Good morning Radicals! I hope everyone is having a good week. Here’s what’s up in music news today:
Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan has been accused of rape by someone posting anonymously on Twitter. Writing under the handle @IWas17HeWas36, the person alleged that Keenan raped her at a Nine Inch Nails/A Perfect Circle concert in 2000. She wrote in part, “We were in the front row and my boyfriend had his arms around me . . . Maynard saw me and threw a water bottle in my direction. The guy next to me caught it. My boyfriend and I laughed and thought that was cool. Minutes later, a heavy-set, blonde, white woman came out to meet us. She looked at me and asked, ‘Do you want to meet the band?’”
The alleged victim was not allowed to bring her boyfriend back with her, but was led backstage by the woman, who she said she never saw again. When she got there, she recalled, “Maynard was sitting on a picnic table and was staring at me. NIN hadn’t gone on yet so I thought I had plenty of time to get an autograph and get back to the show and my boyfriend . . . But Maynard kept chatting. He asked me how old I was. I said, ‘I’m 17.’ Then he said, ‘I can’t talk to you here, let’s go watch a movie’ and he pulled me away from everyone and onto a tour bus.”
The Twitter user then describes in graphic language how Keenan allegedly raped her on the bus, adding, “There was no consent made. I was not high. I was clean. He did not seduce me, he forced me, quickly taking advantage of my paralyzed state. It took me years to process his actions . . . I’m sure to some this doesn’t sound like rape. I’m telling this story because in the year 2000 the conversation about consent was non-existent, at least not at my high school.”
The person concluded, “It has been 18 years and I’m still working through the trauma of that assault. #MeToo and #TimesUp has been an eye opener. I hope that everyone gets a chance to heal. I hope I can heal . . . I kept it in for years because I knew I wasn’t going to be believed by he legion of dedicated fans.” She added, “Later on, I heard from a male friend that he did this in every city, at every show. He preferred underage girls (or as close to underage as he could get).”
The accusations have been widely discussed on Reddit since they first surfaced over the weekend, with several users saying that they had similar experiences in which women were invited backstage to meet Keenan — but were not allowed to bring boyfriends with them.
Another Reddit user, however, suggested that the accuser’s story was not credible, saying, “It’s not true . . . The security staff checks IDs. If you are not of age, you do not get to go backstage. 17, though ‘legal’ in some states, does not make the cut. Full stop.” This user went into more detail about the backstage situation, claiming that he had two female friends who both slept with Keenan and had no issues.
Neither Keenan nor his representatives have issued any comment on the matter, and it’s important to note that the claims, for the moment, remain anonymous and uncorroborated. Keenan — who’s now married with children — is touring Europe with A Perfect Circle.
Disturbed drummer Mike Wengren has posted a touching tribute online to late Hellyeah and Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, who passed away in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas last Friday evening (June 22nd) at the age of 54. Wengren wrote on Facebook, “Still can’t seem to find the words. Vinnie Paul was an idol of mine back in the 90s. He was a huge influence on my playing. Then Ozzfest 2000 Pantera is on main stage and Disturbed second stage. It was our first-ever major festival touring experience.”
He continued, “We met Vinnie and Dime . . . They took us under their wing and showed us how to treat your fellow touring mates. It never mattered that they were headliners and we were openers. To them, we were all brothers. We have continued to follow that attitude throughout our careers and treat our opening bands and crew as family.”
Wengren continued, “To have met him was a dream come true. To become his friend was an honor. Vin, I will be forever grateful for your impact on my life. Rest in peace, brother. Say hello to Dime for me. Until we jam again in the afterlife.”
Vinnie’s brother and bandmate in both Pantera and Damageplan, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, was killed onstage in Columbus, Ohio by a deranged gunman in December 2004.
Sources close to Vinnie told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he suffered a “major heart attack,” but that information has not been corroborated yet by an official source. The police report stated that the drummer’s death “did not appear suspicious.”
A four-part documentary has been released online in which German outlet Mothergrid takes a detailed look behind the scenes of Metallica‘s elaborate live production. The series addresses the steps taken to put on the visuals and sounds at Germany’s Olympiahalle München, where Metallica performed this past April.
In the first part, lighting designer Rob Koenig, Gene McAuliffe and Michael “Kilty” Petite talk in-depth about the visual systems of the show. The second part features system tech Tom Lyon discussing the sound system while the third has Koenig going head by head through the lighting rig setup. The final part has “Big Mick” Hughes and Markus Wilmsmann discussing the audio and microphone setup.
Drummer Lars Ulrich told us a while back that Metallica always wants to give fans the best experience they can: “I mean, we’re trying hard to, you know, just not fall into or kind of stay in, you know, just one particular way, and we have a bunch of people around us that are helping. The main thing really is just the fans. You know, it’s like, how do you communicate with the fans, how do you get the music to the fans, how do you offer your fans the best Metallica experience that you can?”
The 2018-2019 North American leg of Metallica’s “WorldWired” tour in support of the band’s 2016 album, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, will launch September 2nd in Madison, Wisconsin and run through March 13th in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor went after rappers Kanye West and The Weeknd during an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music, claiming the pair of hip-hop superstars “ripped off” Nine Inch Nails’ live show.
Reznor explained, “I remember us watching a string of bands on Coachella from the comfort of our couch. And every band has a video playing behind them. And every band is synced up with a convenient, polite lighting package, you know? And I saw Kanye West blatantly rip off — and the Weeknd rip off — our tours production-wise, which I’ll say without any hesitation. And they know.”
Both Nine Inch Nails and West have worked with production designer Martin Phillips in the past, according to Pitchfork. And in a 2017 interview with Billboard, The Weeknd’s lighting and production designers, Sooner Routhier and Robert Long, credited Reznor for inspiring their design work, saying, “We’ve always called (the Weeknd’s) aesthetic the Nine Inch Nails of R&B.”
Nine Inch Nails released its new EP, Bad Witch, last Friday (June 22nd). It concludes a trilogy of EPs that started in 2016 with Not The Actual Events and continued in 2017 with Add Violence.
Who would like to see @TheOzzfest happen in the New York area this year? Post your answers at https://t.co/DzSdT9zuhQ #Ozzfest2018 pic.twitter.com/FXiu6TTYBk
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) June 22, 2018
Is Ozzy Osbourne looking to stage Ozzfest sometime later this year on the East Coast? The festival’s Twitter account posted a message this week asking, “Who would like to see @TheOzzfest happen in the New York area this year?” and directing fans to send responses to Ozzy’s Facebook page.
Ozzfest was launched more than 20 years ago, first with a few dates on the West Coast, before expanding into a full international touring festival for nearly a decade. It gradually evolved into a destination event in recent years, with the last couple of Ozzfests combining with the annual Knotfest out in San Bernardino, California for Ozzfest Meets Knotfest.
Ozzy told us he’s always been proud of using Ozzfest as a showcase for up-and-coming acts: “With the Ozzfest I’m so grateful and happy that I’ve given kids, young kids, that want to do something different a platform to do it, you know. I mean the whole industry has changed to a whole ‘nother level now. It’s like not rock ‘n’ roll anymore, it’s all pre-fabricated music, you know.”
Ozzy’s current “No More Tours 2” run — which is being billed as his last major world tour — does have several dates booked in the New York area in early September, including Long Island’s Jones Beach Amphitheater on September 8th and Holmdel, New Jersey’s PNC Bank Arts Center on September 10th. It’s conceivable that one of those could be converted into an Ozzfest as both venues have hosted that event before.
Footage has surfaced online of Ghost‘s first official live performance, which took place in 2010 at the Hammer Of Doom festival in Würzburg, Germany. The band made its live debut less than a week after the release of its first album, Opus Eponymous. The date of Ghost’s first concert was confirmed via documents that came to light in the ongoing lawsuit between frontman Tobias Forge and former members of the band.
Guns N’ Roses have released an unboxing video for the massive “Locked N’ Loaded” edition of their classic 1987 album Appetite For Destruction. The deluxe box set will arrive on Friday (June 29th) and now fans can see everything included in the limited edition package, which costs $1000.
That’s a wrap, have a great day!
