MaidenNorway has issued the following message:

"Iron Maiden came close to vindicating their selfish decision last night but dropped the ball at the last," writes Gavin Allen from icWales . "Maiden won't regret the decisions they made last night, but their fans will."

Cardiff International Arena

Iron Maiden came close to vindicating their selfish decision last night but dropped the ball at the last.

In playing their 14th album A Matter Of Life and Death in its entirety - and each track one after the other at that - they were bound to disappoint swathes of the sold-out crowd, with even the hard-core fans tolerating rather than worshipping.

The thirst for them pre-gig saw thousands of devil horns silhouetted against the CIA's soulless white walls as the crowd chanted "Maiden! Maiden! Maiden!"

Vocalist Bruce Dickinson bouncy-balled magnificently onto the stage but when five tracks in he confirmed they would play the whole album there was a negative reaction; largely silence, even the odd boo.

It's a shame because the war-obsessed album - the stage set was designed like a World War Two bunker with broken masonry and sandbags - is among their strongest material.

Classically mock-operatic, the likes of These Colours Don't Run, The Longest Day and The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg would grace any of their previous albums.

But when that lot was over, after forcing people to tolerate 70-odd minutes of such indulgence, the pay-off simply wasn't enough.

The crowd exploded into mosh circles to the opening bars of Fear Of The Dark but the follow up of Iron Maiden, Two Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do and Hallowed Be Thy Name, while glorious in themselves, was too eclectic.

Maiden won't regret the decisions they made last night, but their fans will.

Source BBM

Great White has issued the following update in their website regarding :

"Jack (Russell - vocals) and Mark (Kendall - guitar) will be RE-joined by Michael Lardie (keyboards/guitar), Sean McNabb (bass) and Audio Desbrow (drums) for Great White's 25th Anniversary Tour and a new record! More details, new photos and lots more to follow."

The first show is January 27th, 2007 at the Keyclub in Hollywood, CA - Save The Harp Seals Fundraiser ( www.harpseals.org ). Great White is also planning the release of new record in 2007.

Source Great White

KISSkollector has posted the following message:

"Over the years, we've come accustomed to rockstars/musicians stating they've been influenced by KISS. But even theatrical group Blue Man Group – combining theatre, comedy, pop music and physics – turns out to be inspired by KISS, as they've stated in several interviews in Dutch newspapers over the last few weeks. Starting today (and running through January 31) these blue men will be performing six days a week in Amsterdam, Holland, at Theater Fabriek (after they did some one-off gigs in Holland earlier this year). Says Chris Wink (who co-founded the group in Greenwich Village, New York, in the late ‘80s: “It's a mix of KISS, the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and fireworks.”

Source Kisskollector