Saw Australia’s Dead Letter Circus last night at the Gramercy Theater. It was their last show of their tour with 12 Foot Ninjas, Born of Osiris and Periphery. Lucky for lead singer Kim Benzie, his mic broke right around the middle of the last song of their set. (I think it was after he jumped into the crowd.) Better than if it broke in the beginning of the set, eh? Good guys. Check them out online. Then I wisked my way further downtown to Santos House Party, a funky little spot co-owned by Andrew WK. St Petersburg, FL’s Sleepwave performed a showcase there, and I got to hang out with some record label friends (the band is still label shopping), a couple of managers and producer David Bendeth. Happy to see Spencer Chamberlain‘s die hard Underoath fans made it out to support his new project, and after their short set, Spencer hung out to talk to every fan in the room. Stay tuned for more info on Sleepwave…..Well, it’s that time of the year when they announce the dates for the World’s Loudest Month of rock festivals! Our good pals at Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live informed us this morning of their huge festival line up! Welcome to Rockville in Jacksonville, FL is April 26-27, Ft Rock in Ft Myers, FL is April 26, Carolina Rebellion, which is returning to the Charlotte Motor Speedway, is May 03-04, Rock On The Range in Columbus is May 16-18, Rocklahoma in Pryor,OK is May 23-25, and RockFestin Kansas City, MO is May 31. I know I can’t wait, and I am sure you can’t either! I have heard who the probable headliner is gonna be, and am SWORN to secrecy. But guaranteed, you will want to be there…. This is rather cool. Pulse of Radio reports Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor did a FaceTime session with a cancer-stricken fan during a show this past weekend in Las Vegas, according to Radio.com. Halfway through the band’s set at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Saturday night (Nov 16th), Reznor connected online with OC Weekly photographer Andrew Youssef — a huge NIN fan — for a FaceTime session before dedicating the song “In This Twilight” to Youssef. Before calling Youssef, Reznor told the audience, “I want to have a Bono moment and try to FaceTime him.” He told the photographer during the call, “Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I miss you man. I wish you were here,” as the crowd began chanting Youssef’s first name. Youssef, a pharmacist who moonlights as a concert photographer, has stage four colon cancer and has written about his experiences in Last Shot, his OC Weekly column. Youssef even wrote about his devotion to Nine Inch Nails in one column published last July, titled “Hopes of Seeing Nine Inch Nails One Last Time Pushes Me Forward.” Reznor began following Youssef on Twitter in August. The two soon became friends and had lunch together when Nine Inch Nails was rehearsing for its current tour in Los Angeles. Nine Inch Nails has just four dates left on its North American tour in support of the band’s new album, Hesitation Marks. They play on Thursday night (November 21st) in Vancouver, and will hit Seattle and Edmonton over the weekend before wrapping up in Calgary on Monday (Nov 25th)….Got an email from Cody Hanson of Hinder yesterday. He first sent me a Christmas tune the band recorded this year with Jared Weeks of Saving Abel as the singer. Then came a press release from the band’s publicist stating Hinder has severed ties with original frontman Austin Winkler. Winkler, who has been in and out of rehab for substance abuse over the past few years, was unable to complete the band’s tour responsibilities earlier this year, forcing the band to find a replacement. Jared filled in for most of the shows. Cody commented, “I’m really proud of what we accomplished over the years. We hold no animosity towards Austin, and wish him the best. Although it was a difficult decision, it was the best thing for everyone involved and time for us to move on.” Hanson added, “This summer/fall tour was a tough one. We want to thank the fans for all their overwhelming support. We couldn’t have made it through everything without you. We are very excited about the future of Hinder and can’t wait to share the next chapter with all of you!” There’s no word yet on who Hinder might recruit on vocals. It was reported when Winkler left earlier in the year the band was interested in either American Idol season seven winner David Cook or season 10’s James Durbin….Taylor Momsen of Pretty Reckless was supposed to stop by the hardDriveRadio studios today for an acoustic performance and interview, but her rep called me yesterday to say the singer had to go to emergency care up in New Hampshire. So we are rescheduling her for the first week of December. Spit happens!….Have a great day!
