Kiss UK Tour Confirmed for 2014!

Rumors have been circulating on the net for a while, but in an interview published yesterday on the Classic Rock magazine website, bassist Gene Simmons confirmed that KISS will be embarking on a tour of the UK in 2014!

In the interview, the Kiss co-founder likened the UK to Middle-Earth, saying it is "like the Hobbit world, a magical kingdom". Fair enough.

This will be Kiss' first UK tour since 2009's Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour and I for one am hugely excited as this will be my first chance to see Kiss in concert (I only just became a fan this year)!

Despite being mega-superstars in the US during the 70s, Kiss didn't achieve much success in the UK until the 80s, particularly during the 'no-make up' era, during which they had three top 10 albums (Lick It Up, Crazy Nights and Revenge reached numbers 7, 4 and 10 respectively) and the single 'Crazy Crazy Nights' reached number 4 in the UK single chart in 1987.

Aside from the news of the tour, the interview is still pretty interesting so give it a look if you're into Kiss.

Read more by clicking here!

Run-D.M.C. and Beastie Boys-Together Forever Tour Research Project

If you are a fan of Golden-Age hip-hop, you may have heard Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boy's 1987 'Together Forever Tour'. I had seen several interviews with the two groups in which they mention the tour but I was never able to find out much else about it until I recently came across a TV ad from the time listing USA dates for the tour. With this info, I decided to create a Wikipedia page which you can see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Together_Forever_Tour

I've also seen an interview video made while both groups were on tour in the UK. The YouTube uploader claims it's from 1987 which tells us that the tour went to more countries than just the US.  However, the video could be from Run DMC's Raising Hell Tour which the Beastie Boys supported them on in 1986.
The video is here:

And here is the tour ad I mentioned:

The video only shows USA dates so I'm not sure if they toured other countries together or not.

Here's another interview with the two groups in which the tour is specifically mentioned:

If anyone has any extra information on the tour then please let me know in the comments and hopefully we can build a decent Wikipedia article on this seemingly missing part of both groups' history.

Music Pick-ups- Jan-June 2013

Since '13' was just released and we're almost half way through the year, I thought I would do a run down of my music purchases for this year so far. Enjoy!

CDs
AC/DC-Back in Black
Iron Maiden-Iron Maiden
Dio-Diamonds: The Best of Dio
Queen-Made in Heaven
Iron Maiden-Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Black Sabbath-13

DVDs
This is Spinal Tap
Iron Maiden-Maiden England '88
Guns n' Roses-Use Your Illusion II: Live in Tokyo 1992

Other
Iron Maiden 2013 Calendar

In case your'e wondering, I bought 13 on Friday so I helped it get to it's well deserved No.1 spot on the UK Album Charts. Last year I got 11 albums (10 CDs, 1 vinyl), let's see if I can beat that this year!

Btw, here's my Iron Maiden calendar review which I posted earlier this year:

Maiden Don't Mime!

I have another funny metal video for you guys this week. As you may know, in 1980, Iron Maiden performed on Top of the Pops totally live rather than miming like most acts on the show. Well in 1986 they were asked to mime for a similar German show and they just decided to have a bit of fun with it.

The band members all swap instruments while performing 'Wasted Years' and seem to be having a great time! Adrian doesn't swap instruments for some reason, maybe it's got something to do with the fact that he wrote the song...

Anyway, this is a hilarious video for Maiden fans! Check it out:

Metallica - Seek and Destroy Live - Funny Jason Newsted Moment

So it's been way too long since I last made a post on this blog, and even longer since I made a music related post (!) but hopefully I can make it up to you guys with this funny video from YouTube.

It's taken from some live footage of Metallica performing (the incredible) 'Seek and Destroy' in 1992. James passes the mic to Jason for him to take a line in the chorus and...well let's just say James doesn't seem too happy with Jason's reaction.

If you're a Metallica fan then there's a good chance you've seen this but in case you haven't, check it out now!

(You may also want to click the video title to bring it up bigger on YouTube)

Froggy Fresh drops new track, 'Mike's Mom'!

Froggy Fresh, previously known as Krispy Kreme, has just released his brand new track which is easily his heaviest and most emotional track to date.
For those of you who don't know, Froggy Fresh is a hilarious fictional rapper portrayed by Tyler Cassidy whose lyrics and videos are some of the best original music on YouTube right now. I consider him to be the Spinal Tap of hip-hop!

However, the comedy isn't as up front with his new song, 'Mike's Mom', which takes on a more serious subject matter; murder and revenge!!!

Check it out here:

Maiden England '88 Coming to DVD, CD and Vinyl!

Just announced today was the impending release of Iron Maiden's 1988 concert video, 'Maiden England' which was filmed during the 7th Son of a Seventh Son World Tour and is coming to DVD soon. About time!

The show was originally released as a VHS/CD double pack in 1989 but has never been released since. March 25th 2013 will see the concert come to DVD, CD and Picture Disc Vinyl that will all feature extended versions of the show which have never been seen or heard by fans since the concert took place.  On top of this, a second disc, packed with bonuses, will be included.                

Oddly, there's no plans for a Blu Ray release at the moment but I still can't wait to get my hands on that DVD!                                       

It's also worth mentioning that these re-issues will all have new cover art, taken from the promo posters for the ongoing 2012/13 Maiden England World Tour, which is based on this video and the Seventh Son Tour.                                      

                                        

Black Sabbath '13' Announced!!!!

The title and release month for Sabbath's new album and my most anticipated album of 2013 has just been announced!
It's called '13' and is due for release in June. It will be the band's first album since 1995 and the first with the original line-up since 1978's 'Never Say Die', so that means Ozzy Ozborne is back on record with the band! Aditionally, this album sees Sabbath's return to their original label; Vertigo.
The album will also have a supporting tour which will begin this April in New Zeland with more dates due to be announced in the coming months.

Read more here:
www.blacksabbath.com/news

Steve Harris British Lion European Club Tour

Steve Harris and his solo/side project British Lion will be embarking on a European tour and performing in clubs across Febuary and March of this year.
Performing a clubs again will be a step down in show scale for the bassist, who will be touring Europe with Iron Maiden just a few months later, but it looks set to be a series a fantastic and very unique experiences for  fans of Harris and Maiden!

The tour starts at the Porto Hard Club in Portugal on 21st Febuary and ends on 30th March in Manchester.

Check this link for more info:
www.steveharrisbritishlion.com

Iron Maiden 2013 Calendar Review

Today I bought the new Iron Maiden calendar from HMV and so I decided to make a video review for my YouTube channel and also post it here. Enjoy!

I also finally bought AC/DC - Back in Black for those who are interested.