DEF LEPPARD kicked off its second Las Vegas residency on August 14 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Fan-filmed video footage of the entire concert can be seen below. The band's 23-song set included two tracks which had never been performed before — "Let Me Be" from "X" and "We Belong" from "Def Leppard" — along with rarely played cuts "Die Hard The Hunter" (aired for the first time since 1992), "Slang" (first time since 2013), "Billy's Got A Gun" (first time since 2002), "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" (first time since 2005) and "Now" (first time since 2003). There was also a mini-acoustic set in the middle, consisting of four tracks. Setlist: 01. Die Hard The Hunter (performed for first time since 1992) 02. Animal 03. Excitable 04. Promises 05. Foolin' 06. Slang (first time since 2013) 07. Billy's Got A Gun (first time since 2002) 08. Bringin' On The Heartbreak 09. Switch 625 Acoustic 10. Let Me Be The One (live debut) 11. We Belong (live debut) 12. Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad (first time since 2005) 13. Two Steps Behind 14. Now (first time since 2003) 15. Rocket 16. Let's Get Rocked 17. Hysteria 18. Love Bites 19. Armageddon It 20. Pour Some Sugar On Me Encore: 21. Let's Go 22. Rock Of Ages 23. Photograph The band will play nine more "Def Leppard Hits Vegas: The Sin City Residency" shows in August and September. DEF LEPPARD played its first Las Vegas residency six years ago at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, a pioneering effort for a rock band. Speaking to Las Vegas Magazine about how the setlist for the new residency would be different from the 2013 performances, vocalist Joe Elliott said: "We're not doing the same show. In fact, we may not do the same show twice on this one. We've got a ton of songs we've not played for a long time and others we've never played live, so we're mixing those in with the ones that we couldn't get out of the room if we didn't play. "We've never been scared of our hits," he added. "If you can't handle the responsibility of a hit, then don't write it. And we get such a kick out of doing them in front of an audience. We'll never get bored of that." Zappos Theater has previously hosted residencies from Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Lionel Richie and has announced more dates with returning star Pitbull, as well as residencies from Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera. Tickets for "Def Leppard Hits Vegas: The Sin City Residency" went on sale in February. The nine additional performances scheduled so far are August 20, 23, 24, 29 and 31 and September 1, 4, 6 and 7. DEF LEPPARD's latest greatest-hits collection titled "The Story So Far - The Best Of", was released in November. The band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March. The honor came after the British rockers got the most votes in the Rock Hall's online fan poll. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j-H8fGnGUs&w=638&h=359]
According to Realtor.com, former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted is selling his house in Walnut Creek, California. The musician has listed his modern farmhouse in the San Francisco Bay Area for $2.89 million. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home was built in 1986, and covers 6,720 square feet on a 1.37-acre lot. Property details, courtesy of Newsted's representative, Douglas Buenz of Compass: "Fabulous modern farmhouse in a premium location with views. Gorgeous custom updates including hardwood floors, designer fixtures, & custom moldings. The new gourmet kitchen features stunning Moroccan tile & high-end Elise appliances. This home features a formal living room, elegant dining room, spacious family room, & 1 bedroom suite downstairs. The master suite features a retreat with balcony, fireplace, & an updated bathroom featuring soaking tub, separate shower, dual sinks, & large walk-in closet. Two large secondary bedrooms on the second level with updated bath plus a huge third story bonus room. Mud room with laundry & half bath. The picturesque yard is an entertainer's dream with patio, wrap-around porch, sprawling lawn area, and dog run. Studio above the detached 3 car garage & full basement (not included in sq ft). This amazing location has views of Mt. Diablo & is minutes from freeways, BART, & downtown. Plus award winning Walnut Creek schools." A video tour of the house is available below. Newsted is still trying to unload his Sula, Montana ranch, which he put up for sale in 2017 at $4.95 million. That price came down by $450,000 in July to $4.5 million. Five years ago, the now-56-year-old Newsted canceled an appearance at Australia's Soundwave festival with his band NEWSTED, citing "private and personal circumstances." The cancelation followed more than a year of intense touring and promotional activity surrounding the release of NEWSTED's "Metal" EP and follow-up album, "Heavy Metal Music", both of which were positively received by the critics and fans alike. After staying mostly out of the public eye for a couple of years, Newsted rejoined Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD on stage during June 2016 concert at Slim's in San Francisco, California. He has since formed a couple of new acoustic projects, one of which completed a short West Coast tour. Jason left METALLICA back in 2001 but was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, along with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo, in 2009. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQ2dvgN6Xc&w=638&h=359]
During an appearance on the latest episode of the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, Jeff Gutt confirmed that he came close to auditioning for the singer position in ALICE IN CHAINS back in the early 2000s, just a couple of years after the death of the band's original frontman, Layne Staley. "It's different than people think," the current STONE TEMPLE PILOTS vocalist said. "I was really good friends with John Corabi, who was the guy that took Vince Neil's spot [in MÖTLEY CRÜE]. He was working along the DRY CELL guys, when I was doing that. And I ran into him at a club once, and he was playing in a cover band. And at the time, he was doing a thing called CARDBOARD VAMPYRES, I believe, and it was basically ALICE IN CHAINS with John Corabi singing, and they were opening up festivals. And Corabi was, like, 'Dude, do you think you can fill in for me for the VAMPYRES thing?' And I'm, like, 'Yeah. 'Cause if I can get in a room and just sing with these guys, I'll get the gig.' It's kind of how I felt with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. And he goes, 'Well, [ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist] Jerry's [Cantrell] right behind you.' And I was, like, 'What?' So that's the first time I met Jerry Cantrell. And he took my number and paid for my drinks the whole night. He was, like, 'Man, you really remind me of Layne.' And I was, like, 'I don't know if that's a compliment.' But he never called me. If he would have called me and I went and did that, things might have worked out differently. But, yeah, I joke with them now, because I actually just saw them in Detroit a week or two ago. I'm really good friends with [ALICE IN CHAINS bassist] Mike Inez. So I'm always saying hi to those guys and giving them a little poke every now and then… But Will [ALICE IN CHAINS singer William DuVall] is great. I love Will. He's amazing. And he's a good guy too. So, much respect to them." ALICE IN CHAINS split after losing Staley in 2002, but reformed in 2005. The band is fronted by Cantrell and DuVall, who joined in 2006. Last year, ALICE released "Rainer Fog", its sixth album and third without Staley. Gutt recently confirmed to "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" that STONE TEMPLE PILOTS has completed work on a new album. The disc, which is not expected to arrive before 2020, will be Gutt's second with STP after joining the band two years ago. His recording debut with the group was on its self-titled seventh LP, which arrived in March 2018. Gutt, a 43-year-old Michigan native who spent time in the early-2000s nu-metal act DRY CELL, among other bands, and was a contestant on "The X Factor", joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS in 2017 after beating out roughly 15,000 hopefuls during an extended search that began more than a year earlier. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and RIVAL SONS will co-headline a North American tour this fall. The 12-city tour will kick off in Baltimore on September 13, with stops in Philadelphia, New York City, New Orleans and more, before wrapping up in STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' former hometown of San Diego on October 9. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/668297258" params="color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%" height="300" iframe="true" /]
In a recent interview with France's Duke TV, HAMMERFALL's Oscar Dronjak singled out one guitarist as a major influence on his playing and songwriting style. He said (see video below): "One guy who, without me listening to him, I would not sound and play the guitar the way I do is Wolf Hoffmann from ACCEPT. He's my guitar hero, for sure. And not just the way he plays his guitar, but the way he writes the music, the songs, the riffs and everything. And the way he plays the lead guitar on top of the solos. Maybe sometimes it's a riff that sort of morphs into a solo. It's just fantastic guitar playing. So I really love his way of playing the instrument." HAMMERFALL's latest album, "Dominion", was released on August 16 via Napalm Records. For the disc, HAMMERFALL re-teamed with James Michael to do vocals at Red Level Three studios, and Fredrik Nordström of Studio Fredman at Castle Black Studios for the instruments on the 12-song collection. Dronjak told Loud TV about "Dominion": "It's one of those things where you have time finally to perfect everything. We didn't really feel that for [2016's] 'Built To Last'. It was stressed, the songwriting part of it. This time, we really felt ready when we started recording, which I don't think has ever happened. All the songs were where they should be. We had time to go back and let them mature. That made it easier to record. We are in a place right now as a band where we feel it's fun. It's happy, fun, because everything sounds good when we play live." He continued: "I don't think HAMMERFALL has ever sounded better live than we do right now. That feeling, that rush translated into the recording. I think that's what you can hear on it. The songs sound the way they do, they sound, I think they sound perfected, in a way that I don't think the other albums may have done. It's an energy that we didn't have before. We always try to recreate the energy, but it's difficult to actually do it." [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFMTPS2qBko&w=638&h=359]
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz spoke to the "Wall of Sound: Up Against The Wall" podcast about the progress of the recording sessions for the new album from TIMES OF GRACE, his collaborative project with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach. "We are working on it right now," he said. "It's been tough working on it, because we've been pulled between so many things, in between tours, now that the [new KILLSWITCH ENGAGE] record's coming out. But I have been in the midst of working on it for, God, like years now, and it's just finding the time to get it done. I've got about five or six songs pretty much almost finished, but I'm waiting on Jesse, wanting to talk to him more about some vocal parts. I don't feel like singing the whole thing myself, because I think my voice sounds like dick. I wanna make sure I give Jesse a big part of the record. And once again, having him find time to do it as well has been pretty tough. So, we're getting there. I'm hoping by the end of this year it'll be completed. We'll see." Dutkiewicz recently told Metal Wani that TIMES OF GRACE might release a new EP instead of a full-length album. He also called the project's new music "very different." TIMES OF GRACE originally entered Signature Sound studio in San Diego, California in late 2017 to begin recording material for its new LP. Sitting behind the drum kit during the sessions was Dan Gluszak, who previously played drums for TIMES OF GRACE on tour and has since been named an official member of the band. Two years ago, Leach said that TIMES OF GRACE's new material was "shaping up to be a whole different world of sound and words. I will be using different melodic registers and less growl substituted by more 'melodic yelling,'" he said. "The lyrics are primarily quite melancholy so far but most of my lyrics often do begin that way and find light as the process unfolds." Dutkiewicz previously revealed that he had demoed more than a dozen tracks for the next TIMES OF GRACE album. TIMES OF GRACE's debut album, "The Hymn Of A Broken Man", was released in January 2011 via Roadrunner Records. The CD sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 44 on The Billboard 200 chart. Leach told Lithium Magazine in 2016 that "the cool thing about TIMES OF GRACE is that it's another outlet for us, and moving forward with that project, it's gonna be even more different from KILLSWITCH. There's gonna be no quote-unquote metalcore sound going on. As a matter of fact, I'm planning on not doing much aggressive vocals at all." Dutkiewicz and Leach originally worked together on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's benchmark album, 2002's "Alive Or Just Breathing". That record has become definitive for an entire generation of American metal, with Leach's voice and uplifting lyrics serving as one of the key elements that propelled the album to "modern classic" status. Leach left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE shortly after "Alive Or Just Breathing"'s release but rejoined the group in early 2012 following the departure of his replacement, Howard Jones.