Away Team

Fellow New England platinum rock bands, Staind and Godsmack have announced they’ll be doing a co-headline tour, which their fans voted to name, THE MASS CHAOS TOUR. It will kick off April 13th in Augusta, Georgia at James Brown Arena. Opening the show will be hard rock quartet, Halestorm.

“Going on tour with Godsmack was a no-brainer,” says Staind singer/guitarist / songwriter Aaron Lewis. “Our fans are in for one hell of a rock show.” Godsmack frontman and songwriter Sully Erna says, “We’re very excited to get back out with our Massachusetts brothers again. It’s been a pinch too long, and all hell is about to break loose!” Lzzy Hale of Halestorm said, “I am stoked to be supporting Godsmack and Staind on this tour! To be touring with the two bands of my generation that paved the way for modern rock is an honor! This line up will crush your skulls!”

The bands are giving fans the chance to design a tour poster for The Mass Chaos Tour via Creative Allies. The winning designer will receive $500 and a prize pack. For contest details and entry, go to: http://bit.ly/xzpcAx

Pre-sale opens up for the fan club at www.godsmack.com on Wednesday 1/25 with the public on-sale Friday, 1/27. The password for the pre-sale has been sent out to all Godsmac.com members via our newsletter.

Exclusive pre-sale tickets for Staind’s Dysfunctional fan club members: http://www.dysfuntionalstaind.com starts on January 25th – 2 days before they go on sale to the public on January 27th.

GODSMACK / STAIND w/ HALESTORM TOUR DATES:
April 13 Augusta, GA @ James Brown Arena
April 15 Estero, FL @ Germain Arena
April 17 New Orleans, LA @ UNO Lakefront Arena
April 18 Lafayette, LA @ Cajundome
April 19 BOSSIER CITY, LA CenturyLink Center 99 X Fest
April 21 Lubbock, TX @ Lone Star Amphitheater
April 22 Belton, TX @ Bell County Expo Center
April 24 Beaumont, TX @ Ford Pavilion
April 25 Laredo, TX @ Laredo Energy Center
April 28 Phoenix, AZ @ Quail Run Park 98 KUPD U-FEST
May 1 Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Amphitheater
May 2 San Antonio, TX @ Illusions Theater
May 4 Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
May 6 Evansville, IN @ Ford Center
May 9 Battle Creek, MI @ Kellogg Arena
May 11 Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
May 12 Huntington, WV @ The Big Sandy Superstore Arena
May 15 Syracuse, NY @ Oncenter
May 16 Manchester, NH @ Verizon Wireless Arena
May 18 Bangor, ME

Thursday, December 29, 2011
Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
Photos by Marcy J Royce

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Word on the street (ok, word on the internet) is that Jonathon Davis and his merry band of feel good warm and fuzzy song writers (called KORN) are currently working with several Dubstep producers on their new album.

Originally it was to be an EP, but the band took to the vile new dance style of music and are reportedly doing an entire album worth of this vomitous dreg with Skrillex, Kill The Noise, Excision, and 12th Planet.

KORN has already debuted a track from the upcoming album on SPIN.com called Get Up.

I’ve included the link, but, really, you’ve been warned.

If that wasn’t bad enough, someone took dog shit and tried to make nastier dog shit out of it! Jonathon Davis posted a remix of Get Up by AutoErotique on SoundCloud. I’m attaching it here so you can… well… torture yourself if you must.



Korn Feat Skrillex – Get Up (Autoerotique Mix) by kornofficial




Supposedly the new KORN album will be out on November 15th, but neither Korn nor their label RoadRunner Records has confirmed it.

If THAT wasn’t bad enough Halestorm has just unleashed a remix of a cover they did of Heart‘s All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You. Lzzy Hale just posted on twitter and their website that this Dubstep cover was not the band’s idea, but that SIX5 (whomever that is) did it on their own and submitted it to their label. You can read more about that right here.

I am attaching the SIX5/Lzzy Hale song here. Again, you’ve been warned.









Why am I telling you all this?

BECAUSE.

We must stop this right here. And now. The rap/metal thing has finally run it’s course, unfortunately nobody has told Fred Durst. And we do not need Metal/Dance/Dubstep/WTFever to begin.

Kill this illegitimate form of music now before it spreads like the incurable Bieber Fever epidemic of 2010.

For all that is Metal… Kill it now.

You’ve been warned… You’ll thank me later.

HALESTORM

Reanimate: The Covers EP

Atlantic Records

8 out of 10

Ok, so you put an even remotely attractive woman on a stage, and I’m pretty much hooked from the get go. Sexist? Probably… But I’ve got a thing for women on stage. Sue me.

But when a woman has talent on top and exceeding her looks? Well then you’ve got something for your ears and eyes. Heart, Pat Benetar, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos, Doro Pesch, the list goes on and on, all have amazing talent vocally as well as musically.

So there’s a new breed of women rockers out there doing their own thing… Maria Brink (In This Moment), Otep (Otep), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Alexis Brown (Straight Line Stitch), again the list goes on and on. And hot on their heels is the newest female fronted band… Halestorm.

Fronted by Lzzy Hale the band features her brother Arejay Hale, Joe Hottinger, and Josh Smith. They have released a solid self titled debut which charted well for them as well as got them enough notice to put them on the main stage of last year’s Uproar tour with Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour.

The Band has released a new EP of covers to tie their fans over until they can finish their follow up full length album.

An EP of covers from a band with only one album out seems to be a risky move to me. If you’re trying to keep your name in the forefront of your fan’s minds then maybe a live DVD (the label already put out a live album of theirs a year after their self titled album came out as their singles finally began to chart and hit with the public), or an EP of acoustic reworkings… something that is yours, not copies of other songs seems to be in the band’s best interest to me. But then I’m not some big label head honcho either. Whatever.

That being said, let’s look at the songs chosen for the EP:
All I Want to do (is make love to you) by Heart, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Hunger Strike by Temple Of The Dog, I Want You (she’s so heavy) by The Beatles, Out Ta Get Me by Guns & Roses, Slave To The Grind by Skid Row. So this young upstart band definitely has some balls to it. From pop dance to classic rock, and grunge to sleaze rock. The song selection alone intrigued me. How would they do actually covering the songs?

Well, the Heart cover was pretty much straight forward, and done very well. Bad Romance seems to be the hardest one to cover. How do you take a rock band and throw in a dance song and make it sound good? I don’t know. Really… this should be a recipe for certain disaster, but Lzzy and the boys actually pulled it off and very well. This may actually be the highlight of the EP. Being able to turn a Lady Gaga song into a rock n roll monster? Hats off to Halestorm for doing it, and doing it well.

Oddly the Lady Gaga cover has caused less controversy and dissent from the internet trolls than their decision to cover Temple Of The Dog. I’m sorry, but when did Grunge become gospel? And if a band can run the gamut between classic Beatles, to Modern day dance pop, and everywhere in between why can’t they take on grunge too? I mean who made TotD the sacred cow anyway?

It’d be one thing if the band didn’t pull off the song. Or heaven forbid took a dance song and made a rock song out of it, only to take a grunge song and make a dance hit out of it!!!! But Halestorm sticks to the basics and pulls off a decent remake of a very good song. I will say that it does lose a little passion when Lzzy sings it over Eddie Vedder, but it isn’t a bad version by any means.

The Beatles song may be the only song I take umbrage with and that is only because it runs on too long and gets a bit monotonous at the end. But the first 4 minutes of the song are… the ballsiest the band has every sounded to me.

Out Ta Get Me is sleazy and dirty, but a little unremarkable compared to the rest of the songs on the EP.

And I may have to go back and listen to their debut, but I think Slave To The Grind may well be the heaviest thing the band has done. And heavy they do well. Would love to see this one live. I can totally see Lzzy standing their snarling out the lyrics to this, and I’m sure this summer that’s exactly what we’ll see.

So other than the odd choice of putting out a covers EP, the project works. A solid 8 from me for this, and that is only because Hunger Strike and Out Ta Get Me left me a little flat.









You can pick up Reanimate The Covers EP here.
For more HALESTORM click here.

HALESTORM
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Ram’s Head Live – Baltimore, MD

Photos by Marcy Royce.

Taking Baltimore, Maryland by storm, this was a performance not to be forgotten by formidable rock contenders, HALESTORM.

This band has paid their dues along the way in their career. Worked hard, expecting the best of themselves, and persevered. Now they are becoming a mainstay in their genre. Playing with the likes of Papa Roach, Seether, Trapt, Staind, Chevelle, Three Days Grace, Megadeath, Theory of a Deadman, Avenged Sevenfold, Buckcherry, Shinedown, Disturbed, and Stone Sour. Some really awesome bands of today.

I’ve been a fan since the early days. 2005 to be exact. Just 1 year after the current lineup added the last member of the band, bassist Josh Smith, to round out the quartet. I first photographed HALESTORM in Boonsboro, MD in 2007 at the now defunct Stinger’s Nest. Just two years after they signed their current contract with Atlantic Records. I even met the band after their performance at the merch area, something they still do to this day. These artists truly value and appreciate their fans. And they don’t forget from where they came.

And I’ll tell you something. HALESTORM has come a long way since 2007. I’ve seen their performance many times in the last four years. I have experienced them enough to honestly, accurately and with deep conviction tell you my opinion. Each of the four members has honed their craft and taken everything to the next level. I do truly admire Lzzy, Arejay, Joe and Josh.

Even though the weather was warm this March night, a huge HALESTORM rained down upon the city. Ram’s Head Live was COMPLETELY SOLD OUT. Not an extra ticket to be found. Passersby even asked me if I had an extra ticket outside the venue. This band is now T-H-E band to see. The fans inside were ready to rock out to their idols, they even started to chant HALESTORM, HALESTORM, HALESTORM, HALESTORM in anticipation after the lights drew low. And an eerie blue cast took over the darkened stage. The excitement was building.

First out of the gate for the night was a new song off their upcoming release titled Love Bites (so do I). Really great song! Solid guitars, solid lyrics, a tune to really sink your hooks into as a fan. The band was having so much fun, amped up and kicking ass. I just love to hear Lzzy belting out lyrics. She has a hell of a vocal range and uses it on this one. Everyone in the crowd had their horns up at the conclusion. I can solidly say everyone loved it.

And it was rumored that this new song and another new song were being performed for the first time this night. Lzzy mentioned during the set the band would be going into the studio this summer to complete work for the new release. Everyone went wild. And I can’t WAIT for it. I want to hear how far musically they have pushed themselves since the last release and to see how much they’ve grown yet again.

Next up was It’s Not You. One of my favs off their self titled album with Atlantic. I always find myself entranced with Joe on this one. So full of raw energy, moving constantly and smiling. Truly loving what he is performing and myself allowing his guitar solo wash over me. I planted myself in front of him to take photographs because of all that. The next song, and last song, for me to photograph in the press pit was Innocence. Another good heavy hitter and high energy song.  AreJay had my attention on this one. Most people know by now that I have a thing for drummers, and he is no exception. His style is distinctive. Most likely imitated by others. And he’s damned good at what he does. I just stared at him and soaked up the talent.

As I exited stage right I took up residence with two views. One live view, one big screen view. Ram’s Head is a great venue for that. Big screens everywhere so you can see all the action on stage even if you can’t personally see the stage. That’s usually the case for me since I’m a very short gal. The songs followed in this order: Bet U Wish U Had Me Back, Heart cover – All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, I’m Not An Angel, Familiar Taste Of Poison, Drums Solo, Skid Row cover – Slave To The Grind, Nothing To Do With Love, Lady Gaga cover – Bad Romance, American Boys (new), Dirty Work and the grand finale I Get Off.

I did pick up their ReAniMate Covers EP which has 6 tracks on it. They are: Slave To The Grind, Skid Row; Bad Romance, Lady Gaga; Hunger Strike, Temple Of The Dog; Out Ta Get Me, Guns N’ Roses; All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Heart’ and I Want You (She’s So Heavy), The Beatles. All very great choices to cover and shows what the band looks to for inspiration. I promptly loaded it into my iTunes the next day and put the selection in my iPod rotation. I suggest you get a copy of one for yourself.

As a matter of fact, go to www.halestormrocks.com for everything about the band. Including photos, tour dates, bios, fan club and merchandise. And get ready to catch them on the upcoming Avalanche Tour that kicks off this Friday, March 25 in Milwaukee, WI and wraps up on Sunday, May 8 in Jacksonville, FL. Bands include Stone Sour, Theory Of A Deadman, Skillet, Halestorm and the Art Of Dying. Go to www.avalanchetour.com for details.

What a great night, great fans, great music and super talented band. HALESTORM continues to impress me and move me musically. I truly believe they are going to go far. At least by the looks of the sold out show in Baltimore this night, I feel the fans agree. Thanks to Lzzy, AreJay, Joe and Josh for yet another memorable show!

Special thanks and a shout out to Kelly McWilliam with Atlantic Records, and Beth Hale, Tour Manager for HALESTORM, for making this opportunity happen for me and the Away-Team. You ladies are a pleasure to work with!

Saturday, March 19, 2011
Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD

Photos by Marcy Royce

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December 28, 2010 – Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA

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