Metal Edge Presents
Highlights
NAPALM DEATH BRING GRINDCORE TO NPR'S TINY DESK
Napalm Death have performed at NPR Music's Tiny Desk, bringing four decades of grindcore to a stage better known for hushed acoustic sets. The performance is almost certainly the heaviest music the series has hosted, and it arrives with the band making no accommodation whatsoever for the room. They played eight songs, closing with "You Suffer," which lasts roughly a second and a half and remains the shortest song ever recorded by a band anyone has heard of. The booking came from NPR Music producer and writer Lars Gotrich, a longtime advocate for heavy music at the network, who says he had been holding the slot for the right band. He turned down other grindcore acts or pushed them off, waiting. "The first grindcore band at the Tiny Desk had to be the founding fathers," Gotrich says, adding that there is only one Napalm Death, a band he sees as exemplary of extreme music and of what it takes to stay human in an inhumane time. Vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway says the offer caught him off guard, in part because he has been a listener for years. He has followed Democracy Now! through NPR for decades to get what he calls unvarnished North American news, so the invitation "kind of blew my tiny mind a little bit." The band understood the reach involved, with the series pulling audiences far beyond the one they draw at a club or a festival, and decided immediately that reach would change nothing about the set. Greenway says they were never going to temper the performance to any degree, and that he hopes viewers take something from it even if it amounts to an understanding of musical abrasion pushed as far as it will go. He used the appearance to ask people to support public access broadcasting, which he notes is under relentless attack. Napalm Death formed in Birmingham, England in 1981 and are credited with inventing grindcore, the ultra-fast extreme metal subgenre that grew out of their early records. The British press initially treated the band as a curiosity, though John Peel's championing on BBC Radio 1 helped push them toward a global audience that has sustained them across 16 albums. None of the original members remain, and Greenway and bassist Shane Embury have anchored the group for most of its run. Embury joined in 1987, making him the longest-serving member, and he appears on 15 of the band's 16 albums. He is currently off the road while he addresses several health issues, including a battle with pancreatitis. SET LIST Instinct of SurvivalStrong-ArmEveryday PoxThroes of Joy in the Jaws of DefeatismAmoralDeadScumYou Suffer MUSICIANS Mark "Barney" Greenway: vocalsJohn Cooke: guitar, background vocalsMatt Sheridan: bassDanny Herrera: drums
BON JOVI OPENS TOUR AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ( SET LIST + PHOTOS )
Photo: Theo Wargo Bon Jovi returned to the stage Tuesday night, launching their Forever Tour with the first of nine sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden — the band's first full-scale concerts since 2022, and their first since frontman Jon Bon Jovi underwent vocal cord surgery. The night's real question was whether the voice had survived. It had. It took a couple of songs to warm — the Joe Cocker–style reading of "With a Little Help From My Friends" was cautious — but by "Lost Highway" he'd found his footing, and the familiar rasp was back. On the highest reaches of "Livin' on a Prayer" he leaned on his bandmates, then turned the chorus over to 20,000 people: "One more time… for me." At 64, grayer and now a grandfather, Bon Jovi still worked the room on charisma alone — two hands on the mic, that leg-kicking bounce, fists in the air. Original members Tico Torres and David Bryan anchored a band playing every note live, no teleprompter. Between songs he kept stopping to look around, visibly moved. "I'm grateful and humbled by this whole ordeal," he told the crowd. "Thank you for letting me have this." Photo: Theo WargoPhoto: Theo WargoPhoto: Theo Wargo Setlist: With a Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles cover)Beautiful DrugWe Weren't Born to FollowLost HighwayWho Says You Can't Go HomeYou Give Love a Bad NameBorn to Be My BabyLegendaryWhole Lot of Leavin'In These ArmsHave a Nice DayIt's My LifeLivin' on a PrayerLay Your Hands on MeBlood on BloodLiving ProofThis House Is Not for SaleKeep the Faith Encore:I'll Be There for YouWanted Dead or AliveBad Medicine
DANNY ELFMAN ANNOUNCES 11-CITY NORTH AMERICAN FALL TOUR
Photo: Frazer Harrison Danny Elfman has announced a North American fall tour in support of a forthcoming album, his first new solo full-length since 2021’s Big Mess. The Oingo Boingo frontman opens the run on September 7 at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom and plays 11 dates before closing at Sacramento’s Aftershock Festival on October 4, with stops that include Detroit’s Fox Theatre, Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway, New York’s SummerStage, and Philadelphia’s The Met along the way. The shows shift depending on the room. Elfman’s outdoor festival appearances at Shaky Knees, Louder Than Life, and Aftershock will fold in selections from his film and television scores, backed by orchestra and choir, while the indoor headlining dates lean fully into the rock side of his catalog. Across both, fans can expect a career-spanning set drawing on the new album, Big Mess, Oingo Boingo favorites, and his solo material. Elfman will be joined by an all-star band featuring Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses) and Nili Brosh (Dethklok) on guitar, Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters) on drums, and Matt McJunkins (A Perfect Circle, Eagles of Death Metal) on bass. Presale for tickets begins Wednesday, July 8 at 10 a.m. local time, with general sale following Friday, July 10 at 10 a.m. local time. Fans can grab tickets through Elfman’s official website. See full tour routing below. 9/7 – Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom 9/9 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre 9/10 – Toronto, ON @ History 9/12 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway 9/14 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring 9/15 – New York, NY @ SummerStage 9/16 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia 9/18 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival 9/20 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival 10/3 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic 10/4 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
