Monsters of Rock - Huge UPDATE!!!

Journey, Thunder and Ted Nugent have all been confirmed to play at the Monsters of Rock Festival on June 3rd, prior to Alice Cooper and Deep Purple at the Milton Keynes National Bowl.

JOURNEY, will be performing live in the UK for the first time in 26 years since playing a sold out, packed-to-the-rafters gig at the now defunct 3,000 capacity Rainbow in Finsbury Park on September 22nd 1980. Journey are arguably the biggest AOR (Adult Oriented Rock) band of all time, having scored numerous top ten US singles and sold over 75 million albums since their inception in 1973.

Journey, formed by former Santana guitarist Neil Schon in 1973, were honoured with the 2,275th Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on January 21st, 2005 which will forever be known now as ‘Journey Day’, as declared by Hollywood’s Mayor Johnny Grant. Their latest album, ‘Generations’, was released by Frontiers Records in the UK last August.

"As Journey albums go, this is as heavy as they have sounded in many a year. In fact, not since ‘Frontiers’ have Journey sounded as varied and as heavy as they do on ‘Generations’. It’s also the best album they’ve made since ‘Raised on Radio’ and, as AOR albums go, this is the big one. This is the album of the year and make no mistake. 10/10" wrote Rob Evans in Powerplay Magazine’s September 2005 issue.

THUNDER, one of Britain’s most popular Hard Rock acts, whose blues tinged star has been on the up and up over the last few years, have been confirmed fourth on the bill, sixteen years after they first played Monsters of Rock in 1990. "Am I looking forward to playing at Monsters again? F**k Yeah! Absolutely" says Singer Danny Bowes, continuing "We got a fabulous kick-up when we played Monsters Of Rock in 1990, there was such an incredible collective release of energy and adrenaline when we got on stage. And we are an even better band now!!!"

Thunder have scored 17 top 40 UK chart singles since their ‘Dirty Love’ debut in 1990 on EMI. Thunder’s most recent hit, 'I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll', which charted at 27 in November 2004, was the first to be released by the band themselves on their own label. Thunder’s last studio album, ‘The Magnificent Seventh’, was also the first to be released on their own STC Recordings label, in 2005. They came up with a blinder.

"For their seventh album, Thunder’s pursuit of cool remains the same lazy saunter as ever. Quite patently, this is a band that stopped trying to impress media twats a long time ago. As always, their emphasis remains on well-crafted hooks, good-time lyrics and songs so honest you’d trust them to babysit the kids. Danny Bowes is still a powerhouse vocalist and band lynchpin Luke Morley has delivered arguably his most solid set of songs for years. For honest-to-goodness rock’n’roll played with finesse and balls, Thunder take some beating." Henry Yates – Classic Rock Magazine March 2005.

TED NUGENT, the larger-than-life survivalist hard rocker, who lists his vital stats as ‘6'3", 180 lbs., hazel eyes, lots of hair, surplus attitude and energy’ on his official tednugent.com site, is making a very rare appearance on the UK live stage. His last, heaving, sold out Astoria gig in June 2002, was his first UK concert for more than a decade.

Ted Nugent, the number one guitar showman extraordinaire, has sold over 30 million albums to date and his 2005 US tour set attendance records at venues nationwide. Former Damn Yankees man Ted is the best selling author of books like ‘God, Guns & Rock-N-Roll’, and ‘Kill It And Grill It’, and is a regular columnist and contributor to over 40 publications.

Ted Nugent has surfed the rollercoaster of rock as a solo artist for over thirty years now. His 19th studio album, ‘Craveman’ was released in 2002; "‘Craveman’ proves the Nuge proves can still churn out likeable, loutish lyrics with unwavering energy and conviction. Ultimately, they're as earthy, powerful, and primal as the macho man who's created them" said Amazon.com. "His fiercest effort in decades, and certainly his heaviest ever. Having realized that any attempt at subtlety or grace would be a waste of his precious hunting time, even "Damned if You Do," which sees him reunited with former Damn Yankees bandmates Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades, is surprisingly ballsy and un-cheesy" wrote artistdirect.com.

Tickets for Monsters of Rock 2006, priced £38.50, are available from all usual agents, and via credit card on 0870 400 0688. A dedicated coach service hotline has also been set up on 0870 166 0430. www.getLIVE.co.uk.

Monsters Of Rock, the legendary one-day hard rock festival which was born in 1980 on the crest of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, is synonymous with the very cream of hard rock and heavy metal. Acts such as AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Dio, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Metallica, Motorhead, Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow, Status Quo, Van Halen, Whitesnake and ZZ Top have all graced the Monsters’ stage over the years.

Monsters Of Rock 2006, promoted by Live Nation and co-promoted / sponsored by Classic Rock Magazine and Planet Rock Radio, marks the welcome return of the Daddy of all one-day Heavy Metal festivals to the rock music calendar. While hard rock has never gone away, it has to be said that interest in heavy music’s glorious heritage has never been more intense, with new young rock fans eager to check out legendary colourful giants of hard rock and heavy metal such as Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey, Thunder and Ted Nugent.

www.monstersofrock.co.uk

www.deep-purple.com

www.alicecooper.com

www.journeymusic.com

www.thunderonline.com

www.tednugent.com