Neck Deep and State Champs to Head on World Tour

Fresh off the release of their brand new album, Life’s Not Out to Get You, Neck Deep have  announced plans to hit the road in early 2016. Heading out alongside them for their “world tour” will be State Champs. The tour will kick off with a pair of shows on Jan. 6 in Perth, Australia. The first of two shows will take place at the YMCA HQ and is open to all ages while the second show will take place at the Rosemount Hotel and will be an 18+ event.

For their time in Australia, the tour will consist of one show for all ages and another for 18+. After Australia, they will head to Asia where State Champs will headline from Jan. 20-24 during the Japan stops. For the Malaysia, Singapore, and Philippines dates, Neck Deep will be performing alone. Once the tour hits the United Kingdom, State Champs will rejoin the trek with Creeper and Light Years.

The full list of upcoming tour dates can be seen below (pay close attention to the legend to know who’s performing where).

NECK DEEP/STATE CHAMPS 2016 WORLD TOUR DATES:

Jan 06 – Perth, Australia @ YMCA HQ (matinée), (All Ages)
Jan 06 – Perth, Australia @Rosemount Hotel, (18+)
Jan 07 – Brisbane, Australia @ The Triffid, (All Ages)
Jan 08 – Brisbane, Australia @ The Triffid, (18+)
Jan 09 – Sydney, Australia @ Metro, (All Ages)
Jan 10 – Newcastle, Australia @ Cambridge Hotel, (18+)
Jan 12 – Canberra, Australia @ The Basement, (18+)
Jan 13 – Adelaide, Australia @ Fowlers Live, (All Ages)
Jan 14 – Melbourne, Australia @ Arrows, (All Ages)
Jan 15 – Melbourne, Australia @ Corner Hotel, (18+)
Jan 17 – South Gippsland, Australia @ UNIFY festival, (18+)

Jan 20 – Tokyo Shibuya, Japan @ The Game*
Jan 21 – Osaka, Japan @ Pangea*
Jan 22 – Nagoya, Japan @3Star*
Jan 23 – Tokyo, Japan @ Club Asia*
Jan 24 – Japan @ TBA*
* = State Champs headline

Jan 26 -Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia @ KL Venue (formerly Alt HQ)**
Jan 27 – Singapore, Singapore @ Scape Ground Theatre**
Jan 28 – Manila, Philippines @ Skydome**
** = Neck Deep only

Feb 01 – Birmingham, United Kingdom @ Institute †
Feb 02 – Glasgow, United Kingdom @O2 Academy †
Feb 04 – Manchester, United Kingdom @ Academy †
Feb 05 – Cardiff, United Kingdom @ Great Hall †
Feb 06 – London, United Kingdom @ Forum †
† = Neck Deep headline w/State Champs, Creeper, Light Years

More tour dates will reportedly be added at a later date. Neck Deep will be touring in support of Life’s Not Out to Get You which was released back in August while State Champs will be touring in support of their impending new record, Around the World and Back , which is set to be released on Oct. 16.

Motion City Soundtrack Announce Australian Tour

Motion City Soundtrack will be taking their “Commit This to Memory Tenth Anniversary Tour” festivities “down under” this Fall.

The band, who have spent a large portion of 2015 celebrating the anniversary of their sophomore record, have announced they will be taking the celebration to Australia to celebrate alongside their Australian fan base.

The newly announced leg will begin on Aug. 26 at The Studio in Auckland and wrap up on Sept. 3 at The Rosemount in Perth.

Tickets for Australia will go on sale beginning Wednesday, June 17, at 9 a.m.

Check out the official tour poster for the Australian leg of the “Commit This to Memory Tenth Anniversary Tour” below.

Before crossing the world for the newly announced leg, Motion City will give North America another round of performances beginning on July 11 at Mojoes in Joliet with their final performance in the continent on Aug. 2 at Deluxe in Indianapolis.

In addition to all the CTTM tour dates, it was previously announced they will be performing at a couple of special Vans Warped Tour stops this Summer.

State Champs to Join 5 Seconds of Summer on Tour

State Champs’ 2015 is looking really good.

Yesterday, it was announced that the New York based band will be heading to Australia in June to join 5 Seconds of Summer’s “Rock Out with Your Socks Out Tour.”

Of course, fans of the band and just fans of the pop-punk genre, took to the internet to instantly show their distaste for the partnership because that’s what people do. But hey, it’s a big opportunity, especially for a band that formed in 2010 and only (officially) have one album under their belt.

Even with all the bashing, it doesn’t seem to be bothering the five-piece who sent MTV a letter about their upcoming tour plans.

“We are fans of 5SOS. When they asked us to tour with them, we were thrilled,” State Champs wrote to the network.

“We’ve hung out with them a handful of times and they were fun to be around so when they were like, ’Hey, let’s go to Australia together.’ We were super down. We’re really looking forward to playing our first arena shows as well. It’s going to be such an interesting dynamic because we’re used to playing clubs. 5SOS have a very dedicated fan base and its going be a blast playing for them. The thing we’re looking forward to the most though is Bundaberg Ginger Beer.”

While we’re sure State Champs’ letter isn’t going to change anyone’s opinion about the tour line-up, if there’s mutual admiration and friendship between the two groups, then maybe the elitism should be put on the shelf for a little while or at least until the first show has wrapped.

Check out the Australian tour dates below.

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER’S AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:

June 18 – Vector Arena – Auckland, New Zealand
June 20 – Allphones Arena – Sydney, Australia
June 23 – Entertainment Centre – Brisbane, Australia
June 25 – Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne, Australia
June 27 – Entertainement Centre – Adelaide, Australia
June 29 – Perth Arena – Perth, Australia

State Champs are currently in the middle of All Time Low’s “Future Hearts Tour” which will wrap up on May 24 at the Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore. After a quick rest, they will be heading down under for the 5 Seconds of Summer tour.

Not to shabby, especially with a brand new album reportedly on the horizon.

Silverstein Announce Release Date for ‘I Am Alive in Everything I Touch’

Silverstein are in the final stretch of their “Discovering the Waterfront Tenth Anniversary tour” and with the North American portion of the celebration coming to a close, the Canadian band have revealed the release date for their new album.

I Am Alive in Everything I Touch, their eighth studio album, will officially be released on May 19 through Rise Records. Before the band took to their social media accounts to reveal this information, they announced the release date during their show in Ft. Lauderdale (also known as our hometown show).

During the show, the band performed a new song titled “A Midwestern State of Emergency” followed by the announcement that the new record had not only been completed, but it would be released in mid-May.

As if that  wasn’t enough, the band also revealed that the “Discovering the Waterfront Tenth Anniversary Tour” will be making the trek to Australia in May to give their fans “Down Under” the chance to celebrate the anniversary of the band’s sophomore album.

Silverstein Taking the ‘Waterfront’ to Australia

Silverstein are currently in the middle of their “Discovering the Waterfront Tenth Anniversary” North American tour, and now the Canadian band have revealed they will be taking the tour down under to their Australian fans.

The tour which celebrates the tenth anniversary of their second studio album which featured songs like “Smile in your Sleep,” “Discovering the Waterfront,” and our personal favorites, “Fist Wrapped In Blood” and “Your Sword Versus My Dagger” will hit Australia on May 3 at the Hi Fi in Brisbane and wrap up a week later on May 10 at Amplifier Bar in Perth.

Young Lions have been confirmed for all dates with the except of the last day of the tour in Perth.

Links for ticket purchase can be found below. Also keep in mind that some of the venues listed are 18+, so if you’re underage, you might want to think it over.

05/03 – The Hi Fi, Brisbane 18+
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15svsbris or Oztix on 1300 762
545, tickets.destroyalllines.com and Oztix outets

05/05 – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle 18+
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15svsnewy or http://bit.ly/15svsnew or Oztix on 1300 762
545 & tickets.destroyalllines.com or BigTix on www.bigtix.com.au

05/06 – Manning Bar, Sydney 18+
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15SVSsyd or Oztix on 1300 762
545, tickets.destroyalllines.com and Oztix outets

05/07 – Magpies, Canberra Lic/AA
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15SVScan or Oztix on 1300 762
545, tickets.destroyalllines.com and Oztix outets

05/08 – 170 Russell, Melbourne 18+
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15SVSmel or http://bit.ly/15SVSmelb or Oztix on 1300 762
545 & tickets.destroyalllines.com or the venue on 1300 724 867 www.170russell.com

05/09 – Fowlers Live, Adelaide Lic AA
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15SVSade or http://bit.ly/15SVSadel or Oztix on 1300 762
545 & tickets.destroyalllines.com or MoshTix on 1300 438 849 & www.moshtix.com.au

05/10 – Amplifier Bar, Perth 18+*
Tickets from http://bit.ly/15SVSper or Oztix on 1300 762
545, tickets.destroyalllines.com and Oztix outets

* Young Lions not appearing

Silverstein announced last year they were currently in the middle of working on a new album, the follow-up to 2013’s This Is How The Wind Shifts.

NOFX’s Fat Mike Knocks Fan Out During Show

Usually when a musician tells you that they are in pain, but will continue to play a show for you, that should be your cue to not do anything stupid to them.

Apparently, a NOFX fan learned that the hard way during a show down under.

NOFX were performing at the Enmore Theater in Sydney when a fan jumped on the stage. The fan, who has been identified as Alex, jumped on stage and put his arm around Fat Mike’s neck; where all his pain was. So, normal human reflect kicked in and Fat Mike punched and then kicked him down to the floor. The fan was then taken off stage by two securities, as can be seen in the video below.

But, that’s not where the story ends. Alex took to Twitter after the incident and apologized to Fat Mike about what he did. He admitted that he was drunk and forgot Fat Mike had mentioned the pain in his neck.

Check out the exchange below.

@FatMike_of_NOFX thanks for the KO mike, didn't hurt too much. Soz for creepin up on you like, punk shows are a bit different down here.

— Alex. (@alexanderpeterq) November 5, 2014

I'm sorry too Alex, I was in terrible pain all night. When you grabbed me by the neck I defensively reacted… offensively @alexanderpeterq

— Mike Burkett (@FatMike_of_NOFX) November 5, 2014

@FatMike_of_NOFX No worries mike, i completely forgot you mentioned your neck hurting, I was way too drunk.

— Alex. (@alexanderpeterq) November 5, 2014

Alex, if you go to the show on friday I'll buy you a beer. Just don't throw it at me alright?

— Mike Burkett (@FatMike_of_NOFX) November 5, 2014

But as always there are people who are saying the punch and kick were uncalled for. We have to wonder if they would be OK and oh so gracious with someone grabbing onto their neck while they were in pain or if they would do that same thing.

Soundwave 2015 Reveal “Rocking” Line-Up

Soundwave Festival have just unveiled the line-up for the 2015 installation of the festival and it might just be one for the history books.

Earlier in the day, the Australian festival revealed that it will become a two-day festival with half the bands performing on one day and the other half on the second day in order to “minimize clashes, give bands longer set, better staging production [and] infrastructure” as well as “give fans better value for money and a less stressful day.”

FAITH No More, Soundgarden, Slipknot, Slash and Fall Out Boy are just some that are set to headline the festival. Also on the bill, former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, Incubus, Ministry, Judas Priest, Godsmack, Papa Roach, Fear Factory, New Found Glory, Area 7, Tonight Alive, Escape the Fate, Lagwagon, All Time Low, Of Mice and Men, Hollywood Undead, Atreyu, Godflesh, Crown the Empire and more were announced with reportedly more bands to be revealed in the near future.

The list of venues for the traveling show will feature Bonython Park in Adelaide on February 21 and 22, Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on February 21 and 22, Olympic Park in Sydney on February 28 and March 1 and Brisbane Showgrounds on February 28 and March 1. Sadly, the show will not be making a pit stop in Perth due to bad ticket sales in that area.

Tickets for the two-day festival will cost $188, plus booking fees. Tickers will go on sale this Friday (August 22) to Soundwave members, while general ticket sales will begin on Friday, August 29.

Record Release Date to Move to Fridays?

Could record release date officially be moved to Fridays across the world? According to Billboard, this new idea to counter internet piracy has been floating around for sometime, but the actual idea to go through with it begun shortly after Australia officially made Fridays their new music release date.

With the country’s decision to do so, it made global piracy a bigger issue than before because now, illegal digital downloads of new music could be obtained almost immediately.

People in the United Kingdom would normally have to wait until the following Monday to obtain new music releases, while those in the United States would normally need to wait until the following Tuesday.

Some sources say that this is almost a done deal with major labels and RIAA in agreement, but others are saying that the decision to make the move has not been fully decided upon yet even though there’s an estimated date of July 2015 for everything to be put into action.

While in theory the idea sounds promising for those that make money off of the sale of new music (you know the people pushing for the universal release date), there seems to be several issues that arise with the suggested date.

With the varying street release dates, record labels are given many opportunities to have the artists do promotion events to help market the new albums. While Billboard points out that it can still be done on the week that the record comes out, it would make it harder for labels to schedule high-profile appearances on the date the records hit the street. In turn, it would also affect the artists with having to schedule so much promotional work in a span of five days.

Also against this new idea? The independent record store and indie labels.

They have said in that they believe that having an early week release helps them sell more. Hardcore fans of artists with new music will go buy the new record on Tuesdays, while those who typically wait until payday, will go purchase the record at the end of the week. Even though indie label and merchants are vocal about this, Billboard points out that they most likely would not have a say in the day that gets chosen.

At the end of the day, we all know this is just some ploy for record labels to get more money. If piracy was able to happen once before and even threats of fining and prison time did not discourage people from doing so, you think changing the release date would have such an influence? Probably not.

Taking Back Sunday/The Used Tour Heads to Australia

Taking Back Sunday and the Used just finished wrapping up their co-headlining North American tour and now the two groups have announced they will be taking the show to Australia.

Beginning in August, the two bands will headline four tour stops “Down Under.” The first date is slated to take place on Thursday, August 21 at HQ in Adelaide. For now, the four-day mini-tour in Australia will wrap up on that Monday, August 25 at 170 Russell in Melbourne.

Tickets for the show will go on sale on Friday, May 16 at 9 a.m. so if the North American tour was any indication on how fast tickets sell out got the joint venture, then maybe you should be glued to a computer, so you don’t miss out on the show. Both bands just finished recently released new album; Taking Back Sunday released Happiness Is…back in March while The Used released Imaginary Enemy last month.

So far, no mention on whether they will be taking any other band with them as supporting acts.

One Direction Accused of Music Video Plagiarism

Bad news for the guys of One Direction; the boy band have been accused of ripping of their new music video.

Last week, the band released the music video for their newest single, “You & I” and now an Australian company is accusing them of stealing the idea for the music video. OhYeahWow, the production company behind videos for Aloe Blacc, Ben Folds Five and Gotye noticed that there were similarities between the boy band’s video and the music video from another act, Clubfeet which they had created.

Within hours of the band releasing the music video for the track, the production company had taken to their social media accounts to point out all the similarities between “You & I” and Clubfeet’s “Everything You Wanted” which was released last year.

Ouch.

In the post, the link that was provided would lead the reader to the company’s website where they have both One Direction and Clubfeet’s videos to watch. In the (lengthy) statement provided with the videos, the company ask that the reader watches both videos to make their own sound judgement.

The statement continues with the company not saying that they are against One Direction, but the fact that they spend tireless hours coming up with the concept, only for someone to come in and take the idea straight from the video. They also said that they don’t want the future generations to believe that Clubfeet stole One Direction’s music video idea when Clubfeet’s was not only released a year before, but it had won an award for it.

At the time, neither One Director or Ben Winston, the director of the video have commented on the accusations against them.

What do you guys think, be honest, did One Direction’s people steal the idea from OhYeahWow, or are they taking this too serious? Check out both videos below and you decide.

“EVERYTHING YOU WANTED” by CLUBFEET:

“YOU & I” by ONE DIRECTION: