Dino and Milo from Fear Factory join the boyz for an extra special Electric Happy Hour of frankly EPIC proportions! Expect to hear a bevy of Machine Head and Fear Factory classics, killer covers from Korn, Hatebreed and Slayer, all peppered with amazing recollections and tales from the studio and road. Special shout out to Robb's guitar tech Rod (aka: Pot Rod) and Zach Ohren for filling in on guitar.
Cerveza’s Up! Cerveza’s Up! Cerveza’s Up! Latin American / South American Head Cases, it has been WAY too long since we’ve pillaged your cities, guess who’s coming to drink all your beer, dine like kings, and incite the biggest circle pits in the history of the southern hemisphere? That’s right, Machine Head is! We’re absolutely stoked to bring our ‘An Evening with Machine Head’ show to Latin America this October!
Those familiar with the “evening with” know it’s a full-on Machine Head assault with no support bands, just us ugly bastards for up to 3 hours per night. Expect to hear a mix of all things Machine Head including material from 2022’s ‘Of Kingdom and Crown,’ back to 1994’s ‘Burn My Eyes’ and everything in between. We’ll be returning to Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, plus we are very stoked to be bringing the metal to Venezuela and Costa Rica for the first time! South American Head Case family, it’s been eight years, let’s fucking DESTROY!!"
Oct 12th - Mexico - Monterey Oct 14th - Mexico - Guadalajara Oct 15th - Mexico - Mexico City Oct 18th - Mexico - Queretaro Oct 20th - Costa Rica - San José Oct 22nd- Venezuela - Maracay Oct 24th - Chile - Santiago Oct 25th - Argentina - Buenos Aires Oct 27th - Brasil - Curitiba Oct 28th - Brasil - Rio de Janeiro Oct 29th - Brasil - Sao Paulo
Put your hands together and give it up for long-time bassist/backing vocalist Jared MacEachern on his 10 year anniversary with Machine Head.
Announced on the eve of the Mayhem Festival, Jared had technically been in the band for almost a month at that point and he proved more than formidable on his inaugural tour with the band, rocking hard onstage during the day and becoming the life of the party at night.
Great bassist, incredible vocalist, creative collaborator, drinking buddy and all-around solid-as-fuck dude, it is a pleasure having this mofo in Machine Head. Having survived the tumultuous “Catharsis-era”, he now has persevered longer than both Led Zeppelin and the Beatles were making records, and twice as long as The Police were even a band, not to mention living with me for years on end!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for the mighty J-Mac!!
12th - Mexico - Monterey 14th - Mexico - Guadalajara 15th - Mexico - Mexico City 18th - Mexico - Queretaro 20th - Costa Rica - San José 22nd- Venezuela - Maracay 24th - Chile - Santiago 25th - Argentina - Buenos Aires 27th - Brasil - Curitiba 28th - Brasil - Rio de Janeiro 29th - Brasil - Sao Paulo
I’d like to personally thank Rolling Stone for the inclusion of “Davidian,“ from Machine Head’s 1994 debut album ‘Burn My Eyes’ in their Top 100 Greatest Heavy-Metal Songs of All Time. It was a rare and delightful compliment from a magazine that has largely paid us no mind for the last 29 years.
Once the surprise of being mentioned subsided, I decided to go through all “100 Songs.” Sure, there are many, many questionable choices on the list, but there are two glaring omissions I HAVE to mention.
No Exodus? No Testament?
Bay Area Thrash Metal is still an extremely vital and powerful force in music, and it wasn’t just Metallica that brought it to the World. Upon formation, Exodus were literally the most exciting band around. Crafting timeless songs like “Bonded By Blood,” “A Lesson In Violence,” or their own 'pit anthem' - “The Toxic Waltz”, all deserve similar honors on such a list. When I was a teenager growing up in the Bay Area, I cannot express how important and influential Exodus and guitarist Gary Holt were and remain. Without Gary, there is no Robb Flynn. Without Exodus, there is no Machine Head.
And when it comes to Testament? The word that continues to flash before my eyes is ‘impact.’ I can assure you that every single Rock/Metal guitar player on the face of the planet’s collective jaws hit the floor when they heard Alex Skolnick play. His adding of classical arpeggio sweeps into songs like “Over The Wall,” and “Disciples Of The Watch,” was game changing. Soon everybody from Kirk Hammett of Metallica to Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest was doing it. The commanding bellow of singer Chuck Billy was an absolute precursor to the Death and Black Metal vocal that would soon follow and continue until this day. That's undeniable impact.
Again, we are humbled, honored, and grateful for our welcome into your ‘Top 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time'. Lastly, on behalf of the Heavy Metal community, thank you for representing our genre in your publication.
Following our wildly successful string of Electric Happy Hour (Live) dates in Scotland, we are bringing the beer-drenched, head-banging, free-wheelin', no-set-list, anything-goes-energy of our weekly online show, but this time to America and now it's LIVE!
Just Machine Head, Evening With-style, but more free-form, you might get 5 songs off of The Blackening, you might get 5 songs off of Burn My Eyes, you might get 5 cover songs, the setlist changes daily, and the beer always flows!!
So come down a rage with us for Electric Happy Hour (Live)
NOVEMBER
8th SPOKANE, WA - Knitting Factory 9th MISSOULA, MT - Top Hat 10th BOISE, ID - Revolution 12th CASPER, WY - The Gaslight Social 13th COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Black Sheep 15th MINOT, ND - The Original 16th FARGO, ND - The Hall at Fargo Brewing 18th SIOUX FALLS, SD - Bigs Bar 19th LINCOLN, NE - The Royal Grove 20th SPRINGFIELD, MO - Outland Ballroom 21st ST. LOUIS, MO - Red Flag 22nd MADISON, WI - High Noon Saloon *SOLD-OUT* 23rd INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Deluxe at Old National Center 25th JOLIET, IL - The Forge 26th FLINT, MI - Machine Shop *SOLD-OUT* 27th COLUMBUS, OH - A&R Music Bar 28th CINCINNATI, OH - Legends 29th BROOKLYN, NY - St. Vitus *JUST ADDED*
DECEMBER
1st PORTLAND, ME - Portland House of Music 2nd ASBURY PARK, NJ - Stone Pony 3rd READING, PA - Reverb 4th BALTIMORE, MD - Soundstage 6th VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - Elevation 27 7th HUNTINGTON, WV - The Loud 8th CHARLOTTE, NC - Underground 9th NASHVILLE, TN - Eastside Bowl 10th CHARLESTON, SC - Music Farm 12th FT. LAUDERDALE, FL - Culture Room 13th TAMPA, FL - Orpheum 15th LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Hall 16th OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Diamond Ballroom 17th WICHITA, KS - Wave 18th DALLAS, TX - Granada Theater 20th ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Sunshine Theater 21st TUCSON, AZ - The Rock 22nd SAN DIEGO, CA - House Of Blues 23rd SACRAMENTO, CA - Ace of Spades
Ladies and gents, friends, fans, and foes, Robb here... our 10th album 'ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN' is finally out!
But that being said, nothing happens in a bubble. We stand on the shoulders ofgiants, and are remarkably fortunate to have an incredible team of peoplearound us. I’d like to take a moment to elaborate about the unsung heroes ofthis album. People that played roles behind the scenes that made this allhappen. In turn, it has allowed us to create what I consider to be quite possiblythe best album we have ever made.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank Zack Ohren. My longtime Engineer andProducer who was absolutely essential in nearly every aspect of production,writing, arranging, processing. The dude is tireless, and his naturally even-keelreally produced some magical moments in the studio. These moments are allover the album, I'm lucky to have Zack in the family.
I’d like to thank long time producer Colin Richardson. Colin has been thereseemingly since day one going back to our 1994 debut 'Burn My Eyes’. He isresponsible for handling the magnificently savage production you hear on‘ØKAC'. He, alongside his engineer and all-around awesome dude ChrisClancy (the Christafarian), have crafted what may be sonically the heaviestsounding Machine Head record of all time! While you're punishing yourneighbors with volume, thank these guys!
I’d like to thank Joel Wanasek, his assistant Josh Napert, and Rhys Fulber forthe incredible soundscapes that they added to this album, including the story-arching interludes as well as the incredible layers they added to the songs.
I've got to give a shout out to Will Putney for his help with the overall concept.His input helped me tie it together lyrically and no question his contributionsabsolutely made this a better album.
I’d like to thank Monte Conner my A&R man of nearly 30 years! Monte Conneralso possessor of relentless dedication, brutal honesty, and his never endingbelief in both myself and Machine Head for close to three decades.
I’d like to thank Gerardo Martinez for his Herculean efforts and support in ourvision at Nuclear Blast. Also for partnering with us and our label, ImperiumRecordings in a way that few labels would.
I’d like to thank Seth Siro Anton, Geert Kroes and Rob Kimura for helping tocreate what I consider to be an absolute masterpiece of artwork. This albumcover and the entire package is simply stunning and could live in a museum.Thank you for your artistic talents.
I’d like to thank Tommy Jones, the indefatigable Mike Ruiz, Markus Jacob, MarkPalmer, Lisa Cope, Emma Chadwick, Danne, Yorck, Jaap, and the whole teamat Nuclear Blast Worldwide. Each of these individuals have totally gone theextra mile by working harder than any label we’ve ever worked with to get thisalbum the attention it deserves. With Tommy Jones in particular getting theMVP award for outworking one and all.
Jerome and Tiffany at NB‘s parent company Believe, they have been absolutelycritical in the digital set up of this record, and deserve massive kudos for theirbelief in Machine Head.
I’d like to thank Mike Sloat (a.k.a. "Mikael Sloatnikof”) and Jason ("horn-dog")Pedri as well as Rafal and Grupa 13 in Poland for crafting some of the most in-depth, visceral and exciting videos that we’ve ever produced. Special shout toArt Quest director Katherine Loomis at Santa Rosa high school for allowing touse the video production facilities so many times, and Jason's studentsAlexander Corl, Emily Aja, Jackson Richie, John Hey and Dylan Mooney forassisting on the ”CHØKE” video
I’d like to thank Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound for the unequivocally stunningmastering he did, not to mention his protege Justin Shturtz for the numerousrevisions that were done to make this album flow the way it does.
The inimitable Travis Shinn and Paul Harries for the exquisitely grim bandphotos. Considering they were taken over 2 different continents they blendseamlessly together adding to the cohesiveness of the presentation.
I’d like to thank my band! Jared, Vogg, and Matt for everything that theycontributed to this beast! With Vogg contributing some mind-bending riffs to"Unhallowed," and "Bloodshot," and Jared sweeping the MVP award forstepping up and delivering some absolute gold… from fantastic riffs, astoundingvocal melodies, awe-inspiring harmonies, superb lyrics. What more can I say?Thank you, brothers!
I’d like to thank Navene Koperweis for the undeniably jaw-dropping drums thathe laid down on this album.
I’d also like to thank Matt Alston for his patience and fortitude andunderstanding the difficult position we were in over the pandemic. It was roughnot being able to play on the album, and I know it was personally challengingfor him. However he was a part of the record in so many ways including thedemos as well as his suggestions which were essential to what you hear allover this album. Everybody give it up for Matt!
My wife Genevra for inspiring me and pushing me to make a concept record inthe first place. I am tremendously lucky for her eternal love, support, andsacrifice, (not to mention devastating wit) for this crazy dream of mine.
Much love to my two Kings Zander and Wyatt currently holding down the fort fortheir never ending ability to make me want to be a better man, and sharing withme the anime series that would eventually inspire so much of the concept ofthis album.
Our press Goddess Michelle Kerr, Kirstin, Charley and all at the incomparableCosa Nostra Public Relations (UK/US)
The Communications Dept. at Imperium Recordings
Ryan at Sharkbite Studios, Oakland for allowing us to craft this masterpieceover the course of the last year plus.
Olav and Ozan for all the help with the Electric Happy Hours, which in thestrangest way helped make this record what it is today. Think about it, theability to stay productive the way we did was the biggest hidden "treasure" wecould've ever stumbled upon.
The man behind the 'Machine' for 30 years, Mr. Joseph Huston. His focusedenergy and unflinching determination to always look out for what’s best for thisband is 100% essential to why we started, why we continue, and why we're stillhere today!
Benny and Jeff Pinn for always making our instruments and amps run perfectly.
Last but not least... I want to thank ALL of the Head Cases around the World!All that have stood by this band, fought for this band, believed in this band,YOU motherfuckers are the soldiers in our ARMY! Thank you for the honor ofallowing us to call YOU our friends, fans, and freaks!