Gather ’round spooks, gather ’round witches! It’s HALLOWEEN! Love this day! Can’t wait to show up at work today in my costume! LOL Pictures promised on our Facebook, so stay tuned…..If you hear my Dirt segment tonight on the XL, I talk about this Lou Reed tribute Lars Ulrich of Metallica wrote, which was published in the UK’s Guardian. He broke the band’s silence following the death last Sunday (Oct 27th) of the rock legend, who passed away from liver disease at the age of 71. Metallica collaborated with Reed on the 2011 concept album Lulu, and although the disc was a commercial and critical disaster, it stands for now as the last musical work recorded and released by the former Velvet Underground frontman. Amid a flood of tributes and comments from musicians all over the world following Reed’s death, Metallica did not issue any sort of official statement. But now writing in the Guardian, Ulrich said the band had last communicated with Reed in September. He was supposed to come to their Apollo Theater show in New York on September 21st, but was unable to make it because of his failing health. Ulrich said, “I didn’t know it was that serious. So I was half shocked and half crushed — shocked that he went so quickly and crushed over the loss.” Ulrich added, “Metallica’s always been autonomous, and Lou Reed is the godfather of being an outsider, being autonomous, marching to his own drum, making every project different from the previous one and never feeling like he had a responsibility to anybody other than himself. We shared kinship over that . . . We brought something to each other, and we shared a common lack of ability to fit in with our surroundings.” Ulrich said he “wasn’t surprised” when the hard rock community turned its back on Lulu, although he added, “25 years from now, you’re going to have millions of people claiming they owned the record or loved it when it came out, of course neither will be true. I think it’s going to age well.” The drummer said about Reed, “I’ll always remember his fragility. I felt in some way that I connected to his fragility, and identified with it. He was very open, he would say, ‘Lars, I love you,’ and text me a heart. It was so beautiful. The way he was so unfiltered is what I will remember most, and his fragility, and how I’ve never met anybody who, no matter what he was saying, he was always speaking his truth.” Ulrich called Reed “the most accomplished poet within the world of rock’n’roll over the last four decades.” Read the entire article here. (Thanks Pulse of Radio & Blabbermouth)…..My favorite Foo Fighter, Dave Grohl and his merry band of musical monsters announced yesterday they have one show booked this year! The band is booked to play Mexico City’s massive Foro Sol Stadium on Dec 13th. According to Consequence Of Sound, the support act at the gig will be The National and the concert will come right in the middle of sessions for the eighth Foo Fighters studio album, which will follow up 2011’s Wasting Light. The Foo Fighters leader hinted at the show in Mexico, the first of the band’s 18-year career, in a tweet posted last week. The band has not played an official concert since Sep 2012. Usted habla español??? As a reminder how awesome they are, here’s a clip from their Lollapalooza show in Brazil…..Five Finger Death Punch continue the countdown to the release of the second installment of their masterwork titled The Wrong Side of Heaven, The Righteous Side of Hell out Nov 19 via Prospect Park in North America and Eleven Seven in all other territories. Volume 2 can be pre-ordered here. And the band also launched an exclusive new track-by-track webisode on HITFIX.COM for the new track “Wrecking Ball.” (No, not a cover of Miley Cyrus!) Frontman Ivan Moody, drummer Jeremy Spencer and both guitarists–Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook–discuss the challenges of recording the track while on tour. Watch the new webisode & hear a preview of the song here: http://tinyurl.com/mlqq2r8…..Rob Zombie‘s Great American Nightmare has been in full swing since it opened in Oct 15th in Pomona, CA, including 3 haunted houses with themes from his three horror films, and a variety of bands lined up from all genres of rock. This weekend it winds down, as Rob Zombie and his band headlines Friday and Saturday night shows. And Rob also just released the official music video for “We’re An American Band.” Watch now!…..My boys Korn are on Guitar Center Sessions tomorrow night on the Audience Network on DirecTV (Channel 239 @ 9 PM ET) and you can watch some clips here, here, here and here. I wish I had DirecTv. Wah! Can’t wait to see them again in Nov 27th in New Jersey!….Happy 52nd today to U2’s Larry Mullen, Jr, Adam Horowitz aka King Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys is 47 today and Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice is 46. Don’t eat too much candy!
