Hi folks, well, this update comes to you from my hotel room on the west side of the state of Michigan, on a business trip with the day job ... Phew! It got warm yesterday!
We hit something like 82°F today here in the town / city by the name of Three Rivers and it was still seriously warm and muggy last night.
Today I hear is supposed to be warmer still ... Summer here at last, I think!
Well, enough of my blabber about that though and on with the news 'stuff!'
Cheers, Al
Black Sabbath Announce an Intimate Homecoming Show.
Well, as many of you already know, Black Sabbath had last year announced that they were reuniting, Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward were set to play a series of live dates around the world and record a new studio album, the first with this line up in over thirty years!
All looked pretty promising, but then the first shock was announced that Tony Iommi was suffering from lymphoma and ungoing various cancer treatments ..., so the tour was cancelled but plans for the new album continued, in between Tony's chemotherapy and other treatments.
Tony's treatments continue ...
Two shows had been scheduled to go ahead though, whatever happened ..., so it seems, one at the UK's annual Download Festival and the other in the US, that being the Lollapalooza show:
Then Bill Ward said he had withdrawn from the reunion, due to the financial side of things not being right for him and he stated if things were put right, then he'd happily rejoin.
To date, this is still unresolved and so therefore, who will be drumming for Sabbath, remains to be seen ...? Sadly money as we all know, remains the root of all evil, certainly in this case.
I like many believe that being as this would have been the original Sabbath line up, why is the money not split an even four ways ...?
Anyway the Black Sabbath camp has just recently annouced that there will be a warm up gig in the UK prior to the Download appearance and here's the details on that.
In preparation for their hugely anticipated headline performance at this year’s Download Festival, Black Sabbath have announced an intimate homecoming show at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on Saturday, 19th May. The show will be the band’s first in Birmingham for thirteen years. A donation to Help for Heroes will be made from the proceeds of the show - ticket details below.
Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler return to their hometown for this exclusive show following November’s momentous announcement that the band are currently working on their first studio album in thirty three years with seven-time Grammy winning producer Rick Rubin.
It will be their ninth studio album together and their first since 1978’s Never Say Die!
Black Sabbath is one of the most influential rock bands of all time. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “The success of their first two albums ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Paranoid’ marked a paradigm shift in the world of rock. Not until Black Sabbath upended the music scene did the term ‘heavy metal’ enter the popular vocabulary to describe the denser, more thunderous offshoot of rock over which they presided.”
Following the release of their self-titled debut album in 1970, “The Original” Black Sabbath have gone on to release eight acclaimed studio albums and sell over seventy million albums worldwide. In 2005 the band were inducted into the U.K Music Hall of Fame by Angus Young of AC/DC.
This was followed by their induction in 2006 into the
U.S Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed on them by
Metallica’s James Hetfield and
Lars Ulrich.
Black Sabbath will headline the legendary
Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago this August before returning to the studio to finish recording their long-awaited studio album.
Tickets will go on sale for thier homecoming show in Birmingham this Friday at 9:00 am. Tickets will be available HERE.
http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/black-sabbath-tickets
Official website:
Stan Bush to play rare live gig ...
US AOR rocker Stan Bush, the man behind some great albums in 'Stan Bush,' 'Stan Bush and Barrage,' 'Every Beat Of My Heart,' 'Call To Action,' as well as 'Language of the Heart,' 'Shine,' 'In This Life' and his last classy release 'Dream the Dream' has shared news of a one off acoustic performance.
Stan is also the man behind 'The Touch' the excellent song from the original Transformers animated movie.
The well known House of Lords track 'Love Don't Lie' was also written by Stan, from his 'Stan Bush and Barrage' album.
Stan has been invited to open the show for the 'Rock and Roll Express tour,' featuring
Styx, REO Speedwagon and Ted Nugent this
coming Sunday, May 6th at the Greek Theater in L.A. Stan has told me he will be doing a 20 minute solo
acoustic performance to open the
evening.
Sounds good to me, wish I could be there!
Stan's website can be found here:
THIN LIZZY ADD DATES TO NOV / DEC UK TOUR
The current line up of Thin Lizzy have added three shows to the already announced UK dates later this year.
The new dates are in Southend, Exeter and Bristol with tickets having just gone on sale Friday April 27th.
Full UK Winter schedule as follows:
November 29th – Bournemouth, England – o2 Academy
November 30th – Southend, England – Cliff’s Pavilion
December 1st – Exeter, England – University Great Hall
December 3rd – Norwich, England – UEA LCR
December 4th – Bristol, England – Colston Hall
December 5th – Middlesborough, England - Empire
December 7th – Liverpool, England – o2 Academy
December 8th – Edinburgh, Scotland – HMV Picture House
December 9th – Nottingham, England – Rock City
ALL EUROPEAN DATES - LOCATIONS - VENUE
05/03/2012 Stuttgart, Germany PORSCHE-ARENA
05/04/2012 Nurenmburg, Germany Arena Nurnberger
05/05/2012 Linz, Austria Tips Arena Linz *
05/07/2012 Krakow, Poland Club Studio *
05/08/2012 Pardubice, Czech Republic CEZ ARENA
05/09/2012 Bratislava, Slovakia Incheba Expo Arena
05/12/2012 Fribourg, Switzerland Forum *
05/13/2012 Saarbrucken, Germany Garage *
05/15/2012 Leamington Spa The Assembly
05/16/2012 Guildford, England G Live
05/17/2012 Ireland – Dublin 02 Arena *
05/19/2012 Nottingham Capital FM Arena *
05/20/2012 Liverpool Echo Arena *
05/23/2012 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena *
05/25/2012 Glasgow SECC *
05/26/2012 Birmingham LG Arena *
05/29/2012 Manchester MEN Arena *
05/31/2012 London 02 Arena *
06/01/2012 London 02 Arena *
06/23/2012 Dessel, Belgium Graspop Festival
07/05/2012 Sundsvalls, Sweden Gatu Festival *
07/06/2012 Skaanevik, Norway Skaanevik Festival *
07/07/2012 Lakselv, Norway MIDNATTSROCKEN FESTIVAL
07/12/2012 Vizovice, Czech Republic MASTERS OF ROCK
07/13/2012 Messegelande, Balingen BANG YOUR HEAD Festival
07/14/2012 Svedala, Sweden Sommarrock Festival
07/18/2012 Uppsala, Sweden Flutstret Outdoor *
07/20/2012 Tromso, Norway BUKTA-TROMSO Festival
07/21/2012 Lappeenranta, Finland Saimma Open Air Festival
07/22/2012 Oberhausen, Germany Devilside Festival
07/24/2012 Brondby, Denmark Brondby Stadium
08/10/2012 Slupsk (Dolina Charlotty Resort), Poland Legends of Rock Festival
08/17/2012 Carlisle, England Sands Centre *
08/18/2012 Belfast N. Ireland Belsonic Festival in Custom House Square *
11/29/2012 Bournmouth, England O2 Academy *
11/30/2012 Southend, England Cliff’s Pavilion *
12/01/2012 Exeter, England University Great Hall *
12/03/2012 Norwich, England UEA LCR *
12/04/2012 Bristol, England Colston Hall *
12/05/2012 Middlesborough, England Empire *
12/07/2012 Liverpool, England O2 Academy *
12/08/2012 Edinburgh, Scotland HMV Picture House *
12/09/2012 Nottingham, England Rock City *
* Check venue website or local ticket agent
Neal Schon says, 'A Steve Perry reunion with Journey would be farewell to the band ...'
Guitarist, Neal Schon has spoken out officially when pushed about any possible Journey reunion with the bands best known frontman Steve Perry, but insists it would not only be Perry fronting the band ...
He has said that the only way Steve Perry could return would be as part of their farewell tour.
And apparently that would only be with current singer Arnel Pineda remaining part of the band, if that were to happen.
“I don’t think there’s any way not to have Arnel at this point. Who can say never? You can never say it’s never going to happen.
“But if that situation ever came up, I think it would be the both of them. And I think it would be at the point where it’s a farewell tour, and we’re done. That’s the only appropriate way to go about it.”
Pineda says he’s open to the possibility: “I hope I can sing with him, you know, side by side – if he would welcome that. That would be awesome. The hardcore fans would love it.”
UK Classic Rock magazine has posted this on the story:
