Friday, May 11, 2012 at 12:01AM M3 Rock Festival kicks off tonight in Columbia, Maryland at Merriweather Post Pavilion. I won't be at the festival in person this year -- but I'll be watching on television for sure! Here's the HDNet schedule. I've have had my DVR set for a week!
Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 12:01AM 
Tom Cruise gets the cover spot for the June issue of W magazine. Cruise is, of course, the star of Rock of Ages, which hits theaters June 15. I'm pretty sure Rock of Ages is going to be epic for many, many reasons.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 12:01AM I've been trying to get into Adrenaline Mob.
Adrenaline Mob is a new supergroup that features Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater/Avenged Sevenfold), Russell Allen (Symphony X), John Moyer (Disturbed) and guitarist Mike Orlando. I'm a fan of Portnoy, so it would make sense that I would dig this new project. While I'm not 100% sold on the songs just yet, I do like the single "Indifferent." The band's official debut album Omertà came out in March. I think a lot of the disconnect I'm having comes from connecting Portnoy to prog rock... and Adrenaline Mob is just straight up rock n' roll! I was a little surprised that Adrenaline Mob didn't get picked up for Rock on the Range. Perhaps next year.
Check out the song below and let me know what you think.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:02AM A few days ago, our dear friend Mick from Rocksalt.mx sent me some awesome photos... that, taken together, formed an awesome Glam postcard message! I was so impressed, I wanted to share the story... and Mick offered to explain it to you himself! Here's the story:
During (and just after) college, back in 1990 and 1991 I worked for a retail store called "Record Town" (part of the Trans-World chain that now owns F.Y.E.) in Boston. (I wasn't hip enough to get a job in the indie record stores around Boston, all of whom sniffed and stuck their noses up at me). I worked at the Watertown Mall and the Copley Square locations (briefly with Greg Cherone, Gary's brother in Watertown; and the future Joe Public of KISS108 FM in Boston). As you would imagine, we got all kinds of free product. In those days, we were just changing over from vinyl to an all-cassette and CD format as Nirvana had yet to deliver Nevermind. As one of the few rock fans/metalheads there, I typically got a bunch of hair metal and glam-related stuff. Those were the days of wretched excess and I collected posters and weird promotional items from the day (i.e. a Tom Petty "Learning To Fly" frisbee, which I still have; etc.). One of the nifty promo items I collected came in the mail, in the form of postcards. I knew what it was instantly by the logo and started saving them. They had no indication of what they were, beyond a single word on the front. As you will see, each week a new postcard arrived with a different word, until finally, we got the payoff. Pretty cool. You don't really see that kind of thing these days.
Monday, May 7, 2012 at 12:01AM The Darkness have confirmed their third studio album! It will be called Hot Cakes and will hit stores August 21 via Wind-Up.
It's been seven years since The Darkness released a new record and I'm very excited for this one. In fact, I'm getting excited to see the band at Rock on the Range in just a few days. After playing a few festivals, the band is going on tour with Lady Gaga, which is obviously huge because Gaga plays to massive crowds. The way I see it, this is just some great exposure for Glam!
Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 12:01AM KISS, Steven Tyler, Matt Sorum and a whole slew of other folks just lent their celebrity to preserving the arts in schools. The charity Adopt the Arts was founded by Sorum and fights school districts cutting arts programs as a cost saving measure.
I went to public school and sang in choir (sang very poorly, that is) and also played clarinet in band for eight years. Music helps kids learn and slashing arts programs to save a few bucks is not only insane, but also dangerous.
Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 12:02AM If you love music of the 80s, you probably love -- or at least respect -- the Beastie Boys.
Adam Yauch, rapper and founder of the Beasties died yesterday. He was 47. Yauch was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago.
With the Beasties, Yauch was known as MCA.
The 1986 album Licensed to Ill is a cornerstone of hip hop... and one of the best albums of the 80s period.
The Beastie Boys were just inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. Yauch didn't get to attend because of his illness, so his band mates read a letter from him to the crowd.
