It’s never been easier or less expensive to take part in the home recording experience. And Positive Grid’s newest entry into the interface market, called RIFF, exists at an impressive nexus of portability, functionality, and price. For around the cost of a decent overdrive, it’s a handheld audio interface that skips the bells and whistles for the sake of making a tool that just plain works.The design is streamlined. The front of the unit is home to a backlit LCD screen and a multi-function push knob. There’s also a headphone output and audio input jack on the bottom along with an output jack on top next to a USB port. Setting up RIFF is a breeze. Apple Logic recognized the unit right away on my own computer, and because it’s powered via USB (or Lightning in iOS applications), you just plug in to your computer to power up. You can adjust four primary parameters: input gain, output gain, direct (which blends direct and processed tones coming from your computer for monitoring purposes) and tone, which cycles through three preamp emulations. The preamps are effective, though their overall effect and the differences between them can be subtle.The recording quality of the RIFF is stellar. It handles 24bit/96kHz sample rates and there is little-to-no detectable latency. RIFF also comes bundled with the company’s BIAS FX 2 LE software for amp emulation, which makes RIFF a super fun way to practice on top of an incredibly handy recording setup.Test Gear: Fender HSS Stratocaster, Fender Jazz Bass, Neural DSP Archetype: Cory Wong

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SCORPIONS played the first show of their “Sin City Nights” Las Vegas residency Saturday night (March 26) at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The band’s 18-song setlist included four tracks from their recently released “Rock Believer” album: Gas In The Tank”, “Seventh Sun”, Peacemaker” and “When You Know (Where You Come From)”.

Vocalist Klaus Meine dedicated the anti-war anthem “Wind Of Change” to “the brave people in the Ukraine,” saying: “This song is calling for peace, and tonight, I think, we shall sing it even louder.”

The full setlist was as follows:

01. Gas In The Tank (live premiere)
02. Make It Real
03. The Zoo
04. Coast To Coast
05. Seventh Sun (live premiere)
06. Peacemaker (live premiere)
07. Bad Boys Running Wild
08. Delicate Dance
09. When You Know (Where You Come From) (live premiere, acoustic version)
10. Send Me An Angel (acoustic version)
11. Wind Of Change
12. Tease Me Please Me
13. Rock Believer
14. Big City Nights
15. Drum Solo
16. Blackout
17. No One Like You
18. Rock You Like A Hurricane

Fan-filmed video is available below.

Earlier in the month, Meine told ABC Audio that fans could expect to see “a whole new production” during the Vegas residency, including a “new stage set” and an LED screen that will display “some cool scenes.”

SCORPIONS previously played a Las Vegas mini-residency in May 2016, consisting of five shows at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

In a 2017 interview, Meine said: “You can understand why so many artists, they love playing Vegas because fans come from all over the world to see their favorite artists, and you have your place for band and crew, and you don’t have to move every other day of the year. We like to move around, but all of us, we really enjoyed that residency. It was cool and they treated us really like Elvis. We had the biggest billboard on the Strip.”

SCORPIONS’ remaining Las Vegas shows are scheduled for March 30 and April 1, 3, 7, 9, 12, 14 and 16. Afterwards they will cross the Atlantic to Europe where they will play six concerts in France and six shows in Germany supported by Wolfgang Van Halen’s new band MAMMOTH WVH.

“Rock Believer” was released on February 25. The album was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

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STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis dedicated his song “Kill Me Like You Love Me” to Taylor Hawkins during his concert last night (Saturday, March 26) at Rio Vista Outdoor Amphitheater at Harrah’s Laughlin in Laughlin, Nevada. Fan-filmed video of his performance can be seen below.

Prior to launching into the track, the 49-year-old Lewis, an outspoken conservative rocker who reinvented himself as a solo country artist in the last decade, told the audience: “We lost an amazing drummer and an amazing human being. There was never anything going on around him but a good time. And Taylor Hawkins, we will miss you dearly.”

Hawkins was Lewis’s political polar opposite, having been a vocal opponent to former U.S. president Donald Trump on several occasions in recent years. In a 2017 interview with Onet News, Taylor stated about the political climate in the United States: “It’s insane, but it really is a mirror image of our culture in America right now. So people blame [Trump], but he’s just a symptom of a generation of reality TV-obsessed, selfie-obsessed, Facebook-obsessed, tweet-obsessed, self-obsessed people. So we got that president because I think, unless the Russians really did hack in, we got what we deserve.”

“I think in a certain way, it’s a good chance for people to take a look at where we are as a culture and say, is this where we want to be?” Hawkins continued. “An orange, fake-haired, tweeting president who tweets childish remarks about people who say little mean things about him, because that’s where we are right now. It’s a fricking weird freaky time, but it’s really representative of where our culture is right now.”

Hawkins died at a hotel in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25). Local officials said an ambulance was sent to the hotel after a man reported having chest pains. The 50-year-old musician did not respond to resuscitation efforts and was declared dead, the city’s health department said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Colombian attorney general’s office announced that Hawkins had opioids, marijuana and other drugs in his system before he died. A toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including anti-depressants, the office said. The statement added that the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences “will conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death” and that it “will continue the investigation and will report the results obtained within the framework thereof in a timely manner.”

The FOO FIGHTERS were scheduled to perform Friday at the Picnic Stereo festival in Bogota but their performance was canceled.

The band played Lollapalooza Chile on March 18 and Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. They are scheduled to headline Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday (March 27).

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins’s most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year’s “Medicine At Midnight” album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS’ horror film “Studio 666”.

Hawkins’s solo project TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS released its first album in 2006, and a follow-up effort, “Get The Money”, in 2019. Other side projects included THE BIRDS OF SATAN and the classic rock cover band CHEVY METAL. More recently, he formed the supergroup NHC with JANE’S ADDICTION members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison, whom he married in 2005, and their three children: Oliver Shane, Annabelle and Everleigh.

Posted by Melissa D Glover-Gald on Saturday, March 26, 2022

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MAMMOTH WVH paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins by performing a cover of the FOO FIGHTERS song “My Hero” during the band’s concert last night (Saturday, March 26) at Big Night Live in Boston, Massachusetts. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

Prior to launching into the track, MAMMOTH WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen told the crowd that Hawkins “was a hero to me, and a hero to all of us, and a hero to countless people, so we feel this is necessary.”

Wolfgang has repeatedly cited FOO FIGHTERS leader Dave Grohl as one of his “biggest inspirations.” He told Bass Player magazine in a 2021 interview: “When [Dave] started the FOO FIGHTERS, he did everything himself on their first album. I wanted to have a go at that [on MAMMOTH WVH’s debut], I guess, and I’ve always admired bands like NINE INCH NAILS, where the project emanates from one person and grows from there. That’s kind of how I view it, even though it is still me. I view it more as a band than [a] solo project.”

Hawkins died at a hotel in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25). Local officials said an ambulance was sent to the hotel after a man reported having chest pains. The 50-year-old musician did not respond to resuscitation efforts and was declared dead, the city’s health department said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Colombian attorney general’s office announced that Hawkins had opioids, marijuana and other drugs in his system before he died. A toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including anti-depressants, the office said. The statement added that the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences “will conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death” and that it “will continue the investigation and will report the results obtained within the framework thereof in a timely manner.”

The FOO FIGHTERS were scheduled to perform Friday at the Picnic Stereo festival in Bogota but their performance was canceled.

The band played Lollapalooza Chile on March 18 and Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. They are scheduled to headline Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday (March 27).

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins’s most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year’s “Medicine At Midnight” album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS’ horror film “Studio 666”.

Hawkins’s solo project TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS released its first album in 2006, and a follow-up effort, “Get The Money”, in 2019. Other side projects included THE BIRDS OF SATAN and the classic rock cover band CHEVY METAL. More recently, he formed the supergroup NHC with JANE’S ADDICTION members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison, whom he married in 2005, and their three children: Oliver Shane, Annabelle and Everleigh.

Amazing tribute to Taylor Hawkins!!
Mammoth-Wolfgang Van Halen, music therapy.

Posted by Tom Donovan on Saturday, March 26, 2022

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Slash paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins during his concert with SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS in Orlando, Florida Saturday night (March 26), calling the late FOO FIGHTERS drummer “a great guy” and “a sweetheart.”

The 56-year-old GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist addressed Hawkins’s tragic passing prior to launching into the song “Starlight” at Hard Rock Live. He told the audience: “I’m sure most of you are aware that we lost a really close friend of ours last night — Taylor Hawkins, the drummer of the FOO FIGHTERS. First of all, he was a great fucking guy — a fucking sweetheart. He was a really good friend and a kickass drummer. [We’re] completely crushed that we’ve lost him. So we wanna do a song tonight and dedicate it to him. So we’re gonna play something we haven’t played actually on this whole tour, but we’re gonna do it tonight. This is called ‘Starlight’.”

Hawkins died at a hotel in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25). Local officials said an ambulance was sent to the hotel after a man reported having chest pains. The 50-year-old musician did not respond to resuscitation efforts and was declared dead, the city’s health department said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Colombian attorney general’s office announced that Hawkins had opioids, marijuana and other drugs in his system before he died. A toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including anti-depressants, the office said. The statement added that the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences “will conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death” and that it “will continue the investigation and will report the results obtained within the framework thereof in a timely manner.”

The FOO FIGHTERS were scheduled to perform Friday at the Picnic Stereo festival in Bogota but their performance was canceled.

The band played Lollapalooza Chile on March 18 and Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. They are scheduled to headline Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday (March 27).

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins’s most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year’s “Medicine At Midnight” album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS’ horror film “Studio 666”.

Hawkins’s solo project TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS released its first album in 2006, and a follow-up effort, “Get The Money”, in 2019. Other side projects included THE BIRDS OF SATAN and the classic rock cover band CHEVY METAL. More recently, he formed the supergroup NHC with JANE’S ADDICTION members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison, whom he married in 2005, and their three children: Oliver Shane, Annabelle and Everleigh.

Slash w/ Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators
Starlight
( Tribute to Taylor Hawkins )

Posted by April Janene – Cosplay on Saturday, March 26, 2022

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Elton John paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins during his concert in Des Moines, Iowa Saturday night (March 26), saying the late FOO FIGHTERS drummer was “one of the nicest people you could ever meet.”

The 75-year-old pop/rock legend addressed Hawkins’s tragic passing prior to launching into the song “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” at the Wells Fargo Arena. He told the audience (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I got up this morning to see that Taylor Hawkins from the FOO FIGHTERS had passed away, and I was so shocked because he played on my ‘Lockdown Sessions’ album and he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet and one of the greatest drummers and a true musician who loved all sorts of music and loved life. And it seems so sad that at 50 years of age we’ve lost someone who had that much passion. And it makes me so downhearted for his family — his three children and his wife and his other relatives — and, of course, the FOO FIGHTERS who’ve lost a dearest loved one that can never, ever be replaced. But his music will live on. But I can tell you he was a great, great one. So this song is for him and his family and his wife and his children.”

Hawkins died at a hotel in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25). Local officials said an ambulance was sent to the hotel after a man reported having chest pains. He did not respond to resuscitation efforts and was declared dead, the city’s health department said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Colombian attorney general’s office announced that Hawkins had opioids, marijuana and other drugs in his system before he died. A toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in his body, including anti-depressants, the office said. The statement added that the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences “will conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death” and that it “will continue the investigation and will report the results obtained within the framework thereof in a timely manner.”

The FOO FIGHTERS were scheduled to perform Friday at the Picnic Stereo festival in Bogota but their performance was canceled.

The band played Lollapalooza Chile on March 18 and Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. They are scheduled to headline Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday (March 27).

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins’s most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year’s “Medicine At Midnight” album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS’ horror film “Studio 666”.

Hawkins’s solo project TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS released its first album in 2006, and a follow-up effort, “Get The Money”, in 2019. Other side projects included THE BIRDS OF SATAN and the classic rock cover band CHEVY METAL. More recently, he formed the supergroup NHC with JANE’S ADDICTION members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison, whom he married in 2005, and their three children: Oliver Shane, Annabelle and Everleigh.

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SKID ROW played its first show with ex-H.E.A.T. vocalist Erik Grönwall Saturday night (March 26) at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada as the support act on the rescheduled dates for SCORPIONS’ “Sin City Nights” residency.

SKID ROW’s nine-song set included its new single, “The Gang’s All Here”, which was made available on Friday, March 25. The song is the title track of the band’s upcoming album, which will arrive on October 14 via earMUSIC.

SKID ROW’s setlist was as follows:

01. Slave To The Grind
02. Big Guns
03. 18 And Life
04. Piece Of Me
05. Livin’ On A Chain Gang
06. Monkey Business
07. I Remember You
08. The Gang’s All Here
09. Youth Gone Wild

Fan-filmed video of the concert is available below.

Grönwall recently joined SKID ROW as the replacement for ZP Theart.

SKID ROW recorded “The Gang’s All Here” in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo said in a statement: “We are beyond excited to release this record. It has been a long time in the making and a lot of hard work has been put into it by the band and our producer Nick Raskulinecz. The addition of Erik has lifted the songs to new heights. Add all this to the fact that we start our world tour in Las Vegas with the SCORPIONS residency this Saturday at Zappos Theater makes it easy to say that SKID ROW is going to have a great year.”

Grönwall sang on H.E.A.T.’s last four studio albums — “Address The Nation” (2012), “Tearing Down The Walls” (2014), “Into The Great Unknown” (2017) and “H.E.A.T II” (2020) — before exiting the group in October 2020.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. A short time later, he wrote on his social media: “I am extremely privileged and grateful to live at a day and age where a disease like this is curable. There’s been so much progress made in this field. My body is reacting well to the treatment but it’s a long treatment and it’s going to be the toughest challenge of my life so far, for me and my family.”

Last September, Grönwall released his cover version of SKID ROW’s “18 And Life” via all streaming platforms. At the time, he said about his version of the track: “This song was basically the starting point of my professional career as an artist. I performed this song during my ‘Swedish Idol’ audition back in 2009. 12 years later it’s time to give this bad boy a try again. Here’s my version of the SKID ROW song ’18 And Life’.”

In 2018, Grönwall debuted in the U.S. for 10 million viewers in NBC’s live broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Tim Rice’s musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Along with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles and others, Erik played the key role of Simon Zealotes.

Theart, a former member of DRAGONFORCE, joined SKID ROW in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

Sebastian Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of Bolan and guitarists Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by Theart, the South African-born, British-based singer who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.

Follow The Pure Rock Shop for more coverage Erik Grönwall SKID ROW

Posted by Kara Marie on Saturday, March 26, 2022

Follow The Pure Rock Shop for more coverage ?Erik Grönwall SKID ROW

Posted by Kara Marie on Saturday, March 26, 2022

LIVE in VEGAS ????

Posted by SKID ROW on Saturday, March 26, 2022

SKID ROW

Posted by Jessica Chase on Saturday, March 26, 2022

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