STRYPER AUTOGRAPH SESSION IN DETROIT
Stryper will take part in an autograph-signing session on March 19 at 1PM at “Rock Of Ages” in Garden City, Michigan.
Rock of Ages
31015 Ford Rd.
Garden City, MI 48135
PHONE: (734) 522-0351
STRYPER GET BACK TO THEIR ROOTS ON COVERS – HEAVY SET,
‘THE COVERING’
February 15, 2011: Christian rockers Stryper are offering fans a head banging view of who their influences were early on, with the arrival of an almost entire album’s worth of covers, ‘The Covering.’ Set for release on February 15th via Big3 Records, the album includes twelve rocking covers, as well as an all-new original tune, “God.” And most significantly, the album marks the return of original bassist Tim Gaines back into the Stryper fold, setting up the first Stryper release in years to feature the definitive line-up of Michael Sweet (vocals/guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Tim Gaines (bass), and Robert Sweet (drums).
According to Michael Sweet, the impetus for putting out a mostly covers set was a simple one. “Every Stryper album is pretty serious and pretty bold in the lyrical faith sense of the word. We just wanted to roll our sleeves up, cut loose, and have some fun.” And when it came time to pick out a listing of tunes to cover, all the band had to do was look back upon their club days. “Growing up, before Stryper was even Stryper, we were a cover band. We played Gazzarri’s on the Strip for years - we would do originals but also do covers, as well. We always did Priest covers and Maiden covers, all those bands that we grew up on and influenced us.”
What fans get is a CD that runs the gamut from 1970’s era classic rock (Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” Kiss’ “Shout It Out Loud,” etc.) to 1980’s era heavy metal (Black Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell,” the Scorpions’ “Blackout,” “Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper,” etc.). “A few things we set out to do on this album was to stay true to the original – we didn’t want to disrespect the original versions,” explains Michael. “I’m never going to sound like Bruce Dickinson or Ronnie James Dio, nor would I ever try to. And having me sing the song puts our own spin on it. We just all did our own thing and with our own touches and feel – Robert, Tim, Oz, and myself – it has that Stryper feel to it as well.”
Big3 Records Chairman Bill Edwards adds, “We are excited to allow Stryper the creative freedom to do what they do best, and take this album to the next level. We are very excited about working with the band and helping make ‘The Covering’ a widespread success.”
To support ‘The Covering,’ Stryper is planning a tour that begins in March, and when it comes to the set list, it will contain quite a few surprises for longtime fans. “We’re probably going to pull out four Stryper songs that haven’t been played in the set in years. And then we’re probably going to do four covers. And then we’ve got a whole slew of other Stryper songs that we’ve been playing for a long time. So we probably have 20 songs in the set.” Stryper fans rejoice, more anthemic metal will soon be on the way!
‘THE COVERING’ TRACKLIST:
1. Set Me Free (Sweet) 2. Blackout (Scorpions) 3. Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath) 4. Lights Out (UFO) 5. Carry On My Wayward Son (Kansas) 6. Highway Star (Deep Purple) 7. Shout It Out Loud (Kiss) 8. Over The Mountain (Ozzy Osbourne) 9. The Trooper (Iron Maiden) 10. Breaking The Law (Judas Priest) 11. On Fire (Van Halen) 12. Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin) 13. God (Stryper)
Stryper has released a partial list of tour dates for the upcoming year in support of their new album set for release through Big 3 Records on February 15, 2011. The band will be touring the U.S. and abroad during 2011. The tour begins on March 2nd in Seattle, WA. Tickets available now. More dates to be added shortly…
STRYPER 2011 TOUR DATES
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
| NEW DATE! July 29, 2011 |
Jim Thorpe, PA | Penn’s Peak | ||
| July 31, 2011 | Zion, IL | Ignite Festival |
TBA
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INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES
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| May 26, 2011 | Guadalajara, Mexico | Auditorio Telmex |
TBA
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| May 27, 2011 | Monterrey, Mexico | Cafe Iguana |
TBA
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TBA
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| May 28, 2011 | Mexico City, Mexico | Vive Cuervo Salon |
TBA
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TBA
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| June 10, 2011 | Solvesborg, Sweden | Sweden Rock Festival | ||
| June 11, 2011 | Oslo, Norway | Rockefeller Music Hall |
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| June 13, 2011 | Helsinki, Finland | Tavastia |
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| June 16, 2011 | Madrid, Spain | Joy Eslava |
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| June 17, 2011 | Bilbao, Spain | Rock Star Live |
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| June 18, 2011 | Barcelona, Spain | Bikini |
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| June 20, 2011 | Pratteln, Switzerland | Z7 |
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| June 23, 2011 | Den Haag, Netherlands | De Uithof |
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| June 24, 2011 | Loreley, Germany | Rock The Nation Festival |
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| June 25, 2011 | Ferropolis, Germany | Rock The Nation Festival |
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As posted at StryperForum.com by Michael Sweet:
Hey Everyone,
Just as promised, I wanted to outline some more details regarding the new Stryper record. We grew up listening to many different styles of music and there is a list of bands that influenced us throughout our musical education. Bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Van Halen, UFO, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Kansas and many others, helped to shape our sound and make us who we are today, musically speaking. We grew up on the streets of LA playing every club in town from Gazzari’s to The Whisky to The Troubadour to you name it. We played covers from all the bands mentioned above and we shaped our own sound from listening and performing songs from these classic bands. We wanted to step outside the box and record a record that shows you, the fans, where we come from – our historical, musical roots so to speak. It’s a side to Stryper that no one has really seen or heard before, or at least quite like this. We performed “On Fire” by Van Halen on a few tours and we also performed “Breaking The Law” by Priest on this last tour. The response was far beyond our expectations each time we performed these songs. People seemed genuinely surprised to hear Stryper cover these songs and even more surprised to hear Stryper perform these songs relatively well. This will be an opportunity for Robert, Oz, Tim and myself to loosen up and have some fun. For those of you who may think that we’re walking away from our faith – your wrong. We’ve never been more serious about our faith at any point in our lives. It is however important to enjoy what you do and lighten up from time to time. That’s what we plan to do. This will be a fun record to make and we hope that this comes through, as well as the chance to showcase the abilities that we’ve been blessed with. More details to come and a specific song list and sequence to follow. We’re looking forward to geting back into the studio and more important, to seeing all of you on the road again this year!
Be well, be blessed and let the games begin,
Michael
As posted on the forum by Michael Sweet:
Wow! Typically (and historically) speaking, a new Stryper record comes out every 2-3 years. I’m pleased to announce shocking news – we are starting pre-production at the end of February (of this year) and we begin recording the 2nd week of March (of this year)! We will have a new record completed by early May 2010 and we will be planning for a release later in the year!!!
I don’t want to say too much at this time but I will write an update by next week describing what we’re going to do and I can tell you this – it won’t be what anyone expects and it will show a completely different side to Stryper that the world has never heard before. Let the controversy begin………..
More to come at http://www.michaelsweet.com and http://www.stryper.com by 2/15.
The band is incredibly excited about this project and the label is equally as excited… Great things ahead!
Always,
Michael
With joyful hearts, Michael Sweet and Lisa were married on January 8, 2010 at a private ceremony with their families and closest friends by their side.
Stryper will be performing at the 86th Annual NYSE Tree Lighting on December 10th. Other artists appearing include, Twisted Sister, Collective Soul, Billy Ray Cyrus, Katie Vogele and several others.
“Whip It” is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com. The DVD and Blu-ray will be released on January 26, 2010.
The tour dates for San Antonio and Odessa, TX have both been officially canceled. It is unknown at this time if/when the dates will be made up.
