Tag Archives: michael monroe

Features, Tours and Festivals

Monsters Of Rock Cruise Announces 2022 Excursion

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monsters of rock cruise 2022

The Press Release:
The annual Monsters of Rock Cruise, the world’s premier hard rock/heavy metal experience at sea, is returning in 2022 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Departing out of Miami, Florida, promoter On The Blue announced the five-day/five-night full ship charter cruise will set sail February 9-14 aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, visit two ports in CocoCay, Bahamas and Labadee, Haiti, and features performances from rock icon Alice Cooper, along with performances from over 35 artists.

The public on-sale kicks off today (5/11) at 9:00 am ET, with cabins starting at $1,799.00 per person (double occupancy, not including mandatory taxes and fee supplement). For more info and booking, visit MonstersOfRockCruise.com and follow @MonstersOfRockCruise on Facebook and Instagram, and @MonstersCruise on Twitter.
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Events, Reviews

Michael Monroe @ Highline Ballroom (5/9/2010)

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Artist: Michael Monroe
Venue: Highline Ballroom (New York, NY)
Opener: The Last Vegas, The Dirty Pearls
Date: 5/9/2010
Label: Independent Artist

It really was an amazing weekend for music if you lived in NYC and here is how it was playing out. It was now Sunday, the day of “rest” and Mother’s Day to boot, but there is no such a thing as slowing down the pace when you are wandering the Rock and Roll life seeking to jot down notes about all of the amazing happenings for the Metal Republic. For many fans this was actually event number three of a three night straight concert extravaganza that was happening in this part of the city. Friday night was Finland’s HIM who performed with We Are The Fallen and Dommin; while Saturday was the legendary Accept and looking back on them I could not believe just how good each of those shows were. Of course, tonight was guaranteed to be a special occasion as well for it was the long overdue return of Hanoi Rock’s Michael Monroe. The legendary and influential Glam Rock singer had not toured around these parts in almost a dozen years according to what I had learned and this gig at the Highline Ballroom was going to pull out all the stops from beginning to end. Monroe would bring along The Last Vegas and The Dirty Pearls as his openers and since each of the bands were of interest to me I got inside nice and early to bring you the best possible information on it.
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Reviews, Videos

“The Nottingham Tapes” by Hanoi Rocks

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Artist: Hanoi Rocks
Title: “The Nottingham Tapes”
Label: Cherry Red UK
Release Date: 6/10/2008
Genre: Glam Rock
Rating: 4/5

According to the liner notes that come along on the packaging of the film, the recording for Hanoi Rocks’ “The Nottingham Tapes” is the result of a film crew’s decision to leave their equipment set up from the recording of an all day Trash Rock affair at the same venue where this show would take place. After watching only a couple of songs from the show I had to say that not only the fans of Hanoi Rocks were lucky that this was done, but also any fan of bare bones Rock and Roll with a Trashy/Glam edge to it. Formed in 1979, Hanoi Rocks were one of those bands who were ahead of the times when it came to their genre and should you know your Rock history, you will recall that not only did the Punk material of the day inspire them, but also the classic Rockers of the fifties and sixties. This allowed the band to stand high above the competition in terms of the strength of their material and find them come to inspire bands like Poison and Guns ‘N Roses in the years that would follow. The show was recorded at The Palais club located in Nottingham, England and it captures a full sixty minutes of fun time music. I was a little disappointed to see the limited camera angles, but this was done in 1984 my friends, and the means for super and extravagant video recording sessions was not par for the course yet. The viewer is limited to shots from the far stage left, and some close ups, and additional views from behind the drum kit. From this I am guessing this was no more than a two or three camera shoot. However, despite some of the lacking in the visual sense, I found no such issue with the audio portion of the show. The band sounds excellent and all of the instruments are captured perfectly. As a matter of fact, it sounds so good that I will assume that there was a feed to the soundboard because you really don’t hear any audience noise during the show.
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Music, Reviews

“Another Hostile Takeover” by Hanoi Rocks

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Artist: Hanoi Rocks
Title: “Another Hostile Takeover”
Label: Demolition Records
Release Date: 7/5/2005
Genre: Rock/Glam
Rating: 7/10

Hanoi Rocks hailing from Finland, might have changed the face of rock n’ roll by their grueling tour schedule and unique sound, but they are still creating music today with their current release “Another Hostile Takeover”. This album draws from Hanoi’s classic 80’s sound mixed with straight up hard rock. Not an instant attention grabber when given a first listen, but eventually it grows on you during your second, third and fourth go around. Not a total departure from the previous “Twelve Shots On The Rocks” this album is a mixed bag. On this album the band itself went through a line up change with a new bass and guitar player which has also added to the change of sound. Unfortunately due to the tour schedule Nasty Suicide left to pursue other interests and the bass player, Timpa left as well. On this album Conny Bloom was added on lead and rhythm guitar and Andy “A.C.” Christell took over for bass and backing vocals.
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Music, Reviews

“Twelve Shots On The Rocks” (remastered/reissued) by Hanoi Rocks

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Artist: Hanoi Rocks
Title: “Twelve Shots On The Rocks” (remastered/reissued)
Label: Liquor And Poker Music
Release Date: 1/27/2004
Genre: Rock & Roll
Rating: 8/10

Bare bones Rock & Roll is what it seems to have always been about with Mike Monroe and the boys in Hanoi Rocks. Even after an almost 15 year absence from a released record, Mike and company have returned with a tasty little piece of music. Originally released in late 2003 this edition features a better production with bonus tracks. I was a fan of these guys way back in a limited sense as I owned a Live cassette who’s name and location has been lost in Apartments gone by. Yet this release brought me back to the energetic time of Eighties big hair Rock & Roll. I enjoyed that. The CD called “12 Shots On The Rocks” is brought to us by Liquor & Poker Music (a division of Century Media Records) and has a full 17 numbers to absorb. I feel this makes it a worthwhile purchase in this day where many artists are hardly including anything for the money. Overall I enjoyed this piece but clearly there were a few standout tracks. Among the ones that instantly caught my attention are “Obscured”, “NYC” and “Delirious”. Something about those just hit the nail on the head in terms of the music that Hanoi provided. Finland had Monroe as a star long before the likes of Nightwish and Ville Vallo (HIM). Sadly, the tragic loss of drummer Razzle in the 80’s seemed to put a hold marker on the band’s climb and no more than the cult following they had kept on supporting them. Mainstream was never really treated to a very talented band.
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