heavy metal

Interview: Vinny Appice (of Black Sabbath, Dio, and Last in Line)

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Vinny Appice (Photo courtesy John Lappen Enterprises)

Saturday, May 16, marked the 10th anniversary of the death of legendary singer Ronnie James Dio from cancer. Tributes poured out across the internet from his contemporaries like Rob Halford and artists he influenced such as Lzzy Hale and Scott Ian to his former bandmates in Black Sabbath.

Vinny Appice, the drummer for Ronnie James Dio in both Black Sabbath and Dio, along with his older brother Carmine, took their tribute a step further and released “Monsters & Heroes,” a tribute video honoring their departed band mate and friend.

Earlier this week, Vinny Appice spoke with Parklife DC’s Chris Smyth about why the brothers decided to make the tribute video and his memories of Dio.

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Song of the Day: “The Beast in the Shadows” by Michael Schenker Fest

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Michael Schenker Fest
Michael Schenker Fest (Photo by Stephanie Cabral)

Last year, guitar legend Michael Schenker released his second MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST album Revelation, that features the ever-legendary Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet, Robin McAuley and Doogie White on vocals. The album also features guest singer Ronnie Romero. Instrumental parts were handled by Michael himself, as well as Steve Mann, Chris Glen, Bodo Schopf and Simon Phillips.

Recently, the band were pleased to reveal a lyric video for track “The Beast in the Shadows” from that album.

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Livestream Preview: David Ellefson’s Oh Say Can You Stream @ Facebook Live, 4/11/20

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Megadeth (Photo courtesy 5B Artist Management)

Many of hard rock and heavy metal’s top musicians are coming together online to do a little good on Saturday, April 11, via Facebook Live.

Headed up by Megadeth bassist, David Ellefson, the livestream event, titled “Oh Say Can You Stream,” is an online fundraiser to help raise money for Ellefson’s School’s Out initiative which provides online lessons, instruments, and gear to kids and aspiring musicians during quarantine, and other COVID-19 relief charities.

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Stream Preview: Knotfest Online @ Knotfest.com, 4/10/20

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Knotfest
Knotfest (Photo courtesy Cosa Nostra PR)

The heavy metal festival Knotfest has taken on many forms. Created by Slipknot in 2012, Knotfest originated as a destination festival taking place over the course of a few days. Later iterations of the festival took it to various countries around the world, and even teamed up with Ozzfest along the way.

With the entire globe in social isolation, Knotfest has gone online every Friday, including Friday, April 10, via Knotfest.com.

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My Favorite Albums: 2019 Records for the Lockdown by Chris

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Duff McKagan (second from left) and Shooter Jennings (center) with their band (Photo courtesy BWR)

It’s difficult being stuck inside, unable to interact with others face to face. We here at Parklife DC are feeling that along with everyone else. I am regularly looking at my calendar, trying to guess when I’ll be able to get back in a club or arena and do what I love, photograph concerts.

I certainly don’t have the answer to when we’ll all be back to our normal lives, but one thing that is helping me get through this time is listening to music. We are fortunate that so much great music is still being created. Even in these trying times, bands and artists are finding ways to entertain us with live streams and basic recordings from their homes.

But it can be difficult to keep track of who will be performing and when. And if you’re like me, you may just want to throw on an album and let it play. So I have put together a list of some of my favorite albums that came out in 2019.

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Livestream Preview: Metallica Mondays @ YouTube, 3/30/20

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Metallica (Photo by Herring & Herring)

With much of the world practicing social distancing and self quarantine, musicians are stepping up to help fill the time that many of us suddenly have on our hands. Some are jumping on Instagram or Facebook live and playing to their fans from the comfort of their living room. Others are diving into their archives and looking back on their past performances.

Thrash metal icons Metallica have joined in to help the cause with Metallica Mondays, the next edition of which appears on YouTube on Monday, March 30.

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