SEPULTURA Cancels North American Tour

Brazil's Sepultura announced on their Facebook page a couple days ago the cancellation of their North American tour to promote their new, just-released album The Mediator Between The Head And Hands Must Be The Heart. The official statement reads:

"Due to the delay in obtaining a visa for the band to enter the United States, we regret to inform all fans that the previously announced North American tour is being cancelled. We apologize to the fans, promoters, and the bands who were going to be part of the 'Tsunami Of Metal' tour - UNEARTH, KATAKLYSM, SCAR THE MARTYR, ANCIIENTS, and DARK SERMON."

The tour was slated to invade Minneapolis at Skyway Theater Studio B on Thursday, November 7.

Concert Announcements - September 20, 2013

The concert calendar (on your right) has undergone some massive updates, and here's the highlights of some of those recently announced. In the interest of getting this posted as quickly as possible, I've forgone the usual posting of relevant concert flyers and pictures here.

English progressive metal band Tesseract hits the Skyway Theater Studio B on Wednesday, October 16 with support from Scale The Summit and Anciients. This is a 15+ show, and you can get tickets through Ticketfly.

Sweden's black metal horde Watain plays Minneapolis at the Triple Rock Social Club on Wednesday, October 16 with In Solitude and Tribulation. It's an 18+ show, and tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.

English doom band Orange Goblin brings with them thrashers Holy Grail, Lazer/Wulf, and Vulgaari to the Triple Rock Social Club on Monday, October 21; tickets for this 18+ show are available now through Ticketmaster.

Attila returns to town to play the Skyway Theater Studio B in Minneapolis on Friday, October 25 with Upon A Burning Body, The Plot In You, Fit For A King, and Countermeasure. Get tickets for this 15+ show through Ticketfly.

Metalcore band The Chariot announced last month their intention to disband following a U.S. tour that brings them to the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on Sunday, October 27 with Glass Cloud, Birds In Row, To The Wind, and Rebuker. It's an early all ages show, and you can get tickets through etix.

Another metalcore band doing a farewell tour is Bleeding Through, who play the Skyway Theater Studio B in Minneapolis with Winds Of Plague, Oceano, Gideon, and Sworn In on Sunday, November 3. Tickets are available through Ticketfly, and it's a 15+ show.

Sepultura tops an impressive bill with Unearth, Kataklysm, Scar The Martyr, Anciients, and Dark Sermon on Thursday, November 7 at the Skyway Theater in Minneapolis. Get your tickets now through Ticketfly for this 15+ show.

The one and only Slayer plays Myth in St. Paul on Friday, November 8 with Gojira and 4Arm. This is an all ages show; tickets are on sale now through etix.

Friday, November 8 also has progressive metal band Periphery playing the Skyway Theater in Minneapolis with Born Of Osiris, Dead Letter Circus, Twelve Foot Ninja, and Thira. This is another 15+ show with tickets available through Ticketfly.

Monster Magnet hasn't been heard from much recently, but they play Mill City Nights in Minneapolis on Sunday, November 17 with Royal Thunder and Zodiac. This is an 18+ show, and tickets are on sale now through AXS.

August Burns Red comes to Mill City Nights in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 21, along with Blessthefall, Defeater, and Beartooth. Tickets for this 15+ show are on sale now through AXS.

The mighty High On Fire returns to First Avenue in Minneapolis on Saturday, November 30 with support from Kvelertak and Windhand. This is an 18+ show, and tickets are on sale now through etix.

Relapse recording artist Red Fang plays the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis with support from The Shrine and Radkey on Tuesday, December 17. It's an 18+ show, and tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.

Viking rulers Amon Amarth step up to the larger room at Mill City Nights in Minneapolis with impressive support from Enslaved and Skeletonwitch on Saturday, February 8. Tickets go on sale today, Friday, September 20 at 10:00 am through AXS.

From The Vault - CLUTCH

Off the wall heavy rockers Clutch are out now promoting their new album Earth Rocker so I dug through my archives to present the findings from early Clutch shows up through The Elephant Riders. My first live exposure to the band was when they were out supporting their debut album, Transnational Speedway League, on a crushing bill that had them sandwiched between Sepultura and Fear Factory on March 29, 1993 at Big Dog's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sepultura was riding high on the Chaos A.D. album, while Fear Factory was promoting Soul Of A New Machine. From my recollection, Clutch ripped through most the debut album, including "Earthworm", "A Shogun Named Marcus", "Rats", and "El Jefe Speaks".

The only time I remember seeing Clutch on the road for their second, self-titled album was in 1995 at The Hurricane in Kansas City on a co-headling jaunt with Tad with Far opening the show. Clutch and Tad was a great pairing, and both bands put on intense performances.

Two promotional pictures of Clutch from 1998 for The Elephant Riders album.

Clutch hit the road heavily for their third album, The Elephant Riders, during which time they played Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City a number of times. March 11, 1998 had them playing The Beaumont Club in Kansas City on an unlikely tour opening for Limp Bizkit with Sevendust. The crowd was respectful but seemed largely indifferent. That same year, they did a phenomenal headlining show at The Bottleneck in Lawrence as part of a short tour with support from Shine (who later changed their name to Spirit Caravan).

The pictures below were all taken at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas on October 28, 1998 as direct support to Sevendust together with Stuck Mojo and Ultraspank. Again, Clutch seemed out of place on this tour, but they still rolled through a great set as only they can do.

Clutch performing October 28, 1998 at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas. Click on any of the live pictures to see more photos from this show (20).

Clutch performs tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10 at First Avenue in Minneapolis with support from Orange Goblin, Lionize, and Scorpion Child.

SEPULTURA Blues, LOUDNESS Tonight!!

So I'm a little bummed that I couldn't get out last night for the monstrous bill of Sepultura, Belphegor, Hate, Keep Of Kalessin, Neuraxis, and Bonded By Blood. At the bottom of this post I've embedded quality video of the full sets of Sepultura and Belphegor, and a partial set from Keep of Kalessin from their shows this past Saturday, May 14 at The  Knitting Factory in Spokane, Washington. These sets are recordings of the webcasts on Livestream.

One of the coolest shows so far this year is happening tonight, May 19 at Ground Zero in Minneapolis - the one and only Loudness! If you grew up in the 80s, you could not help avoid the hype of this white-hot band. Despite landing an opening slot for Mötley Crüe in 1985 or so, Loudness never broke big and American appearances since that time have been scarce. Now they're back for their 30th anniversary tour so don't miss your chance to see them! Support for Loudness comes from Warmachine, Dirty Passion, and As|Of.

theknitspokane on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Sepultura May 14, 2011 at The Knitting Factory in Spokane, WA

Watch live streaming video from theknitspokane at livestream.com

Belphegor May 14, 2011 at The Knitting Factory in Spokane, WA

Watch live streaming video from theknitspokane at livestream.com

Keep Of Kalessin May 14, 2011 at The Knitting Factory in Spokane, WA