Mark Slaughter joins Nelson 20th Anniversary Tour

I didn't see this one coming! Check out this release I just received. 

(NASHVILLE, TN) June 7, 2010 - Celebrity rockers Matthew & Gunnar Nelson announced multi-platinum rock star frontman and lead guitarist Mark Slaughter (Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion) will join their band NELSON as lead guitarist for the NELSON 20th Anniversary Tour. NELSON is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the release of their international multi-platinum debut classic album "AFTER THE RAIN".

NELSON will headline several upcoming major rock festival events including the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, MD on June 19; Thunder Mountain RockFest in Sawyer, ND July 9; and The FireFest in Nottingham, England U.K. Oct. 31 as part of the NELSON 20th Anniversary Tour.

"Mark Slaughter has widely been acknowledged worldwide as one of the best rock singers in the business for decades...but not enough people know what a fine lead guitarist Mark is, and always has been.  This tour is going to change that," said Gunnar Nelson. "NELSON is lucky to have such an amazing addition to our band for the 20th Anniversary Tour. It's definitely going to ROCK!"

"It's great to be back touring live with NELSON," said Matthew Nelson. "We're thrilled to have Mark Slaughter joining us onstage for these incredible rock festivals - M3, Thunder Mountain, FireFest and to connect with the fans who love melodic rock music.  The FireFest will be the first time ever NELSON has performed in the U.K."

Mark Slaughter is probably best known as the lead front man and guitarist for the successful rock metal group bearing his own name, Slaughter, which sold in excess of five million records in the 1990s touring worldwide to sold-out arenas.  Best known for MTV / VH1 #1 hits "Fly to the Angels" and "Up All Night".  Mark also had a #1 hit "Love Kills" with the band Vinnie Vincent Invasion that was featured on the film soundtrack for Wes Craven's "Nightmare on Elm Street" in 1986.

NELSON is the top-selling international rock group starring identical twin celebrity rockers Matthew & Gunnar Nelson. The 20th Anniversary Tour commemorates the phenomenon & success of NELSON's "AFTER THE RAIN" record and tour.  NELSON has (1) One Number One, (4) Four Top Ten, and  (5) Five Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hit singles, plus (5) Five #1 MTV videos and has sold over 6.5 million albums worldwide! Over 300 headlining shows worldwide. VH1 has ranked NELSON's #1 "Love and Affection" as one of the "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s".

NELSON has a new album, "The Blond Leading the Blond" coming out soon on Frontiers Records.  Artistically, it will be a seamless follow up to the "After the Rain" album.

 Matthew and Gunnar Nelson are the twin sons of Rock'n'Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Nelson, and grandsons of '50s TV icons Ozzie & Harriet Nelson. When NELSON first hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" which they wrote and perform, it landed the Nelson family in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only family in entertainment history with (3) three generations of #1 hitmakers!

Mark Slaughter joins the NELSON 20th Anniversary Tour kicking off with the M3 Rock Festival this month at the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, MD June 19th.

In addition to performing with NELSON on lead guitar, Mark will also perform as a solo artist opening for NELSON at the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den on June 26.


Down N' Outz Release 'England Rocks' Video

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard has a new side project: the Down N' Outz. The project is Elliot on vocals and the rest of the band is the London Quireboys. The way the band came together is complicated, so read about it here. Anyway, the band just released a video for "England Rocks." I want to like it...but I don't think I do. It's just lacking...something. Joe's voice sounds good, though, so that's great news. I just think there's zero energy and no soul here. Hell, maybe you disagree. Watch and give me your opinion.

Down N' Outz will release a debut album this summer.

Tesla at Rocklahoma

Check out some videos I found of Tesla at Rocklahoma last weekend!

Love Song

Signs

Song and Emotion

Krokus Singer on Recording 'Born to Be Wild'

Krokus recently released a fantastic new album called Hoodoo. On that album, they cover the Steppenwolf classic "Born to Be Wild." I asked Krokus singer Marc Storace why the band chose to do the cover.

"It's a song that takes us back to our teenage days when we had hair down to our waists or our hippie beads and listen to the Woodstock double album record," Storace recalls to Bring Back Glam! "And from Country Joe and the Fish to Jimi Hendrix and Joe Cocker and Steppenwolf. So it was something from way back and something which is like a part of our backbones, a part of our rock culture. And the lyrics obviously very fitting: "Born to be Wild." And it's also partly a dedication to so many bikers who are Krokus fans and we thought, 'Well it's been covered by X thousands of bands maybe, but hell, we have a right to cover it too!'"

In the end, it was more special connection than anything else. Krokus played "Born to Be Wild" at their Swiss reunion show a couple years back. The rest is history.

Continues Storace, "It was the magical concert which ended with the song, 'Born to be Wild' and our fans really dug it, you know. Everybody really got turned on by it. And we played it the following year at the next the big concert. And it really hit the jackpot. So we thought, 'Well, this is a Krokus song as good as 'American Woman' or 'Stay Awake All Night' or the other covers that we did, [like] 'Ballroom Blitz' or 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.' Let's Krokusize it too and put it on the album. And there it is. It's got a different riff, kind of more energized and beefed up; Fernando [von Arb, guitarist] did a great job on that. And we created a new middle part. And actually that turns into a big sing-a-long in the live shows. And we have a nice climax finale where I hit the highest note -- one of the highest notes in the show. And then bang! The show is over and the kids leave with a good memory."

Read more of my interview with Marc Storace soon on Noisecreep.

KISS at Rock am Ring

MTV Europe is apparently streaming Rock am Ring and Kiss played last night (remember, Germany is hours ahead of America). Anyway, some of the clips are epic and I LOVE the size of the crowd! I can't wait to attend a European fest - I imagine it's an experience like no other. Check out these clips

"God Gave Rock n' Roll to You"

"I Was Made for Lovin' You"

Your Band Can Play Rock n' America

Are you in a band? You can play Rock n' America, this summer's biggest Glam festival here in America.

Ever Made a Banner for a Concert?

Seeing the "Sevendust has arrived!" banner at Rocklahoma over the weekend got me thinking: have you ever created a homemade banner to show support for a band during a concert?

I haven't.

I think it would be cool and is definitely a throwback to the 80s. Just think of all those RATT and Bon Jovi videos that show the homemade banners created out of old bedsheets and finger paint. Glamtastic!

Thing is, nowadays there are a zillion restrictions on what you can and cannot take into a venue so it's hard to say if a banner would even be allowed. Rocklahoma allowed it because that is a camping venue and the rules are more relaxed. I'm not sure the result would be the same at Madison Square Garden. 

So, what do you think of homemade banners? If you've made one and have a picture, I'd love to see it!