SayWeCanFly, Braden Barrie's one man acoustic act, has announced his new EP, Darling, set for release on October 23rd. The EP will be the first SayWeCanFly has released under Epitaph Records, and comes just nine months after his album Between The Roses, which was released back in January.
SayWeCanFly's Darling artwork
Braden has spoken about how the album was put together: “The whole recording process was just a long hangout with some microphones. The most important thing about bringing my songs into reality is good vibes. I need to be in a space where I can completely let go and get lost in my emotions with no negative vibes or stress around because the studio is the doorway between my heart and our world.” The most surprising thing about this EP is that all of the songs were written in just a day: "It was just one of those days where I was able to pour my feelings onto paper without trying- I’ve always found that my best songs happen without knowing they’re coming.”
The tracklisting for Darling is: 1. Darling 2. High School 3. Better Off Alone 4. When I Come Home 5. Driftwood Heart
Check out the lyric video for title track 'Darling' below.
Simple Plan are back! The Canadian band have been releasing singles from their upcoming fifth album this year, and the latest release has proven that their love of pop-punk melodies and songs that just won't leave your head has never gone away. Now they've shared a new sound with the life-affirming 'I Don't Wanna Be Sad'. The song deals with an emotion the band know all too well- depression. This has been a theme for a lot of their songs (remember 'Perfect'?), and 'I Don't Wanna Be Sad' carries on that tradition but ends on a high note. Just like all mood disorders, there is a way out. You can listen to the song below and download it from the iTunes store for a dose of happiness. The band's new album hasn't yet got an official release date, but stay tuned on here for more information on it.
As I posted the other day, Heart Like A Hand Grenade, the long-awaited rock documentary about the making of Green Day's 2004 album American Idiot, will finally be released in October. The dates of the cinema showings have now been announced for the United States, but there hasn't been any announcement of any UK/Europe cinema dates as yet. If, like me, you're unable to get to a showing, there hasn't yet been an official announcement about a digital or physical release of the film either, but director John Roecker mentioned on his Facebook page that there would be a physical release at some point. If you are one of the lucky ones who can get to a showing, the US dates start on October 8th until October 22nd. Judging by the list of dates on GreenDay.com, most theatres are showing the film for one night only with no show times yet announced. Hopefully it won't be long before the UK/Europe are able to see the film- when that happens, be sure to look out for a review of it on here!
Muse promised a huge tour for their number one album, Drones, and it's just got even bigger. Four new dates in London and Glasgow have been added to the bill, so the band are now scheduled to play six gigs starting in April 2016. Well-known for putting on the elaborate production for their shows, Muse are set to play for the first time "in the round" from the middle of the arena- perfect for that 360 degree experience. According to NME, the band are also said to be planning "a whole swarm of drones" and a stage "like a double-headed sword". Tickets are on sale now, so get them while you can! The tour dates are as follows (new dates in bold): April 8- Manchester Arena 9- Manchester Arena 11- London, The O2 12- London, The O2 14- London, The O2 15- London, The O2 17- Glasgow, The SSE Hydro 18- Glasgow, The SSE Hydro
Green Day have confirmed details about a new documentary film, Heart Like A Hand Grenade.
The wait is over! After endless rumours, Green Day have announced that they will be releasing a rock documentary about the making of their epic album American Idiot. In the 11 years since American Idiot's release, the band have done a huge bunch of stuff- they've headlined Reading Festival, written a musical and even been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But I'm sure that Green Day fans will agree that one of the most iconic things the band have done is release American Idiot. Everyone knows at least one song from it, and the songs have become anthems for punks everywhere. Now those devoted audiences can see how the album was put together, as the footage in the documentary was filmed when director John Roecker followed the band for nine months during the recording process.
Heart Like A Hand Grenade poster
Roeker has released a statement speaking of the making of the documentary: "I told [Billie Joe Armstrong] he should document the recording of the album and he said they had tried and it never worked. I suggested that he set up tripods around the studio and just have cameras run so it would not be too invasive of the process of the recording (I was hoping he would get my hint!). Then I got a phone call on a Friday night and he said he and the band will be in Los Angeles on Monday and why don’t I be the tripod. Thus began my nine months with Green Day.
“I would have total access to the band and could film everything. During this time Metallica released their film Some Kind of Monster – a film that showed a band on the verge of artistic collapse and infighting. I told Billie about the film and he thought because there was no drama going on with the band I did not want to continue with the film. I was thinking the opposite. This film does not contain high drama or fighting. It shows a band on top of their game creating incredible music. It is a film that inspires. It is also a very small film. All it took was a box of tapes and one camera. Going back to the D.I.Y. Ethic that I was raised with. It was also a risk for the band because this album was either going to take them to a higher level or sink them. Either way I was going to document it.
“After the recording was finished they booked a small theatre and performed the album in its entirety, which is included in the film (Fun fact! This was eleven years ago folks and the camera phone was not invented so this is the only way you can see this legendary concert!) This movie is like a fly on the wall art house piece. It is the first time Green Day allowed someone into the studio to film them. I am so happy I answered Billie’s phone call. This was eleven years ago and the film you are about to see has never been seen. It became a lost film, an urban legend in some ways. Some fans thought it was not real that it was some sort of prank the band and I created. And finally the little film that could is being released."
The documentary will rock cinemas on October 15th If you can't wait until then, watch the music video for American Idiot below!
Muse announced their plans for the 'Drones World Tour' this morning, releasing dates for the first leg in the UK and parts of Europe, including two London dates. Frontman Matt Bellamy took to BBC Radio 2 to confirm the plans, saying that the tour would feature "the most elaborate production we've done" and would include "lots of flying things... and real military drones".
Tickets for the UK tour will go on general sale next Friday (September 18th) at 9am, with the fan pre-sale beginning next Wednesday (September 16th). The dates are: April 5 Dublin 3Arena 8 Manchester Arena11 London O212 London O217 Glasgow SSE Hydro 5 Madrid Barclaycard Center 14 Milan Mediolarum Forum 15 Milan Mediolarum Forum
May
2 Lisbon MEO Arena
June
4 Prague O2 Arena
As well as that, the band took to Twitter to announce that they will also be playing at Camden's Electric Ballroom tonight. To get fans in the mood before they play at the larger scale venues, the Electric Ballroom has a capacity of just 1,100- perfect for that intimate gig feel.
It's now been eleven weeks since Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl broke his leg in Sweden, and the band had something very special lined up to mark their return to the UK. To celebrate the occasion at the Milton Keynes Bowl on Saturday (September 5th), they formed a 'superdupergroup' with none other than Queen's Roger Taylor and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones to perform a cover of Queen and David Bowie's hit 'Under Pressure'. You can watch the video below. With Grohl's leg still in a cast but healing well, he sat proudly on his 'throne' for the two and a half hour set. At one point he even stood up on it, drove it down the central ramp on stage to play 'DOA', and made a heartfelt apology to the audience for the cancelled Glastonbury set and Wembley Stadium gigs. After support acts Iggy Pop and Royal Blood, Foo Fighters came roaring on stage to 'Everlong', with Grohl yelling "we came back for you!" With a setlist full of just about every Foo Fighters hit there is, it was going to be an epic night. Midway through "Monkey Wrench" Grohl announced "I'm getting better now, I'm gonna dance with you! We've got so many songs, we're going to keep it going". With the energy of the evening also came apologies from the frontman himself. After a roaring performance of 'The Pretender', Grohl made the first apology of the night. “Guess what? I fucking love rock’n’roll. Guess what? We’re gonna rock a lot for you tonight. It’s been about eleven weeks since the incident. The last thing I wanted to do was cancel shows. I hate cancelling shows. I said ‘I’ve got to get back there as soon as we fucking can’. I’m sorry for making you wait so long. Tonight we’re gonna play some extra long shit, we’re just getting warmed up. Who’s gonna lose their voice first? Not me”. He then continued: “We’ve been coming here a long fucking time, how many people have never seen Foo Fighters before? Well let me tell you I don’t usually sit in this fucking awesome throne. Some places don’t know why I’m in the throne. You ask people in Denver if they know and they go ‘I don’t know why you’re in the fucking throne dude’. But you guys know. Sometimes I tell the story and have a slide show but tonight we’re gonna play as many Foo Fighters songs as possible." A stripped back version of 'Big Me' was dedicated to the band's lighting man Dave who "made the throne happen", complete with the audience using the lights on their phones to light up the arena. After 'Congregation' and 'Walk', the band then went into snippets of cover versions of Van Halen's 'I'm The One' and The Sex Pistols' 'God Save The Queen' before Grohl handed vocal duties to drummer Taylor Hawkins for 'Cold Day In The Sun'. Reaching the middle of their set, Grohl then went on to announce “I don’t know who Milton is and I don’t know why he built this thing right here. We wouldn’t have you all come out here unless we planned something nice and special. But we didn’t plan anything nice and special. Something nice and special just happened an hour and a half ago. A couple of our friends turned up and we thought it’d be nice to do a song together.“
Introducing rock legends Roger Taylor and John Paul Jones, he claimed “you’ve heard of a supergroup? Well this is a superdupergroup. The Foo Fighters are living out their fucking fantasy in front of you.” The superdupergroup then played an absolutely incredible cover of ‘Under Pressure’ with Taylor on drums and Hawkins and Grohl on vocals. It would have been Queen's Freddie Mercury's 69th birthday when the Foo Fighters played this set, making it just that little bit more sentimental.
After steaming into some older songs for "the old school fans", the final part of the set was looser and "where we get to play something we haven't played in a long time". Taking an audience request for 'DOA', a song not played since 2012, "because seven people want to hear it", followed by 'For All The Cows' because "I went to a pub last night and stayed out late. The pub was called The Cow." The band had previously announced that they weren't going to do encores, so Grohl closed the set with 'Best Of You' telling the audience "when this happened to me, I always knew we’d come back, I just hoped you would too." At the end of the song he took to his crutches to walk to the end of the ego ramp to wave at the crowd. What a set! The Foo Fighters played: 'Everlong' 'Monkey Wrench' 'Learn To Fly' 'Something From Nothing' 'The Pretender' 'Big Me' 'Congregation' 'Walk' 'Cold Day In The Sun' 'Under Pressure' 'All My Life' 'Times Like These' 'These Days' 'White Limo' 'Arlandria' 'Breakout' 'Outside' 'This Is A Call' 'DOA' 'For All The Cows' 'Aurora' 'Best Of You'
