The Los Angeles-based HOLY GRAIL, who are currently recording the follow-up to their acclaimed debut Crisis In Utopia, have been confirmed to support DragonForce on a spring tour that kicks off at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival on April 21.
In addition, the group, who just completed a successful tour of Australia, will play four shows at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas next week as part of a short tour alongside Saviours. While in Austin, HOLY GRAIL will play two showcases — Prosthetic’s official label showcase, as well as another presented by MetalSucks — in addition to two prominent day parties. A complete list of the group’s upcoming performances appears below.
Front man James Paul Luna checks in with the following recap of the band’s Australian tour, centered around performances at the Soundwave Festival series alongside dozens of major acts: “I can’t even begin to express the awesomeness we experienced at Soundwave. It’s one of those things that every band must do; it’s guaranteed awesomeness. I imagine its like the 10,000 Tons of Metal cruise, but the only people traveling are the same 100 bands and you really create a close bond with each of them. Holy Grail was especially lucky because our ‘sidewave’ shows were with Black Label Society and Hellyeah. Both bands and their crews were so nice and awesome, it blew us away. Not only did we get to share the stage with them, but we actually got to chat as peers, which was so humbling and inspiring. It’s a strange phenomenon to shoot the shit with bands and musicians you grew up idolizing, but that seemed to be such the norm at Soundwave that you end up forgetting about it.
“One unforgettably crazy night, Vinnie Paul was dead set on getting lobster, so he invited to treat Hellyeah, CKY and us HG boys out to Paul’s, the best seafood restaurant in Adelaide. After endless rounds of drinks, bountiful plates of baybugs and numerous seafood platters we kicked it into high gear and set course for the Enigma metal bar. Somewhere along the way, Vinnie picked up the tab and magically disappeared, Bam Margera got lost in a nasty brawl with some angry fans and a strange rumor spread throughout the town that we were in fact System Of A Down incognito under the pseudonym Holy Grail, and they wouldn’t believe otherwise! One of the best nights ever! (How’s that for sounding like name-dropping douche bags? Only at Soundwave!)
“There’s no stopping there, though, as now the adventure continues in the States with our favorite Bay Area ragers, Saviours! We did our first U.S. tour with them and are so happy to be sharing the stage again. We also lucked out and got some really sweet gigs lined up for SXSW, with 2 shows a day! We can’t wait to perform Stateside again to see all our favorite buds and fans on the dusty road to Austin. Shred!”
Hailed by Metal Hammer as “one of the most promising metal bands to emerge from the U.S. in the past decade” and by Decibel “the most exciting prefix-free metal band to come out of anywhere in the last two decades,” HOLY GRAIL has spent much of the past two years on tour with the likes of Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian, 3 Inches of Blood, Eluveitie, Exodus, Toxic Holocaust and many more. The group’s as-yet-untitled sophomore release, produced by Grammy winner Matt Hyde (Slayer, Children of Bodom), will be released later this year. The group’s music video for “My Last Attack” can be viewed here.
HOLY GRAIL on tour:
3/11 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar *
3/12 Tucson, AZ – Plush *
3/14 Austin, TX – Scoot Inn (1:30 p.m., Converse/Thrasher Deathmatch SXSW party)
3/14 Austin, TX – Barbarella Patio (8 p.m., MetalSucks SXSW Showcase)
3/16 Austin, TX – MI Annex (4:35 p.m., New England Metal and Hardcore Festival SXSW Party)
3/16 Austin, TX – Valhalla (12 a.m., Prosthetic SXSW Showcase)
3/17 Midland, TX – Pine Box *
3/19 Fullerton, CA- The Slidebar
3/20 Scottsdale, AZ – Rogue *
3/21 Los Angeles, CA – Satellite *
3/22 Los Osos, CA – Sweet Springs Saloon *
3/23 San Francisco, CA – Elbo Room *
4/21 Worcester, MA – New England Metal & Hardcore Fest @ The Palladium
4/22 New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre ^
4/23 Philadelphia, PA – TLA ^
4/25 Montreal, QC – Le National ^
4/26 London, ON – London Music Hall ^
4/27 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave ^
4/28 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue ^
4/29 Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre ^
5/1 Edmonton, AB – Starlite Room ^
5/2 Calgary, AB – Republik ^
5/4 Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom ^
5/5 Seattle, WA – El Corazon ^
5/6 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater ^
5/8 San Francisco, CA – Slim’s ^
5/10 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour ^
5/11 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues ^
* w/ Saviours
^ w/ DragonForce
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