Man, my income tax reimbursement came just in the nick of time. I almost had to find a second job! Geez!….Did I tell ya I ran into William Duvall last week in NYC? Seems the rest of Alice in Chains have been busy. They’re finally ready to enter the studio and begin recording its fifth album, which will follow up 2009’s Black Gives Way To Blue. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell told Rolling Stone plans for the project were put on hold while he recovered from shoulder surgery, saying, “It’s time to get to work and the material is really interesting, the body of work that we’ve done. It’ll be as different as any one of our records is to any other, and it’ll also be just as recognizable. It’s an Alice record, for sure.” Jerry hopes to have the new Alice In Chains record out later this year or early in 2013, adding, “We’ve been very lucky to be able to kind of do things at our own pace for our entire career. And this is no exception.“.. Pulse of Radio reports Metallica frontman James Hetfield laughed off talk of a possible collaboration between members of his band and members of Megadeth in a new interview, calling it “crazy” talk on the part of Megadeth singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine. An original member of Metallica before being kicked out in early 1983, Mustaine has jammed with his ex-bandmates on several occasions over the past couple of years during “Big Four” shows and at Metallica’s 30th anniversary concerts last December. Although Mustaine recently spoke about assembling a “supergroup” combining him and Megadeth bassist David Ellefson with Hetfield and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, Hetfield told So What!, Metallica’s fan club magazine, “I see (Mustaine) healthier now. I see him as less of a bitter guy. But I do see a lot of stuff in the press with him talking about jamming with us and making an album. All this other crazy stuff. I read it and say to myself, ‘Hold on. This is the Dave that we kind of wanted to forget about. You know, the big-mouth that wants to just go-go-go.’ Hmmm, wonder what Red will have to say about that? We’ll see him at Rock on the Range next weekend in Columbus, OH! …Pulse also reports a Chicago rally at which Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello was scheduled to perform has had its permit rescinded after it was announced Morello would be there. National Nurses United had its permit for the May 18th pulled despite having received it months earlier. According to the Chicago Tribune, the city told organizers that the permit was revoked “to accommodate changes to your event, including a performance by a nationally known musician and a significantly increased number of expected attendees.” Morello told Rolling Stone, “Chicago is my hometown and the mayor is making me feel mighty unwelcome. I don’t care what they say or do, I’m coming to rock out and speak my mind. We won’t be silenced and we won’t be stopped. If (Mayor) Rahm Emanuel is so afraid of my popularity in Chicago maybe I should run against him in the next election. See you in the streets.” …Speaking of that cool club I saw Korn in earlier this week, Stone Temple Pilots have announced the first date of their Core 20 tour, August 27th in Huntington, New York @ The Paramount. The band will perform its 1992 debut album, Core, in its entirety on this trek to commemorate the record’s 20th anniversary. The group’s only other announced date so far is a headlining spot at the Rock Allegiance festival on September 1st in Hershey, Pennsylvania. STP will also issue a live DVD, Alive In The Windy City, on June 26th. But that’s really not their first date. Their first date is Aug 11th in Pontiac, MI. More on that in the coming days…..Sorry to hear Blink-182 has been forced to cancel its appearance at New Jersey’s Bamboozle Festival, as well as a number of other tour dates, due to drummer Travis Barker needing a sudden emergency tonsillectomy, according to Billboard.com. The band announced the bad news through its Facebook page. My Chemical Romance will now fill in for the veteran punk trio at the event, which takes place in Asbury Park, New Jersey, from May 18th through the 20th. Shows affected are in the northeast & Canada May 15-22. No word on their rescheduling yet….A bunch of local thugs robbed and assaulted concert goers who attended the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ show in Newark, NJ on May 5th as they left the arena venue. Nice going, Jersey! Way to go!….Working away on some new flyaways for ya including one to the Tampa, FL stop of the Mayhem Tour to see and meet Slipknot! More on that soon! Be sure to be a hardDriveRadio Radical to get in on the action! (Must be a U.S. citizen to enter.) Celebrating their birthdays this weekend: today: Perttu Kivilaasko of Apocalyptic (the really skinny dude, hopefully someone will take him out for a huge dinner) turns 34. Saturday, Eric SInger of Kiss & Alice Cooper turns 54, Yogi Berra turns 87! and Billy Duffy of The Cult is 51. Have a great weekend!
