Legendary rockers FOREIGNER have announced that they will partner with the American Red Cross to donate and raise funds for Ukrainian relief efforts during their exclusive headlining residency show at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas beginning Friday, March 25.

FOREIGNER will donate $5,000 from each residency show at The Venetian Theatre to the American Red Cross Ukrainian relief efforts, and also invite concertgoers to join in donating in any denomination large or small to the American Red Cross representatives on site.

The show, “The Best Of Foreigner 4 Live”, is a celebration of the 40th anniversary of FOREIGNER’s biggest-selling album. The LP was released on July 2, 1981 and spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other album in the history of Atlantic Records. “Juke Box Hero” came in 1986 and has since become FOREIGNER’s signature rock anthem. The audience will be treated to songs from “4” as well as FOREIGNER hits such as “Cold As Ice”, “Feels Like The First Time” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”.

Says FOREIGNER founder, Songwriters Hall Of Fame member and lead guitarist Mick Jones: “The plight of everyone impacted by this conflict is an international tragedy. While we face our own ongoing struggles here at home, I am thrilled at the opportunity to work with the American Red Cross in doing our part in the relief efforts. Our goal is to offer some solace or small comfort to traumatized people in the region. I could think of nothing more American than a gesture of such brotherly love to those who are feeling so displaced and alone in this world right now. I ask all those attending our shows at The Venetian to join with FOREIGNER’s fundraising efforts in any way they can to help enhance our nightly donation of $5,000 to this most important and unfortunate humanitarian crisis.”

As fighting in Ukraine continues, the global Red Cross network is providing lifesaving aid to those in need — both in the country and in neighboring areas. More than three million people have fled Ukraine to nearby countries and an estimated 18 million — a third of the country’s population — will need humanitarian assistance. As the fighting intensifies, so does the dire humanitarian situation and needs on the ground.

The American Red Cross has deployed international crisis responders to Poland, Moldova, Hungary and Romania to provide humanitarian relief in support of the international Red Cross operation helping families who fled their homes. These highly trained crisis responders—who are lending skills such as information management, cash assistance programming, GIS systems, communications and leadership—are supporting on-the-ground relief efforts alongside local teams, including the Polish Red Cross, Moldovan Red Cross and Romanian Red Cross.

For more information on how the Red Cross is helping relief efforts in Ukraine, click here.

Tickets to “The Best Of Foreigner 4 Live” start at $49.95, plus applicable fees. Tickets are available for purchase at Ticketmaster.com, venetianlasvegas.com, any box office at The Venetian Resort or by calling 702.414.9000 or 866.641.7469. All shows are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

The eight performances are:

March 2022: 25, 26, 30
April 2022: 1, 2, 6, 8, 9

With ten multi-platinum albums and 16 Top 30 hits, FOREIGNER is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world with a formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel sold-out tours and album sales, now exceeding 80 million.

Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero”, “Cold As Ice”, “Hot Blooded”, “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, “Feels Like The First Time”, “Urgent”, “Head Games”, “Say You Will”, “Dirty White Boy”, “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide No. 1 hit “I Want To Know What Love Is”, FOREIGNER still rocks the charts more than 40 years into the game with massive airplay and continued Billboard Top 200 album success.

FOREIGNER’s lineup includes Jones, the visionary maestro whose stylistic songwriting, indelible guitar hooks and multi-layered talents continue to escalate FOREIGNER’s influence and guide the band to new horizons; lead singer Kelly Hansen, one of rock’s greatest showmen who has led FOREIGNER into the digital age while inspiring a whole new generation of fans; noted bassist Jeff Pilson; Michael Bluestein on keyboards; guitarist Bruce Watson; Chris Frazier on drums and guitarist Luis Maldonado.

The Fixx’s Jamie West-Oram on his unlikely guitar hero, and Albert, B.B. and Freddie King’s “bird song” solos.

In a recent Cameo video message requested by Jonathan Montenegro of Sobre La Dosis, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked to name his hobbies and interests outside of music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s funny. I live here in Arizona, which, as you can see, is very sunny and nice out. So I play golf, on and off. And I do some shooting once in a while; I go to the gun club here. I’m not big on hunting myself, but I do like shooting, which is kind of cool. And, of course, Netflix binge watching, which I started during the pandemic.”

Last November, Ellefson, who was fired from MEGADETH nearly a year ago following a sex video scandal, returned to Cameo, the online platform that allows fans to buy personalized video messages from celebrities. The 57-year-old bassist is charging purchasers $30 per video and he is offering a “24-hour delivery.”

Ellefson was born and raised in in the small Minnesota town of Jackson, located near the Iowa border, just under three hours southwest of St. Paul. After leaving Jackson in the early ’80s to move to Los Angeles, he met former METALLICA guitarist Dave Mustaine, and the pair co-founded multi-platinum, Grammy-winning hard rock act MEGADETH, going on to become one of the “Big Four” of thrash metal. Ellefson’s smalltown Jackson roots have been immortalized in MEGADETH lore as the subject of classic songs including the smash hit “Foreclosure Of A Dream” and the underground classic “Mary Jane”.

Ellefson, who has lived in Scottsdale, Arizona since 1994, was dismissed from MEGADETH last May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

David, a Christian who launched the Mega Life Ministries worship group in 2007, studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis a decade ago.

Last October, Ellefson told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that there is a perception that people of faith must set a higher standard of how they live with and treat others. “It’s almost like you’re this entity that’s floating up toward the heavens: ‘Oh, he’s such a wonderful man. He’s a man of faith. He’s got his family. And then this happens.’ It’s, like, ‘What the hell is this?'” he said.

“I mean, look, admittedly I’ve sort of trained the public to think that I’m one of the more well-behaved rock stars out there, and for the most part I have been,” he continued. “But at the same time, and this isn’t to claim anything other than just, oops, shit happens. That is what it is.”

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

This week’s new releases bring us all things cold and dark with Abbath, Night Demon, Falls of Rauros and more!
The post Five For Friday: March 25, 2022 appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell kicked off his “Brighten” solo tour last night (Thursday, March 24) at the Palace Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jerry’s band for the tour consists of Tyler Bates (guitar), Greg Puciato (backing vocals), Gil Sharone (drums), George Adrian (bass), Michael Rozon (pedal steel) and Jason Achilles (keyboards). The set includes songs from Cantrell’s latest solo album, “Brighten”, along with favorite hits from Jerry’s catalog.

The setlist for the St. Paul concert was as follows:

01. Atone
02. Psychotic Break
03. Them Bones
04. Siren Song
05. Cut You In
06. My Song
07. Had To Know
08. No Excuses
09. Black Gives Way To Blue
10. Sea Of Sorrow
11. Prism Of Doubt
12. Black Hearts And Evil Done
13. Angel Eyes
14. Got Me Wrong
15. Would?

Encore

16. Brighten
17. Man In The Box
18. Rooster
19. Goodbye (Elton John)

To make this tour even more attractive for fans, Jerry recently announced special VIP event packages at each show that offer fans tiered selections of exclusive experiences. These experiences include a meet-and-greet and photo opp with Jerry, personal autographed items of your choice, premium merch items, and at the top tier, a signed official “Atone” Gibson JC Signature Acoustic guitar. The guitar includes a letter of authenticity. Packages start at $100 all the way to $5,500, which includes the Gibson guitar.

“Brighten” came out last October. The LP has received praise from critics, including Kerrang!, which called it a “vivid, contemporary self-portrait of one of the most distinctive voices in hard rock. A long-overdue show of individual brilliance.” Classic Rock proclaimed it “his best yet. The work of a songwriter who is happy within his life, it spans a broad arc of styles.” The Sun commented: “A rich, organic album… ‘Brighten’ is brilliant.”

“Brighten” is Jerry’s first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years. Co-produced with film composer Tyler Bates and Paul Fig (longtime engineer), the LP got its beginnings just before the pandemic hit. They welcomed a dynamic cast of supporting players, including Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) on select bass tracks, Puciato contributing to backing vocals and drummers Sharone and Abe Laboriel, Jr. (Paul McCartney). Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) handled the mixing of “Brighten”.

Jerry’s new effort marks his first full-length release since “Degradation Trip”, the epic solo album he made in 2002 with future METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and FAITH NO MORE drummer Mike Bordin.

Jerry’s career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two previous solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell’s first solo album, “Boggy Depot”, was released in 1998, followed by his second album, the aforementioned “Degradation Trip”. In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including “Spider-Man”, “The Cable Guy”, “John Wick 2”, “Last Action Hero” and “The Punisher”.

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, “Rainier Fog”, in August 2018.

Bassist Eugene Abdukhanov of Ukrainian modern metallers JINJER has once again condemned Russia’s invasion of his country, calling it “the most brutal, barbaric and horrible war in Europe” since the Second World War.

Since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, more than 10 million people have been displaced, several Ukrainian towns and cities have been besieged and bombarded beyond recognition, and hundreds of civilians have been killed.

Earlier today (Friday, March 25), Abdukhanov shared a few Instagram pictures of him and his family, and he included the following message: “This the last photo we took together before the Russian invasion started. The most brutal, barbaric and horrible war in Europe since WWII, initiated by Putin, has been on for one month now. For one month I haven’t been able to hug my most beloved ones, my wife Anna, my sons Danny and Roman, and honestly don’t know when I will see them again.

“For one month we – people in Ukraine have been surrounded by fear, dread and suffering on one side and heroism and incredible unity on the other. Being able to help people in need and being in touch with my family via video calls are the only source of relief now.

“I appreciate all of you for the support you are giving us and Ukraine. Sincerely, I still cannot believe how many donation t-shirts you ordered and how much money we managed to collect. We will be posting on stories about how exactly these funds are directed at people here in Ukraine. As far as I know the generator and fuel which we sent to Chernihiv the day before yesterday has already arrived and it is hard to overestimate how much people need it in the city which has no electricity for weeks now.”

Earlier this month, JINJER released new merchandise designs to help raise funds to support their country. The effort has resulted in more than $140,000 being raised so far, with proceeds set to be distributed directly to charity organizations of JINJER’s choosing.

You can get both t-shirts here.

Due to the ongoing war in the Ukraine, JINJER has been forced to cancel all previously announced North American tour dates, including its own headline dates, side shows with IN THIS MOMENT and participation in the “Knotfest Roadshow” tour supporting SLIPKNOT.

Three weeks ago, Abdukhanov told BBC News that he had abandoned his day job to concentrate on the immediate humanitarian crisis. He added that he was working on establishing a charity “to help the military, to help the civilians” and will soon join his friends in running a shelter providing “food supplies, water [and] protection” for people displaced by the conflict.

As for how the JINJER fans have reacted to the Ukraine invasion, Eugene said: “I received some texts from our Russian fans, apologizing and saying they’re definitely against this. I didn’t receive any angry texts from the Russian side, trying to justify this. Even though some people have this militaristic position, they’re ashamed enough not to mention this to me.”

Abdukhanov’s bandmate, JINJER frontwoman Tatiana Shmayluk, is currently staying in Southern California with her boyfriend, Alex Lopez of deathcore troupe SUICIDE SILENCE.

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