music blog
L.A. GUNS To Release New Studio Album, ‘Black Diamonds’, In April
L.A. GUNS, featuring singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns, will release its new studio album, “Black Diamonds”, on April 14. This will be the fourth studio album since the much-welcome reunion of the band’s core foundation of Lewis and Guns. It will follow the well-received studio albums “The Missing Peace”, “The Devil You Know” and “Checkered Past”, plus the live release “Made In Milan”, and a covers EP “Another Xmas In Hell”. The release date for “Black Diamonds” was revealed by Guns in a social media post on Saturday (January 21). He shared a new black-and-white photo of him and his bandmates, and he captioned it: “@laguns 2023 new album April 14 Black Diamonds and tour”. Last Oc...
BIOHAZARD’s DANNY SCHULER Says ‘There’s Definitely Interest’ In New Music From Reunited Band
Celebrating their 35th anniversary as a band, Brooklyn, New York hardcore metal legends BIOHAZARD recently announced their return, reuniting their original lineup of guitarist/vocalist Billy Gradziadei, guitarist Bobby Hambel, drummer Danny Schuler and bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld. The first wave of confirmed dates for the seminal outfit includes multiple international festivals in the summer of 2023, as well as select appearances in America. In a new interview with Dan Shinder of Drum Talk TV, Schuler stated about how BIOHAZARD came back together (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We haven’t toured in about seven years, almost eight years. In about 2015, [that] was the last year of touring. We wrapped it up after that. We went in the studio to go do a record and things j...
Joey Bada$$ Performs Extended Cover of Mos Def’s “UMI Says”
During an appearance on Australian radio station Triple J, Joey Bada$$ delivered a melodic cover of Mos Def’s ”UMI Says,” off his 1999 debut studio album. In Triple J’s “Like A Version” segment, which sees featured musicians perform one cover and one of their own tracks each week, Bada$$ performed a dreamy, extended version of “UMI Says.” His rendition was accompanied by Zimbabwean-born, Melbourne-based artist KYE. Following his performance of Def’s track, Bada$$ sang “Show Me,” which appears on his recently-released third studio album, 2000. In an interview with Triple J, Bada$$ explained that “UMI Says” is “one of [his] favorite songs of all time.” “It’s such a spiritual connection that I have to this song,” he said. “I feel like I could almost relate to what Mos Def is sp...
Watch Sam Smith Perform “Unholy” with Kim Petras on SNL
Sam Smith was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last night, performing “Unholy” and the title track from their forthcoming LP Gloria, due out next week. The episode was hosted by Aubrey Plaza. Check it out below. During “Unholy,” Smith wore a voluminous hot pink dress, which was flipped open to reveal Kim Petras sitting inside. Petras emerged and sang her part on the recorded single. For “Gloria,” Smith was joined by choir of hooded singers. In the foreground of the stage, a woman reclined on a sparkly chaise lounge; that woman was Sharon Stone. This was the third time Smith served as the musical guest on SNL; they made their debut in 2014 and performed again in 2017. Smith released their last album Love Goes in 2020. Watch Sam Smith break down their favorite vocal performances on P...
Beyoncé Plays First Concert in Five Years in Dubai: Setlist + Video
Beyoncé took the stage at the Dubai luxury hotel Atlantis the Royal this weekend, performing at a private concert to open the resort. It marked Queen Bey’s first full-length performance since headlining Coachella in 2018. The 17-song set primarily consisted of classic hits, such as “XO,” “Halo,” “Freedom,” “Crazy in Love,” and “Countdown.” Despite dropping Renaissance, one of the best albums of 2022, she did not perform a single song from the record. She did, however, perform several songs from her soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift live for the first time, including an on-stage duet of “Brown Skin Girl” with her daughter, Blue Ivy. The concert concluded with Beyoncé singing “Drunk in Love” as a platform lifted her high above the stage. Check out videos of the performance an...
Met Opera Concert to Mark Anniversary of Ukraine Invasion
The Metropolitan Opera in New York will mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a concert to remember victims of the war. Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Soprano Golda Schultz, mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, tenor Dmytro Popov, and Ukrainian bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi will be the soloists at the Feb. 24 performance. “Mozart’s Requiem is to remember the innocent victims of the war, and Beethoven’s Fifth is in anticipation of the victory to come,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said in a statement Friday (Jan. 20). The concert will be broadcast on radio and will be presented in association with the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A...
8 Best Moments From Drake’s SiriusXM Show at New York’s Apollo Theater
“I’d like to take you on a little journey tonight, if that’s ok?,” Drake asked onstage at the Apollo Theater on Saturday (Jan. 21). After two postponements last fall, the Toronto superstar finally graced the stage at the legendary Harlem venue on Saturday night for his first of two shows there this weekend. In partnership with SiriusXM and his radio show Sound 42, the concert was originally meant to take place on Friday (Nov. 11) but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff whose untimely death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again due to production issues. Twenty-five minutes after his scheduled set time of 9:00 p.m., a white screen lifted to reveal Drake sitting in a bedroom made to look like his old room in his mother’s basement. The other ...
DISTURBED’s MIKE WENGREN Is ‘Killing It’ In The Gym In Preparation For Band’s Upcoming Tour
DISTURBED drummer Mike Wengren is “killing it” in the gym in preparation for the band’s upcoming tour. On Thursday (January 19),Southeast Wisconsin’s Peak Health & Performance shared a short video of the 51-year-old musician working out at the facility and included the following caption: “After two years off from touring, DISTURBED‘s Mike Wengren has killed it in the gym, gaining in both strength and size. Here he is trap bar deadlifting/shrugging 165kg (363lbs). #peakhealthandperformance #eleiko”. In a 2015 interview with Modern Drummer, Wengren said that he “absolutely” saw a connection between being a drummer and an athlete. He explained: “I think drumming in itself is very physical and very much like being an athlete. I di...
OPETH’s MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT Pays Tribute To DAVID CROSBY: ‘He Crafted So Much Fantastic Music, It’s Incredible’
OPETH‘s Mikael Åkerfeldt has paid tribute to David Crosby, a founding member of THE BYRDS and CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (later CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG),who died earlier this week at the age of 81. On Friday (January 20),Mikael took to OPETH‘s social media to write: “It must have been in 2010 or thereabouts when I first heard David Crosby‘s ‘If I Could Only Remember My Name’ LP. I was at Steve‘s (Wilson) house working on either ‘Heritage’ or perhaps the STORM CORROSION album as the idea for the project was hatched around the same time. It’s a bit of a blur. Between work, myself and Steve went for walks, drank wine (or I did),shopped for records, watched movies and listened to vast amounts of music. One evening he brought o...
Watch New Lineup Of LYNCH MOB Perform At Florida’s ROKISLAND FEST
LYNCH MOB performed this past Thursday, January 19 at the RokIsland Fest in Key West, Florida. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below (courtesy of concertsrock YouTube channel). Last October, legendary DOKKEN axeman George Lynch explained his decision to return to using the LYNCH MOB name for his solo project. For much of 2021 and 2022, George had played dates around the U.S. under the name ELECTRIC FREEDOM, which he previously said was the new name of his “touring entity” after deciding to retire the LYNCH MOB band name in 2020. However, three months ago, it was reported that LYNCH MOB was once again playing shows, with George joined in the band’s current lineup by his longtime drummer Jimmy D’Anda (BULLETBOYS) along with TANTRIC bassist Jaron Gulin...
Former EXODUS Guitarist RICK HUNOLT Supports PANTERA Comeback: ‘They’re Doing It Because They Wanna Play The Songs’
Former EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt has weighed in on the fact that PANTERA‘s surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) have united with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner. Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024. According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band’s founders, drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott and guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, a...
How That ’90s Show Handles Hyde’s Absence
This week Netflix brought us back to Point Place with That ’90s Show, a reboot of That ’70s Show set almost 20 years after the original series’ end. Eric (Topher Grace), Donna (Laura Prepon), Red (Kurtwood Smith), Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), Jackie (Mila Kunis), Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), and Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) all return for the new sitcom, but you may be wondering: Where’s Hyde? The short answer is, Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson) doesn’t appear in That ’90s Show due to Masterson’s legal troubles. The actor was accused of raping three unnamed women in 2017, with the alleged incidents taking place between 2001 and 2003. The trial ended in a hung jury in 2022, and a new trial is set for March. Masterson and the Church of Scientology, of which he is a member, have ...
