Queensrÿche

Queensrÿche /ˈkwiːnzraɪk/ is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 14 studio albums, one EP and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Geoff Tate, guitarists Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield. Queensrÿche has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, including over 6 million albums in the United States. 

The band received worldwide acclaim after the release of their 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime, which is often considered one of the greatest concept albums of all time.[citation needed] Their follow-up release, Empire, released in 1990, was also very successful and included the hit single "Silent Lucidity". The band has received three Grammy Award nominations for songs off both albums. In 1998, drummer Rockenfield received an individual Grammy nomination. In 1997, guitarist and primary songwriter DeGarmo left the band for personal reasons. 

Over the years, his replacements have been Kelly Gray, Mike Stone, and Parker Lundgren, respectively. Following a highly publicized backstage altercation before a show in São Paulo, Brazil in April 2012, Tate was fired from the band and replaced with then-Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre. In response to his dismissal, Tate and his wife Susan (who served as the band's manager from 2005–2012) filed a lawsuit in a Washington court, claiming that he was wrongfully terminated. The ruling in the preliminary injunction was that both parties were allowed to use the name Queensrÿche until a court ruling or a settlement decides who gets to use the name. 

A settlement was reached on April 17, 2014, in which founding members Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson were awarded the rights to the band trademark, continuing to play with the lineup that additionally includes singer La Torre and guitarist Lundgren. During the time both parties could use the name Queensrÿche, Tate created his own lineup featuring former guitarist Gray and musicians from bands including Blue Öyster Cult, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio, AC/DC and Quiet Riot.[4][5] This version of Queensrÿche with Geoff Tate released the album Frequency Unknown on 23 April 2013,[6] while Queensrÿche (with La Torre replacing Tate) released their eponymous album on 24 and 25 June 2013 (European and American release date, respectively).[7] Both bands toured in 2013 and 2014. 

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Aerosmith

Aerosmith is a prominent American rock band. Three of its members, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Tom Hamilton, first met in Sunapee, New Hampshire in the late 60s, but it wasn’t until 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, that the three decided to form a band together. Later, they met up with Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (rhythm guitar). The band enjoyed major popularity throughout the 70s, making rock anthems such as “Dream On” and “Sweet Emotion”, but they split from 1979-84 due to serious in-group arguments and substance abuse problems that contributed to their decline.

Producing a wide variety of tunes influenced both by the 60s hard rock legends as well as the bombastic rhythm and blues artists that the band loved, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler became known as the “toxic twins” due to their rambunctious live performances and nasty lifestyles. The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia reportedly said Aerosmith featured “the druggiest bunch of guys I’ve ever seen.” Classics from their early area with much airplay also include 1974’s “Same Old Song and Dance” and 1976’s “Back in the Saddle”, with 1973’s “Dream On” being a concert favorite.

Jimmy Crespo replaced Joe Perry for about five years as the band’s fortunes failed. However, in 1984, chiefly due to the tireless efforts of Joe Perry’s then manager, Tim Collins, to reform the band, Aerosmith was born again. Despite his own client Perry’s insistence that it was unthinkable, Collins succeeded in helping the band resolve old differences and ultimately overcome their addictions. 

 

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Slash

Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965, Stoke, England), better known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician. He is the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, with whom he performed and recorded between 1985 and 1996. He later formed Slash’s Snakepit and co-founded Velvet Revolver with his former bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum; and his debut solo album, Slash , was released in April 2010. In 2011 he wrote and featured on Kick It Up A Notch, the end credit song for The Disney Channel Original Movie Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension. (Kick It Up a Notch Songfacts). He has written a self titled autobiography which was put to print in 2007.

Slash joined his first band, Tidus Sloan, in 1981. In 1983, he formed the band Road Crew—named for the Motörhead song “(We Are) The Road Crew”—with his childhood friend Steven Adler, who by then had learned to play drums. He placed an advertisement in a newspaper looking for a bassist, and received a response from Duff McKagan. They auditioned a number of singers, including one-time Black Flag vocalist Ron Reyes, and worked on material that included the main riff of what would become the Guns N’ Roses song “Rocket Queen.” Slash disbanded the group the following year due to them not being able to find a singer, as well as Adler’s lack of work ethic compared to himself and McKagan. He, along with Adler, then joined a local band known as Hollywood Rose, which featured singer Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin. Following his time with Hollywood Rose, Slash played in a band called Black Sheep and unsuccessfully auditioned for Poison, a glam metal band that he would later openly deride. 

 Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) played an ultra-rare acoustic show in August in Sydney, Australia that was filmed for Foxtel's "Max Sessions".

According to Australia's long-running rock station Triple M, Slash and singer Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE) performed a stripped-back seven-song set, featuring a mix of Slash's solo material and GN'R and VELVET REVOLVER favorites.

The intimate gig happened at the Seymour Centre in the inner-city of Sydney and Triple M's Alexis Savaidis was one of the 300 lucky fans to witness the magic.

"It was a flawless performance," stated Alexis. "Myles blew everyone away with an impressive vocal range hitting insanely high notes. And, of course, Slash was unreal! Doing those solos on an acoustic guitar is really only one for the masters and he did it so well."

She also said that Slash answered questions from fans during the set which revealed a lighter side to the guitar legend.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Patience

02. Back From Cali

03. Fall To Pieces

04. Starlight

05. By The Sword

06. Sweet Child O' Mine

07. Civil War

 Slash & Myles Kennedy - Max Sessions Acoustic Gig, Sydney, Australia 08-15-2010

 

 

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