Black Sabbath is scrapping its Ozzfest tour appearance tonight (July 27) in Holmdel, N.J., due to “an illness in the camp,” according to the festival’s official Web site. No additional details were available at deadline, including whether Sabbath would be back on stage in time for Sunday’s show outside Indianapolis.
Ion Maiden will fill in as tonight’s headliner. Fans in search of refunds can obtain them at points of purchase.
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— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
About an hour into Dierks Bentley’s set Monday night at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, veteran country artist Marty Stuart interrupted to ask, “Will you do it? Will you marry the Grand Ole Opry?” Bentley responded, “Hell, yeah!” to the invitation to become the newest member of the storied Opry cast. “It seems like just yesterday when he was an intern for the networks on the Opry’s back lot and we had to speak with him about limiting his backstage visits,” Opry general manager Pete Fisher says. “Those many visits were the early signs of a special connection that Dierks continues to share with the Opry family.” His formal Opry induction is scheduled for Oct. 1 in Nashville.
Bentley is in the midst of a tour in support of his sophomore Capitol album, “Modern Day Drifter,” which in May debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and has sold 237,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. He plays tonight (July 27) in Fremont, Calif., and has dates scheduled into mid-November, including a Sept. 25 stop at Texas’ Austin City Limits Music Festival.
— Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.
Latin groove act Ozomatli has recorded the song “Casas de Cartén” (cardboard houses) for the U.S. release of the film “Innocent Voices.” Considered an anthem of hope amongst the people of El Salvador who struggled to survive civil war and earthquakes, the song was once officially banned by the Salvadoran government. “Innocent Voices” was directed by Luis Mandoki, who co-wrote the script with Oscar Torres, a Salvadorian who based the story on his own life experience. The film follows an 11-year-old boy in the year leading up to his mandatory enlistment in the army.
Screened over the past 10 months around the world, “Innocent Voices” received best film honors at international film festivals in Seattle, Bangkok and Berlin. Distributed by BB Entertainment Marketing, the film is scheduled to open Oct. 14 in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Washington D.C.
— Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.