NYS Music 20​16

Author: Chad Vergine

  • Street Performer Attacked in Saratoga

    Saratoga Springs police are currently in search of a possible street video that shows a street performer being attacked, according to the Times Union. Police are also talking to downtown bar owners about the situation.

    According to the report, street performer Sam Mitchell of Montgomery County was a victim of an unprovoked attack as he came to the city to play his guitar on Putnam Street to entertain people as they walked by.

    Police said that not only was the attack on Mitchell unprovoked, the beating itself was brutal. The attack happened in the parking lot of the Saratoga Springs Public Library sometime after midnight.

    Mitchell, 53, was accused by a man between the ages of 25 and 30, of messing around with another vehicle. According to city police Lt. Robert Jillson, the man punched and kicked Mitchell to the ground as Mitchell tried to protect himself from the assault. Mitchell tried to shield himself with his instrument to no avail as the attacker smashed Mitchell’s guitar on the ground.

    The assailant, who was accompanied by a woman, fled in a dark-color, four-door sedan. As of now, no arrests have been made.

    Mitchell described the man as a short blonde hair and standing about 5-feet, 5-inches tall wearing a light-green hoodie. The woman was described as wearing black boots with maroon pants and black hair.

    After the attack, Mitchell headed to police officers located on Caroline Street and told them about the attack right after it happened. Mitchell then went on to seek his own medical attention.

    Mitchell suffered facial fractures and bruises from the attack. A GoFundMe page has been created to help him raise money for a new guitar. The page has currently surpassed the set goal of $500 almost two times, as the current total for his campaign is at $1,380.

    Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 518-584-1800 or 518-584-TIPS.

  • Black Earth, Arch Enemy — Same Difference

    Arch Enemy fans, meet Black Earth. No, we’re not talking about Arch Enemy’s debut album Black Earth; the reuniting band will take on the name of Black Earth for a limited run in Japan this spring.

    Well this puts a whole new spin on bands reuniting. Swedish death metal rockers Arch Enemy will reunite their classic lineup — which consisted of Johan Liiva (vocals), Michael Amott (guitar), Christopher Amott (guitar), Sharlee D’Angelo (bass) and Daniel Erlandsson (drums) — in a head scratching way.

    Black Earth

    Black Earth will play songs from Arch Enemy’s first three albums, Black Earth (1996), Stigmata (1998) and Burning Bridges (1999). Fans are wondering why the band wouldn’t use the recognizable Arch Enemy brand name that they built.

    Liiva and Christopher Amott rejoined Arch Enemy in Japan at last year’s Loud Park Festival, on Oct. 10-11 at the Saitama Super Arena, for a surprise appearance.

    Fans are left wonder why the band didn’t keep the Arch Enemy name and have current vocalist Alissa White-Gluz and guitarist Jeff Loomis, who are not involved in the new project, rotate on and off stage, especially White-Gluz, who at least recorded an album with the band (War Eternal – 2014). White-Gluz could rotate with Liiva and sing the songs she recorded along with the songs sung by former vocalist Angela Gossow, to give fans the ultimate Arch Enemy experience.

    This year marks the 20th anniversary for Arch Enemy.

    Black Earth Japan Tour Dates:

    05-17-2016 –  Shibuya Club Quattro – Tokyo, Japan
    05-19-2016 – Drum Be-1 – Fukuoka, Japan
    05-21-2016 – Hiroshima Club Quattro – Hiroshima, Japan
    05-23-2016 – Umeda Club Quattro – Osaka, Japan
    05-24-2016 – Nagoya Club Quattro – Aichi, Japan
    05-27-2016 – Lane24 Penny Sapporo – Sapporo, Japan

    https://youtu.be/fKuoVRoQW8w

  • Disturbed to Co-Headline With Rob Zombie For 10-Date Spring Tour

    Disturbed and Rob Zombie plan to hit the road together this spring for a co-headlining tour.

    After all these years rocking festivals and arenas everywhere in the world, this will mark the first time ever that these two huge names in rock ‘n roll and heavy metal will join forces and hit the road together.

    The very limited 10-city tour will kick off in Biloxi, Mississippi, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on May 3, and conclude on May 25, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Sad news is that New Yorkers will have to travel to see this tour as there are no dates in the Empire State for this amazing pairing.

    The co-headlining tour will follow Disturbed’s first tour back from their four-year hiatus. Every show on that tour, which features Nonpoint as the special guest, is sold out. A tour with Rob Zombie will most likely sell out as well. Tour dates for the band will weave in and out of all the festivals that Disturbed is featured on during the world’s loudest month of May.

    Disturbed released their sixth studio album, Immortalized, on Aug. 21. It’s the bands fifth consecutive studio album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with more than 98,000 copies sold in the first week.

    Look for Rob Zombie to most likely close out the shows. Those who have ever been to a Zombie concert can tell you that his concerts have a very high production of various props and elements and becomes a show within a show. Zombie, besides being a musician, likes to bring his film and screenwriting elements to the stage and makes each song in his setlist its own production.

    Pop Evil will support the tour as special guest on most dates. Pop Evil’s fourth studio album, UP, shared the same Aug. 21 release date as Disturbed’s Immortalized.

    Disturbed/Rob Zombie Touring Cycle:

    05-03-2016 – Mississippi Coast Coliseum – Biloxi, MS
    05-04-2016 – Oak Mountain Amphitheater – Birmingham, AL
    05-06-2016 – Aaron’s Amphitheater – Atlanta, GA
    05-07-2016 – Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN
    05-10-2016 – Cajundome – Lafayette, LA
    05-11-2016 – CenturyLink Center – Bossier City, LA
    05-17-2016 – US Cellular Center – Cedar Rapids, IA
    05-22-2106 – Hershey Stadium – Hershey, PA
    05-24-2016 – Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, MI
    05-25-2106 – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, IN

  • Lemmy to Live on as an Element on the Periodic Table?

    Recently deceased Motorhead frontman Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy, may be the first metal legend to be named to an element in scientific periodic table. Change.org user John Wright, has created an online petition asking fans to help him name one of four newly discovered heavy metal elements as a tribute to the metal legend.

    York, UK native Wright’s petition would like one of the four newly discovered elements which all have temporary names to be renamed “Lemmium.” The four temporary named elements on the periodic table include ununtrium (113), ununpentium (115), ununseptium (117) and ununoctium (118).

    Wright created the online petition on Change.org, soon after the death of Kilmister. Wright’s petition already has over 135,000 of the 150,000 signatures needed to present to The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemestry (IUPAC), who is in charge of these sort of things.

    IUPAC’s naming requirements state that new elements “can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place, country, property or scientist.” Wright stated that since a star is named after Kilmister, that his name meets the IUPAC’s requirements and jokingly added that Kilmister is also a rock & roll scientist.

    Scientists who helped discover the four new synthetic elements typically have the honor of naming. After they are named, they go up for public review for five months before being confirmed and officially added to the periodic table.

    Wrights petition even caught the eye of returning Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan who sent out a twitter message to fans to help support the petition by retweeting Wright’s post for his online petition.

    Expressen.se reports that Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee stated that the band is now “over,” since the passing of Kilmister who died at 70 from an aggressive form of cancer. Dee stated that Kilmister “was” Motorhead, and being that Kilmister was the only original member left in the band,  its only right to stop making music and touring.