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Swedish rockers Ghost headlined the Opus Stage at Download Festival in 2023. A 23-minute highlight reel and fan-filmed video from the show can be viewed below.

The setlist was as follows: 

“Kaisarion”
“Rats”
“Faith”
“Spillways”
“Cirice”
“Jesus He Knows Me” (Genesis cover)
“Watcher In The Sky”
“Year Zero”
“Mary On A Cross”
“Mummy Dust”
“Kiss The Go-Goat”
“Dance Macabre”
“Square Hammer”

Super7 recently announced the upcoming Ghost Ultimates! Papa Emeritus III Figure with the following message…

Hard rock’s most mysterious band returns with Super7! Papa Emeritus III was the third leader of Ghost during the Meliora album and Popestar EP eras, during which time he took Ghost’s agenda to more glorious heights. Super7 is excited to take your collection to new heights with the Ghost Ultimates! Papa Emeritus III Figure!

Loaded with accessories, this 7” scale, highly articulated figure comes with an alternate mitre head, a plethora of interchangeable hands, a soft goods vestment robe, and more.

Papa Emeritus III achievements are the greatest the band has seen to date- let your greatest achievement be adding this made-to-order Ghost Ultimates! Papa Emeritus III Figure to your collection!

Pre-Order Ghost Ultimates! Wave 3, here.

Pre-orders close Friday, June 16 at 6 PM. The new figure is estimated to ship in February 2024.

Queens Of The Stone Age will release their long-awaited eighth studio album, In Times New Roman…, this Friday, June 16.

Frontman, Josh Homme, is featured in a new interview with Revolver, who say, “Today’s mid-April conversation with Revolver is his first extensive personal interview in years. It’s his first since COVID-19, since the death of many close friends and colleagues, since the end of his marriage and the public nightmare of a custody battle over his three kids – and the first since so much else went off the rails. Last year, he was diagnosed with cancer. He won’t get into details other than to say that surgery to remove it was successful, though he’s still healing. As he sits in a cushioned chair, in an enclosed patio overlooking the backyard, he gets the occasional twinge of pain.”

“I never say it can’t get any worse. I never say that, and I wouldn’t advise it. But I do say it can get better,” Homme offers. “Cancer is just the cherry on top of an interesting time period, you know? I’m extremely thankful that I’ll get through this, and I’ll look back at this as something that’s fucked up – but will have made me better. I’m cool with that. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do. And there’s a lot of people I want to do that with.”

Read more at revolvermag.com.

Pre-order the In Times New Roman… album here. The record was produced by Queens Of The Stone Age and mixed by Mark Rankin. Artwork and double LP gatefold packaging designed by long-time collaborator Boneface.

Tracklisting:

“Obscenery”
“Paper Machete”
“Negative Space”
“Time & Place”
“Made to Parade”
“Carnavoyeur”
“What the Peephole Say”
“Sicily”
“Emotion Sickness”
“Straight Jacket Fitting”

“Carnavoyeur” lyric video:

“Emotion Sickness”:

Trailer:

After a triumphant return on the battlegrounds of Boston Calling and Sonic Temple, Queens Of The Stone Age have announced the details of their North American tour, which will kick off on August 3 in Sterling Heights, MI. The east coast leg of the tour will feature support from Phantogram and The Armed. Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth will support on the mid-west and west coast dates.

The End Is Nero tour is an invitation from Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore to come celebrate the end of the world, which we hear is “in a month or two.” They would like to encourage the obscene and the clean, the outcasts and the weirdos, and anyone and everyone in between to attend, this is where you belong. Leave your judgment at the door, bring anything and everything else.

Full routing below – for tickets and info, head here.

Tour dates:

August
3 – Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill*
4 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage*
5 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE Outdoors*
7 – Bridgeport, CT – Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater*
8 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann*
9 – Washington, DC – The Anthem*
11 – Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena*
12 – Queens, NY – Forest Hills Stadium*
15 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater*
16 – Asheville, NC – Rabbit Rabbit*
18 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre *
19 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater*

September
16 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
17 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory**
19 – Omaha, NE – Steelhouse**
20 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre**
22 – Indianapolis, IN – TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park**
23 – St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis Music Park**
24 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life
26 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP**
27 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion**
29 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre**
30 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Great Saltair**

October
2 – Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum**
3 – Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum**
4 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena**
6 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium**
8 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock

* Phantogram and The Armed support
** Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth support

(Photo – Andreas Neumann)

The Drumeo YouTube channel has shared a new showcase video, this time focusing on Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. They run through Lee’s signature grooves, cymbal techniques, theatrics and drum solos, and more.

Drumeo: “Mötley Crüe wouldn’t be the same without Tommy Lee, the rockstar poster child. His personality and energy are off the charts and he’s influenced countless drummers for decades. From epic hard-hitting drum solos to incorporating pyrotechnics and spinning drum risers into his shows, let’s break down why he’s such a legendary monster.”

Mötley Crüe recently uploaded drum-cam video of Tommy Lee performing the Sex Pistols classic “Anarchy In The U.K.” with his bandmates during their August 27, 2022 concert at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles from The Stadium Tour.

A caption of the video says: “There’ll be Anarchy when DEF CRÜE hit the road for leg 2 of THE WORLD TOUR! Europe, US, JAPAN and more…where will we see you?”

In April, Mötley Crüe revealed that they had entered the recording studio with their longtime producer, Bob Rock, to lay down some new music.

Recently, Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx took to social media with the following update: “Vince is cutting lead vocals this week on the new songs… We have a few final things Bob Rock wants us to record and then heading to London next week to prepare for European tour. We’re really excited to play for our European fans. It’s been a minute. Great combination of stadiums and festivals.”

Prior to that, Sixx stated, “I have to say when I was a teenager I had no idea being in a band could garner so much love and so much hate. What a great original journey I’ve got to travel over the years watching people have so many feelings about our band. THANK YOU. Pretty much wrapped up most of the songs so it’s all vocals from here on out. These songs are personal. You’ll understand more later. Being in a band for 42 years you have to constantly look for inspiration —- and I can’t believe we’re leaving soon for Europe. We’re gonna be there for two months. I’m bringing my family and gonna really make a point to get out and also make time for some photography. Leica Camera sent me the new M11 and the SL2 to test out. Can’t wait and can’t wait to play all these shows. I’m just living in gratitude everyday. And thank you to the lovers and the haters. You keep me inspired.Oh and as you can see we actually never took a break. Just came home from tour and back to work. I guess I’ll rest next time I die?”

Mötley Crüe’s 2023 tour of The UK and Europe began May 22nd in Sheffield, England, and wraps up July 6th in Glasgow, Scotland. The complete itinerary can be found here.

Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci is featured in a new interview with CBS New York to discuss the band’s 30+ year career and their upcoming Dreamsonic 2023 Tour. Check it out below.

Dream Theater recently announced the first edition of Dreamsonic, taking place in North America throughout June and July and celebrating the summer’s ultimate progressive metal lineup. Kicking off on June 16, Dream Theater will be joined by special guest Devin Townsend, and Animals As Leaders on what is sure to be one of the hottest tickets of the summer.

John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Devin Townsend, Tosin Abasi (Animals As Leaders) and Javier Reyes (Animals As Leaders) recently discussed all things Dreamsonic 2023 with host Ollie Winiberg in a livestream. Check it out below.

Says Dream Theater: “We are all so incredibly excited to present Dream Theater’s very own prog-metal music festival, Dreamsonic 2023! The lineup for our inaugural run this summer features Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, and Animals As Leaders and is going to be absolutely epic! Dreamsonic promises to be a reoccurring musical event that will deliver history-making nights of amazing music for many years to come! You’re not going to want to miss this one!”

For tickets, visit the Dreamsonic website, here.

Dates:

June
16 – Cedar Park, TX – H-E-B Center At Cedar Park
17 – Dallas, TX – Texas Trust CU Holds @ Grand Prairie
18 – Sugarland, TX – Smart Financial Center
21 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
22 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena
23 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock
25 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theater
27 – Washington, PA – Wild Things Park
28 – New York, NY – Hulu Theater
30 – Bridgeport, CT – Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater

July
1 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
2 – Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion
4 – Laval, QC – Place Bell
5 – Hamilton, ON – FirstOntario Centre
7 – Gary, IN – Hard Rock Casino
8 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion
9 – Newport, KY – MegaCorp Pavilion
11 – Detroit, MI – Masonic
12 – OshKosh, WI – OshKosh Arena
13 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Alliant Energy Power House
15 – Denver, CO – Mission Theater
17 – Spokane, WA – First Interstate Center
18 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle
19 – Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee
21 – Vancover, BC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
22 – Redmond, WA – Marymoor Live
24 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic
25 – Inglewood, CA – YouTube Theater
26 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theater

Los Angeles-born guitar hero and musical force of nature Nita Strauss  is featured in a brand new interview with Ultimate Guitar’s Justin Beckner on the first-ever episode of their “On the Record” podcast. CHeck it out below.

UG: Who are some of the artists that inspire you now? And are they the same artists that inspired you when you were starting out?

Nita: “I think that my original heroes, you know, the Steve Vai’s, the Satriani’s, the Jennifer Batten’s, Marty Friedman’s will continue to inspire me always because they never stop innovating. You know, if you listen to what Steve Vai is doing now, if you listen to what Marty Friedman is doing now, it’s (still) the cutting edge of guitar. So how cool that it was the cutting-edge of guitar the year I was born, and these guys are still at the forefront of innovating now. I love listening to the newer artists. I love listening to Polyphia and Yvette Young, my Ibanez signature sister. I think it’s so cool what this generation of musicians is doing with the instrument. They’re taking it to these new heights that I, as a guitar player, could barely even conceive of. 

A couple of years ago at NAMM, Yvette Young and I had signature models come out on the same day and we were at an Ibanez event at NAMM and I said, ‘Hey, can I play your guitar?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, only if I can play your guitar.’ So we traded guitars and we noodled around on each other’s guitar for a second and then we handed it back. We’re like, Oh, no. It’s just that our styles are so different, and the setup is so different. She was like, ‘I wouldn’t even know how to play your guitar.’ And I was like, ‘I wouldn’t even know how to play your guitar.’ And I think that was a really telling moment of just like how much innovation is happening with this instrument. You’d think Nita and Yvette, both Ibanez girls, must be pretty similar, like literally couldn’t be more different musicians, and I just think it’s so cool. It’s such a cool time to be a guitar player right now.”

Nita recently announced her brand new album The Call Of The The Void, out July 7 via Sumerian Records. Pre-order it here.

She has shared the video for the latest single “Victorious”, featuring vocalist Dorothy.

“‘Victorious’ is the anthem I always wanted, a song about inspiring change, marching forward relentlessly, being willing to save yourself instead of waiting for someone to do it for you, and never backing down from a fight,” Strauss shares. “Dorothy was the perfect powerhouse voice and personality to stand and deliver, and knock this one out of the park.”

Dorothy shares Strauss’ enthusiasm for the track, stating, “I’m honoured to be a part of ‘Victorious’ with my friend Nita Strauss. She is the embodiment of a bold, beautiful, strong woman. The song and video scream #GIRLPOWER and we know you’ll love it!”

The video features two killer cameos. 13-year-old rising guitar star Charlotte Milstein plays the role of a young Nita, while U.S. Olympian, former WBO and IBF champion Mikalea Mayer, a childhood friend of Strauss and former bandmate, also appears. Learn more about their relationship here!

Tracklisting:

“Summer Storm”
“The Wolf You Feed” (feat. Alissa White-Gluz)
“Digital Bullets” (feat. Chris Motionless)
“Through The Noise” (feat. Lzzy Hale)
“Consume The Fire”
“Dead Inside” (feat. David Draiman)
“Victorious” (feat. Dorothy)
“Scorched”
“Momentum”
“The Golden Trail” (feat. Anders Fridén)
“Winner Takes All” (feat. Alice Cooper)
“Monster” (feat. Lilith Czar)
“Kintsugi”
“Surfacing” (feat. Marty Friedman)

“Summer Storm”:

“The Wolf You Feed” (feat. Alissa White-Gluz):

“Dead Inside” (feat. David Draiman):

“The Golden Trail” (feat. Anders Fridén):

“Winner Takes All” (feat. Alice Cooper):

Strauss recently announced dates for her North American summer tour with support from Lions At The Gate. The Summer Storm tour will kick off on June 13 in Nashville, and is scheduled to wrap up on July 14 in New Orleans. Singer Kasey Karlsen will join her for the upcoming tour.

Tickets and VIP options for all shows at nitastraussvip.com.

Dates:

June
13 – Nashville, TN – Exit/ In
14 – Atlanta, GA – The Loft
15 – Greensboro, NC – The Hangar 1819
17 – New York, NY – The Meadows
18 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
19 – Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedrafts
21 – Harrison, OH – The Blue Note
22 – Flint, MI – The Machine Shop
23 – Angola, IN – The Eclectic Room
24 – Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre
25 – Madison, WI – The Majestic Theatre
26 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
28 – Denver, CO – The Bluebird Theater
29 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
30 – Boise, ID – Neurolux

July
1 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
2 – Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theatre
3 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
5 – Sacramento, CA – Goldfield Trading Post
6 – Los Angeles, CA – Whisky A Go Go
8 – Las Vegas, NV – The Space
9 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
11 – San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box
12 – Dallas, TX – Trees
13 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
14 – New Orleans, LA – The Parish at House of Blues

On June 9th, Iron Maiden brought The Future Past Tour to the Sewden Rock Fesival 2023 in Sölvesborg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video of the show can be viewed below.

The setlist was as follows:

“Caught Somewhere In Time”
“Stranger In A Strange Land”
“The Writing On The Wall”
“Days Of Future Past”
“The Time Machine”
“The Prisoner”
“Death Of The Celts”
“Can I Play With Madness”
“Heaven Can Wait”
“Alexander The Great”
“Fear Of The Dark”
“Iron Maiden”

Encore:
“Hell On Earth”
“The Trooper”
“Wasted Years”

On June 8th, British Lion – the side project of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris – also performed at the Sweden Rock Festival. Fan-filmed video can be enjoyed below.

Alongside Harris in British Lion are vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarists David Hawkins and Grahame Leslie, as well as drummer Simon Dawson.

Catch British Lion on tour at the following shows:

June 
12 – Kamienna 12 – Krakow, Poland 
16 – Hellfest – Clisson, France
23 – Opium – Dublin, Ireland 
29 – Rebellion – Manchester, England 

July 
2 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, England 
10 – Q Factory – Amsterdam, Netherlands 
14 – Legend – Milan, Italy 
19 – Garaje Beat Club – Murcia, Spain 
24 – FZW – Dortmund, Germany
30 – Backstage Halle – Munich, Germany