''
Black Tide
is an American heavy metal band from Miami, Florida. Formed in 2004, the band is currently signed to Interscope Records. The band is currently comprised of Gabriel Garcia (vocals and lead guitar), Austin Diaz (rhythm guitar and vocals), Zachary Sandler (bass and vocals), and Steven Spence (drums, percussion). The current line-up has toured with many bands, including Avenged Sevenfold, All That Remains, Bullet for My Valentine, Slipknot, Escape the Fate, Bring Me the Horizon, Mindless Self Indulgence and many more. They released their debut album, Light from Above
, on March 18, 2008, through Interscope Records.
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BLACK TIDE TICKETS
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History
Formation and signing to Interscope Records (2004–2007)
Black Tide was founded in
Miami,
Florida in 2004 under the name
Radio
by guitarist Gabriel Garcia and his older brother Raul Garcia. Raul recruited second guitarist Alex Nuñez. At the time, Gabriel Garcia was 11 years old and Nuñez was just 13 years old.
[1] Garcia and Nuñez recruited bassist Zachary Sandler and drummer Steven Spence, after Raul's departure from the group.
This completed the band's lineup. The band started playing local shows, eventually gaining the attention of record labels due to the members' young age and talent. In 2005, Black Tide signed a demo deal with
Atlantic Records as Radio. The deal lasted for only a year, before the band was spotted by a record executive for
EMI, who notified
Interscope Records of the band. By mid 2007, now named Black Tide, they were signed to
Interscope.
Light from Above
(2007–2008)
Black Tide recorded a single, "Shockwave", which gained rotation on
MTV2's
Headbangers Ball. The band started touring and gained a position on the second stage of
Ozzfest, but were kicked off the tour because the stage was sponsored by
Jägermeister and all of the members of Black Tide were under the
legal drinking age.
Although the band was no longer appearing on the second stage, Black Tide was able to be the opening act on the main stage in some areas, opening for
Lordi,
Static-X,
Lamb of God, and
Ozzy Osbourne.
[2] After
Ozzfest, the band toured with
Avenged Sevenfold and
All That Remains.
[3] [4] They are well known partly due to their age. They are all under the age of 21 and two members are still in High School.
In late 2007, Black Tide entered the studio in
Chicago,
Illinois with producer
Johnny K. The band recorded 12 new tracks which included a
cover of
Metallica's first written song, "Hit the Lights", which originally appeared on
Kill 'Em All
.
[5] The resulting album,
Light From Above
, was released on March 18, 2008. The album was critically praised, with Dan Epstein of
Revolver Magazine
saying "Listening to the debut album from Miami's Black Tide is a little like stumbling across a cool late-80s metal record you'd completely forgotten about. A very promising debut" and Scott Alisoglu of
Blabbermouth.net stating the album contains "Big, sometimes pop-based, melodies meets crunchy, guitar-driven metal that falls somewhere between thrash/traditional metal and the dirtier end of '80s glam/hair metal."
[6] [7] Light From Above
debuted at number 73 on the
Billboard
200, with 11,400 copies sold in its first week of sales.
[8]. Black Tide has also won the
Kerrang! Award for Best Newcomer.
On
March 27,
2008, the band performed on the late-night show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
on the
ABC television network in the
United States and
Citytv in
Canada.
[9] In the summer of 2008, shortly before the Mayhem Festival guitarist Alex Nunez left the band and was replaced by Austin Diaz. The band proceeded to tour on the
Mayhem Festival, playing all around the U.S.
The band opened for
Bullet For My Valentine on their European tour in
November 2008, alongside
Lacuna Coil and
Bleeding Through. Black Tide also supported Bullet for My Valentine on their US tour in September.
[10] The band toured on the
Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour
with
Mindless Self Indulgence,
Dir en grey,
Bring Me the Horizon and
In Case of Fire. They have started performing "
Prowler," an
Iron Maiden cover, on this tour, which was formally recorded for Kerrang! Magazine's Iron Maiden Tribute CD,
Maiden Heaven
.
Austin Diaz and Alex Nunez are currently both members of Miami Hardcore/Thrash band The Panix.
Touring in support of Light from Above
and beyond (2009–present)
The band debuted on British television on
January 17,
2009, on the
BBC show
SOUND
.
Black Tide were the direct support for
Escape The Fate on their 2009 "This War Is Ours" Tour in February and March. Other supporting acts included
Attack Attack!,
William Control, and
Burn Halo.
Black Tide supported
Trivium from
May 6,
2009 until
May 19,
2009 on the Japanese and Australian segment of "Into the Mouth of Hell We Tour".
[11]
Black Tide will be playing on the
Warped Tour 2009.
[12]
The band has recently started performing a new song, titled, "Redefine", at concerts.
Tours
- October 2007-July 2008: Light from Above Tour
- July-August 2008: Mayhem Festival 2008 (w/ solo dates)
- August-November 2008: Light from Above Tour (part of No Fear Music Tour
w/ Bullet For My Valentine)
- January 2009: Light from Above Tour (part of Kerrang! Tour
)
- February-March 2009: Light from Above Tour (part of The War Is Ours Tour
w/ Escape The Fate)
- March 2009: Light from Above Tour (part of Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour
w/ Trivium)
- Summer 2009: Vans Warped Tour '09
Black Tide in other media
The band's singles "Shockwave" and "Warriors of Time" were made available as downloadable content in the rhythm-based video game
Rock Band
. "Shockwave" is also featured on the video game
Skate 2
for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
"Show Me the Way" is in
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
, an all vehicle racing game for the
Playstation 3, and has also been confirmed for release for
Rock Band
with an undetermined release date. It appeared as well on
Rock Band Unplugged as a master track for
PlayStation Portable
"Warriors of Time" is also featured as the title theme in
NHL 09
.
Discography
Albums
Singles
| Year Released
| Title
| Peak positions
| Album
|
U.S.
Main
[13]
|
| 2008
| "Shockwave"
| 25
| Light from Above
|
| "Let Me"
| —
|
| "Warriors of Time"
| —
|
| "Shout"
| —
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or have yet to chart.
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Members
Current members
- Gabriel Garcia – lead vocals, lead guitar (2004–present)
- Steven Spence – drums, percussion (2004–present)
- Austin Diaz – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2008–present)
- Zakk Sandler – bass, backing vocals (2004–present)
Former members
- Alex Nuñez - rhythm guitar (2004–2008)
- Raul Garcia - drums, percussion (2004)
References
- Youth Gone Wild
- Black Tide members talk about playing this year's Ozzfest
- Black Tide preparing for Avenged Sevenfold tour
- Black Tide added to All That Remains tour
- Black Tide: "Shockwave" EP now available
- Reviews – Black Tide ''Light From Above''
- CD reviews – ''Light from Above''
- Black Tide debuts on Billboard chart
- Black Tide To Perform On Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- http://www.bulletformyvalentine1.com/news.php
- http://www.blacktidemusic.com/news/default.aspx?nid=20442
- http://www.warpedtour.com/warpedtour/bands.asp Warped Tour Band List
- Black Tide - Artist Chart History