New York City is a giant glazed donut. I can not wait to walk outside and be pelted by ice covered snow dropping off buildings…..And what’s with these Facebook videos? Do we like or hate them?….It’s drummer day here in hardDriveRadio land! Lou Brutus was on the hotLine with Black Stone Cherry drummer and all around great guy John Fred, so be listening for this on upcoming editions of hardDrive and hardDrive XL! Their new album, Magic Mountain, is ready to drop May 6th, and the first single “Me & Mary Jane” is out on the 18th. Today, if I can make it into the office, I will be on the hotLine with Morgan Rose of Sevendust. They’ve got a super acoustic tour and album coming up in April and Morgan texted to tell me their set on Shiprocked was a highlight….I’m hearing Disturbed are getting serious about songwriting. Oh yeah! Also in the studio or writing or in the final mixing stages, Papa Roach, Godsmack, Seether, Halestorm, Tool, Foo Fighters (I think they may be almost done), Linkin Park, Black Stone Cherry, The Black Keys, Nothing More, Adelitas Way (I heard their new track yesterday! Oh yeah, it rocks) and got new Skindred music yesterday which I am really loving. Both In This Moment and Papa Roach are being produced by Kevin Churko, BTW. 2014 will be killer year for rock!…Speaking of Seether, they just announced their tour in April with Black Stone Cherry and Skindred. See the dates in Road Rage….”Don’t pay any mind to the man behind the curtain!”, was a line in the Wizard of Oz. And apparently the bubble has been burst on how large events treat live music in televised productions! It’s played to tracks! Did you catch the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ playing their classic “Give It Away” with Bruno Mars during the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday (Feb 2nd)? And if so, did you notice Flea‘s bass and Josh Klinghoffer‘s guitar were not plugged in? Apparently neither musician was playing live during the three-minute performance, with Flea later admitting so in a tweet, saying, “No trickery. No choice, but no trickery.” According to Jam! Music, the fact that both men’s instruments were just there for show was first noticed by several other musicians watching the show on TV. Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid wrote, “That guitar is plugged into NOTHING,” while blues-rock axeman Joe Bonnamassa tweeted, “Flea… I mean we all know, but for god’s sake at least try to humor the children. #unpluggedlive.” Flea later wrote an open letter about the issue online, saying the NFL had made it clear that all but the vocals would be taken from pre-recorded tracks. He explained, “It was like making a music video in front of a gazillion people, except with live vocals, and only one chance to rock it. Our only thought was to bring the spirit of who we are to the people.” So drummer Chad Smith didn’t really play his drum kit either, a custom Super Bowl set made for the event that featured the logo of every team in the NFL. Now the NFL has split the kit in two — one half for the AFC and the other for the NFC — and is auctioning both parts to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. At press time,the leading bid for the AFC kit was $12,575, while the NFC kit was close behind at $9,575. Both auctions close on Friday (Feb 7th) at 10 p.m. ET….Yesterday, news broke nationally via a tweet from Head from Korn that his cousin’s 13-year old son was taken hostage in his own home by a convicted criminal. After 18 agonizing hours, the swat team in the little town outside of Denver, Arvado, CO, managed to trick the suspect by delivering breakfast and the whole event ended in the killing of the 34-year old man. We understand the boy was not harmed physically. Man. What is going on in this world?….Speaking of more Super Bowl charitable events, U2‘s premiere of its new song “Invisible” in a commercial during the Super Bowl raised more than $3 million for lead singer Bono‘s charitable organization (RED), according to Billboard.com. The money will be funneled to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It took just 36 hours for the number of free downloads of the track on iTunes to lead Bank of America to exceed its initial pledge of $2 million. All proceeds from copies of “Invisible” being sold now as a paid download will also go to the Global Fund…..Happy 5-0 to Duff McKagan of Loaded, Velvet Revolver and Guns N’ Roses. I guess your Seahawks gave you the best present ever, eh!?
