This spring, Wicked will be bursting onto the North American rock scene, supporting British rockers Raven on The All Hell’s Breaking Loose Across America tour. Joining them for the tour are Lutharo and Vicious Rumors.
“When's the last time you've seen a North American tour with bands like this? Going everywhere. I mean, this is just so cool.” Wicked bassist Danny Martin said in a recent phone interview.
The tour kicks off Mar. 22 in Cape Coral, Florida, with stops throughout the United States and into Canada.
Wicked had “a pretty light year in terms of the amount of shows we did” in 2023, Mr. Martin detailed. However, the shows they played were “pretty cool shows” and “impactful.”
Two of those shows were with Raven. “The Raven guys, lo and behold had known Gunnar (Wicked’s drummer Gunnar Coston) long ago. There's a picture of John Gallagher (Raven’s bassist) actually holding Gunnar as a baby.” Gunnar’s father is also in that photo.
Mr. Martin said the guys in Raven “were super impressed and excited about what we were doing with our music and how the shows went.”
It was a lasting impression.
When Raven was organizing their upcoming tour of North America, they asked Wicked to come along. To which Wicked had a one-word response: absolutely.
Wicked has been in the music business “the better part of a decade,” Mr. Martin explained. “But you know, as with anything, things change a bit. We had a drummer change early on and we took a little bit of a different path with how we were managing the band as a business and stuff, so we always say it's been a good solid, almost 10 years.” He said they began to hit their stride “maybe about four years ago.”
The All Hell’s Breaking Loose Across America tour will put the quartet on a path they’ve never traveled. “This is going to be the first time that we're really hitting the road like dogs and just grinding every day a different city,” Mr. Martin said. “And I think it's gonna be awesome.”
Wicked has also been grinding in the studio. Late last year, they released two singles from the forthcoming LP Sunburn. Lost in the Dark and the title track, Sunburn.
Of the album, Mr. Martin stated, “We're keeping a theme with the music on this campaign for the Sunburn album. Each single has little characters that go along with it, which I think is cool. I haven't seen that in some time you know, you think back to Appetite for Destruction that little robot guy or Def Leppard. All these bands have these little characters, and you don't see that anymore, so we're trying to bring that back.”
Mr. Martin offered two exclusive news items.
The first is that another single, Gorgeous, will be released on Feb.2.
The theme of Gorgeous is a “girl who basically dated the whole band and the band members are like ghosts. Who are just haunting her,” Mr. Martin explained. He said it has “a very James Mansfield vibe.”
Rochester, NY fans, you are in for a treat. Mr. Martin’s second exclusive is that the Water Street Music Hall, located within Rochester’s St. Paul Quarter, is the site of Sunburn’s release party.
Sunburn will drop on Mar.1. The release party is on Mar.2.
The tour is currently scheduled to make its final stop May 4 in Pompano Beach, Florida.
However, that doesn’t mean Wicked will be taking a break.
They are near complete on a second LP release for 2024 and expect that to hit the streaming world and be pressed into vinyl once the tour is over.
Additionally, the band is playing a special gig this month, They will be in Tampa, Florida, Jan.27, rocking the Gasparilla Pirate Festival.
When Wicked isn’t playing live or in the studio, what do they do?
Work on their show, Rock n Roll Circus. Similar to the early days of the Rolling Stones and Mötley Crüe, the guys in Wicked live together. Fans have wondered what goes on in that house. Rock n Roll Circus provides the answer. “It's a blast. We're excited about it,” Mr. Martin said of the show.
Framing the mood of the band as they ready for the tour with Raven, Lutharo, and Vicious Rumors, he said, “You know, they always say you got to pay your dues and get out there and what better way to get around the country that we're proud of, that we take a lot of pride in, and see the fans.”
Wicked Photo credit: Danny Martin and Wicked Social Media
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