Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Megadeth ‘s David Ellefson makes the most out of his bass strings on a nightly basis, but now he’s found yet another use for them. The rocker is donating his used bass strings the Wear Your Music Organization so that they may turn them into bracelets. The bassist stated that all proceeds from sales of the bracelets will go to the MusiCares organization. The bracelets will be hand crafted according to orders, with the buyer having the chance to personalize their bracelets based on size, if you add a clasp and whether or not they would like to make it precious by adding a sapphire, ruby or emerald. For further details and to place your order, click here . Ellefson has been busy of late, working with Megadeth on finishing their forthcoming album, ‘ Super Collider .’ The disc is expected to arrive this June. The bassist will take part in a chat this afternoon (Feb. 24) for fans that are part of the Megadeth Cyber Army fan club. The chat will take place at 6PM ET / 3PM PT at this location . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-suggest-guest-vocalist-upcoming-album-track/” title=”Next: Dave Mustaine Asks Fans for Megadeth Guest Vocalist Suggestions” align=”center”]
Ilya S. Savenok, Getty Images The Darkness are known for their boundless energy and bringing their all to their live shows, but frontman Justin Hawkins’ enthusiasm got the better of him at a recent show in Stockholm, Sweden when he took a tumble into the crowd. Hawkins can be seen in the video footage below galloping around the stage to the beat of the song, trying to amp up the crowd, but he appears not to have realized how close he was to the front of the stage and quickly disappears from view. However, the fall happened perfectly to where the backing vocals would be featured first. The singer was quite the trooper though, still delivering his parts while regaining his bearings and eventually crawling back onstage to continue the track without missing a beat. The Darkness are currently on a world tour in support of their ‘Hot Cakes’ album. However, guitarist Dan Hawkins recently revealed that the band intend on entering the studio early next year to make sure they have a quick turnaround between discs. Watch The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins Fall Offstage in Sweden [button href=”http://loudwire.com/the-darkness-offer-metal-cover-of-radioheads-street-spirit-fade-out/” title=”Next: The Darkness Cover Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)'” align=”center”]
Razor & Tie HIM continue to give a little bit more as they get closer to the release of their upcoming ‘ Tears on Tape ‘ album. The band’s website , which has featured a clock splash page for a good portion of the past month, has finally changed to feature a horned art piece, complete with the band’s “heartagram” logo and an empty box. However, fans who type in the words “Tears on Tape” into the box will get a quick flash of the album’s new cover art. What appears is a snake who has wound itself around in a circle with symbols on the body throughout. In the middle of the of the circular snake is the band’s “Heartagram” logo, while outside of the snake piece is blocked artwork that looks similar to the waves of an ocean. You can see the final piece to your left. HIM recently announced an April 30 street date for their eighth studio album. Frontman Ville Valo stated about the upcoming disc, “‘Tears on Tape’ is going to be really organic, straight-in-your-face, super melancholy bulls— [Laughs]. It’s going to be something nobody’s heard before. I’m really happy about it. It sounds great. Remember the soundtrack for ‘Twin Peaks’ that Angelo Badalamenti did? It’s got that similar forlorn, melancholy quality but mixed up with Motörhead. That’s where we’re at! We’re really happy. It’s got that dreamlike quality. It’s like Roy Orbison meeting Metallica.” The band will make their way to the States to promote the effort this spring. Dates for the 2013 North American tour can be seen here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/him-unleash-new-track-strange-world/” title=”Next: Listen to HIM’s ‘Strange World'” align=”center”]
Mike Lawrie, Getty Images Scott Weiland will begin 2013 as a solo artist. The frontman, who made overtures about reuniting with Velvet Revolver last year only to have Slash publicly rebuke them and reveal that the singer had once again parted ways with Stone Temple Pilots , is hitting the road next month. According to Weiland’s Facebook page , the tour has been dubbed the “Purple at the Core” trek, signifying that the vocalist may be focusing his energies on the music from the first two Stone Temple Pilots albums. Weiland is billed on the tour image as “Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts,” with two other musicians appearing in the shot. In addition to the ‘Purple’ and ‘Core’ albums, the singer is expected to perform songs from his solo and Velvet Revolver catalogs as well. The tour gets underway March 1 in Flint, Michigan and continues through to a March 27 finale in Dallas. Tickets are currently available here . Scott Weiland’s ‘Purple at the Core’ 2013 Tour Dates 3/1 — Flint, Mich. — Machine Shop 3/2 — Traverse City, Mich. — Ground Zero 3/4 — Niagara Falls, N.Y. — Rapids Theatre 3/6 — Patchogue, N.Y. — Emporium 3/7 — Boston, Mass. — Wilbur Theatre 3/9 — New York, N.Y. — Irving Plaza 3/11 — Washington, D.C. — Howard Theatre 3/12 — New Brunswick, N.J. — State Theatre 3/14 — Bethlehem, Pa. — Sands Bethlehem Event Center 3/15 — Fort Wayne, Ind. — Piere’s 3/19 — Chicago, Ill. — House of Blues 3/20 — Cleveland, Ohio — House of Blues 3/22 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Bogarts 3/23 — Indianapolis, Ind. — Egyptian Room 3/26 — Houston, Texas — House of Blues 3/27 — Dallas, Texas — House of Blues [button href=”http://loudwire.com/scott-weiland-working-on-new-material-planning-tour/” title=”Next: Scott Weiland Working on New Material” align=”center”]
Facebook: Jon Dette Drummer Jon Dette’s name has been surfacing a lot more in the news lately as he’s landed a pair of high profile fill-in gigs for Anthrax and Slayer , two acts he’s played with previously. Dette recently spoke with ‘The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show’ at the NAMM Convention (video below) just weeks before his offers to join Anthrax and Slayer for dates became wide public knowledge. Dette, who is mostly known for his work with Testament , will sit behind the kit for both Anthrax and Slayer on each band’s respective tours of Australia and he says there’s nothing but respect for the two men whose chair he’ll be filling in the coming months. He explained, “ Charlie [Benante] is one of my biggest influences ever, next to [Dave] Lombardo .” The drummer first sat in with Anthrax last year , taking over for Shadows Fall ‘s Jason Bittner when Benante was unable to tour. The Anthrax skinbeater personally called Dette to fill in, and the drummer recalls, “It was kind of a surreal moment for me to get a call like that, saying, ‘Hey can you help me out?’ Which of course I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I just went and did a Europe tour with Anthrax and Motorhead and now I’m getting ready to actually head off to India and Australia with them in February and March.” As for Slayer, Dette’s stint with the band came between Paul Bostaph and the return of Dave Lombardo behind the kit. He recalls, “Slayer is one of those bands I’ve been playing forever, and so it was so natural, and I think we really felt that when we were in a room together.” Speaking about his past experience, he added, “[There were] so many business things that I got to learn — just the music business in general, good and bad. But, again, just to have the opportunity to play for one of my all-time favorite bands and see the back of their heads every night … I’d like to think I did it justice at the time I was with the band and it was just an amazing experience.” Watch Jon Dette Discuss His History With Anthrax + Slayer [button href=”http://loudwire.com/decibel-magazine-tour-2013-must-see-metal-concerts/” title=”Next: Check Out 2013’s Must-See Metal Concerts” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Rob Zombie is ready to rock the airwaves, finally revealing the full audio behind his latest single ‘Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Super Town.’ The track is featured on Zombie’s forthcoming album, ‘ Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor ,’ due April 23. Zombie fans recently got a snippet of the new song as part of a puzzle featuring the album’s artwork on his website. Once all of the pieces were aligned perfectly to reveal the artwork, the beginning of the track played for listeners. The song itself is just the type of rocker you would want from Zombie. It’s got that adrenaline fueled drive like a man with his pedal to the metal. In the track, Zombie both sings and also comes off as a quick-slinging DJ. The track can be viewed as both a salute to where radio has been and a perhaps a bit of an indictment of where things are going. The track opens with the repetitive line, ‘ Radio has changed our lives and practically saved our lives ,” but later serves up the contradictory thought “ We listen to the radio / Dead radio ” in the chorus. To check out Rob Zombie’s ‘Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Super Town,’ listen to the track streaming at his website here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/rob-zombie-the-lords-of-salem-film-trailer-no-2/” title=”Next: Rob Zombie Showcases Second ‘The Lords of Salem’ Film Trailer” align=”center”]
Freeman Promotions Clutch are still rocking hard as the band prepares for the release of their ‘Earth Rocker’ album, but frontman Neil Fallon tells Loudwire that the overall mood of the disc is a little lighter than their last few discs. The frontman explained about the content shift, “I wanted lyrically this record to be more fun than the last couple of ones. Both ‘Strange Cousins’ and ‘Beale St.’ were both pretty dark records lyrically. This one has a bit more levity I think.” One of the songs that lightens things up is their current single and the album’s title track , where Fallon himself is having a blast giving his best rock ‘n’ roll cackle. The singer explains, “The ‘bu-ha-ha,’ for lack of a better way to describe it, I wouldn’t be doing that if Screaming Jay Hawkins hadn’t done it in ‘I Put a Spell on You.’ I did that kind of as a goof in practice once and I told the guys I wouldn’t do that and they said, ‘No, please do that again and make that part of the song.’” Even though it is a fun track, Fallon admits he has other uses for the song. He reveals, “It’s a little bit of a self-motivational speech. It’s something you say to yourself in the mirror before you go out and take on the day and that came about primarily when we were doing a lot of festivals. I heard a lot of young bands bemoaning or whining about having to play in the heat or the catering sucks or the crowd wasn’t good and I just, maybe I’m getting old and cranky, but I just found myself saying, ‘Shut the f— up and play.’ You should be so lucky that you have the opportunity to do this and most people would gladly exchange the opportunity to switch places with you at this point in time. Maybe I just found myself guilty of some of those same attitudes and had to slap myself out of it and that’s kind of where at least the attitude of that song came about.” Clutch’s ‘Earth Rocker’ arrives in stores March 19 and is currently available for pre-order here . Stay tuned for our full interview with Neil Fallon. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/clutch-2013-must-see-rock-concerts/” title=”Next: Clutch – 2013 Must-See Rock Concerts” align=”center”]