2022 was a year of reunions, breakups, celebrity deaths and general horsefuckery.
We saw great reunions like Shadows Fall and God Forbid coming to fruition at fests. Possible one offs that seem to have turned into probable new music. It seemed everyday like there was an announcement about some regrouping of bands we’d all kind of never thought would happen or basically sort of forgot about. Personally I loved watching the videos of the tribute Pantera shows late in the year. A big middle finger to all the critics that shit on even the idea of some combination of original and hired guns forming under the literal big ass banner of the band. The thousands of fans rallying in monstrous circle pits clearly proved those critics wrong. Even musicians who had sound bytes ringing for years in the press about what Vinnie and Dime would’ve wanted, had to walk back their opinions. It was truly the highlight of the year.
The Flipside of the reunion coin were the breakups and shakeups. Nuclear Assault announcing that they would no longer be touring was a surprise to me. Megadeth confirmed Dave Ellefson’s departure by producing a new album with a new bassist for the first time in years. Guitar virtuosos like Nita Strauss(formerly of Alice Cooper)!and John Five(Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie) essentially joined bands that they are way too good for.
As in any 12 month span, we lose celebrities, it’s inevitable. The Foo Fighters began the year riding high. With a new album, a movie and frontman Dave Grohl’s book still getting plenty of coverage, Camp Foo could do no wrong. That’s why the announcement of Taylor Hawkins death during a tour of Columbia shocked the world. While there is no word on where the band goes in 2023, Grohl did admit that the band will not be the same.
Onto the horsefuckery. We had the long over due Rage Against the Machine tour that was cut short by an injury to lead vocalist, Zack. The right wing lug nuts that used the cost of ticket prices to debate socialism and rally against the bands message were laughable. Many were late to the party and finally understood that they were part of the machine the band was rallying against. Never a finer example of sour grapes than from folks who used “I won’t do what you tell me” as a mantra in support of agendas that were lockstep with a political ideology.
While we are talking about ticket sales, we can’t gloss over the fact that it took the enraged fans of pop icon Taylor Swift in 2022, to truly open a national dialogue(briefly) about the practices of the largest ticket seller in the country. The fact that fans still contend with having to buy tickets at many times, triple the asking price, should be a crime in itself. Between exorbitant “handling and processing” fees at the gate and third party bots who scoop up all the tickets at presale, fans have to play a game of monopoly just to get a seat. I hope the discussion continues this year and we finally see an even playing field.
It’s 2023. It can be a refresh for some or “new year, screw me” for others. I hope whoever is reading this knows that we will be here to share the details on new albums, do some reviews and even have some interviews. This blog has always been about opening a discussion amongst metalheads. If you have an idea or wish to volunteer an opinion hit us up. We don’t bite.
- grownman
🤘
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