BITS

METALLICA:

M72 World Tour Live

Tickets are on sale for Metallica: M72 World Tour Live From Arlington, TX –A Two Night Event at metallica.film. Presented in cinemas worldwide by Trafalgar Releasing, this global theatrical event brings Metallica’s M72 World Tour live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, to the big screen live in cinemas on Friday, August 18 and Sunday, August 20 at 9:15 p.m. EDT / 6:15 PM PDT with encore showings on August 19 (Friday’s concert) and August 21 (Sunday’s concert) at 9:00 p.m. EDT / 6:00 p.m. PDT. For exhibition times visit metallica.film.

Metallica: M72 World Tour Live From Arlington, TX – A Two Night Event will see the band playing two nights with two completely different setlists, with songs from across the group’s 40+ year career, ranging from 1983’s debut Kill ‘Em All to 2023’s new release 72 Seasons. You won’t see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs across both nights. This is a two-night event. Get your tickets for both nights to enjoy the full experience.

Metallica’s 72 Seasons was produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield and Ulrich, and clocking in at over 77 minutes, the 12-track 72 Seasons is Metallica’s first full length collection of new material since 2016’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. For album orders and further information, go to https://www. metallica.com/store/72-seasons/.

DAVE MUSTAINE VANGUARD

Kramer, the original Made To Rock Hard guitar brand has been setting trends with premium, performancefocused instruments since 1976.

Kramer welcomed Dave Mustaine, the legendary guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and founder of the multiplatinum selling and GRAMMY Awardwinning band, Megadeth, to the Kramer Artist lineup with the release of the Kramer Dave Mustaine Vanguard. The new Kramer Vanguard guitars arrive in Ebony, Silver Metallic, and a limited edition “Rust In Peace” in Alien Tech Green. The Dave Mustaine Collection is now available globally and at all authorized Kramer dealers and on www. kramerguitars.com.

BLUR: THE BALLAD OF DARREN

Blur will release their first album in 8 years, titled The Ballad of Darren and comprising 10 new tracks, on July 21st on Parlophone. First track ‘The Narcissist’ is out now.

Produced by James Ford and recorded at Studio 13, London and Devon, The Ballad of Darren is the band’s ninth studio album, their first since the chart-topping The Magic Whip in 2015, with artwork featuring an image by British photographer Martin Parr.

The Ballad of Darren track listing is: The Ballad, St. Charles Square, Barbaric, Russian Strings, The Everglades (For Leonard), The Narcissist, Goodbye Albert, Far Away Island, Avalon and The Heights.

The Ballad of Darren will be available as a Digital Download & Stream (10 tracks as above); Standard CD (10 tracks) and Deluxe CD (12 tracks, with expanded packaging), Standard Vinyl LP - 12” heavyweight black vinyl; and -exclusive to blur.co.uk - Deluxe Vinyl pressed on 12” clear vinyl with black swirls, in a gatefold sleeve, with poster, bonus 7” vinyl, album CD (12 tracks) and integrated booklet, including exclusive handwritten notes, sketches and lyrics; and Cassette (10 tracks).

Rodrigo Y Gabriela At Kings Theatre

Grammy Award-winning guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela are embarking on a world tour to celebrate the release of their new album, In Between Thoughts...A New World, available now via ATO Records. North American headline dates got underway May18th . Highlights include special performances with 4x Grammy Award-winning drummer Antonio Sánchez at Brooklyn, NY’s Kings Theatre (June 27), and Montreal, QC’s Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier | Place des Arts (July 1). Special guests include Krooked Kings (May 18-27), Bahamas (June 1-11), and Ondara (June 13-29).

Rodrigo y Gabriela will be performing on the new series of Later… with Jools Holland on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in June. For complete details and ticket

BRIAN MAY + FRIENDS STAR FLEET PROJECT

When Queen took a break for the first part of 1983, Brian May put his time to good use. Waking up one morning in Los Angeles, he decided to phone a few friends and invite them to collaborate on some tracks in California’s famous Record Plant studios. The resulting collaboration was a great success, and Brian would later mold the recordings into a unique mini-album, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project.

This third release in the “Brian May Gold Series” offers an extensively revisited and expanded box set edition of these legendary sessions. The set is a complete document of the two days, April 21 and 22, 1983 that May spent in the Record Plant, Los Angeles accompanied by top rock music luminaries Edward Van Halen (guitar), Alan Gratzer (drums), Phil Chen (bass) and Fred Mandel (keyboards). The box set includes a spectacular 23-track CD filled with previously unreleased material.

Containing two CDs, one vinyl LP, and a vinyl single, as well as other collector’s items, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Sessions will be launched as a Deluxe Edition box set, worldwide on July 14th.

BLEECKER STREET TAPES: ECHOES OF GREENWICH VILLAGE

Trouser Press Books announced The Bleecker Street Tapes: Echoes Of Greenwich Village, a new collection of profiles and essays by veteran music journalist Bruce Pollock.

From the coffeehouses of Greenwich Village to the stage at Woodstock, folksingers became a powerful cultural force in the 1960s. Mixing music and politics, tradition and innovation, romance and righteousness, these men and women were outspoken voices for their generation, each with a story to tell.

Now, more than a half-century later, The Bleecker Street Tapes sees Bruce Pollock, a Village resident and clubgoer during folk’s heyday, expertly capturing the extraordinary life and times of these legendary artists through insightful interviews and contemporary appraisals of such icons as Leonard Cohen, Loudon Wainwright III, Roger McGuinn, The Roches, Dave Van Ronk, Suzanne Vega, John Sebastian, Phil Ochs, Peter Tork, Maria Muldaur, Richie Havens, Janis Ian, Harry Chapin, Melanie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Don McLean, Peter, Paul & Mary, Tuli Kupferberg, Eric Andersen, and more.