Clicks From The Pit

Billy Idol at Arizona Bike Week 2023
2023-03-30 20:30 - 23:30 (America/Phoenix) | WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 North Pima Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85260, United States
Billy Idol was an early architect of the sound, style, and fury of punk rock. Billy was responsible for some of punk rock’s most memorable, literate, and evocative moments and created a pioneering new sound by bringing the spirit of ’77 to the dance floor, going on to fashion an immediately identifiable musical blueprint that integrates club-land throb, rockabilly desperation, and rock’n’roll decadence.
His lip-curling sneer and fist-pumping persona vaulted him into the mainstream as one of MTV’s first megastars, making him one of the most recognizable faces in pop music. He has sold 40 million albums while scoring numerous platinum albums worldwide, nine top forty singles in the U.S. and 10 in the U.K. His smash singles include “Dancing With Myself, “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without A Face,” “Flesh For Fantasy,” “Mony Mony” and “Cradle of Love.”

Texas Hippie Coalition at Arizona Bike Week 2023
2023-03-29 20:30 - 23:30 | WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 North Pima Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85260, United States
Backyard barbeques, barroom brawls, tent revivals, and big rock festivals alike are suitable environments for the Red Dirt Metal of TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION, a band with a sound so devilishly electrifying that they had to come up with a new genre to describe it.
BIG DAD RITCH captains this pirate ship of bikers, outlaws, troubadours, and hellraisers, welcoming all comers to the THC party with gregarious charisma and Southern charm. Across a half dozen albums, countless club gigs, and show stealing performances at Rockstar Mayhem, THC has spread the good word of big riffs, big hooks, and wild times.
High in the Saddle is a record full of unashamed, full-throttle ass kicking. It’s the band’s second pairing with producer Bob Marlette (Black Stone Cherry, Rob Zombie) and sixth album over all, on the heels of the No. 2 Billboard Heatseekers slab, Dark Side of Black .
Rock/metal tastemaker Loudwire.com described THC’s “nonstop gritty, grooving, and downright party rock” as “sounding like the bastard that spawned from a threesome between Monster Magnet, Willie Nelson, and Pantera.” Guitarists Cord Pool and Nevada Romo, bassist Rado Romo, and drummer Devon Carothers build songs with traditional blue-collar and red-blooded American craftsmanship, skillfully transforming Big Dad Ritch’s tales of recklessness and revelry into anthems for the Red Dirt Metal lifestyle.

Arizona Bike Week 2023 at WestWorld of Scottsdale
2023-03-29 12:00 - 2023-04-02 19:00 | WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 North Pima Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85260, United States
Are you all set for Arizona Bike Week 2023?! If you haven’t already, make your camping or hotel reservations now!
Get ready to be part of an incredible motorcycle rally and music festival at WestWorld of Scottsdale from March 29-April 2!
The RockYard concerts will be epic, featuring Billy Idol, Megadeth, Staind, and Texas Hippie Coalition! The PowerYard will offer non-stop entertainment and excitement, including world-class vendors, bike shows , charity ride raffles, live music, our sexy rally girls, and much more! Check our Event Schedule often. We’re adding to the list daily.
Find Your 2022 Ride In Photo Here

Arizona Bike Week® and the Arizona Bike Week logo are Registered Trademarks.
Any Unauthorized Duplication, Display, or Use of Name or Logos is Strictly Prohibited by Law.

FX Promotions, Inc. dba Arizona Bike Week
Corporate Address: 104 S. Robson, Mesa, AZ 85210
Venue Address: 16601 North Pima Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
phone: 480.644.8191 | fax: 480.733.4006
info@azbikeweek.com

Skillet + Theory Of A Deadman at Arizona Financial Theatre
2023-03-22 19:00 - 23:30 | Arizona Financial Theatre, 400 W Washington St, Phoenix, AZ, 85004, United States
One of the best-selling rock bands of the 21st century, two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated multiplatinum Wisconsin quartet Skillet—John Cooper [lead vocals/bass], Korey Cooper [guitar/keys], Jen Ledger [drums/vocals], and Seth Morrison [lead guitar]—write the soundtrack to triumph. An undying spirit humbly asserted and affirmed the band as one of this generation’s most successful rock acts. However, as all classic underdog stories do, it happened quietly under the radar. By 2019, they not only garnered a pair of GRAMMY® Award nods and sold over 12 million albums worldwide, but they also took home a Billboard Music Award for the double-platinum Awake. Its breakout single “Monster” remains “one of the most-streamed rock songs of all-time” with 285 million global audio streams. 2016’s Unleashed bowed at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. Going #1 on Rock Radio, the lead single “Feel Invincible” cracked 150 million global audio streams and went platinum. Meanwhile, the gold-certified Unleashed became their fourth consecutive album to receive either a gold, platinum, or double-platinum plaque. To date, nine original tunes earned RIAA recognition in tandem with high-profile syncs by everyone from WWE and Marvel to ESPN and NFL. Between selling out arenas on four continents, the group performed on CONAN and graced the pages of USA Today and New York Times, to name a few. In 2018 alone, the band clocked 1 billion streams. This momentum continues on their 2019 tenth full-length, Victorious.

Songs make statements at just the right time. Born at the intersection of insurgency and inspiration, music props up a sounding board for the people to be heard. Theory Of A Deadman amplify this voice on their seventh full-length offering, “Say Nothing”, releasing 1.31.20. The award-winning multiplatinum Los Angeles-based Canadian band—Tyler Connolly [lead vocals, guitar], Dave Brenner [guitar, backing vocals], Dean Back [bass], and Joey Dandeneau [drums]—flip the pulse of the world into scorching songcraft, integrating experimental vision, rock ‘n’ roll attitude, and clever pop ambition.
In the midst of this storm, Connolly and Co. speak up like never before. “This album allowed me to say all of the things that were on my mind earlier, but I was too afraid to say,” the frontman admits. “This album is about what’s going on in the world, the state of American politics, and everything else. It was a completely different way of writing for us.”
“What makes this record important is the content,” Brenner elaborates. “Tyler approaches some really tough topics like domestic violence and racism. There are real discussions happening in the tracks backed by heavy stuff to make you think.”
“We just want to write what speaks to us,” Connolly leaves off. “The best thing is when people sing lyrics back to you, or if a song gets somebody through a tough time. There’s something we all might be able to dig here.”

By turning inward, Saint Asonia amplify every element of their signature sound. Skyscraping hooks soar higher, while arena-ready rhythms rattle harder. The guitars cut deeper, and the lyrics resound louder than ever. The quartet—Adam Gontier [vocals, guitar], Mike Mushok [lead guitar], Cale Gontier [bass], and Cody Watkins [drums]—find power and strength on their aptly titled 2022 EP, Introvert [Spinefarm Records].
Saint Asonia initially united two hard rock luminaries under a new banner. Respectively, Adam and Mike had each reached stratospheric heights in Three Days Grace and Staind, toppling charts, packing venues, and selling millions of records. As such, their union captivated audiences worldwide. In the wake of their 2015 self-titled debut Saint Asonia, Loudwire christened the band its “Best New Artist” at the Loudwire Music Awards. The 2019 follow-up, Flawed Design, yielded the blockbuster single “The Hunted” [feat. Sully Erna of Godsmack], generating over 15 million Spotify streams. In a “4.5-out-of-5-star” review, New Noise Magazine declared, “Any fan of hard rock (whether they’ve listened in recently or not) should give Saint Asonia a spin.” Plus, Loudwire applauded it as one of the “The 50 Best Rock Albums of the Year.” Not to mention, they toured with everyone from Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, and Seether to Alter Bridge and Mötley Crüe.

Taylor Swift, Paramore & Gayle at State Farm Stadium
2023-03-17 18:00 - 2023-03-18 23:30 | State Farm Stadiu, 1 Cardinals Dr., Glendale, AZ, 85305, United States
Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream. Others have performed similar moves — notably, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson both became enduring pop culture icons based on their 1970s work — but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist, make it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse. These skills were evident on her earliest hits, especially the neo-tribute “Tim McGraw,” but her second album, 2008’s Fearless, showcased a songwriter discovering who she was and, in the process, finding a mass audience. Fearless wound up having considerable legs not only in the U.S., where it racked up six platinum singles on the strength of the Top Ten hits “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me,” but throughout the world, performing particularly well in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Speak Now, delivered almost two years later, consolidated that success and moved Swift into the stratosphere of superstardom. Her popularity only increased over her next three albums — Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) — and found her moving assuredly into a pop realm where she already belonged. Even when she scaled back her approach with 2020’s stripped-down sibling releases folklore and Evermore, she remained atop the pop world, a position she maintained with re-recordings of her back catalog along with Midnights, a moody album released in 2022.
This sense of confidence had been apparent in Taylor Swift since the beginning. The daughter of two bankers — her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, worked at Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea, spent time as a mutual fund marketing executive — Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and raised in suburban Wyomissing. She began to show interest in music at the age of nine, and Shania Twain wound up as her biggest formative influence. Swift started to work regularly at local talent contests, eventually winning a chance to open for Charlie Daniels. Soon, she learned how to play guitar and began writing songs, signing a music management deal with Dan Dymtrow; her family relocated to Nashville with the intent of furthering her music career. She was just 14 years old but on the radar of the music industry, signing a development deal with RCA Records in 2004. Swift sharpened her skills with a variety of professional songwriters, forming the strongest connections with Liz Rose. Taylor’s original songs earned her a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, but not long after that 2004 deal she parted ways with Dymtrow and RCA, all with the intent of launching her recording career now, not later.
Things started moving swiftly once Swift came to the attention of Scott Borchetta, a former DreamWorks Records exec about to launch Big Machine Records. Borchetta saw Swift perform at a songwriters showcase at the Bluebird Cafe and he signed her to Big Machine in 2005; shortly afterward, she started work on her debut with producer Nathan Chapman, who’d previously helmed demos for Taylor. Boasting original song credits on every one of the record’s 11 songs (she penned three on her own), Taylor Swift appeared in October 2006 to strong reviews and Swift made sure to work the album hard, appearing at every radio or television event offered and marshaling a burgeoning fan base through the use of MySpace. “Tim McGraw,” the first song from the album, did well, but “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Our Song” did better on both the pop and country charts, where she racked up five consecutive Top Ten singles. Other successes followed in the wake of the debut — a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist (she lost to Amy Winehouse), stopgap EPs of Christmas songs — but Swift concentrated on delivering her sophomore set, Fearless.
Appearing in November 2008, Fearless was certified gold by the RIAA in its first week of release, and the record gained momentum throughout 2009, earning several platinum certifications as “Love Story,” “White Horse,” “You Belong with Me,” “Fifteen,” and “Fearless” all scaled the upper reaches of the country charts while “You Belong with Me” nearly topped Billboard’s Hot 100. Along with the success came some headlines, first in the form of an infamous appearance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards where her acceptance speech was interrupted by Kanye West, who burst on-stage to declare that Swift’s rival Beyoncé deserved the award more, but her romances also started gaining attention, notably a liaison with Twilight star Taylor Lautner, who appeared with the singer in the 2009 film Valentine’s Day.
Her flirtation with the silver screen proved brief, as she then poured herself into her third album, Speak Now. Released in October 2010, Speak Now was another massive first-week smash that refused to lose momentum. Hit singles like “Mine” and “Mean,” which won two Grammy Awards, played a big factor in its success not just on the country charts but on pop radio as well. Following a 2011 live album called World Tour Live: Speak Now, Swift turned toward following a pop path on her fourth album, hiring such mainstream musicians as Dan Wilson, Butch Walker, and Britney Spears producer Max Martin. This mainstream pulse was evident on “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the first single from Red. Upon its October 2012 release, Red shattered expectations by selling over a million copies in its first week, a notable achievement that was doubly impressive in an era of declining sales. Once again, Swift’s album had legs: it was certified platinum four times in the U.S. and its international sales outstripped those of Speak Now. She supported Red with an international tour in 2013 and more hits came, including “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22.”
As Swift geared up for the release of her fifth album in 2014, she made it clear that 1989 was designed as her first “documented, official” pop album and that there would be no country marketing push for the record. “Shake It Off,” an ebullient dance-pop throwback, hit number one upon its August 2014 release. When 1989 appeared in late October 2014, it once again shot to number one and became her third straight album to sell one million copies in its first week (a new record for any artist).
Swift gathered many awards during the subsequent year, including Billboard’s Woman of the Year, the Award for Excellence at the American Music Awards, and a special 50th Anniversary Milestone Award from the CMAs. Her 1989 World Tour crossed Asia, North America, and Europe during the last half of 2015, and she won three Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremonies, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Music Video for “Bad Blood.” At the end of 2016, she released “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” a duet with ZAYN from the soundtrack for Fifty Shades Darker. The single reached the Top Five across the world. Swift returned with her sixth album, Reputation, in November 2017. Preceded by the number one hit single “Look What You Made Me Do,” Reputation debuted at number one, and while it didn’t replicate the success of 1989, the album did help underscore her popularity while also pushing her toward mature musicality.
Reputation was Swift’s final record for Big Machine. In November 2018, she signed with Universal Music Group, which distributed her new albums under its Republic Records banner. The first album in this contract was Lover. Released in August 2019, Lover was preceded by two singles, “Me!” and “You Need to Calm Down,” which both reached number two on the Hot 100 and helped push the album to number one. The acclaimed LP and two of its singles received a total of three nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards.
Swift’s plans to support Lover with a tour in 2020 were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With some unexpected time on her hands, she wrote and recorded a new set of songs, many in collaboration with Aaron Dessner of the National; Bon Iver and longtime Swift associate Jack Antonoff also contributed. The resulting album, folklore, was released on July 24, 2020, and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. Less than five months later, Swift released a companion album to folklore called Evermore. Featuring many of the same collaborators as its predecessor, the Grammy-nominated Evermore debuted at number one upon its December 11, 2020 release. Altogether, the sibling LPs planted Swift atop the U.S. charts for a combined 11 weeks, and folklore became the best-selling album of 2020.
In 2021, she began the process of re-recording her back catalog after her Big Machine masters were sold off in 2019, starting with 2008’s Fearless. The first of these tracks — “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” — arrived that February, with Fearless [Taylor’s Version] arriving in April. The new version of Fearless contained cameos from Colbie Caillat, Keith Urban, and Maren Morris, along with several previously unheard tunes originally written during the same time period; it debuted at number one on Billboard upon its release. Swift next revisited Red, releasing Red [Taylor’s Version] in November 2021. This revamp of the 2012 album featured new duets with Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, and Ed Sheeran, along with a ten-minute version of the ballad “All Too Well.” Another re-recording, “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” (originally off 1989), arrived in May 2022 and was included in the soundtrack to the coming-of-age drama The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Swift opened up another chapter in her career with the October 2022 release of Midnights, an album co-produced by Jack Antonoff and featuring a duet with Lana Del Rey on “Snow on the Beach.” ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

When Paramore revealed they were recording together in January 2022 the response from music fans around the world was immediate and celebratory. In the time since the Grammy-winning, RIAA-certified multi-Platinum band released their last album, After Laughter – and Hayley Williams unveiled two lauded solo albums – Paramore have become more popular than ever. Over the last few years Paramore’s influence and popularity has snowballed, as the age of streaming organically propelled them into a position as one of the world’s biggest, most culturally compelling rock bands. For the band, who formed as teenagers in Tennessee, their 20 year trajectory has seen them grow from youthful outsiders to bonafide pop culture icons, permeating the musical landscape by inspiring a new generation of musical talent.

hi i’m GAYLE and liking the color orange is a personality trait so is being indecisive and having a split dye. i hope my music can help u be more confident and comfortable inside ur emotions because writing and singing about them helps me. maybe if u like my music i’ll be able to meet u at a show or in my dms soon <3

Cradle Of Filth & DevilDriver at Marquee Theatre
2023-03-08 18:00 - 23:30 | Marquee Theatre, 730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281, United States
A British extreme metal institution, Cradle of Filth emerged in 1991 with a style that leaned heavily toward black metal. As the years progressed, their sound evolved as well, with elements of gothic and symphonic metal taking over, resulting in a more commercial approach that yielded internationally charting efforts like Damnation and a Day (2003), Thornography (2006), Hammer of the Witches (2015), and Existence Is Futile (2021).
Cradle of Filth formed in 1991, originally comprised of vocalist Dani Filth (born Daniel Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, his keyboardist brother Benjamin, bassist John Richard, and drummer Darren. After recording a demo dubbed Invoking the Unclean a year later, the group recruited guitarist Robin Eaglestone, who quit soon after recording a second demo, Orgiastic Pleasures; however, when Richard exited the band a short time later, Eaglestone stepped back in to assume bass duties, opening the door for guitarist Paul Allender. Following a third demo, Total Fucking Darkness, Cradle of Filth — with new drummer Nicholas Barker — signed with the Cacophonous label, issuing their proper debut, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, in mid-1994.
The lineup changes continued when the Ryan brothers both departed to form the Blood Divine (and Allender left as well), making room for guitarists Stuart Antsis and Jared Demeter and keyboardist Damien Gregori to debut on the 1996 mini-LP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein. For the full-length Dusk and Her Embrace later that same year, Gian Pyres took Demeter’s spot, and afterward, Gregori was replaced by keyboardist Les Smith; at any rate, the album substantially expanded the group’s growing cult following. COF’s next effort, Cruelty and the Beast, appeared in 1998, amid the band’s steadily growing reputation for elaborate Alice Cooper/Marilyn Manson-style concert theatrics. Two years later, they returned with From the Cradle to Enslave, an EP that featured new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (formerly of Sweden’s At the Gates and the Haunted), as Barker had departed to join Dimmu Borgir.
The band’s dizzying lineup changes continued apace as Paul Allender rejoined the group and Martin Powell (ex-Anathema and My Dying Bride) replaced Smith on keyboards for the full-length Midian, which was appropriately released on Halloween in 2000. Bitter Suites to Succubi was issued on Spitfire in summer 2001. The group added a choir and orchestra to the lineup for 2003’s Damnation and a Day on Red Ink, and moved to Roadrunner for 2004’s Nymphetamine. Thornography followed on Roadrunner in 2006, a year that also saw the release of The Cradle of Filth Box Set. Eleven Burial Masses, a collection of live material, arrived in 2007, followed by the concept album Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder in 2008, which saw Erlandsson replaced by new drummer Martin “Marthus” Škaroupka.
In 2010, the band left Roadrunner, signing to Peaceville in Europe and Nuclear Blast in the U.S. for the release of their ninth studio LP, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, a concept album that focused on the myth of the demon Lilith, the alleged first wife of the biblical Adam. It was the first Cradle record not to contain any instrumental tracks, and also featured the sole appearance with the band of keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of Abigail Williams. In 2012, reduced to the trio of Filth, Allender, and Škaroupka, the group released The Manticore and Other Horrors, on which they did a bit of a turnabout, returning female vocals and hardcore punk riffs to the fore. A deluxe remastered and expanded edition of their early demo, Total Fucking Darkness, was released in May 2014; featuring additional, previously unreleased tracks, it proved a stopgap.
Cradle of Filth’s Hammer of the Witches was announced in May 2015, marking the first new music from the group in three years — the longest gap in their career. It featured a new lineup that included guitarists Marek Ashok Šmerda and Richard Shaw (marking a return to twin-guitar harmonies) and new keyboardist/female vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft. The video for “Right Wing of the Garden Triptych” was released in May, followed by online streams of “Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess,” and “Enshrined in Crematoria” in late June. The album arrived in mid-July.
Cradle of Filth announced their 12th album, Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay, in June 2017. Produced by longtime collaborator Scott Atkins in Suffolk, the set was inspired by the Victorian obsession with death and the supernatural, and was issued in September while the band were already promoting it on tour. It would be five more years before fans saw another record from the group. Entitled Existence Is Futile and concerned with existential dread, their 13th album was released in October 2021. The preceding year’s COVID-19 lockdown postponed its release, allowing them longer to work on it, rewriting and restructuring their demos to produce the best work possible. Recorded once again with Atkins, it was their first to feature new keyboardist/backing vocalist Anabelle Iratni. Guitarist Stuart Antsis, who played with Cradle of Filth from 1995 to 1999, died on August 21, 2022, at the age of 48.

A punishing groove and melodic death metal unit based out of Santa Barbara, California, DevilDriver originally operated under the moniker Deathride before a copyright issue forced them to adopt a new name. Co-founded by Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara, who remains the group’s lone original member, the band debuted in 2002, but didn’t truly catch fire until the release of 2007’s Last Kind Words, which heralded a string of high-charting albums like Pray for Villains (2009), Winter Kills (2013), Trust No One (2016), and the concept double album Dealing with Demons (2020 and 2021). Despite enduring numerous personnel shifts, the band has maintained a lean, loud, and punitive sonic attack that has established them as one of the more reliable heavy music purveyors of the early 21st century.
Following the dissolution of his Marilyn Manson/Korn-influenced nu-metal band Coal Chamber, vocalist Dez Fafara hooked up with guitarists Evans Pitts and Jeffrey Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller, and drummer John Boecklin to form DevilDriver — a rather more extreme band dedicated to the subsequent hardcore-meets-death-metal trends. Signed to Roadrunner like Fafara’s previous group, DevilDriver released their eponymous debut in 2003, followed a sophomore effort, The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand (where Pitts was replaced by Mike Spreitzer), a couple years later. 2007’s Last Kind Words was the group’s first outing to crack the Billboard 200, but they got their day in the sun when their 2009 album, Pray for Villains, debuted at number 35 and found success in Europe as well. After touring with groups like Behemoth and Slipknot, DevilDriver went back into the studio to begin work on their fifth album. the resulting Beast, produced by Mark Lewis, was released in 2011, and would be their last album to feature longtime bassist Jon Miller. The band would team up with Lewis again for its next album, Winter Kills, their highest-charting LP to date, which arrived in the summer of 2013 via Napalm Records. 2014 saw the departures of drummer John Boecklin and guitarist Jeff Kendrick, which prompted Fafara to put the band on hiatus until 2016. The group did indeed resurface that year, releasing its seventh studio album, Trust No One, which would be the first DevilDriver outing for three new members, ex-Chimaira drummer Austin D’Amond, guitarist Neal Tiemann, and ex-Static-X bassist Diego Ibarra. In 2018, Fafara, a longtime fan of outlaw country, fulfilled his ambition to unite the genre with metal on DevilDriver’s eighth album, Outlaws ’til the End, Vol. 1. A collection of covers of classics of the genre refashioned in the band’s inimitable powerhouse style, it featured guest vocals from several metal and country artists including Randy Blythe, Brock Lindow, Burton C. Bell, John Carter Cash, and Hank Williams III. Prior to that album’s release, Fafara mentioned to the press that the band had written 48 songs that were ready to record. The first fruits of those sessions appeared in 2020 as Dealing with Demons I, the initial part of a double album which included the COVID-19-themed single “Keep Away from Me” and a collaboration with Fafara’s son Simon Blade on “You Give Me a Reason to Drink.” Early 2021 saw the band part ways with guitarist Neal Tiemann, who was replaced by Cody Haglund. The second installment of the concept LP, Dealing with Demons II, arrived later that year.

Black Satellite is a rock duo from NYC comprised of Larissa Vale and Kyle Hawken. Having been writing music together for several years, Black Satellite is the culmination of a deep-rooted partnership contributing to their unified writing style.   Shortly after launching their first single Valkyrie from their full-length album Endless, Black Satellite was requested as support for Starset at NYC’s Gramercy Theatre on the strength of their debut. Their follow up single Blind premiered on ibobi Radio and was subsequently featured on Alternative Press via their discover playlist. Black Satellite was also named one of Alternative Press’ “12 Bands You Need To Know” in a print issue of the magazine.   Billboard describes the album as “the end point one might arrive at after listening to all of Muse’s catalog and deciding they just weren’t epic enough.”   Black Satellite subsequently released two cover songs paying tribute to Type O Negative, which charted on metal radio.   The band has recently concluded writing and recording their sophomore record, Aftermath, mixed by veteran producer Ben Grosse (Marilyn Manson, Breaking Benjamin, Filter). Release date to be announced. Their new single “Void” is the first taste of the brand new album. Knotfest commenting on the track: “the first single offers a glimpse into the bold, stylishly dark sound that has made the duo of Larissa Vale and Kyle Hawken such a promising prospect.”   Black Satellite is scheduled to tour with Fozzy Fall 2021.

Static-X - Rise of The Machine Tour 2023 at The Van Buren
2023-03-07 18:30 - 23:30 | The Van Buren, 401 W Van Buren St, Phoenix, AZ, 85003
American metal crew Static-X emerged at the tail end of the ’90s, pushing an aggressive thrash metal blend with industrial overtones and a techno pulse. Their breakthrough debut, 1998’s cult classic Wisconsin Death Trip, rocketed them to stardom in the heavy music world, their image boosted by frontman Wayne Static‘s distinctive hair and vocal delivery. While maintaining momentum into the 2000s with additional efforts like Machine and Shadow Zone, Static‘s passing in 2014 effectively halted the group in their tracks. However, at the close of the decade, the original lineup made a comeback with the help of previously recorded Static vocals, issuing Project Regeneration in 2020.
Static-X’s roots trace to the Midwest, where vocalist/guitarist Wayne Static grew up in Michigan and drummer Ken Jay in Illinois. They ended up in Chicago separately and met at the record store where Jay worked, introduced to one another by future Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan (who was in the band Deep Blue Dream with Static). Static and Jay decided to head west to California and start up a new band. Shortly after their arrival, Osaka native Koichi Fukada responded to the duo’s ad and became their new guitarist, as well as programmer. Bassist Tony Campos, the only true Californian, was the final piece of the puzzle. Signed to Warner Brothers in February 1998, Static-X debuted with Wisconsin Death Trip a year later. The album was a hit and eventually certified platinum, bolstered by the strength of the singles “Push It” and “Bled for Days.” Despite the success, founding guitarist Fukada briefly left the group in 2000, replaced by Tripp Eisen (ex-Dope) for 2001’s gold-certified Machine, their highest-charting effort to date. Further lineup changes followed, as drummer Jay left after the 2003 album Shadow Zone. Soon after, misdemeanor charges forced Eisen to leave the band in 2004 (he was later convicted and spent a year in prison). Still, Static-X was undeterred. Static tapped Fukada to rejoin on guitar and programming in 2005, while touring drummer Nick Oshiro took over full-time.
In June 2005, a rejuvenated Static-X returned to recording with Start a War, home to the single “I’m the One.” Fifth album Cannibal arrived in 2007, charting inside Billboard’s Top 40. The band toured and released a CD/DVD document, Cannibal Killers Live, then settled into the recording of their sixth studio album, Cult of Static. Released in March 2009, it debuted inside the Top 20, their second highest showing to date. The group went on hiatus not long after finishing a lengthy tour, with Wayne Static announcing a renewed focus on his Pighammer side project, with contributions from his wife, Tera Wray. In 2011, Pighammer appeared as a solo album under his own name. A year later, he re-formed Static-X — minus any of the original members. The lineup, which consisted of his solo backing band, mounted a tour but broke up by 2013, and a year later, Wayne Static was dead of a drug overdose at the age of 48. Just over a year after that, his widow Tera Wray took her own life.
This tragedy seemed to spell the end of Static-X, but a few years later, the remaining bandmembers patched up their differences and decided to see if they could salvage anything from past recordings. Starting from a slew of unreleased demos, the group went into the studio, once again with Ulrich Wild, where they stripped Wayne‘s vocals from the demos and composed entirely new tunes around them. The resultant album, Project Regeneration, was released in two volumes, with Vol. 1 arriving in the summer of 2020. To support the release, the band embarked on tour with a new, masked frontman named Xer0, rumored to be Edsel Dope of Dope. Lead single “Hollow” crashed the U.S. Dance/Electronic chart, peaking in the Top 15. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Josh Loehr, Rovi

One can’t overstate the size of the Fear Factory boot print on the neck of heavy metal. Unleashing influential albums with devastating anthems for over 30 years, Fear Factory is widely recognized as both crucial and innovative in extreme metal circles. Fear Factory manufactured, demanufactured, and remanufactured a sound that reverberates across several subgenres. They perfected an explosive blend of staccato paint-stripping riffs, industrial-tinged drums, electronic flourishes, and a scream/sing dichotomy, all of which became staples in heavy music, ever since the group first emerged in L.A.
Fear Factory records are cinematic in scope; sonic landscapes, echoing the dystopian post-apocalyptic futures found in classic sci-fi literature and films, from Ray Bradbury to Blade Runner. Aggression Continuum, the tenth studio album, is the culmination of three decades of unforgettable songs, performances, and forward-thinking storytelling concepts, while simultaneously rebooting Fear Factory onto a brilliant and excitingly unpredictable new path.
Aggression Continuum boasts the definitive attack of songs like “Recode,” “Distruptor,” and “Purity.” The riffs, concepts, and passion remain strong, as Fear Factory celebrates its past, present, and future. Whatever may come, Fear Factory will be there, a soundtrack to humankind’s uncertain times ahead.

An uncompromising New York City-based outfit that draws from both heavy metal and industrial music, Dope’s confrontational emissions evoke Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and White Zombie. Emerging in 1999 with the hard-hitting Felons and Revolutionaries, the group continued to beat the post-industrial drum on 2005’s American Apathy and 2018’s Blood Money, Part 1, while managing to weave in elements of speed, alternative, rap, and nu-metal.
The quintet was formed in the Chicago area by brothers Edsel Dope (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Simon Dope (keyboards). Simon studied chemistry at the University of Florida, then received a scholarship to Polytechnic in Brooklyn. There he was joined by his brother, with the two claiming to have financed their demos by selling drugs. The initial incarnation of the band included lead guitarist Tripp Eisen, bass player Acey Slade, and drummer Preston Nash. They began a selective series of gigs in late 1997. In October 1998, they were signed to Flip Records, which made a production deal with Epic.
Dope’s debut album and best-selling release to date, Felons and Revolutionaries, was released in September 1999. The Dope brothers gutted their lineup after the ensuing tour, switching Slade to guitar and bringing in original bassist Sloane Jentry, guitarist Virus, and drummer Sketchy Shay. In the fall of 2001, they released their second album, Life. Two years later, the band inked a deal with Artemis and issued the nu-metal-leaning Group Therapy. The punitive American Apathy arrived in summer 2005, featuring covers of Depeche Mode‘s “People Are People” and N.W.A‘s “Fuck tha Police.” It topped the Billboard Heatseekers chart upon release. No Regrets was issued four years later, and featured a guest appearance by Zakk Wylde. After an extended hiatus, Dope’s classic lineup returned with a new album and coinciding tour. The band — Edsel Dope, Acey Slade, Virus, and Racci Shay — released Blood Money, Pt. 1 in late 2016, with a sequel, the aptly-named Blood Money, Pt. 2, arriving in 2019.

Known for their theatrical live show and the black masks that most of their members wear on-stage, Mushroomhead are one of the more unique and adventurous alternative metal outfits that emerged in the 1990s. The band’s forceful yet melodic alternative metal incorporates elements of hip-hop, punk, and goth rock as well as industrial and techno. Since releasing their eponymous debut in 1995, Mushroomhead have sold over two million albums worldwide, with highlights arriving via 2003’s XIII, 2006’s Savior Sorrow, and 2014’s The Righteous & the Butterfly.
The members of Mushroomhead have been performing incognito since 1993, when drummer Skinny founded the band. At first, Mushroomhead were only meant to be a side project. Their members were playing in various local bands at the time, and they wore the blacks masks (which look like a cross between S&M/bondage masks and World War I gas masks) so that people wouldn’t recognize them. The only Mushroomhead member who doesn’t wear a black mask opts for Kiss-like clown makeup instead. After a few years, the group became one of Cleveland’s top local attractions — and the bandmembers kept wearing the masks when they saw how intriguing people found them to be.
Mushroomhead’s self-titled debut album was released independently in 1995, followed by Superbuick in 1996 and M3 in 1999. The Midwesterners signed with Eclipse in 2000, and their next record, XX, came out the following year. In 2001, Mushroomhead’s members included drummer/founder Skinny, lead vocalists J-Mann and Jeffrey Nothing, guitarists Bronson and Gravy, keyboardist Shmotz, bassist Pig Benis, and sample provider Stitch when they signed to Universal Records to re-release XX. Their first proper effort for the label was 2003’s dynamic XIII, but the band soon parted ways with not only Universal but also vocalist J-Mann during a subsequent tour. Undeterred, Mushroomhead pressed on with their D.I.Y. ethos intact and welcomed new frontman Waylon, formerly of 3 Quarters Dead, into the fray.
The concert film Mushroomhead, Vol. 1 followed in mid-2005 before the group returned in September 2006 with the critically acclaimed Savior Sorrow, released through New York-based indie Megaforce Records. Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children, the band’s seventh studio album, arrived in 2010, followed in 2014 by The Righteous & the Butterfly, the latter of which became the group’s first album to crack the Top 20 of the Billboard Top 200. 2020’s A Wonderful Life introduced new members Steve Rauckhorst and Jackie LaPonza (vocals), and Tom Shaffner (guitar), who replaced longtime vocalist Jeffrey Nothing and guitar player Tommy Church. It was Mushroomhead’s eighth studio LP and first outing for Napalm Records

Steel Panther at Marquee Theatre
2023-02-26 18:00 - 23:30 | Marquee Theatre, 730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281, United States
Satirically pretending to be a hair metal band that missed its big break in the ’80s, singer Ralph Saenz (“Michael Starr”), drummer Darren Leader (“Stix Zadinia”), bassist Travis Haley (“Lexxi Foxxx”), and guitarist Russ Parrish (“Satchel”) hit the club circuit on the Sunset Strip around the turn of the millennium under the name Metal Shop (later changed to Metal Skool, and then to Steel Panther). With big, spiky wigs, leather jackets, zebra-striped spandex, chops earned from playing in a Van Halen tribute band, and lots and lots of machismo, their comic take on sex, drugs, and rock & roll to the extreme caught on quickly, leading to sold-out shows and some unexpected brushes with mainstream success. As their popularity increased, the Hollywood crowd started frequenting their sets, often making appearances on-stage. This led to some opportunities: the band fittingly played the role of a metal band as “Danger Kitty” in a Discover Card commercial; they appeared on The Drew Carey Show as themselves; and their song “FF” was used as the theme for MTV’s Fantasy Factory.
In 2008, the band signed to Universal Republic. After releasing the singles “Death for All But Metal” and “Community Property,” Steel Panther’s full-length Feel the Steel was released in October of 2009. The album broke the band onto the Billboard chart, netting them a spot at number 98 on the U.S. charts (and 48 on the rock chart). Not wanting the fun to stop, the band got back to it quickly and in 2011 followed up with Balls Out, which featured guest appearances from comedian Dane Cook and Nickelback‘s Chad Kroeger, among others. 2014’s All You Can Eat featured the single “Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World,” and featured cover art parodying Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. In 2016, the band issued their first concert LP, Live from Lexxi’s Mom’s Garage, which was released in conjunction with their first full-length feature film, which blended comedic vignettes and other assorted antics with the aforementioned glam-folk garage show.
At the end of 2016, Steel Panther released a cover of Cheap Trick‘s “She’s Tight” in advance of their fourth studio album Lower the Bar, which arrived in March 2017. The group headed out on tour in support of the album, playing dates across the world before embarking on their Sunset Strip Live tour, which saw the band playing a mix of original material and classic metal covers. Tapping producer Jay Ashton for their fifth album, the band dropped the unabashed Heavy Metal Rules in late 2019, preceded by the single “All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight).”
Following a brief spell of absence from touring Lexxi Foxx announced his departure from the band in 2021, with the group holding open auditions for a new bassist. The group eventually settled on Joe “Spyder” Lester, whom had played live with the band in Foxx’s absence. Steel Panther returned to the studio to record their sixth album, On the Prowl. Producing it themselves, the album continued with their tongue-in-cheek hair metal, with the tracks “Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight)” and “Friends with Benefits” preceding its release in early 2023.

Riff-monsters Crobot conjures up the kind of rock ‘n’ roll that has grooves so powerful they throw you around the room and hooks high enough to shake the heavens. They take the sweet-sounding nectar of the gods and pour it down your throat until you’re wailing along like a banshee. With tens of millions of streams, countless shows and acclaim from the likes of Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Kerrang, BBC Radio, SiriusXM Octane, Loudwire, Guitar World and more, Brandon Yeagley [vocals], Chris Bishop [guitar], Tim Peugh [bass], and Dan Ryan [drums] realize their vision like never before on their fifth full-length, Feel This [Released June 3 via Mascot Records]. Feel This is the follow-up to 2019s Top 10 Heatseekers album Motherbrain – whose cumulative streams have surpassed 30 million. 20 million of which were for the goliath single “Low Life” – a US Top 10 at active rock radio on the Billboard Mainstream with a 29-week run.

Parkway Drive at Marquee Theatre
2023-02-01 18:00 - 23:30 | Marquee Theatre, 730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281, United States
In the kitchen of the Byron Bay home of Winston McCall stands a refrigerator, adorned on one side by a quote from Tom Waits: “I want beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.”
This, the Parkway Drive vocalist says, is a pretty good summation of himself. It holds true, too, as one of the guiding principles behind Darker Still, the seventh full-length album to be born of this picturesque and serene corner of north-eastern NSW, Australia, and the defining musical statement to date from one of modern metal’s most revered bands.
Darker Still, McCall says, is the vision he and his bandmates – guitarists Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick, bassist Jia O’Connor and drummer Ben Gordon – have held in their mind’s eye since a misfit group of friends first convened in their parents’ basements and backyards in 2003. The journey to reach this moment has seen Parkway evolve from metal underdogs to festival-headlining behemoth, off the back of close to 20 gruelling years, six critically and commercially acclaimed studio albums (all of which achieving Gold status in their home nation), three documentaries, one live album, and many, many thousands of shows.
“When Parkway originally started out, we all were trying to push ourselves to do more than we possibly could,” is how McCall explains it. “The better we got at it, the more comfortable we got, to the point where it became all comfortable. That is when we chose to acknowledge that just being comfortable was not necessarily doing justice to the skills and the creativity that you have grown over the years. What you hear on Darker Still is the final fulfilment of our ability to learn and grow catching up with the imagination that we have always had. These are the kinds of sounds we always had in mind. This is the way we always dreamed.”
To understand that growth is to understand Darker Still, both musically and thematically. Those who thought they had Parkway Drive figured out – the unrivalled energy, the high-octane breakdowns, McCall’s trademark bark – need reconsider everything they know about Australia’s masters of heavy. Not that anyone truly paying to their recent evolution should be surprised, though. “This is a journey we began with Ire, and which grew further still on Reverence,” McCall says, referencing the band’s preceding 2015 and 2018 works, respectively. In that context, it is easy to view Darker Still as the curtain-closer on a transformative trilogy that has seen Parkway reach new heights of creativity and success by eschewing the restrictive, safe conventions of genre and abandoning their own self-imposed rules in favour of a wide-eyed appreciation of bold new horizons. “There are compositions and songs that we’d never attempted before – or, to be more accurate, which we have attempted in the past, but not had the courage, time or understanding to pull off,” McCall reveals.
The vocalist would be the first to tell you that in order to grow, you have to let go of the past; a mantra Parkway embraced tighter than ever before when it came to blueprinting Darker Still. McCall describes how “we wanted to make a record that stood alone from the records we hear at this point in time”; one that delivers on “a more expansive sound, which allows a new weight to fall into the music.” Gordon, meanwhile, says it features “some of the heaviest moments we have ever created, but it is a different kind of heavy: an emotional catharsis that you can feel in every cell in your body.” The drummer is brutally honest in his reflection that, between “the ever-changing COVID lockdowns, government mandates, travels restrictions and tense personal relationships within the band”, Darker Still was the most challenging moment of the band’s career. Ling offers agreement, admitting that the three-year journey of writing and recording – which commenced as far back as April 2019 and would conclude in February 2022 following three months in the studio with producer and engineer pairing George and Dean Hadjichristou – “broke me by the end” as he juggled lockdown family life with the “daunting task of trying to stick everyone’s ideas together” in his downstairs home studio.
“When writing songs, we have a few questions that we ask ourselves that helps define our creative path,” he explains of the gruelling process. “‘What will this song achieve?’ ‘Why does this song deserve to be on this album?’ ‘What emotional response will this song provoke in the listener?’ If all these points check out, we know we are on the right path.”
“We are very much a collaborative band when it comes to song writing,” says Gordon. “Each song goes through several layers of scrutiny and refinements before the final version emerges. Some songs are completely unrecognisable from the first rendition to what ends up on the record.”
And so while Darker Still remains irrefutably Parkway Drive, it finds the band sonically standing shoulder to shoulder with rock and metal’s greats – Metallica, Pantera, Machine Head, Guns N’ Roses – as much as it does their metalcore contemporaries. “I wanted a classic guitar tone for this record,” explains Ling, who credits much of his inspiration to the connection his riffs have with a crowd in a live setting. “I’ve always been drawn to early ‘90s metal, so something along these lines with a modern edge was my jive. Creatively my goal was to write intricate and intriguing music that is also simple enough for everyone to understand and enjoy. We made a conscious decision to not go overboard with layering and soundscaping. This move would help reinforce our raw and classic album vision.”
“Production wise, we wanted to have a slight throwback to the ‘90s, leaning into some more real and natural sounding tones, which gives the record more character,” nods Gordon, whose work behind the kit on Darker Still – “Less about how much I could show off, and more about what will best compliment the song,” is his simple assessment – is emblematic of the record at large. “It took us a long time to learn about the importance of dynamics,” he says. “We now pick our moments much more and let the song breathe when it needs to.”
It is a revivified sound that provides the backdrop for some of McCall’s most personal and introspective songs yet. Exploring the concept of the ‘dark night of the soul’ – “The idea of reaching a point in your life where you are faced with a reckoning of your structure of beliefs, your sense of self and your place in the world, to a point where it’s irreconcilable with the way that you are as a person,” as McCall describes – Darker Still unfurls like the great rock concept albums, from Pink Floyd to, most comparably, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral.
Amongst ruminations on society’s fear of death, societal isolation and a loss of humanity, its 11 tracks play out in a classic three-act structure. Ground Zero opens its ‘setup’; a “reckoning with your own internal monologue, says McCall, which ominously speaks to “the fights, the falls, the scars and broken bones” and how “beneath it all, the cracks begin to show…” Its second act – its ‘confrontation’ – frames the album’s title track at its core: a classic rock epic about “love and time” that spans a near seven-minutes and which evokes Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters. The album’s ‘resolution’, meanwhile, concludes with From The Heart Of Darkness: a brooding monster that opens with McCall’s contemplative searching (“There’s a war going on inside, nobody’s safe from / You can run, but you can’t hide / When it’s your soul you must confront”) before exploding with its mosh-call of “Fury be my victory!”
“I wanted the end of the record to mirror my experience to a degree of what this journey has been like for me,” McCall reveals. “I found that I was always afraid of showing defiance to be honest and true to myself, even if that meant sacrificing who I was to become a better version of who I could be. That has to be ripped from the darkest part of you, because the darkest part of you is what you are always afraid of in the first place. It’s the thing that you don’t want to shine the light on. It’s the element that you don’t want to show people, which you shy away from, which you’re too scared to embody.”
It is a closing statement that truly defines Darker Still. This is the Parkway Drive the band have been striving to be for two decades. Ling says it best: “I’m really proud of what we have achieved together, and feel that as musicians, we have really ascended to new realms of class and ability.” Emerging from the darkness of the past few years, this is the true face of Parkway: redefined and resolute, focused in mind and defiant in spirit.

Over the course of their career, Memphis May Fire have channeled a generation’s worth of angst, frustration, and pain, with a focused blend of gigantic melodic hooks and crushing aggression. Even after topping Billboard’s Hard Music Albums chart, having an album debut at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200, and breaking into radio’s Active Rock Top 20, Memphis May Fire refuse to sacrifice who they are or the people who made them.
A new season unfolds for the band, and it’s filled with revitalization and renewal. Stripping things down to their core elements, hearkening back to the days when they created the music their fans most cherish, Memphis May Fire rekindled the spark within to build an inferno of riffs and inspirational words. They have returned to their roots with the seasoned polish earned through years of touring and making music together. “Blood & Water” is proof positive of this fact.
Memphis May Fire have toured with a vast list of important rock and metal acts that include Killswitch Engage, Sleeping With Sirens, Black Veil Brides, Sevendust, and Atreyu. They’ve co-headlined with Yellowcard and The Devil Wears Prada, regularly appeared on Warped Tour, and at major rock festivals. The band’s previous six albums’ continued relevance is a testament to the energized connectivity between the band and their audience. Songs like “Miles Away,” “No Ordinary Love,” “Beneath the Skin,” and “Carry On” account for 100 million views and millions of streams.
Expect more anthems for the broken and beyond from Memphis May Fire in due course.

CURRENTS is the new standard for death-infused metalcore. This is emotionally fraught and impossibly angry music soaked in cold, depressive atmosphere. CURRENTS explore the forbidden realms of a tortured psyche, searching for meaning amidst uncertain chaos and venom.
Heartache, physical abuse, abandonment, trauma – no dark emotion is spared examination. CURRENTS also turn their gaze outward, offering no mercy to man-made catastrophes like climate change and animal abuse. An exploitative system that inflicts such harm upon humanity and the entire world will not be spared the wrath within this explosive, weaponized bombast.
Immediately upon the arrival of the first taste of the band’s second album, the comments section lost its collective mind. Shockingly devoid of the genre’s penchant for hateful trolling, the music video for “Poverty of Self” (a scathing indictment of the predatory industries taking advantage of the sick and broken) was met with an avalanche of praise. “These guys are breakdown scientists,” declared one commenter. “That intro wastes no time to smash you right in the face,” wrote another.
The best gem? “I would donate my organs to this band just to watch them live again.”
The Way It Ends, the second full-length from the Connecticut bruisers, is a thematic and spiritual successor to their dense, bludgeoning, and smartly constructed full-length debut, The Place I Feel Safest (2017), and a direct follow-up to the blistering and diverse EP, I Let The Devil In (2018).
Those well-versed in Meshuggah, Humanity’s Last Breath, Vildhjarta, and Architects have embraced CURRENTS with full-throated passion. A combination of their contemporaries and influences, channeled through unique perspective and personal experience, resulted in something revolutionary. It’s why they were handpicked for tours with August Burns Red, As I Lay Dying, We Came As Romans, Fit For A King, Born Of Osiris, and the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour.
CURRENTS is comprised of singer Brian Wille; guitarists Chris Wiseman and Ryan Castaldi; bassist Chris Pulgarin; and drummer Matt Young. A winding road through earlier incarnations culminated in a series of self-released EPs, leading to the band’s partnership with SharpTone.
Kerrang! put “Silence” from The Place I Feel Safest on a list of the 15 Greatest Mosh-Calls in Heavy Music, alongside bangers by genre leaders like Parkway Drive and Code Orange. Calling the song an “exploration of emotional torment, all blunt force riffage, wiry guitars, and spat vocals,” the rock mag summarized the track as “a narcotic blend of melodrama and madness.”
Album number two was produced by ex-For Today guitarist Ryan Leitru (Sleeping Giant, Your Memorial) and Wiseman, generating the kind of expansive and expressive performances best captured by producer/engineers who are also passionate musicians. Mixing duties were handled by ex-Periphery multi-instrumentalist Adam “Nolly” Getgood (Devin Townsend, Animals As Leaders). The Way It Ends was mastered by Kris Crummett (Dance Gavin Dance, Issues).
CURRENTS take special care to ensure each release serves a purpose, with a cohesive journey from start to finish, more in line with classic metal albums than today’s mere collections of songs. The lyrics are thoughtful yet accessible, skipping easy t-shirt ready sloganeering for actual depth. Blast beats, breakdowns, and a driving onslaught of riffs are tempered by stripped back, tranquil, ambient moments. There’s post-hardcore, punk rock dissonance, and even black metal esotericism.
“A Flag to Wave” is a CURRENTS anthem, a mission statement kicking The Way It Ends off after a moody intro, cascading with devilishly dynamic riffing and intense, rapid fire rhythm. By contrast, album tracks like “Kill the Ache,” “Split” and “Origin” introduce slight electronic elements, keys and synths, that actively drive the songs forward. A significant portion of The Place I Feel Safest was about abandonment. Building to a crescendo, “Let Me Leave” serves as a narrative mirror image, from the opposite perspective, a first-person account of the one who walks away.
The raw emotion on display in CURRENTS is the key to the deep connection the band has made with its ever-widening audience. They’ve proven themselves a consistent, determined, and reliable entity that will always challenge themselves and move forward, without compromising their core.

JINJER & POD at The Van Buren
2022-12-20 19:00 - 23:30 | Marquee Theatre, 730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281, United States
A versatile, progressive groove metal unit based out of Ukraine, Jinjer have found success both in their Eastern European homeland and abroad with their punitive blend of post-hardcore and death/progressive/nu-metal. Drawing from a wide array of influences, including R&B, soul, hip-hop, and the full spectrum of heavy metal, the band formed in 2009 and features a lineup consisting of Tatiana Shmailyuk (vocals), Roman Ibramkhalilov (guitar), Eugene Abdiukhanov (bass), and Vladislav Ulasevich (drums). Jinjer issued a pair of EPs, 2009’s OIMACTTA and 2012’s Inhale, Do Not Breathe, before breaking big at home with the release of a full-length version of the latter album in 2013. The group’s sophomore long-player, 2014’s Cloud Factory, caught the attention of heavy metal institution Napalm, which signed Jinjer and released their third full-length effort, King of Everything, in 2016. The group toured heavily in support of the LP, hitting the European festival circuit and making their presence known overseas as well. In early 2019, the band returned with the Micro EP, again on Napalm. By the end of the year, its natural counterpoint, Macro, arrived. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Since 1992, P.O.D. have globally rallied audiences around a hypnotic hybrid of hard rock, hip-hop, reggae, and alternative punctuated by a message of unification and a powerful pledge to persevere. Sonny Sandoval [vocals], Marcos Curiel [guitar], Traa Daniels [bass], and Wuv Bernardo [drums]—rose up from a tough neighborhood just four exists north of the Mexican border into a three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated multiplatinum mainstay. Moving 10 million-plus records, selling out gigs on multiple continents, logging four Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, and collaborating with everyone from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® inductee Carlos Santana to Katy Perry, the group continue to bring people together everywhere.
After countless sweaty basement shows coast-to-coast, the grind continued on 1999’s platinum The Fundamental Elements of Southtown. It set the stage for Satellite in 2001. Not only did Satellite bow at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 and go triple-platinum, but it also yielded four signature singles “Alive,” “Youth of the Nation,” “Boom,” and “Satellite” and the band garnered three GRAMMY® nods. Three top 10 albums followed with the gold Payable on Death, Testify, and When Angels & Serpents Dance. 2012’s Murdered Love logged a Top 20 debut. After 2015’s conceptual The Awakening, Circles earmarked a new chapter in 2018. Billboard claimed, “P.O.D. takes a leap forward with ‘Circles’,” as “Listening For The Silence” and “Always Southern California” lit up DSPs.

In This Moment + NOTHING MORE + Sleep Token & Cherry Bombs at House of Blues Las Vegas
2022-10-14 17:00 - 23:30 | House of Blues Las Vegas, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV, 89119, United States
Initially conceived as a metalcore counterpart to Evanescence, In This Moment moved into more melodic territory with its fantastical 2008 breakthrough album The Dream. Though capable of throat-scraping screams, vocalist Maria Brink shone brightest on mature and atmospheric material, putting In This Moment in the running as a promising goth rock band. The Los Angeles-based act also widened its exposure by touring with the like-minded Lacuna Coil as well as metal veterans Megadeth and Ozzy Osbourne.
Born of a chance meeting and the innate musical rapport established between vocalist Maria Brink and lead guitarist Chris Howorth, In This Moment quickly grew from local cult favorites performing in Los Angeles clubs to a MySpace phenomenon before landing a deal with Century Media. Along the way, the group was fleshed out by rhythm guitarist Blake Bunzel, bassist Jesse Landry, and drummer Jeff Fabb. In This Moment embarked on several U.S. tours with the likes of Diecast and 36 Crazyfists and gradually honed its melodic metalcore songwriting for their 2007 debut album, Beautiful Tragedy. The band supported it on the Hot Chicks of Metal Tour, featuring Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation, among others. The Dream arrived in 2008 and became their breakthrough as well as their first on the album charts. It was followed by the Top 40 A Star-Crossed Wasteland in 2010.
Multiple changes to the band’s original line-up took place in their earliest years, with Landry leaving the band in 2009, replaced by new bassist Kyle Konkiel. Konkiel only lasted a year before he too left the band and was replaced by Travis Johnson in 2010. One of the largest line-up shifts occurred when founding members Jeff Fabb and Blake Bunzel left in 2011. Their replacements — drummer Tom Hane and guitarist Randy Weitzel — stepped in to complete the recording of electro-charged fourth album Blood in 2012. The album was a Top 20 hit.
The group moved to a major label, Atlantic, for their fifth studio long-player, 2014’s Black Widow, and were rewarded with placement inside the Top 10. In 2016, Hane left the band and former 3 by Design drummer Kent Diimmel took over. In June 2017, the band dropped the single “Roots” in anticipation of the release of sixth full-length Ritual, which arrived in July and hit number 23 on the chart. The following year, recording for their seventh album coincided with a tour, teasing the theme of “mother” in its stage show. The band pushed their sound into heavier territory, including on the single “The In-Between” and the album Mother, which appeared in March 2020.

Employing a powerful blend of twisty progressive rock, explosive heavy metal, and soaring, radio-ready alt-rock, hard-hitting, forward-thinking San Antonio-based quartet Nothing More invokes names like System Of A Down, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Incubus, The Mars Volta, and Killswitch Engage. Formed around the talents of longtime friends Jonny Hawkins, Daniel Oliver, Mark Vollelunga, and Ben Anderson, the band spent years honing their sound and skills, and sharpening their worldview on the road, adopting a strict D.I.Y. ethic and issuing their music independently. In 2013 they inked a deal with the Eleven Seven Label Group, the home of acts like Five Finger Death Punch, Sixx:A.M.., Papa Roach, and HELLYEAH, and released their eponymous debut for the label, along with the fiery first single “This Is the Time (Ballast),” the following year. It proved to be a breakout release for the veteran band, charting well and introducing them to a much wider audience. Led by the single “Go to War,” Nothing More returned with their follow-up, The Stories We Tell Ourselves, in September 2017.

Sleep Token are a masked, anonymous collective of musicians; united by their worship of an ancient deity crudely dubbed “Sleep”, since no modern tongue can properly express its name.
This being once held great power, bestowing ancient civilizations with the gift of dreams, and the curse of nightmares.
Even today, though faded from prominence, ‘Sleep’ yet lurks in the subconscious minds of man, woman, and child alike. Fragments of beauty, horror, anguish, pain, happiness, joy, anger, disgust, and fear coalesce to create expansive, emotionally textured music that simultaneously embodies the darkest, and the brightest abstract thoughts. He has seen them. He has felt them. He is everywhere.
Sleep Token, led by the perpetually tormented Vessel, creates music that brings to the fore our most submerged thoughts and feelings, coaxing them from the desolate, terrifying caves of our subconscious mind.

Cherry Bombs bring an entire new way to experience rock and roll music – combining daredevil arts with feminine power, fearless and dynamic performances feature dance, fire, aerial, grinding, stilt walking, and so much more.

Cutting their teeth in the world of motorcycle rallies, they soon climbed the ranks of live entertainment by being the first group of its kind to bag a national tour with Buckcherry and Black Stone Cherry in 2016. Since then, Cherry Bombs have appeared in performances and tours nationally and internationally (Stone Sour/Steel Panther, Corey Taylor, KnotFest Mexico, ForceFest Mexico, KnotFest Colombia), on television (AEW), and in numerous music videos (Corey Taylor, 21 Savage, Fozzy, Moonshine Bandits).

2019 saw the premiere of the YouTube docu-series titled, “Girl Gang”, which pulled the curtain back to reveal what it takes to put on such a unique show. The series has been met with overwhelmingly positive reception for its raw storytelling and willingness of the performers to show vulnerability. Episodes focus on the inner-workings of Cherry Bombs, including the adventures, challenges, and triumphs they experience. With four seasons of “Girl Gang” out, fans anxiously await the next one with each passing year.

Like many in the industry, the pandemic of 2020 forced Cherry Bombs to cancel their tour. However, they adapted quickly, and filmed their headlining show, “Macabarét” – a story of karma wrapped in temptation, action, and danger around every corner. This “eyegasm” of a movie was streamed worldwide and met with rave reviews, cementing it to become an annual event every October.

For 2022, Cherry Bombs will be hitting the road nationally, and, for the first time- reaching their fans across the pond as they travel to select cities in the UK.

Bring Me The Horizon + Knocked Loose & grandson at Arizona Financial Theatre
2022-10-07 18:30 - 23:30 | Arizona Financial Theatre, 400 W Washington St, Phoenix, AZ, 85004, United States
BRIT and Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling quintet Bring Me The Horizon is one of the most electrifying and successful rock bands to emerge from the UK. The group released their gold-certified sixth studio album, amo, in 2019, which debuted at Number 1 in 17 markets and was named “one of the most anticipated albums of 2019” by Billboard, with NME describing it as “bold, brilliant and boundary-pushing.” amo garnered the band their second Grammy nomination for ‘Best Rock Album’ after the LP’s first single, “MANTRA,” earned them a nod for ‘Best Rock Song’ in 2018. The Sheffield 5-piece also received their first BRIT Award nomination for ‘Best Group’ this year. Bring Me The Horizon has sold over 4 million albums globally to date, played sold-out shows in over 40 countries, including two sold out nights at London’s O2 and one night at The Forum in Los Angeles, wowed a traditionally non-rock crowd at Glastonbury Festival in 2016 and 2018, and stole the show at high profile festivals across Europe all summer 2019. amo followed 2016’s critically acclaimed, Platinum-certified That’s The Spirit, which entered the UK charts and the US Billboard album chart at Number Two. They have now also amassed over 1 billion video views on YouTube. Bring Me The Horizon are vocalist Oli Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Mat Nicholls, and keyboardist Jordan Fish.

For A Tear in the Fabric of Life, Knocked Loose wanted to do something different. Or they may have been forced to. With quarantine upending their extensive touring schedule — “we’ve kind of been consistently on the road since 2014,” says vocalist Bryan Garris — the group found themselves in early 2020 sequestered near Louisville, in Oldham County, Ky., where they’re from. By June, they were hunkered down in a cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., focused on writing a concept album. By the end of September they had finished recording.
What they came up with is a six song-EP that expands on the narratives hinted at on A Different Shade of Blue, their 2019 full length, and grows beyond them sonically. It’s the band’s most dynamic and contained offering to date, and a balancing act: a mid-length EP with grand ambitions and scope, one full of new sonic elements and a cohesive aesthetic that hangs onto Knocked Loose’s trademark anthemic delivery.

Grandson is the pseudonym of Canadian/American alternative artist Jordan Benjamin. He takes elements of his rock and roll, hip hop and electronic music roots and combines them to tell stories of reclaiming power over one’s life, confronting social issues facing his generation, and opening up about struggles with addiction and mental health. Since releasing his Modern Tragedy EP series, grandson has toured extensively across North America, Russia, and Europe, accumulated hundreds of millions of streams online, and received co-signs from the biggest names in rock and roll and progressive politics, from Tom Morello to Bernie Sanders. Now, grandson has released his debut album, Death Of An Optimist. This body of work conflates personal anxieties with political realities. As the protagonist, grandson simultaneously explores the dark underbelly of his unrelenting optimism for change, by creating an antagonist, X. An ambitious project, grandson delivers a subtle A-side/B-side structure totaling twelve tracks, following grandson and X’s dueling world views. Through DOAO, grandson delivers an overwhelming urgency to do something, “After the hardest year of our lives, it’s time to confront the reflection staring back at you, because only in doing so can you know who you truly are,” he says. Showcasing a conflicted soul for intense scrutiny has the benefit of not dictating what is right or wrong. It just shows that we’re in this together.”

Stevie Nicks + Vanessa Carlton at Ak-Chin Pavilion
2022-10-06 20:00 - 23:30 | Ak-Chin Pavilion, 2121 N 83rd Ave, Phoenix, AZ, 85035, United States
Famed for her mystical chanteuse image, singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks enjoyed phenomenal success not only as a solo artist but also as a key member of Fleetwood Mac. Possessed of a raspy croon, Nicks had a duo with Lindsey Buckingham in the early ’70s, releasing an excellent folk-pop album as Buckingham Nicks before the pair were absorbed into veteran U.K. group Fleetwood Mac. Nicks’ and Buckingham‘s talents helped steer the band to superstardom with the enormous hit albums Fleetwood Mac and Rumours. In the ’80s, Nicks ventured out on her own, scoring numerous hit singles and ultimately leaving the band. In the late ’90s, however, she reunited with her Fleetwood friends, who began performing and recording with renewed vigor.
Stephanie Lynn Nicks was born May 26, 1948, in Phoenix, Arizona; the granddaughter of a frustrated country singer, she began performing at the age of four, and occasionally sang at the tavern owned by her parents. Nicks started writing songs in her midteens, and joined her first group, the Changing Times, while attending high school in California.
During her senior year, Nicks met fellow student Lindsey Buckingham, with whom she formed the band Fritz along with friends Javier Pacheco and Calvin Roper. Between 1968 and 1971, the group became a popular attraction on the West Coast music scene, opening for Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Ultimately, tensions arose over the amount of attention paid by fans to Nicks’ pouty allure, and after three years Fritz disbanded; Buckingham remained her partner, however, and they soon became a romantic couple.
After moving to Los Angeles, the duo recorded its 1973 debut LP, Buckingham Nicks. Despite a cover that featured the couple nude, the album flopped, but it caught the attention of the members of Fleetwood Mac, who invited Buckingham and Nicks to join their ranks in 1974. In quick time, the revitalized group achieved unparalleled success: after the LP Fleetwood Mac topped the charts in 1975, the band recorded 1977’s Rumours, which sold over 17 million copies and stood for several years as the best-selling album of all time.
Major hit singles like “Dreams” and “Rhiannon” made Nicks a focal point of Fleetwood Mac, and in 1981 she took time off from the group to record her solo debut, Bella Donna, which hit number one on the strength of the Top 20 hits “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (a duet with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), “Leather and Lace” (a duet with Don Henley), and “Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove).” After a return to Fleetwood Mac for the 1982 album Mirage (which featured her hit “Gypsy”), Nicks released her second solo effort, The Wild Heart, highlighted by the Top Five smash “Stand Back.” Rock a Little, which featured the single “Talk to Me,” followed in 1985.
After a long hiatus (during which time Nicks was treated for a chemical dependency problem), Fleetwood Mac reunited for the album Tango in the Night; The Other Side of the Mirror, Nicks’ first solo record in four years, followed in 1989. After a series of lineup changes and dropping sales figures, she left Fleetwood Mac in 1993 and issued Street Angel a year later. In 1997, she rejoined the reunited Fleetwood Mac on tour and on the album The Dance. In 1998 Nicks, along with her Fleetwood Mac bandmates, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the same year that her three-disc Enchanted box set landed in stores.
Nicks returned to the studio in 2001 with friends Macy Gray, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, and Dixie Chick Natalie Maines for the solo album Trouble in Shangri-La, and again in 2003 for the Fleetwood Mac reunion album Say You Will. Reprise released the CD/DVD Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2011 — almost a decade to the day after Trouble in Shangri-La’s release — that Nicks returned with a new solo album. Produced by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, In Your Dreams found her singing a mix of Bob Dylan-inspired folk songs, Italian love ballads, and rock anthems. In Your Dreams debuted at six on Billboard’s Top 200 and generated an adult contemporary hit in “Secret Love.” Nicks rejoined Fleetwood Mac in 2013 for the Extended Play release and a reunion tour that eventually blossomed into a full reunion with Christine McVie. In 2014, Nicks released 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, a collection of newly recorded versions of old songs; it debuted at seven on the Billboard charts. In 2015, she continued to tour with the reunited Fleetwood Mac and the following year her first two albums, Bella Donna and The Wild Heart, were given deluxe reissues.
In 2016 and 2017, Nicks toured with the Pretenders. As Fleetwood Mac was gearing up for a 50th Anniversary tour in 2018, the group parted ways with Lindsey Buckingham, replacing him with Neil Finn and Mike Campbell. Nicks was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo act in 2019, making her the first woman to be inducted twice. To accompany her induction, Rhino/WMG released the anthology Stand Back: 1981-2017. In October 2020, she released the song “Show Them the Way,” which featured contributions from Dave Grohl and Dave Stewart. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

“Always building up, falling apart. Love is an art,” sings Vanessa Carlton on the title track of her sixth album, Love Is An Art. Like the record itself, the song is a meditation on the eternal seesaw that is human connection: the push, the pull, the balance, the bottoming out. It’s that constantly evolving nature of love, expectations and compassion that Carlton analyzes from all angles on Love Is An Art, from romantic, to parental, to the friends that hold us up and the leaders that repeatedly let us down. And on tracks like the album’s opener, “I Can’t Stay the Same,” that also includes the relationship with the person staring back at us in the mirror, each and every morning.
Produced by Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Flaming Lips), Love Is An Art finds Carlton reckoning with toxic relationships (the confessional “Miner’s Canary”), eternal partnership (“Companion Star”) and the children who fill the world with love and grace while politicians fill their pockets (the passionate “Die, Dinosaur,” written after the shootings in Parkland, Florida). And true to Carlton’s skill as both a lyricist and an instrumentalist, the arrangements on Love Is An Art tell these tales as vibrantly as the words themselves: piano parts that speak of rage and tenderness, synths that burst and glow like dawn.

Knotfest Roadshow at Ak-Chin Pavilion
2022-10-02 18:30 - 23:30 | Ak-Chin Pavilion, 2121 N 83rd Ave, Phoenix, AZ, 85035, United States
There was never a band like SLIPKNOT, and there will never be another. Like a spore out of the Midwest, they’ve quietly bloomed into the most uncompromising, undeniable, and unique presence on the planet whose influence transcends genres and generations. Since sowing the seeds for revolution in Iowa during 1999, these musical outliers have captured a GRAMMY Award alongside 10 nominations, scored 12 Platinum / 41 Gold album certifications around the world, and logged over 8.5 billion global streams and 3.5 billion video views to date – unprecedented for a rock act in this generation or any other. Rolling Stone cited the seminal platinum-selling 2001 album Iowa among “The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time,” while The Ringer attested, “They’re the most important heavy band of their era.” In addition to marking the group’s third consecutive #1 debut on the Billboard Top 200, their sixth full-length album, WE ARE NOT YOUR KIND, bowed at #1 in twelve countries worldwide in 2019. Selling out shows on multiple continents, they deliver an irreplicable multi-sensory experience on tour and through their own festival KNOTFEST. With their seventh album THE END, SO FAR, SLIPKNOT are back, and nothing will be the same again.

Like the undead slashers celebrated in their songs, Ice Nine Kills return with The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood, a sequel of gruesome movie-sized proportion to The Silver Scream. The new album carves out a fresh, bloody homage to the VHS celluloid classics that possessed singer Spencer Charnas at an early age, with a devilish new twist.
Ice Nine Kills make music both timeless and timely, mixing metal, hardcore, and punk, with accessible power. New anthems like “Rainy Day” and “Hip To Be Scared” demonstrate Spencer’s fascination with fright, pop culture obsession, and his expertise with inescapably wicked melodic hooks and clever twists of phrase. Producer Drew Fulk returned for Welcome To Horrorwood which includes cameos from members of Papa Roach, Cannibal Corpse, Atreyu, Fit For A King, and Senses Fail.
Decadent, devious, and fiercely insane, Ice Nine Kills celebrate pop culture’s darkest edges, mining a cinephile library’s worth of iconic horror on The Silver Scream and its sequel. The creative marriage made in hell of music and fiction began in earnest with the Every Trick In The Book, which brought the previous three records’ themes to new levels.
The band’s synergy of music and lifestyle draws favorable comparisons to Slipknot and Rob Zombie. Visionary trailblazers and multimedia raconteurs, INK built a thrilling world for a growing legion of devoted true believers, with theatrical shows, high-concept videos, and inventive band-to-fan communion.

A sweeping self-awareness and expansive creativity are at the heart of CROWN THE EMPIRE, the modern post-metalcore anthem makers who embrace their dirty rock roots and stadium-ready melodies with bold courage.   What began as high-school pals posting clips on YouTube has grown to over 60 million views on the platform alone; endless streams of songs like “Machines,” “Hologram,” and “Voices”; and several Billboard 200 accomplishments, including a Number 1 debut on the Top Rock Charts. Alternative Press anointed them as Best Breakthrough Band and with good reason. Praised enthusiastically as “thrilling,” “progressive,” and “dynamic,” by tastemaker genre publications like Rock Sound, Kerrang! and Outburn (who, like AltPress, put the band on their cover), Crown The Empire climbed to the top of an emergent style by jettisoning the scene’s most formulaic traits.   A cinematic sensibility permeates each chapter in the band’s story, from the epic thematic darkness of their earlier work to the sci-fi dystopian ambience of new songs like “20/20.” Super-intense and high-energy songs will always remain a part of the Crown The Empire mission statement. It’s a journey that’s been marked by growth at every turn, coalescing into the modern incarnation of Crown The Empire, a band that’s built to last.

Bad Bunny at Chase Field
2022-09-28 18:00 - 23:30 | Chase Field, 401 E Jefferson St, Phoenix, AZ, 85003, United States
Bad Bunny is a young urban music singer, rapper and producer originally from Puerto Rico. This talented artist has demonstrated his already overwhelming power, influence and demand with completely sold-out concerts all over Europe, Latin America and the U.S.   Some of his most recognized singles include “Soy Peor,” “Diles,” “Tu No Metes Cabra,” “Chambea” and Mia thats out with Drake. Bad Bunny has had a short but stunning career with colossal amounts of success

Alesso, a DJ and dance music producer from Stockholm, Sweden, has achieved cross-genre success, blending progressive house with pop and scoring worldwide hits in collaboration with a wide range of artists. His earliest pop hits included 2012’s “Calling (Lose My Mind)” (with Sebastian Ingrosso and Ryan Tedder) and 2013’s “Under Control” (with Calvin Harris and Hurts), the latter of which reached number one in the U.K. He opened for Madonna during several British and Russian dates on her 2012 MDNA Tour, and performed at major festivals such as Coachella, Creamfields, and Electric Daisy Carnival. “Heroes (We Could Be),” a 2014 single featuring Tove Lo, became his first U.S. Top 40 hit, preceding his 2015 debut full-length, Forever. His next major international hit, 2017’s “Let Me Go,” was a collaboration with actress Hailee Steinfeld and country duo Florida Georgia Line. He also released two mixtapes, Progresso, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
Alessandro Lindblad, more commonly known as Alesso, is a DJ and dance music producer from Stockholm. His career quickly gained mainstream recognition for his remixes of Tiësto, Swedish House Mafia, and Avicii, as well as his own productions. His first major achievement came in 2011, when his remix of Nadia Ali‘s track “Pressure” was one of the most successful EDM efforts of the year. Later in 2011, he placed in DJ Mag’s Top 100 list, debuting at number 70. Early 2012 started well for him when he was named an MTV “one to watch,” made his first BBC Radio 1 essential mix, and earned the Track of the Year award on Zane Lowe‘s prime-time Radio 1 slot for the single “Calling (Lose My Mind).” Alesso also managed to move up many notches in DJ Mag’s DJ of the Year listings to number 20. He leaped to major success when he had a U.K. chart number one with his collaborative single “Under Control” alongside Calvin Harris and Hurts.
In 2014, Alesso inked a deal with Def Jam Recordings, and in 2015 he issued his debut album, Forever, which included the singles “Tear the Roof Up,” “Cool,” and “Heroes (We Could Be),” the latter of which featured Swedish pop star Tove Lo. The following year, he released a pair of collaborations with prominent Asian pop stars. A version of “I Wanna Know” featuring Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai on vocals was promoted in Ibiza and Shanghai, while “Years” received a K-pop revamp with EXO‘s Chen. In 2017, Alesso scored a modest hit on the all-star collaboration “Let Me Go,” which featured Hailee Steinfeld, Andrew Watt, and Florida Georgia Line. The track hit the Top 40 across the globe, rising to number six on the Billboard Dance/Electronic chart. After closing out that year with the Anitta collaboration “Is That for Me,” he returned in 2018 with the solo singles “Remedy” and “Tilted Towers.”
In early 2019, Alesso released the mixtape Progresso, Vol. 1. Several non-album tracks arrived in 2020, including “In the Middle” with Sumr Camp, “Midnight” featuring Liam Payne, and “The End” featuring Charlotte Lawrence. Progresso, Vol. 2 arrived in June 2021 and was followed by more non-album tracks, including “Leave a Little Love” with Armin van Buuren, “Going Dumb” with Corsak and Stray Kids, and “Chasing Stars” with Marshmello and James Bay. ~ James Pearce, Rovi

SABATON at Arizona Financial Theatre
2022-09-24 20:00 - 23:30 | Arizona Financial Theatre, 400 W Washington St, Phoenix, AZ, 85004, United States
In over two decades since their launch, Swedish metallers Sabaton have carved out a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the business – gaining a legion of loyal fans across the globe, delivering ten highly-rated studio albums (including two certified platinum-sellers), and scoring multiple industry award wins and nominations… not to mention launching their own annual festival and cruise.
Combining soaring power riffs with vocalist Joakim Brodén’s instantly-recognisable gruff baritone, the band refuses to be simply slotted into a genre. Fans need only know them as Sabaton: the heavy metal band that sings of real life wars and the people who played a part in them – of gruelling campaigns and dazzling acts of bravery, of magnificent victories and touching personal struggles – true stories more fantastic than any fiction.
Sabaton are perhaps best known for their electrifying live shows, combining accomplished musical performances and a finely-crafted stage show – including their full-sized tank drum-riser – with energy and laughter. The band has headlined as far afield as North America, Australia and Japan, and regularly fills arenas and takes top-billed slots at festivals across Europe. They are also a favourite support act for metal titans Iron Maiden and Scorpions. Sabaton’s live show has won top industry accolades in Germany (Metal Hammer Award), Sweden (Bandit Rock Award), as well as being nominated for two Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards in the UK.

Formed by composer Mark Jansen after leaving @AfterForever back in 2002, Epica quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. On their past seven records so far, they soared from gothic undertones to a broad, epic and triumphant amalgamation of all things monolithic, establishing their unique brand of Simone Simons’ unparalleled vocal excellence with a band both ready to tear down venues around the globe while at the same time installing orchestral splendour, progressive elegance, oriental enchantment, cinematic soundscapes and colossal fury into their trailblazing bombshell sound.
For the first time in years, they congregated in a villa in the pastoral beauty of rural Holland, setting up their temporary studio in several rooms. Thus, “Omega” is an album of unity, of friendship, of the close bond the members share. And in the middle of a world in turmoil, of a cataclysmic change in society, Epica somehow managed to create their most spectacular album yet. An album that is seamlessly bringing together metal and orchestra, choir and oriental instruments to a perfect storm constantly emitting goose bumps. Add to that specifically written suites for orchestra and choir, a wide range of ethnic instruments recorded around the world by some of the best native musicians out there and you get something like the ultimate Epica album you never dared dream of.

CHVRCHES at Marquee Theatre
2022-09-24 19:00 - 23:30 | Marquee Theatre, 730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281, United States
Crafting songs with big synths and bigger melodies, Chvrches combine their indie roots with their love of chart-friendly pop. The mix of Lauren Mayberry’s crystalline, emotive vocals and the sweeping synths of Iain Cook and Martin Doherty on 2013’s bittersweet yet anthemic debut album The Bones of What You Believe bridged the gap between the classic synth pop of Depeche Mode and New Order and the brash, EDM-influenced sounds of the early 2010s, influencing countless contemporaries along the way. Later, Chvrches brought an extra sheen to their music without sacrificing any of its depth. They went all in on their pop leanings on 2018’s Love Is Dead, where their collaborators ranged from pop producer Greg Kurstin to the National‘s Matt Berninger. On 2021’s Screen Violence, Chvrches sharpened the edges and hooks of their songs as they reaffirmed their place as synth pop standard-bearers.
Before Chvrches formed, keyboardist/vocalist Iain Cook and keyboardist/vocalist Martin Doherty became friends in 2003 while studying at Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde. The pair forged their musical partnership when Doherty asked Cook to produce his band Julia Thirteen. Though little came of the sessions, they continued to work together, and became members of the band Aereogramme. By 2007, they had left that group, with Doherty joining the Twilight Sad as a touring member and Cook becoming a composer for film and television. Seeking a change from alternative rock, they founded their own experimental synth project. In September 2011, the pair invited vocalist Lauren Mayberry, who’d previously played with the band Blue Sky Archives and holds a law degree as well as a Master’s degree in journalism, to sing on some demos. The sessions went so well that the trio christened itself Chvrches — spelling it with a “v” instead of a “u” to differentiate themselves in internet searches — and began writing songs inspired by Prince, Depeche Mode, and Kate Bush.
In May 2012, Chvrches posted their first song “Lies” online. It quickly became a viral hit and received airplay on BBC Radio 1. The band’s official debut single, “The Mother We Share,” appeared in November 2012 and was also an online hit. Late that year, Chvrches were among the acts selected for the BBC’s Sound of 2013, ultimately finishing fifth. In January 2013, the band signed with Glassnote and soon embarked on an international tour that included a performance at that year’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. That March saw the release of the Recover EP, and Chvrches’ debut album The Bones of What You Believe appeared that September. Recorded in Glasgow’s Alucard Studio with a handful synths including a Minimoog Voyager, the album debuted at number nine on the U.K. albums chart and was later certified gold in the U.K. It also entered the Top 20 on the charts in Canada, Australia, and the United States, among other countries. “The Mother We Share” also charted in the U.S., Japan, Belgium, and the U.K., where it was a Top 40 hit; in July 2014, the song was featured in the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Later in the year, the band contributed the track “Get Away” to the re-scored soundtrack to Nicolas Winding Refn’s influential 2011 film Drive, and covered Bauhaus‘ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” for the movie Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters.
In January 2015, Chvrches began working on new material at Alucard Studios, which they were able to upgrade thanks to the success of The Bones of What You Believe. Taking inspiration from Quincy Jones‘ lean yet massive-sounding production style, their second album, Every Open Eye, appeared in September 2015. The album debuted at number four in the U.K., reached number eight on the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the U.S., and also became a Top Ten hit in Australia, Ireland, Scotland, and New Zealand. Every Open Eye’s singles included a version of “Bury It” that featured Paramore‘s Hayley Williams.
In 2016, Chvrches performed at Royal Albert Hall for the first time and collaborated with Solar Fields on “Warning Call,” which appeared in the video game Mirror’s Edge Catalyst. The following year, the band contributed a cover of Tegan and Sara‘s “Call It Off” to the tenth anniversary edition of the duo’s album The Con, and went into the studio with producer Greg Kurstin and collaborator Dave Stewart to work on their third album. Boasting a bigger, more straightforward sound than their previous releases, 2018’s Love Is Dead included the singles “Get Out” and “My Enemy,” a duet with the National‘s Matt Berninger. The album debuted at number seven in the U.K. and topped Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts in the States. Late that year, Chvrches released the Hansa Session EP. Named after the Berlin studio where it was recorded (and which also hosted David Bowie and Nick Cave, among other artists), it featured acoustic and string-driven arrangements of several of Love Is Dead songs. In 2019, the band performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the launch of the BBC Scotland television channel; they appeared on Marshmello‘s “Here with Me” and contributed the single “Death Stranding” to the album Death Stranding: Timefall, a set of songs inspired by the action video game of the same name. Early in 2020, Chvrches started recording album number four, with Doherty and Mayberry in Los Angeles and Cook in Glasgow. Featuring a darker sound as well as a collaboration with the Cure‘s Robert Smith, Screen Violence appeared in August 2021

Damage Inc at Marquee Theatre
2022-09-17 17:00 - 23:30 | Marquee Theatre, 730 N Mill Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281, United States
For over fifteen years, international Metallica tribute band, Damage Inc Southern California’s Tribute to Metallica, has performed for thousands of fans across the US, Canada and Mexico.
Selected by Metallica to perform at …And Tributes for All concert in San Francisco as part of Metallica’s San Francisco Weekend Takeover 2021.
Featured on AXS.tv’s WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS – Season 1
Featured on AXS.tv’s WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS – Season 8
Named one of LA Weekly’s top 20 tribute bands (2015)

Twenty One Pilots at Footprint Center
2022-09-16 20:00 - 23:30 | Mortgage Matchup Center, 201 E Jefferson St, Phoenix, AZ, 85004, United States
Twenty One Pilots shook the world with the release of their 2015 LP BLURRYFACE, an album that would go on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide and earn the band their first ever GRAMMY® Award as they shattered longstanding chart records, and captivated audiences worldwide on sold-out arena runs and at international festivals. Now three years later, the duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have returned to write the next chapter of their story with TRENCH, the band’s highly anticipated new studio album. TRENCH finds Twenty One Pilots fearlessly reimagining the possibilities of their music through the same candid expression and genuine identity that helped to cement their place as one of the largest bands in the world.
