Alice Cooper with his trademark boa at Revolver Golden Gods Awards. Photo by Jimmy Hubbard.

Another day goes down in heavy-metal music history on April 20, 2011, as the Rockstar Mayhem Fest announced some of the amazing things they plan for the tour this summer, followed by the Revolver Golden Gods Awards at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.

First, for the tour, which starts July 9 in San Bernardino, CA, and runs until August 14, it looks to be another hot summer of exploding music as the metal scene continues to catch fire again in this country. Top band headliners include Megadeth, Godsmack, and Disturbed, but there are many other stages and bands to watch on the horizon including Red Fang, and Suicide Silence which was a huge band on the Vans Warped Tour last summer.


Avenged Sevenfold and Vinnie Paul perform Pantera’s “Mouth For War.” Photo: Jimmy Hubbard.

Rockstar Mayhem Fest tour is also going more eco-friendly this summer with bio-diesel for the vans and tour buses, and various on-site initiatives.
That night, and very in-sync, the 3rd annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards presented by Epiphone took place at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles.


Robb Flynn of Machine Head and Wayne Static of Static X presenting the Epiphone%uFFFD Best Guitarists Award. Photo by Jimmy Hubbard.

Here%uFFFDs the lowdown:

The full list of winners and presenters for the 3rd ANNUAL REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS is as follows:
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge%uFFFD Golden God Award: Alice Cooper (presented by Rob Zombie)
Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award: M%uFFFDtley Cr%uFFFDe (presented by Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour.)
Honorary Headbanger Award: William Shatner (presented by Scott Ian of Anthrax and The Damned Things and comedian Brian Posehn)
Epiphone%uFFFD Best Guitarists Award: Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance of Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Robb Flynn of Machine Head and Wayne Static of Static X)
Drum Workshop%uFFFD Best Drummer Award: Mike Portnoy for his work with Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Vinnie Paul of Pantera/HellYeah)
Best New Band Award: Black Veil Brides (presented by
Duff McKagan of Loaded/Velvet Revolver/Guns N’ Roses)
Most Metal Athlete Award: Skateboarder Mike Vallely (presented by Chino Moreno of Deftones)
Rockstar Energy%uFFFD Best Vocalist Award: M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless and Sebastian Bach)
Samson/Zoom%uFFFD Best Live Band Award: Rammstein (presented by Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Mike Portnoy)
Eagle Rock%uFFFD Comeback of the Year Award: Murderdolls (presented by David Coverdale of Whitesnake)
Affliction%uFFFD Album of the Year Award: Avenged Sevenfold (presented by Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez of Alice in Chains)
Presented by REVOLVER, America’s leading hard-rock and metal magazine, and hosted by CHRIS JERICHO (WWE, Fozzy, Dancing With the Stars), the award show featured special appearances by ALICE COOPER, M%uFFFDTLEY CR%uFFFDE, ROB ZOMBIE, actor WILLIAM SHATNER, GEEZER BUTLER (Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell), DUFF McKAGAN (Loaded/Velvet Revolver/Guns N’ Roses), COREY TAYLOR (Slipknot/Stone Sour), STEVE JONES (Sex Pistols), DAVE NAVARRO (Jane’s Addiction), CHINO MORENO (Deftones), VINNIE PAUL (Pantera/HellYeah), SCOTT IAN (Anthrax/The Damned Things), DAVID COVERDALE (Whitesnake/Deep Purple), STEVEN ADLER (Guns N’ Roses), MAX CAVALERA (Soulfly/Cavalera Conspiracy/Sepultura), JAMEY JASTA (Hatebreed/Kingdom of Sorrow), TAYLOR MOMSEN (The Pretty Reckless, TV’s Gossip Girl), MIKE PORTNOY (Dream Theater/Avenged Sevenfold), GILBY CLARKE (Guns N’ Roses), and members of ALICE IN CHAINS, FOO FIGHTERS, MEGADETH, STATIC-X, DETHKLOK, FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, WE ARE THE FALLEN, MURDERDOLLS, SUICIDE SILENCE, and WINDS OF PLAGUE. The evening also featured appearances from comedian BRIAN POSEHN, skateboarders MIKE VALLELY and CHRIS COLE, MMA fighters DAN HARDY and JOSH BARNETT, WENDY DIO (wife of Ronnie James Dio) and many more.


Mike Vallely, skateboarder, accepting the Most Metal Athlete Award. Photo by Jimmy Hubbard.

Live performances for the 2011 REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS included musical sets by ALICE COOPER (their first LA appearance in 40 years, fresh off their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), LOADED (featuring DUFF McKAGAN of GUNS N’ ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER), Elvis Presley/Johnny Cash-inspired metal group VOLBEAT, host CHRIS JERICHO’s band FOZZY, fast-rising metalcore newcomers ASKING ALEXANDRIA, and hometown heroes AVENGED SEVENFOLD who closed out the night with a blistering set.

Special collaborations last night included: AVENGED SEVENFOLD performing PANTERA’s “Mouth for War” with Vinnie Paul and GUNS N’ ROSES’ “It’s So Easy” with DUFF McKAGAN, STEVE JONES and COREY TAYLOR performing JUDAS PRIEST’s “Electric Eye” with LOADED. SEBASTIAN BACH performing SKID ROW’s “Youth Gone Wild” with ASKING ALEXANDRIA. SCOTT IAN of ANTHRAX performing DUSTY SPRINGFIELD’s “I Only Want To Be With You” with VOLBEAT; and MAX CALAVERA, JAMEY JASTA, and MIKE VALLELY joining DEVILDRIVER for a salute to BLACK FLAG.


William Shatner recieves his Honarary Headbangers Award. Huge hit. Here%uFFFDs our favorite from him.