Corey Taylor appeared at the Drop in the Bucket benefit concert last week, performing some great hard-rock and metal covers (viewable here) alongside a bevy of heavy-music greats like Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, John 5 of Rob Zombie’s band, and more. While there, Taylor was gracious enough to host the RevolverTV segment below, interviewing many of the night’s performers and others who were there, including The Office‘s Kate Flannery and the night’s host, Henry Rollins. (Read an interview with Rollins about the event here.) The Drop in the Bucket organization held the event to raise money to build wells in Africa. To learn more about the organization or to make a donation, click here.
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Rock icon Henry Rollins will be hosting a benefit concert for the Drop in the Bucket charity in Los Angeles tomorrow night, which will also feature performances by Slipknot and Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and more (for more info, click here). Rollins is no stranger to the organization or its cause of trying to alleviate the problem of millions of people being without safe drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa by building wells, as he has traveled to the affected regions many times. Here, the musician, author, and public speaker gives us the lowdown on the event.
REVOLVER How did the event come about?
HENRY ROLLINS I’ve been working with Drop in the Bucket for three or four years. Whatever they need me to do, I say “Sure, I’ll help out.” This year is a big benefit; the other ones were held at, like, hotels. You know, it’s clinking glasses and polite people. This is a much, much bigger affair; it’s a bigger chunk of beef they’ve bitten off. You know, live bands onstage, tickets etc., big venue. And so we’re stepping everything up.
Which performers are you most looking forward to seeing at the event?
I’m looking forward to the whole thing. I mean, I don’t really know what it’s going to be; I don’t know what Corey Taylor’s going to bring. I’m just glad he’s showing up. He’s a good guy. And Dave Navarro’s always fun; I’ve known Dave for over 20 years. I just wanna get onstage and tell these people about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and start getting these acts on. And, you know, hopefully we put a lot of people in that building tomorrow night.
How did you first become aware of the scale of the problem in Africa?
Just by travel, by going to places like Djibouti, Madagascar, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, places like that, where you see, you know, water’s not that easy to get. Parts of India, water is hard to find. Like in northern Mali where I spent quite a bit of time, water is on your mind all the time. Even as a traveler, when you go buy five or six bottles at a store, you’re watching your water. It’s that one thing you and I can’t do without for very long. It doesn’t matter how cool you are or what label you’re on, thirst will kill you. Fast.
Is there something in particular that you’ve seen that really affected you?
Just walking around a bunch of really poor people living in a very challenging environment. Sometimes you wonder, like, Really, can’t you just move? Like, why do you have to live in the Saharan desert? What compels you to live in a sea of sand that tries to kill you by day and freeze you to death at night? When you look at these Tuareg tribes of people who live in Mali, you’re literally like What are you thinking? I mean it’s the most inhospitable terrain and they call it home. So, OK, that’s them. But that can also be said of parts of Sudan I’ve been to. You’re like Really, this is brutal. It’s just they call it home. So just kind of being there and doing that gave me an awareness. I purposefully go into these environments in an attempt to learn. I put myself in these places.
Is it challenging to make more people aware of these problems, especially in the U.S.?
Well, I think, in America, Americans have so much to deal with right now. And so as America gets more serious and more involved and kind of cranked up trying to keep it cool, it’s a bigger ask to say, “Hey, stop what you’re doing and care about this,” when the immediate is now so iffy. And when people get really concerned with their own thing, their perimeter of responsibility and concern drastically reduces. And then when you get down to, “I’m thirsty and there might not be any water,” now we go into twilight zone, bomb shelter drama. America, obviously isn’t that desperate, but it’s hard to get people to look over here when what’s in front of them is so, you know, snapping back at them.
How can people who can’t make it to the event help?
Oh, that’s easy. They should go to DropintheBucket.org. Make a contribution online. That’d be a wonderful thing. And, you know, on kind of a more altruistic, kumbaya level, you do share this water and this food, and this world with everyone else and as life goes on for us, as your life goes on, I think the way to be part of the solution is to be more aware of the world. To basically look at the world in a big, wide shot and see yourself in that frame and as part of a much bigger picture. And whatever you can do, even if it’s, like, taking shorter showers or just being more aware of your consumption, really drilling down on your recycling. Just kind of pulling your head out of your ass.
The Drop in the Bucket benefit concert, which is raising money for wells in Africa, has updated its lineup. The event, which will be hosted by Henry Rollins, has announced that Corey Taylor has added Jane’s Addiction drummer Steve Perkins to his set, which already features Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, and Rob Zombie’s John 5. Also recently announced is Boots Electric, which features the Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes.
Drop in the Bucket takes place Wednesday, November 30, at Hollywood’s Avalon Theater. For more info, click the poster to the left.
Tickets are available to purchase for $25, through Ticketmaster, and at the door at an increased price with availability pending. For VIP tickets and table inquiries please contact Alden Kirkman by e-mail, or by calling 323.683.5390.
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A legendary list of hard rock and metal names will be coming together for a charity benefit in Hollywood on November 30 to support the Drop in the Bucket charity. Taking place at the historic Avalon Theater, the event–which is being sponsored by Revolver–aims to raise money to build water wells in the troubled South Sudan.
Hosted by Henry Rollins, the event will also feature performances by Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, and guitarist John 5 along with other members of Rob Zombie’s band. In addition, artist Shepard Fairey, who designed the poster for the event, will be a guest DJ and actress Kate Flannery, from The Office will be performing a musical comedy routine with her ironic lounge act, The Lampshades.
Drop in the Bucket is a Los Angeles– and Gulu, Uganda–based non-profit that builds water wells and sanitation systems at large rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information, click here.
Tickets are available to purchase for $25, through Ticketmaster, and at the door at an increased price with availability pending. For VIP tickets and table inquiries please contact Alden Kirkman by e-mail, or by calling 323.683.5390.
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All four original members of metal pioneers Black Sabbath—Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward—held a press conference in Los Angeles today, hosted by Henry Rollins, to announce that they have reunited. The group is halfway through writing an as-yet-untitled new record, which will be produced by Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Slipknot), and will go into the studio early next year. A release date has yet to be announced. The bandmates will also be heading out on a worldwide tour, including a performing at the U.K.’s Download Festival in June. The group The four have not performed together since 2005. For more, get the RevolverTV app.
]]>All four original members of metal pioneers Black Sabbath—Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward—have just announced that they have reunited for their first new album in 33 years. The group is halfway through writing the record, which will be produced by Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Slipknot), and will go into the studio early next year. A release date has yet to be announced. The bandmates will also be heading out on a worldwide tour, including a performing at the U.K.’s Download Festival in June. The group held a press conference today, hosted by Henry Rollins, to announce the news at the famed Whisky a Go-Go in Los Angeles, the site of the band’s first appearance in the city 41 years ago. The four have not performed together since 2005.
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Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has revealed further information about his upcoming solo tour. The idea for the shows, dubbed “An Evening with Corey Taylor,” emerged while Taylor was doing a set of intimate performances in the U.K. to launch his book, Seven Deadly Sins, as well as speaking at Oxford University.
“I had so much fun doing this type of show in England that I just had to bring it to the States,” Taylor says. “It’s gonna be one-part Henry Rollins, one-part Johnny Cash and probably a little heavy on the Monty Python. It’s everything I love to do: singing, comedy, and talkin’ smack. Hopefully, the audience enjoys it as much as I do.”
The shows will feature Taylor performing acoustic versions of original and cover songs, reading sections from his book, and also taking questions from the audience. You see the full list of solo dates below:
10/22 Bee Cave, TX (Austin) La Grange Festival
11/14 Anaheim, CA, House of Blues
11/15 Phoenix, AZ, Crescent Ballroom
11/17 Houston, TX, Bronze Peacock at HOB
11/18 Dallas, TX, Trees
11/19 Denver, CO, Gothic Theater
11/21 Omaha, NE, Waiting Room
11/22 Minneapolis, MN, Varsity
11/23 Milwaukee, WI, The Rave
11/25 Detroit, MI, Eagle Theatre
11/26 Chicago, IL, Double Door
12/01 Montreal, QC, Corona Theatre
12/02 Toronto, ON, Mod Club
12/04 Boston, MA, Middle East
12/05 New York, NY, Highline Ballroom
12/06 Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live
12/07 Providence, RI, The Met
12/09 Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom
12/10 Baltimore, MD, Sound Stage
12/12 Atlanta, GA, Masquerade
12/13 Orlando, FL, The Social