Motorhead, Clutch and Valient Thorr live review

Photo Credit: Miss Shela

Last Wednesday at the Royal Oak Music Theatre was an experience of heavy hitting rock and roll. Sharing the stage with rock powerhouse Motorhead were Clutch and Valient Thorr. These bands played to a packed house and shook the walls with their high voltage sound electrifying the crowd.

Opening up the evening Valient Thorr took the stage looking like a crazed group of unrully Vikings. This is a band with some extreme beards. Their energetic perfomance faired well with the crowd and got everyone amped up. The "Thorriors" that make up this bearded outfit include Valient Himself on vocals, Eidan Thorr on guitar, Dr. Professor Nitewolf Stragees on bass, Sadat Thorr on guitar and Lucian Thorr on drums.

Notching up the decibels Clutch took the stage. Enter Neil Fallon with his signature gruff sounding vocals accompanied by the thrash of guitar, bass, and drums. This is a band that always puts on a great live show, no matter how many times I've seen them they seem to be able to grasp the crowd with their fists. With Fallon on vocals, Tim Sult on guitar, Dan Maines on bass and Jean-Paul Gaster on drums this four piece from Maryland brings the noise and then some.

With each band the sound seemed to get progressively louder. When Motorhead took the stage a deafening roar went throughout the crowd. The legendary Lemmy Kilmister took the stage and brought a lifetime of sex, drugs and rock n' roll to the forefront. Formed in 1975 Kilmister has been the only static member of Motorhead, the current lineup includes Kilmister on bass and vocals, Phill Campbell on guitar and backing vocals, and Mikkey Dee on drums. They played a total of 16 songs including probably their best known "Ace of Spades." After all these years Motorhead is still a force to be reckoned with. It's impressive to see the hard work, blood, sweat and Jack Daniels that has been a driving force behind their music. With over 20 studio albums they continue to make new music and collaborate with other artists with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Now that is rock and roll! 

Valient Thorr Setlist:

For more info on Valient Thorr visit http://www.valientthorr.com/

1. Double Crossed
2. Future Humans
3. Mask of Sanity
4. Infinite Lives
5. Night Terrors
6. In Heat
7. Sleeper Awakes

Clutch Setlist:

For more info on Clutch visit http://www.pro-rock.com/

1. Hobgoblins
2. 50,000 Unstoppable Watts
3. Pure Rock Fury
4. The Mob Goes Wild
5. Immortal
6. The Incomparable Mr. Flannery
7. Gravel Road
8. Who's Been Talking?
9. Cypress Grove
10. Power Player
11. Electric Worry

Motorhead Setlist:

For more info on Motorhead visit http://www.imotorhead.com/

1. We Are Motorhead
2. Stay Clean
3. Get Back In Line
4. Metropolis
5. Over The Top
6. Rock Out
7. The Thousand Names of God
8. I Got Mine
9. I Know How to Die
10. Chase is Better Than the Catch
11. In the Name of Tragedy
12. Just Cos' You Got the Power
13. Going to Brazil
14. Killed By Death
15. Ace of Spades
16. Overkill

Flogging Molly Green 17 Tour

Flogging Molly will be bringing their 7th annual 'Green 17 Tour' to the Fillmore in Detroit on March 3. The 'Green 17 Tour' came into existence in 2004 as a countdown to St. Patrick's day. The tour has become a tradition and staple event for the band and the fans each year.

Flogging Molly is a band that rocks high voltage, dizzyingly energetic Celtic music and they put their own spin on it. Their sound fuses old world Celtic music with modern day punk rock. The band is 7 members strong with Dave King on lead vocals, Dennis Casey on electric and acoustic guitar, Matthew Hensley plays accordion, concertina, and piano, Nathan Maxwell on bass, Bridget Regan on violin, tin whistle, classical guitar, and uilleann pipes, Robert Schmidt on mandolin, mandola, tenor banjo, and five string banjo, and George Schwindt on drums. That is a lot of instruments! All band members sing backup vocals and King also plays acoustic and electric guitar.

The band is currently working on an upcoming release for this year and new songs from the forthcoming album will be performed during the tour. Their prior album Float debuted at #4 in 2008 on the Billboard Top 200 and #1 on the Billboard Independent Albums Chart. 

For more info on Flogging Molly visit http://www.floggingmolly.com/

Flogging Molly - 3/3, 6:30 p.m. - The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward - Detroit - (313)961-5451 - www.livenation.com - $35.25 & $47.20 - Click here for tickets

Hollywood Undead Live Review

Hollywood Undead played the Kellogg Arena on Friday night sharing the stage with New Medicine, Stone Sour, and Avenged Sevenfold. This California rap-rock outfit brings the noise and then some with their in your face lyrics and crushing beats. Their live show is a charismatic carnival of energy and the band members each wear crazy tripped out looking masks. The masks were donned for the first three songs and were taken off for the remainder of the set. The zany antics of the guys on stage got the crowd revved up and everywhere that you looked you could see fans singing along and rocking to the beat. The drummer was showing some Detroit love by wearing a Defend Detroit shirt. Defend Detroit is a local clothing company that sells their wares in a number of different locations around the Metro-Detroit area.

Hollywood Undead's debut album Swan Songs came out in 2008 and reached #22 on the Billboard 200 in the first week of its release. They are currently working on their follow-up album American Tragedy which is due to come out soon. They have released a single from the new album called "Hear Me Now" which is currently in rotation on 89X. The guys that make up this wild fusion of sound are Danny, Funny Man and Johnny 3 Tears on vocals, Charlie Scene on lead guitar and vocals, J-Dog works it with rhythm guitar, keyboards, synths, vocals and bass, and Da Kurlzz hits hard on the drums.

For more info on Hollywood Undead visit http://www.hollywoodundead.com/

Full Setlist:

1. Undead
2. Sell Your Soul
3. Battle and a Gun
4. City
5. Paradise Lost
6. Hear Me Now
7. Everywhere I Go

Check out full photo slideshow on Examiner.com: Hollywood Undead Live Review & Photos - Detroit Music | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/music-in-detroit/hollywood-undead-live-review-photos#ixzz1DWU40tZa

Mayhem Festival 2011 Line-up Announced - National Music | Examiner.com

The Hard Rock & Metal Tour Event of the Summer Kicks Off on July 9th with Pre-Sale Tickets Slotted for Friday April 8th
Tour Co-Producer John Reese to Appear on Sirius XM Liquid Metal with Host Jose Mangin, Today at 12pm PST

ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL, the heralded hard rock and metal event of the summer, is swiftly becoming the heavy music fans’ summertime rite of passage. Today, the 4th annual summertime juggernaut announces the 2011 line-up with Disturbed, Godsmack and Megadeth, joined by Machine Head, In Flames, Trivium, and many more of today’s most electrifying artists. The tour will make a 26 date trek across the country beginning on July 9th at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California. Tune in to www.rockstarmayhemfest.com and www.livenation.com for up-to-date ticketing information.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: 

Mayhem Festival 2011 Line-up Announced - National Music | Examiner.com

Motorcity Blog Happy Hour offers the chance to win Kid Rock tickets

MOTORCITY BLOG Happy Hour

Thursday, January 13th 5pm - 9pm

 

Motorcity Special #3 Pre-listening Party with live Music from Detroit's own The High Strung and DJ Mel Wonder spinning Detroit rock, funk and soul. A pair of tickets to Kid Rock/Jamey Johnson will be given away onsite for the Jan 15th show at Ford Field. Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson swag will be given away all night sponsored by Warner Music Group and Universal Music. Live Nation will also be doing ticket giveaways all night to concerts at the Fillmore Detroit and St. Andrews Hall.

 

Come on out to the next MCB Happy Hour at Detroit's coolest sports bar for your chance to score some killer freebies. Enjoy yourself before and after Kid Rock/Jamey Johnson concert at The State Bar Fillmore Detroit.

 

Motorcity Special #3 was recorded live on Saturday, Oct 16, 2010 at Northern Lights Lounge Detroit. The artists featured are:

HAFLIFE

The High Strung

The Meltdowns

Troy Gregory w/ special guests

3 bands from School of Rock St. Clair Shores

(The Fuss - The Broadcast - The Make)

DJ JCM

 

For more info on Motorcity Blog visit http://motorcityblog.blogspot.com/

For more info on Motorcity Special visit http://www.motorcityspecial.com/

“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/