted the genre with singles ranging from ‘Gasoline’ from 2002’s ‘Disclaimer’ all the way through to ‘Country Song’ from the trio’s latest release, 2011’s ‘Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray’ – both of which made it into the set list. Seether fans generally know what’s in store when the band hits the stage but with the ‘Triple Threat’ tour kicking off last night the band debuted their new stage set up for the headlining run. Seether have always sported imaginative sets and their latest is no different, but we encourage fans to check it out for themselves!  We can tell you this, bassist Dale Stewart hit the stage sporting a silver facemask and drummer John Humphrey’s drum kit was flanked by swanky chandeliers while the more elusive Shaun Morgan settled in behind his microphone with guitar in hand, but the rest, well, tune in to check it out. Their meaty set flew by quickly so don’t blink or it will be over before you know it. Sick Puppies have stepped away from the live stage for a bit to concentrate on their upcoming disc but they dusted off the road rust for one of the best sets of the evening providing a high-energy, interactive romp that showed what the Aussie rockers are all about. With bassist Emma Anzai’s thumping basslines to Mark Goodwin’s rhythmic lead on drums and lead vocalist, guitarist, and all around Sick Puppies ring-leader Shimon Moore instructing the audience to bounce, clap, and get to know the people around them a little better because after all “this is a sweaty rock show,” their set clocked in at 45 minutes of intense rock. Highlights of the Sick Puppies set included a first listen to a new song, at least a short instrumental piece of it. (Fans who pre-ordered the new disc were entered to win a chance to hear the whole new album with the band backstage post show!), a moving cover of the Tears For Fears tune ‘Mad World,’ and their single ‘Maybe’ from their last disc ‘Tri-Polar.’ Throughout the set Moore’s vocals were complemented beautifully by Anzai’s female touch, just another element of the band that sets them apart from the rest. Kyng provided a short but powerful set with their “new age vintage” mix of classic rock meets classic metal with influences of the 90s era of grunge thrown in for good measure – paying homage to the best of the past and molding it into their own unique sound. Their no-nonsense approach to their set allowed for the maximum allotted time for head-banging and getting caught in a groove. Their disc ‘Trampled Sun’ came out in September of last year and the trio has been riding high since. Music fans who got to the House of Blues early met Wind-Up Record’s latest signing, the UK rockers in Young Guns. The youthful group showed a lot of promise and gratitude making the most of their opportunity to play in front of the large Boston crowd. Their set was highlighted by the title track off of their disc, ‘Bones.’ Four bands over the course of one night provided a ton of rock n’ roll goodness and all with their own spin on things making for an eclectic evening of music. The ‘Triple Threat’ tour rages on through the end of October so hit it up when it rolls into your town. Check out our exclusive photos from the show below. Seether: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Sick Puppies: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Kyng: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Young Guns: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com

Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx Talks ‘Sex,’ Tweeting, Dave Mustaine + Future of Sixx: A.M.

Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Nikki Sixx is a man who wears many hats. Not only is he the bassist and songwriter for Motley Crue and Sixx: A.M. , he’s also a radio host, author and master of social media. During some downtime from Motley Crue’s current tour with KISS, we caught up with Sixx on the phone for an interview that we’ve divided between Loudwire and our brother site Ultimate Classic Rock .  See what he told us about the band’s new single ‘Sex,’ his Twitter rant against Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine and what lies ahead for his band Sixx: A.M. in the following Q&A. And for more on Motley Crue’s tour with KISS, as well as their plans for new music, click on the button at the bottom of this article to read Ultimate Classic Rock’s portion of the interview. Have you been happy with the reaction to the new song ‘Sex’? Yeah, you know what I’m really happy about? We wrote the song, we recorded it and we recorded it old school. We just got in a room, pounded it out, did a few of the dubs, had some fun with some synths, with some good sound to thicken it up. Vince did his vocals and we mixed it pretty quick and we had a choice, so [we decided] “Let’s not go pounding radio, the old-school way … let’s let people discover it the way that they discovered us when we were kids, the way they discover bands even now.” You hear about it, someone talks about it, someone plays it for you, e-mails it to you, so that was really exciting. Radio stations wanted to pick it up and play it, there was no agenda on our part and then the audience, a lot of the time, was hearing it for the first time the night of the show. People would say, “Dude when you were in Chicago, you know you sold 10,000 copies and when you’re in Detroit ,you sold 9,000 copies of the song,” because they’re hearing it live and they’re going, ‘Wow this is cool, new Crue, how come I never heard this?’ You and Tommy Lee in particular are very active on Twitter. Do you enjoy it as much as you seem to and is there anything you’ve tweeted that you regret? Of course. You know, I’ve done a few things. Because it’s an artist doing it, because it’s a human being doing it, it’s not an assistant or the management company, or the record company tweeting for you. You’re going to say s–t that’s going to ruffle feathers or you’re going to stay stuff that’s really personal and other people can really relate to it. That’s what I like about it, I’ve embraced it. In the beginning, when Twitter first came out, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to be that open,’ but as [my radio program] Sixx Sense became such a huge part of my life, I became  willing to be more and more vulnerable and just laying my life open on the radio show. Twitter didn’t feel as so scary to me. I was like, “I don’t know if I want people to know what color socks I’m wearing today,” and in the end, if something happens to me, like what does that have to do with this life? And what I found out is that it has everything to do with everyone’s life because we’re kind of all doing this at the same time, in real time. One of the things that for me that was really interesting is when [Megadeth frontman] Dave [Mustaine] was saying maybe assinine statement about America turning into Nazi America. I mean, I reached for my phone and I said, ‘This guy’s a f—ing a–hole’ and he is, you don’t say that about your f—ing country. But I was able to say that and I had a lot of people go, ‘Hey man, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and Nikki you’re in the wrong,’ and ‘That guy should be thrown out of the country,’ and other people [wrote] ‘He shouldn’t be thrown out of the country, he’s entitled to his own rights’ and it just went on and on and on and I didn’t take any of it personally. What I did was I took it in and went, ‘This is great! This is like a world conversation,’ and I was able to have my opinion and that guy has a right to have his own opinion, whether he wants to think that about our country. I don’t think that about our country but I have strong opinions on other stuff and I’ve had people come after me. It is a cool, cool thing and you can be real on it and in there’s times when you can also say, ‘Guess what? We got tickets up for sale!’ What does the future hold for Sixx: A.M.? The biggest plan that we have is to make our third record. We have had the obstacle of touring because of Motley Crue and because DJ [Ashba] is playing guitar in Guns ‘N Roses and [singer] James [Michael] is producing. It’s like every time I’m available, DJ’s on the road, or every time DJ’s off the road, I’m touring or James is in the middle of a record. I don’t believe there will be any touring on this [past] record and we’ve already starting writing ideas, except we haven’t actually gotten together. We’re gonna do the record and that album has to without a doubt have a tour. [button href=”cool http://ultimateclassicrock.com/nikki-sixx-interview/” title=”Next: Nikki Sixx Talks KISS Tour + New Motley Crue Music” align=”center”]

Motley Crue + Kiss Detroit-Area Show Postponed Following Pyrotechnics Truck Crash

If you know anything about Motley Crue and Kiss, it’s that the two bands really love their pyro. So it was definitely a little scary when a transport truck carrying some of Motley Crue’s pyrotechnic equipment was involved in an accident en route to the band’s performance tonight (Sept. 5) in Clarkston, Mich. The good news is no one was hurt. And while fans may miss out on the show

Metallica Share Live + Behind the Scenes Footage from Second Edmonton, Alberta Show

Metallica has released a new behind the scenes video from their second night in Edmonton, Alberta. The generous clip clocks in at over twenty minutes with extensive footage of the band jamming pre-show on Aug. 18 in their tuning room. The tuning room footage finds Metallica at their most laid back as they get together to jam on possible tunes for the show. The session includes pulling out the old

Metallica Share Live + Behind the Scenes Footage from Edmonton, Alberta Show

In a new lengthy video clip posted by Metallica, the metal band takes you behind the scenes at their meet and greet at one of their Canadian tour stops Edmonton, Alberta. Additionally, the video invites fans into Metallica’s intimate tuning room on tour and shares live footage of one of their biggest hits from the show that night (Aug 17) – the first of two shows there. The clip starts