Jeff Loomis forced to miss a few shows of the SOILWORK tour - Official statement available!

Talk about a rough tour for multi-talented guitar player Jeff Loomis. First his van gets broken into and robbed in St. Louis, Missouri (details HERE). And now he has received news that his father has passed away, which means Loomis needs to miss some of tour dates of his tour with SOILWORK. Here is a statement posted by Loomis regarding this very sad news:

"On April 22nd in Corpus Christi, Texas, I got the very sad news of my father's passing right before we were about to perform. I will be flying home to be with my family tonight and will rejoin the SOILWORK tour in Richmond, Virginia on the 29th. Thank you all for your support and warm thoughts.

"My dad meant the world to me and this is a very difficult time for both me and my family…"

Our condolences go out to Jeff and his entire family!

Loomis has set up a paypal account for any amount of donations to assist them for the duration of the tour.

Below is the Paypal email to make donations to.

JLoomisbanddonation@outlook.com 

Related links:
Jeff Loomis' official site

Jeff Loomis Robbed In St. Louis - Official Statement Available!

Jeff Loomis is currently trekking all over North America with SOILWORK. Last night, Loomis and his band members had their van broken into in St. Louis, Missouri. Here is Loomis' official statement:

"Last night after our show in St. Louis, our tour van was broken into as we were grabbing a bite to eat before our drive to Dallas. We were parked in a well lit area in front of the restaurant. In the ten to fifteen minutes that it took for us to order our food and eat, all of our personal items such as laptops, cameras, musical equipment, cell phones, passports and money were stolen. We came outside to find the lock on the driver side door popped out of the van, and promptly called the police. A report has been filed and the van was fingerprinted, but the leads don't seem promising. The police stated that this is apparently a common occurrence for the area. We are all in disbelief, but are very fortunate for everyone to be ok.

After discussing the situation as a group, we would like to try to continue on with this tour. But to be able to do this, we will need your help. We have all taken a huge hit financially, and we cannot continue on without some sort of support. We have set up a paypal account for any amount of donations to assist us for the duration of the tour.

Below is the Paypal email to make donations to.

JLoomisbanddonation@outlook.com
 
Any and all support will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,"

- Jeff Loomis band and crew

Related links:
Jeff Loomis' official site

Philadelphia Trio Gods and Queens Involved in Serious Van Accident in the Czech Republic!

Philadelphia-based Gods and Queens were involved in a serious accident while on their current self-booked European tour this weekend in the Czech Republic. Several of the members and their traveling friends received very serious injuries in the brutal accident, which destroyed their van, equipment and personal gear.

The band are now struggling to cover their bills and are reaching out for the public's help. Please go drop a meager $1.99 on their latest untitled full-length album via the band's Bandcamp page at this location to help these hard-working bros cover their hospital and travel expenses to bring them home.

The full initial statement released by Gods and Queens frontman Jamie Getz is below:

"I´m going to try and make this as short as I can. After all these years of touring in unsafe vans, and doing stupid things, I guess I was overdue for this... We had a serious van accident in route from our show in Graz, Austria to Dresden, Germany, somewhere along the highway in the Czech Republic.

"I was asleep in the back of the van, so I'm unsure of what exactly happened. All I know is I felt the van skidding out and we started to slide and roll over. Not sure exactly how many times the van flipped but it was more than enough. I started screaming for everyone to tell me they were OK. Gertjan check, Ben check, Sara check, and I didn't hear Jeff.

"Ben pulled me out through the windshield and I took off running, screaming for help with blood pouring down my face. I honestly thought Jeff was dead. A car stopped and a slew of women started screaming at me and I was screaming at them. We were in the middle of nowhere and as I was running two things came to mind, I think Jeff is dead, and I hope I don´t get shot like Artimus Pyle. A woman pulled me into her house and her husband and son ran to the van crash site. I found Gertjan, and he said everyone is OK. The family started talking to me via Google Translation telling me everyone is safe and that an ambulance is on the way.

"The ambulance comes takes us to a hospital, we get taken care of... sort of. The police arrive on the scene and inform us that we aren´t leaving until the medical bills are paid in full. They were so kind enough to escort Sara and myself to an ATM machine to pay the entire lump of the bills in full on the spot. Even after we signed some strange papers saying we have 30 day with proof of citizenship, etc. What the fuck ever right? We asked where Gertjan was, and their response was... prison. 300 phone calls and around €3,000 later we are out of the damned Czech Republic and safe in Germany.

"Long short, we are all somewhat OK. Jeff broke his collar bone, Ben got his hand jacked up, I am pretty alright, Gertjan is OK, as well as Sara. The van is destroyed. Booking these tours ourselves really made me realize that we are 100% on our own. We had no one to call, no one to "rescue" us. I made 3 phone calls and the entire German punk scene came to our rescue. Goddamn, thank you. Our new friends from Dresden, Germany came to get us at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. Thank you.

"So here it is, we are 3 grown adult males in our 30´s who play in a punk band. We are all stage hands at R5 Productions in Philly. That´s what we do to enable us to be here in Europe doing this. Never in our lives have we needed help like we do now. If you want to help us, please go to www.godsandqueens.bandcamp.com and purchase a record for $1.99. If you ever laughed at one of my awful jokes, or spend hours talking with us after a show, and you would like to help, please do. I always thought our band would have too much pride to ask for help, but I am pretty sure we all agree that this time we need it. If you would like to help in any form please do jamiegetz@gmail.com is the PayPal address if you are inclined to do so. We will also accept first class upgrades on US Air, Delta or Virgin."

Thanks,

Jamie/Gods & Queens

We wish everyone from Gods and Queens a speedy recovery! Help them out if you can! \m/

Related links:
Gods and Queens on BandCamp
Gods and Queens site
Gods and Queens on Facebook
Gods and Queens on Twitter

Former Death & Testament Guitarist James Murphy Has Brain Tumor Relapse; Donations Welcome!

James Murphy, former guitarist of both Death and Testament, as well as founding member of the Death Metal band Disincarnate, has had a relapse of the brain tumor that sidelined him back in 2001. Murphy stated that the tumor had returned but that it was a non malignant and that it was being treated pharmacologically.

Unfortunately, those medications have serious side effects that have left him unable to work. The option for different medications is available, but at a cost of over $1000 a month, and he needs a minimum of 6 months of medication for treatment to be effective. With his medical expenses extremely high and James not being able to work due to the side effects of the current medications, the Metal community is being asked to come together and help one of their brothers and donate to help him beat this once and for all.

In August 2001, Murphy was discovered to have a massive tumor growth near the base of his brain (on the pituitary gland) and was quickly scheduled for an urgent life-saving operation. James underwent surgery on September 17, 2001, involving a Maxillary Swing procedure that made entry through the left side of the face. An incision was made underneath the left eye, along the side of the nose, and finally through the middle of the upper lip. The facial tissue was then pulled back and the cheekbone removed. They then cut through James' sinus and made entry below the orbit of the eye to remove a portion of the growth. More was removed through an incision made in the soft pallet inside the mouth. About 70% of the tumor was removed, the remainder being too close to vital structures to risk further damage. The sinus was then packed with fat tissue taken from the lower abdomen via an incision below the navel and reattached. The cheekbone was set back in place and held with two small titanium plates. The facial tissue was then sutured closed along with the soft pallet. His mouth was fitted with prosthesis to protect the pallet tissue while it healed. The remaining 30% of the tumor was treated with a medication called Parlodel (Bromocriptine) to shrink it called which James was told he would have to take for the rest of his life. This treatment was more or less successful for 9 years.

A spike in the hormone indicator for the tumor, as discovered by a blood test that was followed up by an MRI to confirm, showed that the tumor was again active, and had grown a bit. Luckily not enough to require surgery, but radiation treatment was still on the table. The decision was made to defer the radiation treatment for 6 months, during which time the tumor would be attacked pharmacologically, increasing the dose of the drug used to hinder its growth to a level which leaves James wiped out, overly fatigued, nauseous, and unable to work to earn his living at full capacity. A better drug, one that has less side-effects, and would require a much smaller dosage is available, but considerable vastly more expensive.

Helping other is VERY Metal, so please help our brother in Metal and click to donate anything you can!
Donate via Paypal
James Murphy on Facebook
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