Feel like the summer festival calendar is jam-packed? Well, South Texas Rock Fest is back, but this time in the fall. The fest will take place in San Antonio, Texas October 7 and 8.
So far, the bands announced are Quiet Riot, Moxy and Stephen Pearcy. Obviously, more bands will be added. The actual event location is the Sunken Garden. I've never been there, but the pictures show that it will be a great venue for a festival. Plus, San Antonio in October means great temperatures, too.
The official website is under maintenance, so I don't have information on ticket prices or anything of that sort. Keep checking back for information and band announcements.
So yesterday, we discussed Wildstreet. Then someone mentioned Switchblade Scarlett in the comments. And then a member of the band Switchblade Scarlett emailed me, saying I should check them out. So I did. And they rock!
Turns out, Switchblade Scarlett are from Ohio and they have that great Glam sound. The band's debut, White. Line. Fever will be out in July. Check them out. I'm sure when July rolls around, I'll be reviewing the album. I like what I hear so far!
Wildstreet are bringing back glam! The band has just released a video for the song "Poison Kiss" off the new album Wildstreet II:...Faster...Louder.
The video is basically awesome. Everything about it screams "Look at me, I'm Glam! In your face, 80's inspired, big hair rules Glam!"
And I love it. I love it so much I wish I was in it! Wildstreet is a great band that doesn't hide their passions, allegiances or who they are: they want to be referenced in the same sentence as bands like Bon Jovi and Faster Pussycat, and hallelujah for that.
The opening of "Poison Kiss" sort of reminds me of Kix but once the song gets going, it is clear Wildstreet have carved their own sound into their niche of 80s-influenced metal. And that's the key, right? Be original, while still being true to your heroes? I wish Wildstreet were playing a show in Ohio, soon. Watch:
Can you believe that this time next week, M3 will be over?! Since the event is this week, promoters recently released the official set times and stage breakdowns. Here are the times. Remember to print a copy if you are going to the fest so you'll know who is playing when and where. See you in Maryland!
Color me surprised. The guys in AC/DC are apparently talking about another world tour. Remember how long we waited for the Black Icetour to finally happen? Well, now Angus Young says the band wants to tour again.
"We have such diehard fans, old and new. We've survived many changing fashions of music – we've outlived the lot of them,” Angus told UK paper The Sun.
AC/DC is currently celebrating the release of their concert DVD Live At River Plate.
With so many sold-out shows from the Black Ice world tour...can AC/DC do it again? Will fans – will you – be willing to pay insane prices for tickets again? I've got to be honest, if AC/DC suddenly announced a show in Ohio in the next six months or so, I'd have to think about plopping down the money again. For the Black Ice tour, it was a no-brainer for me...but now that I've seen them, I'm not sure I have the burning desire to see them immediately again. There are some bands I can – and want – to see over and over again, but for whatever reason, AC/DC isn't one of them. Maybe it is because I feel like I got 100% of the AC/DC experience during the Black Ice tour and those memories are good enough for me.
Have you seen the new Lady Gaga video for "Judas?" The video is just epic, no two ways about it. The song is off the forth-coming album Born This Way. I get that you might not like pop music, but seriously watch the video anyway. Mute it if you are afraid of pop tunes. Gaga is nothing short of a rock star and she's been making the best metal videos around for the past couple of years. There's a song on Born This Way called "Heavy Metal Lover." I hope it lives up to my expectations.
I was listening to Hair Nation the other day (The Howard Stern Show was probably on a commercial break), and they played, "Hate" by KISS, off of the Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions album, and the song really got me thinking. Obviously, this was an attempt by KISS to latch on to the grunge era and to try to stay relevant and sell some albums. The problem was that the effort was so disingenuous, and it just didn't sound like KISS. Now I understand a band changing and growing, but I do not think that occurred here. Lyrics like, "Tell me what you want me to be, I can't stand myself anymore" just did not make sense. Were we to believe that Paul Stanley (the Star Child from the 1970s that was able to shoot lasers out of his eye and defeat the androids that had taken over Magic Mountain in Southern California) was suddenly a member of the disenfranchised youth? Did KISS believe that this segment of the music buying population would be able to relate to their music? To me, it appeared to be more of a desperate ploy to 'hang with the cool kids,' and it made me feel bad for the band.
The whole song got me thinking about KISS' career once the make-up came off. Creatures of the Night and Lick it Up were both great rock albums. Animalize was a decent album as well, and no one can deny the brilliance that is "Heavens on Fire" (though the rest of the album is hit or miss, including the classic lyric about the log and the fireplace). From there you go to Asylum (which had a number of catchy singles) and then Crazy Nights (which, admittedly, the band was trying for a Bon Jovi-type sound, heavy on the keyboards).
KISS were innovators when they debuted on the scene in the early/mid 1970s, and they put on a show that was second to none. But without the make-up, they really lost their identity, and were like a rudderless ship, simply chasing fads in music and trying to keep up with the other, more successful artists. That isn't to say they didn't put out some great music, but they really lost their status as leaders, and were clearly followers during this time period. Carnival of Souls, to me, is the culmination of this lack of direction, as they recorded an album is just reaching for something that was not there. But of course, as with any KISS album, there are always bright spots, and to this day, I say the song "Childhood's End" is an amazing song from the KISS catalog that unfortunately was buried on this album that is bypassed by most.
Am I wrong, or is this the worst KISS album ever recorded?
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 12:01AM 
Feel like the summer festival calendar is jam-packed? Well, South Texas Rock Fest is back, but this time in the fall. The fest will take place in San Antonio, Texas October 7 and 8.
