STOP THE ARIZONA BULLSHIT

I prefer to keep things as apolitical as possible here at DPR, however this one is worth noting for many reasons. First off, I, as a Hispanic, stand in full support of our Brothers and Sisters from Arizona in their struggle against a law that embodies the ignorant fear of those who are afraid of the benefits immigration can bring to the already ailing American economy, let alone state and local markets as well as the unwillingness of the Federal government to effectively take a stand on immigration reform that would benefit both, newcomers and citizens.

Canadian Indie Rockers Stars have announced the cancellation of their shows in Tucson and Phoenix in wake of the passing of the now infamous Arizona immigration bill which gives near unlimited power to police to arrest people based solely on their ethnic background and how this might come into play regarding their migratory status in the state.

Stars frontman Torquil Campbell has stated:

"This specific law is the turning point in a growing sense of underlying racism — anger at there being a black president, anger at minorities beginning to become a part of the economic life in America. There are some scary forces in that country, and they are starting to be legitimized by the media, and it is important that right now, people start to take extremely strong stands against those people because this is what happened in Nazi Germany (…) This is exactly what happened, if we don't stop this shit right now, I really fear for North America in general, I think it's terrifying."

And rightly so.

Stars was scheduled to visit Tucson and Phoenix for an estimated crowd of about 500 in each city, and though their AZ boycott will have a considerable financial effect on the band’s finances, in my opinion is the right move to remind the local politicians of who put them in power and who can get them out of power.

How come no such laws are implemented to counteract the domestic problems of drug consumption and arm smuggling that is fuelling the drug trafficking problem that in turn caused this law into being?

For more check HERE

MAD Dates!

A couple of days ago we talked about the upcoming BlackDiamondSkye tour featuring Alice in Chains, Mastodon and Deftones. Today the first batch of dates was announced and (yay for us!) they have included two Canadian dates thus far, Toronto and Vancouver.

The official site was offline as of yesterday, as was their Facebook and Twitter accounts, however today they have been activated and updated with dates and info. Alice's rep, David "Beno" Benveniste has been quoted saying "This is the poster kids will want to have on their walls, and ten years from now people will look back at this as a timeless and important tour," and he is not mistaken! Alice's comeback has been very well received by fans everywhere, and their new album is certainly a step forward.

More dates and info will be added on as it becomes official and available, so be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter or the tour's official site.

Sep. 16 - Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island
Sep. 17 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sep. 18 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Sep. 20 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
Sep. 22 - Boston, MA - Agannis Arena
Sep. 24 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
Sep. 28 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Oct. 01 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
Oct. 04 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Oct. 07 - Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place
Oct. 08 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
Oct. 09 - Portland, OR - Rose Quarter - Memorial Coliseum
Oct. 16 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint

And the Blood (errr... Reviews?) Keeps Flowing

Image by markcoatsworth via Flickr

The Man has posted a review of the Edmonton show saying Alice sucked, which for some reason contradicts the earlier one posted by another QMI writer, in which he unkindly chronicles the Winnipeg show and isn't very favourable towards Rob's set. It seems neither is remotely interested in either act, and the only fact they can agree on is that the show sucked, which ultimately begs the question: Why did they attend then?

At any rate, the Gruesome Twosome still have enough guillotine and guts to gore'round and will be visiting Vancouver before they head south for the American leg of the tour. More dates have been added, including one more Canadian date in Toronto.

APRIL
26 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
27 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union
28 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
29 Calgary, AB Corral

MAY
1 Vancouver, BC Pacific Coliseum
2 Kennewick, WA Toyota Center
4 Casper, WY Casper Events Center
7 Springfield, MO Shrine Mosque
9 Park City, KS Hartman Arena
11 Rochester, MN Mayo Civic Center
12 Duluth, MN Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Arena
15 Kearney, NE Viaero Event Center
18 Knoxville, TN Knoxville Civic Coliseum
19 Charlotte, NC Uptown Ampitheater
21 Toronto, Canada Molson Ampitheater
22 Lewiston, NY Artpark

Due to the lack of videos around I'm assuming security has been POOPERS and not allowing people to film... I would like to know who is behind this silly thing, artist or venue? whoever it is they are just wrecking it for those of us who can't go check it out... I mean, will they REALLY lose money for allowing shitty handicam videos to be posted? geez guys, come on... if anything you'd entice more fans to come - isn't that what you want?

Be it as it may, let's all thank Justin for posting this one of the Edmonton show.

Ice Cream, we SCREAM!

The Prince of Darkness has released the artwork for his upcoming album SCREAM, his first album in about three years and tenth studio work overall. Scream is also the first album to feature Ozzy's new protege guitarist Gus G. He has planned a year-and-a-half tour in support of Scream with dates to be announced soon.

2010 promises to be a busy year for the Iron Man. The recent release of his autobiography I Am Ozzy (Grand Central Publishing) debuted at #2 in the New York Times Best Sellers List and has received 5-star reviews from fans and critics alike, quickly selling at Amazon. Ozzy is also set to release an important update regarding the resurrection of OZZFEST sometime next week.

Scream was produced by Ozzy and Kevin Churko, also responsible for the production of Ozzy's 2007 album Black Rain. The album is planned for release on June 15th via Epic Records, and the confirmed tracks for the album include:

'Let Me Hear You Scream'
'Diggin Me Down'
'Let It Die'
'Soul Sucker'
'Fearless'
'I Want It All'
'Time'
'Crucify'
'I Love You All'

The first single off the album, 'Let Me Hear You Scream', was used for soundtrack during the prison riot scene of the April 14th episode of CSI:NY. The single is now available for listening below.

The Gruesome Road

So we've been talking HERE and THERE about the Gruesome Twosome Tour featuring Alice and Rob. As previously mentioned, the guys laid waste to Winnipeg and Saskatoon and are in Edmonton tonight and Calgary tomorrow. Rob has posted a tour update with a handful of pics from the Saskatoon show and after.

And in case anyone ever wondered what it's like to drive through Western Canada at night... well, you've got Rob to thank for bringing you this:

Gruesomly Awesome!

A while back we talked about the Gruesome Twosome Tour featuring Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper.

The GT kicked of last night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada at the MTS centre and will tour most of the Northern-Western United States and Canada. Rob posted some backstage photos at about noon yesterday showing the crew getting the venue and stage ready for the show. A show review was also posted this morning, though it wasn't very kind to Rob's set.

Brutal, Carnage.

A press release went out yesterday announcing that Carnage headliners MegadetH and SLAYER will be performing Rust in Peace and Seasons in The Abyss in their entirety as part of their set. This is mega-excellent news for those of us who have managed to hang on to the tickets despite the date changes, for those who for one reason or another did not hang on to those tickets this isn't very good news at all, but be it as it may, I think is only fair of MegadetH and Slayer to decide to do this for their fans, especially after postponing a tour twice.

Recent reports indicate Tom is healing satisfactorily and the boys are getting back into again, and despite the suggestive comments about Dave's move to go ahead with Testament and Exodus as special guests during the American leg of the RIP tour Slayer doesn't seem to mind much.

Regardless if Testament or Exodus open, the tour promises to be guitar and drum onslaught.

MAD Tour In The Horizon

And we're not kidding! A teaser trailer released on 4:20 suggests an upcoming summer tour featuring none other than Mastodon, Alice in Chains and Deftones. Nothing has been officially released thus far, however info is scheduled to be public on Thursday night (April 29th 6pm EST) according to a countdown clock on the tour's website, HERE. For now we're going to have to be contempt with this:

RUSH'in Time!

That's right! "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage" premiered at New York's Tribeca festival on Friday night. All three members of RUSH were present at the premier and for a Q&A afterwards, as were Sebastian Bach and Kiefer Sutherland.

The RUSH Doc will premier on TV tonight on VH1 and VH1 Classics and will be screened in select cinemas for one night only on June 10th and in Toronto at the HotDocs Festival on the 29th and 30th of this month. The planned release date is June 29th and will be out on DVD, BluRay and Digital Download.

The official trailer has also been unveiled, so no more drooling over short teasers and out takes!

In case you missed the previous teaser trailers they are HERE and HERE

For more check out: http://www.rushbeyondthelightedstage.com/

...Like a Bat (in the head!)

Hey everybody! Exams are over so now I can get back to what we like most!

So back to the bat to the head... as many of you might know by now Bret Michaels (ex-Poison) has been rushed to emergency again after suffering a stroke over the weekend. When I first heard, I thought it was a repeat from a couple weeks back, and though I'm no Poison fan i do feel (really) bad for the guy.

Initial reports had Bret waiting to cross the Styx, but according to more recent updates he is conscious and able to talk; this has been confirmed by his dad during an interview earlier this week after he had the chance to visit him in hospital.

People Magazine ran a piece explaining what Bret is going through, and its pretty rough.

Let's wish Bret all the best and a speedy recovery!