Pedal To The Metal Tour 2009 Announced

This summer just got a whole lot hotter, harder, faster and louder.

THE PEDAL TO THE METAL TOUR 2009, featuring MUDVAYNE (pictured) and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, will kick off July 24 in Portland, ME, and conclude September 9, in Oklahoma City, OK (see complete itinerary below). Joining the two metal juggernauts on the road will be STATIC-X, SUICIDE SILENCE, DOPE, BURY YOUR DEAD, and the twisted HELLZAPOPPIN sideshow review, performing during set changes throughout the evening. Pre-sale tickets are available to all of the bands’ fan club members beginning Wednesday, June 10, at 12pm local time at www.pedaltothemetaltour.com (website will go live June 10), with general public on sale beginning Friday, June 12, at 10am local time.

“The tour started as a summer tour with us and Black Label Society, but as we started fleshing out ideas, it transformed into this really cool concept,” says Mudvayne frontman Chad Gray. The final result is the inaugural run of The Pedal To The Metal Tour, a road ready and battle-proven assemblage of hard rock and heavy metal bands guaranteed to raise temperatures and melt asphalt over the summer months. “We’re really excited, because this package is a merging of great bands, good people and fucking amazing fans. It’ll be great to bring them all together.”

“I was looking forward to a full throttle assault with just Mudvayne this summer, but when Chad said ‘Let’s do more,’ I was all-in.” declares Zakk Wylde, the iconic and self professed General Patton of Black Label Society. Adding, “On behalf of JD, Craig, Nick, the Doom Crew Inc. and myself, we can’t wait to see our Black Label family and the entire Black Label nation once again, rollin’ through hell and destroying everything in our path! Fire up the barbecues, fire up the tunes, and get ready for the rest of your Pedal To The Metal family to fire it up and let the engines roll… Game m-f-’n on!”

Says Static-X frontman Wayne Static of the tour: “I’m very picky about who we tour with. I think Static-X slaughter most bands live, and I pride myself in our show – I refuse to open for a band that I don’t think is worthy, so that says a lot about Mudvayne, Zakk Wylde, and this entire package.”

The Pedal To The Metal Tour is being booked exclusively by TKO [The Kirby Organization], the agents for Mudvayne, and is being promoted nationally by Frank Productions and Knitting Factory Presents. The package will travel more than 12,000 miles of highway across America this summer, stopping in nearly three dozen cities over seven weeks.

PEDAL TO THE METAL TOUR 2009 ITINERARY:

JULY
24-PORTLAND, ME (Cumberland County Civic Center)
25-LOWELL, MA (Tsongas Arena)
28-READING, PA (Sovereign Center
29-YOUNGSTOWN, OH (Chevrolet Center)
31-BIG FLATTS, NY (Tags Summer Stage)

AUGUST
1-ALBANY, NY (Altamont Fairgrounds) *Radio Show*
4-FORT WAYNE, IN (War Memorial Coliseum)
5-BATTLE CREEK, MI (Kellogg Arena)
7-MOLINE, IL (I Wireless Center)
8-ROCKFORD, IL (Rockford Metro Center)
9-MADISON, WI (Willow Island) *Radio Show*
11-TOPEKA, KS (Landon Arena)
12-MANKATO, MN (Alltel Arena)
14-OMAHA, NE (Westfair Amphitheater) *Radio Show*
15-LITTLE ROCK, AR (NS River Water Park) *Radio Show*
16-WICHITA, KS (KS Coliseum Lot) *Radio Show*
18-BOISE, ID (Idaho Center Amphitheater)
19-MISSOULA, MT (Ryan Creek Amphitheater)
21-SPOKANE, WA (Spokane Arena) *Radio Show*
22-SEATTLE, WA White River Amphitheater) *Radio Show*
23-PORTLAND, OR (Washington County Fairgrounds) *Radio Show*
25-EUGENE, OR (Cubhert Amphitheater)
26-RENO, NV (Events Center)
28-SAN JOSE, CA (San Jose Civic Auditorium)
29-BAKERSFIELD, CA (Rabo Bank Arena)

SEPTEMBER
1-SAN DIEGO, CA (San Diego Sports Arena)
2-MESA, AZ (Mesa Amphitheater)
4-CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Concrete Street Amphitheater)
5-SAN ANTONIO, TX (Sunken Gardens)
6-LUBBOCK, TX (Lonestar Amphitheater)
8-DALLAS, TX (TBA)
9-OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (Zoo Amphitheater)

*Radio shows may not include entire Pedal To The Metal lineup*

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

MUDVAYNE
Mudvayne are one of the most creative and distinctive bands in the aggressive music world, and one of the only acts in heavy music to hold the distinction of seeing every one of their five studio albums attain at least gold certification by the RIAA. Not bad for a band that never cared about following trends or playing to the masses. Latest release The New Game was released in November ’08, and is a lesson in controlled chaos that tempers hard rock, heavy metal, prog rock and sadistic splatters of pop into an onslaught of metallic highs and emotional lows. Mudvayne have sold more than five million units worldwide, and performed for more than one million fans on every continent. They were nominated for “Best Metal Performance” at the 2005 Grammys, and also shared headlining status on that year’s Ozzfest, performing immediately before Iron Maiden. The Pedal To The Metal Tour marks the next step in Mudvayne’s live evolution.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
In the two decades since Ozzy Osbourne hired him away from his job at a New Jersey gas station to become his new guitarist, Zakk Wylde has established himself as a guitar icon known and revered the world over. He spawned his now legendary Black Label Society in 1994, and in the fifteen years since has turned the outfit into a heavy metal institution true to his vision of uncompromising, unfiltered and unrestrained rock and roll. Inspired by guitarists including Frank Marino, Robin Trower and Al DiMeola, as well as the vocal stylings of Elton John, Gregg Allman and late Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie VanZant, Wylde has won every guitar award imaginable and is a major influence to the new wave of heavy metal guitarists. Wherever Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society travels, one thing is for certain: brewtality is sure to follow.

STATIC-X
Since the release of their Wisconsin Death Trip debut a decade ago, Static-X have sold more than three million records worldwide. Their latest opus, Cult of Static, was released in March and debuted in the Billboard Top 20, marking their most impressive first-week showing since 2001. Known for their high intensity fusion of metal mayhem and industrial fervor, Static-X have one of the most allegiant fan bases in heavy music. “I jokingly call it a cult, but our fans have that kind of loyalty,” says frontman Wayne Static. “We’re one of the biggest underground bands ever.”

SUICIDE SILENCE
The winners of the Best New Talent award at the Revolver Golden God Awards in April, Suicide Silence have emerged at the forefront of the new wave of American heavy metal, and have sold more than 70,000 copies of their 2008 debut, The Cleansing. Hailed as one of the “100 bands you need to know about” by Alternative Press, their sophomore release No Time To Bleed will hit stores June 29, just in time for Pedal To The Metal 2009.

DOPE
Dope aren’t the heaviest band on this summer’s Pedal To The Metal tour, but they can stake a claim at being the most brutal: Their track “Die Mother Fucker Die” was on a short list of songs used by the United States government to aid in the interrogation of enemy combatants in the war against Iraq. They’ve sold more than one million albums in their decade-plus career, their latest release being last year’s No Regrets.

BURY YOUR DEAD
Written and recorded in the wake of an accident last September that flipped and rolled the Bury Your Dead tour van, there was no shortage of inspiration for the bone-crunching and chest-pounding canons that mark new release It’s Nothing Personal. Armed with grinding music, spitfire lyrics and melodic interludes, the album packs everything fans have come to expect from the New England metal-core veterans – and, as always, a little bit more…

HELLZAPOPPIN
Hellzapoppin bill themselves as “The Greatest Show In Hell,” delivering a burlesque and macabre flavored take on Barnum’s more family-friendly sideshow attractions. Featuring a penguin boy, fire eating, sword swallowing and a self-professed torture king amongst their off-center oddities, the Hellzapoppin sideshow review promises to keep fans eerily entertained and darkly amused between sets on the Pedal To The Metal Tour 2009.