Huge, HUGE news to kick off the column this issue: Melbourne living legends the LIVING END are back with a new single (‘Keep On Running’), album (Shift) and tour! Boy howdy! Catch the boys on Friday, June 24 at the Forum in Melbourne.
The North American Vans Warped Tour line up has been announced, and it’s a huuuge bill. Of course, it’s emo/screamo/metalcore-heavy, but there ARE some surprises on offer, including Teenage Bottlerocket (yes, again!), Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, Less Than Jake, Sum 41, Yellowcard, Cruel Hand, The Story So Far and Four Year Strong. If Australia would’ve been given a line up like this, I would have gone!
The upcoming Guns N’ Roses reunion tour is already old news, I know, but the leaked “updates” about them are certainly interesting! It now appears that original drummer Steven “Popcorn” Adler WILL be taking part in the upcoming shows somehow, and was only kept in the dark until now because he can’t be trusted to keep his big mouth shut about the goings on in Guns country. To say Adler must be pissing himself with excitement right now would be an understatement. Let’s just hope he doesn’t start using again beforehand, because Steven does have a tendency to self-sabotage.
Have you got your L7 tickets yet? Their show at 170 Russell on Tuesday October 11th is almost sold out. This is probably one of the most hotly anticipated tours this year, so don’t miss it. Supports TBA.
Rancid have copped a bit of a shit storm from Aussie fans online, after merchandise was directly marketed to Australian fans on Facebook, despite not having toured here in TWO DECADES. Unsurprisingly, the band has made no official apology or so much as offered a reasonable excuse for their twenty year absence. Stuff ’em. They don’t care about us!
KISS bassist Gene Simmons recently got blasted online by rap fans after he was quoted in an interview as saying that rap would be dead in 10 years. Oh my. Even haters know that hip hop isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Gene might want to stop doing interviews…
Meanwhile, Courtney Love (best known for being in Hole and for marrying Kurt Cobalt) has come out and said that rock ‘n’ roll was as good as dead, and only had a hope of surviving if another Oasis or Nirvana came along and got “as big as Kanye West is”. Okay, love!
Former Batfoot! drummer Joel Sedgewick is now drumming for Sydney band Death Western.
So, where exactly have Eddy Current Suppression Ring and the Smith Street Band disappeared to? Enquiring minds need to know.
Melbourne outfit Wolfpack are heading to the US for a run of shows with the legendary thrash/crossover heroes D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles).
Jack Black from Tenacious D guest judging on Australia’s Got Talent? WTF?! Hair rockers Sister’s Doll were pretty good, though! Everything else on the show sucked. I mean, apart from the always-cool Kelly Osborne!
Melbourne band Bottlecaps have a show coming up with The Duvtons at Bar 303 in Northcote on the 29th of April.
More next time, obviously, that’s how this thing works!
Written by Christopher Cruz
