Dallas Frasca

  Dallas Frasca is a band out of Australia formed back in 2006. Dallas Frasca is Dallas Frasca on lead vocals and guitar, Jeff Curran on guitar and Josh Eales on drums. 

  In 2013 Dallas Frasca was part of a 24-hour circuit race in France and played a 40,000+ crowd. Europeans even named them "The next AC/DC"! which I think could very well be true. I listed to a few of their songs and theyre amazing! I first listened to their song "You Are Beautiful" which sends out a really powerful message and it's an amazing song. I even watched the music video, its different but I like it. (x) 

  One of my favorite things about this band has to be Dallas' voice! It's just amazing, it sort of reminds me 4 Non Blondes in there song What's Up. I also like there music videos they're just really cool. In the music video for the song Lizard Boy there's someone painted like a lizard and the way he moves around and acts is almost mystifying, you can't look away.

  Dallas Frasca has also played many charity events and back in 2009 they were invited by BBC to be 1 of 7 performing bands for International Earth Day in Montreal, Canada. In 2011, there songs Amongst the Leaves was in the film A Heartbeat Away. There songs have been in many surf films as well as Animals Rights campaigns. 

  Dallas Frasca is such a good band and I have just fallen in love with them, first from listening to their music to learning so much about them. I'm definitely buying one of there albums when I get the chance!

Despite

  Despite is a metal band formed in 1998, and in the band is Peter Tuthill as lead singer, Timmy Leng and Andre Gonzales on guitar, Matt D on bass, and Oscar Nilsson on drums. They're from Switzerland, which must be amazing! This band is also the first band I've gotten the opportunity to write about that is out of the U.S!
  Despite has a couple albums out, there first being released in March of 2009, called In Your Despite. This album has some guest vocals from Knut Agnred on Despite's song, MindPlague. Despite then released another album called Clenched in 2010. There most recent album was released February of 2014, called Epic, and from the album, they have a music video for there song As You Bleed, which is really cool! There's blood all over all the members and the song itself is really good!
 You can listen to their music on youtube, of course or there web page, which is here. There's also a link to a store on there webpage where you can buy Despite's merchandise!
  I really like this band, I listened to quite a few songs and the quality and everything about the band is so good! If you like metal, I suggest checking them out. The band as a whole is amazing and you can here each and every member, and you can tell they really enjoy what the do and that they really are good at it.
  You can like them on facebook here, and follow them on twitter here!

Melanie Martinez

  Melanie Martinez was on a show, The Voice, but was eliminated in the 5th week. After The Voice she started working independently. She wrote the song Dollhouse, which is an amazing song. In the music video she portrays a plastic doll, along with a brother, mom and dad, which is ideal for "The All American Family".
  Usually, you would expect a dolls life to be perfect in every way, but not the one in her music video for Dollhouse. Her dad is having an affair and the mom knows, but doesn't leave him. Instead, she "pulls out a flask and forgets his infidelity". The brother smokes weed and something strange is happening in the kitchen to no one should see. This song is really catchy and her voice is perfect for this type of music. It's kind of low, not real high pitched, and it's soft.
  Melanie has a debut EP out and is said to be releasing an album this October.

To Humans

  To Humans is a three piece alternative rock band out of Los Angeles, Ca. formed around 2011 with Danny Toranzo on lead guitar and vocals, Ace Anderson on bass and Jeremy Lombardo on drums. They recently released an album in June called Metacognition with 10 songs, which you can listen to and buy here. They also have the lyrics with the songs and you should definitely check them out, they're very deep and true. Lyrics from their song, Too Much To Ask, "All we think of, Is shut our ears and run our mouths, Is this way to much, to call out, Or will your ego bring you down?", pretty much speaks for itself. Everyone just talks, but never listens, not to themselves, not to other people, not to anyone.
  Their sound is so amazing, everything about the music fits together perfectly. They have a calming yet energetic sound and they make it work, they're one of those bands you could listen to for hours on end and never get tired of. Everyone in the band is so talented and you can really hear all of the effort they put into each song. It's not hard to find meaning in each song either which is always the best kind of music.
  They are very talented and seem very nice and, to me, they're a local band which is the best part!
  You can follow them on instagram here and like them of facebook here

Left to Right: Jeremy Lombardo, Danny Toranzo, Ace Anderson

Rage Against the Machine

  Lead singer Zack De La Roca and guitarist Tom Morello were both born in activist families which makes sense why there songs are so political. There's also drummer, Brad Wilk and bassist, Tim Commerford, they all formed Rage Against the Machine in 1991, and soon after released a self-produced 12 song cassette tape and that won them a deal with Epic, but they didn't sign until they were assured full creative control.
  There self titled album got them a spot in Lollapalooza and their video of "Freedom" on MTV. The band hoped to raise awareness for Leonard Peltier, who was an imprisoned American-Indian activist. The album grew in popularity when more people starting hearing the song, "Killing in the Name", which addresses racism and police corruption. I think it became popular because of the adrenaline it produces and the lyrics, "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" and in 1999, their album Evil Empire made it to #1 on the charts, and that proves there music was getting out and reaching people.
  In 2000, Tim was arrested after a protesters started a riot against the police after one of Rage Against the Machines set, and he was charged with assault and resisting arrest, but both charges were later dropped after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
  In October, shortly after there album, Renegade, Zack announced his departure of the band, mentioning a communication break down. Then Chris Cornell, from Soundgarden, joined the rest of the guys to create Audioslave, and they broke up in 2007. Later that year, in April, Rage Against the Machine got back together to headline Coachella and that turned out to be a reunion tour, that ended in Asia. (Wenner, Jann S. "Rage Against the Machine". Rollingstone.com, 2014)

Arin Ilejay, the newest member of Avenged Sevenfold

  Back in December of 2009, the original drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, Jimmy Sullivan, passed away leaving the band with the song called "Nightmare". After he had passed Avenged Sevenfold needed someone to fill in for Jimmy to record the rest of there album, except Carry On and Not Ready to Die, and they ended up choosing Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater. The band also decided Mike was not the right person to fill in for Jimmy forever and so eventually they found Arin Ilejay who used to be the drummer for Confide.

  Arin was recommended by Avenged Sevenfold's drum tech, Mike Fasano. "...We've rehearsed with Arin and have been impressed with his technical skills, attitude and work ethic. We're very excited to tour with Arin and hope all of you will give him the warm welcome to the family he deserves." Said by Avenged Sevenfold back in 2011.

  On November 14, Arin did an interview with Rock Sound and he seems to be very excited to able to play with Avenged Sevenfold, one of the biggest metal bands out there. He said, "..Instead of sleeping in a van I'm not sleeping in a massive bus!" and also, "There have been times when I’ve tried to help the crew set everything up, and they’re like, ’What the fuck are you doing out here?!’ I’m not used to being ‘the talent’"

  I think Arin is a great person to have in the band, he's young and he has experience and he's just an amazing drummer. To be able to fill the shoes of Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan has to be hard, but he is doing such a great job. Avenged Sevenfold couldn't have picked anyone better.

Matt (left) and Arin (right)

Rockstar Uproar Fest 9/13/13

  On September 13 I went to the Rockstar Uproar Fest and go to see The Dead Daisies, The Walking Papers, Circa Survive, Coheed and Cambria, Janes Addiction and Alice in Chains!

  I first got there and the Dead Daisies were already playing and they sounded amazing, I only got to hear about 2 songs but I really liked them and I even got to meet them afterwards at the signing and they were really nice guys. I got an autographed poster and a huge plastic banner with there name on it. The banner was just zip tied onto the little metal gates, so I just ripped it off and took it.

  The next band was The Walking Papers and the lead singers voice was so amazing! I loved they way they sounded, and I got to listen to their whole set. At one point the lead singer jumped down into the crowd and was singing and giving people high fives and it was really cool! They also did a signing and I got lucky and ended up finding one of their posters on the ground and when I was in line their manager told me that whoever got one of the Walking Papers posters was lucky because they went by fast when they were handing them out. I also bought their CD in line while waiting and got a picture with Jeff!

Half of the Walking Papers and I

Jeff Angell of Walking Papers

  After the Walking Papers finished, you could head down to the second half of the amphitheater to see the more famous bands and they also had more stands to buy merch and one of the tents there was an Avenged Sevenfold tent where they were handing out posters of the Hail to the King tour so I got one of course and then you had to walk up this huge hill to get to the main stage.

Avenged Sevenfold tent

  When I got to the main stage, Circe Survive was playing and I never heard them before but hearing them in concert and seeing them perform was still an awesome experience because they're a great band! I could understand them and you could hear the meaning behind there songs it was great. You could tell a lot of people at the concert were huge fans of them because you could hear them singing along and it was just great! 

Circa Survive

  After Circa Survive, Coheed and Cambria played and I had heard of them before and I really like there songs so being able to see them in concert was a real joy. All the people in the very front of the stage just kept piling up when Coheed and Cambria started playing and they were so good! They sound exactly how they sound on CD's which most bands dont anymore. Theyre really an awesome band!

This is a terrible picture but it's Coheed and
Cambria.

  Then Janes Addiction came on and there performance was amazing! Most people know that Perry Farrell's wife performs on stage with them and it was her and 3 other girls, 2 on stage at a time. At one point two of the girls were hanging by hooks in there backs, swinging around above the stage, it was awesome. Of course they played Been Caught Stealing, it was one of the first songs they played and I was really hoping they would play Jane Says, but they didn't. It was cool though because Dave Navarro played with them and the whole band except Perry went up to the front of the stage and started playing these big bongo drums and it sounded so cool!

  Then the final band came on, Alice in Chains and they are so awesome to see in concert! They had at least 8 screens behind them and the pictures and little videos they showed were awesome and really added to the concert. It's crazy how William DuVall, there current lead singer sounds exactly like Layne Staley, it's almost weird how they sound so much alike. Alice in Chains is one of my favorite bands so being able to see them in concert was amazing but I think it would have been amazing for anyone to see them. They put on a great show along with all the other bands that night.