Press Release:

If your definition of rock 'n roll is massive four-on-the-floor hits delivered by larger-than-life artists through stacks of high-decibel amps, then this is your destination... this is “where rock lives.”

The first annual Rock On The Range is set for Saturday, May 19th at Ohio's Columbus Crew Stadium. Presented by Right Arm Entertainment and AEG Live, the heavyweight bill includes ZZ TOP, EVANESCENCE and VELVET REVOLVER, along with a host of platinum-selling artists. General admission tickets, priced at $49.50, go on sale Saturday, March 10th at noon (ET) at www.ticketmaster.com (keyword: "Rock On The Range") and all Ticketmaster outlets.

The all-star line-up appearing on two stages at Columbus Crew Stadium (One Black and Gold Blvd., Columbus, OH) are such chart-toppers as HINDER, CHEVELLE, THREE DAYS GRACE, BREAKING BENJAMIN, PAPA ROACH, BUCKCHERRY and PUDDLE OF MUDD, plus up-and-comers THE OPERATOR and BLACK STONE CHERRY. Additional bands for the all-day event - which begins at noon - will be announced soon. Mark McCullers, General Manager of Columbus Crew Stadium, is excited about the debut event, noting: “No event like Rock on the Range currently exists in the area and it has the potential to fill a tremendous void for outdoor summer concert entertainment in the future.“

"This is a music festival that was not created with trendiness in mind--the only prerequisite at Rock On The Range is a passion for great ROCK music and a good time," states organizer Del Williams. "We chose Columbus as the location for this national event because it's centrally located. And right there, in the heart of America, is where you'll find the epicenter of pure, no-strings-attached rock n' roll." Joe Litvag of AEG LIVE concurs: “The idea of creating a unique rock festival in the heart of the country embraces AEG LIVE’s overall philosophy of the festival business."

With over 200 million albums sold between them, the Rock On The Range artists know exactly how to make infectious music that appeals to everybody with a pulse. From the classic Texas blues of ZZ Top, to the soaring melodies of Evanescence and the untamed swagger of Velvet Revolver, Rock On The Range will deliver the songs that have become the personal soundtrack to millions of true rock fans.

"Simply put, Rock On The Range is where rock lives,” says Williams.

Source Rockontherange

Recently, Cassandra Szklarski of the Canadian Press conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. Few excerpts are follow:

On the song "A Tout Le Monde" — long misinterpreted as pro-suicide when in fact it was written about the sudden death of his mother — which inspired a deranged gunman who opened fire at a Montreal community college last year:

"The song doesn't belong to the killer. The song belongs to the people of Montreal, if anything it belongs to me and it was my gift to them. It was never meant to be misinterpreted like that."

On why he chose to record a new version of the song, which has been reworked as a duet (with Cristina Scabbia of the Italian goth/metal band LACUNA COIL) and will be the first single off the band's new album, "United Abominations":

"The song never got its opportunity to get out and it's a total fan favourite, people love it wherever we're at."

On his original plans to re-record the song as a duet with tabloid staple Lisa Marie Presley:

"Lisa Marie Presley, there's a certain calibre of talent there that she obviously could sing the song, but I don't know that people would look at it as seriously because of her pedigree. I'm excited that she would even know what MEGADETH is and I'm flattered that she accepted."

On the 2004 documentary "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster", in which Mustaine berates METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich for kicking him out of the band instead of trying to help him deal with his addiction:

"After the documentary I hated them, but it took some time for this whole thing to kind of reveal itself. There are certain things that I miss in James, certain things that I'm glad are gone with Lars and just there's no more sour grapes. How can you sit in a house on a hill and have gas in your tank and food in your refrigerator and be bitter about something like that, especially so many years ago? . . The good thing about it is that it's finally given proof to the world that I was part of this band. Regardless of whether I was in it for awhile or not, truth was, it was in the formidable stages. I was the only guitar player and James just sang."

Source Canada

Recently Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited conducted an interview with legendary heavy metal drummerVinny Appice (HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO). Few excerpts are follow:

Classic Rock Revisited: Have you [HEAVEN AND HELL] started actual rehearsals yet?

Vinny: We just started [February 19]. On the first day we were amazed at how tight it sounded. It was like we had never stopped playing. We were all just blown away.

Classic Rock Revisited: What was the first song you guys rehearsed?

Vinny: "After All" from "Dehumanizer". We started with that song — or was it? Actually, it was "Computer God" and then it was that one. We are only playing the [Ronnie James] Dio era. Tony [Iommi] and Geezer [Butler] have just done all the stuff with Ozzy. If the band had not been together for a long time and we went out and didn't play any classic Ozzy-era SABBATH stuff then that would be different but since they have been playing with Ozzy in BLACK SABBATH that makes it different.

Classic Rock Revisited: How is it to hear that Ronnie, at his age, is still as strong a singer as he was thirty years ago?

Vinny: It is great to be back. I have seen Ronnie here and there but we had not had a chance to talk. We have been able to catch up on things this time. When I first heard his voice again it felt really cool. Within five minutes it felt natural. Ronnie is just singing his ass off. He is actually singing better than he has ever sung.

Classic Rock Revisited: Tony and Ronnie will have to coexist again. Both are natural born leaders. Do you think they can do it this time?

Vinny: They have worked together before and they have realized how to work together without having any discrepancies. Ronnie was writing with Tony before this project got to this stage. I think that after all these years it will go pretty smooth.

Classic Rock Revisited: Will you be playing all three new songs on the tour?

Vinny: We are putting all three in there. The set list is really, really strong on this tour.

Classic Rock Revisited: Is this the second time you have replaced Bill Ward?

Vinny: It is more like the third time. I replaced him on the HEAVEN AND HELL tour. Bill left and they had heard of me and they called me and asked me to come down. I went on tour with them and then we finished the tour and we did the "Mob Rules" and the "Live Evil" albums. SABBATH got back together and were going to do "Dehumanizer" and Cozy Powell was going to be the drummer but he fell off a horse and broke his pelvis. Tony said, "Let's call Vinny." They were having issues at that time so I didn't think that one was going to last for long. The next time I replaced Bill was when they were doing the reunion tour with Ozzy. Bill had a minor heart attack during rehearsals and couldn't do it. So HEAVEN AND HELL makes the third time I replaced Bill plus one time, I replaced Cozy.

Classic Rock Revisited: [DIO's] "Holy Diver" is perhaps the best metal album of the '80s. Did you know it was that good at the time?

Vinny: When we were making "Holy Diver" we just went about our business of putting some ideas down. We had a lot of fun making that album. We were all crazy. We didn't think we were making a classic album. We were just making what we felt. Everything came from the heart. We had no preconceived notions of anything. I remember one of my roadies coming up to me and saying, "This is going to go platinum." I told him that we would keep our fingers crossed. Who would have known that twenty-five years later the thing is still selling. You just don't know that at the time.

Classic Rock Revisited: What is your take on why Vivian Campbell got fired by Ronnie?

Vinny: After a while Viv wanted to go out and play his own music — a different kind of music than DIO made. I don't think Ronnie was really keen on that and neither was the rest of the band. It caused a lot of friction so Ronnie decided he was going to get rid of Viv. That is what happened with that.

Classic Rock Revisited: Do you feel that original line up was the strongest he has ever had?

Vinny: That is the classic lineup. There are certain lineups of bands that are magical. When you replace one of those members then it can still sound good but the magic is just not there. In BLACK SABBATH they had chemistry with Ozzy and with Dio. I did think that was the best lineup for DIO. All the success and all the biggest songs came from that initial line up.

Source Classic Rock Revisited