New Found Glory Answer Fans’ Concerns, Announce Upcoming Tour

New Found Glory are in the middle of the Parahoy! Cruise sans Steve Klein whom they fired last month. One of the main questions among fans of the long-running band is whether they will stay as a four-piece or eventually bring in someone to cover Klein’s vacancy.

Last week, before the band boarded the ship in Miami, the band played a not-so-secret show at The Talent Farm in where they performed as a four-piece.

“There was never any thought, nor will there be any thought or consideration to ever have a fifth member. It’s always going to be the four of us,” lead guitarist Chad Gilbert confirmed in an interview with Billboard.

But while the band will officially remain a four-piece in all aspects, it also begs to wonder if the band will remain like that during live shows. Many groups usually have the standard band as well as a live guitarist for concert gigs.

“As far as live, we’re figuring it out, but we like it better than having an extra person. It’s definitely easier to worry about us four than trying to find someone.” He adds, “A lot of our songs aren’t lacking a second part. We’re not playing intricate, shredding things where we need more. There’s not much of a loss sonically. I think a cool thing, too, is when we’re writing for our new album, we’ll be writing as a four-piece.”

While the mystery of the missing member has been solved, Gilbert was also asked about the band putting out a new album which he confirmed is currently a work in progress even though Klein did have some input in writing tracks from the previous records.

“There’s little riffs here and there. We have the cruise. We have a few festivals overseas. When we go home we’re going to go into full writing mode. There’s a few ideas scattered. Me, Jordan and (drummer) Cyrus (Bolooki) all live in Southern California so we’re going to be meeting up.

We already announced the tour in the UK — Pop Punk’s Not Dead UK — we’re going to be announcing a fall tour pretty soon in the States. And people can expect to have a new album before that tour.”

And to think, it’s only March.

Black Flag Announce New Vocalist

Black Flag pulled a really crappy move when they fired former vocalist, Ron Reyes, mid-set when they were in Australia on tour. But with a new year, they are trying to make 2014 a lot better than 2013 was for them starting with a brand new vocalist.

Thanks to an interview with Rolling Stone, founding member and guitarist, Greg Ginn and the band’s manager for 2013 and fill-in vocalist for the rest of the tour, Mike Vallely spoke out about how Reyes did not fit the band at the moment and how he eventually became disgruntled during the touring.

“I did not threaten him or physically remove him from the stage,” Vallely said about Reyes claims that he went on stage and ordered him to get off. “I just told him very plainly, very simply, that it was over. And he looked at me and he almost seemed relieved. Then he walked off the stage.”

Reyes had a different take on the dismissal saying that it was a relief when he was let go and how the reunion was just a mess from the get-go. He also revealed that he wouldn’t be surprise if Vallely would become the band’s new vocalist because he felt that there was some planning on Vallely and Ginn’s part to make that the final outcome.

Whether or not that was the plan, Vallely did officially become the band’s new vocalist.

“Greg just felt like, ‘I don’t want the Black Flag name to fizzle out with this or be tainted with this record that’s proven to be subpar compared to what the expectations for it were,'” Vallely explains. “He told me he made a mistake by working with Ron and trying to pander to a sort of old-school thing. He just thought that I was the guy for the job. . . I’m not gonna say no to that.”

That doesn’t at all sound suspicious to us.

But keeping up with the “new year, new band” philosophy, both Ginn and Vallely revealed that the band are in fact in the midst of recording some new material and that an extensive Black Flag tour will be happening as soon as May. Let’s hope that nothing as dramatic as a mid-concert firing comes out of 2014 for them.

Joey Jordison Reveals He Did Not “Leave” Slipknot

By the sound of things, it seems that the departure of longtime Slipknot drummer, Joey Jordison was not at all what the band had made it seem to fans.

Last month, the band has released a statement letting fans know that Jordison was no longer in the band. At the time, information had been scarce and the band had said that when the time came, they would reveal what exactly led to his abrupt departure.

Jordison now, has beat the band to the punch and released a statement of his own revealing that his departure was much more like the band firing him than him leaving the band for personal reasons, like fans were led to believe originally.

Read his statement here:

“To my fans, friends, and associates…

I would like to start the New Year by addressing the recent rumors and speculation regarding my departure from Slipknot. I want to make it very clear that I DID NOT QUIT SLIPKNOT. This band has been my life for the last 18 years, and I would never abandon it, or my fans. This news has shocked and blindsided me as much as it has all of you. While there is much I would like to say, I must remain silent to further details at this time. I would like to thank you all for your unwavering love and support, and wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year.

-Joey”

Recently, frontman Corey Taylor dispelled the rumor that the band were breaking up on Twitter. In his post which was dated December 29 he writes, “For those who think The Knot are falling apart, you are greatly and sadly mistaken. Bring On 2014. Great Things Are Coming. Stay Tuned…”

Richie Sambora Out of Bon Jovi?

Has Richie Sambora officially been fired from Bon Jovi?

That’s what it’s starting to look like.

According to reports from rumorfix.com, Sambora’s firing has to primary do with money issues. Sources close to the story report that the guitarist was making about $2 million a month and 20 percent of the profits from the tour, while fill-in guitarist, Philip “Phil X” Xenidis was earning a lot less, about $10,000 a month while on tour.

While this news might not come a s a surprise, Sambora left the band earlier this year for personal reasons but at the time rumors were circulating that it had something to do with either his drug addiction or Bon Jovi frontman, Jon Bon Jovi. To this day, the official reason for Sambora’s departure was for “personal issues,” at least according to the band’s website.

Apparently, the musician isn’t taking the news of his firing, lightly,  “Richie wants to go back on stage-that’s his first love,” a source told the site. “He’s really upset over the news.”

Since his departure from the band early on in the tour, Sambora had stayed away from posting anything on Twitter besides pictures of his family and himself hanging out and enjoying the time off.

Early this month, he shared a song titled, “Come Back As Me,” which made fans think that the song was a dig at Bon Jovi. Sensing that things were not going the right way, Sambora took to Twitter to clarify that the song was not a dig at Bon Jovi. “This songs gettin’ some traction, so I would sincerely appreciate any help. BTW this has nothin’ to do with Jon…,” he wrote back on August 4.

So far, none of the sides have confirmed or denied that allegation, but what should fans expect when things have not been smooth in the band for a while.

Scott Weiland Strikes Back at STP

Scott Weiland might have found out about his apparent firing from grunge band, Stone Temple Pilots from the media, but that is exactly how he’s voicing his opinion about what had happened.

For those that might not be familiar with what happened, the remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots released a sweet and simple statement earlier this week, saying that Weiland had been “terminated.” The funny part of it all, was that the frontman didn’t even hear about it from the band or his people; he read it online.

When he initially read about it int he press, his response was that he didn’t even know and that they couldn’t fire him because he’s one of the core members and wrote most of their well-known songs.

Now, several days later, Weiland is striking back saying that the only reason that they released such a statement was as  a publicity stunt just so they could sell more tickets. When asked if he was still fronting the band, he replied with a simple, “I started it.”

Rumors of the band letting go of the singer stated back in December when Weiland’s band mate from Velvet Underground, Slash, said in an interview that Weiland had been fired.

Weiland is set to start his solo tour tonight in Flint, Michigan where he said he would perform a combination of his material and stuff from the STP song lists.