TGIF! Today, I hope to get to Siesta Key beach, named the # 1 Best Beach in the USA. Don’t hate!
Foo Fighters have released a new track titled “Soldier” as part of a series of digital tracks issued to benefit Planned Parenthood. An eventual vinyl version of the series, dubbed 7-Inches For Planned Parenthood, is in the works as well. The song itself is an outtake from the sessions for the band’s new LP, Concrete And Gold.
Concrete And Gold debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 album chart last month, selling 127,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release. The band’s fall North American tour kicked off earlier this month in San Bernardino, CA with Cal Jam 17, a daylong festival featuring the Foos headlining a bill that included Queens Of The Stone Age, Royal Blood, Cage The Elephant and more. The Foos next play tonight (Oct 20th) in Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Foo Fighters invited University of South Carolina student Pierce Edge to play drums with the band. Edge held a sign during the concert that read: “Drums on ‘Under Pressure’?” Dave Grohl brought Edge onstage, joking, “Don’t s**t the bed in front of your hometown, brother.” The band then let him loose on the drums, and Edge launched into a tight rendition of Queen’s 1981 classic. (Thanks, Alternative Nation.)
Linkin Park fans have assembled a new video in support of the group one week before the band will perform for the first time without late lead singer Chester Bennington. The clip was compiled by Linkin Park superfan Jane Kalinina, who utilized images of fellow fans from around the world holding signs of support. Kalinina wrote at YouTube, “50+ soldiers coming together to send Linkin Park a supportive and loving message before their show on October 27th. Please share this video so hopefully the guys can see it and help them feel better.” Bennington’s widow Talinda retweeted the clip, writing, “This video is amazing! They will do great!” Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda also retweeted the video, posting, “I am so grateful for the LP fan base. Love you guys.”
Members of Korn, System Of A Down, Blink-182, Bring Me The Horizon, Avenged Sevenfold and more have been confirmed to appear at the upcoming Chester Bennington tribute concert, set to take place at the Hollywood Bowl next Friday, October 27th. The show will mark the first live performance by Linkin Park since Bennington’s death, with the group’s future plans yet to be revealed.
Proceeds from the concert, which is being billed as Linkin Park And Friends Celebrate Life In Honor Of Chester Bennington, will go to Music For Relief’s One More Light Fund in memory of Bennington. It’s still hard to believe Chester took his own life. SMH. ;(
10 Years (who I will be seeing next weekend in Cape Coral, FL with Pop Evil!) has released a brand new song called “Ghosts,” the title track from the band’s upcoming album (How To Live) As Ghosts. The song follows on the heels of 10 Years’ current radio hit, “Novacaine,” which has steadily climbed the chart and has now reached Number 19 on the Active Rock survey. The full album arrives on Oct 27th.
Singer Jesse Hasek explained the album title was inspired by some challenges the band encountered as well as the return of two key members: “It’s just part of the process. Every one of us are gonna end up passing through this existence and onto the next existence, and it’s like it’s okay to pass to the next one. It’s almost like a rebirth and a beginning and a new start. It was kind of embracing this new birth through kind of death of other things.”
The LP, the band’s eighth, marks the return of guitarist Matt Wantland, who came back in 2016 after a seven-year hiatus, and guitarist/drummer Brian Vodinh, who has handled both in the studio all along but did not tour with the group since 2013. Vodinh will now handle guitars live again, while guitarist Chad Huff switches to bass.
10 Years was formed in 1999 and made its major label recording debut in 2005 with The Autumn Effect, which featured the Number One rock radio hit “Wasteland.” The group is currently on a lengthy fall tour which pulls into Lynchburg, VA tonight (Oct 20th).
Meanwhile, former guitarist Ryan “Tater” Johnson is working away on solo music and you can check him out over on his Facebook page.
Evanescence has released the official music video for the song “Imperfection.” The track is one of two new songs on the band’s next album, Synthesis, which is due out on Nov 10th. In addition to the new songs, the LP features fan favorites re-recorded with a live orchestra and electronica, with help from arranger and composer and Beck‘s dad, David Campbell.
Singer Amy Lee said about “Imperfection” in a statement, “It’s for all the people we’ve lost, all the people who we could lose, to suicide and depression. I’m singing from the perspective of the person left behind, the person in the waiting room. It’s a plea to fight for your life, to stay. Don’t give in to the fear — I have to tell myself that every day. Nobody is perfect.”
She added, “We are all imperfect, and it’s precisely those imperfections that make us who we are, and we have to embrace them because there’s so much beauty in those differences. Life is worth fighting for. You are worth fighting for.”
The “Synthesis Live” tour launched last weekend on the West Coast. Like the album, the tour features a full orchestra and electronics. The trek stops tonight (Oct 20th) in Houston. (The Pulse Of Radio.)
And finally today, in the market to buy a ranch in Montana? Well, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted has one to sell ya for a mere 5 MILLION $$$$$! Feast your eyes on that and dream…..The property is in Sula, MT and according to Blabbermouth via a piece from the LA Times newspaper, The property, named “Rockin JN Ranch,” has belonged to Newsted for more than a decade. The 545-acre gem is situated amidst an ocean of public lands and large holdings. A custom timber frame home with over 5,800 square feet was completed in 2006 and is perched atop a ridge. Huge panes of glass absorb the 360-degree views. A towering stone Rumsford-style fireplace is the centerpiece of the living room and is only one of several. Exquisite woodwork is found throughout and one entire wall on the lower level is from the Gibson guitar factory. The terrain itself is comprised of gentle topography perfect for hiking or horseback. Other improvements include manager’s home and shop.
The 54-year-old Newsted in February 2014 canceled an appearance at Australia’s Soundwave festival with his band Newsted, citing “private and personal circumstances.” The cancellation followed more than a year of intense touring and promotional activity surrounding the release of Newsted’s Metal EP and follow-up album, Heavy Metal Music, both of which were positively received by the critics and fans alike.
After staying mostly out of the public eye for a couple of years, Newsted rejoined Canadian metal innovators Voivod on stage during June 2016 concert at Slim’s in San Francisco. He has since formed a couple of new acoustic projects, one of which completed a short West Coast tour last September. Jason began his career as a member of Flotsam & Jetsam in 1980.
Jason left Metallica back in 2001 but was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, along with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo, in 2009.
Celebrating life this weekend: Today: My pal Snoop Dogg is 46 (aka Calvin Broadus) and former NY Met/tv broadcaster Keith Hernandez is 64. Saturday: Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Ford is 89 and Sunday, actor Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) is 55.
