Newsbites: $5 Metallica tickets sell for $50

Scalped: Metallica's James Hetfield

Tickets for Metallica‘s $5 charity show in Canada last night changed hands for up to ten times their original value after scalpers got their hands on them. The Vancouver Sun reports that some people ordered more passes than they needed with the intention of selling them on for $50 or more. Metallica held the cut-price performance in order to film footage for their upcoming movie, with the entire ticket price going to a local food charity. One fan, who bought six with the plan of selling three for $150, told the newspaper: “I do feel a tinge of guilt but I’m willing to do it because I’m not exactly a rich guy.”

Geoff Tate says he spat on his Queensryche bandmates before the band’s drama-tinged Sao Paulo show in April with the express intention of showing his disgust. He told VH1′s That Metal Show: “I lost my temper. I came unglued, and I’m glad someone stopped me – it’s not something I’m proud of. The spitting thing, I know a lot of people are giving me hell about that. But spitting is something that, historically, has been the most degrading thing you can do to somebody. That was exactly what was meant by it.”

Papa Roach have cancelled the remaining dates on their current tour after frontman Jacoby Shaddix realised he had no option but to undergo surgery for the nodule on his vocal cord. He explains: “It’s no secret I’ve been having issues with my voice recently. I was hoping to go out and kill it by resting and doing exercises, but my voice has just gone out on me. That last thing we want to do is give our fans less than 100percent. We’ll be back better than ever.”

Guitarist Eric Cook of prog metal outfit Lethal has died of cancer. He formed the band with his bassist brother Glen in 1982 and they’re remembered for their debut 1990 album Programmed. They split in 1996 but reformed in 2007.

Tom Waits will appear in the upcoming 24th season of The Simpsons, playing himself and involving Homer Simpson in a community of survivalists. The episode addresses the phenomenon of preppers – those who are preparing to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world. Waits does not sing in the show entitles Homer Goes to Prep School, which will be broadcast in December.

Kiss star Gene Simmons is offering fans the chance to buy his basses after he’s used them during the band’s current tour. Two instruments each night – one Axe and one Punisher – will be offered for sale and presented by Simmons at a meet-and-greet following the concert. He’s inviting “high-end collectors” to pay $5000 per bass. Bandmate Paul Stanley is making a similar offer: fans can buy a guitar off him after the show in which he used it for $8500, or $5500 if they want him to smash it up before handing it over.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse will release Psychedelic Pill, their second album of 2012, in October. It follows the all-covers work Americana, and includes the group’s first new material since 2003.

Finnish band Korpiklaani have unleashed a barrage of abuse on British Airways after a recent flight experience. They say: “They left all our gear in London. All. On top of that, someone had been smoking in the plane’s toilet and the stupid fucking git of a flight attendant comes to shout at us because the long-haired ones are always guilty. Fuck off, British Airways. Seriously, fuck off.”

Jello Biafra believes Facebook and other social networks are a mixed blessing. The Dead Kennedys icon says: “I get a little weirded-out by people who are more interested in collecting Facebook friends, showing stuff on their wall and calling it a life. Living in a world of imaginary friends was considered a mental illness. Social networking is creating a new kind of pressure on kids who have to market themselves the right way. You are who you advertise yourself to be, and I don’t think 12-year-old kids should be worrying about that kind of stuff. ” But he continues: “When a kid is the only misfit in school, or he feel like he is, he can meet somebody over the net instead of writing a letter to Jello Biafra wanting advice. It’s much better when they can find like-minded people who might even be in their own town.” [PunkNews]