Alternative Music
ADRIAN SMITH + RICHIE KOTZEN Announce First-Ever Shows In U.S., U.K.
Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen‘s project SMITH/KOTZEN will play its first ever-live shows in the U.S. and U.K. in early 2022. The dates are as follows: U.S. tour dates Jan. 15 – Ventura Theatre – Ventura, CA Jan. 20 – The Whisky A Go-Go – Los Angeles, CA Jan. 22 – Count’s Vamp’d – Las Vegas, NV Jan. 23 – Brick By Brick – San Diego, CA Jan. 26 – Goldfield Trading Post – Roseville, CA Jan. 27 – The Siren – Morro Bay, CA U.K. tour dates Feb. 27 – Manchester Club Academy Feb. 28 – Leeds Brudenell Social Club Mar. 02 – Glasgow Garage Mar. 03 – Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill Mar. 05 – Leamington Spa Winters End Mar. 07 – Bristol Fleece Mar. 08 – London Islington Asse...
KORN’s BRIAN ‘HEAD’ WELCH Partners With New App PYVOTT To Fight Human Trafficking
Brian “Head” Welch (KORN, LOVE & DEATH) and Tommy Green (SLEEPING GIANT) have partnered with new ethical social media app Pyvott to raise funds for the nonprofit Run Against Traffic, which supports aftercare initiatives for survivors of human trafficking. The partnership comes in the form of a unique dollar-per-download model. The social media startup Pyvott will be donating one dollar to Run Against Traffic for every app download between now and January 11, up to 100,000 downloads. It’s a method that opens the door to new ways of doing both social media and counter-trafficking activism. Green, formerly of metalcore outfit SLEEPING GIANT, is the founder of Run Against Traffic. “Our long-term vision was to create a foundation for supporting human trafficking surv...
SLIPKNOT’s COREY TAYLOR Surprised With Ultimate Cake For 48th Birthday
SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor celebrated his 48th birthday this past Friday (December 10) at Steel City Con, the pop culture celebration that takes place a few times a year at the Monroeville Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The organizers of Steel City Con surprised Corey by presenting him with a special cake in the shape of his current SLIPKNOT mask, which Taylor — whose birthday is actually on December 8 — designed earlier this year with the help of a Halloween mask sculptor named Connor Deless. Steel City Con uploaded a video of the cake presentation to its Facebook page and included the following message: “Steel City Con sings Happy Birthday to Corey Taylor! Now that’s a cake! We hope it tastes as good as it looks and our singing wasn’t to...
The Succession Season 3 Finale Confirmed Why the HBO Series Is One of TV’s Most Fascinating Dramas
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 3 finale of Succession, “All the Bells Say.”] One of the elements which stood out the most about Season 3 of Succession was location: specifically, a shift to the sun-dappled splendor that is rural Tuscany, site of both Lady Caroline Collingwood’s (Harriet Walter) wedding and her betrayal of her children. While the HBO series has always been aesthetically lush, with an emphasis on the elegant homes and offices in which the Roys seem born to dwell in, having some of the series’ most ugly behavior to date take place in such a beautiful place seems like the ultimate distillation of the show as a whole. The finale once again featured the Roy children coming after control of the company, this time in an effort to prevent tech mo...
Nandi Bushell Performs Tool’s “Forty Six & 2,” Her “Most Challenging Drum Cover” Yet: Watch
Nandi Bushell, the 11-year-old musical prodigy who just earned Consequence’s 2021 Rookie of the Year honor, has delivered her “most challenging drum cover” yet: the complex “Forty Six & 2” by Tool. And, as always, she absolutely nails it! Not too many seasoned pros can go beat for beat with Tool’s Danny Carey, easily one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. But Nandi was certainly up to the task. With a smile on her face, Nandi offered up a few drumstick twirls and flips before launching into the epic track from Tool’s classic 1996 album Ænima. From there, she played the song like an absolute champ, crushing the heavy middle sections and rolling up her sleeves at the 4:30 mark for a killer fill. “This really was the most challenging drum cover I have done, so far,” wrote Nandi in...
Travis Scott Offered to Play Coachella for Free Before Being Dropped by Festival: Report
Travis Scott will no longer headline next year’s Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival. Coachella’s producer, Goldenvoice, has reportedly chosen to cut ties with the embattled rapper in the wake of the tragic events at his own Astroworld festival in November, which saw ten people crushed to death and hundreds more injured when the crowd rushed the stage during Scott’s performance, causing a deadly human stampede. Despite the tragedy, Scott was still intent on playing Coachella next April. However, according to Variety, Goldenvoice recently informed the rapper’s booking agent, Cara Lewis, that he was being dropped from the bill. In a bid to hold on to the headlining slot, Scott reportedly went as far as to offer to perform at the festival for free, but Goldenvoice ultimately declined the...
Megan Thee Stallion Graduates from College
Call her Megan Thee Graduate. On Saturday, Megan Thee Stallion attended her college graduation ceremony, earning her bachelor’s degree in health administration from Texas Southern University. “Good morning hotties !!! It’s graduation dayyyy,” the “Thot Shit” rapper tweeted the morning of her big day, even getting a custom emoji on the social platform featuring her animated face wearing a graduation cap and tassle with her tongue sticking out. Later in the day, she shared the streaming link to her ceremony with her more than 34 million followers across Twitter and Instagram, as well as a number of photos from the milestone moment. Advertisement Related Video “Meg Thee Graduate…I know my parents are looking down on me so proud. Thank you everyone for all the love today,” Megan wrote on Insta...
SIXX:A.M. Has No Plans To Record More New Music Or Perform Live Again
SIXX:A.M. vocalist James Michael, who is promoting the band’s recently released compilation album “Hits”, was asked in an interview with Australia’s Rock Lives Here if there are any plans for SIXX:A.M. to record more new music or play live shows in support of the effort. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s funny — every time SIXX:A.M. made an album, we said to ourselves, ‘This is the last album we’re gonna make.’ We said that on ‘The Heroin Diaries’ soundtrack. We said, ‘This is a one-off. We’ll never do this again.’ Then we did ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’, and it was, like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna be our last album, for sure.’ And then we did ‘Modern Vintage’,...
HELLOWEEN’s ANDI DERIS ‘Didn’t Realize’ Something Bad Was Going On In The World Until ‘Long After’ Pandemic Hit
HELLOWEEN singer Andi Deris, who lives in Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, spoke to Mayra Dias Gomes of Brazil’s “Lokaos Rock Show” about how he has dealt with not being able to play shows for nearly two years during the coronavirus pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, we’ve been in the lucky situation of actually being in the middle of a production [of our new self-titled album] when the pandemic hit. So all my fellow musicians here in the band, we did not even realize that there’s something bad going on in the world because we’ve been, as always, in lockdown in the studio. [Laughs] We were in our own lockdown. As with every production, you’re kind of in your rabbit hole for [a few] months… ̶...
EVANESCENCE Tour ‘Hit By COVID’; Band Credits Being Vaccinated For Having Only Mild Symptoms
EVANESCENCE and HALESTORM have postponed their show tonight (Sunday, December 12) at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio after the two bands’ joint tour was “hit by COVID.” EVANESCENCE announced the concert postponement in a social media post earlier today. The band wrote: “Our tour has been hit by COVID and we are forced to postpone our show tonight in Cincinnati. We were able to reschedule the show for Monday, Dec. 20th, so hold onto your tickets! Be on the lookout for an email with additional information. Please be safe out there! See you soon.” EVANESCENCE added: “Even when you have every precaution in place, you can still get and transmit this virus. Grateful we are all vaccinated and nobody’s symptoms are severe. Please be smart and ...
MÖTLEY CRÜE’s NIKKI SIXX: ‘We Never Intended On Getting Back Together’
Nikki Sixx has once again said that the chance for MÖTLEY CRÜE to headline a U.S. stadium tour was the primary reason the band decided to cancel its retirement. CRÜE fans who shelled out for the band’s 2014/2015 “farewell” tour were led to believe that the group would never return after playing its final concert on December 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band touted the signing of a pre-tour “cessation of touring” agreement as cementing the fact it truly was the end of CRÜE‘s life on the road. Speaking to the 98.3 CIFM radio station about the CRÜE‘s decision to reunite for next summer’s stadium tour with DEF LEPPARD and POISON, Sixx said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It was pretty interesting. We knocked it on t...
Peloton Enlists Chris Noth and Ryan Reynolds for And Just Like That… Response Ad
Earlier this week, shares of Peloton dropped 11% following the premiere of HBO’s Sex and the City sequel series, And Just Like That… ***Spoiler*** In the final scene of the episode, Mr. Big (played by Chris Noth) dies of a heart attack after a 45-minute Peloton ride. The fitness company said it had approved the show’s use of the bike and an appearance by one of its instructors (Jess King), but was unaware of the storyline involving Mr. Big’s death. Now, in a clever bid to turn the publicity into a positive, Peloton has enlisted Noth himself to star in a commercial narrated by Ryan Reynolds. The ad finds North on a romantic getaway with the aforementioned Peloton instructor Jess King. “To new beginnings,” he tells her before glancing towards a pair of Pelotons. “Should we take ano...
