STATIC-X will bring more of its self-proclaimed “Evil Disco” to the masses with the “Rise Of The Machine” North American tour 2022. The trek will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band’s RIAA-gold-certified sophomore album “Machine”, which is being re-released next year and will serve as a continuation of their memorial tribute to honor their late singer Wayne Static. Joining STATIC-X will be fellow industrial metal pioneers FEAR FACTORY and DOPE, along with special guests MUSHROOMHEAD and TWIZTID (appearing on select dates). “The Rise Of The Machine” tour will also celebrate career anniversaries for both FEAR FACTORY and DOPE, with FEAR FACTORY celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band and DOPE celebrating the 20th anniversary of their cult metal anthem “Die MF Die”.
“Rise Of The Machine” will mark FEAR FACTORY‘s first tour since the departure of original singer Burton C. Bell in late 2019. The identity of the group’s new vocalist has not yet been revealed, but FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares said in a recent interview that he was “somebody who is kind of known.”
Cazares stated about the trek: “I’m beyond excited to finally turn the FEAR FACTORY machine back on and start crushing stages alongside our longtime friends in STATIC-X.”
Tour dates:
Feb. 21 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
Feb. 22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
Feb. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater
Feb. 24 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
Feb. 25 – Boise, ID @ Revolution Concert Hall
Feb. 26 – Reno, NV @ Virginia Street Brewhouse
Feb. 27 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades
Mar. 01 – Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
Mar. 02 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater
Mar. 03 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Whiskey Nights
Mar. 04 – Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
Mar. 05 – San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theater
Mar. 06 – Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
Mar. 08 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theater
Mar. 09 – Orlando, FL @ Plaza Live
Mar. 10 – Charlotte, NC @ Underground
Mar. 11 – Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
Mar. 12 – Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
Mar. 13 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Mar. 15 – Montreal, QC @ Corona
Mar. 16 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
Mar. 17 – Detroit, MI @ St Andrews Hall
Mar. 18 – Ft Wayne, IN @ The Clyde
Mar. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
Mar. 20 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection
Mar. 22 – Cleveland, OH @ House Of Blues
Mar. 23 – Philadelphia, PA Theater Of The Living Arts
Mar. 24 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian
Mar. 25 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
Mar. 26 – Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
Mar. 27 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis
Mar. 28 – Lincoln NE @ Bourbon Theater
Mar. 29 – Denver, CO @ The Summit
Mar. 31 – Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
Apr. 01 – San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues
Apr. 02 – Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco Theater
Sun 03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos recently confirmed the band’s plan to release the second volume of “Project Regeneration”, containing many of the final vocal performances and musical compositions of late STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static, along with the original “Wisconsin Death Trip” lineup of Campos, drummer Ken Jay, and guitarist Koichi Fukuda. Both volumes are being worked on by longtime STATIC-X producer Ulrich Wild.
Asked in a new interview with Pierre Gutiérrez of Rock Talks if there are any STATIC-X gigs coming up in the near future, Campos said: “We just announced some stuff for Europe next year. We’ll be announcing some more stuff in the coming weeks. And hopefully we can get back on track and finally get volume two out — volume two of ‘Project Regeneration’… It’s songs built from the remaining demos that we recovered. The goal is to, and the real trick is gonna be to keep it sounding, production-wise, consistent with volume one, so it sounds like one cohesive piece of work instead of two separate albums.”
According to Campos, “Project Regeneration Vol. 2”, like the first volume, will consist mostly of material created around isolated vocal performances by Wayne Static. “Just one [song on the first volume] was something completely new, that wasn’t based on anything,” he explained. “It was just, like, ‘Ah, just throw that in.’ But volume two will have one or two new things, just to fill in the space on the record.”
Asked if STATIC-X will carry on as a band even after it completes the touring cycle in support of “Project Regeneration Vol. 2”, Tony said: “At this point, it seems like it’s something the fans want, and I’m certainly not opposed to it. I still wanna go do other things. Next year, I’ll be doing stuff with STATIC and FEAR FACTORY. And this year I’m doing stuff with HAIL THE HORNS. And I just got approached… At the beginning of this week, I got approached by [D.R.I.‘s] Spike Cassidy. Apparently, D.R.I. has a tour coming up in a couple of weeks, and their bass player can’t make it, so they asked me to fill in. So I’m gonna be playing with D.R.I. It’s gonna be September 7th through September 19th out on the East Coast.”
In 2019, STATIC-X wrapped up a world tour comprised of nearly 100 mostly sold-out dates in celebration of the 20th anniversary of its platinum-selling debut album “Wisconsin Death Trip”. The shows also served as a traveling memorial for Wayne, who passed away nearly seven years ago.
While the identity of STATIC-X‘s touring singer Xer0 has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that DOPE frontman Edsel Dope is the one performing with Jay, Fukuda and Campos and appearing in all of STATIC-X‘s promotional videos.
Static died after mixing Xanax and other powerful prescription drugs with alcohol, according to the coroner’s report. The 48-year-old Static, whose real name was Wayne Richard Wells, was found dead in his Landers, California home on November 1, 2014.
Static founded STATIC-X in 1994 and achieved commercial success with “Wisconsin Death Trip”, which included the rock radio hit “Push It”.
The group issued five more studio albums before disbanding permanently in June 2013. Static had been pursuing a solo career at the time of his death.
