Slayer, Blink-182, and Bikini Kill to headline Riot Fest’s massive 15th-anniversary show

Hold onto your mohawks guys, because Riot Fest’s 15th-anniversary show is going to be one for the books. On Wednesday (May 29), festival organizers unveiled the massive lineup for this year’s weekend-long event. Blink-182, the newly reunited Bikini Kill, The Raconteurs, Rise Against, The Flaming Lips, Jawbreaker, and Bloc Party are just some of the bands headlining the show.

Also getting a spot on the large print portion of the festival poster is Slayer. Their appearance at Riot Fest will be the iconic metal band’s final performance in Chicago (and Milwaukee).

Joining the already stacked lineup are Taking Back Sunday, Rancid, Descendents, Manchester Orchestra, Dashboard Confessionals, the B-52s, the Starting Line, Streetlight Manifesto, The Get Up Kids, Senses Fail, Less than Jake, Anti-Flag, Cursive, Save Ferris, Frank Iero and the Future Violents, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, and a slew more.

As per Riot Fest tradition, many of the bands on the roster will perform some of their albums in full. Those acts include the Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots), WEEN (The Mollusk), Bloc Party (Silent Alarm), Taking Back Sunday (Tell All Your Friends and Louder Now), Dashboard Confessional (The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most), Against Me! (Reinventing Axl Rose and Transgender Dysphoria Blues), Glassjaw (Worship & Tribute), Senses Fail (Let it Enfold You and From the Depths of Dreams), and AVAIL will reunite to perform Over the James.

Tickets for Riot Fest 2019 are currently available for purchase on the festival’s website. Considering the colossal lineup, it may be wise to get your tickets as soon as possible instead of risking the event selling out.

Riot Fest returns to its home of Douglas Park in Chicago during the weekend of Sept. 13- 15. For more information about the lineup, tickets, or general inquiries, head on over to Riot Fest’s website.

First wave of Alternative Press Music Awards performers announced

The Journeys Alternative Press Music Awards, Fueled by Monster Energy Drink is a couple of months away from happening and the people behind the annual music awards have just unveiled the first wave of performers. On Monday (April 17), Alternative Press unveiled that bands like All Time Low, New Years Day, Sleeping with Sirens, Pierce the Veil, and The Pretty Reckless, and more are just some of the artists heading to Ohio in mid-July.

In addition to the above mentioned acts, rap icon Bone Thugs (the extension of Bone Thugs N Harmony), Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Against Me!, Machine Gun Kelly, and metal icons Korn will also grace the stage during the show.

“We’re really excited to perform at this year’s awards and are looking forward to seeing all our fans in Cleveland,” Korn frontman Jonathan Davis said in a statement. “I performed at the first ever APMAs back in 2014 with Asking Alexandria, and it’s been awesome to watch how this show has grown over the years.”

Tickets for the rock music-centric awards show are currently on sale at Alternative Press‘ website. In addition to general tickets which will set you back $40, several VIP packages are available including the Monster VIP Table, the Ultimate VIP, and Premium Seating packages.

The fourth annual Alternative Press Music Awards is set to take place on July 17 at the Quicken Loans Arena in the publication’s hometown of Cleveland. Unlike the past two years, this year’s awards show will be hosted by Black Veil Bride/Andy Black head honcho, Andy Biersack.

First annual Ye Scallywag! festival to launch in California

If you were ever referred to as a scallywag as a kid, and loved it, there might be a way for you to continue to be one as an adult. On Monday (Aug. 29), Synergy Global Energy, Brew Ha Ha Productions, and radio stations 91X and KFM-BFM announced the first ever Ye Scallywag! festival. The one-day, California-based event will feature performances by NOFX, Against Me!, and Bad Religion while also giving attendees a large array of craft beer, wine, and food.

“Scallywag! will be unlike any legitimate craft beer or wine event ever produced,” explains Ye Scallywag! co-producer Cameron Collins of Brew Ha Ha Productions. “We are bringing in some of the most sought after and award-winning breweries in the country as well as some incredible wineries from Paso Robles, the Napa Valley, Central Coast, and beyond all set to the music of artists like Bad Religion. We’ve really got something special here!”

“Ye Scallywag! will be the perfect San Diego event to make one truly grateful for this wondrous California lifestyle,” adds 91X’s Halloran. “The craftiness of the beer, wine, food, and bands will prove that indeed, San Diego has the best. I am looking forward to an amazing day.”

Mirroring their sentiments, Fat Mike of NOFX adds: “When I started NOFX in 1983, I dreamed of being a scallywag one day, at least by the time I was 50. Well, not only am I a scallywag, but I’m also playing the scallywag festival! PS: What’s a scallywag? Is that like being a pirate?”

Ye Scallywag! is set to take place on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Waterfront Park in San Diego, CA. The event will feature over 100 craft breweries and artisan wineries while the music portion of the event will kick off at noon. All tickets include beer and wine tasting and access to the BMW of Escondido Main Stage for live music.

Pre-sales for the event will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 30 and will end on Thursday, Sept. 1. General ticket sales will then begin on Friday, Sept. 2 at 10 a.m. PST. As noted on the website, the one-day music festival is for those who are 21 and over. For more information about Ye Scallywag!, head on over to their website here.

Governors Ball 2016 Announces Daily Lineup

It’s been a little over a month since New York-based music festival, the Governors Ball, unveiled their 2016 lineup. Now, fans who have been waiting patiently for the daily lineup to be unveiled have gotten their long-awaited wish granted. On Thursday (Feb. 11), festival organizers unveiled the daily lineup for the weekend long festival.

The Strokes, Beck, Robyn, Of Monster and Men, Matt and Kim, the newly revamped Bloc Party, and more will kick off the weekend-long festivities on Friday, June 3. The Killers, Against Me!, Miguel, HAIM, M83, and others will headline on Saturday, June 4. On Sunday, June 5, Kanye West, Death Cab for Cutie, CHVRCHES, Two Door Cinema Club, Cold War Kids, Eagles of Death Metal, and more will hit the stage closing out the 2016 edition of the yearly event.

In addition to the daily lineup, single-day passes are now available for purchase for the general public. For more information about the Governors Ball, head on over to the festival’s website. the complete list of daily lineup can be seen below. As a warning, just because the artists are listed in a specific order doesn’t necessarily mean that it how they will perform on said days.

The Governors Ball will once again return to its home turf of Randall’s Island for its sixth year during the weekend of June 3-5.

Riot Fest Announce 2015 Toronto Line-Up

It’s starting to feel a lot like music Christmas thanks to Riot Fest unveiling the first wave of artists for their Toronto dates, set to take place on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 at Downsview Park..

Wu-Tang Clan, Frank Turner, Alexisonfire, and Thrice are just some of the big names heading to Canada for the weekend-long festival.

But don’t get too upset that some artists have been left off the initial release; apparently five names are going to be kept a secret until June 16.

For now, check out the mighty jammed line-up below and if you live in Canada or want to make the trek to Toronto for the show, we suggest buying your tickets after you check out the list.

Reading and Leeds Unveil 60+ New Artists to 2015 Line-Up

Just when we though Reading and Leeds had finished unveiling their complete line-up for the 2015 incarnation of the yearly festival, organizers has officially given the completed line-up today.

Back in February when organizers released the flyer for the weekend-long event, a big chunk of the line-up had been revealed making some assume (like us) that those were all the people heading to the United Kingdom for the Bank Holiday. One thing that did not escape us were the two “special guest TBA” spots and the promise that a lot more acts would be added.

Now, those vacant spots have been revealed as well as over 60+ new acts that include Alt-J, Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem, AWOLNATION, Modern Baseball, The Bots, Atreyu, PVRIS, and many more.

Check out the new additions to the line-up below.

Reading and Leeds will take place during the weekend of August 28-30. Tickets are on sale, but if you haven’t already purchased them already, it might be a good idea to do so now or really soon.

Against Me! Announce Summer Headlining Tour

Against Me! have announced that they will be heading out on a headlining Summer tour beginning in June. The band announced the news on Twitter earlier in the day with the venues posting the official flyers for each individual gig on the social media platform.

Heading out on the month-long trek with the Florida band will be Frnkiero and the cellbration as well as Annie Girl & The Flight.

The tour will begin on June 15 at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh and wrap up on July 19 at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle.

Tickets will go on sale beginning this Friday, April 17.

For now, check out the complete tour itinerary below.

AGAINST ME! SUMMER 2015 HEADLINING TOUR:

06/15: Raleigh, NC, Lincoln Theatre
06/16: Charleston, SC – Music Farm
06/17: Columbia, SC – Music Farm Columbia
06/18: Norfolk, VA – Norva Theater
06/19: Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
06/20: Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
06/21: Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
06/23 : Pittsburgh, PA – Altar Bar
06/24: Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
06/26: Detroit, MI – St Andrews Hall
06/27: Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
06/28: Cleveland, OH – House of Blues – Cleveland
06/30: Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
07/01: Indianapolis, IN-Deluxe at Old National
07/03: Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
07/05: Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
07/07: Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theater
07/08: Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection
07/11: Winnipeg, MB – Garrick Theatre
07/12: Saskatoon, SK – O’Brian’s Event Centre
07/14: Edmonton, AB – Union Hall
07/15: Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
07/17: Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
07/19: Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre

Craig Aaronson (A&R for Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, and More) Passed Away

Normally, hearing that someone from a record label passed away doesn’t really make headlines, but sometimes that person played a key role in discovering some of your favorite bands. In news that feels like a dagger to the heart, the A&R guy responsible for discovering many of the bands that helped shape our music taste and love of music, passed away.

According to several music publications including Billboard and Alternative Press, Craig Aaronson famed A&R guy from Warner Bros., passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Many artists, including those that he played a key role in discovering, have already taken to Twitter to express their condolences. Here are just some of the ones that we have found on our Twitter feed with more coming as the day progresses.

Rest in peace Craig. You gave us fire, hope, and love. Thank you.

— the spooky soup (@gerardway) October 30, 2014

News of a death is always heavy. I'm taking the rest of the night off y'all. Love the ones you got.

— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) October 30, 2014

RIP Craig Aaronson. So sad. He was a great friend who taught me alot and played a huge part in my career.

— Fred Mascherino (@thecolorfred) October 30, 2014

RIP to the nicest, most caring person I have ever met! Even through the end you lived your life to the fullest! See you again Craig Aaronson

— Kellin Quinn (@Kellinquinn) October 30, 2014

RIP Craig Aaronson – One of the few who believed. Thank you for giving me the confidence & opportunity to follow my dreams.

— Craig Owens (@craigowens) October 30, 2014

Just received heartbreaking news. The world lost a visionary man today whom I owe my career to! So sad.. Signing off for now RIP C. Aaronson

— Branden Steineckert (@801PUNX) October 30, 2014

Craig Aaronson RIP

— John Feldmann (@JohnFeldy) October 29, 2014

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It's with great sadness in our hearts that we write this message to you all. An integral part of our A7X family has passed away. Craig Aaronson was one of the driving forces behind our decision to sign with Warner Brothers Records back in 2004 along with Tom Whalley and Andy Olyphant. We had heard horror stories about independent bands signing with major labels so when we first met Craig we were skeptical. We ended up trusting him and Warner Brothers Records and in the end we are glad that we did. Craig had not only been a personal friend to us through the years, but also helped spearhead many of the bands successes, including allowing us to have complete creative control throughout all of our albums. No matter what we handed into the label he would get behind it and go to work. Our manager Larry Jacobson has always said working with Craig was like working with a partner, always agreeable even when you disagreed, and because of that, A7X and WBR got so many good things done together. A couple of years ago Craig left Warner Brothers to do other things, we were saddened by his decision but realized he needed to move on. A few months later we were informed that Craig had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. While on chemo Craig still made it out to our Hail to the King album release show in Los Angeles earlier this year. We were all blown away by his dedication and will to live. Sadly, yesterday he lost the battle against cancer. He is survived by an amazing wife and kids. We will always be grateful to Craig and everything he has done for us. He has done the same for many other countless bands and without a doubt will be sorely missed. Thank you for everything Craig. Love A7X P.S. Life is too short, spend some extra time with the ones you love today.

A post shared by Avenged Sevenfold (@avengedsevenfold) on Oct 30, 2014 at 9:24am PDT

Aaronson was most well-know for bringing bands such as My Chemical Romance, The Used, Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Avenged Sevenfold, Against Me! and more to the label and helping them reach success.

If anyone needs an example of Aaronson’s enthusiasm for the bands he helped discover and love of his job, the perfect example can be found on MCR’s first DVD, Life on the Murder Scene where we see Aaronson listening to some new tracks the band were working on at the time and how passionately excited he got while listening to them.

Aaronson kicked off his lengthy resume of successful bands by signing Jimmy Eat World back in 1995 to Capitol before leaving and getting his job at Warner Bros. Jimmy Eat World recently wrote about that and how when they had no money, Aaronson had let them sleep in his house.

All we can say is thank you very much for discovering those bands and we owe you a lot, Craig. You had a role in helping shape who we are today.

Slipknot New Members Unmasked?

Have the identity of the new members of Slipknot been revealed?

Well, if you believe all the rumors and the recently released clues, it might just be true.

For the past few months, since the announcement of the metal band’s new album, Corey Taylor and company have managed to keep the identity of the two newcomers under lock and key even with two music videos already released and several interviews.

Today, it would seem that the identity of the drummer who would take the drumset that once belonged to longtime and recently outed member, Joey Jordison was unveiled.  The position, reportedly went to Jay Weinberg, son of E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg and former drummer for Against Me!.

Against Me! frontwoman, Laura Jane Grace kind of ousted the drummer’s identity (as well as a feud, we assume) a little while ago.

Grace wrote the following on Twitter.

Dear Slipknot, good luck with that. #shitbag

— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) September 18, 2014

Considering the drummer did quit the band through Twitter, we can understand why Grace is not exactly giving a glowing endorsement for the stickman and his new gig.

As for who is under the mask in the position left behind by the late Paul Gray, it was revealed last week that Alessandro “Vman” Venturella, guitar technician for Mastodon and Krokodil guitarist would be filling the vacancy that was temporarily filled by Donnie Steele following the passing of Gray.

Slipknot have yet to confirm the identities. One thing we know for sure, is that their new album .5: The Gray Chapter is expected to be released on Oct. 28.

The Gaslight Anthem Reveal Big News

If you’re one of the many fans of New Jersey rock outfit, the Gaslight Anthem, then you are in for some major good news because the band not only revealed that a new album is on the horizon, but that they will be heading out on tour to support it.

The new album will be titled, Get Hurt and is slated for  a release date of August 19. This new album marks the band’s fifth record and follows 2012’s Handwritten.
 
Unlike their previous works, frontman Brian Fallon has said that this album would be different than the ones before it, describing it as “completely different than anything we had ever done before.”

“Instead of going that extra step of just adding some organs to some background vocals, this time we actually really changed up a lot of the sounds,” he told Rolling Stone last month. 

“There are certain new songs where you might say ‘Oh, that could have been on Handwritten,’ or ‘That could have been on 59 Sound,’ but there are some songs where you’re going to be like, ‘This has never been touched by this band before.'”

In the interview he goes on to say that they took on a “first-person” writing approach even citing Bob Dylan as inspiration for that.
 
Like it had been said before, the news of the new album wasn’t the only good thing that was revealed. the band will be hitting the road beginning on September 10 in Washington, D.C. with Against Me!  for their 2014 tour. 

On a side note, it was also revealed that one of the tour stops would not only feature The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me!, but Jimmy Eat World will also be present. 

Check out the album art, track list and upcoming tour dates. 

Get Hurt Tracklist:
1. Stay Vicious
2. 1,000 Years
3. Get Hurt
4. Stray Paper
5. Helter Skeleton
6. Underneath the Ground
7. Rollin’ and Tumblin’
8. Red Violins
9. Selected Poems
10. Ain’t That a Shame
11. Break Your Heart

The Gaslight Anthem 2014 Tour Dates:

09/10 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
09/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage at Mann Center *
09/13 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center *
09/14 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Folk Festival
09/27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre *
09/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium
09/30 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues *
10/01 – Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theatre *
10/03 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom *
10/03-05 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theater *
10/08 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works *
10/10 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre *
10/10-12 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/14 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre *
10/15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
10/16 – Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom *
10/17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE

* * = w/ Against Me!