IRON MAIDEN ANNOUNCES CDN TOUR DATES

Iron Maiden returns to Canadian shores this summer with a handful of dates. Look for the “Maiden England World Tour” to be modelled off of 1988′s “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” tour. (An excuse to dust off some 24-year-old props?)

OHGR ANNOUNCES WEST COAST NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

Skinny Puppy vocalist Ogre has announced West Coast North American tour dates for his ohGr project with Mark Walk. The tour is in support of the band’s latest album unDeveloped.

 

Dec 1 Bottom of the Hill San Fran, CA Dec 2 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR Dec 3 El Corazon Seattle, WA Dec 4 Rickshaw Vancouver, BC Dec 6 The Complex Salt Lake City, UT

Dec 7 Bluebird Theatre Denver, CO Dec 9 Nile Phoenix, AZ Dec 10 Constellation Room Santa Ana, CA Dec 11 El Rey Los Angeles, CA

MUSIC DVD: PLACEBO’S “WE COME IN PIECES”

How is it that Placebo’s fans keep getting younger and younger? I can remember a contingent of teenage girls crowding the alt-rock trio’s Toronto debut in late 1998, and that same flock of adolescent fan femmes flocked to their most recent tour, to support their 2009 album Battle of the Sun, as documented on We Come In Pieces.

MACABRE MUSIC: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE PLAYS T.O. ON THURSDAY

Just a reminder that Toronto Goth/synth/power pop act The Birthday Massacre celebrates the launch of their new remix EP Imaginary Monsters with a gig at Toronto’s The Great Hall this Thursday, October 13. Also on the bill are Crooked Valentine (at 8 pm), The Rabid Hall (at 8:45 pm) and A Primitive Evolution (at 9:30 pm). TBM goes on at 10:30 pm.

 

MACABRE MUSIC: GHOULTOWN LIVE AT THE FESTIVAL OF FEAR

Texan horrorpunk band Ghoultown rode into Toronto last weekend for Rue Morgue Magazine’s Festival of Fear and delivered a rockin’ and robust performance during Friday night’s Shocktail party at The Courthouse venue.

KILL MATILDA ANNOUNCE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE CDN TOUR

East Vancouver “hard punk rockers” Kill Matilda release their debut full-length, I Want Revenge, on October 11th and to support it they are crossing Canada on their Zombie Apocalypse Tour.

NEW VNV NATION ALBUM DUE IN SEPTEMBER

VNV Nation has announced the Sept. 27 release of their eighth studio album, Automatic, as well as a fall tour of North America. The German electronic dance outfit Straftanz will open all shows.

From the press release: “Currently putting the finishing touches on Automatic, the follow-up to their widely-praised Of Faith, Power and Glory, Irish/English bandmates Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson have been hard at work crafting the new album into something far more conceptualized and thematic than previous releases. Calling the new album half-jokingly his “Opus of Retro-futurism”, Ronan has been streamlining the music, artwork, and imaging of this album into a concept that encompasses the industrialization and technology of late 30s America while embracing the technology of today.

With their unique and formidable ability to combine very melodic, danceable electronics with haunting and powerful lyrics, VNV Nation have built a massive fanbase, playing to hundreds of thousands of fans at both their own sold-out shows and major rock festivals worldwide. Their massive hits “Chrome”, “Beloved” and “Illusion” are club staples that still pack dancefloors.”

Tour dates are below:

 

VNV Nation tour dates
Nov. 16 – Mayan Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) Nov. 18 – Nile Theatre (Mesa, AZ) Nov. 19 – Live Nation – San Diego (San Diego, CA) Nov. 21 – Slim’s (San Francisco, CA) Nov. 22 – Hawthorne Theatre (Portland, OR) Nov. 23 – Showbox (Seattle, WA) Nov. 25 – Club Sound (Salt Lake City, UT) Nov. 26. Summit Music Hall (Denver, CO) Nov. 28 – Station 4 (St. Paul, MN) Nov. 29 – The Bottom Lounge (Chicago, IL)	Nov. 30 – Mr. Small’s Theatre (Millvale, PA) Dec. 2 – Phoenix Theatre (Toronto, ON) Dec. 3 – Club Soda (Montreal, QC) Dec. 4 – Paradise Rock Club (Boston, MA) Dec. 6 – 9:30 Club (Washington, DC) Dec. 7 – The Norva (Norfolk, VA) Dec. 9 – Webster Hall (New York, NY) Dec. 10 – Trocadero (Philadelphia, PA) Dec. 12 – Amos Southend (Charlotte, NC) Dec. 13 – Masquerade (Atlanta, GA)

RAUCOUS ROCKABILLY: HANK III TEARS UP AUSTIN’S REVIVAL FEST

Apologies, fiends, for the lack of updates. The DLB has just returned from a vacation to Hell’s awesomest half-acre: Austin, Texas. But while I was there I was able to scare up a few stand-out stories which will be revealed over the coming week. First up, a bit of musical mayhem from this past weekend’s Revival Fest, a raucous gathering of tattooed pin-up queens, gruesome greasers, and all manner of Texas-sized fun — all in celebration of that particular musical mutt known as rockabilly. Close to the top of the bill was Hank III, i.e. lonesome country king Hank Williams’ grandkid. Hank serves up his country through a filter of punk and metal. Here he is playing “Tore Up & Loud.”

EXCLUSIVE! ROB ZOMBIE TALKS NEW TOUR + DRUMMER

The DLB recently spoke with multitasking mad man Rob Zombie about numerous subjects, including his upcoming summer tour, new drummer Ginger Fish, working with friend and comedian Tom Papa, and his next film, The Lords of Salem. Here is is updating us on the tour and Fish. Look for more Part 2 of our conversation soon.

You’re touring Europe soon and then North America with Slayer and Exodus. Is that the best way to spend the summer?

Well, I don’t know if it’s the best way, but it seems to be the only way. That’s the way every summer seems to pan out. Last summer I spent all summer touring with Korn on the Mayhem Tour so I guess it wouldn’t be a summer if I wasn’t losing some hearing.

EXCLUSIVE! RAMMSTEIN AND COMBICHRIST VIDEO

Sunday night’s Rammstein show at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre was much anticipated by the city’s — and likely the province’s given the out-of-town element — goth, industrial, rock and metal community. So much so that the entire venue was sold out. Superlatives fail to capture the scale of the production — which included, of course, tons of pyro, costume changes, props and much abuse of keyboardist Flake — so let’s show you a little of what went on. While security was strict about filming, we managed to capture a portion of the band’s performance of “Haifisch,” specifically the middle section where Flake wades out into the crowd on a raft.

Opening act Combichrist, who have added a tall, thin guitarist since their last appearance in Toronto last fall, put on a similarly spectacular show, even if they didn’t have as extensive a light show as they did during their headlining run. Here is the band performing “Follow the Trail of Blood” before security rushes in to shout “No filming!”

Rating: 5/5