SEVEN BANDS ON SATURDAY - 13th of July

MR. BIG is putting on their signature top hats and old shoes one last time for a worldwide tour, aptly titled “The BIG Finish.” The band will present a set spanning their career, including a performance of their classic breakthrough album “LEAN INTO IT”. “We wanted to do a proper farewell, and this seems like the right way to do it,” asserts bassist/vocalist Billy Sheehan. Notes guitarist/vocalist Paul Gilbert, “We’re in the process of making sure we come up with a suitably big entertainment extravaganza to go along with our music. And since our music has resonated so wonderfully in places all over the world, we’re going to play in as many of those places as we can.” Submits lead vocalist Eric Martin, “If we were in the movie business, we’d just put it all up in lights and say, ‘Welcome to The BIG Finish!’ Seriously, I’m glad we’re getting a chance to do it all onstage together as MR. BIG again and raise a flag to everything we’ve done as a band over the years.” Joining MR. BIG on drums for this special final world tour will be longtime friend of the band Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard, Big Big Train), stepping in for founding drummer/vocalist Pat Torpey.

Only genuine thoroughbred musicians with substantial creative talent succeed in staying at the top of their game as long as Axel Rudi Pell has. For more than thirty years, the guitarist and songwriter from Bochum, Germany, has released new albums at regular intervals with his ARP band. Reactions from fans and media alike have been consistently positive while impressive record sales, high chart positions and ever-increasing audience numbers at his concerts and tours say it all.
ARP band continues to consist of singer Johnny Gioeli, bassist Volker Krawczak, keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg and drummer Bobby Rondinelli (ex-Rainbow), a perfectly oiled hard rock machine that never fails to deliver Pell’s compositions outstandingly and at the same time enhance them with each musician’s own trademarks.

For the first time in Bulgaria we will see the American metal band Steel Panther. History falls on two sides of one line. There was the age before Steel Panther—but let’s be honest, no one cares about any of that. And then, there was the age after Steel Panther, which is all that matters. Since Steel Panther clawed their way out of the Sunset Strip and onto the global stage, rock ‘n’ roll has kicked ass once again.
For the uninitiated, Steel Panther was formed in 2000. They have continuously flown the flag for heavy metal higher than anybody this century. 2009’s Feel The Steel announced their arrival as saviors of rock, showing guests such as Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, and Scott Ian of Anthrax how it’s done! On its heels, Balls Out [2011] boasted collaborations with everyone from Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and Nuno Bettencourt to Dane Cook. The group unleashed a string of banging LPs, namely All You Can Eat [2014], Lower The Bar [2017], and Heavy Metal Rules [2019]. Meanwhile, they earned ink from Billboard, Classic Rock, Consequence, Metal Hammer, and more, tallying hundreds of millions of streams views in the process. They’ve logged countless miles on the road (and stolen groupies from) Aerosmith and Stone Sour in addition to leaving festivals such as Download begging for more. Steel Panther is a global phenomenon with five full-length albums, touring across the world, platinum-level You Tube status and high-profile television appearances such as Jimmy Kimmel Live, Larry King Now, FOX NFL Sunday and America’s Got Talent. Now, the quartet—Michael Starr [lead vocals], Satchel [lead guitar], Spyder [bass], and Stix Zadinia [drums]—reach another level altogether on their sixth full-length offering, On The Prowl.

Only the truly dedicated can keep the flame burning for nearly four decades. With an abundance of creative vigour and endless class, Stratovarius have earned the right to be considered true legends. Nearly 40 years after they formed in Helsinki, Finland, the melodic power metal masters are poised to release their most heartfelt and epic album to date, the mighty Survive. The title says it all. Stratovarius are still unstoppable.
Emerging from a vibrant metal ‘80s metal scene, Stratovarius swiftly made their mark with early albums like gritty debut Fright Night (1989) and its more sophisticated follow-up Twilight Time (1992). Contrary to the accepted narrative about metal’s fortunes in the ‘90s, Stratovarius spent the decade becoming increasingly successful, effectively defining the European power metal sound single-handedly and touring relentlessly all over the world. Meanwhile, a steady succession of acclaimed albums, including certified genre benchmarks like Visions (1997) and Destiny (1998), broke the melodic mould.
The last album, Survive is released in 2022. Dark and heavy but endlessly uplifting, it is the end result of a refreshed and rejuvenated creative process for this veteran ensemble. As long-time members Timo Kotipelto (vocals) and Jens Johansson (keyboards) explain, Survive is their most authentically collaborative album yet.

Primal Fear was founded in October 1997 by Ralf Scheepers and Mat Sinner. Their debut album was released in February 1998 and entered the German LP chart at number 48, thus becoming one of the highest charting debut albums in German metal. In the same year they toured with metal veterans Running Wild and HammerFall.
The band has an impressive 13 studio albums, with the latest Code Red released in 2023. This album is first and foremost a true reawakening for producer Mat Sinner. He fought his way back to the light bit by bit after a serious illness, recapturing his life, his passion with admirable stamina and iron willpower. “After my illness, this album was my musical way back to normality,” says Sinner. “»Code Red« was the first production I was able to participate in again. To me, it was a formative experience. I was overjoyed to be able to be creative with the guys in the studio again. It meant the world to me to make that album.”
Primal Fear is Ralf Scheepers (vocals), Mat Sinner (bass, vocals), Tom Naumann (guitar), Alexander Beyrodt (guitar), Magnus Karlsson (guitar), Michael Ehré (drums).

Rhapsody of Fire, have been described as the Italian Symphonic Power Metal gods. Since their formation in 1993 under the name Thundercross, the band has released twelve studio albums, two live albums, three EPs and one Live DVD. Rhapsody of Fire is known for their conceptual lyrics, which form a fantastic story in all their albums from 1997 to 2011. After using the moniker Rhapsody for almost ten years, the band changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire in 2006. The actual line up consists in Giacomo Voli (vocals), Alex Staropoli (keyboards), Roby De Micheli (Guitars), Alessandro Sala (Bass) and Paolo Marchesich (drums). With their latest albums “The Eighth Mountain” and “Glory For Salvation” they started the new “Nephilim Empire Saga”. On May 12, 2023, the band released the single "Kreel's Magic Staff", which will be included on their upcoming third part of this saga and fourteenth studio album.

Band Jelusick is fronted by Dino Jelusick, Croatian rock singer, musician and songwriter who is the founder, main songwriter and vocalist in the band.
After 6 years of touring with Trans-Siberian Orchestra in more than 300 arenas through USA, Dino became a permanent member of Whitesnake in 2021.
In late November 2022, Dino finished a court battle with his former label Frontiers Records and immediately began recording new songs for his band Jelusick. Since then, the band has released 7 singles: Healer, Reign of Vultures Fly High Again, The Great Divide, Chaos Master, Acid Rain and Died, and the album Follow the Blind Man was released on September 29, 2023. As of November 2023, Dino Jelusick was one of four mentors in the Croatian edition of The Voice. Jelusick are Dino Jelusick (vocals and keyboards), Ivan Keller (guitar), Luka Broderick (bass and vocals) and Mario Lepoglavec (drums and vocals).