In a weird parallel of Anthrax’s summer tour, Slayer too took the festival circuit without one of their key members. In this case, the band were forced to complete various dates without guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who became ill after contracting a flesh eating virus (which may have been caused by a poisonous spider bite, according to some sources). His place for this show (and various others) is taken by Exodus man Gary Holt. Hanneman, meanwhile has made a good recovery and even performed encores at a California show back in April.
Watch the complete Slayer set + pre-show interview with Tom Araya below:
As the band with the closest links to Metallica with regards to the thrash metal ‘Big 4’ (with frontman Dave Mustaine being an ex-Metallica guitarist), in some ways they have the most to prove. Of the ‘Big 4’ thrash bands, they’ve arguably been the band with the most unstable line-up, with Megadeth at times seeming no more than “Mustaine + some blokes”. The reinstatement of former bassist David Ellefson in 2010 helped a little, but even so, as a band, they don’t have much of a public face.
This set from Sonisphere appears somewhat workmanlike, with the audience visibly unmoved at times. This isn’t helped by the vocals being too low in the mix. It’s a shame things didn’t work out better, since with regards to the ‘Big 4’, Megadeth have recorded some of the best songs. Their ‘Rust In Peace’ and ‘Countdown To Extinction albums, in particular, are on a par with Metallica’s best, and certainly far superior to most of Metallica’s 1991 output…
With a new album on the horizon and classic frontman Joey Belladonna firmly back in the band, Anthrax seem pretty solid. Even with Sepultura’s Andreas Kisser substituting for guitarist Scott Ian (who is missing the band’s summer festival shows, as his wife is due to give birth), they sound pretty tight.
Their complete set for their performance as part of the ‘Big 4’ show in Ullevi, Sweden on July 3rd, 2011 can be seen below.
Alternative rock heroes Incubus played a storming set during their 55 minute appearance at the Hurricane Festival in Germany on Saturday June 18th. The set, prior to the release of ‘If Not Now, When?’, marks an early appearance of the track ‘In The Company of Wolves’.
Setlist:
Anna Molly
Are You In?
Nice To Know You
Drive
Pistola
Love Hurts
Circles
In The Company of Wolves
Punch Drunk
Quicksand
Wish You Were Here
Megalomaniac
Watch the complete performance by hitting the play button below!
The work of Bruce Springsteen seems almost omnipresent. Only yesterday whilst out shopping, I heard ‘Cover Me’ and ‘Dancing In The Dark’ playing in two different locations. Most of us know the hits. While Springsteen’s throaty growl can be seen as an acquired taste, the musical arrangements of his songs are meticulously crafted, thanks to his regular band of musicians – The E Street Band.
On Saturday 19th June 2011, that band lost, perhaps, it’s most important member. Saxophonist Clarence Clemons lost his life after suffering a stroke. His stroke followed surgery between 2010-2011 for two knee replacements between 2010-11. A strong man, he joked that he was now “almost totally bionic”.
A member of the band since 1973, first appearing on Springsteen’s often overlooked debut ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ’, Clarence’s sax contributions were often pivotal to the end results. Think about ‘Born To Run’ – that huge solo, with its hugely rousing, fiery delivery; it’s the number’s most notable thing after Springsteen’s story telling. Few, if any, musicians would have played the part with even half the gravitas that Clemons bought to it; the same goes for the almost cinematic sax work featured during the epic ‘Jungleland’. Better still, take 1978’s ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’. As an album, it’s a little light on brass contributions owing to a sometimes darker nature, but when Clemons is there, he’s spectacular, his horn cutting through the arrangements like a beacon in the fog.
The E Street Band will never be the same again.
Outside his work withthe E Street Band, Clemons was also highly prolific. In addition to a solo career – spanning five studio and two live albums – he also performed a number of Zucchero albums, as well as sessions for Aretha Franklin, Todd Rundgren, The Four Tops, Roy Orbison, Joe Cocker and many others. His last recorded work can be heard on Lady Gaga’s 2011 release ‘Born This Way’.
Goodbye big man. Bill and Ted were so right when they proclaimed you to be one of “the three most important people in the universe”.
