“Fingers Bloody Fingers” is an animated piece that tells the story of how Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi lost the tips of two fingers. The short features a new interview with Tony done especially for this piece.
Rush will be dialing back the big tours…frontman Geddy Lee recently commented that his band’s just-announced R40 Live tour will be “the last big tour that we’re going to do for a while.” Check out Rush’s tour dates here.
When asked outright if this would be a “farewell” tour, he said in an interview, “It’s very hard to answer that question for a lot of reasons. The three guys in this band have different opinions on this point — everyone’s in a different space right now. [Drummer] Neil Peart has a young child at home and he’s said numerous times that it’s very hard for him to leave his daughter. She needs him. It’s clear that we are at a point in our career that we have to slow down — and slow down dramatically. So, I’m not a guy who’s in love with the farewell tour idea, but it’s clear that this is going to be the last big tour that we’re going to do for a while, anyway.”
Twitter observations by Dee Snider (and former Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich):
“You wouldn’t really like me if you knew my story, if you knew what horrible things I’ve done,” says Metallica’s James Hetfield in a series of recent on-camera interviews. “ I’m coming to grips with that, ’cause I have groups of people that I’m able to share all my horrible stuff with — shameful, extremely shameful, dark stuff. Some of it is things I’ve taken from my parents and carried it a little further. Other ones, I’ve been able to drop some of that. Other ones I’ve picked up on my own and then created… Shame’s a big thing for me.”
He added, “Playing music has saved my life. Every day saves my life. When I’m able to write… write a riff, write some lyrics, stuff like that… it’s the way I connect with the world. And so I think kids that do have the gift of art, writing, painting, drawing, designing, metalwork, woodwork… any craft-type stuff… care for that.” Check out James’ interview here and here.
Don’t count on Judas Priest pulling the plug anytime soon. In a recent interview, bassist Ian Hill said, “We just did the Epitaph tour and we were gonna try and slow down, but that ain’t gonna happen — it just ain’t gonna happen. I think we enjoy it too much, really. I think the thought of us not doing it terrifies us… or not being able to do it. So we’re gonna cram as much as we can while we can. At least three of us ain’t spring chickens anymore. So we’re gonna keep going until one of us drops, I suppose.”
During an interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice, Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French talked about the state of hairbands touring in the current era: “I wanted the band [Twisted Sister] to be frozen in time, and at the right time, if the band came back, it would have enormous value,” he said.
“And, lo and behold, guess what?! The band’s back and it has enormous value. Because we’re only one of five bands that are touring with the original lineup. That’s us, ZZ Top, Mötley Crüe, Aerosmith and Rush. So there’s enormous value in that. So one can argue, taking the very long view, that it was actually the smartest thing [pulling the plug way back when]. Was it fun going through the hell? No. Was it enormously eye opening? Yes. Did it teach some unbelievable lessons in life? Absolutely.”
He added, “Every band has its time, and Twisted Sister’s time, the first flush of enormous success, was a very heady and wonderful experience. That would never be repeated again no matter what. I mean, no matter what — it would never be repeated that way. Because MTV isn’t like that, because social media has changed… People ask me all the time: How’s the music business? And I say, I don’t know. I’m not in the music business. We are not in the music business. And, really, neither is Judas Priest, and neither is Kiss. We’re in the entertainment business. And we have a following and we entertain people. I don’t really need to worry about record sales, because they don’t exist. Not in the world of rock music. They exist in hip-hop and country and rap.” [transcription courtesy of Blabbermouth.net].