System of a Down official press photo, 2014

System Of A Down

Photo Courtesy System Of A Down

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System Of A Down, Deftones, Alice In Chains Announced For Aftershock 2018

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The seventh year of Monster Energy Aftershock Festival boasts a massive lineup
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 9, 2018 - 10:58 am

Monster Energy Aftershock Festival has announced its official lineup for 2018, bringing a satisfying conclusion to the ongoing rumors that have been circulating around the potential return of System Of A Down after a three-year break in touring. The GRAMMY-winning alt-metal outfit will headline the seventh annual installment of the Sacramento, Calif.,-based hard rock festival, alongside Deftones, Alice In Chains, Incubus, and many more.

With such a stacked lineup of headliners, any festival could almost be excused for taking a snooze on the middle card talent, but instead the hits just keep coming. Godsmack, Shinedown, 311, Slash, At The Drive In, Bullet For My Valentine, Underoath, and Black Veil Brides are all also making appearances at Aftershock 2018, with additional support from some great new acts on the rise, such as Dorothy.

Aftershock 2018 will take place on Oct. 13–14 at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. Tickets and additional information can be found here.

Meanwhile, System Of A Down also announced a handful of additional live shows in October — coupled with Aftershock, it marks the band's first run of U.S. shows in three years.

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Martin Garrix in 2017

Martin Garrix

Photo: David M. Benett/Getty Images

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Music Festivals 2018: Houston's In Bloom Announces Full Lineup

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Are your favorite artists headed to Houston this coming March?
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 14, 2017 - 12:23 pm

The first iteration of Free Press Houston and C3 Presents' rebranded In Bloom Music Festival (formerly the Free Press Summer Festival) has officially announced its 2018 lineup — stacked with big-name modern rock and electronic acts, alongside a who's who of rising stars of the underground hip-hop and dance scenes.

Leading the headlining lineup are past GRAMMY winner and current nominee Beck, current GRAMMY nominees Queens Of The Stone Age, as well as nu-metal mainstays Incubus and EDM prodigy Martin Garrix. Other exciting acts featured on the lineup include current Best New Artist GRAMMY nominee Lil Uzi Vert, Atlanta trap star 21 Savage, post-rock icons Explosions In The Sky, and alternative jam rock supercollective Broken Social Scene.

The two-day, four-stage music and arts festival first premiered in 2009 as an event built around supporting local music talent and visual artists in partnership with the Texas Campaign for the Environment to help spread the word about sustainability and pro-environmental policy.  Free Press Houston and C3 Presents announced late last month that for the festival's ninth annual installment in 2018 it would rebrand as In Bloom Music Festival.

In Bloom Music Festival 2018 will take place on March 24–26 at Eleanor Tinsley Park in Houston. Tickets to the festival are on sale now.

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Serj Tankian of System Of A Down performs at Download Festival 2011

Serj Tankian of System Of A Down performs at Download Festival 2011

Photo: Christie Goodwin/Getty Images

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U.K.'s Download Festival Announces Lineup For Virtual Festival: KISS, Iron Maiden, System Of A Down And More Confirmed

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The three-day online event, taking place June 12-14, will also feature performances from Korn, Deftones, Babymetal, The Offspring, The Pretty Reckless and others
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
May 30, 2020 - 9:33 am

Download Festival, the celebrated rock festival in the U.K., has announced the lineup for its Download TV virtual festival. The three-day online event, running June 12-14, will feature headliners KISS, Iron Maiden and System Of A Down, who were all scheduled to headline this year's Download Festival before it was canceled in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Other confirmed Download TV artists and performances, which will broadcast exclusively via YouTube, include Korn, Deftones, Babymetal, The Offspring, The Pretty Reckless, The Darkness, Bowling For Soup and others, in addition to as-yet unannounced "special guests," according to the Download Festival website.

Viewers can tune into the Download TV online festival weekend via Download's YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels. 

Download TV will feature content blocks, split into daytime and evening programming, comprising "music, special interviews, unseen performances, and exclusive footage," according to the Download Festival website. 

All three headlining sets will comprise footage from previous performances. On Friday night (June 12), the festival will show footage of KISS's headlining set from Download Festival 2015. Saturday night (June 13) sees Iron Maiden sharing "nostalgic performances" and snippets from their ongoing Legacy Of The Beast World Tour, in addition to "something just for Download TV," according to the festival's website. System Of A Down closes the virtual weekender Sunday night (June 14) with footage from their performances at Download Festival throughout the years, including sets from 2005, 2011 and 2017.

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Download TV will also feature interactive content throughout the weekend, including tutorials, artist interviews, special live performances, mindfulness sessions, cook-alongs and more. The online festival will also share fan-created content via their social channels. 

Download TV is the latest virtual festival to come from the metal and rock worlds. This weekend, bands like Darkest Hour, Tesseract, Twelve Foot Ninja, O'Brother and Silvertomb, as well as members of GWAR, The Black Dahlia Murder, Anthrax and more, will be slaying the virtual stage at Slay At Home, a metal and art online festival benefitting MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund and the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund.

To view the full lineup for and to learn more about Download TV, visit Download Festival's official website. 

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Serj Tankian

Serj Tankian

Photo: Roberto Finizio/NurPhoto/Getty Images

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Serj Tankian's 'Spitak' Soundtrack Balances Inspiration Against Epic Devastation

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The System Of A Down rock frontman shares his many musical inspirations
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 20, 2018 - 2:57 pm

When Serj Tankian isn't fulfilling duties as frontman of reunited GRAMMY-winning band System Of A Down, he's scoring movie soundtracks.

Tankian's latest project? Scoring Spitak, a film on the epic devastation of the 1988 Armenian earthquake that took 25,000 lives in 30 seconds.

The project was a uniquely personal and multi-layered experience for him, he recently shared in a Rolling Stone interview. "My problem is not adding emotion," said Tankian. "It's taking emotion away."

Born in Lebanon to Armenian parents, Tankian moved to Los Angeles as a young child but grew up with a strong sense of his Armenian heritage alongside the diversity of mainstream American life and media. Tankian covers issues pertinent to Armenia and its diaspora not just in his film work, but also the music he makes.

"I grew up listening to a lot of Armenian, Arabic and European music — all types of music," he said.

Scoring the film was special to Tankian as his wife actually lived through the quake, while attending school in the city of Spitak not far from the epicenter. A core plot element of the film is centered on a girl trapped beneath a building, hoping for rescue.

"We wanted to have hope for a little girl in the film who survives and is trapped," Tankian shared. "Her world needed to be more magical, so there's that ethereal quality to some of the score, then the heavy scenes of the devastation of the city needed music that was darker in tone. It was an interesting balance."

Spitak is not the only film he's worked on with an Armenian theme. In addition to soundtracks in the works for The Last Inhabitant, music documentary Truth To Power and videogame Midnight Star, Tankian is working on the film I Am Not Alone about the Armenian revolution.

Scoring provides Tankian an opportunity to work with genres outside of what he makes with SOAD.

"I write in orchestral music, jazz and rock," he explained. "One reason I like composing for films is because every director wants something different, genre-wise, sound-wise, emotion-wise. It's fun. I get to make a different-sounding record every time."

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System Of A Down's Serj Tankian

System Of A Down's Serj Tankian

Photo: Francesco Castaldo/Archivio Francesco Castaldo/Mondadori/Getty Images

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Sonic Temple 2019 Lineup With System Of A Down, Lamb Of God, More

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Ohio hosts 2019's inaugural hard-rock festival experience — its stacked lineup reveals a debut with a pedigree
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Nov 26, 2018 - 1:51 pm

Danny Wimmer Presents has announced the lineup for the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival to be held in Columbus, Ohio on May 17–19, 2019, including the reunited System Of A Down, plus other GRAMMY winners  Foo Fighters, Ghost, Halestorm, and Tom Morello.

While replacing the successful 12-year run of Rock On The Range, Sonic Temple aims to be more than just a festival with expanded art, comedy and food experiences.

"Although in its inaugural year, Sonic Temple's pedigree is proven, and its roots are strong," said System Of A Down's Shavo Odadjian. "It made total sense for us to be involved."

That pedigree has also drawn GRAMMY nominees Disturbed, Gojira, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, Killswitch Engage, Lamb Of God, Mark Lanegan Band, Meshuggah, and The Prodigy.

The exciting array of rockers also includes Action Bronson, Beartooth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Bring Me The Horizon, Chevelle, The Cult, Pussy Riot, Yungblud, and many more.

The fest's SiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent will host, among others, GRAMMY winner Henry Rollins, GRAMMY nominee Andrew Dice Clay and Pauly Shore.

Tickets for the inaugural experience go on sale at the Sonic Temple Festival website on Nov. 30 at noon, eastern time.

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