Happy Friday Radicals! Here’s to a long and relaxing weekend! Let’s take a look at events in the world of rock and roll, shall we?
Tool‘s inability to release a new album during the past 13 years has apparently not done any damage to the band’s pull as a concert attraction. The latest Boxscore report has arrived, listing three sold-out shows in the Midwest that all grossed over $1 million.
The shows took place in St. Louis on May 8th and 13th, as well as Kansas City, Missouri on May 14th. All three earned more than $1.1 million. The numbers did not reflect the band’s net income following payments to the crew and opening act, travel expenses, fees for the manager, agent and promoter, and other costs. Also not included were earnings from sales of merchandise.
Tool is currently raking in more big bucks as it plays a series of festival dates and headlining shows across Europe. More North American shows are expected later in the year.
The band’s long-awaited fifth studio album, its first since 2006’s 10,000 Days, is due out on August 30th. The band has been playing two new songs, “Descending” and “Invincible,” in its recent shows.
Slipknot has just announced plans to livestream its performance at the Rock Am Ring festival in Germany this Sunday night (June 9th). The band is set to close out the day’s lineup, with the show starting at 4:45 p.m. ET and 1:45 p.m. PT for viewers in North America.
For U.S. and Canadian fans, the stream will be a great way for fans to get a look at the band’s new live show ahead of the kickoff of the Knotfest Roadshow tour, which will launch on July 26th and hit some 29 cities.
Singer Corey Taylor admitted a while back that it takes a few days for the band to really get cooking onstage: “It takes a little bit for us, you know. I mean, because we are very active. You know, it usually takes a couple of shows before we dial it in and everything’s there, you know. It takes our bodies about a week to acclimatize. But, I mean, by the time we get into it, it’s all automatic. So we come together pretty quick — at our age, as well. I mean, you know, we’re no spry chickens anymore.”
The group’s sixth studio album, We Are Not Your Kind, will arrive on August 9th. It has been preceded by the release of a new single, “Unsainted,” and the first live performance on this album cycle, a two-song appearance on the May 17th edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Slipknot‘s first full concert in nearly three years will take place Friday (June 7th) at Rockfest in Finland.
Stone Temple Pilots have announced that they will release a new “Super Deluxe” edition of their 1994 sophomore album Purple on September 13th, in celebration of the album’s 25th anniversary today.
The triple CD/single LP set includes a newly remastered version of the original studio album on both CD and vinyl, plus unreleased versions of album tracks and rarities, along with an unreleased full concert recording from 1994. The music will be made available both digitally and as a two-CD Deluxe Edition.
A previously unreleased acoustic version of “Big Empty” is now available digitally.
Purple remains a classic album a quarter century after its release, and guitarist Dean DeLeo told us a while back that he considers the band’s music to be timeless: “We never want to date our material. When I say ‘date,’ you can almost listen to some stuff and just say, ‘Well, that was the drum sound that everybody was using in ’95. I think our records are kind of just — the material is kind of timeless, you know, where you can’t really date it. I think you’ll be able to listen to it 20 years from now and think, ‘Wow, it’s just timeless,’ you know?”
A limited-edition bundle of the “Super Deluxe Edition” is now available to pre-order at stonetemplepilots.com, which includes a bonus replica seven-inch vinyl single of “Interstate Love Song” that was originally released in the U.K. in 1994. The bundle is limited to 1,000 copies.
Trent Reznor is apparently fine with the Netflix series Black Mirror taking several Nine Inch Nails songs and remixing them for a new episode called “Rachel, Jack And Ashley Too.” The episode stars Miley Cyrus as a pop star named Ashley O who sings poppier versions of Nine Inch Nails classics such as “Head Like A Hole.”
Reznor even gave Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker permission to change the lyrics as needed. Brooker explained at a press conference, “(Reznor) got it straight away. It was via email and he was really happy. He wanted to see the script and I got to rewrite his lyrics in a chirpy way. I’m not the best lyricist in the world, and there’s one point where she’s singing ‘I’m stoked on ambition and verve’ instead of, ‘You’re gonna get what you deserve.’”
Brooker added, “He thought it was all very funny. He found all of the dark comedy very entertaining. There are lots of dark concepts in the film and we just enjoyed a childish subversion of them.” The episode began streaming on Wednesday (June 5th) as Netflix premiered three new episodes as part of Black Mirror‘s fifth season.
Reznor himself and musical partner Atticus Ross most recently worked on the scores for the 2018 films Mid90s and Bird Box. Next up for the pair are the scores for two highly anticipated movies: director Trey Edward Shults’ musical drama Waves and Joe Wright’s fall thriller The Woman In The Window. The duo are also handling the music for Damon Lindelof’s upcoming Watchmenseries on HBO.
Metallica has enlisted Rob Dietrich as the new master distiller of the band’s recently launched brand of whiskey. A veteran in the spirits and music industry, Rob will oversee the sourcing, blending, and cask finishing of barrels for each batch of Blackened American Whiskey.
Dietrich joins the Blackened team following the tragic passing of his predecessor Dave Pickerell. Pickerell died suddenly last November in San Francisco where he was scheduled to take part in the annual WhiskyFest event.
Metallica said in a statement, “Rob will continue to build upon the foundation set forth by his predecessor Dave Pickerell . . . Known as the world’s preeminent distiller, Dave brought his vision and creativity to Blackened to offer a premier whiskey enhanced by our music. Rob will continue to honor his spirit while bringing his own talents and skills to the role, working closely with us to keep Dave’s legacy alive.”
Metallica’s first-ever whiskey was dubbed Blackened after the opening track on the band’s 1988 album …And Justice For All. The spirit is a blend of American bourbon, rye, and whiskey was not just barrel-aged, but also sound-aged to the group’s own music via a “sonic-enhancement” process created by the late Pickerell.
Blackened was rolled out in California, Wisconsin, New York and Florida for a suggested retail price of $43.
Finally, we want to wish a Happy Birthday to Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz! Have a great weekend everyone!
