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HEAVEN AND HELL TO PLAY ADDITIONAL U.S. TOURS

HEAVEN AND HELL drummer Vinny Appice has reportedly been telling the press in recent interviews that the band will be touring the U.S. sooner (around April-May) than the late summer plans (August) the band had originally announced. This has now been officially confirmed in a posting on HEAVEN AND HELL bassist Geezer Butler's official web site, which also reveals that rehearsals for the tour began today (Monday, February 19) in Los Angeles.

HEAVEN AND HELL's only confirmed U.S. concert this spring is currently scheduled for March 30 at the Radio City Music Hall (capacity: 6,000) in New York City. Tickets for that show officially sold out approximately 45 minutes after tickets went on sale on January 26.

Source BBM

   

MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO: NEW QUAD GUITAR AND TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT

BBM reports that World-renowned guitar-shredding phenom Michael Angelo Batio (HOLLAND, N.I.T.R.O., MICHAEL ANGELO, HANDS WITHOUT SHADOWS) recently appeared at NAMM 2007 and unveiled his new "Quad" guitar, designed in conjunction with Dean Zelinski. This guitar replaces the original Ritz "Quad" that was designed in conjunction with Wayne Charvel and which was subsequently stolen in 1989 while on tour in El Paso, TX. Only half of the original "Quad" guitar was ever recovered by Michael in 2004.

The new Michael Angelo Batio Signature Model Dean, which was originally set for its unveiling at Winter NAMM 2007, is now tentatively set to arrive at Dean retailers in April. Michael states: "The headstock that you saw is not the one that is going to be on the actual production model. I know that a lot of you didn't like it and frankly, it didn't turn out like we had anticipated from the original drawings. The real headstock will be the exact one that is on the Dave Mustaine model. Also, we are now developing a 'killer' graphic that just wasn't ready in time for NAMM. What I can say about the instrument is that the neck feels great and I chose EMGs because they sound fantastic with this guitar. The inlays will be slightly different on the production model as well."

Michael Angelo Batio's new DVD, titled "Performance" is in stock and shipping now. "Performance" is an in-depth look at Michael Angelo Batio the man, the artist, the entertainer, performing live at "Monster Mix" studio. Included are his versions of "Burn", "Tribute to Randy", "Hands Without Shadows", "China", "The Finish Line", plus a beautiful unaccompanied acoustic guitar piece titled "A New Day", his double-guitar solo and more!

Michael has announced the first leg of his 2007 "HWS (Hands Without Shadows) World Tour". Michael has been scheduled to perform at Day Jams and the National Guitar Workshop in over a dozen major USA cities this summer, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Baltimore, to name a few!

For detailed show information, go to this location.

Source BBM

   

MIKE PORTNOY ON NEW DREAM THEATER ALBUM "HEAVY AND TECHNICAL, POWERFUL AND DYNMIC"

Tama recently uploaded the interview with DREAM THEATER's drummer, Mike Portnoy about new Dream Theater album "Systematic Chaos". Few excerpts are follows:

TAMA: What is DREAM THEATER up to these days?

Mike: We've been in the recording studio since September '06. And we are, at this moment, completing work on the new album. We're actually mixing it right now, and we should be finished in about two weeks. So come mid-February, the album will be done, and it's gonna be out in June.

TAMA: How would you describe the direction of this album?

Mike: Heavy and technical, powerful and dynamic — all of the elements that people kind of expect out of a DREAM THEATER album. All of the styles and sounds are intact, but we wanted to make it a real sonic explosion. It's very dramatic and aggressive. I don't know — all of the above adjectives fit [laughs].

TAMA: You will be drumming for John Petrucci on the upcoming G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert. What sort of material will you guys be playing?

Mike: We just do stuff from John's solo album, which he put out a couple of years ago. That was stuff he wrote specifically for G3, so that's the stuff we always play on the G3 tours.

TAMA: You recently recorded a new instructional DVD. Can you tell us some more about that and what topics it will cover?

Mike: It comes out in a few weeks, I think March 1st is the street date. It's called "In Constant Motion", and it's a mammoth DVD. It's the titanic of all instructional DVDs. It's a three-disc set, about seven hours long, and it basically just covers everything I've been doing ever since my last instructional DVD, "Liquid Drum Theater". So it covers a lot of ground. The first disc concentrates on DREAM THEATER and music from the last three albums that we've made. The second disc is everything I've done outside of DREAM THEATER, so it ranges from TRANSATLANTIC, to Neal Morse's solo music, to OSI, to all four of my tribute bands — the tributes I did to THE BEATLES, THE WHO, LED ZEPPELIN, and RUSH, as well as guest appearances with John Arch and FATES WARNING and OVERKILL. So it really covers a tremendous amount of ground. And then the third disc has additional bonus live tracks with DREAM THEATER, as well as three different drum solos from throughout the years, one of which includes the duets I did with Jason Bittner, Charlie Benante, and Richard Christy. So there's just a tremendous amount of stuff on this whole set.

TAMA: Has your playing and/or approach to drumming changed at all from the early DREAM THEATER days to now?

Mike: Within DREAM THEATER, not that much. If you listen to our early demos from Berklee back in 1985 up till what I do now in DREAM THEATER, it's a definite style that has been maintained and continued through the years — except I think I've just grown better and more mature in executing it. But it's always been about progressive, odd time signatures, chops, and exciting, over-the-top playing, and that's been the style that I've always incorporated with DREAM THEATER, for 22 years now. However, outside of DREAM THEATER, especially over the past 6 or 7 years, I've been able to do so many different things, and I think those are the areas that have really defined me as a drummer. The fact that I've been able to play, like I already mentioned, the simplicity of some of Neal Morse's music, all the way to the kind of postmodern drumming that I've done with OSI — playing with drum loops and samples and things like that. And then the tributes I've done have all been a different style, from Keith Moon to John Bonham to Ringo Starr to Neil Peart. Those are four completely different styles that I've been able to become completely obsessed with and kind of morph myself into. So to answer your question how have I changed from the beginning till now, I think I've been able to try so many different things, because of the side projects, and that's really helped me be a better musician.

Source Tama

 

 

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