Want to attend one of “The Ten Hottest Summer Package Tours of 2012,” as proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine? Then you need to remember what it’s like to curl your tongue, paint your face white, and get ready for some real head-banging! KISS and Motley Crue have just wrapped up their own individual headlining tours to join together onstage and give metal fans what they love. And it all starts this weekend!

The tour, which is being called exactly that — “The Tour” — will kick off this Friday, July 20 in Bristow, Virginia; and from there the two bands will travel around to 43 different states in just over two months, wrapping up the tour in Hartford, Connecticut on September 23, 2012.

KISS has been promoting the tour with three pre-tour dates that have taken place the last few months, while Motley Crue has put on their own pre-tour performances in June and July. Come Friday though, the two will join together to put on a show that’s going to be “like Elvis on steroids,” according to Paul Stanley, the KISS guitarist.

While Motley Crue hasn’t put out a new album since Saints of Los Angeles in 2008, KISS will be releasing their latest studio effort, Monster, in October. All original members of Motley Crue will be there; as well as Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer for KISS.

Fans of The Killers can put down their beaten-up copies of Sawdust and Day & Age that they’ve been listening to for the past four years, because the band is finally coming out with a new album! Battle Born, the fifth studio effort for the band is about to be released on September 18; and if any fans were disappointed with the pop sound of Day & Age, they’ll be happy to know that the band has returned to their more original sound.

The first song off the album, “Runaways,” was released last month and the slowed-down melody and poetic lyrics are more reminiscent of “When You Were Young” than it is either “Human” or “Spaceman,” two singles released off their 2008 album, Day & Age. To get the first listen of the new “Runaways” track, you can find it here. The newest album will also reunite the band with producer Stuart Price, who worked extensively with the band on their past two albums, Sawdust and Day & Age.

But a new song and a new album just isn’t enough after four years of silence, and The Killers are aware. It’s for this reason that the band will also embark on a tour to promote Battle Born, although no dates or venues have yet been set. Until then, fans are going to have to appease themselves with the new rocker song “Runaways,” and wait for more singles to be released until the album release date.

Broadway can be fun.  In fact, it can be smashing, get down, get gritty and knock your socks off.  They proved it with Rock of Ages, a whimsical story of a country girl taking that midnight express to L.A. with stars in her eyes and a song in her head.  Meeting up with an equally young city boy whose ambitions to rock are as great as her longings to act, wouldn’t you know it; they fall in love.

Set in the eighties with a steamy nightclub breaking the sound waves on ten different channels, the story is full of big hair, big ambitions and even bigger rock stars.  Go where rock used to be, hard, bright and burning the strings, with the music of Journey, Bon Jovi, Poison, Styx, REO and just about any other rock group to grace those hard hitting years.

Shades of the future… a pair of developers convince the mayor this rock popular Sunset Strip club is a den for sex, drugs, and of course, rock and roll, and it really needs to get closed down, so the area can clean up and move on.  In the meantime, our young heroine becomes stricken by a hotshot performer after her boyfriend tells her they’re just friends.  The steam comes to a boiling point when the city planner goes on the defense for hot shot and company, belting out, “hit me with your best shot”.

Your best shot is to see this top rated musical performance that blows the roof off with super charged electrical guitar chords bouncing off the walls and shaking you right down to your boots. Far more light hearted than most Broadway musicals, you’ll want to capture all the magic, with actors that remind you that after all they’re only acting, and mix a touch of comedy with their hard rock sounds.

Like a dizzying time machine, you’ll be catapulted back to that remarkable period when life was built on dreams, when music hit the high notes, and everything was just plain more fun.  Let your hair down, spray it purple, shake it loose and don’t be afraid to feel the music.

The “fourth wall” is often a feared thing on Broadway. It’s that invisible wall separating the audience from the performers, and the spectators from the show-stoppers. It’s the one that constantly has producers and directors wondering if they should try to cross it. Doing so could mean putting on a unique experience that audience-goers will never forget. But doing so badly could also mean ruining whatever magic you’re creating on-stage. So, is breaking the fourth wall a good thing on Broadway?

It really does depend on the show, and in how it’s being done. At the beginning of every performance of Once, the underdog show that just scooped up armfuls of Tony Awards, audience members are invited onstage, to order a drink from the bar in which the play is set. It’s at this time theater-goers can also mingle with the cast of the show, asking questions and bringing accolades — and wondering if they’ll get an answer from the actor, or the character. And while this might be the only audience interaction in Once, and even it’s before the play even begins, it’s done remarkably well. It gives audience members the feeling that they’ve just attended an important cocktail party before the show, and it makes them feel included. Which is, after all, the entire point of breaking the wall in the first place.

Another show currently running on Broadway that successfully breaks the wall is One Man, Two Guvnors. In this show, the constantly hungry Francis shouts out to the audience that he wants some food, after asking one of them to help him move a heavy trunk.

But can all plays break the wall in such a brilliant way? Again, it depends. It needs to be done in a way that includes the audience respectfully. And even if some teasing banter occurs from it, included audience members need to still feel as though they’re an important part of the show because of it.  When that happens, those audience members will leave feeling as though they’ve not only just seen a great performance; but one that also shows the true art of improv, and showcases true raw talent.

As if Bob Dylan adding more dates to his fall tour this year wasn’t exciting enough, it’s now been announced that Mark Knopfler will also be joining him!

Mark Knopfler first became known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the British band Dire Straits. But after the band broke up in the mid-90s, Knopfler struck out on his own, releasing six solo albums. Now that he’s joined this album with Bob Dylan, he will be performing some of his own songs off of his newest album “Privateering” which is to be released on September 3.

But don’t be fooled. While having Mark Knopfler along for the ride will certainly bring one more exciting element to the show for fans, they’re all there to see Bob Dylan — and it’s no wonder why. Dylan will be performing some of his most famous songs, and fans may even get a chance to hear new material from his 35th studio album, which is rumored to be out later this year. Another new song Dylan is said to be performing on his fall tour has a name that is not yet known to the public, but it’s one that is highly anticipated. The song is 14 minutes long and pertains to the Titanic. The song is also said to be included on his new album that’s to be released this fall.

The tour that Dylan is currently on is appropriately called the “Never Ending Tour” and has been on since June 1988. You can find a full listing of tour dates here.

Don’t let the name fool you.  This heavy metal band is one of the most versatile groups on the scene.  If you think rock and roll music has gone downhill in the face of hip-hop and mainstream be-bop, you haven’t been listening to Metallica.  They may have raised the incidental whiplash incidence rate for head bangers, rocking down to “The More I See” and, “Enter the Sandman”, but such numbers as, “Fade to Black” and “Justice for All” can only be defined as classical rock at its best.

Metallica has an understanding of the rock and roll scene that’s difficult to find among the Johnny-come-lately hopefuls to this get-down era of music pleasure.  It’s really no wonder as these sixties born musicians grew up in a time period when rock was sweeping through the air waves.  With Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, and Led Zeppelin as his guide, guitarist and singer, James Hatfield, shapes the spirit and creativity of the heavy metal group.

Have you ever wondered where those astonishing finger-picking sounds come from?  That would be Robert Trujillo, who more often than not, throws his pick away to finger pluck his way into one of the most exciting bass guitarists in rock and roll history, even playing for a while with the infamous or famous; however you wish to perceive him, Ozzy Osborne, in the mid-nineties.

Lars Ulrich has been listening to the sounds of Ritchie Moore and mind-blowing all-time great Deep Purple since he was ten, driving him into his love affair with percussion instruments.  After eighty million albums sold worldwide, Metallica has gone through a lot of collective and individual changes, but Ulrich remains the beat that leads the band.
Kirk Hammet, lead guitarist, joined Metallica in 1983, replacing Dave Mustaine and smoking down the crowds with his first “Kill ’em All” tour debut.  Never one to limit his instrumental knowledge, Hammet’s self-education has included Blues, jazz and classical styles.

The group is back on tour, burning up the International scene with box-office sell-outs in Mexico City and Canada, with a twentieth anniversary celebration of “The Black Album.”

Concert tickets are also available for the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, but if you’re ready to rock down with the hottest heavy metal group on the scene, you’d better buy your ticket early.  They’re going fast.

It’s time to rock and roll. The summer is never complete until you’ve put on your dancing shoes and kicked into the festive, free spirited celebration of a live concert. And what could be livelier than Motley Crue lining up a tour with get-down, hard-rock beat of KISS?

This heavy metal band, formed in Los Angeles in 1981 is still kicking out the big beat, hammering the heart strings with a style and sound that has captured an International fan club. The Motley Crue has been described over the years as the world’s most notorious Rock Band, which hasn’t bothered them in the least. Their notoriety has brought them eighty million album sales worldwide, with twenty-five million in the U.S.

Asked in July of 2011 during an interview with Examiner.com if the group would be putting out another album, Vince Neil, lead singer for the Crue said, “I’m sure we’re due for one. All of us have been writing individually, I write, Nikki’s been writing, and Mick as well, at some point here, we’ll pull all of our ideas together as we always do, and then we’ll start sorting through it at that point.”

The point is just around the corner. With the VIP packages for their tours going fast, and in some places, already sold out, it should be enough inspiration for the group to put out a brand new album. In fact, they’ve already put together a single, called, “Sex”, which is breaking out on the air waves in major cities.

Motley Crue has been featured on a quite a few VH1 countdown shows. For Greatest Air Guitar Song, they ranked number seven, with “Dr. Feelgood,” while “Live Wire” scorched the sound waves as the number 17 Greatest Metal Song of All Times. Mötley Crüe was ranked tenth on MTV’s list “Top 10 Heavy Metal Bands of All-Time” and ninth on “VH1’s All Time Top Ten Metal Bands”.

Packing hard their anarchistic message in an arena where life is gritty and dirty and rock and roll is king, Motley Crue remains today the spirit of rebellion. Don’t let your summer get you down in mundane waves of traffic jams and work routines. Shrug off your cares and your worries, forget about the staid affairs of your neighbor’s cat, and spend some time jamming down with the best–where music is a live wire that grabs you where it counts and heavy metal is king.

Get your Motley Crue tickets today and experience the fire in person!

Alec Baldwin is no stranger to Broadway and next spring he’s coming back, to appear in Lyle Kessler’s Orphans.

Set in Philadelphia, Orphans tells the story of two brothers, Treat and Philip, who are broke and orphaned and living in a shabby townhouse. Philip is the younger of the two and he’s also disabled, leaving Treat to care for him on his own. Having no money but many needs Treat turns to stealing from the rich, and even kidnapping one of them. Enter Harold, played by Alec Baldwin, the rich man that they bind, gag and kidnap in attempt to steal all his money. However, the plan takes an unexpected turn for the two brothers when Harold ends up becoming a father figure to the two broken thieves.

The play is not a new one to the stage, either. It first premiered in 1983 at The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles and then went to off-Broadway in 1985. Alec Baldwin has not yet commented on his return to Broadway but Daniel Sullivan will be the director for this newest revival; and Baldwin has said in the past that he’s always desperately wanted to work with Sullivan on a play. Baldwin has taken the role of Stanley Kowalski in Gregory Mosher’s 1992 Streetcar Named Desire and more recently, in 2004 when he appeared in Twentieth Century.

No other cast or crew members have yet been announced; but it is known that Orphans will play at a Shubert-owned theatre.

As Radiohead was preparing for a show in Toronto’s Downsview Park last Saturday, a drum technician for the band, Scott Johnson, was working on stage when it collapsed around him, killing him in the process and injuring three other crew members. On Thursday the band announced on their website that due to the accident, several of the band’s European tour dates would be postponed until at least July 9.

Understandably, the band and the rest of the crew need time to grieve and recover, but the band says that there are elements of the show that need to be taken into consideration as well.

The announcement regarding the cancelled dates was posted on the band’s website said, “This show was unique and will take many weeks to replace. The collapse also caused serious damage to our backline, some elements of which are decades old and therefore hard to replace. Whilst we all are dealing with the grief and shock ensuing from this terrible accident there are also many practical considerations to deal with and consequently we have to try and reschedule.”

A total of seven dates were cancelled in all, including the dates from June 30 — July 9. The band also announced on their website that dates for the new shows will be announced today; and that arrangements will be made for those who cannot attend the rescheduled shows.

Radiohead’s drummer Phil Selway released his own statement regarding his technician’s death saying Scott was “a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew. We will miss him very much.”

Al Pacino is no stranger to the Pulitzer-prize winning play, Glengarry Glen Ross; he played one of the lead characters, Ricky Roma, in the remake movie in 1992. Pacino was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his portrayal, but lost out to Gene Hackman (“Unforgiven”) and Tommy Lee Jones (“The Fugitive”) respectively. Now Pacino will have another chance but this time, in its original format, on the Broadway stage. And he won’t be taking up the familiar role of Ricky either.

This time he’ll be playing the role of Shelly Levene — one of four down-on-their-luck real estate agents that’s at the mercy of their ruthless boss, John Williamson. All of the agents despise Williamson but need him, because he’s the office manager that hands out the leads (as well as all the dirty tricks to use in order to capture those leads.) Levene, who was once very successful, has now become desperate and when sucking up to the boss isn’t enough, he starts to use his own dirty tricks — talking about how he needs to support his daughter.

Producing the play is Jam Theatricals, the same production team that won the play a Tony Award when it appeared as a revival on Broadway in 2005. Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankle will also be helping with the play’s production; and Daniel Sullivan will be directing.

The play will be running at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater with previews beginning on October 16 and the official opening set for November 11.