Like Woodstock, But For An Actual Cause!

On Saturday, November 22, The Chance Theatre in Poughkeepsie is hosting a night of music and comedy to benefit the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, which gives food/hygiene donations to those in need within the eight counties making up the Hudson Valley community. The Foodstock Benefit Concert runs at only $10 and tickets can be purchased at The Chance box office or http://www.ticketweb.com/. Comedian Paul Schembrie is set to host and the following bands are scheduled to play: Robbers On High Street, Perfect Thyroid, Kinney & Storms, Snaphammer, Subconscious Prophet, and Blue Soldier. Variety performer Sweetness Wha-Cha-Cha will entertain between sets. Doors open at 6:30 and directions can be found at http://www.thechancetheater.com/

Drummer Bummer

On October 8th, Trent Reznor announced on www.NIN.com that drummer Josh Freese will be leaving Nine Inch Nails after three years of being in NIN's touring band, at the end of the tour they are currently playing. They are wrapping up a South American tour, then are playing a show at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ in early November. Since the House of Blues date is the last show Freese will play, message boards are buzzing because fans are hoping to hear the never before-played-live version of the song "The Perfect Drug" (the drums are so intense in that song that, rumor has it, Freese's arms would literally fall off. These things happen. It's dangerous.) As for drummers that toured with the Nails, Freese was the best- a clean, fast, hard drummer.
For Nine Inch Nails updates, check out www.NIN.com or
www.theNINhotline.com

PS- Freese was also a drummer for Guns 'N Roses... perhaps a Guns tour is brewing?...

Pic courtesy of www.thegunsonline.com

Born To Run

After recently finishing up their summer U.S. tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band are ready for their next big gig: the 2009 Super Bowl!
According to Billboard.com, the band is set to play during the halftime slot, following 2008's dissapointingly lifeless act, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
In July, Bruce and E-Street played a three hour show at Giant's Stadium... if they can make it to the Super Bowl, maybe the Giants can do it again, too! (Go Big Blue!)

Picture from author's collection: Giants Stadium, 2008

Appetite For Literature

On August 26th, acclaimed author of rock bios Stephen Davis released his latest book Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses under publisher Gotham Books. Written in Q and A format, his hefty hardcover tells the graphic story of the hard-rock band that defined "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll" in the years when the allure of hair-metal started to die out, but before the dawn of the "Seattle sound" grunge era.

This book was released not too long after ex-Guns guitarist Slash put out his own biography, and hopefully, will be followed by (the Frankenstein version of) Guns N' Roses' long awaited album, Chinese Democracy. (Which, by the way, if it gets released this year, everyone in America gets a free Dr. Pepper!!)

New York magazine had a great article on the new book which includes an exerpt from it (I highly suggest checking it out!)

If you're into rock biographies (or fantastic writing, in general) check out Stephen Davis' other amazing works:
Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga
Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith
Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend -- (which I'm currently reading and loving every page of)

(book pic taken from amazon.com)

Too Drunk To... WHAT?!

After finishing up a summer tour with Cruefest, rockers Buckcherry are set to release a new album, Black Butterfly, on Sept. 16, 2008 off Atlantic Records.
As a follow-up to their previous release, 15, (2006) lead singer Josh Todd stated in an interview with billboard.com that their new album is "definitely a rock record. It's not like we're reinventing the wheel. We're a rock'n'roll band. We've just matured as songwriters, and I think it's gonna be more melodic. I'm singing a lot more on this record. There's some really great songs."
After the huge success of their last single, "Sorry-" a somewhat sappy, top-40 pop power ballad, Buckcherry are back to their raunchy, foul-mouthed roots (that we all adore so much) with their first single off of Black Butterfly, "Too Drunk..."
They'll also be putting out another slower love song, "Don't Go Away," possibly as their second single to appeal to 15 year old girls looking for a new ringtone ("Sorry"version 2.0??)
Check out the hilarious video (with naughty lyrics) for "Too Drunk...":
WARNING: This song is not for the easily offended.

Metallica to Drop New Album

After taking 11 years off from producing music, Metallica has dropped another classic album. "Death Magnetic" is the name of the album and it follows the path that the band has always taken as being pulse driven, exciting, and sometimes moving music. The band has also replaced bassist Jason Newsted with Robert Trujillo giving the new album a different feel and sound but still delivering the same impact. The guys have gone back to their roots with heavy riffs, a pounding double kick, and a fast tempo that I think was created from the mastermind of the album, Rick Rubin.

The mogul record producer who is the co-head of Columbia Records has signed on with Metallica with their latest project and it seems to have given the band a new life and view on the way they are going to produce their music. Rubin is a musician and had his start as the original DJ for the Beastie Boys and has been given credit for merging rap and heavy metal and now has turned his focus solely to the masters of heavy metal, Metallica. The album drops September 12, 2008 and I mainly listen to hip hop but I still know that this album is worth getting, I would defintely recommend this one. Here is a link where you can listen and buy the album.