On a personal level, 2018 was possibly the best year of my life. I made it to New York City for the first time. My step-daughter, whose hand I used to hold as we crossed the street, got married. The podcast I host called Cobras & Fire allowed me to talk to many of the idols of my youth like Bruce Kulick, K.K. Downing and Jake E Lee. I got hammered on a bar patio…
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Yesterday the SWEDEN ROCK 2019 FESTIVAL announced that Melodic Rock band Easy Action will make an exclusive appearance. Here’s the post taken direct from the Sweden Rock Facebook page: “1986 saw the release of a Swedish melodic rock classic: the Easy Action album That Makes One. This summer, the That Makes One version of the band makes its first comeback, exclusively at Sweden Rock Festival! This will also be singer Tommy Nilsson’s first return to…
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We’re back this week to tackle the who, what, when, where and why of the second half of our 1981 Year in Review Part 2! July of 1981 is a strong month for the rock genre. Strong efforts include releases by Foreigner, Def Leppard, and the Ramones. Additionally, some great under the radar albums by Demon and New England help bolster and already solid month. The month of August is a busy one in news…
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The Twin cities and greater Minnesota Metal Community were represented well at the Minneapolis Armory on April 2nd, as Judas Priest brought their Firepower Tour to the North Star state. Renovated and revamped as a concert arena for last February’s Super Bowl, the Armory is starting to line up a lot of heavyweight concerts, with Priest being one of the early headliners. Bringing along Black Star Riders and Saxon for this trek, there is sure…
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Saxon has always sort of weaved in and out of the consciousness of the United States music scene. Never the A-list headliner they are in Europe, but also a band you’d have a hard time not hearing about if you’re into Metal music of any sort. It’s because of that I was equally surprised as I was not able to find out that their latest record, Thunderbolt (out February 2nd via Militia Guard), was their…
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Be sure to check out the Decibel Geek website contributor’s collective compilation of the top albums: Best of 2017 Article As 2017 quickly approaches its conclusion, I find it appropriate to reflect on almost 150 new releases of music that I have discovered over the course of the year. Admittedly, my favorites tend to be from the Melodic Rock and Symphonic Metal genres. Regardless, I am proud to present my Top Ten for 2017. To…
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The British Invasion was in full force this week in Toronto as the Saxon/UFO co-headlining tour rolled through. This was a dream bill for me personally. That’s the only way to sum it up. The names of both Saxon and UFO appear in my full sleeve tattoo depicting a guitar case “stickered” with the logos of some fave bands. Both bands have been with me in listening rotations for years upon years. Both bands are…
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Saturday, June 10, 2017 – Sweden Rock Festival 2017 – Day #4 Not being as young and spry as we used to be, we arose a bit later on Saturday, June 10, 2017, the final day of Sweden Rock. No one seemed overly interested in hotel breakfast (although massive amounts of coffee were put away). Slowly dragging our asses out of the room and to the car, you’d think we were all a hundred years…
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Hello, Steve! Thanks for taking your time to talk to us and let’s get straight to the questions! As far as I can understand SOB began life back in 1972 and took the name from a Free song called “Tons of Sobs”. Is that correct? YES THAT’S RIGHT The original line-up consisted of Steve “Dobby” Dawson on bass, Graham Oliver on guitar, Steve Firth on vocals and drummer Al Dodd. How was the relationship…
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The headlining act of Brofest day 1 needs no introduction to the hard rock fan. This was a really anticipated gig for me being a huge Saxon fan but I am also proud to call myself a huge fan of the Son of a Bitch record released in 1996. Son of a Bitch is, of course, the original name of the band before changing it to Saxon on the record label’s advice. By the time…
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