David Lee Roth Thanks Eddie Van Halen, Mocks Other Rockers Onstage
Van Halen wrapped up their summer tour last weekend with two nights at the Hollywood Bowl. At the first show on Saturday, David Lee Roth was in a particularly generous mood as he thanked his longtime sparring partner Eddie Van Halen for giving him “the best years of my life.” But the singer also took shots at Jon Bon Jovi and Bono.
During the breakdown in “Dance the Night Away,” Roth decided to give the crowd a dance lesson, starting with moves learned from soul greats like the Temptations and the Four Tops. Then he turned his attention to “the white boys.”
“Bon Jovi has made a career of what we call the half-Jesus,” he said. Roth then proceeded to hold one outstretched arm up in the air. “And if you really mean it, you do a fist.”
He then used Bon Jovi‘s recent squabbles to pivot to a rare display of affection for his bandmate. “Rumor has it that Jon is kind of at odds with the guitar player. Imagine the odds of that s— happening? The difference is Edward and I agree to apologize every couple of summers and come out and share the good news with you.”
Sebastian Bach Says He Didn’t Make Any Money Off His Wedding
Earlier this summer, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach made headlines when it was learned he was charging fans to attend his wedding reception.
“We didn’t make any money off our wedding,” he told Music Business Facts. “If people think we did, we didn’t. We got married and we lived happily ever after. The end. The venue [got the money from the ticket sales]. They put on the wedding. They paid for everything — the food, the band — and so they charged for tickets.”
For a modest fee ($175 for singles and $300 for couples), fans were able to see Bach sit in with the Kiss tribute band Destroyer and get their picture taken with the newlywed couple.
And while they had a bit of a public relations nightmare out of the situation, Bach added that, “It semed like the most natural thing in the world. When they said, ‘Do you wanna have fans come to the reception when the Kiss tribute band’s playing?’ I was, like, ‘Of course.’ Why wouldn’t I? I don’t wanna jam with a Kiss tribute band just for my mom and my wife. They’ve seen me before.”
Paul Stanley Says Ace Frehley And Peter Criss Sold Off Rights To Their Makeup Cheap
KISS frontman Paul Stanley was interviewed this past week on Brisbane, Australia’s 4KQ commercial radio station.
When asked whether the band KISS owns the rights to the makeup made famous by all the group’s original members, Paul Stanley said, “Very much so. Years ago, the original guys [guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss], basically, sold it off for, you know, not a whole lot, because they didn’t think it was worth anything. Quite honestly, I’ve always thought that our image and what we represent is priceless.”
“So, that being said, [current KISS drummer] Eric Singer I’ve known 26 years and I think he’s been in the band for decades. And Tommy [Thayer, current KISS guitarist] has been around the band for decades and has been in the band probably 12 or 13 years. I have to say KISS is somewhat like a football team, or an army. If somebody falls by the wayside, somebody else picks up the flag and runs. If somebody is out on the football team, somebody else comes along. I don’t think that when you go to see your favorite football team, you’re yelling out that you wanna see somebody who was in the team 20 years ago. Time moves on, but the team lives on.”
Check out the full interview, here.
Bruce Dickinson Says He Doesn’t Try To Compete With Younger Rockers
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson says experience has taught Iron Maiden how to harness the energy of their youth for maximum impact. But that doesn’t mean the band, in their mid-50s, are trying to compete with younger rockers.
Dickinson, who defeated cancer earlier this year, accepts it’s not possible for Maiden to write the way they did 20 years ago. But that’s not a problem since he has no desire to compete with younger artists – including his son Austin’s band As Lions.
He reflects: “You’ve done those kinds of songs back then, and now there are other bands that are having that same moment in their own way at that same point in their career. Let them carry the torch. It‘s like me going into competition with my kids. Why would I? Apart from the fact that I really like them, what’s the big deal? I’m doing my own thing.”
“I’ve already been on that journey –now it’s up to them to go on their own journey through various stages of their life.”
Saxon Premiere New “Queen Of Hearts” Lyric Video and Set Release Date for Album
Saxon will release their 21st studio album, Battering Ram, in North America on October 30. Check out the official lyric video for the new track “Queen of Hearts” here.
Video Premiere of Rush Performing “Roll the Bones”
Check out Rush performing the title track off of 1991′s Roll the Bones from the band’s upcoming “R40 Live” DVD and CD release here.
The song is part of a package that includes nearly three hours of music filmed over two stops at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto earlier this year. “R40 Live” will be released on November 20.
Hollywood Vampires Meet Their New A&R Guy in “Funny or Die” Video
Is rock and roll a young man’s game? It looks like Hollywood Vampires are about to find out in a new Funny or Die video when they meet their new A&R man. Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and legendary rock manager Shep Gordon are invited to meet with Tommy, their new A&R guy, and to say the least, they’re a little shocked.
With the face of an angel and age of a choir boy, Cooper and Perry are taken aback — that is until he rips them a new one speaking with the salty vocabulary of a sailor.
“It’s a little soft,” states Tommy, who ridicules Cooper for not screaming until he bled on the microphone like Harry Nilsson once did. “You know what I hear on your microphone Alice? Little babies making toilet in their diaper,” says Tommy, who also emasculates Gordon by calling him a “world class chef” and having him go get a sandwich. Tommy also bites back at Perry questioning him, stating, “Hey Beantown Joe, this is Hollywood bitch!”
New Trailer for Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese’s TV Show “Vinyl”
Vinyl, a new drama series from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter, debuts in January 2016 on HBO. Check out the full-length trailer for the show, here.
HBO’s website calls Vinyl “a ride through the sex- and drug-addled music business at the dawn of punk, disco, and hip-hop. The show is seen through the eyes of a record label president … who is trying to save his company and his soul without destroying everyone in his path.”
“Think back to the first time you heard a song that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,” says Bobby Cannavale, who stars as label head Richie Finestra, in a voiceover. “Made you want to dance or go out and kick somebody’s ass. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Slipknot Unveil Haunting NSFW “XIX” Video
Slipknot dig a little deeper into their .5: The Gray Chapter album this week as the band unveils the video for their latest single, “XIX.”
Check out the wild and definitely not suitable for work (NSFW) video here.
Slipknot Masks Arrive Just in Time for Halloween
Have you thought about your Halloween costume yet? Well, if you’ve been slacking and haven’t got one in mind, Slipknot have some great news for you! Dig up 8 friends and we bet you can win a group costume contest hands-down with some brand new Slipknot Halloween masks! Going solo? That’s fine, as any one of these masks will have you in the running for the top prize.
Check the Slipknot masks out here.
The Surviving Members of the Original Alice Cooper Band Reunite Onstage
Former Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway hosted a book signing at Good Records in Dallas — and surprised the crowd with a reunion of the band’s surviving members, complete with an eight-song set of Cooper classics.
The set, which you can watch here, brought Cooper together onstage with Dunaway, guitarist Michael Bruce and drummer Neal Smith for the first time since 2011, when they staged a pair of performances coinciding with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as their appearance on Cooper’s Welcome 2 My Nightmare LP. Guitarist Ryan Roxie, a member of Cooper’s current band, subbed in for original member Glen Buxton, who died in 1997.
Phil Rudd Loses New Zealand Home Detention Case Appeal
AC/DC‘s Phil Rudd has lost his appeal against a home detention sentence.
The band’s longtime drummer appealed to the High Court in his hometown of Tauranga, New Zealand after being sentenced in July to eight months’ home detention on charges of threatening to kill as well as possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.
Rudd had been hoping for a discharge without conviction, with his lawyer Craig Tuck arguing that his client was basically only guilty of making an angry phone call to an employee following the commercial failure of his 2014 debut solo album Head Job.
In denying the appeal today, Justice Raynor Asher dismissed Rudd’s contention that the sentence was causing the musician an undue financial penalty by keeping him off the road with AC/DC.
“First, the band would have to want him to play with them,” Asher noted, alluding to the band’s 2014 declaration that Rudd’s participation would not affect their tour plans. “Second, the convictions would have to operate as a barrier to him traveling with them on tour. Neither are certain. It is far from clear that, at the time when the offending took place, there was any place in the band available to Mr. Rudd, given his drug addiction and state of mind.”
Two New Pantera Compilations Due This Fall
“History Of Hostility” is a nine-track Pantera primer that includes some of the band’s most legendary tracks from all five studio albums. It will be released on CD and LP on October 30.
Rhino will also release a new boxed set and single disc compilation, “The Complete Studio Albums 1990-2000”, consisting of “Cowboys From Hell” (1990), “Vulgar Display Of Power” (1992), “Far Beyond Driven” (1994), “The Great Southern Trendkill” (1996), and “Reinventing The Steel” (2000).
Two versions of the collection will be released on December 11, one a five-CD set and the other a limited edition five-LP set on colored vinyl. The LP version of the studio albums box also includes a seven-inch single with two rare, non-albums tracks making their vinyl debut.
Accept Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann Auctioning Off Personal Gear
Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann is auctioning off some of his personal gear on eBay.
“This is part of my personal music gear sale. So why am I selling these wonderful old amps and cabinets and pedals, etc? Several reasons, actually: I am drowning in gear. I have so much stuff it’s no longer funny and I am getting tired of handling and, frankly, owning it.
Some of this stuff I have literally lugged around the world several times. From home to home and – in the case of touring gear – from gig to gig. And now it’s just sitting here, without getting used. So my new rule applies: If I haven’t used in a couple of years I probably do not need it anymore. I am trying to lighten the load here and do a general cleansing session…
Also, I want to give other people a chance to enjoy it – hopefully it will all find a good new home and live with somebody who will enjoy it as much as I did.
If you want me sign anything I’d be glad to include a signature on anything, just let me know… So here we go… have fun!”
Check out the auction items on ebay.
Metalheads Say The Damnedest Things!
Lita Ford was asked whether it was hard to revisit certain episodes in her life while writing her new book “Lita Ford – Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir,” which is set to arrive in the spring of 2016.
“Well, things are emotional. There’s deaths, there’s divorce, there’s things that are so goddamn funny that you can’t help it but cry laughing. It’s just a very emotional book. And you have to really go there mentally — you have to go there in order to be able to put it down on paper and in a book for people to read. So it was a challenge. And you really don’t have a choice as to when… ‘I don’t feel like doing it right now.’ Fuck that! Go there. You have to go there [and] get it done. So it was tough.”
~ Lita Ford, interviewed by Kristyn Clarke of PopCultureMadness.com