TheRockRevival.com’s Matt Bishop conducted an interview with Skillet frontman John Cooper backstage at Musikfest 2013 on August 4 at PNC Plaza in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. You can now watch the chat below.
“Rise”, the new album fom the two-time Grammy-nominated rock band Skillet, has been released June 25th. The album sold 60,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 4 on The Billboard 200 chart.
The CD’s explosive start was fueled by the success of a four-song rollout at iTunes which saw the first two tracks, “Sick Of It” and “American Noise”, both hit No. 1 on the iTunes Rock Songs chart [and at one point, were No. 1 and 2 on the chart], while the third and fourth-released songs,“Rise” and “Not Gonna Die”, each shot to No. 2. The band has also been building momentum with radio promotion, a social media blitz and festival show performances.
“Skillet has become increasingly deft at straddling the tricky line between faith-based idealism and secular universality,” wrote Billboard. “‘Rise’ takes the balance a step further, mixing new sonic flavors into the group’s hard-rock bombast.” USA Today gave the album 3 out of 4 stars,People praised the band for “taking their hard rock to higher ground,” and Loudwire gave “Rise” 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, “the songwriting has more depth, there’s added diversity and plenty of potential hit singles.”
The band is celebrating the new album release by joining the ‘Carnival of Madness’ tour this summer [Aug 13 – Sept 14], presented by Monster Energy. The coast to coast tour includes rock superstars such as Shinedown, Papa Roach, In This Moment, and more.
Skillet will return to Europe to support Nickelback on ‘The Hits’ tour” in October and November. ‘The Hits’ tour will be hitting various European territories, starting on Oct. 26 in France & the tour will end on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom. Dates and locations are listed below.
Upcoming Shows:
‘Carnival Of Madness’
Aug 27 DTE Energy Music Center, Clarkston, MI
Aug 28 Tags, Big Flats, NY
Aug 30 Verizon Wireless, Charlotte, NC
Aug 31 Farm Bureau Live, Virginia Beach, VA
Sep 01 The Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC
Sep 06 Night of Joy, Orlando, FL
Sep 07 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St Louis, Maryland Heights, MO
Sep 08 Zoo Amphitheater, Oklahoma City, OK
Sep 10 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver, CO
Sep 12 Spokane Country Interstate Fair, Spokane, WA
Sep 14 Discovery Park, Sacramento, CA
Sep 15 The Joint, Las Vegas, NV
Sep 18 Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Puyallup, WA
Sep 21 Six Flags Fiesta Texas , San Antonio, TX
Oct 08 The Big Fresno Fair, Fresno, CA
‘The Hits’ tour
Oct 26 Le Zenith Nantes Metropole, Saint Herblain, France
Oct 29 Mediolanum Forum, Milan, Italy
Oct 31 Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
Nov 02 Torwar Hall, Warsaw, Poland
Nov 04 O2 Arena, Berlin, Germany
Nov 05 SAP ARENA, Mannheim, Germany
Nov 07 O2 arena, Prague, Czech Republic
Nov 08 Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest, Hungary
Nov 10 Hallenstadion , Zurich, Switzerland
Nov 11 Konig Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany
Nov 13 Forum Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Nov 14 Telenor Arena, Oslo, Norway
Nov 15 Scandinavium, Goteborg, Sweden
Nov 18 Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nov 20 Bercy, Paris, France
Nov 21 Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
Nov 23 Echo Arena, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Nov 24 O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
Nov 26 Hydro Arena, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Nov 27 Leeds Arena, Leeds, United Kingdom
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Twitter
Video below “Sick Of It”
Related Articles:
‘Skillet’s’ ‘John Cooper’ on Touring Russia, Raising His 8-Year-Old Daughter [European Tour Starts Next Month] [Oct. 2011]
‘Skillet’ Previews New Song ‘Sick Of It’ Urging Fans to Post Photos, New Tour Dates [March 2013]
‘Skillet’ Releases Teaser Video For New Single ‘Sick Of It’, New Tour Dates [April 2013]
‘Skillet’ Releases Lyric Video For ‘American Noise’ [April 2013]
‘Skillet’ To Support ‘Nickelback’ On ‘The Hits’ European Tour [July 2013]
‘Skillet’s’ ‘Rise’ Cracks U.S. Top 5, European Tour With ‘Nickelback’ [July 2013]
Skillet – Rise [Album Review]
‘Skillet’ Rocks Over 35,000 Fans at Russia’s ‘Black Sea Kubana Festival’, European Tour With ‘Nickelback’ [Aug. 2013]