Newsbites: Aerosmith rock the vote

Freedom fighter: Perry

Aerosmith will play on the streets of hometown Boston the day before the US presidential election, with the aim of encouraging people to vote no matter which side they’re on. The band aren’t allowed to reveal the location they’ve chosen until the morning of November 5, and they’ll appear around noon. Guitarist Joe Perry says: “Anyone who votes is a freedom fighter.” Their long-awaited new album, Music From Another Dimension, is released the following day.

Meanwhile, Aerosmith’s website was pulled down after an apparent hacker attack for several hours yesterday. Instead of the standard site visitors saw a stylised image of crossed arms. Band spokesmen were unable to explain what had happened. [Noisecreep]

Twisted Sister guitarist and manager JJ French has sent a number of cease-and-desist letters to non-music businesses using names similar to the band’s. The legal letter states: “Your use of the name ‘Twisted Sister’ will cause dilution of our client’s famous mark and will cause confusion among consumers.” One recipient is the Twisted Sister House of Hunger mobile food vendor of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Proprietor Cody Allen says: “I don’t know how somebody cane get a 20-foot aluminium box mixed up with an 80s rock band. We never refer to ourselves solely as Twisted Sister – we’re in the food industry, not the entertainment industry.” Frontman Dee Snider has distanced himself from the action, tweeting: “Not me – I don’t control the name, honestly!” [Kare11.com]

Slash’s wife Perla Hudson, for one, is disappointed with the content of Axl Rose’s rare TV interview on Wednesday night. The Guns n’Roses mainman appeared on Jimmy Kimmel live, but Hudson says: “I was waiting for something enlightening and all I got was promotion for a show and his evident affinity for a chill burger. I stayed up for this? Sex, drugs and chill dogs – long live Axl Rose. And a Halloween tree.”

Skid Row guitarist Scotti Hill has repeated there are no plans for a reunion with Sebastian Bach, despite the singer posting a photo of him and axeman Snake Sabo hanging out together in Hollywood. Bach said the pair, who hadn’t spoken in years, discussed the “past… and the future” but Hill reports: “They ran into each other and took a picture, and I would have done the same thing. I spoke to Sebastian earlier this year – there was just no way to take a picture. We’re going in to record some new Skid Row in November with Johnny Solinger.” [Monkey Business Show]

Steve Lukather of Toto fame will release his seventh solo album, Transition, on January 21, 2013. He’ll play London’s Islington Academy on March 29 and Bilston’s Robin 2 on March 30 as part of a European tour. For Lukather the album represents a transition of his attitude to life after fighting through a divorce, business issues and the death of his mother. He says: “I was thinking about everything I’ve seen. All the people I’ve lost, the great and the difficult experiences I’ve had, and how ultimately it was time to get it together and embrace things for what they are. We’ve only got one life to live – we should make the most of it.”

Rick Parfitt Jr says his attitude to his Status Quo dad – star of documentary movie Hello Quo – is vastly different now from when he was young. He explains: “Growing up with my old man there was a story every weekend. From crashed motor cars at the end of the drive to… just so many. At the time, not terribly cool; now, on reflection, amazing. Dad’s a very good friend to me and my friends all love to have a beer with him. They don’t make rock stars like they used to. From Dad through to Ozzy Osbourne, that clan of rock stars really had a unique sense of humour and a way to enjoy themselves that, today, would be frowned on a lot more.”