Newsted Gets Staind

I know what you’re thinking: “Why is that Greek on the right in this photo with Jason Newsted and his new band, Newsted?” Well, it’s not a Greek lady, although I understand how the facial hair may have lead you to that conclusion. It is, in fact, Mike Mushok, the guitarist from Staind, and the reason he’s in the photo is because he is now a member of Newsted.

Which confuses me a little, because for some reason I thought part the impetus behind Newsted was to re-establish Jasonic’s credibility within the metal community following the debacle that was his tenure in Metallica. But he’s basically hired the world’s most bland nu-metal guitarist (which is really saying something), a guy so featureless that he literally has the word “mush” in his name, and only a wisp of a chin or neck. If this was the music he was gonna make and these were the dudes he was gonna work with, he might as well have stayed in Metallica. At least that gig pays well.

Here’s a video of Newsted announcing Mushok’s hiring…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Traz7NdwU9w

…and here’s a video of the two of them jamming on a porch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pzXYH841tjs

The band has some European festival dates lined up for June. I’m gonna put them below so you can avoid being in those cities when the band plays:

6/5: Impact (Second Day) – Warsaw, Poland
6/7: Sweden Rock Festival – Sölvesborg, Sweden
6/16: Download (3rd Day/Pepsi Max Stage) – Castle Donington, UK
6/21: Seerock – Graz, Austria
6/26: Hegyalja Fesztival – Tokaj, Hungary
6/29: Rock The Beach – Helsinki, Finland
6/30: Graspop Metal Meeting – Dessel, Belgium

[via Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles]