“MONSTER ENERGY MUSIC AS A WEAPON 5 TOUR” TO FEATURE DOUBLE HEADLINERS DISTURBED AND KORN

(New York, NY): In what promises to be the hottest tour of winter 2011, Korn and Disturbed, two of rock's biggest acts, are teaming up to co-headline this year's “Monster Energy Music As A Weapon 5 Tour”.

Jonathan Davis of Korn and David Draiman of Disturbed both spoke about how the 45-city trek across America came about:

"We've both just finished great tours. We headlined Mayhem and Disturbed headlined Uproar. The Disturbed guys came out to see us play in Chicago and we got to talking about doing something together. We both agreed that as cool as those types of tours are, they usually only hit major markets, and we both agreed that a lot of our fans just don't live in those cities, etc so we thought it would be cool to team up, put a big show together, and hit every great place that those big tours never get to. Besides all that, with us and Disturbed together, doing full shows with full production...all I can say is IT’S ON!" ...said the excited Korn frontman.

"We are thrilled to launch the Monster Energy Music As A Weapon 5 Tour with our good friends from Korn," added Disturbed singer David Draiman. "Every year we try to up the ante, and this year, by having Korn co-headline, we really think it's going to be our best tour yet. When the idea first came up, one of the main things both bands agreed upon and wanted to focus on was hitting a lot of smaller markets. It’s exciting to bring a show like this to cities that are usually skipped over on some of the other larger rock tours that only hit the major markets. We have a lot of loyal fans in these cities and we wanted to bring them a show that they deserve".

Tickets for the first leg of the tour are set to go on sale the weekend of December 4. The bands have decided that the first 1000 tickets from each show will be sold at a $5 discount during the on sale weekend in order to reward the early buyers and fans.

"A lot of promoters only offer discounted tickets a day or two before the actual show date. We wanted to do something for the fans that are buying their tickets as soon as they go on sale. To offer a discount upfront made the most sense to us," commented Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan.

"We're tired of promoters offering discounted tickets to last minute folks in order to sell the seats in the back of the gig. We'd rather give our fans a discount for buying early," said James "Munky" Shaffer, who is Korn’s guitarist.

On August 31, 2010, Disturbed released their fifth studio album Asylum, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. Asylum is the band's fourth consecutive studio album to debut at No. 1, a feat achieved by only two other rock groups in history: Metallica and the Dave Matthews Band. An international hit with Top 10 chart bows across the globe, Asylum has earned critical praise from USA Today, which called it "a tight, sharp-riffed ride...the combo of aggressive roar and guitar grace recalls Metallica's finest moments," and the New York Daily News, which declared "On Asylum, Disturbed finely weigh power and delicacy, catchiness and punch. The subtle variety of the band's tunesmanship, and the buoyancy of their rhythms, that makes this hard group so easy to love."

Over the last 16 years, Korn have established themselves as one of the biggest bands in the history of hard rock and metal, selling over 30 million albums worldwide. Their latest album, Korn III: Remember Who You Are, on Roadrunner Records, debuted at #2 on the Billboardcharts this year. Esteemed publication Metal Hammer said fans would be "wiping away tears of recognition and delight when they blast it for the first, second, and 38th time."

The cities for the first leg of the tour are listed below. More tour markets to be announced soon.

Bloomington, IL

Des Moines, IA

Rockford, IL

Hershey, PA

Rochester, NY

West Long Branch, NJ

Glens Falls, NY

Norfolk, VA

Morgantown, WV

Uncasville, CT

Portland, ME

Atlantic City, NJ

Winston-Salem, NC

Fayetteville, NC

Nashville, TN

Biloxi, MS

Corpus Christi, TX

San Antonio, TX

McAllen, TX

Lubbock, TX

Interview with Ian Astbury of The Cult

Photo Credit: Publicity Please

Legendary rock band The Cult will play the Fillmore in Detroit on Friday, November 19th. They are also preparing to release new music entitledCapsule 2: New Blood Deep Cuts on November 16th via their innovative capsule concept. Frontman Ian Astbury explains, “We are stepping away from the conventional system. By including new music, live music and film, we are giving our fans the opportunity to own other creative visions. The Capsule is a way of delivering music in bites, quicker and fresher than in the context of an album format.”

I got the chance to speak with Astbury and learn a bit about him and the new musical concept.

When you were growing up did you always want to be a musician?

No, actually when I was growing up I was more interested in film and clothes. I loved David Bowie, but my interest when I was a kid was film. I loved going to the movies, it was kind of a huge departure from what I grew up in, which was in a post war environment. In the early 70s there were still bombed out buildings from World War II. When you’d go to the movies you would be transported into another world and I used to love the opportunity to go and experience that.

What inspired you to become a musician?

I think punk rock was really a vehicle for that. I loved punk rock, it was pretty much; get a guitar, learn three chords, start a band and make a record. The fact that the audience could do it themselves and DIY was really being pushed at this time. It wasn’t about having some trained musical ear, it was about if you could get noise out of the guitar and screech into the microphone and then you were in business. That is what it was kind of like for me when we started. We really didn't have a clue of what we were doing, couldn’t even plug in a PA, nothing. At first we were mimicking other artists and then eventually I found my own style. We were in the basement of an old house in Bradford, England and I was rocking out smoking cigarettes and drinking tea and occasionally if we could afford a can of beer we’d have that and we’d have at it.

What do you think is the most difficult part of a career as a musician?

I think the hardest part is dealing with when you’re not out and playing. Coming off the road is difficult, re-entering into a normal circle. You know, normal life, paying the bills, washing the dog. When you’ve been on the road there’s a very intense period when you come back to a normal domestic environment, it can be crippling. Hmm… they say idle hands makes the devils work.  You sit around on tour buses and backstage environments for a long period of time you tend to get into trouble sometimes. Make bad lifestyle choices, let your imagination run with that. Sometimes you just sit and read a book. (laughs) You can get fed up with it, one of the hardest things is touring.

You'll be releasing a musical capsule soon entitled Capsule 2: New Blood Deep Cuts. What exactly is the concept of a capsule?

Well, first of all the tag album has kind of become a little bit worn out. It’s a very ambiguous term for what once was a vinyl format. It’s no longer a vinyl format, I mean obviously there still are albums that come out in vinyl for the connoisseur. But for the most part a body of work comes out cannibalized as soon as it’s put up on the internet. We’re kind of in this strange situation right now where we haven’t settled into the new format. It seems we’re going the way of applications or musical apps. You’ll be able to buy a CD as long as they keep making them, vinyl possibly for the afficianados but you’re very limited. You’re dealing with an industry that’s more interested in collecting your email address than really engaging you with what the intention of the artist was. For us it’s like a quick strike, write music, release music. The capsule comes in lieu of the fashion industry, where you see designers do a small collection or another outlet provides the main line and they call it a capsule collection. A capsule is like a small taste, you know we usually associate it with pharmaceuticals, like a pill and that’s what it is I guess, a musical pill. With the entire format it gives us the opportunity to be more flexible, release as we go and give the audience something that’s more exciting, you can actually listen to a couple songs without distraction.

For more info on The Cult visit http://www.thecult.us/

Zane Lamprey "Sings the Booze"

Photo: Fab-PR

Zane Lamprey has been making his living in what some may consider the ultimate dream job. He travels the world and drinks; he's been the host of the cult sensation "Three Sheets," recently seen on the Travel Channel and his current show he's working on is called "Drinking Made Easy"featured on HDNet. His job includes experiencing different cultures and places and soaking up the local drinks of choice. He will be coming to theRoyal Oak Music Theatre on November 9th to "Sing The Booze." Lamprey will be serenading the crowd with his comedic songs about drinking and in between he'll be telling tales of his adventures and experiences. I got the chance to chat with him a bit and learn about his boozy career.

When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

That’s the first time I’ve been asked that question. A veterinarian.

What has led you to the pathway of this most boozy career?

The funny answer would be, my first beer. But the truth is at an early age I got bit by the acting bug. In the middle of college I changed my major from art to pre-med and then finally to acting which is where I ended up in the end. Then I moved out to LA back in the late 90s and pursued my acting career. Then at one point I was approached after doing a bunch of projects. I was approached to do a travel show where I would travel around the world and drink. It seemed too good to be true, like a lot of conversations in Los Angeles often are. But we went out and shot the pilot for "Three Sheets" and ended up shooting 52 episodes of that and who knows if that’s even over.  Now we’re shooting a show on HDNet called “Drinking Made Easy,” and traveling across the country doing the same thing.

What do you think is the best part of your job?

The best part of my job is... It’s tough to say. The travel, you get to hang out with people doing things that most people consider a leisure time activity. I don’t know, it’s kind of like of like asking me what my favorite drink is. I don’t really have an answer for it. I’ve been asked that a bunch of times, I think the very best part of my job is my job.

What do you think has been one of the most strange or unique beverages that you’ve had?

Probably the most unique one was called the Scorpion Shot. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin it was a shot of overproof rum that had a scorpion sitting in it. You drank the shot of rum and the dead scorpion. Then I asked the guy what the most anyone has ever done in an evening and he said nine. I said well… I’m here to beat that record. I had twenty-three dead scorpions, that was definitely the weirdest that we’ve had.

(I commented on being afraid of eating a scorpion)

I was afraid, but you have to accept the fact that you’re on television and you’re representing the rest of the country. You need to sometimes eat the scorpion.

What do you think has been one of coolest cities you’ve been to?

Again, it’s like asking what my favorite drink is, I mean every city is unique. Obviously New Orleans was New Orleans and Vegas was Vegas. I hadn’t been to Detroit and I had seen the movie 8 Mileand I was pleased to realize that there was very nice places in Detroit. We went to Royal Oak which is where we’re doing our music show in a couple of weeks. It was nice, it was beautiful there.

I’m personally a big fan of vodka, has there been any stand out brands or types of vodka that you’ve come across in your travels?

Yes, we tried a bunch. I’ve been around the world trying a bunch, but there’s one that I didn’t even mention in the show called 44 North. It was Huckleberry flavored vodka that is only available above the 44th parallel which runs through the Northern United States. It was unique and you couldn’t get it below that, so that makes me think that it’s awful close to that parallel. That was the one that someone got a hold of and we went and bought a case of it for the rest of our journey. 

What is the "Sing The Booze" Tour all about?

We have the music show that’s coming through there on the 9th and we had a great time there the last time. This is a completely different show from last time. It’s ten original drinking songs which people can get off of my website. They're fun and funny drinking songs and between that we have stories. It’s been going great and the crowds really like it. Even the people that were at the last show on the last tour which was more of a stand up thing like it, which is great! Comedy music is more my thing, I’m having fun and the audience is having a good time and it’s really been a great time!

For more info on Zane Lamprey visit http://www.zanelamprey.com/

Zane Lamprey - 11/9, 7:30pm - Royal Oak Music Theatre - 318 W. 4th Street, Royal Oak - 248-399-2980 - www.romtlive.com - $25 ADV, $30 DOS, & $50 (Includes VIP Meet & Greet) - Click Here For Tickets

It's Fruitcake!!

Fred Schneider (of B-52s fame) keeps coming up with ridiculous songs and they amuse me. Check out his current band the Superions in this video called "Fruitcake."

National artist: Graceann Warn to be featured at the River Art Gallery

National artist: Graceann Warn to be featured at River Art Gallery for the “Sotto Voce” Exhibition in Chelsea, Michigan opening on November 13, 2010.

The exhibition will feature art by Graceann Warn, along with fellow artists and special guests Jaye Schlesinger and Mark Chatterley. The River Gallery was founded in 2000 by Patti Schwarz. The Gallery expanded to what it is today from its humble beginnings when originally Shwarz was just looking to have a place to house her husband’s artwork. As things progressed and grew, Shwarz formed a business partnership with entrepreneur and art lover Deborah Greer. Together they oversaw the completion of the major renovation of the historic downtown Chelsea site which is the current home of the River Gallery today.

Featured artist Graceann Warn began her art career after realizing that landscape architecture was not the path for her. After a chance encounter and a rather intense emotional response to viewing a Mark Rothko art exhibit, she realized her true calling and decided to become an artist. She merged beautifully with the Ann Arbor artist’s culture and has been one of the lucky ones to make a living solely off of her art. Her work has been featured nationwide and internationally. Also this coming year Warn will once again be showing her artwork at the critically acclaimed SOFA Chicago art gala and will be taking part in The Artist Project in New York. The Artist Project is an exhibition that offers collectors, curators, dealers and the public direct access to a juried selection of emerging and established talent.

“Sotto Voce” is Italian and translates to “in an undertone.”  Graceann explains, “I decided to call my show at River Gallery Sotto Voce because it describes the intent of the paintings while also speaking to the process I undertake to make the paintings.  “Sotto Voce" implies a hushed tone, a whisper- it is something spoken under the breath. The surfaces of my paintings obscure and hint at underlying messages without giving too much away which allows for a certain amount of interpretation by those viewing them.”

Don’t miss out on “Sotto Voce,” at the River Gallery in Chelsea located at 120 S. Main. The event begins at 5pm and goes till 8pm. For more information on the River Gallery call 734-433-0826 or visit http://www.chelsearivergallery.com/ Graceann is available for interviews. For more information please contact Natalie@dreamtownmedia.com or Melissa@dreamtownmedia.com           

Five Finger Death Punch Review & Photos

Photo Credit: Miss Shela

Five Finger Death Punch played a sold out show at the Fox Theatre on Saturday night. Sharing the stage with headliners Godsmack and special guests Drowning Pool, they brought their metal A-game to the forefront. This is a band that in a short period of time has risen from the metal underground and is quickly becoming a lethal force of musical mayhem. They're still quite an underrated band, but as they tour and play some of the biggest and best rock and metal festivals they're shredding their way to success.

Five Finger Death Punch's live show is high energy with intense drums and guitar, blasts of smoke, laser lights, and a taste of red hot metal. They opened up with the song "Burn It Down," the lights painting the stage in red and yellow as lead singer Ivan Moody stormed the masses with his in your face vocal dominance. Adding quite the wicked accent as a centerpiece on stage is their one of a kind stainless steel microphone stand. It features a gothic design with a skull attached to a spinal cord, grenades at the hip bone area, and a swirled pile of bullets at the base. Fellow band members that complete the Death Punch camp are Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook on guitars, Matt Snell on bass, and Jeremy Spencer on drums. They played a total of eight songs and after the third song "Hard To See," Spencer rocked the house with a heavy drum solo. With two albums under their belt; The Way of The Fist and War is the Answer, this is a band that is blazing the steel towards metal greatness.

Full Set List:

1. Burn It Down
2. Salvation
3. Hard To See
4. Devils Own
5. Bad Company
6. Dying Breed
7. Never Enough
8. The Bleeding

For more info on Five Finger Death Punch visit http://www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com/

Photo Credit: Robert McKnight

CAKE ANNOUNCES FIRST NEW ALBUM IN SEVEN YEARS * SHOWROOM OF COMPASSION OUT 1/11/11 ON THEIR OWN LABEL, UPBEAT RECORDS

FIRST SINGLE, "SICK OF YOU," NOW PLAYING ON YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATION * LISTEN TO IT AT SPIN.COM

CAKE - John McCrea (Vocals/Piano/Nord), Vincent DiFiore (Trumpet/Euphonium/Keyboards), Xan McCurdy (Guitar/Synthesizer) and Gabriel Nelson (Bass/Guitar/Rheem/Bandalero) - announces their first album of new material since 2004's Pressure Chief. They'll release Showroom Of Compassion, their 6th studio album, January 11th 2011 on their own label, Upbeat Records (through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group). The album was recorded over the last two and a half years and was produced and engineered by the band themselves at CAKE's own solar electric powered studio in Sacramento, CA.

The first single, "Sick Of You," is off to a great start at Alternative, Rock and Triple A radio with early adds coming through at stations in big markets like WRXP/NYC, DC101/Washington DC, WRFF/Philly, 91X/San Diego, KTBZ/Houston, 99X/Atlanta, WBOS/Boston, KNDD/Seattle, KNRK/Portland, WXDX/Pittsburgh, KRBZ/Kansas City, CD101/Columbus and KKDO/Sacramento among others. As Spin.com can attest, "['Sick Of You'] is vintage CAKE, with frontman John McCrea's jaded, semi-spoken vocals, crunchy guitar riffs, a skippy beat, and blasts of trumpet." Spin.com has the exclusive online premiere of the song, listen HERE.

Fans have the opportunity to pre-order Showroom Of Compassion at CAKE's own webstore http://cake.hasawebstore.com/ - They'll be able to choose from bundles small and large that include autographed vinyl and CD's, a limited edition 7-inch and exclusive t-shirts. By pre-ordering Showroom Of Compassion fans will receive an instant MP3 download of the "Sick Of You."

Showroom Of Compassion official track-listing

1. Federal Funding
2. Long Time
3. Got To Move
4. What's Now Is Now
5. Mustache Man (Wasted)
6. Teenage Pregnancy
7. Sick Of You
8. Easy to Crash
9. Bound Away
10. The Winter
11. Italian Guy

Web: http://www.cakemusic.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cakemusic

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cake#!/pages/Cake-music/24063159304?ref=ts

Na Na Na

The video for ""Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)," the new single from Reprise Records' My Chemical Romance, will premiere in primetime on MTV at 11 p.m. EST on October 14th following a new episode of The Jersey Shore. The clip will go live on MTV.com at 12.01am EDT on October 14th before it debuts on MTV, MTV2, MTVu, MTV Hits, AND MTV Tr3s at 11 p.m that night.

The track is the first single from My Chemical Romance's highly anticipated fourth studio album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, which will be released by Reprise Records on November 22nd, 2010. New Warner Bros. Records Chairman Rob Cavallo, who produced MCR’s platinum-selling album The Black Parade as well as albums by Dave Matthews Band, Jawbreaker, and The Goo Goo Dolls, among many others, produced the album.

MTV reaches more than 500 million viewers, while MTV's web properties garner an astounding 60 million unique visitors per month.

For more on My Chemical Romance, including album trailer, please visit www.mychemicalromance.com.

Five Finger Death Punch October 16th at the Fox Theatre

Five Finger Death Punch is a heavy metal band that takes their namesake from the "Dim Mak" technique. In essence the name means The Death Touch and it has been used throughout classic Hong Kong Kung-Fu cinema. The name is not as flowery in wording as the "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique," used in the Kill Bill series. But metal has never been about flowers. Unless perhaps, they're poisoned or sharp like a razor that can be used to draw blood or induce a state of darkened existence.

This is a band that is in your face hard metal, but they don't leave out the melodic side either. Their music breathes with a life of its own, it finds a symmetry that balances peaks of chaos in heavy guitar riffs and solos. Their lyrics dig deep into a state of mind, and the bass and drums meld and shape the expanding Juggernaut that this band has become in just five years. With currently two albums under their belt; The Way Of The Fist and War Is The Answer, this is a band that emerged from the metal underground and has become a force to be reckoned with. They continue to grow in their instrumental and lyrical maturity and have brought along with them an extremely loyal fanbase that continues to grow.

Five Finger Death Punch will be sharing the stage at the Fox Theatre on Saturday, October 16th with headliners Godsmack and special guests Drowning Pool. This is a line-up of hard rock and metal that promises to shake you with a full throttle assault of intense musical proportions. 

Godsmack wsg/ Five Finger Death Punch and Drowning Pool - 10/16, 7:30 - Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward - Detroit - 313-471-6611 -http://www.olympiaentertainment.com - $25, $35 & $45 - Click here for tickets

For more info on Five Finger Death Punch visithttp://www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces 2011 Nominees!

As the seasons and temperatures change, it's that time of year when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announces its nominees for induction into the country's most prestigious Rock and Roll club. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created in 1983 and several cities were considered before taking up its residence in Cleveland, Ohio. New York City and Memphis were a couple of those considered. Cleveland lobbied the hardest to bring the Hall of Fame to their city and it paid off. To have such a monumental collection of Rock and Roll paraphernalia in their town is a fantastic privilege. With no further ado, the nominees are:

• Alice Cooper
• Beastie Boys
• Bon Jovi
• Chic
• Neil Diamond
• Donovan
• Dr. John
• J. Geils Band
• LL Cool J
• Darlene Love
• Laura Nyro
• Donna Summer
• Joe Tex
• Tom Waits
• Chuck Willis 

In order to be eligible for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. The 2011 Nominees had to release their first recording no later than 1985.

For more info on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame visit http://rockhall.com/