Cancellations Pour In - MACHINE HEAD, GREEN JELLY, SIX FEET UNDER

A lack of free time and recent illness have kept me out for a couple weeks, so it only seems appropriate to start off with some show cancellations. A couple of these are now recently past, but thought it's worth bringing them to your attention.

First, Machine Head will not be playing at Myth in Maplewood tonight, Wednesday, November 14 as support to Dethklok with The Black Dahlia Murder. A press release sent out to ticket holders yesterday from TicketWeb reads in part (note the new show time):

"Machine Head will not be performing with Metalocalypse/Dethklok and Black Dahlia Murder at the Myth in Maplewood, Minnesota on November 14, 2013 due to lead singer, Rob (sic) Flynn required emergency surgery for a hernia. Dethklok and Black Dahlia Murder will still be performing. Doors are at 7 pm, show is at 8 pm."

This is terrible news and, of course, I wish Robb Flynn all the best for a safe and speedy recovery. A recent story posted on Blabbermouth indicates the surgery was performed successfully today in Minneapolis, and that Machine Head will rejoin the tour on November 24 in Portland, Oregon.

I've never seen an official reason, but Green Jelly disappeared from Station 4's calendar recently. They were due to play the St. Paul venue last night, Tuesday, November 13. Information about the rest of Green Jelly's tour dates seems sketchy, but they will be playing tonight, Wednesday, November 14 at Bubba's Bar and Grill in Sauk Rapids. Doors open at 8 pm for a 21+ show that's $10 at the door. If you're in the St. Cloud area or in the Northwest suburbs you're within easy driving distance. According to Pollstar, Green Jelly then plays the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Minnesota on Thursday, November 15, The Pickled Parrot Bar & Grill in Fargo, North Dakota on Friday, November 16, and the VFW in Bismarck, North Dakota on Saturday, November 17. Not a typical tour routing that's for sure!

Adding to the concert calendar confusion, the Six Feet Under, Wretched, Agitate, and Ghost Hook show on Monday, November 12 at Station 4 in St. Paul was also cancelled. I can't shed light on why this show was cancelled, but the rest of tour is apparently on. Cattle Decapitation had earlier dropped off the tour about a week and a half ago due to on stage comments by Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes and an alleged back stage confrontation. Part of what Cattle Decapitation vocalist Travis Ryan posted on the band's Facebook page according to this Blabbermouth story is, "He [Chris Barnes] immediately RAN out the door and fled to his bus like he does every night when the two fans that are left for their show are trying to get him to sign something." Let's say this type of behavior, avoiding fans by dashing on his tour bus, is not new for Barnes. I heard a similar story independently from two trusted, firsthand sources after a show way back on the Haunted tour at a stop in Topeka, Kansas.

Final Knotfest Update

Due to the unfortunate situation surrounding the well-publicized incarceration of Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe in a Czech prison and cancellation of their planned tour with Dethklok and Gojira, there’s been a bit of uncertainty about the final bill for Knotfest this Saturday, August 18 at Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin. A number of changes have been confirmed, and Randy has also been released from prison (on August 2) and is back in the US. Here’s the latest update on the performers at Knotfest.

The most important news is that Lamb Of God will be making one-off performances at both Knotfest events (the other in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Friday, August 17). They had initially cancelled, but now are back on the bill. With the Lamb Of God/Dethklok/Gojira tour up in flames, Dethklok has cancelled but Gojira will still be there. Taking the place of Dethklok is the mighty Machine Head.

According to a recent story on Blabbermouth, the set times for the final billing in Somerset is:

Main Stage

Slipknot: 10:20–12:00

Deftones: 8:10–9:10

Serj Tankian: 6:10–7:00

The Dillinger Escape Plan: 4:30–5:10 pm

Second Stage

Lamb Of God: 9:15–10:15

Machine Head: 7:05–8:05

Cannibal Corpse: 5:15–6:05

Prong: 3:45–4:25

Gojira: 3:00–3:30

If you can’t attend Knotfest, Event View Live is hosting Slipknot’s performance as an internet streaming pay-per-view event for $19.95. In addition to access to exclusive backstage footage and band interviews, Event View Live is also doing a cool thing by allowing you to stream the concert on demand for 30 days after the event. So even if you can’t (or don’t want to) sit at your computer on Saturday night, or if there are bandwidth issues when streaming live, you can watch the concert at your convenience.

Concert Announcements - July 27, 2012

The Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis just announced a local show with Emergent, Vaudeville, Thira, Whither The Tide, and R.A.G.E. on Friday, August 10.

Hard rock band Saving Abel plays an 18+ show at Station 4 in St. Paul on Friday, August 17. Advance tickets are only $5.

Yesterday it was announced that the Dethklok, Lamb Of God, and Gojira tour was cancelled due to Lamb Of God’s singer Randy Blythe ongoing legal trouble in the Czech Republic, where he continues to be held in jail. All three bands were scheduled to be a part of Knotfest with Slipknot on Saturday, August 18 in Somerset, Wisconsin, and I’ve removed them from the calendar listing. Hopefully replacement bands for Knotfest will be announced.

On Sunday, August 19, Texas Hippie Coalition will play at The Cabooze in Minneapolis.

Blue Felix plays a free show at Neisen’s in Savage on Thursday, August 23.

The Turf Club in St. Paul has instrumental warriors Zebulon Pike along with Jel, Pizza Boys, and Good Morning Gentlemen on Friday, September 14. This show will also feature a drum-off with Dave King, JT Bates, Martin Dosh, and Tim Glenn.

As if having Wino playing on Thursday, August 16 at the Turf Club in St. Paul wasn’t awesome enough – now godly doom metal pioneers Saint Vitus will play at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis with Weedeater on Monday, October 1.

GWAR returns to First Avenue on Sunday, November 18 with Devildriver, Cancer Bats, and Legacy Of Disorder. This is an all ages show, and tickets go on sale today, Friday, July 27 at 12:00 noon.

Lastly, rock legends The Who will be performing Quadrophenia (and more) in its entirety at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Tuesday, November 27. Tickets go on sale at 10:00 am today, Friday, July 27.

Slipknot And Knotfest To Invade Twin Cities and Omaha Areas August 17 and 18

There's been a slew of new concert announcements this week (more on these tomorrow), but one bit of news can't wait and that's the long overdue return of Slipknot to the Twin Cities on Saturday, August 18 at the recently renovated Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin. To make it even more special, this is one of only two dates for Knotfest, an apparently new annual festival-style touring event—the other being Friday, August 17 in Pacific Junction, Iowa (just outside the Omaha, Nebraska metro area). The band lineup differs slightly on each day, but the Somerset date has a more extensive bill, so far being:


Main Stage:
Slipknot
Deftones
Serj Tankian
The Dillinger Escape Plan


Second Stage:
Dethklok
Lamb Of God
Cannibal Corpse
Prong
Gojira


More bands should be added to the bill. I'm just hoping that a long-time favorite live band of mine, The Urge, who is slated to play the Pacific Junction date, will be added to the Somerset show. From the initial press release, it sounds like there will be vendors and a variety of activities including carnival rides. One cool feature will be a "Slipknot museum" with information and memorabellia from the band's archives. I'll have more information about the event as I learn it!


Tickets for both dates of Knotfest go on sale this Friday, June 8 at 10:00 am CDT through Ticketmaster. The event is all ages and tickets for the Somerset date are only $23 plus fees. The Ticketmaster event page states that "A limited number of tickets will be made available at 'early bird' discounted prices." It's unclear whether $23 is the early bird price or whether this is the standard price.

Dethklok Album/DVD Review

Dethklok – Metalocalypse: Dethalbum II (Deluxe Edition)

Williams Street, 2009

9/10

The Dethklock and Metalocalypse phenomenon continues on. It truly is remarkable how a cartoon about a death metal band spawned a crossover-hit TV show and a touring machine that resulted in 2007’s Metalocalypse: The Dethalbum laying claim to being the top-selling death metal of all time. With the release of Dethalbum II, the question is whether Dethklok is a legitimate act to be taken seriously or whether it is an interesting novelty. Dethklok, of course, is essentially a one-man band as Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small handles all vocals and instruments except drums, for which he’s again enlisted drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan. I’m happy to say that Dethklok has delivered an album that is better and more satisfying than the debut album. The songs are more diverse, incredibly heavy, and are not simply extended soundtrack-style musings. Differences between this and the debut album are relatively minor, the most notable being the occasional use of non-intrusive keyboards and more screaming vocals. Songs range from the blinding fast staccato of songs like “Dethsupport” and “The Gears” to the slower, mid-tempo gallops of “Burn The Earth” and “Bloodlines”. Some of my favorites are “Comet Song”, “The Cyborg Slayers”, with it’s crunching riffage, and “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence”, which features the coolest stuttering chorus since “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Even though the album is over 50 minutes long, the songs don’t tire and listening to the whole record is a pleasure. The songs are varied enough to hold interest, yet don’t stray far off the track. It may be a little depressing that currently the most popular death metal band is a cartoon, but Dethalbum II proves that Dethklok is for real and it demands your attention.

The Deluxe Edition features an additional, nearly hour-long DVD of the cartoon videos that played behind the band on their 2008 tour. These are not live versions of songs, and all of the songs were previously released on the debut album. Nevertheless, watching the videos is a lot of fun and it’s nice that these are being made available to fans. The Deluxe Edition is only a couple bucks more than the standard edition, so this is well-worth the minimal extra expense. The only downside is that apparently the Deluxe Edition is only available in physical format, and the DVD material is not available in a downloadable format from online retailers.

Dethklok will be appearing alongside co-headliners Mastodon at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul on Friday, October 16. Support will come from Converge and High On Fire.