Legendary New York thrashers ANTHRAX this year celebrated their 35th anniversary and released their new album ‘For All Kings’ to widespread critical acclaim. In February 2017 the band will be back on UK soil for their first full UK headline tour in over a decade! These UK dates will see the band perform classic 1987 album ‘Among The Living’ in its entirety alongside fan favourites.
Scott Ian commented: “Finally! We’ve been looking forward to headlining in the U.K. for so long!!! We have a killer set planned, new stuff, old faves, deep tracks and Among front to back. You’d better start getting in shape now for the epic wardance! See you soon my friends.
Cheers,
Scott”
These special shows will mark 30 years of the iconic album, with support from up and coming British metallers The Raven Age.
Dates as follows:
Thursday 9th February – Birmingham O2 Institute
Friday 10th February – London O2 Forum Kentish Town
Saturday 11th February – Bristol O2 Academy
Monday 13th February – Nottingham Rock City
Tuesday 14th February – Manchester Academy
Wednesday 15th February – Glasgow Barrowlands
Thursday 16th February – Newcastle Northumbria University
Friday 17th February – Norwich UEA
Anthrax has sold in excess of 10-million units, received multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, six Grammy nominations and a host of other accolades from the media, industry and fans. In 1991, their music helped break down race and genre barriers when they collaborated with Public Enemy on “Bring The Noise.” And, of course, along with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth, Anthrax helped pioneer the thrash/metal genre as a member of The Big Four.
Progressive metalcore band CARCER CITY have announced their Infinite // Unknown headline tour across Europe in support of their new album.
Released this September via Stay Sick, Infinite // Unknown is the band’s highly revered sophomore album, which Rock Sound called ‘their strongest release yet’.
Check out the video ‘Sovereign’:
Support on the mainland dates comes from melodic hardcore outfit CREATE TO INSPIRE, who released their Home Is Where My Heart Dies EP via Basick Records earlier this year.
Check out ‘Don’t Let Go’:
UK
26.11 Manchester – Satans Hollow
27.11 Worcester – Marrs Bar
28.11 Glasgow – Broadcast
EU w/Create To Inspire
01.12 Luxembourg (LU) – Rocas Cafe
02.12 Frankfurt (DE) – Elfer Club
03.12 Maasmechelen (BE) – Alibi
05.12 Milan (IT) – Rock n Roll
06.12 Verona (IT) – Il Blocco
07.12 Vienna (AT) – Das Bach
08.12 Lustenau (AT) – Rocks Bar
09.12 Dresden (DE) – Konk Klub
10.12 Brno (CZ) – M13 Club
11.12 Budapest (HU) – Durer Kert
12.12 Prague (CZ) – Cross Club
13.12 Cologne (DE) – MTC
Founder of the legendary Wishbone Ash, one of Britain’s most enduring and best loved melodic rock acts, Martin Turner takes to the road with his 19-date UK ‘Written in the StarsTour’ during November/December 2016.
Vocalist & bassist Martin Turner, who was the main composer and creative force of Wishbone Ash, and his band, will perform tracks from his 2015 album release “Written in the Stars” as well as a selection of much-loved Wishbone Ash classics. Formed in 1969 by Turner and Steve Upton, Wishbone Ash forged a unique musical identity that produced some of rock music’s best loved works, influenced numerous successful bands and resulted in millions of album sales.
Martin says, “We had such a great reception from audiences at our recent “Written in the Stars” shows in the UK, Poland and Germany, we can’t wait to return to UK stages next months. I’m overwhelmed by the emotional connection audiences continue to make with the classic Wishbone Ash music which has been a backdrop to so many people’s lives – mine included. The material from the recent “Written in the Stars” album, which is in the same ballpark melodically and musically, has been very well received wherever we have played.”
Watch Martin chat about the tour here:
Tour dates are:-
Date Town Venue
Nov 2nd, Wed Bilston Robin 2
Nov 4th, Fri Bathgate Dreadnought Rock
Nov 5th, Sat Aberdeen Krakatoa
Nov 6th, Sun Carlisle Old Fire Station
Nov 10th , Thurs Bristol The Tunnels
Nov 11th, Fri Dartmouth The Flavel
Nov 12th, Sat Great Torrington Plough Arts Centre
Nov 13th, Sun Penzance Acorn
Nov 16th, Weds Worthing Pier
Nov 17th, Thurs Dagenham Roundhouse
Date Town Venue
Nov 18th, Fri Deal Astor
Nov 19th Sat Farncombe Music Club
Nov 22nd, Tues Bromsgrove Artrix
Nov 24th, Thurs Southport The Atkinson
Nov 25th, Fri Grimsby Yardbirds
Nov 26th, Sat Doncaster Leopard
Dec 1st, Thurs Twickenham Eel Pie Club
Dec 3rd, Sat Porthcawl Planet Rockstock
Dec 10th, Sat Leicester Y Theatre
Martin Turner also confirms his involvement in the compilation of “Wishbone Ash: The Vintage Years” – a definitive 32-disc CD boxed set spanning the period 1970 – 1991, scheduled for release by Snapper Music during 2017/18. This promises to be the deepest anthology of Wishbone Ash’s classic period to date and is being compiled with full co-operation and involvement of all key members of the definitive classic line-ups – Martin Turner, Steve Upton, Ted Turner, Andy Powell and Laurie Wisefield. The content will dig deep into the archives and already many live and studio multi-track masters have been uncovered, largely from Martin Turner’s personal archive.
In Spring 2017, Martin will release a live DVD/CD recording from the “Written in the Stars” tour, filmed earlier in 2016 at the Citadel, St.Helens.
RELEASED NOVEMBER 11 ON RADIANT RECORDS
VIA METAL BLADE RECORDS/SONY
2CD, TRIPLE VINYL AND DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
WORLDWIDE TOUR STARTS
JANUARY 15, 2017 IN NASHVILLE, TN
NEAL MORSE: LEAD VOCALS, KEYBOARDS, GUITARS
MIKE PORTNOY: DRUMS, VOCALS
RANDY GEORGE: BASS
ERIC GILLETTE: GUITAR, VOCALS
BILL HUBAUER: KEYBOARDS, VOCALS
The journey of Neal Morse has seen three decades of musical accomplishments, the latest being the inception of The Neal Morse Band. Morse has forged many relationships over the years with his other bands, Spock’s Beard, Flying Colors, and Transatlantic. However, the most compelling and fruitful efforts have been those with drummer Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, Flying Colors, Transatlantic, ex-Dream Theater).
Now the current line-up of “The Neal Morse Band”—Morse, Portnoy, bassist Randy George, keyboardist Bill Hubauer and guitarist Eric Gillette—brings forth “The Similitude of a Dream”, a concept album to be released November 11 on Radiant Records via Metal Blade Records/SONY. This will be the eighth studio album with Morse, Portnoy and George, and the second as a true collaboration with this current lineup. A lyric video for the song, “Overture,” premiered on PROG Magazine’s website earlier today and will be available on the band’s official YouTube page tomorrow. Watch the lyric video for the songs “Long Day” and “Overture”
Clocking in at over 100 minutes, this amazing piece of prog storytelling will leave you breathless, exhilarated, amused and fulfilled in a way that only inspired music can. It will be available in various formats: a two CD package, a Special Edition with the two CDs and “The Making of a Dream” DVD, or as three vinyl records along with two CDs.
The Neal Morse Band (L-R): Eric Gillette, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Neal Morse, Bill Hubauer. Photo: John Zocco
Track Listing:
Disc 1:
Long Day
Overture
The Dream
City Of Destruction
We Have Got To Go
Makes No Sense
Draw The Line
The Slough
Back To The City
The Ways Of A Fool
So Far Gone
Breath Of Angels
Disc 2:
Slave To Your Mind
Shortcut to Salvation
The Man in The Iron Cage
The Road Called Home
Sloth
Freedom Song
I’m Running
The Mask
Confrontation
The Battle
Broken Sky / Long Day (Reprise)
Together, Morse and Portnoy have launched four bands, but the one that has endured the longest and thus with the most musical output has been The Neal Morse Band. Over the years, Morse, along with Portnoy and George, always assembled musicians as needed to support Neal’s solo music. In 2012, they held auditions to find the musicians needed to fill out the band as a permanent lineup that would write music collectively. Hubauer and Gillette joined the band after three days of auditions. The fivesome went on to release The Grand Experiment in 2014 followed by the Alive Again live DVD/2 CD package in 2015.
“The Similitude of a Dream is loosely and sometimes directly based on the book, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan,” explains Neal Morse. “The book’s original title was The Pilgrim’s Progress from this world to that which is to come, delivered under the similitude of a dream, and was originally published in 1678. The book chronicles the spiritual journey of a man from the City of Destruction to a place of Deliverance. Someone had suggested to me that I do a concept album based on this book, but I kind of forgot about it. Then when I began writing new songs last December, the suggestion came to my mind. I had never read the book, so I Googled the SparkNotes story outline and began to write some little song bits and instrumentals based on what I had read. Those bits combined with the ideas that the other guys brought to the table then miraculously exploded into this double concept album. Funny thing is, this album only really covers about the first 75 or 80 pages. Maybe we should’ve made a five disc collection! Well, we’ll save that for later. Ha.”
Continues Neal, “At the conclusion of the grueling recording sessions, I remember Mike saying rather prophetically, ‘Boys, I think we just made the album of our careers.’”
“I honestly think this is THE album of my career,” declares Portnoy. “Neal and I have now made 18 studio albums together, and I consider The Similitude of a Dream the absolute creative pinnacle of our collaborations together. I’ve always had a soft spot for double concept albums such as Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Who’s Tommy, and I can bravely say that I think we’ve created an album here that can sit side by side with those masterpieces. Bold words, I know, but after a career of almost 50 albums, I honestly consider this to be one of the defining works of my career.”
“We weren’t sure we had enough music to make a double CD, and yet it seemed as though the concept and the music wanted to go there,” bassist Randy George continues. “Ultimately, we created so much great music in the sessions that it just had to be a double album! To cap that off, we worked with a pre-imminent classic album cover artist to create painted illustrations of our concept which will grace the booklet!”
The Neal Morse Band tours worldwide almost yearly and continues to grow in popularity, attracting new listeners everywhere they go. The band has toured in North America, Central America, Europe, Israel, Mexico and India. The shows are filled with excited and extremely loyal fans, some which have regularly traveled very long distances to see the band. The band has an extensive catalog of live shows on Blu-Ray and DVD as well.
Their latest round of worldwide tour dates start January 15, 2017 in Morse’s current hometown of Nashville, TN. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks on the band’s official website.
FESTIVAL WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE WORLD’S BEST PROGRESSIVE BANDS ANNOUNCE FRIDAY HEADLINERS MARILLION
Since its inception in 2014 the Barcelona based festival Be Prog! My Friend has played host to the likes of Steven Wilson, Opeth, Camel, Meshuggah, Anathema, Devin Townsend, Pain Of Salvation, Katatonia, Leprous, TesseracT, The Pineapple Thief, Magma, Between The Buried And Me, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Agent Fresco, Fish, Riverside, Ihsahn, Alcest, Textures, Haken, Iamthemorning, Obsidian Kingdom, The Algorithm & Antimatter.
Taking place in the beautiful open air surroundings of Poble Espanyol – a huge stone built architectural museum – the site is one of the most important and striking landmarks of tourism in Barcelona. Whilst by day the Catalonian hotspot may play host to some of Barcelona’s most interesting historical articles, by the end of June to the start of July it will instead play host to some of the world’s finest progressive bands.
This year saw the festival co-headlined by Steven Wilson and fellow progressive heavy weights Opeth. So far for 2017 Be Prog! My Friend have announced the legendary Jethro Tull as Saturday’s headliner alongside Norweigian music collective Ulver, Anathema, Animals as Leaders and Caligula’s Horse.
Now the festival have revealed Friday’s headiner for the 2017 edition of Be Prog! My Friend will be Marillion. The festival organisers comment:
‘Marillion’s music is, by its nature, tough to sum-up but perhaps can be described as experimental-yet-emotional rock, married to thought provoking, soulful lyrics – a powerful and moving cocktail which, for those who “get it”, elicits extraordinary devotion.
After over thirty years, the band shows no signs of slowing down; this last month they released “Fear (Fuck Everyone And Run)”; an album that has been called “the best album by Marillion in twenty years”.
Steve Hogarth said, “We don’t know how many more albums we’ll make, or how long we’ll live. Everything has to be the best it can be”. With ‘FEAR.’ Marillion show that they are as vital and potent as ever. Peerless and, yes, fearless…
We welcome Marillion with our arms wide open!’
Tickets are on sale now with final price. 130 Euros:
Former Genesis guitarist and prog legend Steve Hackett is returning with an exciting new show for a 15 date UK tour next spring after his outstanding performance at this year’s inaugural Stone Free Festival.
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the classic Genesis album Wind and Wuthering, Steve and his band will be performing several tracks from the album as well as fan favourites such as ‘The Musical Box’ and other Genesis numbers never performed before by Steve’s band such as ‘Inside & Out’ and ‘Anyway’.
“I’m excited to bring my latest show involving a new set of Genesis and Hackett numbers to the UK in 2017!” – Steve Hackett
With an established solo career spanning over 40 years, Steve will also be performing some of his popular hits such as ‘The Steppes’, ‘Serpentine’, ‘Every Day’ and the first ever live performance of ‘Rise Again’ from his 1999 album Darktown. Steve will also be introducing fans to new music from his forthcoming album, which is due out early spring 2017.
Joining Steve on the tour are musicians Roger King (keyboards), Gary O’Toole (drums/percussion), Rob Townsend (saxes/flutes), Nick Beggs (bass, stick & twelve string) and Nad Sylvan on vocals.
Since the 1970’s Steve has had a remarkable musical career, releasing more than 30 solo albums, seven Genesis albums and working alongside Steve Howe of YES with supergroup GTR. Renowned for being one of the most innovative rock musicians of our time, in 2010 he was inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame.
Continuing to impress with his outstanding live shows ‘Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett’ is a tour not to missed in 2017.
Tickets for UK shows go on sale on Friday 7th October at 10am from myticket.co.uk and venue box offices. Dublin tickets go onsale on the same day at 9am.
Since its inception in 2014 the Barcelona based festival Be Prog! My Friend has played host to the likes of Opeth, Steven Wilson, Anathema, Devin Townsend, TesseracT, The Pineapple Thief, Magma, Agent Fresco, Camel, Meshuggah, Katatonia, Riverside, Isahn and Alcest.
Taking place in the beautiful open air surroundings of Poble Espanyol – a huge stone built architectural museum – the site is one of the most important and striking landmarks of tourism in Barcelona. Whilst by day the Catalonian hotspot may play host to some of Barcelona’s most interesting historical articles, by the end of June to the start of July it will instead play host to some of the world’s finest progressive bands.
This year saw the festival co-headlined by Steven Wilson and fellow progressive heavy weights Opeth. So far for 2017 Be Prog! My Friend have announnced the legendary JethroTull alongside Norwegian music collective Ulver.
Now the festival have added another 3 incredible bands to the line-up. The festival comment:
‘Anathema, who formed in the mid 90s, have risen to become one of the UK’s most cherished and critically acclaimed rock bands. With their star rising ever higher, Anathema returned in 2014 with ‘Distant Satellites’, another assertive step into the realm of miraculous songwriting.
Animals as Leaders incorporate influences from jazz, electronic, progressive, classical and fusion. After amazing releases like “Weightless” and “The Joy of Motion”, Animals As Leaders continue to explore their musical endeavours with the highly anticipated fourth album “The Madness of Many”, to be released this next November. Be Prog! invites you to forget all musical boundaries for an instrumental act that will blow your mind.
Caligula’s Horse channel the raw honesty of rock and the skill of progressive metal into a seamless voice at once energetic, grand and forthright, They offer devotees of all strains of powerful and progressive music something unique. Be Prog! My Friend are confident that this for this charismatic band will become a big success in the progressive metal scene. Caligula’s Horse, Welcome to Be Prog!’
Tickets are on sale now priced at 100 Euros for a limited time:
Be Prog! My Friend takes place in the heart of Barcelona and with an airport only 12km away, regular, cheap flights make it an easy festival to get and from the UK. Bands will start playing from mid/late afternoon each day which will also mean visitors have plenty of time to explore the stunning city of Barcelona while they are there.
The Pineapple Thief have announced a string of European dates for early 2017 in support of their highly acclaimed new album, ‘Your Wilderness’. The band will be joined by virtuoso Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) on drums.
“We always said that we couldn’t imagine touring the material live without Gavin on stage’, explains band leader Bruce Soord, ”We’re so excited that we have made it happen. It’s a real once in a lifetime event.”
20.01 Patronaat, Haarlem NL 21.01 Uden, De Pul NL 22.01 Zwolle, Hedon NL 24.01 Aschaffenburg, Colos Saal DE 25.01 Oberhausen, Eisenlager DE 26.01 Berlin, Frannz club DE 27.01 Prague, Futurum Music Bar CZ 28.01 Dresden, Tante Ju DE 29.01 Hamburg, Knust DE 31.01 Maastricht, Muziekgieterij NL 01.02 Paris, Le Divan Du Monde FR 09.02 Glasgow, ABC2 UK 10.02 Manchester, Sound Control UK 11.02 London, Islington Assembly Hall UK
The band will be performing Your Wilderness plus a string of re-imagined favourites from their back catalogue, and with an expanded 5-piece line-up including Darran Charles on additional guitar duties, this will be a live show not to be missed. Special guest support is from Kscope label mates Godsticks.
Your Wilderness, their 11th studio album, showcases the band performing without any inhibitions providing a springboard for the ongoing creative growth of The Pineapple Thief.
For the first time, The Pineapple Thief brought in several special guest performers: Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) contributed drums throughout the album, John Helliwell (Supertramp) some beautiful clarinet parts, and Geoffrey Richardson (Caravan) provided a string quartet. They were also joined by a 4-piece choir and to cap it all off, Darran Charles (Godsticks) added some jaw dropping guitar playing.
Seen as one of the most vital rock bands the UK has produced over the last two decades, The Pineapple Thief was formed in 1999 by founder and chief songwriter Bruce Soord. The band has steadily evolved and refined its sound with the bass playing of Jon Sykes and the production and keyboards of Steve Kitch vital ingredients to the unmistakable TPT sound.
Your Wilderness has been released by Kscope on CD / LP / Digital and as a Deluxe hardback book 2 CD+DVD set:www.kscopemusic.com/store
Since its inception in 2014 the Barcelona based festival Be Prog! My Friend has played host to the likes of Opeth, Steven Wilson, Anathema, Devin Townsend, TesseracT, The Pineapple Thief, Magma, Agent Fresco, Camel, Meshuggah, Katatonia, Riverside, Isahn and Alcest.
Taking place in the beautiful open air surroundings of Poble Espanyol – a huge stone built architectural museum – the site is one of the most important and striking landmarks of tourism in Barcelona. Whilst by day the Catalonian hotspot may play host to some of Barcelona’s most interesting historical articles, by the end of June to the start of July it will instead play host to some of the world’s finest progressive bands.
This year saw the festival co-headlined by Steven Wilson and fellow progressive heavy weights Opeth. Now following Be Prog! My Friend‘s recent news that Ulver will play in 2017, comes the announcement of multi-genre progressive giants Jethro Tull, bringing their ever-famous presence to the Catalonion open air surroundings.
The festival organisers comment: ‘Jethro Tull remain unstoppable thanks to the relentless spirit of charismatic frontman Ian Anderson. After more than forty years, Tull continue to delight audiences with their variety and depth of experience, giving fans – young and old – the best of folk, jazz and classically-inspired progressive rock music”.
Tickets are currently on sale now at the reduced price of 75 Euros for a limited time only –
Be Prog! My Friend takes place in the heart of Barcelona and with an airport only 12km away, regular, cheap flights make it an easy festival to get and from the UK. Bands will start playing from mid/late afternoon each day which will also mean visitors have plenty of time to explore the stunning city of Barcelona while they are there.
Kadavar released their latest album ‘Berlin’ last year, a compelling fusion of psychedelic rock and heavy fuzz that was acclaimed world-wide. This year together with long-time friend and collaborator Nathini van der Meer (http://nathinivandermeer.com), who has created artwork and videos for them in the past, the band have been working on their first “Visual Album”- 12 short films accompanying each of the albums’ songs, to be released once a month throughout the entirety of the year.
