Gotthard has a new singer now... and the band has just announced a slot at the 2012 Sweden Rock festival. It has dawned on me that Gotthard would be yet another great band to play M3. Maybe the promoters of M3 are reading my site and taking hints?
1992 seemed like the worst possible year to be a traditional, melodic hard-rock debutante. Still, Swiss band Gotthard were an instant and tremendous success. From their second album ”Dial hard” (1994) and onwards, all their records hit the #1-spot – all in all eleven (!) of them. After over a million albums sold domestically, it was obviously time to look abroad, including memorable appearances at SRF. Everything was brought to an abrupt and tragic halt in October 2010, when singer Steve Lee died in a traffic accident. The support of their fans and the blessing of Steve’s parents encouraged the surviving members to continue. After auditioning a multitude of candidates, Nic Maeder has been chosen to take Gotthard into the future. A new album will be released this spring, and SRF 2012 represents a cherished reunion for band and fans alike – the new Gotthard’s first appearance on Swedish soil.
Around 70 bands will perform on our 5 stages next summer. The following bands have been confirmed so far:
MÖTLEY CRÜE SOUNDGARDEN LYNYRD SKYNYRD MOTÖRHEAD SEBASTIAN BACH BLUE ÖYSTER CULT DIMMU BORGIR SYMPHONY X GOTTHARD EDGUY GAMMA RAY DANKO JONES EXODUS ELECTRIC BOYS SLADE TYGERS OF PAN TANG GIRLSCHOOL PENTAGRAM SAINT VITUS BONAFIDE KATATONIA HELL SACRED REICH GRAVEYARD
Our favorite RATT n' Roller Stephen Pearcy tweeted an awesome "back-in-the day" Christmas card last night. It's so epic I just had to post for all of you! This may well be the coolest Christmas card of all time. Check out Robbin! And Warren! Rejoice.
Maybe this tour will go long enough and we'll get to see some McAuley/Schenker group songs! Here's some information about Schenker's tour:
Michael Schenker, a true purveyor first-class hard guitar rock, released the aptly titled "Temple of Rock" on October 11 on CD, digital formats, and vinyl. He will now be touring with Robin McAuley in support of the album...
02.15.12 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MEZZANINE 02.16.12 - SANTA ROSA, CA - THE LAST DAY SALOON 02.17.12 - PORTLAND, OR - DANTES 02.18.12 - TACOMA, WA - BACKSTAGE BAR & GRILL 02.19.12 - SEATTLE, WA - STUDIO SEVEN 02.20.12 - VICTORIA, BC - 9 ONE 9 NIGHTCLUB 02.21.12 - VANCOUVER, BC - VENUE NIGHTCLUB 02.23.12 - ORANGEVALE, CA - THE BOARDWALK 02.24.12 - CORONA, CA - MARQUEE 15 02.25.12 - WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - HOUSE OF BLUES 02.26.12 - SAN DIEGO, CA - 4 TH AND B CONCERT THEATRE 02.28.12 - TBA 03.01.11 - LIBERTYVILLE, IL - AUSTINS 03.03.12 - DETROIT, MI - HARPOS 03.04.12 - ETOBICOKE, ON - THE ROCK PILE 03.05.12 - CLEVELAND, OH - PEABODY'S 03.07.12 - SPRINGFIELD, VA - JAXX 03.08.12 - FOXBOROUGH, MA - SHOWCASE LIVE 03.09.12 - ASBURY PARK, NJ - THE STONE PONY 03.10.12 - NEW YORK, NY - THE GRAMERCY THEATRE 03.11.12 - ALLENTOWN, PA - CROCODILE ROCK 03.15.12 - TBA 03.16.12 - SAN ANTONIO, TX - BACKSTAGE LIVE SA 03.17.12 - DALLAS, TX - TREES 03.18.12 - TBA 03.20.12 - TBA 03.21.12 - TEMPE, AZ - CLUB RED 03.22.12 - LAS VEGAS, NV - VAMP'D 03.23.12 - AGOURA HILLS, CA - THE CANYON CLUB 03.24.12 - SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA - THE COACH HOUSE
The list of Schenker's successes is extensive... As a young man he lent his very special sound, together with his brother Rudolf, to the Scorpions, which later made the band one of the first real international hard rock stars from Germany. In the 70s, he similarly helped the British rock legends U.F.O. to their definitive breakthrough, turning songs like "Rock Bottom" or "Doctor, Doctor" into hits everyone knows. In 1980, it was time for him to form the first band of his own... The Michael Schenker Group, or MSG for short. Some of the world's best musicians were assembled, cavorting with founding members such as Gary Barden, Don Airey or Simon Phillips. Not forgetting that no one less that Roger Glover from Deep Purple manned the production console for the first record. Since then, the three letters MSG have become a synonym for honest, hand-crafted and impelling premium hard rock.
Now, after extensive touring, and following a well-earned rest, Schenker has returned with his group to add a new jewel to his creative work. Names such as Pete Way, Wayne Findlay, Neil Murray and Chris Slade still represent the highest of standards and get aficionados' heartbeats racing. One of the biggest treats is his collaboration with the former Scorpions drummer, Herman "the German" Rarebell, as well as his beloved brother Rudolf. And yet the list is even longer with Doogie White (former member of the Rainbows), Super drummer Carmine Appice and Elliott Tichy. However the one name missing in 2011 is Gary Barden. Michael Voss, the new vocalist, is more than "just" a replacement. The experienced producer and singer showed just what he is capable of during the last MSG tour.
Schenker says: "The Temple of Rock is within me where I create since I was introduced to the amazing invention of the distorted Guitar which is for me the most enjoyable and the best possible way to express myself. The Rock Guitar Sound that I fell in love with, mostly expressed as Lead break, is what I have nurtured and treasured all of my life. Combined with the infinite spring from within and the amazing musicians around me I keep expressing an ongoing development of my Art(Being). With Temple of Rock I am entering a new stage of my life, a new level of existence enjoying life more than ever, reaping the joy of all sorts of developments from the past.
Also, it seems to me that collectively, with true expressive makers of Rock Music, we have been building the external Temple Of Rock for many years and have now come to the point of putting on the roofing and celebrating the almost completion of the Temple. All generations of this period are meeting all over the world on one stage it seems celebrating an Era of 'Hand Made Rock' which will never be the same again due to invention of new technology but of course New Temples and New Wonders will arise to enjoy expressions in new ways."
A cool website called Legendary Rock Interviewsjust spoke with Bobbie Brown. You know, the "Cherry Pie" girl. During the interview, Bobbie has a lot of great information on Warrant and Jani Lane in general. Some of the interview is funny and some of it is just downright sad.
Here's an excerpt. Bobbie is talking about Jani's ability as a songwriter:
"He was extremely creative. I just thought he was such an amazing songwriter and it was amazing to watch him create, just sitting there with an acoustic and writing those sweet songs. The only thing we disagreed on was that he was so focused on the attention of the hard rock community and being in Warrant and being this hard rocker but I just thought he didn’t need to force that when he had this amazing, vulnerable side to him and he was this prolific ballad writer. I would always say to him 'Dude, you are so amazing at this that you could just be like Bryan Adams and write a number one hit every few years and have your houses and your cars and be done' because bands just don’t have the same opportunities that songwriters do. Bands and their popularity can come and go with trends and fads. Warrant’s style and vibe just wasn’t going to be accepted or evolve with the changes in new music or whatever, it just wasn’t built that way. I used to tell him that 'You guys need to be like KISS or Motley and go away for a while and then come back.' If they did that they could stay true to what it is they do rather than try to adapt and force yourselves on people trying to be current. That was really hard for him to hear or accept..."
"I remember saying to him while they were working on the Dog Eat Dog record, 'Babe... this is the bottom line, the band will be popular and survive if you write those songs they can relate to, dance to or sing along to or if it’s anthemish' to the point where they just can’t get it out of their head. Even if you hate that, it’s the cold, hard truth. People don’t want a really deep song from Warrant about child molestation.' To which he would invariably tell me once again 'You don’t know anything about music' and I’d be like 'Ok, Jani but I know something about people and I’m just telling you.' I mean, it’s been well documented that it bugged him a little bit to be known so much for “Cherry Pie” because he was capable of so much more musically or lyrically."
The interview also mentions when Bobbie worked with Hurricane, Great White and dated Matthew Nelson. This is great Glam people!
Check out the full interview at Legendary Rock Interviews (then come back here so we can chat about it!)
The headline says it all. Warrant, now fronted by Robert Mason, will apparently be playing the M3 rock festival in Columbia, Maryland. The festival is May 11 and 12, and according to Bravewords Warrant will play the 12th.
Warrant didn't officially announce their slot at M3... but their Rockaholic tour lists "Festival Date," - May 12, Columbia, Maryland. I'm not the smartest girl in the room, but come on. Why be that thinly veiled? Just list M3 and be done with it already. Here are all the Rockaholic dates:
February 23 - The Canyon Club - Agoura Hills, CA 24 - Brixton - Redondo Beach, CA 25 - The Coach House - San Juan Capistrano, CA
March 17 - Delta Downs Racetrack - Vinton, LA
May 12 - Festival - Columbia, MD
July 8 - Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, CT
September 14 - Toronto Convention Center - Toronto, ON
So now we know Warrant and Quiet Riot are part of the lineup. Festival promoters promise to give us more news next month. Last year tickets went on sale the first week of February, so get ready: it will be here before you know it.
Yep. For my money, it doesn't get any more metal than this... geesh.
Now, to be fair, the ad states that Advil supports the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation. I hope this ad was a sort of trade deal where the pain reliever giant donates money to the cause in exchange for Jon's testimonial. But still.
Props to BBG! reader Scott Whitt for giving me the heads-up on this one!
Beggars & Thieves have a new album just in time for the holiday season. The album, We Are The Brokenhearted, is out now via Frontiers. The band made a video for "We Come Undone" and it has a ton of Glam cameos... including a solo featuring Jake E. Lee! Seriously.
My favorite part is when Blas Elias plays the drums Slaughter-style... complete with little messages on the drum heads. The video is very well done. Enjoy.
Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 12:01AM 
