Click Poster To Purchase Tickets

The Details: Saigon Kick were one of my favorite groups of the nineties from the moment that I first heard their self-titled debut release. They had an interesting sound that spoke to me more than some of the other bands who were making an appearance around the same time and while I kept up with their releases I never ever saw a single live performance. With this being the case I was excited to learn of the bands reunion with its original members and regional live shows and to make it all the more awesome, the great folks at Excess DB Entertainment are letting me put some lucky PiercingMetal fans into the show. Read more to know what to do.
(continue reading…)

The press notes and quotes are flying with dreadful accuracy as the news about Black Sabbath moving forward in their plans to record and tour WITHOUT original member Bill Ward started posting today.

This all seemed to come to light the other day as Ward posted that he had been delivered a contract he deemed “unsignable” and how he would keep waiting for an acceptable proposal from the other members in order to proceed with the reunion plans.  Bill’s quote is cited below on the Bravewords.com website.

Bill Ward statements: HERE

I read all this as Ward being offered a paltry sum for the work and time involved and that he felt he deserved more than was being offered up.  On one side its true he didn’t compose a whole lot of tunes in terms of music and words but when you assemble something like this “for the fans”; you can expect that people want a larger piece of the pie.  I guess the ruling managerial parties involved disagree and are willing to move on without him.  I’ll admit I’m slightly disappointed in the guys who were kind of presenting this whole thing as being for the good of the genre.

Black Sabbath statements: HERE

I call this reunion tour an unevent now and one that will cost a fortune to fans and not present the full legacy lineup at the end of the day.  The funny thing was how I was more interested in this as a journalist than a fan because I felt it would be great to document the return for the site readers as the key force in Heavy Metal’s birth.  I realize some of you might now be challenging my level  of representing Metal but believe me my aim remains true for the cause.

So what do you readers think of this development?  Let me know in the comments below.

*** UPDATE *** On 2/17/2012: An announcement came out that said how Black Sabbath would only perform one day (at the Download Festival) and the remaining scheduled gigs for the Original Lineup (minus Bill Ward) would be replaced by a tour called “Ozzy and Friends”. This is being done based on Tony Iommi’s continuing treatment for the lymphoma and to allow him time to rest and recover as best as possible. We all want the Founder of the Heavy Metal Riff to be in tip top shape. Rumor has it that Ozzy will be joined by a cavalcade of stars like Geezer Butler, Slash and Zakk Waylde. Excited for this tour? Personally, I actually could care less about this nonsense now. Give us a full on original Black Sabbath reunion tour and then continue to make your own solo magic.

Click Logo To Peruse All Of Our Sabbath Reviews

Today was National Metal Day and amidst the celebration across the Metal Republic there was chatter about a “big message” coming from Tony Iommi and the other members of Black Sabbath on this very day. It was earlier in the week when the followers of the popular news sites of the scene learned that something was going to be unveiled in terms of the band and while some scratched their heads as to what it might be there were others who were more like “what do you think that they are going to announce? A line of figurines?”.  Of course the big news was that the original members of Black Sabbath were going to reunite and not only would a tour be planned for 2012 but there would also be some new music coming from the four legendary figures of Metal’s history.  There was a lot of speculation about this actually happening over the last few months because interview comments were leaked and while some sides of the fence said that they were misquoted or taken out of context there was no one who was outright denying that something like this would be taking place.  Fans might remember that this is not entirely new as a happening or even that long of a wait as these four guys did a reunion tour back in 1997 and even released a live album about it entitled “Reunion”.   Many were surprised that nothing more came from this even though some material was written and the guys had planned to work with producer Rick Rubin.  The brief revisit that time around was quietly put to bed based on solo projects and tours and eventual television shows.  Iommi quoted back then how it was a shame since some of the tunes being worked on were rather good.  He and the second wave of Black Sabbath went on to form “Heaven and Hell” with the late great Ronnie James Dio and deliver crushing tours and Metal to the ardent fans.

I debated making a post here on the official blog for PiercingMetal.com but then remembered that I was trying to use it to showcase some big news and other items of interest like all the rest of the blogs for the genre do and let’s face it, this is big news since they pretty much started the genre and all.  What’s my opinion about this you might be asking?  Personally I think this is cool news but its nothing that really shocked me because it was bound to happen.  With Ronnie James Dio’s death and the subsequent shelving of the Heaven and Hell project as a band, this idea makes the most logical sense as a musical business model.   Yet in all honesty I am on the fence about it because while I love a large number of Sabbath tunes I was more excited about the rejuvenated sound that we got from Heaven and Hell than the idea of hearing “Paranoid” and “Iron Man” again with Ozzy at the helm and the idea of new material from him did kind of frighten me.  Let’s be honest for a moment here and admit that Ozzy Osbourne’s last few albums were less than compelling while the H&H stuff drew you in like a whirlwind and left you screaming for more.   If Tony and Geezer are using the same formula that was working with them and Dio then the resulting output could very well surprise us.  This stuff will also be under the guiding hand of Rick Rubin so perhaps its even the stuff from back a few years ago that was left in the basement.  Can anything new stand up to the legendary tunes like “Paranoid”, “War Pigs” or “Snowblind”?  I highly doubt that because those are iconic numbers that have become the very essence of the Metal scenes core being. On the same token as a journalist, photographer and overall supporter of the Metal Scene I am intrigued about catching one of their shows and bringing the scoop to my global readership along with some photography.  That is what we do over here so the chance to be on point for legends on the stage comes into play and makes me more interested than I might have been otherwise. Another fear I have about this news is that all the attention will be afforded to the Sabbath camp and not as much to the bands that are struggling and really are the ones in need of support. Without a Black Sabbath or Judas Priest tour going on there is a better chance for the fans who are hard to move around the genre to take a look into something new or different more than they would have done otherwise. I can only implore those kinds of fans to brave the waters and sample some of the other amazing stuff with a similar zeal to what they are giving Sabbath and this news.

What do you supporters of the Heavy Metal way say to this news? Does it amaze you or does it leave you as a big “Who Cares?”. I would love to hear what you think about it all.