Though the news has been circulating since Friday when the terrible accident took place, its taken me a couple of days to formulate thoughts and accept this one and I must admit that its pretty hard to do. It hits close to my creative heart but it is true – bassist David Z. (Zablidowsky) was killed in a horrific crash early Friday afternoon while the bands RV was roadside repairing a flat while on an Adrenaline Mob tour. The news and need to properly memorialize David finds me quoting the late great Chris Cornell from a Temple Of Dog track where he sang “I never wanted to write these words down for you…..” and as someone who has not only appreciated the talents of Dave Z since beginning his own media adventure I was proud to also consider him a friend. Continue reading David Z. of Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ZO2 – Adrenaline Mob Has Died (1979-2017)→
PiercingMetal is giving away some tickets to the fun-filled like Karaoke being held by ZO2 at The Canal Room that’s happening over at the Canal Room in the coming days. The giveaway comes care of our promoter friends at the venue and is being held on our Official Facebook Page. Click the embedded image below to participate.
KISS seems to be getting more attention than ever thanks to their smoking new CD “Sonic Boom”, the “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” TV show and the always rousing concerts that they do for sold out audiences worldwide. With this being the case, I felt that I should go back into my personal archives and add some fun never before seen images to the PiercingMetal Blog so the readers of our adventures can enjoy them in terms of some KISS related fun. After all, they do no real good by being in a random folder on a hard drive only seen once in a blue moon by the occasional curious visitor to the Metal command center.
That being said, this little side story is not about KISS themselves but more about an event that was called the NY/NJ KISS Expo. It was an annual affair that was put together by Richie Ranno (of the band Starz) and was the means for those who sold KISS memorabilia and those who collected it to mingle together along with musicians that had some part of their history connected with KISS or were just interested in being a part of the fun. My friends had been going to this convention for years already but my first go round would be in 2002 but I could not find any photos outside of the scanned ticket below.
KISS Expo 2002: Your Ticket To KISS Purchases
This event was in Hackensack, NJ and only $16 bucks to get in. That was cool to know since you would end up spending hundreds more in terms of KISS things you might have had interest in. If I manage to find any photos from that event I will edit the narrative to allow them to fit in. So far there seems to be only one which you get below. Continue reading Reflections & Photos From KISS Expos Past (2002-2004)→
Artist: ZO2 Title: “Z-Rock: Season 2” Label: Anchor Bay Release Date: 6/8/2010 Genre: Comedy/Rock Reality Rating: 3/5
Picking up from what appeared to be only a few months later than when our first season of “Z-Rock” ended, we find the fabulous Z Brothers getting back together and trying their hand at Rock and Roll stardom for the second time. A lot had transpired during the first season as well and while the band came close to a deal it never ended up panning out. Such is the life of a Rock and Roll band and all you can do is pick up the pieces along with your instruments and press on as best as possible. With Season Two we find the premise remaining largely the same as their manager Dina (played by Lynn Koplitz) and Neil (played by Jay Oakerson). There is a little of everything that one expects in a show like this and it felt like they were going for the laughs a little more this time around and moving farther away from the “reality” aspect. I felt this way after a couple of the more ridiculous situations that the band found themselves in such as the wrestling episode and the political rally episode. Yes these things could actually happen but there was much more on the slapstick side but I guess that is alright since I had already mentioned that I viewed this as a more mature, modern day type of “The Monkees”. Across the season the band encounters Steel Panther, Chris Jericho and Mini-KISS while Dave Navarro, John Popper, Dee Snider, and Joan Rivers make returns and continue to play their real life selves. I think that I would have preferred the real KISS considering ZO2 opened for them in real life. Continue reading “Z-Rock: Season 2” by ZO2→
Artist: Fozzy Venue: B.B. King Blues Club Opener: ZO2, Razer Date: 4/28/2010 Label: Riot! Entertainment
Yes Metal fans your prayers have been answered and the Fozzman cometh to New York City to lay down the Metal justice in a fashion that only he can deliver. Of course its long been known that Fozzy is actually the brainchild of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Chris Jericho and guitarist Rich Ward (The Duke, Stuck Mojo) . For a number of years they played up an identity and back story about their origins but seem to have moved on from that premise for the sake of the Metal material that they have. I had to admit that even though the band featured the wrestler, when I first heard them I wasn’t very impressed and this would be around the time of their covers album. The reason was more based on at that point in my Metal life, I was more focused on the up and coming Power Metal bands from Finland and all of their output since it was so energetic and unique. I write this down based on the change of opinion that I had when the band released the “All That Remains” CD (not to be confused with the band of the same name) and now their latest effort “Chasing The Grail”. With these recordings Fozzy has really shown to be coming into their own and an interesting Metal force to be reckoned to boot. Their show this evening would be live at B.B. King Blues Club and it would also feature the band Razer from Phoenix, AZ and Brooklyn’s own ZO2. Going in I hardly knew what to expect and even wondered if it would be crowded but after observing the activities that happened tonight it was pretty safe to say that if you missed this one you will very likely be kicking yourself. Here is how the night went down for those who are among that number. Continue reading Fozzy @ B.B. King Blues Club (4/28/2010)→
