With the release of "Scream Aim Fire", Welsh metal band Bullet For My Valentine are getting ready to embark on "The Taste Of Chaos Tour featuring Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, and Bullet For My Valentine. The tour kicks off on February 29th in Denver, Colorado at the Fillmore Auditorium and will play more than 20 cities in the U.S. and Canada through late April.
The "Taste Of Chaos Tour" will be the first North American tour for Bullet For My Valentine since 2007. Bullet For My Valentine recently wrapped up an extensive 3 week European tour, in which the band was forced to cancel the last night of the European tour on February 22nd due to the flu in Helsinki.
Correspondent Deb Rao recently spoke to guitarist Michael "Padge" Paget regarding the upcoming "Taste Of Chaos" Tour, "Scream Aim Fire", and how Iron Maiden influenced,” Scream Aim Fire".
Padge, Thank you for checking in. Bullet For My Valentine is getting ready to embark on the "Taste Of Chaos Tour on February 29th in Denver, Colorado. What can the fans expect to se on this tour?
A brutal show, we are all fired up. We are already to go. Our album is out. We are totally happy with the album and this tour. It is going to be a blast and a lot of fun.
How long a set list will the band be performing?
I believe 35 minutes, because we are third from headlining. The band be performing a lot of new songs off,” Scream Aim Fire" and "The Poison".
is Bullet For My Valentine doing? I know the band had to recently cancel the last show of your European tour in Helsinki?
Unfortunately, there was this terrible bug that was going around.
Padget
Eventually, ripping thru the support band, who actually had to cancel a show there. Lucky for us, it was only one show we had to cancel.
How did the European tour go? It was brilliant. It was all sold out. We played Newport Centre, which was in Wales, which was quite legendary for us because that is where we use to watch all the other bands growing up. It was nice to be at the other side of the fence and playing on the stage.
Will you have a special stage setting on this tour? No unfortunately, we can't bring pyro in there, and a big production and stuff. There is not a lot of time. There are bands before us, and there are bands after us. We just get on there and rock and do our thing.
Guitar Hero
It ripped thru the road crew, eventually ripping thru the band.
Bullet For My Valentine just released ,"Scream Aim Fire". Tell me about the writing process for us. How do you think it differs from,” The Poison"? I think it is more aggressive and heavier, would you agree? Yes, definitely. I think it is very different from "The Poison" because on the "The Poison", you got all your life to write that record. But two, three years touring of that record, you don't have that much time off. We wrote a lot of the new record on the road, ideas and guitar riffs. We did a week in the studio in London, where we did all the six tracks. All of those are on the new album. That was kind of lucky just to get that week in.
How did you come up with the title,” Scream Aim Fire"? It was Matt's idea to be on the front line, in war in general.
His take on the whole vibe of war and losing friends.
Bullet - 'Pyro' included
I noticed the album has a massive war theme to it. Did you write,” Say Goodnight" for anyone in particular? Yes, it was actually based on our bass player, he had a horrible experience two years ago where his Father was very ill. His Father was dying in the hospital. At the same time, his girlfriend was giving birth to his daughter. Actually in the same hospital, he was kind of going back and forth. It is just a take on how easy life can be taken, and how easy you can come into the world.
It is a very moving song, and my favorite on the whole album. On "Scream Aim Fire", I can hear a lot of Iron Maiden guitar riffs. How has Iron Maiden influenced you as a guitarist? I have been into Iron Maiden since I was a kid. It has a lot to do with harmonies and guitar playing, especially with Matt and me. We are great fans. No one can knock them down. Naturally, their influence is going to shine thru our music. We are all big fans.
How has touring played a major role in the writing of this album? Bullet For My Valentine opened for Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Guns N'Roses? Did getting to perform so much help you write the album in a different way? Yes, we toured,” The Poison" tour for like three years. It helped our musicianship, as musicians we are 100 percent better at our instruments than we were two years ago. Definitely, it is due to all the touring and playing live. It is definitely noticeable on the new album.
What was it like touring with Guns N'Roses? I know you toured with them in Europe and also at the New York shows? it was cool. Obviously, we are not going to turn down a tour like that. We all loved Guns N' Roses,
Padge in the studio
as kids again. It was definitely a different experience because it wasn't exactly Guns N' Roses, as we know them. It was fun.
From all the varied audiences that you performed too regarding Iron Maiden and GNR. Did this help get the band to sound tight and in retrospect you had the opportunity to see which songs worked and which ones didn't. What are your thoughts on this? I think the hardest audience was Iron Maiden. They got hard-core fans, yeah no? I think they have the history of having the most brutal crowds for a support act. I people give the support acts a hard time, so to speak. We got through it. I was grateful.
How important is breaking the U.S. market on the upcoming "Taste Of Chaos Tour"? The acts on this tour are on the cutting edge, and BFMV are a big part of it. We are all stoked, we are wound up. We can't actually wait to get on the bus and start the tour in Denver for eight weeks. All the bands are really cool. We are just going to get up there and rock.
What are Bullet For My Valentines touring plans after this run is over? We will be back this summer on a headlining Bullet For My Valentine tour..
Bullet For My Valentine - Live at Brixton - No Control
Bullet For My Valentine hails from Wales, how do European metal audiences differ from American metal fans?
I wouldn't say there is a real difference, looking out from stage respective. I think the difference is apart from the show time. The long drives, the weather, the people. But when it is show time, everyone is our friend and walk over to us. There is not much real difference.
Thank you Padge for checking in. I want to wish you the Best of Luck on tour, and with "Scream Aim Fire".?
Thank you very much, and take care.
THANKS TO MICHAELFOR TALKING WITH SAVIOURS OF ROCK. HE'S A GREAT GUY AND WE WISH HIM ALL THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE. GO CHECK HIM OUT AT
Feb 29 2008 8:00P
Fillmore Auditorium Denver, Colorado
Mar 1 2008 8:00P
Memorial Hall Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 2 2008 8:00P
Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 4 2008 8:00P
Roy Wilkins Auditorium St. Paul, MN
Mar 5 2008 8:00P
Family Arena St. Charles, Missouri
Mar 7 2008 8:00P
Hara Arena Dayton, Ohio
Mar 8 2008 8:00P
Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Mar 10 2008 8:00P
The Armory Rochester, New York
Mar 11 2008 8:00P
Aragon Ballroom Chicago, Illinois
Mar 13 2008 8:00P
Constant Convocation Center Norfolk, Virginia
Mar 14 2008 8:00P
Tweeter Center Camden, NJ
Mar 15 2008 8:00P
Convention Center Asbury Park, New Jersey
Mar 17 2008 8:00P
Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
Mar 18 2008 8:00P
Cumberland County Civic Center Portland, Maine
Mar 20 2008 8:00P
Nassau Coliseum Uniondale, New York
Mar 21 2008 8:00P
Tsongas Arena Lowell
Mar 22 2008 8:00P
Washington Avenue Armory Albany, New York
Mar 24 2008 8:00P
Gwinnet Center Duluth, Georgia
Mar 25 2008 8:00P
USF Sundome Tampa, Florida
Mar 26 2008 8:00P
Bayfront Park Miami, Florida
Mar 28 2008 8:00P
USC Arena Orlando, Florida
Mar 29 2008 8:00P
Mississippi Coast Coliseum Biloxi, Mississippi
Apr 1 2008 8:00P
Nokia Theatre Grand Prairie, Texas
Apr 3 2008 8:00P
Fairgrounds Arena Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Apr 4 2008 8:00P
Concrete Street Ampitheatre Corpus Christi, Texas
Apr 5 2008 8:00P
Freeman Coliseum San Antonio, Texas
Apr 6 2008 8:00P
County Coliseum El Paso, Texas
Apr 8 2008 8:00P
The Pearl / Palms Concert Theater Las Vegas, Nevada
Apr 9 2008 8:00P
Jobing.com Arena Glendale, Arizona
Apr 10 2008 8:00P
Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California
Apr 12 2008 8:00P
Event Center San Jose, California
Apr 13 2008 8:00P
ARCO Arena Sacramento, California
Apr 15 2008 8:00P
WaMu Center Seattle, Washington
Interview
by Debby Rao
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