News Update for Friday February 17th, 2012

SLASH
REVEALS COVER ART AND ALBUM TITLE FOR HIS SECOND STUDIO ALBUM “APOCALYPTIC LOVE”FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS
DUE OUT MAY 22

U.S. HEADLINING TOUR BEGINNING MAY 3
ON-SALE STARTS FRIDAY, FEB 17
FAN PRE-SALE UP NOW VIA
WWW.SLASHONLINE.COM

SLASH – the iconic, Grammy-winning rock guitarist and songwriter–has revealed the cover artwork and album title for his second studio album APOCALYPTIC LOVE. Due out May 22, the new album features Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators and will be released on SLASH’s own label Dik Hayd International and distributed through EMI. SLASH is currently in a Los Angeles studio putting the final touches on APOCALYPTIC LOVE. This week he announced his headlining U.S. tour will begin May 3 in Baltimore. A fan pre-sale is happening now on www.slashonline.com, with the regular on-sale starting tomorrow, Friday, February 17.
Ed's note: Sorry folks, only found the press release late last night!

See the full itinerary below, with more dates to be added.

APOCALYPTIC LOVE, will follow his 2010 debut album Slash and his November 2011 first-ever live solo album, the two-CD/DVD set Made In Stoke 24/7/11. Notably, the Slash album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #3 (#1 on the Rock chart, #1 on the Independent chart, and #1 on the Hard Music chart). Digitally, the album also became the #1 overall digital album and hit #1 on iTunes in 13 countries. Internationally, the disc achieved Top 5 chart positions in over a dozen major territories, hitting #1 in both Japan and New Zealand.

On APOCALYPTIC LOVE, SLASH – along with and his bandmates Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums) and Todd Kerns (bass) – have teamed with producer Eric Valentine, who also produced the Slash disc. All the songs were written together by SLASH and Kennedy and cameras have been rolling throughout the entire making of the album. Check out exclusive behind-the-scenes footage airing weekly at:

Episode 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYbyb8xXTQ

Episode 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYbyb8xXTQ

Episode 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYbyb8xXTQ.

SLASH’s 2012 headlining U.S. tour dates are as follows:

Thu	5/3	Baltimore MD	Rams Head Live
Sat	5/5	Rockingham NC	Carolina Rebellion, Rockingham Speedway
Mon	5/7	Orlando FL	Hard Rock Live
Thu	5/10	Biloxi MS	Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hard Rock Live
Sun	5/13	Boone, IA	Lazerfest, Central Iowa Expo
Mon	5/14	Minneapolis MN	The Brick
Wed	5/16	Madison WI	Orpheum Theater
Thu	5/17	Grand Rapids MI	Orbit Room
Sat	5/19	Columbus OH	Rock On The Range, Columbus Crew Stadium
Sun	5/20	Camden NJ	MMRBQ, Susquehanna Bank Center
Sat	5/26	Albuquerque NM	Route 66 Casino-on sale 2/27

SLASH with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators:
L-R: Todd Kearns, Myles Kennedy, SLASH and Brent Fitz.

About SLASH:
Slash is widely considered one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time. He has received countless accolades and awards including his forthcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame set for April 2012. In 2007, Slash was inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk (located in front of Guitar Center in Hollywood) alongside his idols Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. An original member of iconic rock band Guns N’ Roses, the Grammy-winning Slash helped the band create signature sounds like the guitar riff of #1 hit “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Welcome To The Jungle.” The band dominated the 1980’s and 90’s music scene selling more than 100 million albums worldwide and ushered in a decade of hard-charging rock music. After leaving the band, Slash went on to critical acclaim in his personal project Slash’s Snakepit, and global success with the supergroup Velvet Revolver. He has been widely sought after by the biggest musicians of all time, performing with everyone from Michael Jackson to Stevie Wonder to Ray Charles. Slash recently landed on the top of the charts with his first true solo album, Slash. In addition, Slash was honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce who named him as an official selection for 2011 to receive a star on Hollywood’s iconic Walk of Fame. In February 2011, he performed at the Super Bowl XLV half time show, seen by more than 106 million people, becoming the most-watched program in U.S. television history (Nielsen Co.). Slash is currently in the studio with his band working on his second solo album Apocalyptic Love which is due for release on May 22, 2012.

Official weblinks:

www.slashonline.com
www.twitter.com/Slash

Warrant tour 'Cherry Pie 21st Anniversary Tour

Special guests Firehouse and Trixter

At its core, as well as at first glance, Warrant is an American rock band through and through. Formed in 1984, the Hollywood, CA based band rose through the ranks of the local and regional club scene to the level of multiplatinum selling, chart-topping success. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich. This album produced the massive hit “Heaven” which reached #1 in Rolling Stone and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Warrant’s sophomore album Cherry Pie was released in September 1990. This album, which spawned the hits “Cherry Pie,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and “I Saw Red,” reached the Top 10 in the United States and went on to sell 3 million copies. Over the course of their career, Warrant has sold over 10 million albums internationally.

Editor's note: Yeah and still the Grammy's failed to recognise Jani Lane's connection to that many albums Warrant sold, with him fronting the band.

Warrant's music has undergone significant evolution throughout the band's 20-year history. Their style is typical of many Sunset Strip glam metal bands, and remains the band's signature sound. In September 2008, Robert Mason replaced Jani Lane as lead vocalist. Their current album Rockaholic (May ’11), released on Frontiers Records has been highly regarded and reviewed peaking at #22 on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart.

Warrant has been headlining festivals, casinos and clubs all over the country in support of the new album not to mention their support slot on the summer 2011 tour with Motley Crue and Poison, and will continue to tour into 2012. The band can’t wait to play not only all the hits fans know by heart, but also new tunes like “Life’s A Song” and “Sex Ain’t Love.”

In 2012 the band will tour with old friends Firehouse who are touring in support of their new album, 'Full Circle' - http://www.firehousemusic.com/ - and Trixter!

Trixter are soon to release their latest album 'New Audio Machine' through the Frontiers records label in May 2012.

http://www.trixterrocks.com/

For all Warrant tour dates go to:

www.warrantrocks.com

Other 80's band's summer 2012 tour news

Some interesting dates as I had mention before and double and triple bill tour are confirmed and have already been announced for the summer, such as Def Leppard with Poison and Kiss with Motley Crue, but here's another new one ...

Although on a smaller scale, Dokken are due to tour this summer, on the 'Rock Never Stops Tour 2012' from May through September with Quiet Riot and Y&T in tow!

Now that should be a good one for sure!


Dokken - Alone Again video - Click image to open in You Tube

No firm dates available at this time - Still being finalised by management - and Dokken seem to be working on a new website too.

Keep checking back, as that's one I will want to see for sure!

Winger will also be out on the road this summer too, although no word at this time if they'll be a new album ready by then. If it's anything like the last one, 'Karma,' then I can't wait!

A couple of other brief news notes ...

I've recently been enquiring about when that Toto live DVD will be coming out, from the European live shows the band did last year.
At the time last year, Mascot records had announced it was on the way and Frontiers records had put out a warning notice - Guessing there was an injunction of some kind. - to say there would be repercussions if this happened, since as far as Frontiers were concerned, Toto were still signed to them.
Mascot put out Steve Lukather's last solo album by the way ...
Anyway, sadly the latest official word from within the Toto camp is, 'Don't expect it anytime soon ...'
So that's kind of sad. Ah well ...



Y&T are also due to play the UK again at the tail end of October, playing in Dublin September 28th at The Village, before hitting the UK mainland starting October 2nd in Edinburgh.
Currently lined up dates will wrap up in London on Saturday the 13th October at the Relentless Garage ...
No word at this time on any new album, but we'll see ...
I'd love to interview Dave Meniketti too, as I've been a great fan of the band for many years, but sadly the bands management has thus far ignored my emails to date. Shame ...

For more details on these dates and others around the globe, go to:
http://meniketti.com/