2005 47th GRAMMY AWARDS

The 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards featured a Queen as host, but in the end it was a late great Genius who dominated the proceedings as Ray Charles’ posthumous duets album, Genius Loves Company, won a grand total of eight awards. This was a big start to perhaps Music’s Biggest Night ever — a wide-ranging night…

2006 THE MASQUERADE

ARMY OF ANYONE was celebrate the release of their self-titled CD (out November 14, 2006 on Firm Music) with a series of television appearances and an in-store performance/signing in Los Angeles. First up for the band — vocalist Richard Patrick, formerly of FILTER; guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo, ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS; and drummer…

THE RISE OF VELVET REVOLVER

It’s January 2003, several years after former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum walked away from the band that made them rock stars. And here they are in a North Hollywood rehearsal studio trying to rekindle their undeniable musical chemistry. All they need is the perfect singer. But finding a worthy…

STRIPPED

VELVET REVOLVER performed a five-song set as part of “Stripped”, an in-studio performance series created for artists who thrive on performing without the typical studio and video embellishments. VELVET REVOLVER was celebrate New Year’s Eve by performing at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. The Grammy-winning band’s set will consist of material from their current and…

ARMY OF ANYONE

Army of Anyone was a rock supergroup formed by Filter frontman Richard Patrick with two members of rock band Stone Temple Pilots. In addition to Patrick on vocals, the band featured brothers Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo (on guitar and bass respectively), and Ray Luzier, formerly of David Lee Roth’s band, on drums. The band released one self-titled album in November 2006, which was well-received, but sold well short of the members’ multi-platinum selling releases of their other…

PERDIDA

Things have never been easy for Stone Temple Pilots. Throughout the band’s tumultuous career, STP has somehow managed to persevere, overcoming the hurdles of addiction and copyright litigation and later, the deaths of frontmen Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington. On Perdida, their new acoustic album, STP proves why they’ve had such staying power throughout their career….

CAMP FREDDY

The Los Angeles-based “jam” group featuring guitarists Dave Navarro (ex-JANE’S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) and Billy Morrison (ex-THE CULT bassist, current CIRCUS DIABLO vocalist) alongside VELVET REVOLVER members Matt Sorum (drums) and Scott Weiland (vocals) — was perform its cover of the CHEAP TRICK classic “Surrender” on NBC-TV’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”…

DECADES ROCK LIVE

At first glance, the guest stars that joined Cyndi Lauper for her Trump Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino concert would surprise many. Shaggy? Ani DiFranco? The Hooters? Pat Monahan? Scott Weiland?!. But those following the singer’s career know that she long ago left behind the flaming hair, flamboyant secondhand shop wardrobe and bouncy pop that…

FALL TO PIECES (THE BOOK)

Around the time that The Strokes were first being hyped-up-the-ass in the press as the Saviors of Rock – while simultaneously confounding my senses with their hopelessly derivative, shitty music – I found myself in the NYC office of that band’s publicist. This particular guy, who I’ll call Ken, because that is his name, had…

ROGER WATERS US+THEM

Eleven years after it was his first concert in Lima – a show that, moreover, coincided with the beginning of the opening of the city to the arrival of artists and international bands – Roger Waters returned to Peru with the tour US+THEM. The show, which lasted for just over two hours, was held at…

MELODY AND THE TYRANNY

VELVET REVOLVER will issue an EP in Europe on June 1 called “Melody and the Tyranny”, which will be available as an import in the U.S. and possibly on iTunes. The EP will contain two tracks from the band’s new CD, “Libertad”, as well as TALKING HEADS cover “Psycho Killer” (which was recorded during the…

TIERRA ROJA, SANGRE ROJA

I knew my brother owned Velvet Revolver’s debut album CONTRABAND, and that it had been in his collection ever since it was first released in 2004. I decided to borrow the album from him, as I was desperate to listen to it after watching the Ozzfest 2005 footage. I only knew one Velvet Revolver song…