cruise into a rock and roll nightmare

There is a rather odd rock phenomena going on in this age of corporate commercial business. It is ageing rockers taking to the high seas on board a state of the art liner heading off to Caribbean, Florida, Mexico and other exotic destinations to perform on what is described as a 'concert cruise'.
It's fully interactive too, giving you the chance, as it were, to "mingle" with the stars.
The rock stars who will avoid mix with you are many and various in there charisma, setting you back a cool $1000 and up for the experience of spending 5 days in their exultant company.
There's a Prog Rock bonanza (Cruise To The Edge.. yes we get-it) casting off on April 5th with an artist list as long as the heavily laden buffet and bar, which is always obligatory on what usually amounts to days of stuffing your face in desperation.

Yes (oh no) - Marillion (with Fish - ha) - Steve Hackett and Genesis Revisited UK (yikes)) - Tangerine Dream (what?)- Renaissance (thought they were folk music last time anyone looked) - Three Friends (ex-Gentle Giant chumminess) - Strawbs (surely not Cousins) etc etc.
Well the list simply go's on and on. Amazingly there's probably 20 or more in total of these old boy bands going so the pay must be pretty good.
So is this really the future for 21st Century Prog rock man? Steven Wilson would probably faint at the very thouight.

But even more terrifying than the 'Prog' tour comes later in the year as Motorhead have recently revealed the lineup for the band’s first-ever cruise. Yes they've called this the 'Motorboat' and it'll sail in September from Miami to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. And if the thought of Lemmy Kilminster and Co marauding around a cruise ship is not alarming enough...

"they'll be joined by Megadeth, Anthrax, Zakk Wylde, Jim Breuer, Danko Jones, Fireball Ministry, Wilson and more. The cruise will feature concerts, artist meet and greets, Q&A sessions, wet and wild parties, crazy theme nights and more."
**Hennemusic.

You'll notice here the regular use of the description 'more', which will probably be the golden rule of the tour with a boat full of Heavy Metal rockers and the metal freaks who want a part of this large floating mad house. It's damn sure when Lemmy's doctor suggested a period of rest and recuperation for him after his recent serious illness he wasn't thinking of 5 days aboard a floating mosh pit. Never the less Lemmy has deemed himself fit and raring to go. Although one fears the vessel may not be equipped for a burial at sea if all goes less than swimmingly.

**"The 'Carnival Ecstasy' (you're kidding), which recently underwent a multi-million-dollar refurbishment, features a tropical-themed resort-style main pool area, multiple dining options, 12,000-square-foot Spa Carnival health club, a jogging track, as well as 12 lounges, bars and nightspots."

They also boast a 24-hour pizzeria, which is probably all any of the metal fans will want and how long it will take them to trash all of the above improvements.
Or as one recent customer had found having taken his family on a once in a lifetime holiday and found he'd actually been booked on the "Cruise to the Edge? Of what? Hell?"
The poor sap had not only been surrounded for 5 days with the constant blitzkrieg of a PA system on full drive but the gruesome experience of "very hairy old rockers gawking at the teenage girls".
Shudder.
A word of advice for any pirates out there on the high seas... avoid this boat.

metallica out in the cold

...that's out in the really really cold. In Antarctica to be precise.
Rather spectacular it was too , maybe not so much the sound if you weren't there as the whole show was done under headphones. The audience and the band get headphones and away they go. No giant stacks making the wildlife quake in their fur and feathers here.
No doubt when you've been on the ice for a few months the amassed science teams were up for this one in a big way. For the rest of us hearing the captured sound from the mixer line out it's a slightly disembodied experience, and for the first few minutes it sounds like the band were experiencing something similar. A disjointed and shaky start has Lars Ulrich sounding like he's kicking the kit down a flight of stairs with the guitars less shredding more mistiming.
But they get it right after a couple of numbers and it does make for compelling viewing watching them and the audience delight at being in their plastic geodesic dome at the Earth's southernmost continent.
Part of the audience chanting that familiar European serenade "Ole..Ole.. Ole" rather shows most have them had no idea what was going on, but they were still having fun away from their computers. It all worked well environmentally speaking as the paddling seagulls were unruffled throughout the set.
Less cheerful fans back in warmer surrounds have branded the set list as shitty. Terrible sound. Guitar playing sounds weak and sloppy. But they all miss the point. Metallica took their music to the ends of the Southern Hemisphere and no one else can say that.
You'll need to turn the sound up as it's not the usual live metal saturation from beneath the headset and the video begins a few minutes in when they begin their set.
Lets leave the last words to them..
"The energy in the little dome was amazing! Words cannot describe how happy everyone was."

heavy metal finance

Pop is big business right? The likes of Cowell and his cronies link arms with advertisers and roll out a grey carpet of blandness worth a fortune, inticing yet another young mind to want a slice of the fame cake.
Rock on the other hand with declining CD sales and burdgeoning tour costs walks into a slow decline right?
Wrong !
A report called "1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain" published by the London Stock Exchange have named Iron Maiden LLP (limited liability partnership) as one of the fastest-growing music companies in the UK, would make Cowell froth at the mouth to get himself a piece of this action.

*The Guardian reports Iron Maiden fall into the £10-20m earning bracket, using billions of real-time data from sources such as email traffic, financial transactions, PCs on the web and office space.

According to Musicmetric, in the 12 months ending 31 May 2012, the band attracted more than 3.1 million social media fans; during the course of their Maiden England world tour, which ran from June 2012 to October 2013, their fanbase grew by 5 million online fans, with their popularity increasing markedly in South America.

Iron Maiden's BitTorrent data suggests Brazil is a huge driver of fans – and given Brazil is one of the biggest file sharing nations on the planet, this is a strong indicator of popularity," said Greg Mead, CEO and co-founder of Musicmetric. "With their constant touring, [the] report suggests Maiden have been rather successful in turning free file-sharing into fee-paying fans. This is clear proof that taking a global approach to live touring can pay off, and that having the data to track where your fan bases lie will become ever more vital.*

As the iron machine rolls on with the economy of a small country no one in UK popular culture talks about the hidden giant that is heavy metal. The TV has little to broadcast about it. The pop shows steadfastly ignore it's relevance. The knighthoods and the plaudits land elsewhere.
Here at their last date of the 2013 Maiden England tour at the Estadio Nacional Chile, thousands watch the tiny figures on a distant stage and chant every word of the song. The resulting clip will be posted amongst a thousand others and have an advert placed on it. Just like every clip does of Iron Maiden.
It is a new age of heavy metal finance.

* via hennemusic

maiden england

Last weekend saw England's biggest metal band return to their roots and perform the two final concerts of their latest European tour. The first date which was initially announced during the bands headline performance at Download 2013 was sold out in a matter of minutes following the release of the tickets on the morning of 28th June. A second date for the following day was added shortly after, which was to be the final date of the latest Maiden England tour at London's O2 Arena. The tour marks the 25th anniversary of the band's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album, and essentially feels like a follow up to 2008's Somewhere Back in Time tour.

Attending on the Sunday, the O2 swiftly filled up with a mass of black tshirts adorned with the bands signature artwork from a collective of historical albums, some 20,000 fans eagerly await the presence of metals greatest custodians who were about to perform another unforgettable concert in their 30 year plus career. A setlist filled with early fan favourites and Maiden epics alike, and the band being on razor sharp form, this was truly a performance not to disappoint.

Personal highlights included the 21st century rendition of the now triple guitar barrage of the 1980 hit Phantom of the Opera, the melodic/heavy/melodic war epic Afraid to Shoot Strangers and the masterful performance of the epic title track from 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

A couple of funny turn ups at the event, apparently Bruce Forsyth of all people was at Saturday's show in the crowd. Also, Bruce Dickinson had a dig at the New Musical Express, who are difficult to  consider as a decent source of music journalism at the best of times! I wasnt aware (being a non-NME reader) that after Download festival one of NME's writers referred to the Spitfire flypast at the start of Maiden's set as "a replica of World War II Spitfire fighter jet", but Bruce summed up the writer in question perfectly, as "a fucking dickhead"

With a flawless performance from the band, Bruce's trademark stage antics brandishing a Union Jack flag and a Spitfire pilot in the audience, Iron Maiden once again prove that they are not only a genre defining band with a 30 year legacy, but part of our heritage.

metal kids

Malcolm Brickhouse, Jarad Dawkins and Alec Atkins are 12 year old Brooklyn 6th Grade school kids and they have a band.
They're called 'Unlocking the Truth' and they play and write their own heavy metal.
They appeared earlier this month on the American stand up comedy television series 'Totally Biased' and simply rocked the house.
Jaws off floor please.

heavy metal head painting

 
Via Nerdcore

clive burr

Former Iron Maiden drummer, Clive Burr, sadly passed away last night. Iron Maiden have made an announcement regarding their former band mate on the official Iron Maiden website, which can be read here. 

Clive Burr was the drummer for Iron Maiden on their first three albums in the early 1980's, and previous to this had played with the band Samson, who Bruce Dickinson was also the vocalist for after Burr had left to join Iron Maiden. Following Burr's departure from Iron Maiden due to personal and touring problems he briefly went on to become the drummer for French band Trust, essentially switching places with his replacement drummer in Iron Maiden, Nicko McBrain. 

Burr went on to perform with other bands but was diagnosed with MS which ended up leaving him in a large amount of debt. Iron Maiden went on to form the Clive Burr Trust and following this Clive Aid was set up staging concerts around the world to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis. 

Here is a video of Iron Maiden in 1982 with an iconic performance from Clive Burr on Run to the Hills

marseille

For anyone who grew up as a child in the 90's, the guitarist from rock band Marseille may seem familiar. For those that dont know, Neil Buchanan maybe more recognisable wearing the famous red jumper while presenting the children's tv art show Art Attack.

Neil presented Art Attack for 17 years and is a well respected artist with exhibitions currently on display in the UK, but before his tv career took off he actually played guitar in one of the leading New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands in the late 70's and early 80's.

The band Marseille (originally called AC/DC) were formed in 1976 , with Neil being one of the original members. After two successful albums and touring with legendary bands like Judas Priest, Ian Gillan and UFO the band encountered trouble after the demise of their record label, and disappeared from the music scene for a couple of years and Neil and a couple of others left the band. Following the legal problems two of the original members remained with the band and released a third album which didn't do too well, so the band eventually decided to split up.

25 years later a new incarnation of the band, reunited with lead guitarist Neil Buchanan, released the album Unfinished Business which was released in 2010. Here is the title track, Unfinished Business