Let’s also take this moment to recognize the photographers, credited below each photo, who risk life and lens to go in the pit and capture the mayhem as it happens. For those about to shoot, we salute you!
The metal world turned out in force Wednesday to pay tribute to former Pantera and Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and Ronnie James Dio at the annual DimeBash concert at the Key Club in Hollywood. Revolver was there to capture the mayhem as it happened, and spoke to former Pantera and current Kill Devil Hill bassist Rex Brown, Dimebag’s girlfriend, Rita Haney, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Velvet Revolver’s Duff McKagan, Machine Head’s Phil Demmel, and That Metal Show‘s Eddie Trunk and Don Jamieson for the interview below. For photos from the event, click here.
Photo by Stephanie Cabral
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The metal world turned out in force last night to pay tribute to former Pantera and Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott at the annual DimeBash concert. You can check out fan-filmed videos, below, of the show that included performances by Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Sebastian Bach, David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan (Velvet Revolver, ex–Guns N’ Roses), and many more.
The event took place at the Key Club in Hollywood, California, with openers Kill Devil Hill—the supergroup featuring Dime’s former Pantera bandmate Rex Brown, Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), Mark Zavon (Ratt, W.A.S.P.), and Jason “Dewey’ Bragg.
With all proceeds from the show going toward the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, last night was also a tribute to the former Heaven and Hell frontman who passed away, due to stomach cancer, last year. The set list duly reflected this, with songs performed including Pantera’s “Walk” and “Cemetery Gates,” as well as Dio staples like “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules.”
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Metallica have released a four-song EP, titled Beyond Magnetic, today. The four previously unreleased tracks were recorded during sessions for their 2008 Death Magnetic album, but didn’t make the cut at the time. The EP will be available exclusively on iTunes for one week only.
“During the Death Magnetic album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs,” said the band in a statement. “When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you’ve all come to know over the last three years. Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on ‘Mission Metallica’ (remember ‘Mission Metallica’?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, What ever happened to those other four songs???.
“We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March ’08. These four songs were released as gift to our closest fans, the members of our Fan Club, to enjoy. Now they’re being made available to you.”
The thrash legends played one of the tracks each night during their 30th anniversary celebration concerts at the Fillmore in San Francisco last week. The band were joined for the performances by a host of special guests, including former members Dave Mustaine and Jason Newsted, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, Jerry Cantrell, Glenn Danzig, and Kid Rock. The shows closed with drummer Lars Ulrich telling fans to anticipate news in mid-January, 2012, about something special happening next June.
Beyond Magnetic Track List:
1. “Hate Train”
2. “Just A Bullet Away”
3. “Hell And Back”
4. “Rebel Of Babylon”
If there’s one thing more exciting than seeing your favorite bands live, it’s seeing your favorite bands playing live together at the same time. Although the hard-rock and metal history books include more than a few eye-popping collaborations over the genres’ four-decade histories, 2011 boasts some of the most exciting. Below is a list of what got the Revolver editors’ jaws dropping this year. Let us know what jams you think were the best in the comments section.
The Big Four
Although Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax jammed together for the first time last year, it was in 2011 they made it their calling card. Beginning with their performance of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” in April to their jams in Europe (which also featured members of Diamond Head, Exodus, and Sepultura), to their U.S. final performance of Motörhead’s “Overkill” in New York City, these bands have made history at each performance.
The Metal Masters
The night before the Big Four concert in New York City, members of Megadeth and Anthrax along with drummer Mike Portnoy gathered to give instrument tips to fans and musicians a like. What the audience didn’t expect was the closing jam, which featured Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Frank Bello, and Charlie Benante, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Mike Portnoy, and special guests Kerry King of Slayer and…Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down fame, who sang “Fucking Hostile” and “A New Level.”
Temple of the Dog
For Pearl Jam’s 20th Anniversary concert, Chris Cornell joined the band for a four-song set of the songs he recorded with the nascent band under the name Temple of the Dog in 2011.
The Revolver Golden Gods Awards
We may be tooting our own horns here, but even we were floored by the collaborations of Avenged Sevenfold with Vinnie Paul on Pantera’s “Mouth for War” and Duff McKagan on GN’R’s “It’s So Easy,” as well as Duff, Corey Taylor, and Steve Jones’ take on Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye,” Volbeat’s take on Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Wanna Be With You,” and Asking Alexandria and Sebastian Bach’s electrifying take on “Youth Gone Wild.”
Guns N’ Roses and Zakk Wylde’s “Whole Lotta Rosie”
At a recent Indiana gig, Guns N’ Roses invited Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde to join them on guitar for an electrifying rendition of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Love.”
Mötley Crüe with Cee-Lo
Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine, who had a massive hit last year with “Fuck You,” joined the Sunset Strip’s Kings of “Fuck You”—Mötley Crüe—at an L.A. gig in June for a rendition of his hit and the Crüe’s “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away).”
Drop in the Bucket Charity Event
At the Drop in the Bucket Charity Event, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor played a set highlighted by all of his famous friends. Together they played some of hard rock and metal’s greatest hits. Two highlights were Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”—performed by Taylor, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo—and AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”—played by Taylor, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, John 5, and Rob Zombie bassist Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish. For more from that night, click here.
Metallica 30th Anniversary
Nobody has ever thrown an anniversary party quite like Metallica’s 30th Anniversary shows, which wrapped up on December 10 in San Francisco. Over the course of four nights, they played with artists who influenced them, their peers, and past members of the band. These include everyone from Diamond Head to Mercyful Fate, Marianne Faithfull to Rob Halford, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell to Kid Rock, and, most impressive, original guitarists Dave Mustaine and Lloyd Grant alongside original bassist Ron McGovney for the first song the band ever recorded, “Hit the Lights.”
For the finale of Metallica’s four-night 30th Anniversary concert extravaganza on Saturday night at San Francisco’s the Fillmore, the legendary thrash band reunited onstage with the musicians of its earliest lineups for a rendition of the song “Hit the Lights.” Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who’s made his name with Megadeth in this years since his departure from Metallica, joined Metallica with original bassist Ron McGovney and guitarist Lloyd Grant, who played on the first recording of the song as it appeared on the Metal Massacre compilation in 1982. You can see fan-filmed video of the performance below.
Over the course of the shows, which were held for members of the band’s fan club, Metallica paid tribute to their now-deceased bassist Cliff Burton and joined up with musicians whom they have played with over the years, including Jason Newsted, Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, Glenn Danzig, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, and present and former members of Mercyful Fate, Diamond Head, Armored Saint, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Down, Faith No More, the Anti-Nowhere League, Death Angel, Apocalyptica, Saxon, and more. The band filmed each of the shows, so look for a release of these shows in some form in the future.
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Celebrating the lives fallen Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell and Ronnie James Dio, members of Slipknot, System of a Down, Anthrax, and more are uniting to pay their respects at DimeBash 2011 at Hollywood’s Key Club on December 14. The event is a communion of songs and stories, where everyone present can tip their glasses to one of the true masters of not only guitar but music as a whole.
“Today marks the seventh year, which still doesn’t seem like a reality to me,” said Rita Haney, longtime girlfriend of Dime and the person who knew him best, in a statement. “Sometimes I think, Boy, this sure is a long-ass tour, but then I focus back in and realize what I’m working on at this moment. And I just have to smile and be thankful for all the amazing people that surround me—thanks to him. I hope everyone enjoys this event as much as we like bringing it to them. It’s nothing more, nothing less, than ‘about a damn good time!’—one of my favorite Dime pastimes and phrases. There are no words to express my thanks to all the artists who make this event special and give ‘us fans’ a night to remember two truly amazing people and the music they created! I am forever at your beckon call, so c’mon out and experience the evening with us. It’s going to be quite magical!!!”
The Key Club Hollywood will play host to all-star jams featuring the vocal talents of Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Disturbed’s Dave Draiman, Velvet Revolver and Loaded’s Duff McKagan, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, Suicidal Tendencies’ Mike Muir, and Sebastian Bach; the guitar of John 5, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Machine Head’s Phil Demmel, Ratt’s Warren DeMartini, Ben Harper, In This Moment’s Chris Howorth, and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello; and the rhythms of King’s X’s Doug Pinnick, James LoMenzo, Rob Zombie band member Ginger Fish, Whitesnake’s Brian Tichy and Slipknot’s Joey Jordison, with many more superstars lending their vocal and playing skills to the metal proceedings. The whole shebang being emceed by That Metal Show’s Eddie Trunk and his cohosts, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson. In addition, kicking off the event will be Kill Devil Hill, featuring the legendary Vinny Appice and former Pantera bassist Rex Brown. Also on deck are Dio Disciples, featuring the great Rudy Sarzo and vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, with a special appearance by Glenn Hughes.
The entire proceeds from the event benefit the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up & Shout Cancer Fund. Additionally, attendees will be able to land some limited-edition merchandise and purchase Monster Energy cocktail drink specials with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting the cause as well.
Ticket prices are $20 and are on sale now here.
Doors open at 7 P.M.; Show begins at 8 P.M.
For more information go to MonstErenergy.com or Facebook.com/MonsterEnergyMusic.
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