Grand RockTember Music Festival Announced - September 14

An impressive lineup of 80s metal bands is geared up for the Grand RockTember Music Festival on Saturday, September 14 at the Grand Casino Amphitheater in Hinckley. Acts confirmed so far are Winger, L.A. Guns, Firehouse, Warrant, Dokken, Lita Ford, and Skid Row, with more bands to be announced! Plan on spending the day there, as show time is 2:00 pm. Ticket information has yet to be released, but tickets go on sale June 20.

Concert Announcements - August 13, 2012

There’s been some lineup changes to Knotfest this Saturday, August 18 at Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin. I’ll have more details about this in a separate post.

Station 4 in St. Paul is hosting a night of local metal with Face Of Oblivion, Micawber, Ominous Conception, Australis, and Vessels For Our Ghost on Wednesday, August 21 for a cheap ($5) all ages show.

Poison frontman Bret Michaels will headline the Breathe Easy Music Fest II with a special solo acoustic show on Sunday, August 26 at The Pourhouse in Minneapolis. This solo is a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and also features performances from the Tim Mahoney Band, Cole Allen Band, Crankshaft And The Gear Grinders, Saving Starz, BKS, and Clifton Wales.

Hard rock gods Boston return for a show on Saturday, September 1 at Treasure Island in Welch.

Offbeat metalcore band Blessed By A Broken Heart performs with local heroes Write This Down (their new album Lost Weekend is reviewed here) play Station 4 in St. Paul on Saturday, September 8. This is super-early (4:00 doors) all ages show with massive support from Children 18:3, My My Misfire, Rob Mahlum, City Of The Weak, and October Fades To Black.

Fresh off a show last month at the North Star Room, hard rockers 12 Stones play Minneapolis at First Avenue on Wednesday, September 12 with local support from 3 Pill Morning.

Rochester’s own rising metalcore band and Facedown Records recording artist Your Memorial blast into Station 4 in St. Paul for an all ages show on Saturday, September 15 with For All I Am, Erra, With Life In Mind, Revival, In The Line Of Duty, and Couriers.

Faribault Harley-Davidson in Faribault is celebrating their 35th anniversary with performances by Skid Row, L.A. Guns, and Annex on Saturday, September 22, along with a bike show, burnout pit, and other activites.

The original lineup of Taking Back Sunday has reunited, and they’re out on the road to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their seminal Tell All Your Friends album. First Avenue in Minneapolis will be hosting them on Thursday, October 11 with Bayside and Mansions for an all ages show.

John Lydon’s (Sex Pistols) Public Image Limited have released their first album, This Is PiL, in 20 years and are supporting it with a tour that hits Mill City Nights in Minneapolis on Monday, October 22. An old friend of mine had recorded a PiL show at First Avenue back in the late 80s, and I remember it being a really cool show.

Old school Canadian punk band Propagandhi are back on tour, and play the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Wednesday, November 7 with Off With Their Heads and The Menzingers.

Electronic/industrial act Assemblage 23 plays Ground Zero in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 8 with Espermachine and Thought Thieves.

Pierce The Veil plays on all ages show on Saturday, November 10 at The Cabooze in Minneapolis with Sleeping With Sirens, Tonight Alive, and Hands Like Houses.

The AP-sponsored tour of metal band Miss May I lands at Station 4 in St. Paul on Thursday, November 15. Support for this all ages show will come from The Ghost Inside, Like Moths To Flames, The Amity Affliction, Glass Cloud, Peter Says Denim.

Finally, the Savatage-led Trans-Siberian Orchestra brings their annual Christmas extravaganza to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for two shows (3:00 and 8:00) on Saturday, December 29 to perform The Lost Christmas Eve for the first time. Ticket information has not yet been released.

CAGE Tonight in St. Paul; SKID ROW/DIO DISCIPLES Cancels Medina Show

Bad news first—Skid Row and Dio Disciples have cancelled their show scheduled for tomorrow, September 30 at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina. No reason was given for the cancelation, but the venue was nice enough to call ticketholders with the news yesterday. A post on the Skid Row website indicates that the show might be rescheduled.


Given that cancelation, there's no reason not to get out tonight for the return of Cage, a long-running traditional power metal band from San Diego. The amazing thing about Cage is that they continue to grow through their years of hard, underground DIY work ethic. Having known and seen the band live since 1999, I can attest that every show is brilliant. Tonight's show, at Station 4 in St. Paul, is Cage's third visit to the Twin Cities, and is the very first since completion of their soon-to-be-released new album, Supremacy Of Steel. This sort Midwest jaunt for Cage takes them to Moorhead, Minnesota tomorrow, then to Chicago for a festival show on Saturday. There's a great lineup of local support bands, including Dawn Of Valor, and it's only $8, so do the right thing and head to Station 4 tonight.

Cage performing new song "War Of The Undead" for the first time on June 23, 2010 at The Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.

Cage performs tonight, Thursday, September 29 at Station 4 in St. Paul with support from Powerfinger, Dawn Of Valor, Minos, Eternal Voyager, and Noble Beast.

Skid Row And Dokken Return To Town

Skid Row and Dokken were both in town recently, and now they are coming back again in June to The Bierstube in Oakdale. Skid Row plays there Friday, June 18, and Dokken will be there the next night, Saturday, June 19. Ticketmaster has a special package deal for tickets to both shows for only $25 that is only available by presale from May 3-7 on the Ticketmaster website. The password you need for this presale offer is ROCK.

Click here to see some old Skid Row concert memorabilia and my thoughts on a couple shows I saw on the Slave To The Grind and Subhuman Race tours.

Skid Row From The Vault

Say what you will about Skid Row, but Slave To The Grind is one of the heaviest albums to hit number one on the Billboard album chart. They were also never afraid of taking out the some the best opening bands. The top ticket was for a show at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa with Pantera as the opening band, soon after the release of Vulgar Display Of Power. Pantera completely ripped the place up with a short 30 minute set of material primarily from Cowboys From Hell, including "Heresy", "Domination", and "Psycho Holiday". The band expresses much gratitude to Skid Row for having the balls to take them on tour. Skid Row was amazing that night, too, playing all the songs from their first two albums that you'd expect. Sebastian Bach is so incredibly underrated as a singer. I didn't make it to the earlier part of the Slave To The Grind tour with Soundgarden opening, unfortunately. The flyer is for the show at Palmer Auditorium in Davenport, Iowa. The only other time I've seen Skid Row was on the Subhuman Race tour at Memorial Hall in Kansas City with Souls At Zero. Not as good a show as the first time I saw them, but excellent nonetheless.

Skid Row will be appearing at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina on Friday, April 30. Support will come from Firehouse and Minneapolis' Downtread.
UPDATE: Here's a drumhead signed by drummer Rob Affuso that I caught when he threw it out from the stage at the May 31, 1992 show in Dubuque.