Sinch supporting Stone Sour – Columbus Newport Music Hall, Ohio, October 2nd 2002 By Steve Birkett. ‘Yeah, so first of all I have to apologise for accosting Dan in the street after the show. This was my last ditch attempt to get you guys to sign my album inlay, I now realise that I came across like a fawning groupie. For this I apologise and thank you profusely for delaying your departure to sign my shit….if it helps, I was one over the eighth cos the venue actually accepted my ID and allowed me to drink (I’m feckin’ 22 and have a UK passport) Cheers. Anyhow, Sinch were insanely amazing, so so good. I’d built this up in my mind to indescribable proportions and it lived up to MY hype. That’s pretty outstanding. Jamie was intense, Jay hypnotic, Tony LOUD!! Dan had some brilliant drumming moments and Mike was rocking out to complete the quintet, the whole band were on fire. Even though the crowd were a little stagnant, they gave Sinch the respect they deserve in applause, I’d say you guys made plenty of new friends this evening. Set list: Tabula Rasa Something More Bitmap Seven Silent Acquiesence of Millions Great night, Sinch haven’t disappointed my massive expectations. I’d see them again anytime, preferably with a full set and a crowd that knows exactly what’s up (there’s only so much one English dude can cheer for a band to make em feel loved) Get to em, get into em…..you’ll kick yourself if you don’t.’ One of the US teamers, Brian McCombs, took some snaps of both Sinch and Stone Sour. Check em out! Sinch Photos Stone Sour Photos Thanks Steve and Brian!

The annual Smash Hits Awards is upon us. The voting for best video – which includes Chad Kroeger’s ‘Hero’ – can be made by calling: 09067 551960 ‘Hero’ is option 9. Calls cost 75p per minute and voting closes November 11th… Best of luck.

When we last visited Chimaira camp, we told of nine new song titles and a couple shows to boot. Well, the boys are keepin’ on…they now have another 4-5 songs written, songs which they plan to demo come the first week in November. Word has it that if you have long hair you will like the album. That album being titled ‘The Impossibility Of Reason’. As far as the shows, the show The Odeon in Cleveland, Ohio was a night of metal, violence, and windmills. Cats showed up from as far away as NYC, Chicago and Detroit. During the show, three new tracks were played for the first time – “Stigmurder,” “Pictures In The Goldroom” and “Cleansation.”

Got this email in today from our friend Kirsten Daniells (remember her from previous Nickelback updates? Sure you do.) “The Chad Kroeger/Santana colaboration is god-damned BRILLIANT. Change of style for Chad, no angry growly singing of lyrics, more of a maple syrup over warm pancakes outpouring. The track starts of in Santana’s inimitable style but as soon as Chad starts in with the lyrics this track could very easily be mistaken for a pure Nickelback creation. I swear, if these lyrics were written with one particular lady in mind then in my opinion, she’s just about the luckiest lady on the planet right now. Since the moment I spotted you Like walking round with little wings on my shoes My stomach’s filled with the butterflies..and its alright Bouncing round from cloud to cloud I got the feeling like I’m never going to come down If I said I didn’t like it then you know I’d lied Every time I try to talk to you I get tongue tied Turns out everything I say to you Comes out wrong and never comes out right So I’ll say “why don’t you and I get together and take on the world and be together forever” Heads we will and tails we’ll try again So I say why don’t you and I hold each other and fly to the moon and straight on to heaven Cause without you they’re never going to let me in When’s this fever going to break? I think I’ve handled more than any man can take I’m like a love-sick puppy chasing you around And it’s alright Bouncing round from cloud to cloud I got the feeling like I’m never going to come down If I said I didn’t like it then you know I lied Every time I try to talk to you I get tongue tied Turns out everything I say to you Comes out wrong and never comes out right So I’ll say “why don’t you and I get together and take on the world and be together forever” Heads we will and tails we’ll try again So I say why don’t you and I hold each other and fly to the moon and straight on to heaven Cause without you they’re never going to let me in And slowly I begin to realize this is never going to end Right about the same you walk by And I say “Oh here we go again” Every time I try to talk to you I get tongue tied Turns out everything I say to you Comes out wrong and never comes out right So I’ll say “why don’t you and I get together and take on the world and be together forever” Heads we will and tails we’ll try again So I say why don’t you and get together and fly to the moon and straight on to heaven Cause without you they’re never going to let me in (repeat to fade) Regards, as ever – Kirsten Daniells.” Let’s end today’s Nickelback news with a random Did You Know. Did you know? Nickelback track “Breathe” is on the new film “Clockstoppers”, out at cinemas now.

Roadrage. Six dates completed in the UK. Killswitch Engage, 36 Crazyfists, and Five Pointe O (aka The Roadragers) are currently making their way round Europe, coming back to the UK for a further 6 dates from November 26th. Make sure you check out the photo galleries for each band in the ARTISTS section for a continually growing selection of live tour photos, behind the scenes, days off, and other candid moments caught on film! Grabbed a couple of words with Mike, the bassist of Killswitch Engage, briefly today. Asked what was the highlight of the UK dates for him… “has to be the first show in Nottingham” he said, “simply because we really didn’t know what to expect!” For more from Mike, check out his awesome photographic tour diary giving you a sneak peek of the shows and life on the road! You can view it in the KsE Artist Photo Gallery right here on this site… More to come…

Hot off the US press release with the latest on Stone Sour’s bid for world domination. New York, NY í¢ä‰åäóì Once a í¢ä‰åñBotherí¢ä‰åŒ to the competition, Stone Sour has become an outright threat. This week, the band’s debut album has shot up from #66, to #56 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart with 18,974 units sold (up 14%), maintaining a steady increase in sales since its August 27th release. The track “Bother” continues to shake up the Billboard Monitor charts holding a spot in the Top Ten across the board: #4 on the Rock Chart, #5 on Active Rock (Above Audioslave, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and 3 Doors Down on both charts) and #6 on the Modern Rock Chart (beating out Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Audioslave, and Queens of the Stone Age). The track also remains in the Top Ten across the board at the R&R charts, coming in at # 5 at Active Rock, and #6 at both Rock and Alternative Charts. The current audience for the track is over 20 million nationwide. Aside from the airwaves, Stone Sour is saturating television. The band’s video for “Bother,” directed by Gregory Dark (Linkin Park, Staind, Outkast) has been receiving ample spins on MTV, MTV2 and Much Music USA. It debuted at #10 in the Rock/Alternative CVC chart. Tune in at any time of day and you’re bound to find Corey Taylor’s earnest performance of í¢ä‰åñBotherí¢ä‰åŒ on your screen. In addition to the band’s staggering commercial exposure, Stone Sour is still going strong at metal radio. This week the album was #2 at R&R’s Metal Specialty Chart and #6 at Album Network. The band is keeping busy on headlining dates, with label mates Sinch and Epic recording artists Chevelle in support. Stone Sour has just announced a second leg of the tour, which will extend through December. Currently on tour with the band is former Megadeth drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, filling in for an injured Joel Ekman. Ekman recently suffered a fractured wrist, and the healing process may take weeks. However, the drummer is still out on the road to support his musical family. There’s no getting around the band that’s everywhere. Whether you’re a fiend for television or radio, or prefer the raw power of a live show, Stone Sour will find you.

You remember the Workhorse Movement, who became the Dirty Americans, right? New album currently looking to be released mid 2003. Meanwhile, we have a little dirty rock ‘n’ roll music for you to check out – your first taste of their new music. Hit up the Dirty Americans music page (go to the artist section) for the goods.

Grabbed a few quick words this a.m. with Spineshank drummer Tommy Decker. Somewhere in downtown L.A., Spineshank have just finished the pre-production process for what will be their third release. When we spoke with Tommy, it was 5 a.m. Californian time and he was in the middle of writing lyrics for another new “fuckin’ heavy” song, and very aware he had to take lil Tommy to school in less than 3 hours! Workaholics. We have defined the term “pre-production” before, but for those of you not listening, guitarist Mike Sarkisyan gives his definition of what goes on during this time – “(you) go through songs, rearrange if needed, tighten up. Basically, (it’s) whatever needs done before hitting the studio and tracking.” Spineshank has been elbow deep in this process for a bit more than a week – doing just as Mike described, plus “crackin’ a bunch of jokes and pickin’ on each other everyday. Like a bunch of retards that get together and have fun. That’s what we’re doing.” And most importantly, “learning a lot,” concludes Mike. The official recording of Spineshank’s third offering starts this Monday (Oct 28), when the band hits Henson Studios (formerly the legendary A&M Studios) to start tracking.

You can never start planning ahead early enough for the Christmas Season…which is basically upon us according to all your local shops. Chris from the RR US office pretended to be Santa to scope out the following info. What are members from Stone Sour camp going to be giving this year? What are they hoping to get? The music situation on this front is as follows: Corey Taylor: records to give: Nirvana ‘Bleach’, The Vines, Rolling Stones ‘Let It Bleed’, The Hives, Local H, White Stripes. records to receive: ‘200mph’ by Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra’s greatest hits, The Mentors ‘Up The Dose’, the 1st Cynic’s album, new Audioslave record. Shawn Economaki: records to give: Lost Prophets, Avril Lavigne, Incubus ‘Morning View’, Metallica ‘Master of Puppets’, Prince ‘Purple Rain’. records to receive: nothing – has all he wants. Jim Root: records to give: Blur ’13’, Radiohead ‘OK Computer’, Portishead ‘Live in NYC’, The Haunted ‘The Haunted Made Me Do It’, The Beatles White Album. records to receive: Rolling Stones ‘Goat’s Head Soup’, Beatles ‘Rubber Sole’, Anthrax ‘Fistfull of Metal’, Deftones ‘White Pony’, Queens of the Stone Age ‘Songs for the Deaf’. Tickets on sale now for Stone Sour UK dates in February.

Congratulations are due for Ill Nino guitarist Jardel on his upcoming addition to the Paisante family. A baby boy is due in the Spring for Jardel and Juliana. This happy news comes in the midst of their current European tour, hitting the UK with Raging Speedhorn from 26/10 – 1/11. Bandmates, friends, and family couldn’t be happier….congratulations Jardel and Juliana…