Concert Reviews | Metal Magnitude

Ultimate Jam Night at NAMM 2025

February 14, 2025February 16, 2025ChelseaConcert Reviews, Features

Ultimate Jam Night took over the Anaheim Convention Center Arena at NAMM 2025, with a 30-piece orchestra and 80-person choir to accompany over 80 featured musicians, primarily from the Rock and Metal worlds. Presented by RCF, the setlist featured a variety of classics, ranging from Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Rush, Pat Benatar, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix, to Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Whitesnake, and so much more. Ultimate Jam Night recently celebrated their 10th Anniversary as an event, residing at Hollywood’s world-famous Whisky A Go Go. Paulie Z not only hosted this Ultimate Jam Night […]

Metal Allegiance 2025 at House of Blues Anaheim, CA

February 5, 2025February 6, 2025ChelseaConcert Reviews

Metal Allegiance took over Anaheim, CA on the opening night of NAMM 2025, making the House of Blues a stage for metal legends, and a home for the metal community. An enthralling range of covers, the presence of well-loved Metal Allegiance tracks, powerful support, and an array of surprise guests made for an unforgettable night. This year’s show was sponsored by Jackson, EVH, Charvel, and IK Multimedia.

Metal Hall of Fame 2025: Feature and Red Carpet Interviews

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025ChelseaConcert Reviews, Features

Another year, another successful Metal Hall of Fame! 2025 marked the 9th Annual Metal Hall of Fame event, taking place in Anaheim, CA and surrounding the events of NAMM 2025. This year’s inductees were: Dimebag Darrell, Rikki Rockett, Tony MacAlpine, Dangerous Toys, Life of Agony, KNAC Radio, Alissa White-Gluz, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, Cannibal Corpse, Burton C. Bell, and Jeff Young. This year’s event featured a new virtual aspect, as it also served as a fundraising livestream telethon to benefit the Southern California wildfire victims. SoCal Guitarist Ronny North started the show with some shredding perfect to set the tone […]

Rock For Ronnie 2024

May 24, 2024May 29, 2024ChelseaConcert Reviews, Features

Another tribute to the great Ronnie James Dio has successfully taken place with Rock For Ronnie 2024. On May 19th, 2024 in Woodland Hills, CA, fans, friends, and many special guests in the form of an All-Star Jam gathered alongside headliners Quiet Riot to celebrate the life and music of Ronnie, and, as always, benefit the great cause of the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Founder Wendy Dio commemorated the progress of this non-profit’s goals, presenting Dr. David Wong and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor of The Regents of the University of California with a $25,000 check, to […]

Feature: NAMM 2024

February 27, 2024March 8, 2024ChelseaConcert Reviews, Features, Interviews

The first Winter NAMM since 2020 made a full-force grand return, as brands and bands alike gathered in Anaheim, CA in January 2024, for the familiar course of networking, jamming, and musical merriment. Metal Magnitude was there to capture it all, enjoying the full musical atmosphere, but keeping a keen eye out for anything that stood out in the Rock and Metal spaces. Naturally, we were pleased to find plenty. Before NAMM officially began, the 7th Annual Metal Hall of Fame Gala set the tone for the busy week, celebrating the iconic musicians and members of the music industry who […]

Metal Allegiance at House of Blues Anaheim 2024

February 9, 2024March 7, 2024ChelseaConcert Reviews

January 25th, 2024, Anaheim wrapped up the first day of NAMM festivities with the 10th Anniversary of Metal Allegiance at House of Blues. This was Metal Allegiance’s first gathering at House of Blues Anaheim since 2020, making their return all the more grand alongside the 10th Anniversary celebration. The event was sponsored by Dean Guitars, ddrum and Heavys Headphones, with openers Dieth, Held Hostage and Quor. The Metal Allegiance lineup has reliably consisted of “The Core 4” – Alex Skolnick, David Ellefson, Mark Menghi, and Mike Portnoy – from the start, but as Metal Allegiance is known for their live […]

Concert Review: Burning Witches Livestream

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021ChelseaConcert Reviews

On May 28th, 2021, the Swiss/Dutch Heavy Metal band Burning Witches staged an official album release show for the world via livestream in celebration of their latest record, The Witch of the North, out now on Nuclear Blast. Burning Witches, with their current lineup consisting of Laura Guldemond (Vocals), Romana Kalkuhl (Guitar), Jeanine Grob (Bass), Lala Frischknecht (Drums), and Larissa Ernst (Guitar), showcased live performances of songs off the brand-new The Witch of the North, while also revisiting previous albums, Dance With The Devil (2020), Hexenhammer (2018), and the self-titled 2017 debut, Burning Witches. The eerie yet ancient entrance music […]

Concert Review: Ultimate NAMM Night 2020

January 28, 2020February 4, 2020ChelseaConcert Reviews

Ultimate NAMM Night 2020 at the Hilton Anaheim was a unique experience, and that’s putting it mildly. After all, where else can you see Alice Cooper’s daughter Calico Cooper taking on “Ace of Spades” alongside Carla Harvey (Butcher Babies), with Gary Holt (Slayer) and Ira Black (Dark Sky Choir) on guitar, Chuck Garric (Alice Cooper/Beasto Blanco) on bass, and Art Cruz (Lamb of God) on the drums? Or a thrash-heavy “Black Diamond” Kiss cover by Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), Alex Skolnick (Testament), Charlie Benante (Anthrax), Jack Gibson (Exodus), Chuck Garric, Calico Cooper and Paulie Z (The Sweet, Ultimate Jam Night)? […]

Concert Review: Ronnie Montrose Remembered 2020

January 27, 2020February 3, 2020ChelseaConcert Reviews

The M3 Live in Anaheim, California set a stage amidst the backdrop of NAMM for the fifth annual celebration of the musical legacy of Ronnie Montrose on January 17th, 2020. This event has been a staple around NAMM time for the last five years, and the tradition continues on with the start of the new decade. Those who came to Ronnie Montrose Remembered expecting to hear classic Montrose tracks like “Rock Candy” and “Bad Motor Scooter” were certainly not disappointed, but what they experienced might have been even more than they bargained for, with an exploration of the many stages […]

Concert Review: Dio Returns at The Paramount

June 23, 2019June 23, 2019ChelseaConcert Reviews

Dio Returns! But not quite in the way you might expect. If you’re in the loop with the metal world, the fact that Ronnie James Dio has been touring in hologram form is probably not news to you. In fact, the projection made its on stage debut at the Wacken Open Air festival in 2016 – but the touring officially took off in Europe in 2018, with 2019 marking the official U.S. debut of Eyellusion’s unique creation. There have been many reactions to the news since it took to the road – some negative, some positive – but no matter […]

Concert Review: Tom Keifer at Tupelo Music Hall

October 25, 2017January 28, 2020ChelseaConcert Reviews

When you hear the band name Cinderella, what comes to mind? Perhaps you’d say the 1986 debut Night Songs, chock-full of hard rock hits and quite a few of their most well-known tracks, or you might reference the blues-tinged sequel Long Cold Winter, and its follow-up Heartbreak Station. If you kept on listing albums, you would’ve hit it eventually, but Still Climbing most likely wasn’t your first choice of an answer. The fact that this album and its title track tends to get a little lost in the shuffle (and I don’t mean the “Bad Attitude Shuffle”) is precisely what […]

Concert Review: Appice at Tupelo Music Hall

October 5, 2017October 6, 2017ChelseaConcert Reviews

Perhaps you’re a fan of Vanilla Fudge, or caught Carmine Appice during his time with Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, or Cactus. Maybe you were in a crowd somewhere along the “Sacred Heart” tour and saw Vinny Appice behind the kit with Ronnie James Dio, and were always a fan of Black Sabbath’s “Dio Years” – or you might be a more recent Kill Devil Hill fan, or possibly have spotted a Last In Line show last year. It could be some, all, or none of the above, but in any case, it’d be pretty difficult to call yourself a Rock […]

Concert Review: Warrant at Tupelo Music Hall (With Red Sky Mary)

September 28, 2017September 28, 2017ChelseaConcert Reviews

“Louder, Harder, Faster!” The chant which united the voices of a packed house with the strong pipes of Robert Mason when Warrant rocked Tupelo Music Hall last weekend. Through a rock and roll call and response of sorts, the audience was thrilled to join in as the Down Boys played their new track on this Northeastern stop along the Louder Harder Faster Tour 2017. September 17th marked the date for Warrant’s second New Hampshire stop of the year, but it wasn’t only new songs that made it onto the setlist that night in Derry – just about all the tracks […]

Concert Review: L.A. Guns at M15

February 15, 2017March 13, 2017ChelseaConcert Reviews

The M15 in Corona, CA set the stage for one of the earliest 2017 stops along the L.A. Guns’ Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns Reloaded Reunion Tour – makes for a mouthful, but the long title is just to clear up which lineup audiences will be getting, considering there have been multiple versions of the band in the past. No longer should any questions remain as to who’s who in L.A. Guns. From stage to studio and everywhere in between, the current lineup of Phil Lewis (vocals), Tracii Guns (guitar), Michael Grant (guitar), Johnny Martin (bass), and Shane Fitzgibbon (drums) […]

Concert Review: Randy Rhoads Remembered

February 12, 2017March 13, 2017ChelseaConcert Reviews

BashFest 2017, a yearly event coinciding with NAMM, a time when the cream of the crop comes to town in terms of musicians and you just never know who you might spot. A short distance away from all the Anaheim NAMM goings-on, Santa Ana’s historic (and maybe a little haunted, depending on who you ask) Yost Theater was the setting for this year’s festivities. Randy Rhoads Remembered was the focus on January 19th, bringing in Hard Rock and Metal musicians from around the country to pay tribute to a legendary guitarist whose music has had a significant impact on so […]