70th anniversary of D-Day! I actually am fortunate to have a friend who helped to orchestrate the day, and it is truly wonderful to hear his stories and see his pride. Those WWII vets are dwindling. They truly are the Greatest Generation…..Pulse of Radio reports Linkin Park will head to San Diego next month to take part in the annual geek culture phenomenon known as Comic-Con. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the band will headline a new event sponsored by MTV called the MTV Fan Fest, which will take place at downtown San Diego’s PetCo Park on Thursday, July 24th, the first official day of Comic-Con. The Fan Fest will be followed by the mtvU Fandom Awards, with both events open to all Comic-Con badge holders. For those not attending, mtvU will air an hourlong special on Sunday, July 27th, at 8:00 p.m. ET, highlighting the best moments and performances. Linkin Park’s new album, The Hunting Party, arrives on June 17th and features the singles “Guilty All The Same” and “Until It’s Gone.” The band will head out on the Carnivores Tour later this summer with 30 Seconds To Mars and AFI, beginning on August 8th in West Palm Beach, FL. Meanwhile, Mike and Anna Shinoda will drop by thehardDrive studios Aug 14th to discuss Anna’s book. Her current novel is titled “Learning No To Drown.” More on that in the coming weeks….I heard from a source close to the studio where AC/DC is in Vancouver, that the band is indeed recording a new album and moving forward with Angus and Malcolm‘s nephew Stevie filling in for his Uncle Mal on guitar. Wonderers are wondering when this album may surface along with a tour…..Lzzy Hale performed “That’s Damn Rock and Roll” withEric Church at the CMT Awards the other night in Nashville. Check it out here. I think Nicole Kidmanwas jealous! LOL We love you, Lzzy!…..And finally today, even though a former personal assistant to Axl Rose thinks a reunion of the original band is possible in two years (Dream ON), Consequence of Sound reports in one of the most storied and longest delays in recording music history, it took 14 years before Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy finally hit stands. But never in the six years since that release did we ever think there’d be a sequel out within the decade. Turns out there just might be. Key word: might. In an interview with Revolver (via Stereogum), Axl Rose said the material for a follow-up as well as a remix album has long since been finished. “We recorded a lot of things before Chinese was out,” Rose stated. “We’ve worked more on some of those things and we’ve written a few new things. But basically, we have what I call kind of the second half of Chinese. That’s already recorded. And then we have a remix album made of the songs from Chinese. That’s been done for a while, too.” Of course, the former-greatest singer alive isn’t one to rush into things (obviously). The band still has two dates left in their residency at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and Rose said they’ll figure out the fate of Chinese 2.0 after that. “But after Vegas, we’re going to start looking very seriously at what we’re doing in that regard.”…Happy Brithday today to my pal James “Munky” Shaffer of KORN who turns 44. To my Italian fidanzata Cristina Scabbia who turns 42. Slayer’s Tom Araya is 53. Robert Englund is 65! and The Antichrist is, well, he’s whatever. On Saturday, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro is 47. Eric Kretz of STP is 48, Prince is 56 and SNL’s Bill Hader is 35. Have a great weekend!
