Stone Sour – Lou Brutus

SONIC BOOM 2017

Sonic Boom has become one of the preeminent late-season festival concerts in the USA and LB returned to Southern Regional Airport in Janesville WI to cover it again this year.

The 2017 lineup included Rise Against, Stone Sour, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, The Pretty Reckless, Halestorm, Gojira, Falling In Reverse, Thrice, All That Remains, Theory of A Deadman, Beartooth, Steel Panther, Of Mice & Men, Sleeping with Sirens, Starset, Nothing More, Radkey, Bleeker, Fozzy, Greta Van Fleet, Badflower, As Lions, Ded, Through Fire, Bobaflex, Wayland, Versus Me and Breech.

Lou was onstage as host, backstage interviewing artists and in the photo pit. Thanks to the crew at WJJO for bringing him in again this year for the shindig. Thanks also to legendary music photographer Harry Reese for capturing images of LB doing his thing.

IDAHO ROCKS AND ROCKERS

Brutus made his first-ever trip to The Gem State of Idaho for a bit of Rock N Roll, baseball and astrophotography.

The main reason for the journey was to host KoRn, Stone Sour and Islander at the recently opened Portneauf Health Trust Amphitheater in Pocatello, ID. LB had long promised his listeners in the area that he’d get out for a visit when the stars aligned correctly with scheduling. The gig was a massive success with fans from Eastern Idaho, Montana and Wyoming showing up by the thousands. When Lou wasn’t onstage hosting or in the photo pit getting images, he was wading through the crowd handing out Darla the Wonder Dog pins.

The day before the concert, Brutus threw out the first pitch at the Idaho Falls Chukars victory over the visiting Grand Junction Rockies. Sadly, Lou was caught scuffing the ball before the pitch and was ejected from the game by stadium officials. However, he did get to keep the ball which he had signed by each member of the three bands playing the concert the following day.

Finally, Brutus was fortunate enough to make a trip a very remote park of great natural beauty: City of Rocks National Monument. He arrived shortly before dark and was able to capture images of the Milky Way under the pristine, light pollution-free skies along the Idaho/Utah border.

LB summed up by saying, “I can’t thank the rockers of Idaho enough for their many years of listening and for coming out to support live Rock N Roll. Much love also to my friends at K-Bear 101 and my buddy Viktor Wilt for all of the hospitality. I hope to get back out again soon for both music and your beautiful night skies!”

Read up on the show and Lou’s visit with the East Idaho news here.

ROCK ON THE RANGE 2017

A NOTE FROM LOU: “Many thanks to everyone who helped make my 11th straight Rock On The Range experience a smashing success. The list includes Metallica, Alter Bridge, Starset, Stone Sour, Papa Roach, Korn, The Offspring, Motionless In White, Nothing More, The Amity Affliction, As Lions, Beartooth, Biffy Clyro, Bleeker, Ded, Dinosaur Pile Up, Goodbye June, I Prevail, Kyng, Rival Sons, Skillet, Thrice, Stitched Up Heart and many other artists. Thanks also to everyone at Danny Wimmer Presents including Danny, Gary Spivack, Clay Busch and the rest of their splendid folks, as well as the very nice people at MAPFRE Stadium. A tip of the cap also goes to the many radio, record, management and crew folks who treated me like gold. Props as well to the HardDrive Radio crew for the boots on the ground. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to the fans who came out and braved the elements to support live music. The best part of my job is being surrounded by such creative and interesting people. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of each and every one of you.”

As well as the many interviews he conducted, LB also did backstage photos of many of the artists and attendees. He’ll be posting several each day in the weeks following the show.

BRUTUS IN LA LA LAND

In a whirlwind weekend of Rock, LB flew into Los Angeles from the East Coast to get an exclusive listen to the new Stone Sour album.

The band had invited him to come out anytime during the recording process of “Hydrograd.” Realizing things were about to finish, Lou hopped on a plane on a Saturday morning, landed and went directly to the studio. He spent six hours with the band and the staff of Sphere Studios L.A. listening to the record, taking photos, and conducting an interview with Corey Taylor. The one-on-one chat covered the album, upcoming tour with KoRn, and band’s return to Rock Fest Wisconsin.

After his time with the band, Lou returned to directly to the airport and flew home at dawn. Twelve hours in the air for fifteen hours on the ground in total!

Listen for the interview material on hardDrive with Lou Brutus and see the photos on his social nets. You can also relive the whole trip using the #BrutusInLaLaLand hashtag on Twitter and Instagram. Thanks to the band, the crew and the studio for the hospitality. Extra thanks to the band’s photographer Stubs for grabbing images of LB’s visit!

YOU’RE MAKING ME HATE YOU

“You’re Making Me Hate You” is the new book by one of Lou’s favorite human beings, Slipknot and Stone Sour lead singer, Corey Taylor.

Corey is embarking on a solo tour that will include readings from the book along with music. He’s also invited Lou to host a special event.

On Wednesday July 8th, Bryant Park in New York City will feature Corey and Lou as part of their venerable Word for Word author series.

No one is quite sure exactly what these two have cooked up for the event but, rest assured, it will be different.

Attendance for this even is free and runs from 12:30pm to 1:45pm.

Hit Bryant Park’s site here.

To find out more about Corey Taylor’s entire book tour, as well as all the other magnificent madness in his career, go here.

UPDATE: The event was sick! Thanks to all!