Away Team

The heavy metal time machine will turn back to the 1980s and ʻ90s when Queensryche, Cinderella, Ratt, Kix, Warrant and Night Ranger are among the 19 bands to take over Merriweather Post Pavilion, playing full sets of their glam rock and heavy metal hits.

For the first time, M3 fans wonʼt have to choose between bands with overlapping set times, since each band will play one at a time. Also, the festival will take place on two separate stages, each simulcasting the other, giving fans the option to stay in one seat and watch
all the bands as they appear on both stages, or fans can move from stage to stage without missing a note.

In its fourth year, I.M.P. Presents M3 Rock Festival starts with The Official M3 Kix-Off Party Friday May 11th at 7pm. Acts playing Friday night include Night Ranger, Kix, Enuff ZʼNuff, In the Pink and Let There Be Rock. The fullblown 2012 M3 Rock Festival begins Saturday, May 12th at 11am and will include Queensryche, Cinderella, Ratt, Skid Row, Warrant, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Stryper, Loudness, Lynch Mob, XYZ, Bang Tango, Drumwars, and Street Light Circus.

Each year VIP and Pavilion seats sell out in minutes. VIP and discounted 2-Day Packages will go on sale Friday, Feb. 3 at 10am EST through Ticketfly. If there are any tickets remaining as of February 24th, they will go on sale as Single-Day tickets at 10 am EST. Tickets can also be purchased at the Merriweather and 9:30 Club Box Offices. For more information, visit http://www.ticketfly.com/ or http://www.m3rockfest.com

VIP ticket holders will have:
• Private VIP Entrance gate
• Official M3 2012 Festival T-shirt
• Official M3 2012 Concert Poster
• Access to floor and prime pavilion seating
• Access to M3 VIP Deck located backstage (includes access to VIP concessions and VIP restrooms)
• Access to Artist Meet-&-Greet Lounge.

For more M3 click here.

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.

SKID ROW has revealed their 2011 tour plans.

Confirmed dates:
February
26 – Speaking Rock Event Center – El Paso, TX
March
5 – Cher-Ae Heights Casino – Trinidad, CA
6 – Avalon Nightclub – Santa Clara, CA
11 – Brixton South Bay – Redondo Beach, CA
12 – Galaxy Concert Theater – Santa Ana, CA
30 – Arizona Bikeweek at Handlebar Saloon -Scottsdale, AZ
April
15 – Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
May
29 – Van Buren Country Fairgrounds – Keosauqua, IA
June
4 – Midwest Bikefest – Norfolk, NE
July
9 – Rip City Riders 3rd Annual Summer Fun Run – Klamath Falls, OR
August
13 – Wisconsin State Fair – Milwaukee, WI
26 – Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino – Uncasville, CT
27 – Havana – New Hope, PA

More dates to be announced soon.

For more SKID ROW click here.

Gary Moore (born Robert William Gary Moore, 4 April 1952) was a musician best recognized as a blues rock guitarist and singer from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey as early as his secondary school days, leading him to a membership twice with the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and Skid Row (not to be confused with the glam metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on “She’s My Baby” from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.

The legendary Belfast-born guitarist died in his sleep last night, while on holiday in Spain.









Read more on Gary Moore here and here.

An as of yet untitled project featuring Matt Bachand and Jon Donais on guitars (Shadows Fall), Derek Kerswill on drums (Unearth/Seemless), and Jeff Fultz on bass (Seemless), has begun to take shape. The band has recorded a five song demo thus far, and are actively seeking a vocalist.

“We are looking for one crazy bastard with the energy, the drive, and the determination to take this thing to the next level,” says Matt Bachand. Jon Donais adds, “The vocalist we seek should be influenced by a variety of melodically based bands anywhere from Alice In Chains, Shinedown, and Aerosmith, to Skid Row and Pantera.” You must be serious about the position, and must be able to tour extensively. Demo submissions are currently being accepted. Submissions should include a bio and list of past experience, photo, audio and/or video performance, and any other information you would like the band to know.

Interested singers should send demo submissions and contact info to iamdrunk666@gmail.com.