Category: news

Rush and its fans have hit the $1 million target for the Neil Peart Memorial planned for Lakeside Park in St. Catharines, Ontario, closing out a long fundraising push for the late drummer’s tribute.

The campaign officially wraps Oct. 15, 2026, and until then supporters can still give, including by buying a commemorative fan panel that will be engraved with a personal message on the memorial. Space is limited.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson handed over a $785,000 check to the Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force Fundraising Sub-Committee and city staff after finishing their hometown Toronto run with an Aug. 13 show at Scotiabank Arena. On the band’s “Fifty Something” tour, a share of the proceeds from VIP experiences and packages went to the memorial, so fans who bought in helped build the tribute to the Rush drummer. Lee had also given $1 from every ticket sold on his fall 2023 My Effin’ Life book tour.

City manager for community programs and parks Eric Lamothe said the Rush donation pushed the campaign over the line:

“After years of dedicated work by the Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force and the incredible community support that brought us near the finish line, this remarkable contribution from Rush secures our $1-million fundraising goal,” Lamothe said.

“This public art memorial will be far more than a tribute to Neil Peart; it elevates the park into a world-class cultural landmark. We are thrilled to see a space that is already a beloved destination for residents and tourists become a global beacon for enthusiastic music fans to gather, reflect, and celebrate an icon for generations to come.”

City Council formed the task force after Peart died Jan. 7, 2020. It staged an official launch at Lakeside Park in September 2024 to kick off the fundraising drive for a public work of art in his honor.

The group ran a competitive selection process and picked Morgan MacDonald of The Newfoundland Bronze Foundry (Morgan Sculpture Inc.) in late 2022 to create the piece beside the Neil Peart Pavilion. The winning concept features two larger-than-life bronze sculptures of Peart, linked by a pathway with interactive and interpretive elements covering his personal and professional legacy, including his years in the band.

Task force chair Meg Symsyk said the memorial is meant to match his connection to the city: “Our mission has always been to build a physical tribute that does justice to Neil‘s immense legacy and his deep connection to St. Catharines. Neil was an extraordinary lyricist and Canadian poet, and “Lakeside Park” was, in many ways, a love letter back to this place. There is something incredibly powerful about standing here and experiencing the place behind those lyrics,” Symsyk said.

“We already see Rush fans from around the world making the journey to Lakeside Park and visiting the pavilion. This memorial will deepen that connection even further, creating a lasting destination for fans, residents and visitors to celebrate Neil and the music and words that continue to mean so much to so many.”

A staff report detailing next steps is due at a City Council meeting in September. City staff tentatively expect the memorial to open in late 2027.

Peart spent his formative years in St. Catharines and often spoke warmly of his summers in Port Dalhousie, which inspired the Rush song “Lakeside Park.” A Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Order of Canada recipient, he is widely considered one of the greatest drummers ever.

The post RUSH Fans Just Helped Cross The $1 Million Mark For A Bronze Neil Peart Tribute Set To Open In 2027 appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

I was stunned when Ezra Collective drummer Femi Koleoso told me he’s just 31 years old. (He’ll be 32 in October.) I’ve been listening to him for a decade, since the group’s 2016 debut EP, Chapter 7, and two albums he played on the following year, Nubya Garcia’s Nubya’s 5ive and Camilla George’s Isang. The bassist on those latter two releases was Daniel Casimir, but in Ezra Collective, Koleoso is joined by his brother TJ, as well as keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi (who replaced Dylan Jones on 2022’s Where I’m Meant To Be), and saxophonist James Mollison. 

The post Ezra Collective Stay Hopeful appeared first on Stereogum.

MYSTIC PROPHECY have released a lyric video for “March Or Die,” a new single from their forthcoming album, In Metal. The record arrives on November 27, 2026, through PERCEPTION – Powered by Reigning Phoenix Music, featuring three new members alongside vocalist R.D. Liapakis and guitarist Markus Pohl. Although the song uses battlefield imagery, its subject […]

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Red Hot Chili Peppers is set to headline the Silverlake Conservatory of Music’s 25th-anniversary benefit concert alongside Dave Grohl and Vince Staples. The show goes down Oct. 17 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Tickets are on sale now, with sponsorship packages and VIP options also available. Anyone who wants to donate to the school can do so at silverlakeconservatory.org.

The concert caps a milestone year for the conservatory, which has spent 25 years delivering music education to the Los Angeles community. Award-winning musicians Michael “Flea” Balzary and Keith “Tree” Barry founded the school in 2001 with help from their longtime friend Peter Weiss. It plugs holes in music programming across L.A. public schools and teaches more than 900 students each week. Its scholarship program supports over 200 kids whose families can’t cover the cost of lessons, supplying free instruction, instruments, supplies, ensemble classes and events.

The school normally throws a private benefit evening every year to raise the $1.5 million it takes to keep its programs running. Past headliners include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder, Neil Young, KD Lang, Bruno Mars, John Legend, Beck, Kamasi Washington and Tracy Chapman, among others.

For the 25th anniversary, the conservatory is skipping the private dinner and hosting its annual birthday party at the Hollywood Palladium instead. The organizers are billing it as a star-packed salute to the people who make up the heart of the school and the city it serves.

The Silverlake Conservatory of Music is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to dynamic music education for beginners and advanced players of every skill level. Its main focus is local youth, though anyone can sign up. It offers affordable private lessons on all orchestral and band instruments, including voice, plus a range of ensemble classes. Qualifying children whose families couldn’t otherwise pay for lessons receive scholarships.

Funding comes from personal and corporate donations, instrument gifts and in-house fundraising, which has allowed the school to build a strong roster of committed young players while countering the decline of arts education in L.A. schools. Its stated goal is to keep teaching standards high in a friendly, fun, and supportive setting, on the belief that studying music enriches students, teachers, and the wider community.

The post RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS & DAVE GROHL Team Up For A Hollywood Palladium Bash Backed By Flea’s Own Music School appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

“Tales Of Trees”, the second preview tune from Enslaved‘s forthcoming long player Mið, is out now and available for streaming together with an official music video directed by Marius Marthinussen Søreide.
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Warsaw thrash metal band WAR-SAW have returned with Blood for God, a five-track EP released independently on June 20, 2026, on CD and digital platforms. The recording follows a prolonged slowdown in activity as founding guitarist Marek “Agnostic” Molenda dealt with the loss of his home, the pandemic and a subsequent wrist injury. Molenda’s house […]

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Plus reunion shows from Giddy Up Gangsta and I Ate Everybody.

The post Arsonists Get All The Girls, Dr. Acula (Performing “S.L.O.B.”), Etc. Booked For 2026 ‘Brutal Extravaganza’ Festival appeared first on Theprp.com.

Swiss doom metal band TAR POND will join CORONER and SCHIZOPHRENIA on the “Dissonance over Europe, Pt. 1” tour, beginning on September 24, 2026, at Noumatrouff in Mulhouse, France. Alongside songs from their latest album, PETROL, the band plan to test material from their next record. The tour also brings drummer Marky Edelmann back on […]

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New Jersey thrash veteran Whiplash has released “Bullet Train,” the first single from its upcoming album, Roar. The record lands worldwide Nov. 27 through Time To Kill Records.

The track runs on the guitar work and vocals of Tony Portaro, and it previews an album built on the same direct, riff-first approach the band has stuck with for four decades.

Portaro described the song this way: “Bullet Train” is our high-octane anthem for the speed freaks. It’s about that headlong rush of living life at 200 mph; the addiction to speed, chaos and the constant chase that has always been part of the heavy metal lifestyle. ‘Time is racing like a speed machine, motor speedway in your brain’ really sums up what the song is about.

“It’s all horsepower and adrenaline: breakneck speed, faster than a jet stream. This is metal with no brakes.”

Roar was tracked at Studio Mozart and Concrete Island Studio, produced by Portaro and mixed by Jamie King Audio. Its 10 songs aim to bottle the energy of the band’s live shows while showing Portaro still sharpening his songwriting and playing.

Cuts like “Sonic Asylum,” “Bullet Train” and “Who Stole My Whiskey” are built for the pit, with no thought given to the algorithm. The album delivers what a Whiplash record should: riffs, songs and attitude, minus any trendy filler drifting in from outside the mosh zone.

The album has a bit of a backstory. A tightly limited run first appeared during the band’s European “Campaign For Musical Destruction Tour” with Napalm Death, when a small batch of CD promos went out independently under the title Thrashquake. The official release through Time To Kill Records brings a new name, fresh cover art by illustrator Ed Repka and a global promotional push.

Portaro explained the changes: “‘Thrashquake’ was the original title, and we made a limited number of copies available independently while we were touring earlier this year. As things developed and we started looking at the bigger picture for the worldwide release, ‘Roar’ just felt like a stronger title and a better representation of the album as a whole.”

“Partnering with Time To Kill Records gives us the opportunity to take this record far beyond that initial tour release and give it the international campaign and worldwide distribution it deserves.”

“With the new title, the new Ed Repka artwork and Time To Kill behind the official release, ‘Roar’ represents the definitive version of this album and the beginning of its real worldwide campaign.”

For Time To Kill Records, signing Whiplash is a pleasure, since few acts embody uncompromising underground metal quite like Portaro‘s long-running outfit.

Whiplash formed in Passaic, N.J., in 1984 and quickly became one of the leading voices of 1980s East Coast thrash. Guitarist and vocalist Portaro steered the band through a mix of melodic speed metal, savage riffs and raw energy, resulting in the cult favorite Power And Pain (1985), released on Roadrunner’s Road Racer imprint.

Ticket To Mayhem (1987) and Insult To Injury (1989) followed, and those early albums carved out a distinct identity in a New York scene ruled by punk and hardcore. After more releases, lineup shuffles and a stretch of inactivity, the band returned with Thrashback (1998) before disappearing again for a long hiatus.

Whiplash resurfaced with Unborn Again in 2009, winning over old-school loyalists and younger thrashers alike. Through every version of the band, Portaro has remained the driving force and has kept the power-trio spirit intact.

Roar, the band’s eighth studio album, carries that stubborn approach into 2026 as its new worldwide release on Time To Kill Records.

The post WHIPLASH Shares Official Visualizer For “Bullet Train” From Upcoming Album “Roar” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Hardcore is a universal language, and a new three-way split brings together practitioners from three different continents. The new United Nations EP has three tracks from New York’s Combust, two from Tokyo’s Blow Your Brains Out, and two from Brighton’s Imposter. All three bands build on the blueprint of New York hardcore from the late ’80s and early ’90s, and it’s cool to hear the differences in the way the three of them approach the form.

The post Combust, Blow Your Brains Out, & Imposter Team Up On New Split <em>United Nations</em> appeared first on Stereogum.