HELLYEAH Talk ‘Band of Brothers,’ Their First Concert Experiences

Sit in a room with HELLYEAH and automatically, you get a sense of why their upcoming album is called Band of Brothers. The heavy metal supergroup consisting of singer Chad Gray, guitarist Greg Tribbett, guitarist Tom Maxwell, bassist Bob Zilla, and drummer Vinnie Paul certainly feels as tight knit as a band of brothers, and as they prepared for their co-headlining tour with Clutch, they shared a few thoughts with Noisecreep.

Just back from Japan, the band was especially proud of how well the shows had gone in the Far East. "My favorite time I've ever been to Japan," said Vinnie Paul. "Made the fifteen hour flights worth it. The first crowd that ever embraced Pantera was in Tokyo. And we played the same place this time over. They get us over there. But it was exhausting. That's okay, though. As my brother Dimebag used to say, 'A hangover is inspiration – to do it again and again!' – ah, the famous words of Dimebag!"

As for as Band of Brothers, which comes out in July, Chad Grey explained, "It's the music that brought us together - it's about family, dude. The title is a military term, but for us, it's kind of the same thing. One for all, all for one. I got your back, you got mine."

Paul is also excited about the new release: "The spirit of brotherhood totally runs throughout the whole record. I think it's the greatest thing we've ever done, since we started this band. And I've always loved everything we've ever done. Everyone brought something original to the table. We built a fucking mountain that's gonna be hard to top it and I love it, man. And we're not playing it live yet because we want people to first experience the music the way it's presented on the CD – the way we intended it."

Greg Tribbett said that the first time he heard the lyrics to the song "War in Me," I was just blown away by what Chad had done. I knew the rest of the record was not gonna be passive. This music was gonna be as hard as it could be – like a punch in the fuckiing face - that's what it's all about."

No doubt some folks this year will be seeing HELLYEAH for the first time, so we asked each of the guys what their first show was.

Chad told us he saw a free concert in 7th grade – Journey, which he loved.

Tom Maxwell saw Van Halen open for Black Sabbath.

For Greg Tribbett, it was Judas Priest.

Bob Zilla caught Iron Maiden at the Long Beach Arena.

And for Vinnie? "Boston and Sammy Hagar – 1978 at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Texas. Dimebag's first show was Nazareth and Thin Lizzy. And our first show together was Alice Cooper, along with The Babys and Legs Diamond. And two years ago I took my dad to see Paul McCartney. Now that was amazing."

Vinnie added finally, "We know people will enjoy this tour because people like to hear concerts period – live music. That's the only thing you can't steal from us – a live show. You can watch it on TV, but if you're in that f---ing room and you feel that energy between the audience and the band – you can't touch that – and you'll never be able to steal that and it's the most beautiful thing in the world."

Band of Brothers will hit stores on June 17. Catch HELLYEAH out on tour:

w/ Clutch:

4/20: Traverse City, MI @ Ground Zero

4/21: Ft. Wayne, IN @ Pierre's

4/22: Toledo, OH @ Headliner's

4/23: Dayton, OH @ McGuffy's House of Rock (Clutch only)

4/24: Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater

4/25: Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom

4/28: Lincoln, NE @ Box Awesome's Bourbon Lounge

4/29: Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater

5/1: Springfield, MO @ Gillioz Theater

5/2: Wichita, KS @ Cotillion

5/3: Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom (Clutch only)

5/4: Sauget, IL @ Pops

5/5: Chattanooga, TN @ Track 29

5/6: Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater (Clutch only)

5/6: Atlanta, GA @ WLKS Project Cinco Party (HELLYEAH only)

5/8: Libertyville, IL @ Austins

5/10: Rock Island, IL @ Rock Island Brewery (Clutch only)

5/11: Joilet, IL @ Mojoes

5/12: Detroit, MI @ St Andrews Hall (Clutch only)

5/13: Flint, MI @ Machine Shop (Clutch only)

5/19: Hartford, CT @ WCCC Big Gig (HELLYEAH only)

5/27: Pryor, OK @ Rocklahoma (HELLYEAH only)

w/ Volbeat

06/18 – Toronto, ON – Kool Haus

06/19 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore

06/21 – Boston, MA – House of Blues

06/23 – Clifton Park, NY – Northern Lights

06/26 – Saint Paul, MN – Myth

06/27 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummins Theatre

06/29 – Weyburn SK – Crescent Point Place

06/30 – Gibbons, AB – Boonstock

07/08 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield

07/10 – Anaheim, CA – The Grove

07/11 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre

07/12 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues

07/15 – Colorado Springs, CO – Colorado Springs City Auditorium