Metal Idiocy

I'm going to start a new theme here on Bring Back Glam! called Metal idiocy. First offender? Vh1 Classic Metal Mania.

Last night, my satellite was knocked out by a storm. I had to watch stuff stored in the DVR instead. Since I was writing and not paying attention to TV anyway, I thought I could put on last week's Metal Mania and listen to the background music. At any rate, Kix came on. "Cold Blood" to be exact. Like I said, I wasn't even watching - but I just happened to look up when the video credit flashed on the screen. The album credit read Blow Your Fuse.

Seriously?

The album is freaking Blow My Fuse. Can no one fact check at Viacom these days? Bloody hell.

Half-Way Jam 2009

Ok, so say you live in the northern part of America or even southern Canada and don't feel like making the trek to Rocklahoma, Rock Gone Wild or Rock on the Range. You can always hit the 2009 edition of the Half-Way Jam. The festival is slated for July 23-25 in Royalton, Minnesota.

Bands already inked:

Skid Row, Dokken, Great White, The Sweet, April Wine, BulletBoys, Blimp, TNT and Arch Allies. More bands will be added.

Now, Skid Row and Great White are doing tons of festivals this summer. I can't say the same for The Sweet or April Wine. In fact, those are two bands I'd love to see - especially The Sweet.

The good news is that the Half-Way Jam is dirt cheap. Just $249 for V.I.P. and that gets you a three day ticket, drinks and food. If you want to go general admission, you can get through the gates (legally!) for $79 bucks. A one day pass is $29. Click here to learn more. 

Here's The Sweet "Ballroom Blitz." Always makes me think of Wayne's World. Good times.

It's Time for Grunge

It's time.

That's right. It's time.

It's time to bring back grunge.

Are you like me? Are you burned out with stadium rock? Music that objectifies women? Worthless party tunes?

Grunge is the music of my generation. Despite forming in 1987, Nirvana became the signature band of the 90s – creating the so-called grunge sound. Their formation in Seattle helped replace the Sunset Strip as the mecca of popular rock.

While some would argue Nirvana killed all other forms of rock – this isn’t entirely true. Nevermind was released in 1991. That year was pretty diverse for rock: people hadn’t taken sides yet. By 1994 it was all over but the shouting for bands like Poison and Britny Fox. At this point, Nirvana were kings of the grunge world and Alice in Chains and Soundgarden were filling stadiums – and the rock charts.

Surely this deserves some respect. After all, Nirvana and Alice in Chains changed the course of music history. Maybe the grungers had it right: the days had come and gone for the L.A. hair farmers.

Grunge was so big when I was in high school, we actually had “flannel day” during spirit week. I never saw Nirvana live, but I do know one person that was so obsessed with Seattle she called the city her “holy land.”

If you’ve missed grunge, here’s a link that has lots of tips to bring back the 90s music phenomenon.

Read My New Geoff Tate Interview...

Read my new Geoff Tate interview…over on Noisecreep. Tate talks about the band’s new album American Soldier which is out today on Rhino Records. Buy a copy!

Kix Ready to Hit the Road

Kix are finally breaking away from the east coast for a few more live dates. Before the band heads west, they'll play a free show this Friday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

Just like the rest of us, Kix are ready to gear up for festival season. In addition to a few one-off gigs, the band will play many festivals including M3 in Baltimore, Desert Invasion in Phoenix, the Midwest Rockfest in Kansas,  Rocklahoma in Oklahoma and Rock Gone Wild in Iowa.

While I can't confirm the full set, I'll guarantee you'll hear all your Kix favorites like "Same Jane," "Sex" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." If you've ever seen Kix live, you know they are worth the price of admission alone. Right now, I'm pegging them as the single best band on the Rocklahoma 2009 bill - yeah, I'm putting them above headliners Twisted Sister and about a light year ahead of Anthrax. Since the band is playing in so many states over the next few months, there really isn't an excuse for you to miss them. If money is tight, share the car ride with a friend and go general admission - that's where the party is anyway.

Here are the dates:

4/3/09 Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT
5/8/09 4^th And B Club in San Diego, CA
5/9/09 KDKB Desert Invasion Festival – Phoenix, AZ
5/30/09 M3 Festival - Columbia, MD
6/6/09 Midwest Rock Festival – Wellington, KS
7/11/09 Rocklahoma Festival 2009 – Pryor, OK
8/22/09 Rock Gone Wild Festival – Algona, IA

Here's Kix live at last summer's Rock the Bayou festival.

Thursday Features All Heavy Metal At Rocklahoma

PRYOR, OK—Rocklahoma, the premier eighties music festival in the United States being held July 9-12 in Pryor, Oklahoma announces Thursday as “Heavy Metal Day.”

General Manager of Catch the Fever Music Festivals Mark Nuessle had this to say, “Rocklahoma is a celebration of the eighties music that made rock great!” Our Thursday Lineup consists of a heavier sound as we spotlight the music of Saxon, Overkill, Metal Church, Leatherwolf and of course, recently announced headliner Anthrax!”

Leatherwolf Mike Olivieri, lead vocalist and guitarist had this to say, "It is definitely an honor to bring the Triple Axe Attack to Rocklahoma this year and being part of such a stellar line-up of bands. I'm looking forward to playing a great show and help make this year the best 4 days of classic metal anywhere on the planet. We'll see you there!"

DD Verni of Overkill went on to say, “We're psyched to be part of the Rocklahoma festival! Overkill have been doing the summer festivals in Europe for many years and it's always a great time. So doing one in America with old friends like Anthrax and Metal Church should be a fricken blast.”

The 3rd Annual Rocklahoma will have over ninety bands on four stages. Additional bands will be announced in the upcoming future.

On the three side stages, Rocklahoma has partnered with Retrospect records to showcase additional bands of the eighties.

Signed on to appear at the 3rd Annual Rocklahoma is Twisted Sister, Anthrax, Overkill, Metal Church, Leatherwolf, Great White, Vixen, Saxon, Hurricane Alice, Helix, Danger Danger, Warrant, Night Ranger, Gypsy Pistoleros, Nelson, KEEL, KIX, Bang Tango, Beautiful Creatures, LA Guns, Britny Fox, Faster Pussycat, Lillian Axe, Dirty Penny, Legendary Scorpions Drummer Herman Rarebell and Friends, Bonfire. Also appearing will be Icon, Big Cock, Baton Rouge, Lord Tracy, featuring ex-Pantera vocalist Terry Glaze, Silent Rage, Warrior, Pair-a-Dice, Julliet, Wild Street and Vougan.

A Few Questions of The Answer

Ever wonder how a rock band feels when offered the chance of a lifetime? I was pondering this the other day, thinking about the biggest career advancements in rock. In my mind, nothing is bigger than playing with AC/DC. Irish band The Answer are touring the world with AC/DC right now. Wonder how that happened? I asked.

“We were recording B-sides for the singles in London and our manager took us out for a drink in the middle of the sessions,” explains The Answer guitarist Paul Mahon. “He said he had good news and bad news. We were originally slotted to go on tour with Black Stone Cherry in Europe but we wouldn't be going out with them. Then he slid a sheet of paper over to us. We turned it over and it was all the tour dates for AC/DC in America. We were over the moon – we had no idea that’s what the surprise would be. We had quite a few drinks that day and the recording of the B-sides stopped."

If you’ve ever been backstage at a rock show, you know the stereotypes of loud parties are not always true. Oftentimes, it’s just a bunch of people punching their time cards, getting a job done. But what about backstage at AC/DC?

“There’s been a few times when Brian Johnson would come, hang out and chat with us a lot,” says Mahon. “We just had a good conversation with Angus in Frankfurt and he only set down with us one time before. But he pretty much talked to us for an hour, just outside the dressing room. We talked about touring in Europe the first time with Bon (Scott) and how the tour went in America and making Black Ice. It was a very special conversation. He was very shy and kind of stayed to himself...and that was really cool night.”

The Answer have a lot to celebrate in  addition to their tour with AC/DC. The band’s American debut Everyday Demons hits stores tomorrow is already available as a digital download through iTunes.

You can read more of my interview with The Answer very soon over on Noisecreep.

Photo credit: The Answer. No copyright assumed.