Friday, December 24, 2010

In the spirit of Xmas, I give you . . . Electric Wizard!




Read my Metalunderground review of this killer new sludge-doom opus from these Brits . . . Merry Metal Christmas to one and all . . .

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Year-End Lists and Have a Metal Xmas!


If you haven't yet made your way to Big Shot magazine's revamped site, now is the time. The New York-based dance glossy that I write for on the regular recently went web-only and Big Shot honcho Darren Ressler has given the site a slick makeover that kicks major ass. Check out my year-end list below and read all Big Shot writers' lists here

Dave Wedge
The lines between pop and underground dance music continue to be blurred. Just listen to the latest hits by Usher, Ke$ha or Taio Cruz. Many of these would have been considered straight up house a few years ago. Today they’re on Seacrest’s Top 40 countdown. Is this a bad thing? I don’t know. Frankly, if I’m in the kind of place that’s playing Top 40, I’d much rather hear some decently produced housey-pop than cliché-ridden poser rap or Nickelback. Madonna was the first modern pop star to embrace house but now no pop artist puts out a single without a string of remixes from a who’s who of the dance music glitterati. Shit, superstar DJs like Dave Audé, Jason Nevins and Liam Keegan are making a living off remixing hot new pop tracks. As a result, much of the best electronic music of 2010 has an undeniable pop edge while most of the year’s best blend genres to deliver eclectic dance floor gold.

Here’s my favorites of the year, many of which boldly spit in the face of convention and inspire with bold creativity:

1. Shit Robot / Cradle to the Rave
New York club legend delivers his 10 years-in-the-making debut and smashes it out of the park. The electro-pop glory of “Take ‘Em Up” gets my vote for track of the year.

2. The Glitch Mob / Drink the Sea
Like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, these L.A. kids know how to put on a live show and embrace the idea of an electronic-based “band.” And if “Take ‘Em Up” ain’t the song of the year, then “Drive It Like You Stole It” sure as shit is.

3. Skrillex / Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
Former hardcore kid Sonny Moore gives us a veritable buffet of electronica hybrids, from house to dubstep to alternative hip-hop to electro. Can’t wait to hear what he comes up with next.

4. Deadmau5 / 4 x 4 = 12
He’s quickly becoming the second most recognizable mouse in entertainment but no sellout here. Deadmau5 brings the heat on instant classics like “A City in Florida,” “Everything Before” and the spine-tingling “Sofi Needs a Ladder.”

5. Chromeo / Business Casual
Speaking of dudes unafraid to inject a little pop into their mix, this Montreal duo brought in La Roux for a track and kept it sexy. “Don’t Turn the Lights On” and “Night by Night” are near-perfect electro-pop party anthems.

6. Uffie / Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans
A disciple of Peaches and Princess Superstar, Uffie combined Miami bottle service swagger with French touch. The result is a sweaty electro-pop orgy.

7. Swedish House Mafia / Until One
Like Rush on turntables, this holy triumvirate of deck demons inspire awe while remixing everyone from Justice to MGMT to Daft Punk to Robyn S.

8. Miami Horror / Illumination
Searching for that perfect mix of disco-house and indie-tronica? Look no further than these Australians, who gave us the gorgeous “Sometimes,” a soul-soothing lounge jam more addictive than that Miley Cyrus salvia smoking video.

9. Holy Ghost! / Static on the Wire EP
The nu-disco-fired title track was one of the tracks of the year while you simply can’t hit the repeat button fast enough every time you hear “Say My Name.”

10. Felix Cartal / Popular Music
Representing Dim Mak, this Vancouver DJ/producer’s latest has power, melody and a thunderous dance floor thump.


And in the spirit of Xmas, here is my list of the best metal Christmas songs from the also newly-revamped DigBoston website . . .

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Story of the Day: Dude Takes Halloween Wayyyy Too Seriously . . .


Guy dressed up like a Baseball Fury (from "The Warriors") and (allegedly) split some lady's head open with a bat. Insane. Courtesy of Boston Herald:


Cops: Furies poser from ‘The Warriors’ bashed victim’s head
By Colneth Smiley Jr.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 -

A savage Halloween attack by a face-painted, wigged thug in a baseball costume left a woman with 50 staples in her scalp, law enforcement said yesterday.

Carmen Picardi, 39, was arraigned yesterday at Boston Municipal Court on charges of mayhem and armed assault with intent to murder and is being held on $75,000 bail.

On the night in question, he was dressed as a “Furies” gang member from the 1979 cult-movie classic “The Warriors,” police said.

Read the rest here . . .

Monday, November 8, 2010

Thursday, September 2, 2010

City Hall Food Fight! and Menino= Brett Favre


Food is all the rage at Boston City Hall these days, along with speculation over Mayor Thomas M. Menino's future.
Here's a bit of a piece I did for the Boston Herald this week, showing that the city has blown more than $130,000 this year alone on catered meals for city workers, despite massive cutbacks and layoffs.


City workers feasting with taxpayer dough

By Dave Wedge
Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Taxpayer-funded raviolis, pizza and gourmet sandwich platters are being gobbled up by “belt-tightening” City Hall and school workers as they chow down on catered meals from no-bid contractors including donors to Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s campaign coffers.

The $130,000-plus in free lunches this year alone hit the table as the cash-strapped city was laying off teachers, custodians, library workers and others to close a budget gap.

Records reviewed by the Herald show taxpayers picked up the check for:

A $2,600 lunch at the swish Ames Hotel in January for Mayor Thomas M. Menino to welcome new city councilors;
$6,100 for a pair of breakfasts for teachers in the Department of English Language;
A $5,000 “professional development” teachers seminar at Lombardo’s in Randolph, which included a “corporate express coffee break” and a “chef’s display” of turkey and tuna sandwiches;
$1,225 in meals for cops at strategy meetings for the Boston Celtics playoff run; and
Regular catered meetings at up to $200 each for School Superintendent Carol Johnson and her principals.

Read the rest here . . .


And in today's follow-up, the janitor's union, which has been hit hard by layoffs, says the food tab is "insane" . . .

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Korn and Mayhem - Boston Herald



Haters revel in sitting in overly snobby judgment of Korn. The asshat-wearing rock journo glitterati just loves to dismiss them.
Me, I recognize and respect them for what they are - a kickass metal band from California that opened a massive new world of possibilities in a genre that had grown painfully stale.
The guys killed it at the Mayhem Festival in Mansfield, Mass. last night. Here's a snippet of a feature I did on them for the Boston Herald. And read my review of Mayhem here.



Korn on the job
Headbangers survive drama, return to raw roots
By Dave Wedge
Monday, July 26, 2010 - Updated 2 days ago

The five dudes in Korn pretty much single-handedly closed the door on grunge and famously ushered in rap-rock and nu-metal.

Only three of the group’s original members remain, but after more than 15 years their passion, angst and fury haven’t waned.

“It’s unfortunate, but those things kind of taught us some lessons as far as trying to make each other happy and how delicate the relationships are,” said guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer, who comes with Korn to headline the Mayhem Fest at Comcast Center on Tuesday on a bill that includes Rob Zombie and Lamb of God.

Read on here . . .

Friday, June 11, 2010

Big Baby Loves Twitter - Boston Herald video

Glen "Big Baby" Davis talks with my colleague (and wife) Jessica Heslam about Twitter and says his teammate Nate Robinson got him into the social networking site. Nicest dude around. Nate was too wrapped up in his tunes and his iPad to talk but you can hear him in the background bragging that he picked up 20,000 Twitter followers in two days.

Check out more of my videos shot at Games 3 and 4 at the Garden on Jess' blog and be sure to read her story on NBA players using Twitter and view more videos at BostonHerald.com.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Celtics Legend Kevin McHale Remembers Dennis Johnson at the Garden

Here's a link to a video I shot the other night at Game 3 of Kevin McHale talking about his former teammate, Dennis "DJ" Johnson, who is being posthumously inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Check out more interviews with Celtics greats, including John Havlicek, Cedric Maxwell and more with McHale at BostonHerald.com . . .

And here's another interview I did for the Boston Herald with notorious Celtics killer and former Philadelphia 76er Charles Barkley, who is now an analyst for NBA TV . . .

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

RIP Paul Gray of Slipknot


Tough few weeks for metal heads. Here's a roundup of some of the sad stories of Paul Gray, the bassist from Slipknot who died yesterday:

Blabbermouth.net, which is run by Slipknot's label, Roadrunner Records, has a bunch of info, including an interview with Hail!, the side project Gray was working on with ex-Judas Priest vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens.

Slipknot's hometown newspaper, the Des Moines Register, has the nuts and bolts of what happened, as well as a timeline of the band's rise out of Iowa to becoming Grammy winners and one of the best-selling acts in metal.

And for posterity's sake, here's a review I wrote last year for the Weekly Dig of Slipknot's show in Lowell, Mass.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

RIP Ronnie James Dio - Hoist the Devil Horns in his Honor


Anyone who has ever hoisted the devil horn in the air in their life should be paying deep respects today to Ronnie James Dio, who is credited with bringing the hand gesture now synonymous with rocking to the metal world.
In the great documentary, "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey," Dio explains how he brought the gesture to Black Sabbath and ultimately made it as important to metal as guitars, bass, drums, Satan, blow, leather and groupies. Love how he calls Gene Simmons a liar too:



I had the opportunity to cover Dio a few times in Boston, including when he played with Heaven and Hell in 2007 on the Loco Fest with Queensryche. Dio, who hailed from Portsmouth, N.H., cut a diminutive figure physically but was a massive voice, a trailblazer and a metal icon who will be greatly missed.

Poor guy went through seven rounds of chemo for stomach cancer but just couldn't beat it. RIP bro . . .

This from the Boston Herald:


Metal legend Ronnie James Dio dead at 67

By Associated Press
Sunday, May 16, 2010 - Updated 1h ago
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Ronnie James Dio, whose soaring vocals, poetic lyrics and mythic tales of a never-ending struggle between good and evil broke new ground in heavy metal, died Sunday, according to a statement from his wife and manager. He was 67.

Dio revealed last summer that he was suffering from stomach cancer shortly after wrapping up a tour in Atlantic City, N.J., with the latest incarnation of Black Sabbath, under the name Heaven And Hell.

"Today my heart is broken," Wendy Dio wrote on the singer’s site, adding he died at 7:45 a.m. "Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.


"Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all," Wendy Dio continued. "We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us ... Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

The statement was confirmed by Los Angeles publicist Maureen O’Connor. Dio was being treated at a Houston hospital, according to his site.

Read the rest here . . .

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mayor Menino Spends $400K on Firefighters' Fight; "state of emergency" in Boston; and Juwan Howard Being Stalked by Boston Guy!


The taxpayer tab for the Boston firefighters contract dispute has reached $400,000 - and counting. Read my story in today's Boston Herald.

Also, the Rev. Bruce Wall wants Boston City Council to declare a "state of emergency" because of the latest violence to hit the city.

Finally, check out this great exclusive by my colleagues Katy Jordan and O'Ryan Johnson. Crazy - Trailblazers' Juwan Howard is (allegedly) being threatened and harassed by some angry dude from Dorchester. Only in Boston . . .

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Politics: MIT Labor Guru Steps into Boston Firefighter contract; Plus - New Music: Danko Jones, Blood of Heroes and more!

The fighting over the new Boston Firefighters contract continues at City Hall with the city saying the deal will bust the city's budget at more than $74 million and an arbitrator claiming it's a $39 million package. The City Council, which will vote on the deal at some point, has brought in an MIT professor to decide. Here's a bit of my story from today's Boston Herald:

MIT labor relations prof to review BFD contract
By Dave Wedge

An MIT labor relations whiz is being brought in to sift through a state arbitrator’s complex and costly award to the Boston firefighters as the City Council mulls whether to fund the controversial deal.

Council President Michael Ross tapped Professor Thomas A. Kochan, a labor relations professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, to conduct an independent review of the contract. The raises in the deal have been estimated to be worth anywhere from $39 million to $74 million. Kochan will be unpaid.

“This is a critical issue,” Ross wrote to Menino yesterday, informing the mayor of Kochan’s review. “The question before the council should be whether or not to fund the award, not whether the appropriations figure is correct.”


Musically, check out my Q & A with Toronto rocker Danko Jones on Lime Wire Music Blog. And my review of the new album, Below the Belt.

And my review of the new album by Brooklyn experimentalist legend Bill Laswell's new project, The Blood of Heroes:

Album review: The Blood of Heroes – ‘The Blood of Heroes’ (Ohm Resistance)
Somewhere between the chaos of the most extreme metal on the planet and the trippiest ambient electronica and chill-hop lies a musical netherworld ripe for exploration. Genre-testing Brooklyn experimentalist extraordinaire Bill Laswell has made a life of testing these waters, whether bringing together funk keyboard titan Bernie Worrell and guitarist Buckethead, remixing Ozzy Osbourne and Herbie Hancock, or collaborating with artists as varied as DJ Krush and Serj Tankian.
Read the rest here . . .

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Court Workers Union vs. Judges and Boston vs. Arizona and

The union that represents Massachusetts court workers is fuming that judges are playing hooky to meditate while their members are getting wage freezes and facing layoffs. Read my story in the Boston Herald.

And the Boston City Council waded into the Arizona immigration flap, followed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who says he's going to cancel contracts with companies that support the controversial new Arizona law.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Mass. Judges Skip Work to "meditate" - Boston Herald

Harvard doc helps judges open minds

By Dave Wedge
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - Updated 0m ago

Dozens of Bay State judges followed their bliss and abandoned the bench to mellow out with a meditation guru who taught them how to boost their “concentration” in the courtroom.

The six-hour conference - scheduled for a Friday - featured noted Harvard meditation expert Dr. Daniel Brown and attracted 66 of the state’s 80 superior court judges.

It was such a hit other judges are shedding their robes for some deep reflection . . .

Read the rest here

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

FREE DOWNLOAD! New Glitch Mob track - remix Krazy Baldhead

From our friends at Magnum PR comes a slamming new nugget from LA party kids The Glitch Mob. "The Fourth Movement" is a, well, glitchy remix of a track by French electro guy Krazy Baldhead.
Catch Glitch Mob tomorrow night at the Middle East, Cambridge. And look for my piece on them soon in Big Shot magazine.

Enjoy this digital chaos . . .

Monday, May 3, 2010

Never Forget??? And a Swedish Idol in Boston!

You know all those "never forget" bumper stickers, hats and other propaganda that so many are fond of sporting? Well it seems that some people have forgotten. At least at Logan International Airport, which is where the terrorists launched their evil plot.
Read my Boston Herald report about cuts to the state police at Logan.

And here's a little something about Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker and his ties to the Republican Governors Association, which lobbed a $1 million attack ad at Treasurer Tim Cahill this week.

And for good measure, here's a little feature I did on a Boston visit from rising pop starlet Agnes, winner of Swedish Idol.

Have a great week . . .

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Firefighters Snap Up Movie Jobs; Bring on the Death Metal!


Ever wanted to hand out band-aids to Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson on movie sets for $50-an-hour? Get in line, cause you'll have to join the stage hands union and compete against moonlighting firefighters and EMTs. Read my report in today's Boston Herald.

Also did a spread on the Worcester Metal Fest, which rolls into The Palladium Friday and Saturday. Best quote: "It’ll be totally fun and totally metal as fuck!” - Admiral Nobeard, also known as Pat Henry, bassist for New Jersey "pirate metal" band Swashbuckle.

Read it here . . .

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Sick Of It All's Fake Clash with Boston Cops


New York hardcore kings Sick Of It All filmed their latest video, for the song "Death or Jail," in Boston and as a publicity stunt claimed they had a run-in with Boston cops on the shoot.

Check out more here

Monday, April 19, 2010

You Say Party! We Say Die! Drummer Dies On Stage in Vancouver


Disturbing news out of British Columbia - Devon Clifford, drummer for dance-punk band You Say Party! We Say Die! collapsed and died onstage during a show in Vancouver. He was 30.
In a statement posted by his band's record label, Paper Bag, his family said he died of a massive brain hemorrhage. Here's an excerpt from the family statement:

"Devon Clifford was an extremely gifted drummer and determined character. He loved his family, loved his band, loved traveling, loved being on stage and loved meeting people around the world. He was smart, witty, passionate, and music meant everything to him. He was also incredibly generous with his love and respected everybody he came into contact with."

RIP dude. Here's "There is XXXX (Within My Heart)," a slowly-building banger from their latest disc, XXXX:

Friday, April 16, 2010

Killer Covers - Type O Negative, Biz Markie, Shadows Fall, Machine Head

In honor of the late Peter Steele, here are a few off-beat, yet somehow infectious, covers that kick ass in one fashion or another:

Type O Negative - "Cinnamon Girl" (Neil Young)

This is what a cover song should be - ballsy, true to the original's spirt and yet original enough in its own right to make it an entirely new song.




Biz Markie - "Benny & the Jets" (Elton John)

The Beastie Boys combined forces with the golden age of hip-hop's clown prince and made one of the funniest fucking tracks ever. Biz Mark knows about four of the words . . .




Machine Head - "Message in a Bottle" (The Police)

The Burning Red is widely considered a low point for Machine Head but I don't give a fuck what anyone says, this cover kicks ass.


Machine Head - Message in a bottle
Uploaded by RageTMGr. - See the latest featured music videos.


Shadows Fall - "Welcome to the Machine" (Pink Floyd)

Massachusetts' own Shadows Fall give the Floyd classic a warbeast, grind makeover. Hells yeah . . .




Spineshank - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (The Beatles)

Underrated 90s L.A. band give George Harrison's masterpiece a nu-metal fist to the face.

Big Papi Getting Sued by Jay Z - How Long 'til He's Broke?


Woke up today to see that Jay Z is suing Big Papi. Big Papi is not really the soundest businessman in the world. Recall that a few years ago he somehow got wrapped up in having his mug pasted on phone cards that were allegedly ripping off his Dominican countrymen.
Now Jay Z is suing his ass for opening up a club in Dominican Republic that has the same name as Jay Z's swanky 40/40 clubs in New York and Vegas. Clearly Papi needs to choose his business ventures better. He also used to hit .300 and 40 homers but now swings wildly at pitches like a 5-year-old kid learning tee ball.

With his diminishing skills and knack for landing in shady deals, how long will it be before Papi will be broke as hell and become a sad, cautionary, rags-to-riches-to-rags tale a la Leon Spinks?

How long 'til we read something like this:

Stuffed into a tattered easy chair in a dust-strewn shanty in this rural Dominican Republic outpost, the once-iconic slugger and star of the 2004 and 2007 world champion Red Sox looks weathered beyond his years and blames the steroid scandal and "bad business dealings" for his current predicament. And so on and so forth . . .

Go Sox . . . (yawn) . . .

Thursday, April 15, 2010

RIP Peter Steele - My 2003 Boston Herald Interview


Peter Steele was a lot of things but dishonest was not one of them. This interview below gives just a small snapshot into the complex, tortured Type O Negative frontman. RIP dude . . .


THE EDGE
Music; This isn't a Type O - he really is that Negative
DAVE WEDGE
737 words
25 July 2003
Boston Herald
BHLD
All Editions
E08
English
© 2003 Boston Herald Library. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.

The rock star dream apparently faded long ago for Pete Steele.

"I just wanted to have enough money to have a house, wife, maybe four kids. I'm not at that place right now and I really don't see things changing very much," said Steele, the hulking, vampiric frontman for Brooklyn goth metallers Type O Negative.

"That's the main problem, is what am I doing here? I'm 41 years old, and rock is for youth."

While many bands spend interviews gushing about their latest albums, praising their bandmates as their best pals or thanking their lucky stars to be playing music for a living, Steele is brutally disenchanted and blatantly depressed. A former New York City Parks Department worker, he said he rues the day he gave up the salaried job to front the brooding metal outfit.

Now 10 years and five albums into the Type O experiment, he still lives in the same basement apartment, has no girlfriend and describes his life as one of disappointment and frustration. He claims he stays in the band only because of contracts and because he made a promise to the rest of the group: keyboardist Josh Silver, guitarist Kenny Hickey and drummer Johnny Kelly.

"I do it because I made a commitment to my so-called friends in this band that we would see this through to the end. I didn't realize it would be a life sentence," he deadpanned.

Formed in the bowels of Brooklyn's early 1990s goth scene, the group slithered out of the shadows and made its mark on the black- metal underground with 1993's "Bloody Kisses," a spine-tingling offering that went platinum. The group, which headlines the Worcester Palladium tonight, followed up with 1996's "October Rust" and 1999's "World Coming Down," neither of which lived up to "Bloody Kisses" commercially or in the eyes of fans.

Their latest, however, the aptly titled "Life Is Killing Me," is an instant classic, bursting with hypnotic, melodic hard rock, tongue-in-cheek potty-mouth speed punk and their signature dead-to- the-world metal. Brimming with bleakness and unflinching honesty, the album is burning up college radio and metal charts, but Steele isn't impressed.

"I wouldn't buy it," he barked.

While some songs, such as the mind-numbing "Anesthesia" and the crushing title track, portray Steele as a tortured intellectual on the brink of suicide, others, like the homophobic "I Like Goils," use black humor as a weapon. Musically, the disc sounds like Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath unleashed at an Irish wake. Lyrically, shrinks could write volumes analyzing the subject matter. Fresh off a miserable, if slightly profitable, European tour, Steele is candidly unexcited about heading out in a bus with his three brethren for a U.S. tour.

"It's like four people being married and all of them having their period all the time," he said of the band. "There's an old saying about husbands and wives getting on each other's nerves, like fighting about stupid things, like leaving the cap off the toothpaste. Well, let's just say the cap is always off the toothpaste."

Beyond the bus, he said, he detests playing the same songs every night: "I can't imagine how Ozzy (Osbourne) does it. I mean, how many times has he had to play `Paranoid'?

"I really hate being onstage," he continued. "It's usually a balmy 130 degrees onstage and I've got these french fry lights burning on my back. I don't like traveling. I just don't get anything out of it."

Fed up and angry? Yes. Giving up? Never. In fact, there's a clear, revenge-driven method to Steele's madness.

"I feel like I've been disillusioned," he explained matter-of- factly. "But it's no one's fault but mine. No one made me do this. Now my goal is to complain, annoy and irritate everyone around me until I get out of this band, die or someone kills me. My motivation is aggravation."

And check out a live performance for "Anesthesia" from 2003's Life Is Killing Me:

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Old Man with Cane Gets Beatdown

Where's Epic Beard Man when you need him . . .

Old Man With Cane Beaten Into The Ground After Getting Off The Bus
Listen up, old people! Do not attempt to tangle with a young tough on the bus unless you have grown your beard to properly epic lengths.
Get humor videos at NothingToxic

Friday, February 19, 2010

LMFAO rapper Sky Blu says he'd do shots with Mitt Romney!!


This is hilarious - so it turns out, the dude former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got in a tussle with aboard a flight last week was Sky Blu from electro group LMFAO! There's not much to say that's not said in the video . . . best line: "If he drinks, I'll take a shot with him." Hahahahahaha!!! Romney's a Mormon bro - no booze!!

You can't make stuff like this up . . . .

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Killswitch Engage Singer Howard Jones Bolts


Anyone who was at the sold-out Killswitch Engage show at House of Blues in Boston a few weeks ago will be shocked to learn that vocalist Howard Jones has left the band. Howard was on fire that night and appeared to be having fun. Anyone who knows him, knows this is not due to drugs or booze, as he's straight edge.
But this is too bad because KsE is at the top of its game right now and is really one of the biggest bands in metal.
My sources tell me it's unclear if Howard will return or if he's quit the band for good. For now, Phil Labonte from All That Remains is filling in but there are rumors that Jesse Leach - KsE's original singer - could come back into the fold. Jesse and KsE guitarist Adam D are close friends and have been working on a side project in recent months.
We'll see what happens but here's hoping these Massachusetts metal warriors keep battling . . . Here's my latest report on this from the Boston Herald:

Killswitch Engage vocalist abruptly replaced for Westfield band’s tour

By Dave Wedge

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Killswitch Engage vocalist Howard Jones has abruptly and unexpectedly left the Westfield-based band’s current headlining tour to deal with “personal” issues, thrusting the metal kings’ future into turmoil.

Jones has been temporarily replaced by All That Remains singer Phil Labonte, another western Massachusetts-bred headbanger who formerly sang for fellow Bay Staters Shadows Fall.

In a statement, the band said: “It became overwhelmingly obvious to all of us around Howard that he is in no condition to be on tour right now and that he needed to get off the road and get himself better. It’s a personal matter and while we understand everyone’s curiosity and concern for Howard and the band, we appreciate everyone respecting Howard’s privacy at this time.”

Read the rest here . . .

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Ozzy could write "four fucking books, y'know" - My Boston Herald interview


Since the Herald is a family newspaper, the "fucks" had to be replaced with "(expletive)". But trust me, Ozzy is one of those dudes who uses the word "fuck" like a comma - in every sentence.

Diary of a madman

Ozzy Osbourne takes readers for a ride on the crazy train

By Dave Wedge
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - Updated 1h ago
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Any rock book worth its weight in groupies is littered with sordid tales of sex, drugs and excess.

But few rock star tales can measure up to the war stories of the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne.

“I could sit down and write four fucking books, y’know,” said the 61-year-old heavy metal icon, who will be signing copies of his new autobiography, “I Am Ozzy,” at the Kenmore Square Barnes & Noble Thursday at 7 p.m.. “At the end of it, I said (to ghost writer Chris Ayres), ‘You think you’ve got enough?’ He said, ‘I’ve got enough for two books.’ ”

Ozzy’s long-anticipated tome is chock-full of tales of death-defying drug binges, STD-transmitting groupies, deadly road incidents and other madness.

“They said I would never write this book,” “I Am Ozzy” begins. “Well fuck them. All I have to do now is remember something.”

Read the rest here . . .

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

I Love the Pizza at the Lit


Some dude got capped at The Lit, an infamous Brockton drinking hole that has great pizza. Used to love going there but won't be returning anytime soon. The new mayor in Brockton has a lot on her hands as the city is spiraling out of control.

Shootings are up again and driving around there the other day, I've never seen more boarded up, vacant buildings in my hometown. Starting to look like Detroit . . . sad . . .


Check this out from the Boston Herald:

The newly inaugurated Brockton mayor this morning vowed a crack down on youth violence after two separate shootings last night left one man dead at a city bar and injured a teenager at the Westgate Mall.
“Brockton is a safe community,” said Mayor Linda Balzotti, who promised to combat youth violence during her inauguration as the city’s first woman mayor on Monday. “These are targeted incidents and the individuals are known to each other. These are not random acts.”
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz told The Enterprise of Brockon a man was fatally shot at about 6 p.m. at The Lit bar on Ames Street.
Shortly before the bar shooting, a teen was shot in the leg at a Westgate Mall entrance during an altercation with the alleged shooter, said mall General Manager Luciano Villani.