Prime Shots: Tenacious D

ISO 800 | f/2.8 | 1/500 | 38mm | -0.7 Step Exposure Bias

Jacob Zinn

Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D – often shortened to “The D” – returned to Vancouver on Sunday night, performing for a packed crowd at the PNE Amphitheatre. The comedy metal duo is touring on their third studio album, 2012’s Rize of the Fenix.

---

Prime Shots: Apocalyptica

ISO 1600 | f/2.8 | 1/40 | 50mm | Increased Contrast

Jacob Zinn

Paavo Lötjönen of Finnish cello metal group Apocalyptica performs in the shadows of the Commodore Ballroom. Tuesday marked the first time since 2008 that the band performed in Vancouver.

---

Tour Alert: Dragonforce North American Tour Dates

APR 21	Worcester, MA The Palladium
APR 22	New York, NY Gramercy Theatre
APR 23	Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
APR 25	Montreal, QC Le National
APR 26	London, ON London Music Hall
APR 27	Milwaukee, WI The Rave
APR 28	Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
APR 29	Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Centre
MAY 01	Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
MAY 02	Calgary, AB Republik
MAY 04	Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
MAY 05	Seattle, WA El Corazon
MAY 06	Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater
MAY 08	San Francisco, CA Slim’s
MAY 10	Hollywood, CA Troubadour
MAY 11	Anaheim, CA House of Blues

U.K. power metallers Dragonforce – best known for the finger-aching, ragequit-inducing fretshredder “Through the Fire of Flames” made popular by Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock – announced Thursday the dates of the their upcoming North American tour this spring.

The band will be fronted by its new lead singer, Marc Hudson, on their new album, The Power Within, out April 17.

The tour starts at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival in Massachusetts and wraps up at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA, with stops at such iconic venues as Seattle’s El Corazon, Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom and Hollywood’s Troubadour on the Sunset Strip.

Tickets for most shows go on sale this weekend via Ticketmaster and Live Nation.

---

Prime Shots: Megadeth

ISO 1600 | f/2.8 | 1/2000 | 50mm

Jacob Zinn

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine riffs through the band’s opening song, “Trust”, at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre Monday night on the B.C. stop of their 2012 Gigantour with Motörhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil.

Review: Megadeth and Motörhead bang heads in Abbotsford

---

Tour Alert: Iron Maiden North American Tour Dates

JUN 21	Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
JUN 23	Atlanta, GA Aarons Amphitheatre
JUN 26	Boston, MA Comcast Center
JUN 27	Wantagh, NY Jones Beach
JUN 29	Philadelphia, PI Susquehanna Bank Center
JUN 30	Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live
JUL 02	Newark, NJ Prudential Center
JUL 05	Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank
JUL 08	Quebec, QC Colisee Pepsi Arena
JUL 11	Montreal, QC Bell Center
JUL 13	Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre
JUL 14	Sarnia, ON Bayfest
JUL 16	Buffalo, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
JUL 18	Detroit, MI DTE Music Theatre
JUL 19	Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Centre
JUL 24	Winnipeg, MB MTS Center
JUL 26	Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
JUL 27	Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
JUL 29	Vancouver, BC Pacific Coliseum
JUL 30	Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre
AUG 01	Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
AUG 03	San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
AUG 06	Phoenix, AZ Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion
AUG 09	Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
AUG 12	Albuquerque, NM Hard Rock Pavilion
AUG 13	Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
AUG 15	San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
AUG 17	Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
AUG 18	Houston, TX The Woodlands

Earlier this week, British metal greats Iron Maiden announced the North American dates of their Maiden England World Tour.

This 29-stop trek (with more dates to be announced) will mimic the live concert VHS Maiden England, shot in November 1988 when the band was touring on the album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The set list will likely include most or all of the following Maiden classics:

• Moonchild
• The Evil That Men Do
• The Prisoner
• Still Life
• Die With Your Boots On
• Infinite Dreams
• Killers
• Can I Play With Madness?
• Heaven Can Wait
• Wasted Years
• The Clairvoyant
• Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
• The Number Of The Beast
• Hallowed Be Thy Name
• Iron Maiden

Lead singer Bruce Dickinson commented in the press release, “Our intention is to play about two thirds of the original track list of Maiden England, including some songs we have not played live in a very, very long time.”

Shock rocker Alice Cooper will open for Maiden on all shows up to July 21, at which time he will separately tours Europe. After July 21, Maiden will be accompanied by Coheed and Cambria.

Tickets for most shows go on sale March 2 and 3. When possible, the band will sell paperless tickets to counter scalping efforts.

---

Prime Shots: Iced Earth

ISO 1250 | f/2.8 | 1/500 | 35mm

Jacob Zinn

Stu Block, the new frontman of Iced Earth, pushes his vocal chords during the heavy metal band’s set at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on Valentine’s Day. The group is currently on a co-headlining tour with progressive metal pioneers Symphony X.

Review: Symphony X and Iced Earth share stage in Vancouver

---

Stuff Your Dad Likes: Power Ballads

Jacob Zinn can’t give you fatherly advice, but he can eat your girlfriend’s Valentine’s Day candy.

You know it’s coming up soon. That one day per year when you’re either in love and affectionate or you’re lonely and miserable: Valentine’s Day.

With February the 14th approaching, couples young and old are giving each other flowers, planning romantic evenings and buying lubricant by the bottle. While you might be courting someone with chocolate and roses, your dad may’ve courted your mom with power ballads.

Extreme’s “More Than Words”. Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home”. Cinderella’s “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”. The sole purpose of these songs was to get into women’s pants. Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” may be the sappiest, most cliché power ballad of the era, but it opened a lot of… opportunities.

There’s a good chance you might have been conceived to one of these songs.

However, odds are your dad had better taste in power ballads than the hair metal ones. Aerosmith’s “What It Takes” or “Angel” might’ve been rotating on his record player.

Or maybe he was more upfront with sexually explicit and implicit songs like Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” or AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”. Perhaps he traded Warrant’s “Heaven” for a slice of that sweet “Cherry Pie”. (Oh yeah!)

Either way, power ballads got him laid. He may not like power ballads, but the down-tempo, three-chord, lyricized high school love notes were saturated with just enough passion to bring star-crossed lovers together. And if your parents got married in the late ‘80s, you can bet someone requested “I’ll Be There for You” by Bon Jovi at their wedding.

Now that power ballads are often only played as joke songs at weddings and karaoke nights, they’re no longer the genre of choice for bedding mates.

But your dad doesn’t know that. If he digs out his crate of vinyl records from the basement, it might be to set the tone of the evening.

Whether or not you have a date on Valentine’s Day, I highly suggest that you make plans to go out and stay out past curfew until you’re certain both of your parents are asleep. You’ll thank me later.

---

Tour Alert: Mastodon, Opeth & Ghost North American Dates

APR 04	Portland, ME State Theater
APR 05	Boston, MA Orpheum Theater
APR 06	Montreal, QC Metropolis
APR 07	Toronto, ON Sony Centre
APR 09	Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
APR 10	Wallingford, CT The Dome
APR 11	New York, NY Roseland Ballroom
APR 13	Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
APR 14	Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
APR 15	Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
APR 16	Knoxville, TN TN Theater
APR 18	Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom
APR 19	Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
APR 20	San Antonio, TX Back Stage Live
APR 21	Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street
APR 23	Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
APR 25	Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
APR 26	Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
APR 27	Oakland, CA Fox Theatre
APR 28	Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort
APR 30	Seattle, WA The Paramount
MAY 01	Vancouver, BC Orpheum Theatre
MAY 03	Edmonton, AB Edmonton Events Center
MAY 04	Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
MAY 05	Saskatoon, SK The Odeon
MAY 06	Winnipeg, MB Burton Cummings Theatre
MAY 09	Washington, DC The Fillmore
MAY 10	Charlotte, NC The Fillmore
MAY 11	Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
MAY 12	Atlanta, GA Masquerade Music Park

Last week, Atlanta sludge metal outfit Mastodon announced their North American co-headlining tour with progressive rock five-piece Opeth.

The two groups – supported by Swedish melodic heavy metal band Ghost – will trade off performing last on the 30 double-billed shows throughout the Heritage Hunter Tour, which starts April 4 in Portland, ME and wraps up in Mastodon’s hometown on May 12. Out of the seven Canadian stops, they are only set to close the Calgary show.

Their critically acclaimed fifth studio album, The Hunter, debuted at #10 on the Billboard 200 charts last September and was named Album of the Year by Metal Hammer and Classic Rock Magazine. As of December, it had sold 75,133 copies in the U.S.

Mastodon’s setlist will likely include new hits such as “Black Tongue”, “Dry Bone Valley” and the Grammy-nominated single “Curl of the Burl”.

Tickets for all shows are on sale. Mastodon is scheduled to close the following 14 dates:

• April 4 – Portland, ME
• April 9 – Philadelphia, PA
• April 10 – Wallingford, CT
• April 11 – New York, NY
• April 13 – Chicago, IL
• April 14 – Grand Rapids, MI
• April 15 – Pittsburgh, PA
• April 18 – Oklahoma City, OK
• April 25 – Las Vegas, NV
• April 28 – Reno, NV
• May 4 – Calgary, AB
• May 10 – Charlotte, NC
• May 11 – Myrtle Beach, SC
• May 12 – Atlanta, GA

---

Prime Shots: In Flames

ISO 1600 | f/2.8 | 1/40 | 24mm

Jacob Zinn

Anders Fridén, lead singer of melodic death metal group In Flames, reaches out to hardcore fans in the front row Monday night during the first of the band’s two shows at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. The Swedish band is credited with pioneering the heavy metal subgenre.

Review: In Flames set the Commodore on fire

---

Tour Alert: Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival 2012

JUN 30	San Bernardino, CA San Manuel Amphitheater
JUL 01	San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheater
JUL 03	Seattle, WA White River Amphitheater
JUL 04	Boise, ID Idaho Center Amphitheater
JUL 06	Phoenix, AZ Ashley Furniture Home Store Pavilion
JUL 07	Albuquerque, NM Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque Presents The Pavilion
JUL 08	Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
JUL 10	Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
JUL 11	Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
JUL 13	Tampa, FL 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre
JUL 14	Atlanta, GA Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
JUL 15	Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center
JUL 18	Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre
JUL 20	St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
JUL 21	Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
JUL 22	Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
JUL 24	Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
JUL 25	Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
JUL 27	Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
JUL 28	Pittsburgh, PA First Niagara Pavilion
JUL 29	Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live
JUL 31	Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
AUG 01	Buffalo, NY Darien Lake PAC
AUG 03	Boston, MA Comcast Center
AUG 04	Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion
AUG 05	Hartford, CT The Comcast Theatre

On Wednesday, Rockstar Energy Drink announced the line-up for their fifth-annual heavy metal trek, the Mayhem Festival.

The 26-date U.S. tour will be headlined by Slipknot with lead singer Corey Taylor returning from his solo offshoot to front the band.

Half of the Big 4 of thrash metal, Slayer and Anthrax, are also on the bill, making for a solid metal set.

Supporting acts Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada and As I Lay Dying will alternate between performing on the main stage and the Jägermeister stage.

Slipknot and Slayer will share the main stage with one rotating band as well as a special guest to be announced March 5, rumoured to be long-time holdouts Motörhead.

Considering the Gigantour, which features Megadeth, Motörhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil wraps up two days prior, there’s a strong possibility that Lemmy and the gang will be playing Mayhem.

Anthrax will head the Jägermeister stage with the remaining two rotating band slots, followed by Whitechapel, High On Fire and a local band.

Mayhem kicks off at the end of June at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA and wraps up on Aug. 5 at Hartford, CT’s Comcast Theatre. Tickets for some of the shows go on sale April 6.

---