RED DRAGON CARTEL Cancels Fridley Concert

Sad new indeed, for those of us looking forward to seeing guitarist Jake E. Lee playing live once more. Yes, Red Dragon Cartel has canceled their appearance at G.B. Leighton's Pickle Park in Fridley on Saturday, March 22, but the show goes on with Hessler, The Regenerators, and Impaler still playing.

I'm not certain exactly when this was announced, but the Vital Culture page for advance tickets sales now simply states: "Jake E. Lee's Red Dragon Cartel has canceled." Various online postings as recently as March 15 still indicated Red Dragon Cartel was playing, and the band's Facebook page still has the Fridley date listed, but it is not to be.

Assuming ticket sales were okay, I'll go out on a limb and guess that the band canceled the Fridley show once the reality of their crappy tour routing hit them. Red Dragon Cartel plays Friday in Janesville, Wisconsin, then would need to backtrack to the Twin Cities on Saturday before a 10+ hour haul to East-Central Indiana for a show in Richmond on Sunday.

Concert Announcements - November 1, 2013

There hasn't been any major concert announcements over the last couple of weeks, but I have been adding a few shows to the Concert Calendar (at the bottom of the page) as they trickled in. A whole bunch of new shows have just been announced, so here's the latest concert news.

Tantric is back in the area on Saturday, November 9 at Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park with support from Stone Senate and La Madness.

Chicago’s Hëssler returns to Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park on Friday, November 15 with Think Negative and Metal Witch.

Lamb Of God drummer Chris Alder will be appearing at Guitar Center in Oakdale for a meet-and-greet before the band’s show the same night at Myth in St. Paul on Monday, November 18. No further details are available yet for the meet-and-greet.

Minneapolis rock band 3 Pill Morning plays the Skyway Theater Studio B in Minneapolis on Wednesday, November 27.

F*ckface Unstoppable featuring Bam Margera hits Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park with Wilson, Strate-Jak-It, and Mouthz Of Dirt on Sunday, December 1.

Metalcore band All That Remains plays Mill City Nights in Minneapolis with Motionless In White on Wednesday, December 4.

Japanese doom band Church Of Misery will be playing the Twin Cities after all. Their previously scheduled show at the Turf Club in St. Paul got canceled when their tour fell through, then the tour got rescheduled without a new date here. Now, a stop at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis has been added on Saturday, December 14 with special guests Vulgaari and Lungs.

Friday, December 20 is a big night of local metal at the Cabooze in Minneapolis with Blue Felix, Nuisance, Emergent, Pinwheel, Scream At The Sun, and A Sound Theory.

Former Husker Dü drummer Grant Hart has a solo show lined up at the Triple Rock Social Club on Thursday, December 26 with Catbath.

Industrial gods Skinny Puppy are back with a new album, Weapons, and a tour to support it. They’ll play Mill City Nights in Minneapolis on Saturday, February 22 with Army Of The Universe. Tickets go on sale today, Friday, November 1 at 10:00 am through AXS.

Concert Announcements - March 15, 2013

Sludge rock band Jucifer, together with Witchden, play the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Sunday, March 24.

As was announced earlier, Japanese metal gods Loudness will put in a rare U.S. appearance on Saturday, April 27 at the Hi 5 in Burnsville with local support from Downtread.

Black Tusk has been added to the bill as support to the previously announced Kvelertak and Cancer Bats show on Saturday, April 27 at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

Powerhouse L.A. vocalist Mandy Lion brings his band to Station 4 in St. Paul on Monday, May 13 with support from Hooligans Union and Crashmatic. Mandy Lion is best known for his work with the short-lived supergroup WWIII, which also featured guitarist Tracy G (Dio), bassist Jimmy Bain (Rainbow, Dio), and drummer Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath). Their 1990 self-titled debut contains some of the most heavy, wicked riffs and vocals – check out “Time For Terror”. For the second WWIII album, 2003’s When God Turned Away, underappreciated guitar hero Joe Floyd (Warrior) laid down the riffs.

Prior to their May 21 in Rochester as direct support to Papa Roach, Escape The Fate headlines Mill City Nights in Minneapolis on Saturday, May 11 with support from The Color Morale and Glamour Of The Kill. This is an all ages show, and tickets go on sale today, Friday, March 15 at 10:00 am.

Chicago metal band Hessler comes to Hi 5 in Burnsville on Saturday, June 15. Also on the bill the Judas Priest tribute band Electric Eye and Metal Witch.

Following his June 30 show at Buster’s in Mankato, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler brings his new band Adler to Station 4 in St. Paul the next night, Monday, July 1. VIP meet and greet tickets are available.

Last for this week: sure, it’s not metal, but fans of industrial metal will likely be interested in Depeche Mode. They will be playing the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand on Tuesday, August 27. Tickets go on sale April 6.