Deftones defies expectations in San Francisco

Excited Deftones fans were so happy to finally see the band live on April 18th, after a long wait due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You could tell the band was also estatic to be back, reminiscing the good ‘ol days alongside fellow hard rock bands Gojira and Vowws at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San […]

19th Annual Download Festival to disrupt the UK

The UK’s Premiere Rock Festival returns for its 19th year this summer! Located in Derby, where the three counties of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire meet, Download Festival will be taking over Donington Park on June 10th, 11th and 12th, with over 60 bands across four stages.  This racetrack-turned-festival grounds will feature Main Stage headlining performances […]

Metal Tour of the Year in Vegas, feat. Megadeth, Lamb of God & more

The Metal Tour of the Year kicked off its second leg at Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena! This tour includes co-headliners Megadeth and Lamb of God with special guests, Trivium and In Flames. I went to one of the shows on the first leg, but wasn’t able to stay for the full show, so of course […]

Attending WJRR’s Earthday Birthday 2022

Florida’s longest running music festival, WJRR’s Earthday Birthday, returned to the Central Florida Fairgrounds on April 23rd! EDBD 28 goes down as one of my favorite days ever! So many good memories were made this day and it was the perfect way to kick off our festival season! This year’s lineup included Godsmack, Three Days […]

Ohio’s Inkcarceration ups the music, tattoos & haunts for 2022

The 4th Annual Music and Tattoo Festival, Inkcarceration, returns to Mansfield, Ohio on July 15th through 17th! This three-day fest takes place on the grounds of the infamous Ohio State Reformatory. I’m obsessed with Ghost Adventures and everything else spooky, so the Ohio State Reformatory is a place that I’ve been wanting to visit for […]

Monster Energy Outbreak Tour hits San Diego, with Zero 9:36 & more

Zero 9:36 came to San Diego’s House of Blues Voodoo Room, with support from Garzi and Fame on Fire! I’m such a sucker for these smaller venues, because it’s so intimate and I feel like the bands are so much more appreciative of the people who comes out! GARZI kicked off the night, who told […]

Shinedown sets stage ablaze in Des Moines, Iowa

Shinedown brought their Revolution’s Live Tour to the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa on April 12th. Supporting Shinedown were The Pretty Reckless and Diamante. Rather than the usual square stage, with standing room directly in front of it, this stage was assembled into a T-shaped catwalk, with fans on three sides. This layout […]

Two full weeks of SXSW 2022

SXSW is known for many things… whether it’s throngs of happy music lovers, rediscovering their love of seeking the best new bands, or the pack of tech guys in networking nirvana. Or, the film geeks and geek-ettes, gawking in gritty discourse over the merits (or lack thereof) of their latest screening. For me, though, SX […]

Eclectic Soundtrax Podcast, Ep. 69: Nathan Ruyle

Welcome to an all-new episode of Eclectic Soundtrax Podcast! Hosts Victor Ramos and Skunk Manhattan are joined by Nathan Ruyle from his new post sound facility in Burbank, CA. Ruyle works as a sound designer, supervising sound editor, re-recording mixer and founder of the independent post-production sound company, This is Sound Design. In a career […]

Knotfest Roadshow brings perfect chaos to Peoria, Illinois

The Knotfest Roadshow brought their latest cross-country installment to the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois on April 7th. This leg of the annual tour featured the natural headlining performance by hardcore metal legends Slipknot, as well as support from In This Moment and Wage War.  Jinjer was originally announced for the tour, but were […]

Fan-curated Blue Ridge Rock Festival resurfaces for 2022

The 5th Annual fan-driven Blue Ridge Rock Festival returns this September 8th through 11th! After the mishaps of last year, I was really scared the fest wasn’t going to return… I’ve heard a lot of people left the fest unhappy and there were a lot of negative things to said about it. I can understand […]

Papa Roach returns with ‘Ego Trip’ album

Papa Roach fans — it is now time to fill those eardrums with new tunes! The rap metal band’s astounding eleventh album has just been released, so let’s dive into these amazing fresh tracks from a longtime genre heavyweight. The first song off the album, “Kill The Noise”, is completely different from anything Papa Roach […]