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.

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HEAVY Rotation: Warrant’s “Cherry Pie”

To most, Warrant is a one-hit wonder like so many ‘80s Sunset Strip glam bands, but despite other hit singles, their innuendo-riddled “Cherry Pie” is the song the band will most be remembered for.

As the story goes, lead singer Jani Lane received a phone call from Columbia Records president Don Ienner leading up to the release of their then-untitled sophomore album. Ienner wanted a rock anthem a la Aerosmith’s “Love in an Elevator” to be on the record–something that would get copious amounts of radio airplay. Within fifteen minutes, Lane had written the lyrics to Warrant’s most well-known single–on a pizza box. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Charts and the album of the same name went double-platinum.

But with mainstream success came accusations of selling out. That three-and-a-half minute song overhauled the marketing of their second album and overshadowed other singles like “Heaven” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

I could shoot myself in the f**king head for writing that song. Jani Lane VH1’s HEAVY (2006)

Members of the band didn’t even think it was their best music. In an interview with the VH1 rock doc, HEAVY: The Story of Metal, Lane expressed deep regret for penning the track and giving it to Columbia.

“All of a sudden, the album’s called Cherry Pie, the record’s called Cherry Pie, I’m doing cherry pie-eating contests, the singles ‘Cherry Pie,'” he said. “I could shoot myself in the f**king head for writing that song.”

He later clarified that the producers had caught him on a bad day, but it seems Lane may still have had some resentment for one smash hit almost negating everything else that they ever recorded.

With the recent passing of Lane, hopefully more people will be introduced to Warrant’s music–not just a slice of “Cherry Pie.”

Rest in Peace
Jani Lane
February 1, 1964 ~ August 11, 2011

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