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OZZFEST GROUNDBREAKING ANNOUNCED

The following message has been posted at the official OZZFest website:

"GROUNDBREAKING ANNOUNCEMENT PULLS PLUG ON TICKET PRICES

"This will change everybody’s impression of the way touring in the summer in America should be." - Sharon Osbourne

Imagine a day of wall-to-wall hard rock.

Imagine the world's greatest headliner sharing a bill with cutting edge new artists.

Imagine if this brass-knuckled beast was hellbent on coming to your town.

Imagine this earth-pounding event... FOR FREE.

2007 will forever mark the year OZZFest spiked the concert industry's punch and gave every head-banging American kid a reason to strap on an air guitar with the historic announcement that tickets to the summer’s premiere touring concert festival won't cost fans a dime.

Testing one, two, three...

That's right, OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE and tour producer Live Nation broke the news today at the Concert Industry Consortium in Los Angeles that their 12th annual hard rock spectacular - a 25-date extravaganza launching July 7th in Los Angeles - is pulling the plug on ticket prices and giving the power back to the fans calling this summer’s OZZFest "FreeFest." The other OZZFest cities as of now are San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. Note: a final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming.

"For the last few years," says Sharon, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."

Cited as “one of rock’s biggest juggernauts” in the cover feature of Sunday's New York Times' “Arts and Leisure” section (6/25/06), OZZFest and Live Nation will turn to sponsors to provide added support for the festival's new incarnation. This summer’s OZZFest will provide select sponsors with a unique opportunity to engage fans one-on-one utilizing one of music’s best known brands.

"We're reaching the same point we did years ago when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs," compares Sharon. "As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music. That’s what’s happening with summer touring in this country, it’s out-pricing itself. We started this and we want to keep it and we want to make it bigger and bigger each year by getting bigger sponsors to be involved with the festival and underwriting the festival. That’s what it’s about."

“For the past 11 years, music fans have made OZZFest the most successful and enduring rock music festival in the United States,” said Jason Garner, Live Nation President of North American Concerts. “What better way to say ‘Thank You’ to the music fans who have made this possible than inviting them to attend OZZFest for free.”

To gain entry into the event, fans will go to www.ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured. More details regarding the process are forthcoming.

As OZZFest’s founder and namesake, Ozzy will make his triumphant return to the headlining position on this year's mainstage after surprising fans last year by performing on the down-and-dirty second stage at a handful of dates. Audiences can expect the Prince of Darkness to unveil new songs from his forthcoming studio album, Ozzy’s first disc of new material since 2001. While the rest of the in-progress bill is under wraps, Sharon points out, "we have bands committed, but we’re hoping that after today's announcement we’ll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking. We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they've got. They're also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of OZZFest. I’m not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives."

Since 1996, OZZFest has been a virtual breeding ground for rising bands. The festival has been instrumental in igniting the careers of platinum-selling artists like SYSTEM OF A DOWN, DISTURBED, LINKIN PARK, INCUBUS, SLIPKNOT, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and GODSMACK. Along with supporting bands on the rise including AVENGED SEVENFOLD, MUDVAYNE, LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and LACUNA COIL, among others.

“ OZZFest was created to keep this genre of music alive by showcasing new talent," states Sharon. "You better believe we’re going to keep perpetuating that by hand-picking compelling new bands that are hungry for OZZFest's career-making exposure."

About Live Nation...

Live Nation is the world’s leading live music company, annually connecting more than 60 million fans with their favorite performers at over 30,000 events. We are the largest producer of live concerts in the world, the second-largest venue management company and have a rapidly growing online presence. Live Nation creates superior experiences for artists and fans, regularly producing tours for the biggest superstars in the business, including The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, U2 and Coldplay. Globally, we own, operate and/or have booking rights for more than 170 venues, including House of Blues-branded music venues and prestigious locations such as San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London’s Hammersmith Apollo and Wembley Arena. Live Nation’s websites collectively are the second most popular entertainment event websites in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” For more information regarding concerts near you, Live Nation and its businesses, please visit our website at www.LiveNation.com.

Source BBM

   

VAN HALEN ON REHEARSAL WITH ROTH "... IT WAS PURE MAGIC"

Launch Radio Networks has issued the following report from Bruce Simon:

Forget all the tension and bad feelings -- the VAN HALEN - DAVID LEE ROTH reunion is nothing but happiness and sunshine. At least, that's what Eddie Van Halen is saying.

After the official announcement was made last week about "Diamond Dave" being back in the group, Eddie told MTV News, "Playing these timeless hits only works with Dave. After one rehearsal, it was pure magic." He also told Rolling Stone, "I am having a blast playing songs we wrote with Dave and I can't wait to get on stage and get it on with and for the fans!"

In addition, Eddie told TMZ.com, "It feels like a whole new beginning to be back with Dave and to be playing with my brother and my son. We look forward to going on tour."

Van Halen will do a 40-date tour this summer, making it the first time Roth has performed with the group since their 1984 tour, back in 1984. Roth's time with the group ended in April 1985, though whether he quit or was fired depends on who you ask.

While Roth is back, bassist Michael Anthony is out, having been replaced by Eddie's 15-year-old son Wolfgang.

Source Launch Radio Networks

   

AC/DC MAXIMUM ROCK & ROLL BOOK AVAILABLE NOW

Modern Guitars Magazine has issued the following press release:

Over three decades and more than 150 million albums, AC/DC has established itself as much more than just a great rock band. For millions of fans spanning several generations across the world, they are an ear-bleedingly loud, sweat-soaked religion, courtesy of such classic albums as Highway To Hell and Back in Black. Now AC/DC Maximum Rock & Roll (HarperCollins, $25.95) is available in major bookstores across the United States.

This new book by Murray Engleheart and Arnaud Durieux offers astonishing breadth and scope, and for the very first time, the complete story of AC/DC. Everything you ever wanted to know and plenty more you never dreamt of is all here, the ultimate balls-out adventure, laced with sex, drunken escapades and brawls. It's a journey that started in the suburban Sydney, Australia, bedrooms of brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, boys who could wreak havoc with their guitars. Over their power chords were the lyrics and voice of Bon Scott, who would lead them higher and higher — until his tragic death in 1980. The bittersweet irony after his death was that not only did the Youngs manage to hold together without him, but the band's fortunes and status skyrocketed with his replacement, Brian Johnson, and the album Back In Black.

Five years in the making, AC/DC Maximum Rock & Roll is sourced from the author's personal interviews with the band, and over 75 exclusive interviews with those who worked with AC/DC both in the studio and on the road — many of whom have never spoken about the band publicly. Additionally, the authors drew from more than 1,300 AC/DC interviews for this project. It's topped off with over 100 stunning, never-before-seen photos to create the ultimate portrait of the ultimate rock band. AC/DC Maximum Rock & Roll was first published in Australia in November 2006 and has just reached Best Seller status there.

Murray Engleheart is one of the most respected music journalists in Australia, having written for magazines all over the world in the past quarter of a century and interviewed the members of AC/DC on many occasions. He also wrote liner notes for several AC/DC albums.

Arnaud Durieux is a former rock journalist who has followed AC/DC's career for twenty-five years, amassing what is without question the largest archive of AC/DC material anywhere in the world. He has interviewed the band several times and has worked as a consultant on many of the band's projects for Warner Music and Sony Music. He also runs the authoritative www.ac-dc.net website.

Source Launch Radio Networks

 

 

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