The Cult To Tour

The Cult, will be heading to Australia as part of their “Love” Live Tour, with confirmed dates in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in May, 2010.

This will be the first time The Cult has toured Australia in 15 years, last performing as part of the Big Day Out in 1995.

The Love album is viewed by fans as The Cult’s breakthrough release. It features  She Sells Sanctuary, the song that is credited with transforming The Cult from an underground phenomenon to a burgeoning arena rock act.  Billy Duffy’s psychedelic guitar features on Phoenix and Ian Astbury’s haunting baritone on Brother Wolf and  Sister Moon are trademark elements of the band.

Since commencing the Love tour in mid 2009, the band have performed in diverse venues from the grand scale of London’s Royal Albert Hall, to the intimate setting of Paris’ Le Bataclan.  This tour will see the band fulfil the ultimate dream of Cult lovers across the globe, allowing them to witness one of alternative rock’s most important records, LOVE, performed in its entirety, live onstage.

“The band is redefining the live album experience with the Love Live Tour; nothing is comparable to witnessing The Cult, fully engaged in the live creation of arguably their seminal album. For fans this will be the greatest tour yet, and for those just discovering The Cult, this staging will envelop them in a pure performance experience,” stated Cult manager, Tom Vitorino, who obviously is fond of a biggish statement or two.

The press release explains that “The band will take fans through a “best of” finale which will include their greatest hits spanning their career. The Cult will deliver spectacular production, along with the intense performances that fans have come to expect and have been working closely with their art/ design team to create an arresting set, with dramatic effects, using state-of-the art technology.” So there.

Continuing their historic creative partnership, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy began writing together again in 2001 and have since recorded several songs at The Sunset Marquis Villa Recording Studios, in Los Angeles. Their highly anticipated new tracks will be the follow up to The Cult’s 2007 release, the critically acclaimed, Born Into This.

Brisbane – Wednesday 5 May, The Tivoli
Sydney – Thursday 6 May, Big Top Luna Park
Melbourne – Saturday 8 May, Palais Theatre
Adelaide – Monday 10 May, Thebarton Theatre
Perth – Wednesday 12 May, Metro City

Slash & Friends Release Album

Saul Hudson probably never planned on being in one of the biggest rock bands of their time. But as Slash that’s exactly what he did with Guns N’ Roses.

I reckon all Slash ever really wanted to do was be a guitar player and since G N’R that what he’s been trying to do. He’ll pop up as a guest player on any number of recordings or as a “surprise” guest at a live show. He’s formed a number of bands from Velvet Revolver to Slash’s Snakepit and tried numerous other collaborations along the way.

The guy just wants to play guitar.

Now Slash is releasing a new album and this time he pulled together a bunch of his famous friends to contribute.

Slash has good friends including  Dave Grohl, Ian Astbury, Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie (huh?), Chris Cornell, Lemmy Kilmeister, Andrew Stockdale, Iggy Pop, Kid Rock, and Adam Levine (from Maroon 5).

Slash said “The idea was really simple in the beginning. These are all artists I wanted to work with — that I thought it would be amazing to do something creative and collaborative. And I was so impressed with what everyone brought to the table. They were all so committed to doing a good job. And we had a lot of fun making these songs.”

In keeping with the G N’ R aesthetic Slash’s album is called ‘R&FN’R’.

Good on ‘ya, I say.

01. Ghost (feat. Ian Astbury)
02. Beautiful Dangerous (feat. Fergie)
03. Nothing To Say (feat. M. Shadows)
04. Crucify The Dead (feat. Ozzy Osbourne)
05. Promise (feat. Chris Cornell)
06. By The Sword (feat. Andrew Stockdale)
07. Doctor Alibi (feat. Lemmy Kilmeister)
08. Saint Is A Sinner Too (feat. Rocco De Luca)
09. Watch This (feat. Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
10. I Hold On (feat. Kid Rock)
11. Gotten (feat. Adam Levine)
12. We’re All Gonna Die (feat. Iggy Pop)
13. Starlight (feat. Myles Kennedy)