Wolfsbane announce October UK tour

Wolfsbane were originally founded on the notion that kick-ass music and good drunken times are our best defence against life's shittiness and, 17 years after their split, the band's credo has not altered one jot. In fact, 'Wolfsbane Save The World' may be their finest album to date. Blistering performances from all concerned, and a revitalised Blaze Bayley in particular, ensure that this is a thrilling ride from start to finish. But it's the sheer, life affirming quality of these songs that seals the deal: from the serotonin of the opening 'Blue Sky', the priapic pummel of 'Teacher' and 'Starlight''s sublime muscular balladry through to the scything hooks and rambunctious spirit of 'Live Before I Die', the mad-eyed Meatloaf-punk of 'Illusion Of Love' and the sardonic grind'n'swagger of 'Did It For The Money', this is both exactly what the metal doctor ordered for these grey days and one of the finest and most joyous British rock albums in recent memory. Holy Shitting Christ, how we've missed them! 9/10.' (Dom Lawson, Metal Hammer, February 2012.The original line up of mighty British Heavy Metal band Wolfsbane, who reformed in 2011 to record their first studio album for 17 years, 'Wolfsbane Save The World', released in January 2012 to huge acclaim, have confirmed a nine date October UK tour. Dates are:-

Weds. Oct. 17th - The Musician, LEICESTER www.themusicianpub.co.uk
Thurs. Oct. 18th - Bootleggers, KENDAL www.bootleggersbar.com
Fri. Oct. 19th - Eric's, LIVERPOOL www.ericslive.com
Sat. Oct. 20th - The Attic, RUSHDEN www.theatticlive.co.uk
Sun. Oct. 21st - The Corporation, SHEFFIELD www.corporation.org.uk
Weds Oct. 24th - Fibbers, YORK www.fibbers.co.uk
Thurs. 25th - The Garage, LONDON www.thegarage.co.uk
Fri. Oct. 26th - The Cathouse, GLASGOW www.cathouse.co.uk
Sat. Oct 27th - Robin Hood 2, BILSTON www.therobin.co.uk

Wolfsbane Save The World', the group's effervescent, hard driving, melodious, hard riffing, joyous, totally uplifting fourth studio opus, is, to put it quite simply, the album the band always threatened to make, but never actually achieved. None of the producers on the band's 3 earlier albums was ever able to harness Wolfsbane's unrelenting live sound onto a studio album ' even including Rick Rubin himself ' but, 17 years on, the band themselves have done it. 'Wolfsbane Save The World' was recorded, engineered and produced by guitarist Jase Edwards at his studio 'Majestic Splendour', where he has produced a number of 'name' bands in the past.

Beastie Boys Adam Yauch and Mike D busy with side projects

Adam Yauch and Mike D from the Beastie Boys have been keeping busy in their time between albums.Yauch, who recently battled cancer, has acquired the rights for the LCD Soundsystem film Shut Up and Play the Hits for his company Oscilloscope Laboratories. He expects to release the film to theaters in North America this summer and in the rest of the world shortly thereafter.The film documents the group's final show at Madison Square Garden in 2011. Yauch said of the film "Perhaps having grown up in a band for most of my life ... a band that formed when I was 16 years old ... and having released our first record when I was still in high school, this film addresses so many questions. For instance, it can be pretty clear when a band starts, but perhaps less so when it ends, or how it should end. In that sense, it's brilliant of James [Murphy] to end it in such a definitive way."Mike Diamond (aka Mike D) is curating a visual arts show at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art running from April 20 to May 6.Diamond told Rolling Stone "As somebody who's been making music most of their life, I've always been interested and I've had the good fortune of meeting a fair number of visual artists and if you look at what my band has done, visuals have always been almost an equally important presentation for us as music was.

The Jacksons tour for first time in 28 years

The remaining Jackson brothers, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito, will be taking the Unity Tour on the road this June and July. It's the first time they have toured together since The Victory Tour, with their brother Michael, in 1984.The Jacksons first achieved international superstardom with their late brother Michael, becoming the first group ever to have their first four singles hit #1 on the Billboard Charts. Throughout their four-decade long career, the group revolutionized music and pop culture, getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. The Unity Tour 2012 will be yet another milestone for the Jacksons, bringing one of the most famous family in music back together for a historic series of shows.Honoring Michael's memory and bringing the fans all the timeless hits they know and love is also paramount for Jermaine Jackson. "I am so happy and excited to perform again onstage with my brothers," he said. "I can't wait to sing all the songs that were so much a part of all of our lives. We are ready and committed to keep the family's legacy alive and perform once again with the highest level of excellence, creativity, and most of all, integrity."

The dates for The Unity Tour:

6/18 - Louisville, KY - Palace Theatre
6/19 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center
6/20 - Rama, ON - Casino Rama
6/22 - Merrillville, IN - Star Plaza Theatre
6/23 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
6/24 - Kettering, OH - Fraze Pavilion
6/26 - Cleveland, OH - Jacob's Pavilion
6/28 - New York, NY - Apollo
6/29 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata
6/30 - Englewood, NJ - Bergen PAC
7/01 - Baltimore, MD - Lyric Opera House
7/03 - Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
7/06 - Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Amphitheatre
7/07 - Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheatre
7/08 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park
7/10 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
7/11 - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
7/13 - Dallas, TX - Verizon Theatre
7/14 - Houston, TX - Bayou Music Theatre (Verizon Theatre)
7/17 - Albuquerque, NM - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
7/18 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge (Comerica Theater)
7/20 - Las Vegas, NV - The Cannery
7/21 - San Diego, CA - Harrah's Rincon
7/22 - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek
7/27 - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
7/28 - Lincoln City, OR - Chinook Winds Casino
7/29 - Snoqualmie, WA - Snoqualmie Casino

Viva Brother split

Viva Brother have announced via Twitter that they're "signing off"... for good.The Slough outfit released their debut album 'Famous Last Words' last year and also had to change their name from Brother to Viva Brother in June 2011 due a naming dispute after losing a legal battle with an Australian Celtic band of the same name.The album, panned by critics for its lack of original content, peaked at #34 on the UK Album Charts in its first week of release.In the post they thanked their fans and posted a new track 'I Don't Want to Be Loved'.Their was speculation that it could be an April Fools Day joke, but the band's have confirmed to Music-News.com that it is indeed true.The band had released images of them recording their second album in the countryside on their official Facebook page, with hopes of them releasing it before the end of 2012, that will no longer see the light of day.

Jessie J exclusive free 'Priceless Gig' this week

MasterCard unveiled plans for a Priceless Gig with BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter Jessie J, to be held at London music venue Under The Bridge on 5 April. 400 lucky people have been chosen to see Jessie J's at this intimate setting.Jessie's own brand of 'ghetto-pop fabulosity' was honed at London's legendary BRIT School. As one of the UK's most talked about female artists, her debut album 'Who You Are', released in February 2011, charted at number two in the UK Album Chart, while her latest single 'Domino' charted at number one in the UK in January 2012.At the Priceless Gig, Jessie J will also perform live on stage with Samantha Neal, the lucky winner of MasterCard's Priceless Duets competition, which invited fans to submit an audition video to win the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform with their music idol. Samantha, 23, from Bushey in Hertfordshire, impressed judges with her winning audition.Register online at pricelesslondon.co.uk to be the first to hear about other priceless events.

Backstreet Boys excited about cinema show

Backstreet Boys' Howie D 'can't wait' for fans to see the band's new cinema cast.The pop group and New Kids on the Block are taking part in a ground-breaking show from London which will be screened to cinemas across Europe.Howie of the Backstreet Boys is looking forward to fans seeing the live show on April 29."It"s so exciting to know that even though we weren't able to bring our show to certain places in Europe our fans will still have the opportunity to experience it like they were there,' he exclaimed in a statement. 'We can't wait for everyone to see the show!'The event will be the shown in over 300 hundred cinemas in the UK & Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.ABC Entertainment and Livebeats are co-producing the event. Frank Volpe, who is coordinating the cinema cast says the pop groups were a joy to work with, and hopes the event will highlight the new experience of cinema-going. 'Working with New Kids on the Block and The Backstreet Boys is such a perfect opportunity to reach out to markets that already clearly enjoy the cinema experience and will highlight this ground-breaking development as a route all bands and artists will have the opportunity to embrace in the next ten years,' he said of the event.

Madonna invites Bieber on tour

Madonna is taking her daughter Lourdes on her next tour and has invited Justin Bieber to come along for the ride.The singer extended the invitation to the Canadian pop star when she joined Twitter for the day on Monday as part of a Q&A with fans to promote her new album MDNA.Justin, who released his new single Boyfriend this week, was among the fans who joined the conversation on the social networking site.He congratulated Madonna on her twelfth studio album and she wrote, 'Come and join me on stage when I'm on tour when we are in the same city and congrats on your new single.'The Material Girl singer's account, @MadonnaMDNAday, attracted more than 25,000 followers in just 24 hours.Meanwhile, the superstar singer has revealed she will be taking her 15-year-old daughter on her summer tour. In a Sirius XM radio interview with Larry Flick, Madonna admitted she has to watch Lourdes carefully following recent photographs which showed the teen lighting up a cigarette.'I have to keep my eye on her,' she said She also praised her daughter's vocals on her track Little Star and says she is a great musician.She plays the piano beautifully. She's an incredible singer,' Madonna said. 'But she's going through that 'I-don't-want-anyone-to-notice-me phase.''Madonna's first LP in four years, MDNA, is out now.

Rihanna: I'm fearless

Rihanna has learnt to be 'fearless' in order to survive the entertainment industry.The 24-year-old star admits she was naïve when she first started out as a singer. However, she has since matured and is now confident to trust her own instincts.'It's really easy for me to zone out, get in my own world. I need to be really stern about the point I'm trying to make, even if not verbal,' she told British magazine We Love Pop. 'You need to be fearless.Rihanna can soon be seen making her movie debut in Battleship. Her inner strength also proved vital on the set of the action film.You need to be unaffected in the movie industry,' she explained. 'In the music industry too, because there is so much scrutiny and negativity. You need thick skin. I grew a set of balls that are very big. Ha ha!'Rihanna plays Petty Officer Raikes, who is a weapons specialist, in Battleship.The movie also stars Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgard.