Metal music
DragonForce Announces Fall 2023 North American Dates
British power metal band DragonForce are touring North America this fall with special guests Amaranthe, Nanowar of Steel, and Edge of Paradise. Tickets and a limited number of VIP experiences are available at dragonforce.com.
- 10/20 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater*
- 10/21 – Albuquerque, NM – Revel*
- 10/23 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room & Garage
- 10/24 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
- 10/25 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
- 10/27 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
- 10/28 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
- 10/30 – Atlanta, GA – Heaven at The Masquerade
- 10/31 – Charlotte, NC – The Underground
- 11/1 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
- 11/3 – New York, NY – Palladium Time Square
- 11/4 – Worcester, MA – Palladium
- 11/5 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
- 11/6 – Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall
- 11/8 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom
- 11/9 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre
- 11/10 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
- 11/11 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
- 11/12 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater
- 11/14 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
- 11/15 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
- 11/16 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory Concert House
- 11/18 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre
- 11/19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
* Nanowar of Steel will not be appearing
Gwar: Age of Imbeciles Tour 2023
Gwar is setting out this fall on their Age of Imbeciles Tour alongside Negative Approach, X-Cops, and Cancer Christ! You can get your tickets at gwar.net.
- 10/11 – Hampton Beach, NH – Wally’s Pub*+
- 10/12 – South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground*
- 10/13 – New York, NY – Palladium Times Square*
- 10/14 – Reading, PA – Reverb*
- 10/15 – Niagara Falls, NY – The Rapids Theatre*
- 10/16 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre^
- 10/18 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
- 10/19 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave/Eagles Club
- 10/20 – Columbia, MO – The Blue Note
- 10/21 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
- 10/22 – Huntsville, AL – Mars Music Hall
- 10/24 – Richmond, VA – The National
- 10/25 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
- 10/26 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
- 10/27 – Gainesville, FL – The Fest 2023■
- 10/28 – Pensacola, FL – Vinyl Music Hall
- 10/29 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (Heaven)
- 10/30 – Orlando, FL – The Beacham
* No X-Cops
+ Special guest, Beartooth
^ No Negative Approach
■ Gwar only, festival appearance
Tool Announces 2023 Fall Dates
The first date of this tour was technically Tool’s set at Louder Than Life… I guess I should have posted sooner. Whoops!
Anyway, Tool is touring this fall. With them will be opener Steel Beans, who will be appearing on the non-festival dates starting October 11th in Salt Lake City. Tickets/VIP are available at toolband.com!
- 10/3 – Loveland, CO – Budweiser Events Center (w/special guest Emily Wolfe)
- 10/6 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival 2023
- 10/8 – Indio, CA – Power Trip Festival 2023
- 10/11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Delta Center
- 10/12 – Idaho Falls, ID – Hero Arena at the Mountain America Center
- 10/14 – Nampa (Boise), ID – Ford Idaho Center Arena
- 10/15 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena
- 10/17 – Eugene, OR – Matthew Knight Arena
- 10/19 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
- 10/20 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
- 10/22 – Kelowna, BC – Prospera Place
- 10/23 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
- 10/25 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
- 10/27 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
- 10/29 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
- 10/31 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
- 11/1 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
- 11/3 – Knoxville, TN – Food City Center
- 11/4 – Charleston, WV – Charleston Coliseum
- 11/6 – Rochester, NY – Blue Cross Arena
- 11/7 – Allentown, PA – PPL Center
- 11/10 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
- 11/11 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
- 11/13 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena
- 11/15 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
- 11/16 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
- 11/19 – Montreal, QC – Centre Bell
- 11/20 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
- 11/21 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Wednesday 13 Performs Murderdolls – 2023 Tour Dates (Updated 9/30)
Update: The show on 11/14 has been moved from Racine, WI, to Belvedere, IL, at the Apollo Theatre!
Horror punk band Murderdolls’ debut album, Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls, turns 21 this year! In celebration of this anniversary, frontman Wednesday 13 is hitting the road to perform songs from their first record, as well as their second and final release, Women and Children Last (2010). Wednesday’s touring lineup for this run includes Murderdolls’ alumni Roman Surman and Jack Tankersley.
The supporting acts are Gemini Syndrome, Infected Rain, and Black Satellite.
Get your tickets and VIP experiences at officialwednesday13.com.
- 10/20 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go
- 10/21 – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill
- 10/22 – Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse
- 10/24 – Portland, OR – Bossanova Ballroom
- 10/25 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
- 10/27 – Roseville, CA – Goldfield Trading Post Roseville
- 10/28 – San Jose, CA – The Ritz
- 10/29 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick
- 10/31 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater
- 11/1 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
- 11/3 – Dallas, TX – Sundown at Granada
- 11/4 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
- 11/5 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
- 11/6 – Tulsa, OK – The Shrine
- 11/7 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
- 11/9 – Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theatre
- 11/10 – Madison, WI – The Red Zone Madison
- 11/11 – Joliet, IL – The Forge
- 11/12 – Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre
- 11/14 – Belvedere, IL – Apollo Theatre
- 11/15 – Flint, MI – The Machine Shop
- 11/16 – Lakewood, OH – The Foundry
- 11/17 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Crafthouse Stage & Grill
- 11/18 – Lititz, PA – Mickey’s Black Box
- 11/19 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz
- 11/22 – Spartanburg, SC – Ground Zero
- 11/24 – Winston-Salem, NC – Millennium Center
- 11/25 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
- 11/26 – Leesburg, VA – Tally Ho Theater
- 11/28 – Atlanta, GA – Hell at The Masquerade
- 11/30 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
- 12/1 – Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall
- 12/2 – Columbus, OH – The KING of CLUBS
- 12/3 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi
- 12/5 – Des Moines, IA – Lefty’s Live Music
- 12/6 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
- 12/8 – Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater
- 12/9 – Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep
5 Neue Deutsche Härte Bands to Follow (That Aren’t Rammstein)
This is far from a comprehensive list, of course, but here are five bands I’ve discovered from the neue Deutsche härte genre that don’t get nearly enough recognition in the U.S.
1. Oomph!
Formed in 1989, Oomph! actually pioneered the neue Deutsche härte movement, according to some sources The thing I really love about them is the fact that they change a little (sometimes a lot) every couple of albums. They started with a more electronic/dance/industrial sound, but they quickly morphed into guitar-driven rock/metal. Several bands that came after drew inspiration from Oomph!, including – most notably – Rammstein.
2. Eisbrecher
I actually discovered Eisbrecher years ago, but I didn’t know the band’s name. My best friend had their song “Wilkommen im Nichts” downloaded to her computer, and I loved it. Later, I searched for the song, found that it was by Eisbrecher, and went down the rabbit hole. I bought a copy of their 2010 release Eiszeit and I’ve been a fan ever since.
3. Stahlmann
I found Stahlmann after I’d begun listening to Eisbrecher (and obsessing over the track “Wir Sind Wir” by Paul van Dyk and Peter Heppner). I think at that point I was simply looking for similar bands because I really enjoy the genre. The first song I remember hearing by Stahlmann was “Schwarz.”
4. Erdling
Erdling was founded in 2014 by Neill Freiwald and Niklas Kahl. They are a blend of heavier rock and neue Deutsche härte. I remember listening to “Mein Element” and really being able to hear the Rammstein influence.
5. Die Kreatur
Die Kreatur is a project formed by Chris Harms (Lord of the Lost) and Dero Goi (Oomph!). The two artists had made guest appearances on tracks for each other’s bands, and they finally decided to merge into a separate entity. The project meshes together the more gothic metal sound of Lord of the Lost with the neue Deutsche härte elements that started with Oomph! Thus far, they have only released one album, entitled Panoptikum, but here’s hoping there will be more from them in the future!
Song of the Day — Counter: “The Darkness”
We Came As Romans: Darkbloom II Tour 2023
We Came As Romans will be kicking off their Darkbloom II Tour on October 10th in Indianapolis, IN. This run features special guests Emmure, Bodysnatcher, and Archetypes Collide. You can get tickets and VIP at iamdarkbloom.com.
- 10/10 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre
- 10/11 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
- 10/13 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
- 10/14 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
- 10/15 – Joliet, IL – The Forge
- 10/17 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
- 10/18 – Toronto, ON – Danforth
- 10/20 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
- 10/21 – Hartford, CT – The Webster
- 10/22 – Providence, RI – Fete Music Hall
- 10/24 – Albany, NY – Empire Live
- 10/25 – Harrisburg, PA – HMAC
- 10/27 – Norfolk, VA – NorVa
- 10/28 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
- 10/29 – Columbia, SC – The Senate
- 10/31 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
- 11/1 – Tampa, FL – Jannus Live
- 11/3 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
- 11/4 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
- 11/5 – San Antonio, TX – Vibes Event Center
- 11/6 – Tucson, AZ – Encore
- 11/8 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
- 11/10 – Pomona, CA – Fox Theater
- 11/11 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl
- 11/12 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
- 11/14 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
- 11/15 – Omaha, NE – The Admiral
- 11/17 – St. Louis, MO – Red Flag
- 11/18 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
- 11/19 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
Mushroomhead Shares Headlining Dates For October 2023
Avant-garde masked metal marauders Mushroomhead are touring this October alongside special guest Hellzapoppin: Circus Sideshow Revue, Kurt Deimer, and FleischKrieg. Grab your tickets at mushroomhead.com!
- 10/6 – Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance Theater
- 10/7 – Reading, PA – Reverb
- 10/8 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
- 10/11 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
- 10/13 – Houston, TX – RISE Rooftop
- 10/14 – Dallas, TX – The Studio at The Factory
- 10/19 – Madison, WI – The Annex
- 10/20 – Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre
- 10/24 – Warrendale, PA – Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
- 10/26 – Columbus, OH – The KING of CLUBS
- 10/28 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom
Lacuna Coil: October Dawn 2023
Italian goth metal act Lacuna Coil is returning to the U.S. this October with metal legends Fear Factory* and special guest Lions At The Gate! Tickets available at lacunacoil.com.
Note: Fear Factory will not be on the final three dates. God Forbid is replacing them on both 10/28 and 10/29.
- 10/13 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
- 10/14 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
- 10/15 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
- 10/18 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
- 10/19 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada
- 10/20 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
- 10/21 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
- 10/23 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
- 10/24 – San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theatre
- 10/26 – Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live*
- 10/28 – Destin, FL – Club LA#
- 10/29 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live#
* No Fear Factory
# God Forbid instead of Fear Factory
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