Gary Moore - Official Statement update at his website
In giving the man a little final dignity in his passing, through his website, the family of Gary Moore has issued the following statement, along with perhaps a very respectful and thoughtful photo of the man:
GARY MOORE
1952-2011
On Sunday 6th February 2011 musician Gary Moore died in his sleep of a heart attack while on holiday in Spain.
Acknowledged as one of the finest guitarists that the British Isles has ever produced; Gary Moore’s career dated back to the sixties. Moore graced the line-ups of several notable rock bands including Thin Lizzy, Collosseum II and Skid Row, to name but three, and to this year maintained a highly successful solo career.
Gary is survived by four children; daughters Saoirse and Lily and sons Jack and Gus. His family take great comfort in the fact he died of natural causes and was looking forward to his holiday prior to recording a new album. Gary was thrilled by new guitars he had just bought and was planning to play shows throughout the world, later this year.
His family has requested that their privacy is respected during this sad time and no further comment will be made. They would very much like to express their heartfelt thanks for the show of support and all the kind messages from friends and fans alike, the world over.
I for one certainly respect this request, as seriously, when you lose a loved one how much do you like to answer questions about it?
In some respects, people might think, 'Yeah, but wasn't he great and all I want to say is how great I thought he was, etc.'
The thing is at the end of the day, it is simply a courtesy that the family should be left alone in their time of mourning, as it's certainly difficult to talk to anyone, when you've lost someone you love.
Maybe down the road, they'll speak more on matters.
My sincere sympathies go out to Gary's family and closest friends.
RIP Gary, you will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.
In other news ............
STRYPER GET BACK TO THEIR ROOTS ON COVERS - HEAVY SET, 'THE COVERING'
Christian rockers Stryper are offering fans a headbanging view of who their influences were early on, with the arrival of an almost entire album's worth of covers, 'The Covering.' Set for release on February 15th via Big3 Records, the album includes twelve rocking covers, as well as an all-new original tune, "God." And most significantly, the album marks the return of original bassist Tim Gaines back into the Stryper fold, setting up the first Stryper release in years to feature the definitive line-up of Michael Sweet (vocals/guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Tim Gaines (bass), and Robert Sweet (drums).
According to Michael Sweet, the impetus for putting out a mostly covers set was a simple one. "Every Stryper album is pretty serious and pretty bold in the lyrical faith sense of the word. We just wanted to roll our sleeves up, cut loose, and have some fun." And when it came time to pick out a listing of tunes to cover, all the band had to do was look back upon their club days. "Growing up, before Stryper was even Stryper, we were a cover band. We played Gazzarri's on the Strip for years - we would do originals but also do covers, as well. We always did (Judas) Priest covers and (Iron)Maiden covers, all those bands that we grew up on and influenced us."
What fans get is a CD that runs the gamut from 1970's era classic rock (Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," Deep Purple's "Highway Star," Kiss' "Shout It Out Loud," etc.) to 1980's era heavy metal (Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell," the Scorpions' "Blackout," "Iron Maiden's "The Trooper," etc.). "A few things we set out to do on this album was to stay true to the original - we didn't want to disrespect the original versions," explains Michael. "I'm never going to sound like Bruce Dickinson or Ronnie James Dio, nor would I ever try to. And having me sing the song puts our own spin on it. We just all did our own thing and with our own touches and feel - Robert, Tim, Oz, and myself - it has that Stryper feel to it as well."
Big3 Records Chairman Bill Edwards adds, "We are excited to allow Stryper the creative freedom to do what they do best, and take this album to the next level. We are very excited about working with the band and helping make 'The Covering' a widespread success."
To support 'The Covering,' Stryper is planning a tour that begins in March, and when it comes to the set list, it will contain quite a few surprises for longtime fans. "We're probably going to pull out four Stryper songs that haven't been played in the set in years. And then we're probably going to do four covers. And then we've got a whole slew of other Stryper songs that we've been playing for a long time. So we probably have 20 songs in the set."
Stryper fans rejoice, more anthemic metal will soon be on the way!
'THE COVERING' TRACKLIST:
1. Set Me Free (Sweet)
2. Blackout (Scorpions)
3. Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath)
4. Lights Out (UFO)
5. Carry On My Wayward Son (Kansas)
6. Highway Star (Deep Purple)
7. Shout It Out Loud (Kiss)
8. Over The Mountain (Ozzy Osbourne)
9. The Trooper (Iron Maiden)
10. Breaking The Law (Judas Priest)
11. On Fire (Van Halen)
12. Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)
13. God (Stryper)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT:
Swedish Rockers "Europe" to film forthcoming UK Tour
Swedish hard rockers EUROPE are set to film the entirety of their London o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire concert on Saturday February 19th. The concert will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in October 2011, and will also include a bonus live CD.
The London concert is part of Europe’s “Balls ’N’ Banners” UK tour which kicks off at the Glasgow o2 ABC on Thursday February 17th. The forthcoming DVD release will also include behind-the-scenes footage, including rehearsals and backstage banter filmed during the rest of the dates on the rest of the UK tour. Europe will perform music from their current album ‘Last Look At Eden’, plus classic tracks from their albums ‘Wings of Tomorrow’, ‘The Final Countdown’, ‘Out of This World’, ‘Prisoners in Paradise’, ‘Start From The Dark’ and ‘Secret Society.’
"We're taking some new directions with our songs, and we're exploring different styles,” says Europe’s lead singer Joey Tempest about the songs from the Eden album. "There is a definite classic rock vibe on some of the tracks... a tip of the hat to groovin', funkin' 70s rock songs, but ones we have bought into the here and now.”
Europe’s “Balls ‘N’ Banners” UK tour dates in full: Glasgow o2 ABC (Feb 17), Birmingham o2 Academy (Feb 18), London o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (Feb 19), Oxford o2 Academy (Feb 21), Bournemouth o2 Academy (Feb 22), Bristol o2 Academy (Feb 23), Manchester Academy 2 (Feb 25), Leeds o2 Academy (Feb 26) and Newcastle o2 Academy (Feb 27).
Ticket Hotline: 0844 477 2000, 0161 832 1111 (Manchester).
Book Online: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/ or http://www.ticketline.co.uk/
BRAVEWORDS.COM HOSTING PREMIERE OF NEW TRACK "BRINGING ON THE END"
FROM THE NEW JAG PANZER ALBUM
"THE SCOURGE OF THE LIGHT"
NEW ALBUM IN STORES MARCH 8, 2011 ON SPV/STEAMHAMMER
Starting today, Bravewords.com is premiering "Bringing on the End," a track from the new JAG PANZER album, "The Scourge of the Light", which is slated for a March 8 release via SPV/Steamhammer.
Check out exclusive premiere on the Bravewords "Knuckle Tracks Player" at http://www.bravewords.com/knuckletracks/?tid=0
For the original band members Harry Conklin (vocals), Mark Briody (guitar) and John Tetley (bass), JAG PANZER has always been something they held close to their hearts. "We've known each other from our earliest childhood and have never lost sight of the idea that this band is based on," Tetley explains. "I don't exactly want to use the term 'spiritual', but the three of us are connected with this band by a very special relationship. You could say that our lives are inseparably linked with the history of JAG PANZER."
This heartfelt passion has always been apparent in their songs, however: the American band has never sounded as impressive, mature and accomplished as on their latest album "The Scourge Of The Light" (out on 28 February 2011 in Europe, 25 February 2011 in Germany, and on 8 March 2011 in the US).
The reasons? Well, there are probably a number of them. Without a doubt, the band's two main songwriters, guitarists Mark Briody and Christian Lasegue, have never been in better form. Every one of their extremely dynamic riffs sounds haunting, every melody cuts their listeners to the core. It may sound like a contradiction, but since guitarist Chris Broderick, who was a band member between 1997 and 2007, left to join Megadeth, JAG PANZER have returned to their old roots. "There can be no question that Chris Broderick is an amazing guitarist, and we were really happy for him that he got this chance with Megadeth. But we feel that thanks to Christian Lasegue, JAG PANZER's classic, clearly more melodic power metal style has returned and that the fans will definitely be happy about this."
Tetley may well be right since JAG PANZER's most recent studio recording Casting The Stones (2004) was criticised, especially in Europe, for its noticeably harsher direction. "We knew that Christian was the best man for the job, after all he was a band member for three years in the mid-1980s."
But there are other reasons, too, why "The Scourge Of The Light" sounds so impressive. Despite their limited production budget, JAG PANZER spared no expense or effort to give their ten fantastic new songs a driving their trademark sound. For this reason, they asked Jim Morris to mix the recordings at his legendary Morrisound Studios in Florida and sent the result to New York's renowned Sterling Sound for mastering. The result is a real ear catcher, without any ifs and buts: "I feel The Scourge Of The Light is the best-sounding album in the history of JAG PANZER," Tetley rightly expresses his pride in the product of his group's labors.
LINE-UP:
Harry Conklin - vocals
Mark Briody - guitars
Chris Lasegue - guitars
John Tetley - bass
Rikard Stjernquist - drums
For More Info Visit:
Richard Marx / John Parr UK Live dates in May 2011
It seems that John Parr, whose hits include, 'Naughty, Naughty,' 'Magical,' 'St. Elmo's Fire' and "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries" (With Meat Loaf), has been added to Richard Marx' UK tour dates later this year in May.
John Parr's last UK visit, was as special guest on Journey's 2008 UK tour dates.
Richard Marx in recent years has been doing more solo and duo, unplugged / acoustic performances and I understand that these dates will be just that too.
If you ask me, that's a huge shame, as I last caught Richard Marx playing live with his full band, here in Detroit a few years back and it was a great show! He more than showed that he could still rock, as well as perform the most fantastic ballads, so it's sad that these days the man doesn't seem to want to do the full band gigs anymore.
I'm sure the shows will still be good, but I'm sure you get my meaning.
Official website: http://www.richardmarx.com/
Anyway, here's the flyer for the gigs:
Here's an official Press Release update from John Parr's management, with some interesting links!
John Parr confirmed as Special guest on Richard Marx UK Tour.
Iconic rock vocalist/songwriter John Parr has been confirmed as Special Guest on the Richard Marx ‘Stories to Tell’ UK tour, taking place in May 2011. Parr will play a solo acoustic set on all five shows on the tour, which calls at Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol ending with a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Tuesday 31st May 2011.
Tour press flyer:
It was during the mid 1980’s when John Parr received a call from one of the world’s most successful record producers, David Foster. He requested Parr to record a song for the film ‘St Elmo’s Fire.
Parr and Foster wrote a song in honour of wheelchair athlete and activist Rick Hansen, the song was called ‘St Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)’ which also became the theme for the film St. Elmo’s Fire. The track became a huge hit for Parr around the world (including hitting the No. 1 spot on the US Billboard Chart) and garnered many awards ....., including a Grammy Award nomination. John went on to have many tracks featured in motion pictures (including ‘The Running Man’ and ‘Three Men And A Baby’).
Fast forward to 2011 and after a 20 year legal/litigation battle (which basically stopped Parr recording for the past 20 years), John is now currently back in the studio working on brand new material and is preparing to go back out on the road. Commenting on the Richard Marx tour, John Parr said, “I’m really looking forward to getting back out on the road as Richard’s guest. I’ve performed at many venues and stadiums around the world, including Madison Square Garden and the Sydney Opera House, but this will be my first ever performance at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London”.
John Parr will be Special Guest of Richard Marx on the following UK dates.
Dates/venues:
Wednesday 25th May 2011 - Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
Thursday 26th May 2011 - Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Saturday 28th May 2011 - Philharmonic Hall - Liverpool
Sunday 29th May 2011 - Colston Hall - Bristol
Tuesday 31st May 2011 - Royal Albert Hall - London
Also folks, if you wanted to see John acoustically in the studio, take a look at thie below You Tube link.
John and his management felt it was actually quite amusing so they have decided to share it.
John is singing Katy Perry’s Firework acoustically.
You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC9ZEMIP9fI
For John Parr's official website - Which is currently undergoing an update. - go here:
It Bites secures headline spot at the UK's Z-Rock Festival and adds additional tour dates
It Bites, who most in the UK will remember that back in the 80's, with singles 'All In Red,' 'Calling All The Heroes' and 'Whole New World,' had a kind of mixed bag sound of Pop meets Prog rock meets Goth rock at times.
They were certainly a little eccentric in some of their dress sense back then, as I can recall as I caught their live show on a couple of occasions, but they clearly knew how to rock!
Sadly when Francis Dunnery decided to leave at the end of 1990, the band seemed to struggle for a while, but soldiered on nonetheless, for a while, before then going their separate ways, with keyboard genius and main writer in the band, John Beck, soon hooking up briefly with John Wetton's (Asia, King Crimson, Roxy Music) solo touring band and then briefly the Alan Parsons Project band.
Bob Dalton (Drums) also followed Beck into John Wetton's band at the time.
Original bassist Dick Nolan also joined the Alan Parsons Project, before then hooking up with Ray Davies (Kinks) solo band.
Francis Dunnery had chosen a solo career that seems to have kept him busy to this day.
Following It Bites reformation in 2006, sans Dunnery of course, he being replaced by John Mitchell (Kino, Arena, John Wetton) on lead vocals and guitar, but including Beck, Dalton and Nolan, although then Nolan was replaced by new member Lee Pomeroy (Mike Oldfield, Rick Wakeman) who is sometimes replaced by Nathan King (Level 42, Frost), when Pomeroy is not available due to his heavy commitment to various session work.
These days, the band seem to have been embraced by the melodic rock / AOR audience and their 'Tall Ships' album release in 2008 seemed to be welcomed with open arms by the genre.
Without further ado though, here is their site update:
It Bites are delighted to announce they will headline 'Z Rock 2011' at The Asylum, Birmingham on May 15th 2011.
Other dates are listed below.
It Happened One Night UK Tour and DVD Launch
14th May Manchester Academy *
Tel. 01618321111 www.manchesteracademy.net
15th May Birmingham Z Rock Festival - The Asylum
Tel. 01695629917 www.zrecords.net
16th May London The Peel House of Progression *
Tel. 02085463516 www.houseofprogression.webeden.co.uk
18th May Newcastle The Cluny **
Tel. 01912304474 www.ticketweb.co.uk
19th May Glasgow The Arches **
Tel. 01415651000 www.thearches.co.uk
20th May Whitehaven Rosehill Theatre **
Tel. 01946692422 www.rosehilltheatre.co.uk
* Special Guest Jon Amor (http://www.jonamor.com/)
** Special Guest Jon Amor and 13 Stars
