Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Black Veil Brides and their Church of the Wild Ones tour make a stop in New York City on a snowy Friday night (Jan. 25) for a sold out show. As the front row was lined with screaming girls, a couple of them even started to cry as Black Veil Brides graced the stage. BVB kicked off their set with ‘I Am Bulletproof’ and performed other new songs from their latest album, ‘Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones,’ including ‘Overture,’ ‘Shadows Die,’ ‘Nobody’s Hero’ and the title track ‘Wretched and Divine.’ In addition, the BVB Army sang loudly to favorite tracks ‘Knives and Pens,’ ‘All Your Hate,’ ‘Perfect Weapon,’ ‘The Legacy’ and ‘Fallen Angels,’ among numerous others. The band’s set came to an end with an encore consisting of their current single ‘In the End.’ William Control , who offers the voice of F.E.A.R. on the new Black Veils record, donned a wicked pompadour as he served as support. He got fans bouncing with his electronic rock vibe, not to mention some serious mic swinging skills. New York City natives Wildstreet opened up the show with a solid performance and warmed things up the for frigid fans who waited hours on line just to be front and center. For a full list of dates where you can catch Black Veil Brides on tour, go here . Check Out Photos of Black Veil Brides, William Control and Wildstreet in NYC: Black Veil Brides: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire William Control: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Wildstreet: Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Liz Ramanand, Loudwire
Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images / Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Who will be the next Ozzy Osbourne or Linkin Park ? That remains to be seen but it may actually be Osbourne or Linkin Park that helps them on the way. Both acts have agreed to be curators for the new Grammy Amplifier competition. Osbourne recently tweeted , “Are there any undiscovered musicians in the house?,” urging those interested to take part in the Grammy Amplifier program. There’s a three-step process to the competition, with the musicians first uploading a Soundcloud file to the website, then alerting their social networks to get fans voting for the music. The votes are known as “amplifies” and those with the most “amplifies” will have their music then passed on to the Grammy Amplifier curators — Ozzy Osbourne, Linkin Park, Rza and Kelly Clarkson . The four artists will then give the “most amplified” acts a greater platform by promoting the music they choose on their own social networking sites. The competition is limited to legal residents of the 50 United States who are at least 13 years of age. Musicians who currently or in the past have enjoyed a Billboard Hot 100 song or received Gold, Platinum or Multi-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America are not eligible. All entries must be submitted by Feb. 1. To get started and check out all of the rules, visit the GrammyAmplifier.com website . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/ozzy-osbourne-suffers-injuries-house-fire/” title=”Next: Ozzy Osbourne Suffers Injuries in House Fire” align=”center”]
Bryan Bedder, Getty Images Japanese hard rock favorites Dir En Grey have been busy of late, completing a new seven-song mini-album called ‘The Unraveling’ that’s due to be released on April 3. According to the band’s website , the disc will be available in three packages. There’s the original CD only version that comes with the songs ‘Unraveling,’ ‘Karma,’ ‘Kasumi,’ ‘Karasu,’ ‘Bottom of the Death Valley,’ ‘Unknown.Despair.Lost’ and ‘The Final.’ There’s also a limited edition two-disc version that features the seven-song CD plus a DVD that includes documentary footage from the recording of ‘The Unraveling’ disc. The final version is a limited order-only deluxe version that comes with a pair of CDs and a DVD. In addition to the original CD and the DVD with the documentary footage, those who purchase this package will also get a three-track disc featuring the non-album song ‘Macabre,’ plus unplugged versions of ‘Unraveling’ and ‘The Final.’ The new mini-album will arrive just four months after their most recent single release. ‘Rinkaku’ was served up just before Christmas for the band’s fans. You can hear the track by clicking the red button below. Dir En Grey’s ‘The Unraveling’ Track Listing: 1. ‘Unraveling’ 2. ‘Karma’ 3. ‘Kasumi’ 4. ‘Karasu’ 5. ‘Bottom of the Death Valley’ 6. ‘Unknown.Despair.Lost’ 7. ‘The Final’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dir-en-grey-new-single-rinkaku/” title=”Next: Listen to Dir En Grey’s ‘Rinkaku'” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire / Ethan Miller, Getty Images There are a lot of happy people out there rejoicing that Korn ‘s former guitarist Brian “Head” Welch is playing some shows with the band again. But before all the festivals and summer touring kicks off, there was a Korn preview of sorts at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim. Korn’s drummer Ray Luzier was performing as part of a Sabian-backed jam session with bass and guitar greats Billy Sheehan and George Lynch. During a break in the action, Luzier grabbed the microphone to reveal the performance’s special guest. He told the audience, “I’m really, really extremely happy to announce that Brian ‘Head’ Welch, the original guitar player of Korn, will be touring in Korn this summer, for the tour, European, States and all.” And with that, he introduced Welch who was in attendance at the event. The guitarist took the stage for a brief performance of Korn’s breakthrough hit ‘Blind,’ while visibly enjoying his surroundings. During the lead-in on the song, Welch turned to George Lynch and told the crowd, “I wouldn’t even be playing guitar if it wasn’t for that dude,” which got a chuckle from the longtime Dokken and Lynch Mob axeman. Korn recently revealed that Welch would be joining them for their European trek and it was announced this week that he was also pulling double duty at this year’s Rock on the Range festival, playing with Korn as well as his current band Love and Death . The summer dates mark the first extended touring for Welch with Korn since 2004. Watch Brian ‘Head’ Welch With Ray Luzier, George Lynch and Billy Sheehan Performing Korn’s ‘Blind’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/brian-head-welch-really-excited-reuniting-korn-2013-gigs/” title=”Next: Brian ‘Head’ Welch Shares Excitement Over Korn Return” align=”center”]
Evening Standard – Hulton Archive, Getty Images Led Zeppelin great John Bonham has long been one of the most revered drummers in rock and roll and for the last couple of years a number of top skinbeaters have gathered for the “Bonzo Bash” to celebrate his musical legacy. The event, which has been held in Los Angeles on the anniversary of Bonham’s birthday in the past, shifted venues this year to take place as part of the NAMM Convention weekend in Anaheim, allowing for more participants to join in. The 2013 Bonzo Bash was held at the Observatory in Anaheim Thursday night (Jan. 24) with a star-studded lineup rocking out for those in attendance. For instance, Adrenaline Mob ‘s Mike Portnoy came out to rock the crowd with the assistance of former Megadeth bassist James Lomenzo on Zeppelin’s ‘How Many More Times.’ Iron Maiden ‘s Nicko McBrain pounded away on a cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ and Slayer ‘s Dave Lombardo provided a more swinging drum sound on Zeppelin’s ‘Down by the Seaside.’ Fan-shot video of all three ‘Bonzo Bash’ performances can be seen below. The evening also featured such top drummers as Steven Adler , Anthrax ‘s Charlie Benante , Testament ‘s Gene Hoglan, Korn ‘s Ray Luzier, Buckcherry ‘s Xavier Muriel, Jane’s Addiction ‘s Stephen Perkins, Poison ‘s Rikki Rockett and more. In addition, fellow musicians like the previously mentioned Lomenzo, Tesla’s Frank Hannon, Great White ‘s Jack Russell , Black Country Communion’s Derek Sherinian, Mr. Big’s Billy Sheehan, Warrant ‘s Robert Mason, Whitesnake’s Doug Aldrich and S.U.N.’s Sass Jordan also joined in the jam. Watch Mike Portnoy and James Lomenzo at the 2013 Bonzo Bash Watch NIcko McBrain Perform at the 2013 Bonzo Bash Watch Dave Lombardo Perform at the 2013 Bonzo Bash [button href=”http://loudwire.com/alice-in-chains-2013-must-see-rock-concerts/” title=”Next: Check Out 2013’s Must-See Rock Concerts” align=”center”]
Jo Hale, Getty Images The Darkness ‘ reunion will continue beyond their ‘Hot Cakes’ album and guitarist Dan Hawkins says that fans shouldn’t expect too long of a turnaround before a new record arrives. The guitarist tells Billboard , “I think it’s important the next album comes out quickly. ‘ Hot Cakes ‘ has been a great introduction to let people know we’re back. Now we need to keep the output up, really.” To that end, Hawkins says the band members have already started looking head to the next release. He explains, “Every day we set up our little [portable] studio and start jotting down ideas. It’ll be out in 2014. This year we’ll be touring and writing, then early 2014 we’ll hopefully be recording it or continuing to write it and get it out later that year.” As for what he’s expecting, Hawkins says, “I think we want to get even more old school. We want to make it even more of a performance record. We just want to be really brave and try to do something as live as humanly possible, warts and all. We’ve lost a bit of that in music today. It’s time to get a bit of character in there, so we’ll be going for something as f—ing Route 1 as possible.” Hawkins says he doesn’t envision any of their past problems resurfacing, adding that the band members are “settling into a nice groove.” He adds, “The music is on 11, the gigs are on 11, but the drug intake is on, like, zero to one. That’s how it should be.” The group is currently on tour and will remain on the road in the U.S. through early February. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dan-hawkins-of-the-darkness-dishes-on-owning-a-custom-guitar-crafted-for-the-legendary-jimmy-page/” title=”Next: The Darkness’ Dan Hawkins on Owning a Custom Made Jimmy Page Guitar” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Anthrax are still going strong on their ‘Worship Music’ album and will soon offer a new collection called ‘ Anthems ‘ that’s full of cover songs, but the thoughts of a new album have begun to enter the minds of the band’s members as well. Guitarist Scott Ian told Australia’s Loud magazine that while they haven’t officially started on anything yet, he does have an idea as to when they’ll begin. The guitarist explained, “There certainly are ideas. There’s stuff that we never finished from ‘Worship Music’ and some new stuff that we’ve been coming up with, but we haven’t actually gotten in a room yet to start arranging stuff. That’ll probably really start over the next few months and then certainly after August, cause that’s when we finish touring this year. After that we’ll be really focused on writing and getting back in the studio.” Ian says that with the group being a veteran band, there’s not too much worry when it comes to launching the creative process over again for a new record. He adds, “Everybody’s involved in arranging, coming up with melody ideas. Everybody is involved and everybody has a say. It’s a very democratic process. I guess that would be the best way to put it.” As for the band’s guitarist situation after the exit of Rob Caggiano , Ian says, “We’re not really thinking about it at all right now. [ Shadows Fall ‘s] Jon [Donais] is filling in for Rob and that’s about as much as we’re thinking about. We’ve known Jon for a long time. We’ve hung out with him a bunch over the years. I’ve actually worked with him before so, yeah, it kinda was a pretty easy decision to have him come and play with us.” Donais will be on board for the band’s Soundwave shows in Australia as well as their ‘ Metal Alliance ‘ North American trek. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/anthrax-scott-ian-new-details-guitarist-rob-caggiano-departure/” title=”Next: Anthrax’s Scott Ian Details Rob Caggiano’s Departure” align=”center”]