Keel Reunion
2009 will mark '80s hard rock band KEEL's 25th anniversary and the passing of two decades since the original lineup played on stage together.
Unlike most of their contemporaries, none of the members has ever performed as KEEL since 1989.
Ron Keel, guitarists Marc Ferrari and Bryan Jay, drummer Dwain Miller along with Geno Arce (Ron's longtime bassist) are preparing to perform again for the first time in 20 years.
With the high volume of requests for the band to reunite, the members felt the time is right to deliver the show fans everywhere have been demanding: a KEEL reunion.
"It would not have been right without these guys," says Ron Keel.
Plans are for KEEL to reunite at a select number of festivals and showcase dates in 2009 to perform all their hits and classic favorites in celebration of 25 years of rock 'n' roll history. The KEEL debut reunion concert will take place in Hollywood on Saturday, January 31. The location for this historic event will be Club Vodka at The Knitting Factory.
In 1985, KEEL's "The Right To Rock" became the fastest-selling debut in A&M Records' history and the band was proclaimed the "Best New Band" by Metal Edge and Circus magazines. The album's title track was a hit on radio and MTV and remains a staple on VH1 Classic, in addition to the group’s subsequent hits "Tears Of Fire", "Because The Night", "Somebody's Waiting" and "Rock & Roll Outlaw". The group developed a reputation as one of the genre's most entertaining live acts, opening for heavyweights like BON JOVI, AEROSMITH and VAN HALEN, among many others.
For more information, visit KeelReunion.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HphiFz5t6JU&eurl=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=109107
George Lynch Interview
Blogs N' Roses recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB, SOULS OF WE). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Blogs N' Roses: You're a pretty disciplined musician, what percentage of your life is dedicated to just playing the guitar?
Lynch: A very, very small percentage, unfortunately. I wouldn't say small, that probably isn't accurate, but I spend a lot more time on the business of music rather than the playing of music. My obligations to play are so heavy that I've got a guitar in my hands a lot of the time, but as far as sitting around and doing disciplined practicing and tearing stuff apart and reading and expanding my knowledge base, I unfortunately don't get to do much of that.
Blogs N' Roses: You are an actual guitar hero, what do you think about the Guitar Hero games?
Lynch: I think it inspires a lot in interest in guitar but I don't think it's relative to guitar. I think it might be a transitional thing, it could introduce people to the idea of wanting to play real guitar, but I haven't met anybody that's good at one and good at the other. I know lots of shreddy guitar players that couldn't play a note on Guitar Hero, including myself, and lots of kids that can get to the DRAGONFORCE level with one hand tied behind their back, blindfolded and couldn't play a C chord. I know Best Buy is starting to sell musical instruments and I think that makes sense because you get these people that are Rock Band and Guitar Hero and they are going to want to make the transition to real music.
Blogs N' Roses: A couple of months ago I read an an excerpt of an interview and you were talking about DOKKEN and you were saying basically that you and Don [Dokken] wouldn't have a problem with it (a reunion) and you're pretty much just waiting until the right time. Is that the situation, are you guys still on hold?
Lynch: Well, there's no dialogue there, so I don't know. That's really an unanswerable question. I mean, I'm totally fine with it but to get four people at our age, at our points in our careers where everybody's really busy... Mick Brown's [drums] in TED NUGENT working his ass off, Jeff [Pilson, bass] has been in FOREIGNER for four years making tons of money, having tons of success... Why? You know, what's the point? I think the problem has always been...people go, "It's personalities." It's not. It's really money. It's always behind all of it.
Blogs N' Roses: It's management behind it saying, "Hey, you guys should hook up so we can make some money."
Lynch: Uhh, no. It's within the band. There's certain components of the band that are very much thinking that it's all about them. My position is, and I think most of the rest of the guys is, that unless it's going to be an equitable situation like it was for most of the time we were together, that it just isn't going to happen. I think Don enjoys having the control of his DOKKEN tribute band, so good for him.
Blogs N' Roses: So if it happens, it happens and if not that's cool also?
Lynch: Oh yeah, I'm down. If they gave me my 25%, we go and do a real record; no games, no bullshit, no lies, everything's up and up and transparent and go out and create some closure for the fans and ourselves, I think that would be a wonderful thing for everybody. Everybody wins, why not? But uh, a lot of egos there... The thing is, you get bands that achieve some success and then they break up and there's always this one-upmanship thing going on, you know.
Blogs N' Roses: Yeah, it's kinda like Humpty Dumpty, right? It's never the same.
Lynch: "I don't need you guys!" "No, well, I don't need you either!" Well, maybe the people that we worked so hard to get to, that we sold them on our music and they loved the band and the personalities... maybe we should give them this and it wouldn't be a bad thing for anybody. It's music, it's a lot better than having a day job!
Blogs N' Roses: Yeah, it is!
Lynch: They're offering us millions of dollars to go back! Your own TV show, your own record, giant tour all around the world... "Nah!" Fuck! That shit pisses me off. I try to do everything I can. I work as hard as I can. I say no to very little; thus, why I'm here tonight. I don't necessarily have to do this, but it keeps my chops up and keeps me busy. I never ever try to pretend I'm a rock star, I don't give a fuck because you go up, you come down and meet the same people on the way down, then you gotta live with yourself. Try to stay humble…and play the best I can and stay relevant, and that's all you can do. But when you get involved with other people that don't think that way, you get the conflicts.
Read the entire interview from Blogs N' Roses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wom-O1hBIPk&eurl=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/
New Rush Compilation Artwork Revealed
The cover artwork for RUSH's forthcoming "Retrospective 3" set can be viewed below.
Due on January 27, 2009, "Retrospective 3" will reportedly fulfill the band's obligation to Atlantic Records. Although denied by a spokesman for RUSH in a statement to Classic Rock magazine, it has been rumored that RUSH is negotiating a future contract with Rounder Records, who released the "R30" DVD in 2005.
"Retrospective 3" track listing:
CD:
01. One Little Victory (remix)
02. Dreamline
03. Workin' Them Angels
04. Presto
05. Bravado
06. Driven
07. The Pass
08. Animate
09. Roll the Bones
10. Ghost of a Chance (live)
11. Nobody's Hero
12. Leave That Thing Alone
13. Earthshine (remix)
14. Far Cry
DVD:
01. Stick it Out
02. Nobody's Hero
03. Half the World
04. Driven
05. Roll the Bones
06. Show Don't Tell
07. The Pass
08. Superconductor
09. Far Cry
10. Malignant Narcissism
11. The Seeker (live)
12. Secret Touch (live)
13. Resist (live)
Vince Neil To Do Solo Album
RollingStone.com recently conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
RollingStone.com: If you could go back and see MÖTLEY from the early days, how do you think you'd react to them as a new band?
Vince: I'd probably go, "What the fuck are these guys thinking about, man!" Bands don't do what we used to do. Bands don't have the theatrics. We were lighting ourselves on fire. I had a chainsaw and cut a nun's head off. You don't see that shit at all anymore, which is kind of sad.
RollingStone.com: MÖTLEY CRÜE is an active band now, but you've gone through periods where you've stopped, split up, done different things.
Vince: Yeah, there was a breakup a long time ago, but give us a break. You can't put out a record and tour every single year. People like to talk about us, and the press makes more of what happens with MÖTLEY than it really is. Me and Tommy [Lee] have been friends for 30 years. How many people can really say they still have a friend from 30 years ago? Not very many. And if they did, I'll bet you fought with the guy. I'll bet you had an argument.
RollingStone.com: Any more solo projects in the works?
Vince: I'll be recording my record in April, when MÖTLEY's off, before Crüe Fest 2 starts. Then I'll probably release it in early November, when MÖTLEY's finishing this tour.
RollingStone.com: Are you in the same state of mind with the solo projects?
Vince: No, it's a different set of guys, a different style of music. It's a little more aggressive than MÖTLEY, more like an AC/DC vein. Obviously, we play smaller places, which is cool with me. I get the best of both worlds. I love playing in theaters, and I don't mind opening for somebody else. It's very humbling but it's cool.
Read the entire interview from RollingStone.com.
Geddy Lee Comments On New Live DVD
Gary Graff of Billboard.com reports: For its new DVD, "Snakes & Arrows Live", RUSH took a somewhat different approach than on its last two video releases, 2003's "Rush in Rio" and 2005's "R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour".
"With this one we wanted to focus on the playing," singer/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee tells Billboard.com. "So a lot of the camera work features the interaction between Neil ( Peart), Alex ( Lifeson) and myself, a lot of the details that you don't normally cover in a DVD performance. So for fans of the music who love to see what everybody's fingers are doing and how we interact back and forth with each other, that became the overriding focus on this one."
Read more from Billboard.com.
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