2014 M3 Rock Festival Lineup Announced

Kix, Lita Ford, Extreme, Slaughter, John Corabi, Tesla and Sebastian Bach are some of the highlights. To be honest, I'm underwhelmed with this lineup. I was expecting a bigger Saturday headliner.

M3 Rock Festival goes down the last weekend in April at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. That's a suburb of Baltimore. Let me know if you plan on going to this one. I'm pretty sure I'm skipping -- the weekend doesn't work for me. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

The End Is Near

Check out this "save the date" card I just received. The thought is Motley Crue will announce their farewell tour later this month on January 28. I knew this retirement announcement was coming, but it's still sad. What do you think?

Guns n' Roses Announce Tour

Guns n' Roses will hit the road soon. The band will tour South America starting in March. No word if GNR will tour America, but I bet we'll see at least a couple shows over the summer or maybe some festival gigs. Here are the South American dates. This site has a lot of readers in Brazil, so I'm interested in hearing from anyone planning to attend one of these shows.  

3/16 – Mexico City, Mexico
3/20 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3/22 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil
3/25 – Brasilia, Brazil
3/28 – Sao Paulo, Brazil
3/30 – Curitiba, Brazil
4/1 – Florianapolis, Brazil
4/3 – Porto Alegre, Brazil
4/6 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
4/9 – Asuncion, Paraguay

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Well, This Is Ridiculous

Oh, those cheeky boys in Steel Panther have done it again. Their little holiday-picture idea was a great publicity stunt. Steel Panther will release All You Can Eat later this year.

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Limited Number of ShipRocked Staterooms Available; Sails This Month

For those looking to join the sold-out ShipRocked 2014, a limited number of staterooms have been released. The ultimate rock music cruise vacation sails roundtrip from the Port Of Miami to Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas from January 26-30 onboard the Norwegian Pearl. The remaining cabins are available on a first come first served basis at www.ShipRocked.com.

In addition, Tremonti (featuring Grammy Award winning guitarist Mark Tremonti), ShipRocked2010 alumni Black Stone Cherry, and DJ Lippy Rage from Tulsa (spinning late-night) have been added to the power-packed ShipRocked bill.

The ShipRocked band lineup now includes headliners Five Finger Death Punch, along with Papa Roach, Three Days Grace, Sevendust, Candlebox, In This Moment, The Halo Method, Living Colour, Tremonti, Black Stone Cherry, Nonpoint, Love & Death (with Brian “Head” Welch), Aranda, Art of Dying, Young Guns, Crash Kings, Butcher Babies,Scorpion Child, Wilson, American Fangs, Digital Summer, and Andy Wood & The Amalgam.

ShipRocked will also feature two heavy metal-infused frenetic comedy performances from comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Jim Breuer, known for his impersonations of Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC. The 5-day ShipRocked cruise--fueled by Monster Energy--will include a special onboard DJ set by Neil Sanderson of Three Days Grace and a comedy set from Big Jay Oakerson. Rock and roll dance troupe Hells Belles Burlesque (www.hellsbellesburlesque.com) is slated for a pair of performances, and will be offering burlesque workshops during the cruise. In addition, Fuse TV’s “Mistress Juliya” Chernetskywill join Kayla Riley of SiriusXM Radio and Ralph Sutton of Tour Bus Radio as guest emcees for ShipRocked 2014.

As in the past, ShipRocked guests will enjoy multiple performances from every band on different stages, artist meet and greets, Q&A sessions, along with artist-hosted activities including contests, game shows, insane parties, theme nights and more. Onboard, bands will perform on the large outdoor Monster Energy Deck Stage, in the beautiful Stardust Theater, the Crystal Atrium stage, and the Spinnaker Lounge. While in port at Great Stirrup Cay, guests will enjoy unforgettable performances on the island’s Beach Stage.

The fifth ShipRocked cruise will host a full ship of nearly 3,000 guests from 44 states across the U.S. and almost a dozen countries around the world.

Watch This All- Female Motley Crue Tribute Band

I'm not typically big on tribute bands, but Girls, Girls, Girls is worth a second look. The all-female Motley Crue tribute band is both interesting and entertaining. Even the band member's "names" are worth a chuckle: Vixen Neil, Lucky Sixx, Mercedes Mars and Tawny Lee.  Here's "Live Wire." 

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2014 M3 Pre-Party Plans

Please note, this is not an official M3 event.

D-TOXIN PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS THE 2014 "M-PRE PARTY" - THURSDAY NIGHT - APRIL 24, 2014 - COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

Once again D-Toxin Productions will be holding the annual "M-Pre Party" in Columbia, MD., prior to the beginning of the festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion. This year's pre-party event will be held at Sonoma's Bar and Grill in Columbia, MD., on Thursday, April 24, 2014. So far, four great bands are lined up for the evening. This is a great way to kick off your weekend early. Each year this event gets bigger and better!

Advanced ticket sales coming soon. Watch the event Facebook page for more details.

Event bands, with commentary from event coordinator Dave Dillman:

BLACK TORA - Hailing from Texas, this three piece outfit will blow you away. I was so happy I was able to talk them into making the long trip to play this show. This is one of the most talented bands out there.

NASTY HABIT - Talk about taking a trip back in time... This band will make you think it is 1987 all over again. This band will not disappoint, you will not want to miss this one.

STATION - Back by popular demand, Station will keep the party going again this year. This band has it all: great songs and stellar musicianship. Anyone who was at last year's event will know why this band is back again in 2014.

WICKED - I really don't know what to say about this band... You'll just have to see and hear them for yourself. This band puts on a show like it should be done. This band is young and hungry... and it shows. If you like early Motley Crue, KISS, and Ratt you will love this band.