KISS, System of a Down, A Day to Remember lead Download Fest 2021 lineup

Download Festival is ready to return and rock your socks off!

On Monday (Aug. 3), the United Kingdom-based music festival announced its first wave of performers for the 2021 incarnation of the event.

KISS, System of a Down, Biffy Clyro, A Day to Remember, Korn, Deftones, Black Veil Brides, the Pretty Reckless, Killswitch Engage, The Darkness, and a slew more are set to take over four different stages during the first weekend of June 2021.

At the end of the weekend-long festivities, over 70 bands would have descended and performed at the annual event.

Like every other music festival, Download had to cancel this year’s show due to the worldwide pandemic. This year’s event would have included performances from Iron Maiden, System of a Down, and KISS.

Thankfully, the festival was able to once again secure KISS and System of a Down as headliners for next year’s gig.

“2020 has been a tough year for us all, and we were beyond gutted not to be able to experience Download Festival with you all,” Download Festival’s Andy Copping said in a press statement.

“We gave you Download TV to reflect on memories of the past, and what the festival means to all of us.

Download 2021 is going to be something special and go down in the history books as when the Download family reunited. We’re going to be working hard behind the scenes to make Download 2021 an unforgettable experience and a celebration of the festival we all love.”

“We’re disappointed we weren’t able to make it over this year, but we’re looking forward to next,” System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian said.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Mostly, we all just want to make sure everyone is provided with a safe and secure environment, so we were prepared to wait as long as we needed to.”

Download Festival will return to its home of Donington Park during the weekend of June 4-6, 2021. General tickets for the three-day show will go on sale this Friday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m. on the festival’s website.

The first wave of performers can be found below.

Ghost, System of a Down, the Prodigy lead 2019 Chicago Open Air

Ghost, System of a Down, and the Prodigy are just some of the bands who will make their way to Chicago in the springtime for the 2019 incarnation of Chicago Open Air. On Tuesday (Dec. 11), U.S. music festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents unleashed the full lineup for next year’s event following its one-year hiatus.

In addition to the aforementioned bands, Tool, Meshuggah, Beartooth, Code Orange, Knocked Loose, Vein, Gojira, In this Moment, Fever 333, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Alien Weaponry will round out the roster for next year’s event. Unlike the other Danny Wimmer Presents music festivals, which boost a large array of performers throughout the day, Chicago Open Air will only have seven bands performing a day.

“I can’t even begin to express how excited we are to be playing Chicago Open Air Presents. We had such a blast last time!” In this Moment frontwoman Maria Brink said in a press statement.

“Tool, the Prodigy, and System of a Down. That’s insane and such a powerful lineup. We feel blessed to be a part of it all. These are some of our all-time favorite bands, I can’t wait to see you all there with In this Moment.”

In addition to the rocking lineup, attendees will also be able to indulge in a variety of local and regional craft beers and delicious Chicago-centric cuisine during the weekend-long festivities.

Chicago Open Air will take over the SeatGeek Stadium (formerly Toyota Park) in Bridgeview, Illinois during the weekend of May 18 – 19. Doors for the two-day event will open at 2 p.m. each day.

Tickets for the music festival will go on sale beginning this Friday, Dec. 14, at noon CT on Chicago Open Air’s website.

The festival will offer several package for attendees to choose from including several single-day and two-day packages.

The full lineup for the event can be seen below.

Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Joan Jett lead inaugural Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival

The inaugural Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival is about to show all other music festivals how to put together a rocking roster. On Monday (Nov. 26), Danny Wimmer Presents unveiled the lengthy lineup for the inaugural Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival. The forthcoming festival, which will replace Ohio’s long-running Rock on the Range, will feature some of the biggest names in the rock and metal genre.

The Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Disturbed, Bring Me the Horizon, the Prodigy, Ghost, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Chevelle, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and the Cult are just some of the major acts that will make their way to Columbus in mid-May.

Joining the aforementioned artists on the bill will be Tom Morello, Killswitch Engage, In This Moment, Parkway Drive, Beartooth, Scars on Broadway, Architects, Avatar, Bad Wolves, The Fever 333, Badflower, The Glorious Sons, Issues, Yungblud, H09909, Black Pistol Fire, Scarlxrd, Zeal & Ardor, Basement, The Black Dahlia Murder, and more.

In addition to the long-list of bands, Sonic Temple will also include a comedy and spoken word tent. Andrew Dice Clay, Henry Rollins, and Pauly Shore have been confirmed with more acts to be announced at a later date.

“Although in its inaugural year, Sonic Temple’s pedigree is proven, and its roots are strong; it made total sense for us to be involved,” System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian said in a press statement. “One could argue that it was a long time coming. We’ll see you all in Columbus this May.”

Disturbed’s David Draiman mirrors Odadjian sentiment: “We are honored to share the stage with all of our amazingly talented friends and colleagues at the upcoming Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Are You Ready?!?!”

The Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival will make its debut at the MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio during the weekend of May 17 – 19.

General admission tickets, VIP tickets, premium VIP tickets, and camping packages go on sale beginning this Friday, Nov. 30, at noon EST. For more information about the festival, tickets, or the artists, head on over to the festival’s website here.

The upcoming three-day event will replace Columbus’ long-running Rock on the Range Festival. Back in September, Danny Wimmer Presents announced plans to put an end to Rock on The Range, but assured rock and metal fans that something bigger would be coming.

“When we started Rock on the Range, there was no other festival in America quite like it but recently it became clear that we had different visions of where to take the festival next. The city of Columbus and our devoted rock fans deserve a one-of-a-kind, world-class festival, and that is exactly what Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival will bring to MAPFRE Stadium.”

The official poster for Sonic Temple can be seen below.

System of a Down, Deftones, Incubus to headline Aftershock 2018

Music festival season usually takes place during the spring and summer months, but that doesn’t mean music fans will not get any festivals during the cooler months. On Monday (April 9), Aftershock Music Festival organizers unveiled their lineup for the 2018 incarnation of the annual event. System of a Down, Deftones, Incubus, Alice in Chains, and Godsmack are just some of the bands that will make the trek to California during the second week of October for Aftershock 2018.

For System of a Down, their appearance at Aftershock will not only be their first time playing at the event, it will also mark their first show in the United States in three years. Their confirmed performance also coincides with the 20^th anniversary of the group’s self-titled debut; System of a Down was released in 1998.

As if celebrating their debut album’s “China” anniversary wasn’t enough, the group has also unveiled plans to go on a short, weeklong trek coinciding with their appearance at the event. Hitting the road alongside them will be fellow Aftershock performers, At the Drive-In. Those dates can be found on SOAD’s website.

“Sacto, we’re coming for you. Proud that you’re our capital and not DC,” System of a Down’s Serj Tankian said in a press statement.

“It’s been a minute since we’ve played Sacramento, so it just felt right to return by headlining Aftershock,” continues guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian.

Joining System of a Down as one of the headliners this year will be Sacramento-founded band, Deftones. The California guys previously played the event in 2012 and 2015, but this year, they will be one of the big-print acts. Even though the Deftones call the capital of California home, this will be their first headlining gig in their hometown in nearly seven years. This all comes as the guys celebrate their 30^th anniversary later this year.

In addition to System of a Down, Deftones, Incubus, Alice in Chains and Godsmack, this year’s lineup will also include Shinedown, 311, Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, At the Drive-In, Seether, Jonathan Davis, Bullet For My Valentine, Underoath, Black Veil Brides, Hellyeah, Asking Alexandria, Sevendust, Everlast, GWAR, and many more. According to the official press release from Danny Wimmer Presents, more artists will be announced as the show gets closer.

Aftershock Music Festival will return to Discovery Park in downtown Sacramento during the weekend of Oct. 13-14. Tickets for the two-day show will go on sale beginning this Friday, April 13, at noon PST. General admission and VIP tickets will be available as well as hotel options. Service fees on all tickets purchased will include a 50 cent charity fee for the T.J. Martell Foundation. Attendees are encouraged to buy their tickets as soon as they go on sale because tickets have sold out for three years straight.

For more information about Aftershock 2018, head on over to the festival’s website here.

Canada’s Amnesia Rockfest Announce Tenth Anniversary Line-Up and Reunions

Canada’s Amnesia Rockfest will be celebrating its tenth anniversary in a big way this year with artists like System of a Down, Linkin Park, The Offspring, and Slayer making the trip to Montebello, QC for the weekend-long festivities.

But even with the big name headliners for this year’s event, it looks like the theme might be reunions and anniversaries. One of the several bands reuniting this year at the show will be Thrice, who officially said good-bye to fans in 2012.

Late last year, the band posted a cryptic photograph on their social media accounts with the band’s name and “2015.” Since then, there have been no updates unless you count frontman Dustin Kensrue releasing a new song yesterday or drummer Riley Breckenridge being part of Angels and Airwaves.

The new year is a month and a half in and it looks like one of the big things coming for them in 2015 is a reunion at the show. The timing of the reunion couldn’t come at a better time for fans of the California band since their fourth studio record, Vheissu, turns ten in October.

Sadly, this is as close as we have gotten to any updates from the Thrice camp.

But don’t leave it to Thrice to have all the fun during the weekend; Refused, From Autumn to Ashes and Atreyu will all be reuniting during the weekend-long festival. but like we said, it seems Amnesia is taking a page out of Riot Fest’s book and having bands performing some important albums from their discography in full.

The Offspring will perform Americana, the Deftones will perform Around the Fur and Rancid will perform…And Out Come the Wolves.

Check out the full line-up below.

Amnesia Rockfest will take place during the weekend of June 18-21.

KROQ Announces Line Up for 2014 Almost Acoustic Christmas

KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas concert is about to celebrate a milestone this year; its 25th anniversary.

So how else would you celebrate an anniversary that big than with a massive line-up of artists to take the stage at the yearly event.

The Los Angeles-based radio station announced earlier in the day their line-up which includes U2, System of a Down, the Smashing Pumpkins, Tears for Fears, Weezer, Modest Mouse, Interpol, Alt-J, and Incubus.

But, that’s not all. Linkin Park, Rise Against, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, Bush, Royal Blood, Vance Joy, and Walk the Moon will also take the stage during the two-day festival.

KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas will take place December 13-14 at the Forum in Inglewood, CA.

Tickets for the show are set to go on sale this Friday, Nov. 14 at Noon PT on Ticketmaster. Tickets for the show can set you back anywhere from $75-$150, but with all those performances, we’re pretty sure it will be money well spent.
For more information about the show, head on over to KROQ’s website.

System of a Down Releasing New Music Soon?

UPDATE: A day after we published this, it turned out that frontman Serj Tankian has once again put to rest any rumors of the band releasing a new album soon. During an AMA on Reddit yesterday, Tankian answered a fan’s question about the talk of a new album coming soon by saying the following:

“No, that is not true. A quick scan of press online will show that we have not yet agreed on a timetable for another record due to its time commitments.”

Then the fan continued by writing the frontman, “Seriously I think everyone wants a new System Of A Down album. It’s been too long since the last one.”

Tankian then stated, “We really appreciate that, but we have to make a record when we think it’s time, not anyone else.”

Guess that just squashed all fans’ hopes, huh?

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Could System of a Down be working an a new album?

Well, that’s been the question being asked for a couple of month now, but thanks to a YouTube video posted online, this might be the proof needed to reassure fans that the band are not joking around.

During their one-off show in Los Angeles earlier this week at the Hollywood Bowl, drummer John Dolmayan was recorded shouting at the audience, “Next time we come back here, we’ll have a new fucking album.”

While the band haven’t exactly been hurrying to clarify or confirm this rumor, issues and differences within the band since had surfaced about what would become of the album following 2005’s Mesmerize/Hypnotize. In May, bassist Shavo Odadjian wrote a now-deleted Facebook post about how frontman, Serj Tankian, was holding them back. That added fuel that the band might be going their own route and even be searching for a new frontman to replace Tankian.

Of course, the band released a statement which said that Odadjian’s comment was the result of “a temporary state of bad judgment on his part alone.”

While Odadjian, feels the way that he does about the pace of the band making new music, Tankian says that he’s in no hurry to put out new music. “I can’t write a forced record,” he said while being interviewed by ArtistDirct back in June. “It’s like romancing someone at a time you don’t want to be romantic.”

“A new record requires three years. It’s not something I can do right now. When I can commit to a three-year album cycle, I’ll be down to do it,”  he added.

When not with the band, Tankian has had a successful career as a solo artist releasing Jazz-iz-Christ and Orca earlier this year. Last year, he exercised his political activism muscle by joining forces with Rage Against the Machine guitarist, Tom Morello for the occupy Wall Street’s one-year anniversary.

As for System of a Down, they have another show on  August 7 at Russia’s Kubana festival.