After teasing fans for days on social media, Los Angeles rockers Black Veil Brides are releasing a new single and video for the track “Scarlet Cross.” The song comes from the band’s upcoming 2021 concept album The Phantom Tomorrow – the band’s sixth full-length album. The album tells the story of the antihero character “The Blackbird” and a group of societal outcasts known as simply as “The Phantom Tomorrow.” The first single “Scarlet Cross” – produced by Erik Ron (Godsmack, Dance Gavin Dance, Bush) and guitarist Jake Pitts – is available via all digital partners today.
The video for “Scarlet Cross” was directed by longtime collaborator Patrick Fogarty and based on a concept written by frontman Andy Biersack. The video was filmed on the Santa Clarita Studios backlot and is the first in a series of videos that will follow the story of the main character “The Blackbird.”. The video opens as a female member of “The Phantom Tomorrow” takes to the streets only to be discovered and followed. As things get dire, the “The Blackbird” arrives only to fade to black. Shot to look like an old school comic book serial, the video ends with the cliffhanger tease leaving the viewer unsure of the fate of the heroine or her attackers. The video for “Scarlet Cross” can be seen here: http://smarturl.it/scarletcross.
Black Veil Brides are hard at work putting the finishing touches on the upcoming album The Phantom Tomorrow– scheduled for release via Sumerian Records in 2021. More information on the latest musical creation from Andy Biersack, Jake Pitts, Jinxx, Lonny Eagleton and Christian Coma will be available in the near future.
“We are incredibly excited to share not only this new song ‘Scarlet Cross,’ but also our vision for the world of “The Phantom Tomorrow” and its characters. We are in the final stages of writing for this record and have begun work on our forthcoming “The Phantom Tomorrow” graphic novel. We intend to continue to share elements of the story in the coming months and can’t wait for everyone to see what we have been working on!”
Like their band name suggests, Black Veil Brides evoke transcendent visions of an impenetrable hereafter, intermingling with a steely focus on the dark passions and elusive mysteries of the here and now. A romantic fantasy first summoned in a small town by founder Andy Biersack – a creative who was fascinated with death rock, theatricality, and monsters (both real and imagined). It wasn’t until moving to Los Angeles that the unstoppable force the band is currently was finalized. The band (and its members Andy Biersack, Jake Pitts, Jinxx, Lonny Eagleton, Christian Coma) Instagram and Twitter accounts command close to 10 million followers between them. Vale, the group’s most recent full-length album, went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart. In the hearts and minds of their fans, Black Veil Brides represents an unwillingness to compromise and a resistance to critics (personal and professional), fueled by the same fire as the group’s own heroes, the iconoclasts whose creative output, once dismissed, is now canonized.
Might Hollywood be on the brink of change? Irrevocable change that goes beyond the rescheduling of celebrity awards events.
The 93rd Annual Academy Awards have been pushed back while the film industry continues to grapple with the massive upheaval brought on by the global coronavirus pandemic. A return to normal can’t come too soon.
Hollywood understands only too well that the show must go on, that adapting is the only course before it. To what extent though is it prepared to go before the old ways are lost and long-established business models and practices are irrevocably changed?
It’s anybody’s guess.
The 2021 Oscars have been pushed back by two months, the latest celebrity event to be directly affected by the on-going global coronavirus pandemic after both the Golden Globes and Baftas settled on postponement next year.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (AMPAS) announced it was moving the star-studded event from February 28 to April 25, a move that requires similar proportional extensions to the eligibility period (moved from December 31 to February 28) and the relaxing of some of the Academy’s stringent qualification rules.
President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said jointly in a statement by the Academy, “Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our Awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone’s control.”
Whether the coronavirus crisis will cooperate with the new timetable is impossible to say. There is genuine speculation about all the big celebrity events actually going ahead as planned next year. Then, if and when they do go to plan, the question becomes logistical.
How will they go ahead? Will it be back to normal? With the usual pomp and ceremony of the red carpet and the whole shebang. Or will it be the “Zoom” Oscars? Forced into the virtual realm, with Academy members and nominees zooming into the event while sat at home in all their designer finery.
The only thing certain these days is uncertainty. But the Academy nevertheless remains optimistic. Somehow, someway, the show will go on.
Like many other industries the film industry was hit particularly hard by the public health crisis. The shuttering of cinemas wreaked havoc on film release dates and the shuttering of studios put a stop to films that were in pre-production, mid-production and post-production. Everything ground to an abrupt, screeching halt.
The verb “to adapt” is, arguably, the underlying theme of 2020 – a most trying and tough year thus far. Working remotely, Zoom meetings, virtual social gatherings, sheltering and social distancing–are just of the many bywords representing the new normal that many people around the world have had to accept.
That Hollywood studios would do their own adapting during this unprecedented time was inevitable, but few could have anticipated the magnitude and implication of some of the measures.
Hollywood studios took the pandemic as an opportunity to experiment with digital-first outputs. For the most part, small to mid-size budget titles skipped cinema release dates in favour of streaming services – motivating this move is the fact that film studios get a larger percentage of the revenue when going direct-to-digital than they do at the box office.
The defining moment, however, came when Universal studios decided in May to give Dreamworks-made Trolls World Tour a digital release at $19.99, instead of delaying its box-office release as some other films have done. The film made $100 million in its first three weeks in the United States. To illustrate the significance: the first instalment of the Trolls film needed a five-month sojourn at the box-office to gross $120 million.
With Disney now announcing it too was taking its big-budget film Mulan directly to digital next month, bypassing cinemas entirely and offering it for $29.99 on its Disney+ channel, a seismic shift has occurred.
Mulan, which was projected to be a $1bn-plus blockbuster, is among some of the early odds-on favourites for the 2021 Oscars Taking it out of the hands of box offices is a big deal.
Suppose, the Academy relaxing the rules for qualification and giving entry to films that would have otherwise qualified but were forced to go to digital outputs was the first significant step towards change. One that may be provisional due to the unprecedented pandemic but, equally, may not be easily undone in a post-pandemic world. This may be the cusp of whole new era in the film industry.
2021 Dates Already Set For The Following Festivals:
All The Best Fest moves to May 19 -23, 2021 returning to the Breathless + Now Onyx Resorts in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic celebrating the life and music of John PrineJoe Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean IInow sailing the Greek Isles August 17 – 22, 2021 on board Norwegian Pearl The Broadway Cruise moves to November 13 – 17, 2021 sailing from New York City to Bermuda on board Norwegian Gem
KNOTFEST at Sea Rescheduled for August 2021 from Athens, Greece; Kesha’s Weird & Wonderful Rainbow Ride 2, The Melissa Etheridge Cruise IV, Coheed and Cambria’s S.S. Neverender and The KISS Kruise X are Rescheduled mid-October to mid-November 2021 from Miami with Dates To Be Announced
Sixthman’s ‘Looking After Our Communities’ Program incorporates enhanced health and safety measures, new policies for event refunds, transfers and credits and additional guest benefits on all festivals.
In light of recent global events due to the unprecedented Covid-19 situation, Sixthman, the global leader in destination vacation festivals, regretfully announces the postponement of all remaining 2020 festivals. Select festivals have already been rescheduled for 2021 including Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean II (sailing August 17-22, 2021 from Athens, Greece on board Norwegian Pearl), The Broadway Cruise (sailing November 13-17,2021 from New York City to Bermuda) and the resort based All The Best Fest (May 19-23, 2021 returning to the Breathless + Now Onyx Resorts in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic). Knotfest at Sea (sailing August 2021 from Athens, Greece on board Norwegian Pearl) hosted by Slipknot will also be returning with exact dates and ports to be announced. Kesha’s Weird & Wonderful Rainbow Ride 2, The Melissa Etheridge Cruise IV, Coheed and Cambria’s S.S. Neverender, and The KISS Kruise X will also move to October / November 2021 with new dates to be announced soon. Invitations have been extended for all currently booked 2020 artists to return in 2021.
Each event’s full lineups, which will feature some returning and new acts for next year, to be announced when complete.
More information on all festivals can be found at www.sixthman.net.
Sixthman CEO Anthony Diaz has released the following update: Going above & beyond to create moments and memories that last a lifetime is why we do what we do. We see something incredibly special happen when communities come together to celebrate shared passions. Serving them on vacation is what has driven us for the past 20 years and 145 immersive events on land, sand and sea. We recognize we’re in the midst of uncertain times right now—times that call for extra flexibility, special value and an absolute assurance that the health and safety of our guests is being closely looked after.
With that, we hope our new ‘Looking After Our Communities’ assurance program gives peace of mind to our guests by offering the following:
1. New Safety Protocols:
a. Sixthman is working closely with Norwegian Cruise Line and our partners to support the enhanced health and safety measures being put in place in preparation for when the time is right for sailings to resume.
2. Flexibility in Refunds and Transfers:
a. Transfer Policy__________i. For all guests currently booked on a 2020 festival who want to keep their festival reservation, they can transfer their reservation to the rescheduled 2021 dates.
b. New Cruise Credit Policy __________i. If a festival’s new 2021 dates do not work for a guest currently booked on a 2020 festival, they have the option to cancel their reservation and receive a credit for a future Sixthman festival OR Norwegian Cruise Line sailing.
c. New Refund Policy__________i. If a festival’s new 2021 dates do not work for a guest currently booked on a 2020 festival, they now have the option to receive a full refund of all monies paid if they cancel their reservation through August 31st, 2020.
d. Looking After Our Communities__________i. Giving all guests currently booked or looking to book on a 2021 event the option to change or cancel festival reservations for any of Sixthman’s 2021 events. Guests who decide to alter their reservation through August 31st, 2020 will receive an event credit that can be used on any Sixthman festival (land or sea) or any Norwegian Cruise Line sailing through 12/31/2022
3. Onboard Incentives and Benefits:
a. Free Beverage Package__________i. As a thank you to our communities—all current and future guests who book through August 31st, 2020 on any 2021 cruise will have the option to select a Free Beverage Package –with only the associated gratuities to be charged.
b. Additional Event Specific Experiences__________i. To further give back to our trusted communities, we are actively working with our partners and hosts to craft unique experiences for our guests on each of our 2021 sailing. These event specific experiences will be announced on a rolling basis throughout the next few months.
While our guests, artist partners and the Sixthman team are all sad the time is not right this year to come together as a community, we know how special it will be to return together on vacation next year and are already counting down the days. -Anthony Diaz | CEO Sixthman
All The Best Festival To celebrate the remarkable legacy of stories and songs left behind with the recent passing of John Prine, Sixthman and Oh Boy Records are honored to host All The Best festival.
All The Best (originally scheduled for November 16-20, 2020) is a four-day celebration of amazing music and community taking place at the world class Breathless + Now Onyx Resorts in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic now scheduled for May 19 – 23, 2021.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, John Hiatt, Steve Earle, I’m With Her, Margo Price, Todd Snider, Iris DeMent, Paul Thorn, The Jerry Douglas Band, The War and Treaty, Watkins Family Hour, Ian Noe, Ana Egge, Jeremy Ivey, Tré Burt, and John Prine’s backing band with more to be announced will be joining fans in the Dominican to celebrate John Prine’s lasting impact on the music industry.
Fans who are interested can book their spot for the 2021 festival now. –allthebestfest.com
Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean IIGuitar legend Joe Bonamassa, in conjunction with partners Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation and Sixthman have made the decision to postpone the sailing of Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean II. The second voyage is now scheduled to sail aboard the Norwegian Pearl out of Athens, Greece traveling to Mykonos, Greece and Kusadasi, Turkey on August 17-22, 2021. Many talented artists will be joining Joe Bonamassa onboard the blues rock festival including
Ian Anderson presents Jethro Tull, Walter Trout, Marc Broussard, Ana Popovic, King King, Jimmy Vivino, Terry Reid, The James Hunter Six, The Suffers, Kris Barras Band, Selwyn Birchwood, The Cold Stares, Daddy Long Legs, Jade MacRae, Elles Bailey, Ben Levin, Lakota John and Toby Lee. Fans who are interested can book their spot on the 2021 sailing now. – bluesaliveatseaeurope.com
About Sixthman- Since 2001, Sixthman has set the stage for moments that make life rock, serving over 300,000 guests’ unforgettable vacations on sand and at sea with their favorite artists, athletes, actors, comedians and brands. These carefully curated, intimate events bring non-stop performances, artist collaborations, in depth panels and Q&As, fan-artist activities, museums and overall truly immersive experiences that celebrate community and change expectations of what a vacation could be. Sixthman’s domestic home port of Miami takes guests to dream destinations in the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras, Mexico, and The Bahamas. In 2019, Sixthman expanded their festivals at sea to Europe, sailing from Barcelona, Spain to exotic Mediterranean ports. 2021 brings sailings through the Greek Isles. In addition to festivals at sea, in 2019 Sixthman began bringing their innovative vacation concept to world class, all-inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic. Sixthman also powers the events of other producers and brands through their experience and suite of in-house services. For more information, visit sixthman.net and connect with us @SXMLiveLoud. LIVE LOUD.
