Falling in Reverse with Escape the Fate, Chelsea Grin

Falling in Reverse is an American post-hardcore band formed in 2006,  signed to Epitaph Records. The band is led by lead singer Ronnie Radke, along with guitarist Jacky Vincent, drummer Ryan Seaman, rhythm guitarist Derek Jones, and bassist Ron Ficarro.

They released their debut album, The Drug in Me Is You, on July 26, 2011, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200, selling 18,000 copies in its first week of sales. “Raised by Wolves”, “The Drug in Me Is You“, “I’m Not a Vampire“, and “Good Girls, Bad Guys” were all released as singles to promote the album.

Their second studio album, Fashionably Late, was released on June 18, 2013, which peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200. “Alone” and “Fashionably Late” were released as singles to promote the album. Ronnie (Lead vocalist) also has a solo rapping career.

In This Moment with Devour the Day, Butcher Babies

Change. Some people welcome it. Others resist it. Some seek it out. Others fear the unknown. Sometimes it happens beyond our control. Whatever one’s mindset, change is inevitable. The challenge comes with how we face it and deal with the consequences.

For vocalist Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth, the duo at the heart of In This Moment, change came unexpectedly when they found themselves rebuilding the walls around their foundation. Stripped down to their essence, the core of In This Moment is on fire with their fourth album, aptly titledBlood.

“I knew that I wanted this album to bring out elements we’ve never shown before. This alluring, darker, sinful side of us that no one has ever seen,” says Brink. “We wanted to find something new within ourselves, and with this album, I’m definitely the boldest I’ve ever been. I’m not trying to push boundaries. It’s not a conscious thing. It’s a natural artistic place.”

Brink and Howorth began tracking Blood with producer Kevin Churko late last year at The Hideout Studio in Las Vegas, their 3rd with Churko at the helm. “In January [2012], we began writing and recording more songs,” says Howorth. “Kevin put no limits or restrictions on us. There was no setting the clock this time. He just wanted us to record until the songs were the best they could be.”

The powerful title track, “Blood,” was the first one written for the album and it’s one of Howorth’s favorites. “It really set the tone for the whole record and kicked a bunch of doors down,” he says. “I think it’s a really unique song that doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before, and I’m really proud of that. My other fave is “Hello.” I like it because it’s so heavy and melodic at the same time. Crushing riffs and huge choruses never get old to me. This song is In This Moment 101. Our fans will love it.”

In This Moment began in Los Angeles in 2005, when Brink and Howorth met at an open jam. Their debut album, Beautiful Tragedy, landed the band on the 2007 and 2008 editions of Ozzfest. Their first collaboration with Kevin Churko came with the release of 2008’s The Dream – earning them a slot on the 2009 Warped Tour.  Their third album, A Star-Crossed Wasteland (2010) was their highest-charting album.

Time on the road was both educational and inspirational in the making of Blood, says Brink. “Watching all those bands helped me let go of my fear, following my art and not worrying about ‘Is this too much?’ or ‘Am I pushing too far?’ or ‘Are people going to judge me?’ I’m going to do what I do in my moment to create, and people are either going to love it or not. There will always be people who don’t get it. You’ve got to do it for yourself and create your own path. This album is the most fearless I’ve ever felt making music.”

Working as a duo to write and record the new album brought Brink and Howorth even closer. “Maria and I are amazing friends and business partners,” says Howorth. “We created this band, we trust each other and we’re like family. We’re very protective about In This Moment. It’s very sacred. The trials and tribulations made us more resolved to make things happen.”

With the release of Blood, In This Moment is geared for the next level — as musicians, songwriters and performers. “I want the band to become widespread,” says Brink, “and that doesn’t mean selling out. If you change who you are to become part of another world, then your art is cut short and you jeopardize what you believe in. We’re not doing that. Our music is for us first, we write it for us, we’re doing our own special thing that you can only identify with us. We can do that and still be connected, still love the underground world, and tap into new crowds and people who can understand  the music. We love what we’re doing and are ready to have more people know about us.”

Edon

Edon is a 15-year-old student and singer/songwriter. He has played piano since he was nine years old and has been singing even longer. After growing a fan base through his YouTube covers of Top 40 songs, Edon recently completed a successful run on the NBC show “America’s Got Talent”, where he reached the finals out of thousands of auditioning contestants. Sharon Osbourne observed that Edon reminds her of a young Billy Joel. Edon has received favorable tweets from artists whose covers he’s performed, including Andy Grammer and Sara Bareilles, and was featured in a fan appreciation video created by The Plain White T’s. He has performed at the JUF General Assembly, and recently has completed concerts across the country. The Chicago Sun-Times has said that “the young crooner gains more fame and fans with each performance.” And the Chicago Tribune writes that Edon’s talent “as he sings and plays the piano often blows audiences away.”

Revolution Live Presents Blackberry Smoke – Fire In The Hole Tour 2014

The members of Southern Rock quintet Blackberry Smoke are no strangers to hard work. Playing up to 250 dates each year, the guys are on the road more often than not, and they’ve seen tangible results of their labor. The band has toured with and befriended idols such as The Marshall Tucker Band, ZZ Top (with Billy Gibbons jamming with the band on a Florida stop), Lynyrd Skynyrd and George Jones. The band was even asked to play for Jones on his 80th birthday, not long after the country legend turned in a guest appearance on the band’s sophomore album. They’ve toured Europe thrice over, and had their songs featured in video games (EA Sports’ NASCAR 08) and films (Swing Vote), as well.

Mixing elements of gospel, bluegrass, arena rock, soul and more than a touch of outlaw country, Blackberry Smoke has earned a passionate fanbase that continues to grow as the band itself evolves. The band is as blue collar as the bandanas its members wear.

“Our fanbase is as organic as you can get,” says drummer Brit Turner. “Each fan has been won by live performance or good old word of mouth.”

In a little more than a decade together, Blackberry Smoke has released three full-length albums—including 2012’s The Whippoorwill, the band’s first for country megastar Zac Brown’s Southern Ground label—two EPs and a live DVD, Live at the Georgia Theatre, which serves as the perfect showcase for the band’s raucous, rockin’ good-times-for-all take on rock ’n’ roll. A chunk of the DVD’s concert footage has aired numerous times on Palladia, and the band also shot a DirecTV concert that has aired countless times.

Brit, along with singer and guitarist Charlie Starr, bassist and vocalist Richard Turner, guitarist and vocalist Paul Jackson and keyboardist Brandon Still, have slugged it out on the road for more than a decade, but now regularly sell out headline appearances across the country and overseas. The band’s audience, Brit says, feels like more than fans, which is appropriate given that their families are their biggest supporters. (A word to the wise: hitting on the pretty ladies in the front row might get you decked.)

Though these road dogs rarely have downtime, they recently managed to carve out enough time to record their newest batch of songs for The Whippoorwill, an album that serves as a platform for smart, battle-tested songwriting and for the band’s ability to leave audiences breathless.

Despite the additional resources at its fingertips, the band decided that The Whippoorwill would be largely an in-house affair—its own songs, done its own way. Consequently, the band is more excited for this album’s release than any effort thus far.

“I remember not being able to sleep well at night when we were making this new album,” Charlie recalls. “I was so excited about which songs we were going to cut the next day. After it’s done and we can hold it in our hands and be proud of it we know that there’s another one that will have to be made in the not too distant future, but it feels really good to have this one finished; we’re all really proud of it.”

With Zac Brown and the entire Southern Ground team behind them, Charlie and the boys are experiencing all the benefits of life on a larger label. For an already busy band, business is booming.

“The only time we stop or take any time off is when someone’s wife has a baby,” Charlie adds, chuckling. “So, we’ve had to come up with a fictitious band member whose fictitious wife is having a fictitious baby.”

Yet even though they have a wealth of experience under their belts, with the release of The Whippoorwill, the guys find themselves in uncharted territory.

“We’ve never done an album and actually planned a tour around it,” Charlie confesses. “It’s always been ‘tour constantly and whenever the album is done, it comes out.’ It’s a new thing for us to actually plan this far ahead.”

And while the recording process for The Whippoorwill might have afforded the band a few additional luxuries—“It was strange being able to go into a nice recording studio without having to not pay ourselves for awhile to get the money to do it,” Brit says—the band still found itself backs against the wall. Fortunately, that’s exactly where Blackberry Smoke seems to thrive.

“For all the planning ahead, we still had to get it done in four-and-a-half days, so it’s not like we had time to stretch out and find the most comfortable chair in the studio,” Charlie says. “In a perfect world, I’d like to take a little bit more time to record, but it’s not possible until they add more hours in the day and more days in the week. We’re used to doing it that way anyway.”

Regardless of whatever pressures the band might have been under while the red light was on in the studio, that stress isn’t evident on any of The Whippoorwill’s 13 tracks. For example, album opener, “Six Ways to Sunday,” is a footstomping tune that mirrors the song’s carefree attitude, and could be mistaken for an old Motown track at times. At the same time, the title track has the effortless blues approach of ’70s-era Pink Floyd, but with more grease. Nothing feels forced.

Indeed, the band’s history together gives them a natural chemistry when writing the songs that could easily find a home with a diverse set of audiences.

Straddling the line between paying homage to one’s heroes and blatant theft is a tricky business, but it’s a divide that the members of Blackberry Smoke traverse with ease. The band invites a few comparisons to the hallowed forefathers of Skynyrd, but don’t expect to hear the same worn out clichés in their songs that every other band with country, pop or rock leanings have already espoused.

“We’re not in the business of writing the same song over and over and over,” Charlie says bluntly.

Speaking of “over and over,” at many points it would have been easy for these blue-collar musicians to get tired of bashing out song after song in distant dives and hang it up, get straight jobs and rock out as weekend warriors—if at all. But despite some lean years, they kept building an audience and keeping up with wives, children and girlfriends from long distances. So what’s kept them so passionate?

As Brit Turner emphasizes, it’s not necessarily dreams of stardom. It’s simply the love of the game. “We love it or we wouldn’t do it.”

The Devil Wears Prada with The Ghost Inside, Volumes, and Texas in July

With Dead Throne, the groups fourth studio album due out mid August, he technically proficient, guitar-driven American metal band The Devil Wears Prada has turned a corner, by turning up the aggression and turning on the emotions. Dead Throne is the product of hard work and The Devil Wears Prada’s inevitable musical evolution, which tends to focus more on the band’s unique, punishing dual-vocal assault this time around.  “We aim to give listeners and fans something they can enjoy, but we’ll also always make songs we personally stand behind,” says frontman Mike Hranica. “We’d write differently if we were purely trying to sell albums: that’s just not how it works for us. No compromises.”  Dead Throne finally takes hold of what the band has merely hinted at in the past, and fans both old and new will quickly see this album for what it is — a brilliant, emotional, captivating and brutal journey brought forth from the heart of a band that won’t conform to the latest trends. Ultimately, Dead Throne tackles issues of failed relationships and perseverance of faith.

NOFX with Dillinger Four, Masked Intruder, The Implants

If someone were to walk into a store and pick up their very first punk record today, they could do much worse than NOFX, This quartet, fronted by Fat Mike, plays fast-paced pop punk, mixed with elements of ska and hardcore. The overall attitude of the band dwells heavily on traditional punk and DIY ideologies. Fat Mike is a very charismatic frontman for a band – depending on your definition of charisma, that is.  He is bold and often snarky and sarcastic, as well as often blatantly political. They are great qualities for a punk rock band that is out to make people think and push a few buttons.  NOFX has been a testament to the potential of a punk band on an independent label to enjoy popularity and success.

Formed in Berkeley, California and relocating to Los Angeles, NOFX steered clear of major labels and commercial exposure over the course of their career, recording an impressive number of full-length albums plus an assortment of EPs and singles. They have made a few videos, but have not given permission for them to be played on mainstream channels like MTV or VH1. In addition to the blatantly political nature of the band’s lyrics, Fat Mike is also politically active. He launched Punk Voter, a collection of punk labels, bands and fans that seeks to educate and inform America’s youth and get them to vote. Specifically, their goal at one time was to vote George W Bush out of office, but even after his reelection, Punk Voter still continued to actively educating young voters about issues that affect them.

August Burns Red with Bless The Fall, Defeater, Beartooth

Since launching out of Manheim, PA, the industrious outfit has successfully transitioned from shake-up-the-field upstarts to one of the biggest names worldwide in the genre. On stages across the U.S. to Europe, Japan, Australia, South America and more, from renowned fests such as UK’s Download Festival to the Warped Tour, which they join again in 2013 as a mainstage act, AUGUST BURNS RED have spent years taking their music and message directly to fans, and in the process have grown into one of the leading forces in the modern metal scene, a fact bolstered by their 1.4 million Facebook fans and more than half- million albums sold.  With so many bands in the heavy music scene seemingly intent on madness, AUGUST BURNS RED aren’t afraid to branch out, weaving in elements of other influences from punk to indie to rock.  The band artfully blend piano, cello, violin, trumpet, various percussive elements and more into their sonic arsenal, taking their music to new aesthetic heights and contorting the boundaries of heavy music.  “At the end of the day we are still a very heavy band,” explains guitarist and principal songwriter JB Brubaker. “We still have plenty of really heavy stuff, techy odd meter riffs, and all the stuff that people have come to expect from us, it just has a lot more surprises along the way.”  Even if some people don’t realize that music needs to be saved from falling neatly into easily digestible boxes, this band is doing its part anyhow without a hint of cynicism. There’s an earnest sincerity behind AUGUST BURNS RED’s desire to continue to warp the constraints of what it means to be a metal band.  “With every album we want to get better as musicians, as songwriters, as performers. We all genuinely love what we are doing and that is great motivation to always try to improve and expand,” Brubaker says. “I think our best days are still ahead.”

Mayday Parade with Cartel, Stages + Stereos

House of Blues celebrates its 20th Anniversary with a tour featuring Mayday Parade.

For the past six years, the members of Tallahassee, Florida’s Mayday Parade–vocalist/keyboardist Derek Sanders, bassist Jeremy Lezno, guitarists Alex Garciaand Brooks Betts and drummer Jake Bundrick–have been perfecting their unique brand of pop-inflected punk rock. It doesn’t happen very often, but every once in a while a band comes along who have crafted a sound that’s so unique it’s hard to believe they haven’t been playing together for decades.  After playing the 2006 Vans Warped Tour, Mayday Parade made 10,000 new fans before playing a single show. In July of 2007 their full-length album debut, the critically acclaimed A Lesson In Romantics, was received with enthusiasm. Dubbed “the best album to come out this year” by the MTV GirlsGonePunk Blog, A Lesson in Romantics has gone on to sell nearly 170,000 copies.  The band recently released their self-titled third album, the follow up to their hit second album Anywhere But Here.  Their next new album is scheduled for a Fall 2013 release.

Portugal. The Man with Crystal Fighters

There has to be some credit given for this band’s name alone — co-founder John Gourley once explained it as an attempt to create a demi-mythic entity bigger than the individual members. Formed in Wasilla, Alaska, Portugal. The Man (yes, there’s a period in the middle of their name) grew out of the ashes of Anatomy of a Ghost, a post-hardcore band whose vocalist and guitarist — Gourley and Zach Carothers, respectively — opted to continue working together. Rounding out the new band’s lineup was keyboardist/singer Wes Hubbard, himself a veteran of other Alaskan groups, and the trio eventually relocated from Alaska to Portland, Oregon. Their initial existence in the Pacific Northwest was the typical hardscrabble life of a band with few resources, but drummer Jason Sechrist (formerly of Konmai Defense System) joined to form a more stable lineup. The band’s profile received a boost from the Internet (the musicians made heavy use of MySpace and PureVolume for promotional purposes), and Portugal. The Man released an initial EP in 2005 before issuing their debut album, Waiter: You Vultures!, in early 2006. The next year, the group (whose lineup had once again reverted to three members, as Hubbard had left and was replaced by touring keyboardist Ryan Neighbors), issued Church Mouth, whose aggressive sound bore traces of Led Zeppelin and Jane’s Addiction. The bandmates then opted to finance their third record themselves, drawing upon a wealth of guest musicians — including trombonists, trumpeters, and violinists — to create the eclectic Censored Colors. In 2009 the group released The Satanic Satanist, then quickly followed up the next year with the mellower and more electronic American Ghetto. Later that year, the band signed with Atlantic Records. Guitarist Noah Gersh joined the band for their 2011 summer tour. The group recorded their major label debut album, In the Mountain in the Cloud in late 2011; it was produced by John Hill, mixed by Andy Wallace, and released in July of 2012. A month earlier, Sleep Forever, a 13-minute short directed by Michael Ragen, and shot entirely in Gourley’s hometown, premiered on the Independent Film Channel. This was the last recording for members Sechrist and Neighbors, who were replaced by drummer Kane Richotte and keyboardist Kyle O’Quin. Portugal. The Man enlisted Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) as producer for 2013′s Evil Friends; the album was released in June of 2013.

Danzig with Doyle, Butcher Babies, Texas Hippie Coalition, A Pale Horse Named Death

Glenn Danzig is a name that permeates, infects, and ultimately makes strong, the very soul of hard rock in the ’90s. Through the legendary punk charge of his pre-Danzig outfits Misfits and Samhain, Danzig formed the backbone of today’s mosh movement. Delve into the deep waves of the Danzig catalogue, and you’ve got a band that has created high-tension hybrids that are still being pondered and quietly adopted throughout today’s metal community. Over eight million records sold, and Danzig is about to unleash a multi-media onslaught that will once again find disciples studying the master. It is a sinister time in the tired life of one world ending, and it unmistakably a time for the destructive and redemptive powers of the next century’s man in black.  Heed the warning of Danzig!   It is Danzig’s soul crusher of a calling card, his coal-fired ebony heart, the siren song soundtrack of 25 years making metal scream. Confront it now and feel your lifeblood drain and subsequently replenish truer than ever.  Catch their 25th Anniversary tour Live at Revolution!

Rancid w/ tim timebomb and friends, The Interrupters

Rancid w/ tim timebomb and friends, The Interrupters

One of the cornerstone bands of the ’90s punk revival, Rancid’s unabashedly classicist sound drew heavily from the Clash’s early records, echoing their left-leaning politics and fascination with ska, while adding a bit of post-hardcore crunch. While some critics dismissed Rancid as derivative, others praised their political commitment, surging energy, and undeniable way with a hook. And, regardless of critical debate over their significance, the band’s strengths made them perhaps the most popular neo-punk band after Green Day and the Offspring. Their third album, 1995′s …And Out Come the Wolves, made them a platinum-selling sensation and an inescapable presence on MTV and modern rock radio. While they never translated that success into an enormous blockbuster record (like the aforementioned bands who hit the mainstream first), that wasn’t necessarily their ambition, choosing to stay with the independent punk label Epitaph and the creative freedom it allowed them. That decision helped them retain a large, devoted core audience as revivalist punk-pop began to slip off the mainstream’s musical radar.

We The Kings w/ Breathe Carolina

We The Kings w/ Breathe Carolina, T. Mills, The Ready Set, Dave Days, Like The Movies

We The Kings is an alternative power pop band that is from Bradenton, Florida and was formed in 2007. The band’s four members are Travis Clark (lead vocals), Hunter Thomsen (lead guitar), Drew Thomsen (bass guitar), and Danny Duncan (drums). We The Kings have come a long way since 2007. With two full legnth albums and many tours under their belts, they have proved themselves in an unapologetic industry. But where did it all start?

It all began when the guys met in junior high. Even though they became friends, they were in seperate bands. Travis was in a band called Broken Image. He hand picked the guys because they were the pick of the litter. In other words he “Cherry Picked” the other guys. At the same time, the newly formed band faced issues with it’s name. There were several other bands in the area called Broken Image. So they changed their name to DeSoto. Shortly after, they changed their name again, due to a lawsuit. DeSoto then became known as the We The Kings that we know today. The band’s new name was inspired by their middle school, King Middle School.

By 2007 they were signed to S-Curve Records. On October 2, 2007 We The Kings released their self titled album. On December 8, 2009 their second studio album Smile Kid was released. As of November 14, 2010 WTK have been in NY recording their third album We The Kings have an incredible resume. They have toured with bands like, Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, VersaEmerge, The Cab, The Academy Is, and many other bands. WTK also embarked on the summer fest called “Warped Tour”, in 2008, 2009, 2010.