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Friday, February 18, 2011

FRONTIERS RECORDS SET TO RELEASE SPECIAL EDITION ASIA BOX SET LIVE CD/DVD MARCH 8TH

FRONTIERS RECORDS SET TO RELEASE SPECIAL EDITION
ASIA BOX SET LIVE CD/DVD: "SPIRIT OF THE NIGHT -
THE PHOENIX TOUR LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE 2009" MARCH 8TH

ACCLAIMED ASIA "OMEGA" TOUR CONTINUES THIS SPRING IN
NORTH AMERICA

(New York, NY) - Frontiers Records is set to release a special edition live CD/DVD box set from supergroup Asia. SPIRIT OF THE NIGHT - THE PHOENIX TOUR LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE 2009 will be released in North America on March 8th. The CD boasts 13 tracks, which includes a CD-only track exclusive, as well as a bonus track, while the DVD features 85 minutes of material, as well as bonus DVD content including an EPK and special footage of "In The Court Of The Crimson King" featuring King Crimson founding member Ian MacDonald. Please see below for full track listings. The CD and DVD will also be available for purchase separately. In support of the new live release and their most recent studio album OMEGA (also released via Frontiers Records), Asia will tour in North America, kicking off dates at The State Theatre in Easton, PA on Thursday, April 28th. Please see below for the tour itinerary.

Asia's self-titled debut album exploded onto the music scene in March, 1982, selling over 4 million copies in North America alone, upon its initial release. The album featured several Top 10 singles including the ubiquitous "Heat Of The Moment." Asia's supergroup line-up features keyboardist Geoff Downes (Yes, The Buggles), guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), drummer Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) and bassist/vocalist John Wetton (UK, King Crimson). Though all four accomplished musicians had seen chart-topping success in their previous bands, Asia had a special chemistry that fans and music industry insiders were quick to recognize. Throughout 1982, Asia ruled the radio airwaves and MTV and sold out every date on tour. Asia's debut record remained the best-selling disc of 1982, commanding the #1 spot on Billboard's album chart for an astonishing 9 weeks. After 23 years apart, the four original band members reunited in 2006, and have toured globally, releasing two new studios albums since getting back together.

SPIRIT OF THE NIGHT - THE PHOENIX TOUR LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE 2009

CD listing:

1. Only Time Will Tell
2. Time Again
3. An Extraordinary Life
4. My Own Time
5. Open Your Eyes
6. Fanfare For The Common Man (CD exclusive)
7. Here Comes The Feeling
8. Never Again
9. The Heat Goes On
10. Sole Survivor
11. Don't Cry
12. Heat Of The Moment
13. Midnight Sun (bonus track)
DVD listing:

1. Only Time Will Tell
2. Time Again
3. An Extraordinary Life
4. My Own Time
5. Open Your Eyes
6. My Own Time
7. Open Your Eyes
8. Here Comes Te Feeling
9. Never Again
10. The Heat Goes On
11. Sole Survivor
12. Don't Cry
13. Heat Of The Moment

Asia on tour:

APRIL
28 Easton, PA The State Theatre
29 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre
30 Tarrytown, NY Tarrytown Music Hall
MAY
1 Alexandria, VA Birchmere
3 Annapolis, MD Ram's Head Tavern
4 Annapolis, MD Ram's Head Tavern
5 Morristown, NJ The Mayo Center For The Performing Arts
6 Verona, NY The Turning Stone Casino And Resort
7 Rama, ON Casino Rama
9 Montreal, QC Metropolis
12 Peshawbestown, MI Leelanau Sands Casino
13 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
14 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre

For more information, please visit:
www.originalasia.com

www.frontiers.it

THERION Immortalized In Boardgame


Swedish progressive/experimental metallers THERION now been immortalized in a boardgame!

Commented mainman Christofer Johnsson: "Paulo Vallerga from the famous game developer Scribabs approached the band at the show in Milano last year with this great idea of making a fantasy boardgame based upon the stage characters mixed with mythology, and we instantly thought it was the coolest thing we've heard in ages and loved the idea! The name of the game is '011' and you will find me [and the rest of THERION] appearing as even more fantastic characters than we are in reality!"

"Sitra Ahra", the new album from THERION, sold around 800 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 44 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Sitra Ahra" was released in North America on October 26, 2010 through Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was mixed at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm by Lennart Östlund (LED ZEPPELIN, ABBA). The cover artwork was created by Thomas Ewerhard, who worked on all of the band's most recent releases in addition to collaborating with EDGUY, AVANTASIA, RAGE and HAMMERFALL, among others.

SOURCE: RNR COLA

Thursday, February 17, 2011

MIKE PORTNOY Cutting Drums For Project With SYMPHONY X Singer


Former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy has begun laying down tracks on the debut album from the new project featuring SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen and guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP). Portnoy states, "This stuff is SLAMMIN'!"

Although the project was initially supposed to go under the name UNDAUNTED (with an official Facebook page that is still being regularly updated), that is now apparently no longer the case. Portnoy tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET, "Russ and Mike started working on stuff as UNDAUNTED and since I've joined up, we've changed the name and are adding a bass player and second guitarist."

Portnoy recently began work on a new project with guitarist Steve Morse (DEEP PURPLE, DIXIE DREGS), multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse (TRANSATLANTIC, SPOCK'S BEARD), bassist Dave LaRue (DIXIE DREGS) and vocalist Casey McPherson (ALPHA REV, ENDOCHINE). The group's debut album is tentatively due later in the year.

Just days after it was announced that he'd been dismissed as the touring drummer for AVENGED SEVENFOLD, Portnoy revealed that he tried to rejoin DREAM THEATER, and was rebuffed.

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 20 years ago, abruptly quit the band this summer while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD.

He played on AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, "Nightmare", following the death of that band's drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, and has toured with them since early summer.

OPETH, THE SWORD, KYLESA, PRIMUS Confirmed For BONNAROO MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL


OPETH, PRIMUS, THE SWORD and KYLESA are among the confirmed bands for the 2011 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The 10th annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 9-12 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. The final Bonnaroo 2011 lineup will total over 125 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets for the event will go on sale on this Saturday, February 19 at 12 noon EST exclusively at Bonnaroo.com.

The 2011 event marks the 10th year for the legendary festival, which began in 2002 as a remarkable idea to serve a passionate yet underappreciated and overlooked fanbase, and ended up becoming the premier multi-day concert destination of the summer whose dynamic and eclectic programming paved the way for the age of the great American music festival. This year’s lineup is yet another fine example of the incomparable eclecticism for which Bonnaroo has become famous.

As the only round-the-clock major U.S. music festival, Bonnaroo packs an unparalleled amount of entertainment options into its four days. The event has offered its attendees the amenities and community spirit of a small city, with 24 hours of activities including a comedy theater, cinema festival, broo'ers festival, silent disco, salon, sustainable gardening lessons, arcade, Internet cafés, restaurants, yoga classes and hundreds of high-quality craft vendors.

For more information, visit
www.bonnaroo.com

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ: 'The Architects Arise: The First Ten Years' Box Due In March


Reunited San Diego, California-based progressive metal band PSYCHOTIC WALTZ is in the midst of intense rehearsals for its upcoming slot on the "Power Of Metal" tour, set to take place in mainland Europe between February 25 and March 20. The group will play a 45-minute set on the trek, which will also feature NEVERMORE, SYMPHONY X, MERCENARY and THAUROROD. This will mark PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's first live appearances in 14 years, and will see the reunion of the original lineup that recorded the band's first three albums: Devon Graves (a.k.a. Buddy Lackey) on vocals, Dan Rock and Brian McAlpin on guitars, Ward Evans on bass and Norm Leggio on drums.

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ is in the process of confirming two European festival appearances for the summer, but beyond those two dates, it doesn't seem likely that any further live shows will be possible in 2011. Upon returning home at the end of March, the band plans to start creating new material with the possibility of recording a new studio album with the original lineup. Therefore, any fans in the European mainland hoping to see the band are encouraged to attend "Power Of Metal", as tickets are still available for most shows.

In other news, all four of PSYCHOTIC WALTZ 's studio albums will be released together in a deluxe, limited vinyl box by Century Media Records in Europe. Titled "The Architects Arise: The First Ten Years", this box will contain gatefold 180-gram LPs of all four studio records plus their ASLAN (pre-PSYCHOTIC WALTZ) demo from 1986 and the "Into The Everflow" demo. This six-LP box will be limited to 500 copies, and the band will have copies of the box for sale during the "Power Of Metal" tour, while supplies last. Additionally, 500 extra copies of "A Social Grace", "Into The Everflow" and "Bleeding" will be pressed in a different vinyl color and sold individually.

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's current lineup is :

* Devon Graves (a.k.a. Buddy Lackey) - Vocals
* Brian McAlpin - Guitar
* Dan Rock - Guitar
* Ward Evans - Bass
* Norman Leggio - Drums

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's last studio album, "Bleeding", was released in 1996. Scott Burns engineered the effort, which was mixed by Dan Rock and Woody Barber.

In the years that followed PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's demise, Rock recorded two instrumental albums with his project DARKSTAR. In the meantime, Norm Leggio and Steve Cox created the band TEABAG, while Buddy Lackey launched his own group, DEADSOUL TRIBE, where he performs using his real name, Devon Graves.

PROGPOWER EUROPE 2011: First Three Bands Announced


BARSTOOL PHILOSOPHERS, SCHIZOID LLOYD and SKY ARCHITECT have been confirmed for this year's edition of the ProgPower Europe festival, set to take place September 30 - October 2 at JC Sjiwa in Baarlo, The Netherlands.

Commented the organizers: "All three bands are talented Dutch bands and will open ProgPower Europe on each day.

"On Friday, September 30, BARSTOOL PHILOSOPHERS wil open the festival. Their debut album got great reviews and several people requested to book them for this year's event.

"Saturday, October 1 will be opened by unknown band SCHIZOID LLOYD. They got our attention by sending is their first EP. Different from all other bands we think they offer something fresh in the progscene, so let these guys surprise you.

"And last but not least, SKY ARCHITECT will open the last day of ProgPower Europe 2011, Sunday, October 2. Their debut album also got rave reviews worldwide and with a new album to come we think these guys are the perfect opener on Sunday.

"This weekend we will announce a few more bands, hopefully also one of the three headliners."

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

QUEENSRŸCHE, THUNDER, NEAL MORSE Confirmed For U.K.'s HIGH VOLTAGE Festival


QUEENSRŸCHE, THUNDER, NEAL MORSE, SAINT JUDE, ANATHEMA and CURVED AIR have been confirmed for this year's edition of Classic Rock magazine's award-winning High Voltage festival, set to take place Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24, 2011 in Victoria Park, London, England.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows (in alphabetical order):

ANATHEMA
BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION
CARAVAN
CURVED AIR
DREAM THEATER
JETHRO TULL
JUDAS PRIEST
MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP
MOSTLY AUTUMN
NEAL MORSE
PALLAS
QUEENSRŸCHE
SAINT JUDE
SPOCK'S BEARD
THE ENID
THUNDER

High Voltage is the festival all true rock fans have been waiting for — custom built by rock fans for rock fans. The High Voltage team has been to every rock festival imaginable — taking what they have learned to build a festival unlike any other.

First of all there's the music: Amazing headliners AND three unique stages specially curated to cater for different sides of the rock audience, and a brilliant supporting cast playing special must-see sets. Then there's the festival itself. The facilities will be second to none: great food, proper beer, clean toilets and deluxe hospitality packages. This is somewhere you take the whole family.

High Voltage offers a new and unique festival experience for rock fans of all ages. Only High Voltage gives ticket buyers the freedom to design their own bespoke festival package — which can include accommodation, transport and VIP entertainment.

Tickets priced £99 (for weekend tickets) and £56.50 (for day tickets) — subject to booking fee. VIP tickets will be available at £105.00 for the day, £199.00 for the weekend — subject to booking fee. There will also be various VIP and hotel packages available, at varying price levels to suit.

For more information, visit HighVoltageFestival.com