Been a busy year for Richie James Follin. The Willowz singer released a solo album, a side project (Barracks), toured as the opening act for The Toadies, and is now gearing up for the release of The Willowz latest album, Everyone, by hitting the road for a select number of tour dates in December. Everyone is available digitally now and in physical form on Dec.15 (just in time to stay fresh in people’s heads for “Best of 2009” lists!)
Dec 11 Bourbon Street – Columbus, Ohio
Dec 12 Radio Radio – Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 13 Empty Bottle – Toronto, Ontario
Dec 17 M Room – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 18 The Middle East – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dec 19 Jerky’s Live Music Hall – Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 20 Mercury Lounge – New York, New York
2. Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar” video featuring a cameo by Jamey Johnson
3. Jim Norton and Patrice O’Neal’s reaction on the Opie and Anthony show to the latest YouTube sensation, “Risky Business gone wrong“
4. Stephen King’s new book, Under The Dome
5. Damnwells fans pledging enough money to the band so that they can record their 4th album.
Donations are still being accepted so if you want to help the band out (a minimum pledge of $12 gets you a physical copy of the CD once it’s been recorded and produced).
Though I’ve been a fan of Megadeth since the Peace Sells … but Who’s Buying? release (1986), I somehow had never managed to see Dave Mustaine and whoever currently backs him up until just last week. In a way, that’s probably a great thing as the 2,000+ crowd (I’m terrible with estimating sizes of crowds, but the Lifestyles Community Pavilion was near packed and holds 2,200 for a sold-out show) was treated to a run through of Megadeth’s greatest hits as well as a few new songs from the return-to-form Endgame CD.
Having a unique vantage point from the photo pit for the first 3 songs, the thing that struck me was that there didn’t seem to be any bonding between band members – something that is decidedly different when you see a new, young band play a small club where they are forced to interact to avoid bumping into each other. And Dave Mustaine seemed very focused on playing with technical proficiency which came across as a bit stiff. Nevertheless, the opening 3 songs sounded amazing and I was particularly happy to hear “Wake Up Dead” so early in the set.
Dubbed the “American Carnage” tour, this is going to be a hot ticket in the thrash metal world. Slayer and Megadeth both have brand new records out while Testament released an original line-up reunion album in 2008. According to the press release, this will be the first time these 3 bands have shared a stage in 18 years (Slayer and Megadeth just toured together overseas, without Testament).
JANUARY
18 WaMu Theatre, Seattle, WA*
19 Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR (tickets sold via www.rosequarter.com)
21 Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA*
22 Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA * (tickets on sale 11/21)
23 Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, AZ**
25 Magness Arena, Denver, CO*
26 Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM*
27 El Paso Coliseum, El Paso, TX*
29 Verizon Wireless, Houston, TX**
31 Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN*
FEBRUARY
1 Gwinnett Arena, Duluth, GA*
2 Broadbent Arena, Louisville, KY* (tickets on sale 12/4)
4 Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN* (tickets on sale 12/4)
5 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL* (tickets on sale 12/4)
6 Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI*
9 Chevrolet Theatre, Wallingford, CT**
11 Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ*
13 Susquehanna Center, Camden, NJ*
14 Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA*
16 Pavillon de la Jeunesse, Quebec City, QC (tickets sold via Billetech.com)
18 John Labatt Centre, London, ON (tickets on sale 11/27 via JohnLabattCentre.com)
19 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON (tickets sold via Ticketmaster.ca)
20 Bell Centre, Montreal, QC (tickets sold via Admission.com)
22 Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB (tickets sold via MonctonColiseum.com)
23 Metro Centre, Halifax, NS (tickets sold via TicketAtlantic.com
Last week I published the “bonus” material from the interview I did with Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo. Today, the magazine (MELT) with the proper interview hits shelves in locations around central Ohio.
