Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Music News for November 9th, 2011

Good afternoon everyone, happy hump day to you all!  

As you can see, AFGM has reverted back to it original layout.  The dynamic views were absolutely great, but due to overwhelming problems from IE & Firefox browser users, I've changed the format back till Google tweaks some of the errors with the dynamic views.  Not to mention, all the links, featured events, and voting along the sidebar disappeared and those I found to be quite a bit of help and knowledge to AFGM readers.  If you have any feedback regarding the layouts or something you want to see changed, the comments section in each post is now open so ANYONE can post their thoughts, regardless if you are a follower of this blog.  (PS, followers wanted!  If yo got a Gmail account, follow the blog and help the numbers.  Merci!)

Anyways, enough side tracking.  Here is what has been making [AFGM] headlines:



AC/DC singer Brian Johnson is planning/hoping to raise $1,000,000 for pediatric cancer.  Johnsons's new "Highway To Help" TEXT To Give Campaign will be raising funds through texting and the net.  During the 50th running of the Rolex 24 Hours Of Daytona (January 28th, 15:30 - January 29th, 15:30), Brian will be raising funds to provide services to families affected by pediatric cancer.

Brian will be making appearances in the following races:

October 27-30 - Savannah
November 10-13 - Daytona HSR
December 2-4 - Sebring Bobby Rahal vintage race series
January 26-30 - Daytona 24 hours

For more info, visit Brian's site.

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In Fear And Faith have released a lyric video for their latest single "It All Comes Out (On The Way Down)".  The single is taken from their unnamed upcoming release, due sometime in early 2012 through Rise Records:


(It All Comes Out - On The Way Down)

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The 2011 Fearless Friends Tour, which includes headliners blessthefall and supporting acts The Word Alive, Motionless In White, Tonight Alive, and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk, have some special prizes to giveaway to fans helping out with their humanitarian cause.


Fans of the "Fearless Friends Tour" will be able to make a donation in support of local food drives in Los Angeles, CA, San Diego, CA, Denver, CO, New York City, NY, and Tempe, AZ! All donations will go directly to local area food banks.

And if that wasn't enough, blessthefall will be giving away signed drumheads to lucky winners in the cities mentioned above. The drumhead giveaway will include TOMS Sunglasses (in Los Angeles), Lost and Loveless t-shirts and a Jedidiah Clothing jacket (in San Diego), and a $50 Vestra Visa gift card from Tempe Marketplace (in Tempe, AZ). More prizes are set to be announced soon.

Check the archive or AFGM Facebook for info of the upcoming tour.

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Detroit Lion fans have recently made headlines with their uproar with Canadian rock band Nickelback scheduled to perform at their annual Thanksgiving halftime show.


"Bigger Than the Sound" pens an open letter to the long-suffering Lions about how to handle their latest public-relations disaster:

"Dear Detroit Lions,

How's it going? You don't have to answer; I was just being polite. After all, everyone knows things are going pretty well right now. You guys are 6-2, putting up points like it's nobody's business. Calvin Johnson is a beast. Ndamukong Suh is terrifying. Matthew Stafford has avoided injuring himself while putting on his backward ball cap. For the first time in a long time, things are looking up in the Motor City — at least when it comes to football.

Anyway, I'm writing because I'm concerned. Not really about your chances of making the playoffs (they appear to be pretty solid), but about Nickelback. As you are probably aware, someone (presumably within your organization) booked them as the halftime entertainment at your annual Thanksgiving game, which this year just so happens to be against the undefeated, Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, meaning that for once, folks will be tuning in for reasons other than "tryptophan coma." And, this, as you are most certainly aware, is a problem.

See, recently, one of your fans started an online petition asking you to remove the 'Back from the halftime festivities, mostly because he is afraid it will give the national TV audience the wrong idea about your fair city (I know!). He has wisely brought up the fact that there is no shortage of artists who are actually from Detroit, and all of them would be a better fit than the hard-partying Canadian rockers. And he has called the very validity of your franchise into question, chalking the performance up to little more than "some sort of ploy to get people to leave their seats during halftime to spend money on alcoholic beverages and concessions."

He is not alone in those suspicions, either. So far, more than 50,000 people have signed the petition. People are angry ("Haven't the good people of Detroit been through enough?" one signee asks). Quite simply, this is a public-relations disaster on par with the Matt Millen era.

But here's the thing: It doesn't have to be. For three days now, I've been leaving messages with your media relations department, trying to get some sort of statement from the team about this whole debacle. So far, I've yet to receive a reply. That's not good, guys. Maybe you're not super psyched to have Nickelback perform at what is arguably your biggest game since the 1991 NFC Championship, or maybe Bob Seger just wasn't available, but the simple fact is this: You guys have to say something.

Maybe you just release a statement, explaining that your hands are tied and this whole thing is the fault of some Canadian sympathizer within the NFL. Perhaps you say head coach Jim Schwartz is a huge Nickelback fan (he sort of looks like one, really) and their performance was contractually obligated. You could even say Kid Rock personally recommended them, since that at least seems somewhat plausible. The bottom line is, your silence isn't helping matters; it's making them worse. Perhaps worse than they've ever been. And for a team that's spent something like five decades disappointing its fanbase, that's quite an accomplishment.

And here's the thing: You don't even have to say something nice. You could just come out and say "Deal with it, Lions fans. Nickelback are playing." That one might not go over as poorly as you'd imagine, either. After all — and I say this as a Buffalo Bills fan — Lions backers have been through tragedies far worse than this. They watched as Barry Sanders retired. They've witnessed one playoff victory in 53 years. They've seen players die of heart attacks on the field and All-Pro defensemen suspended for gambling on games. They sat by as you drafted Joey Harrington, Roy Williams and Charles Rogers. They endured Marty Mornhinweg. Steve Mariucci. Wayne Fontes in Mickey Mouse ears. The list is as endless as it is psychologically scarring ... and, frankly, a Nickelback performance would probably only rank somewhere in the middle of it.

So, really, it's time to speak up. It would seem that Nickelback are locked in for halftime, so you might as well get behind them. In doing so, you'd manage to avoid what is very quickly becoming an avalanche of bad publicity. It may not be fair to Lions fans, but then again, neither was the 2008 season."

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Slayer...Reign In Blood...in its entirety...nuff said


For more info on the festival, click here.

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Solid State's Demon Hunter will be releasing their "World Is AThorn" in a deluxe package on November 29th, 2011 through (you guessed it!) Solid State Records.


Here is how the track listing is going to go:


01 – “Descending Upon Us“
02 – “Lifewar“
03 – “Collapsing” (feat. Bjorn “Speed” Strid)
04 – “This Is The Line“
05 – “Driving Nails“
06 – “The World Is A Thorn“
07 – “Tie This Around Your Neck“
08 – “Just Breathe” (feat. Christian Alvestam)
09 – “Shallow Water“
10 – “Feel As Though You Could” (feat. Dave Peters)
11 – “Blood In The Tears“
12 – “Desire The Pain“
13 – “Driving Nails” (string version)
14 – “My Throat Is An Open Grave” (live acoustic)
15 – “Driving Nails” (live acoustic)
16 – “Blood In The Tears” (live acoustic)
17 – “Down In A Hole” (live acoustic) (Alice In Chains cover)
18 – “Collapsing” (music video)

And for an added bonus, the music video:

(Collapsing)

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Germany's Scorpions have announced the release of their filmed "Get Your Sting & Blackout" world tour on Blu Ray & 3D,  hitting stores on December 6th, 2011 via Sony Records.  The band gave a brief description on what to expect from this release:


"3D - a number, a letter. This term, not long ago only known to a few enthusiasts, has been ringing in our ears for a while now. Guitarist Rudolf Schenker brought the topic 3D into play repeatedly, and when the opportunity came to make this new visual chapter happen, as one of the first bands ever, we didn’t have to think twice. naturally, we could have chosen a show in Los Angeles or Moscow for the recording, but this was about a quick decision and a viable implementation on the highest level of technology. Saarbrucken was a very good choice - our fans were simply sensational and gave us the chance to thank them for their many years of support with this project in Germany. However, enough words ... put on the 3D glasses and it’s time for ... Get your Sting and Blackout!!!"



Here is what you are going to get when you pick this up:


'Ladies And Gentlemen'
'Sting In The Tail'
'Make It Real'
'Bad Boys Running Wild'
'The Zoo'
'Coast To Coast'
'Loving You Sunday Morning'
'The Best Is Yet To Come'
'Send Me An Angel'
'Holiday'
'Raised On Rock'
'Tease Me, Please Me'
'Dynamite'
'Kottak Attack'
'Blackout'
'Six String Sting'
'Big City Nights'
'Still Loving You'
'Wind Of Change'
'Rock You Like A Hurricane'
'When The Smoke Is Going Down'

Bonus material: Behind-the-scenes (approx. 33 minutes)

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Children of Bodom are back at it in North America one again!  The Finnish rockers have announced their 15th Anniversary Tour, with direct support from Eluveitie, Revocation and Canada's own Threat Signal!


Here is how the dates are panning out:


Jan. 30 - Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, NY
Jan. 31 - Harpo's, Detroit, MI
Feb. 02 - Intersection, Grand Rapids, MI
Feb. 03 - The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
Feb. 04 - Pop's, Sauget, IL
Feb. 06 - Granada Theatre, Lawrence, KS
Feb. 07 - Gothic Theatre, Englewood, CO
Feb. 09 - House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
Feb. 10 - The Complex, Salt Lake city, UT
Feb. 11 - Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
Feb. 13 - Yost Theatre, Santa Ana, CA
Feb. 14 - House of Blues, San Diego, CA
Feb. 15 - Marquee Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Feb. 17 - Sunshine Theatre, Albuquerque, NM
Feb. 18 - Tricky Falls, El Paso, TX
Feb. 19 - The Pavilion, Lubbock, TX
Feb. 21 - Emo's East, Austin, TX
Feb. 22 - Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
Feb. 24 - Expo Five, Louisville, KY
Feb. 25 - Peabody's, Cleveland, OH
Feb. 26 - Sound Academy, Toronto, ON
Feb. 27 - Metropolis, Montreal, QC
Feb. 29 - Imperial, Quebec City, QC
Mar. 01 - Webster Theatre, Hartford, CT
Mar. 02 - The Paramount Theater, Huntington, NY
Mar. 03 - Starland Ballroom, Sayerville, NJ
Mar. 04 - Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD

Tickets will be available at your local ticket outlets and as always, Ticketmaster on November 11th, 2011 @ 10am.

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And as always folks, you can make you way over to AFGM Facebook for more articles, news, photos, video, etc.  Cheers!





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