Vans Warped Tour 2010 Starts Today!

Today is the first date of the Vans Warped Tour 2010, but it might as well be renamed the "ESP Rocks Your Ass Off Tour" this year. Check it out... the list of ESP players you'll see at many of these shows is staggering.

• Andrew W.K. (John "Frank" Werner, Justin Payne, and Ken Andrews)
• Anti Flag (Justin Sane)
• The Casualties (Jake Kolatis, Rick Lopez)
• Dillinger Escape Plan (Ben Weinman)
• Everytime I Die (Jordan Buckley)
• iwrestledabearonce (Steven Bradley, John Ganey)
• Parkway Drive (Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick)
• Pierce the Veil (Tony Perry)
• Suicide Silence (Mark Heylmun, Dan Kenny)
• Whitechapel (Alex Wade, Ben Savage, and Zach Householder)

Make sure you know when the Warped Tour is coming to your neighborhood (and visit vanswarpedtour.com for the most up-to-date info):

Fri Jun 25: Home Depot Center (Carson, CA)
Sat Jun 26: Shoreline Amphitheatre (Mountain View, CA)
Sun Jun 27: Ventura Country Fairground At Seaside Park (Ventura, CA)
Tue Jun 29: Cricket Pavilion (Phoenix, AZ)
Wed Jun 30: N.M.S.U. Practice Field (Las Cruces, NM)
Thu Jul 01: AT&T Center (San Antonio, TX)
Fri Jul 02: The Showgrounds At Sam Houston Race Park (Houston, TX)
Sat Jul 03: Superpages.com Center (Dallas, TX)
Mon Jul 05: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (St.Louis, MO)
Tue Jul 06: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Indianapolis, IN)
Wed Jul 07: First Niagara Pavilion (Burgettstown, PA)
Thu Jul 08: Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre (Cleveland, OH)
Fri Jul 09: Arrow Hall (Toronto, ON)
Sat Jul 10: Parc Jean Drapeau (Montreal, QC)
Sun Jul 11: Comcast Theater (Hartford, CT)
Tue Jul 13: Comcast Center (Mansfield, MA)
Wed Jul 14: Darien Lake P.A.C. (Darien Center, NY)
Thu Jul 15: Toyota Pavilion (Scranton, PA)
Fri Jul 16: Susquehanna Bank Center (Camden, NJ)
Sat Jul 17: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Uniondale, NY)
Sun Jul 18: Monmouth Park Racetrack (Oceanport, NJ)
Tue Jul 20: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Columbia, MD)
Wed Jul 21: Virginia Beach Amphitheatre (Virginia Beach, VA)
Thu Jul 22: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)
Fri Jul 23: Vinoy Park (St. Petersburg, FL)
Sat Jul 24: Cruzan Amphitheater (West Palm Beach, FL)
Sun Jul 25: Firestone Amphitheatre @ The Lot (Orlando, FL)
Mon Jul 26: Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood (Atlanta, GA)
Wed Jul 28: Riverbend Music Center (Cincinnati, OH)
Thu Jul 29: Marcus Amphitheater (Milwaukee, WI)
Fri Jul 30: Comerica Park (Detroit, MI)
Sat Jul 31: First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (Tinley Park, IL)
Sun Aug 01: Canterbury Park (Shakopee, MN)
Mon Aug 02: Sandstone Amphitheatre (Bonner Springs, KS)
Thu Aug 05: Northlands Grounds (Edmonton, AB)
Sat Aug 07: Utah State Fairgrounds (Salt Lake City, UT)
Sun Aug 08: Invesco Field (Denver, CO)
Tue Aug 10: Cricket Amphitheatre (San Diego, CA)
Wed Aug 11: Pomona Fairplex (Pomona, CA)
Thu Aug 12: Sleep Train Amphitheatre (Marysville, CA)
Fri Aug 13: Idaho Center Amphitheatre (Nampa, ID)
Sat Aug 14: Gorge Amphitheater (George, WA)
Sun Aug 15: Washington County Fairgrounds (Hillsboro, OR)

ESP sponsors MMA fighter Shayna Baszler

What goes better together than the world of metal and the world of mixed martial arts? Nothing! That's why ESP has strong relationships with people in the MMA world, and it's why we're now an official sponsor of MMA fighter Shayna Baszler, who recently became the FCF Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix champion.

She calls herself the "Queen of Spades", and if you see her coming at you, you'd be wise to back down. Currently ranked #4 in the world in her weight class, Shayna means business. After connecting with former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett, she started training under his mastery of the art of kicking ass. Since starting in the MMA world, Shayna's put together 12 wins, 11 of which coming by way of submission. If you don't know what that means, just understand that she put such a beatdown on her opponents that they had to quit before suffering even worse consequences.

Shayna grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She met Josh at a fight, and he was so impressed by her that since she couldn't relocate to Southern California at the time, he put together a training video teaching her the steps to becoming a great fighter. Josh also saw something in Shayna that caused him to suggest that she carry a guitar into the ring as her signature entrance. Since Josh is friends with us at ESP, we were happy to take his word that Shayna would be a good candidate for sponsorship.

Shayna and Josh.

We don't claim to be experts in mixed martial arts, but we've been told that Shayna's fighting styles include Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We'd ask to find out more, but it sounds like we'd learn by getting kicked upside the head about 18 times, so we'll pass for now.

Would you get in a staredown with this guy? Probably not.

When Shayna jumps in the ring, she's holding a very appropriate ESP model, if you want to be brutal: the LTD DJ-600 Dan Jacobs Signature Model.



I'd listen to the shirt if I were you.

For more info on Shayna, check out her MySpace page here. And as always, for more info on ESP's guitars, basses, artists, lessons, news, videos, music, and much more, cruise by espguitars.com.

ESP/Andrew W.K./Vans Warped Tour Contest!

People ask us from time to time what our artist endorsees are like in person. Are they the same as they seem onstage? Completely different? Well, as you'd expect, it varies from artist to artist, but we can tell you with no hesitation: Andrew W.K. is as much a maniac in real life as he is when the spotlights are on him. If you don't believe us, just check out his video for the ESP/Andrew W.K. contest being held at every date of this summer's Vans Warped Tour 2010:



In case you were too freaked out by Andrew in the vid, we'll try and tell you about this calmly.

At every date of the 2010 Warped Tour this summer, Andrew W.K. will be giving away some sweet ESPs, including LTD H-351NTs and LTD MH-327s. All you have to do for a chance to win is...

1. Visit Andrew W.K.'s web site.
2. Or go directly to his Street Team page to enter.
3. Andrew will post the time of the guitar giveaway for each date of the Warped Tour on his Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook.
4. You MUST be present at the show to win! Once you find out the time, be at Andrew's Party House mega air conditioned tent at the Warped Tour!

One of the entrants for each show will be randomly selected, and that lucky person will get a signed guitar from Andrew! Sounds like a good way to keep the party rolling long after the show is over. Best of luck to you from Andrew W.K. and ESP!

Ozzy Rocks House of Blues

Last Sunday, ESP's director of marketing and artist relations Allen Steelgrave got to go to the House of Blues to see Ozzy Osbourne and his new band run through an hour's worth of songs in preparation for larger shows coming up (like Ozzfest, of course). It was also the release party for Ozzy's new album SCREAM, which comes out today. Allen gets to do all the fun stuff, so we thought we'd do a little interview with him to get a first-person look into a night of epic metal.

ESP: What did you do Sunday night?

Allen Steelgrave: Saw Ozzy at House of Blues.

ESP: No way! How was it?

AS: Seriously, one of the best 60-minute shows I've seen in years.

ESP: Awesome! Tell us all about it.

AS: Well first, everyone who was anyone in the world of hard rock and metal was there. Before the show started, Sharon (Osbourne) came out and said that she wanted the public to hear how good the 11 new songs on Ozzy's new album SCREAM sounded.

ESP: Oh. So, he only played the new songs? That's cool, I guess.

AS: Well, what actually happened was this: they played the entire new album over the House of Blues sound system. But when Ozzy came out, he did every classic Ozzy tune you can think of.

ESP: What? No f*@#ing way! Such as?

AS: Let's see... he did "I Don't Know". He did "Crazy Train". He did "Fairies Wear Boots".

ESP: Shut up!

AS: It was amazing. What else? "Bark at the Moon". "Shot in the Dark". In fact, the only song from the new album he did live with the band was "Let Me Hear you Scream", which was also awesome.

ESP: Wow, what a killer show. Tell us more about Gus G., our friend and Ozzy's new guitarist. How did he do on the songs?

AS: Gus was... the only way I can describe it is that I remember what Ozzy was like with Randy Rhoads, and seeing the onstage relationship between Ozzy and Gus completely reminded of that.

ESP: How so?

AS: Ozzy was grabbing Gus while he was soloing, lifting him up, letting Gus have his share of the spotlight, and so on. At the end of every solo, the crowd would erupt in cheers. Everyone loved him. Anyone in the crowd who was still on the fence about Gus having joined Ozzy was 100% won over.

ESP: Dude, that's unbelievable. Did you get any bootleg video or anything?

AS: Actually, I did, but we can't show anyone anything until we get Sharon's approval.

ESP: That seems like a good idea.

While we're waiting for approval, let's whet our appetite for Ozzy with the brand new video for "Let Me Hear You Scream"!

Everything Ozzy!

Let's just go ahead and call the next few months the "Summer of Oz", okay? There's so much cool stuff going on with the Prince of Darkness, we don't even know where to begin. So before this crazy train gets derailed, let's roll into our official ESP Ozzy Osbourne report.

1. TONIGHT (Tue. June 15, 2010): OZZY ON KIMMEL!

You're not going to wuss out and fall asleep before Ozzy plays on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, right? It's starts at 12:30AM on your local ABC station. Do NOT miss it! ESP player Gus G. will be rocking hard, so at least DVR the show if you're going to go to bed at 9:30 (when Mommy tells you to).

http://abc.go.com/shows/jimmy-kimmel-live

2. NEW OZZY ALBUM "SCREAM" OUT JUNE 22!


They're already taking pre-orders over at Ozzy.com, so what are you waiting for? This might be Ozzy's best album in years and years. Invigorated with the addition of new blood like Gus G., the album is classic Ozzy mixed in with a truly modern metal vibe.

3. MAKING OF "LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM" VIDEO:


YouTube Link

4. LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ALBUM ON OZZY'S MYSPACE PAGE!

Yes, the Prince of Darkness is a generous prince. You can, right at this moment, listen to the entire Scream album on Ozzy's official MySpace page! If you like it, make sure to buy it afterwards. Ozzy thanks you.

That's all the Ozzy news we're going to drop on you now... there's only so much you can take at one sitting without possibly lethal repercussions. However, we have even more exciting Ozzy news that we'll be dropping on you shortly. As always, stay tuned to the ESP blog as well as following us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news! All aboard! Ha ha ha ha...

Win Eternal Descent Comics & Poster from ESP!

As promised earlier, here's an ESP contest just for our Facebook fans.

As of this very moment, there are 11,026 people who are fans of the official ESP Facebook page (facebook.com/espguitars). But that hardly seems like enough for a company like ESP. We want your help in making sure that more people get hooked up with ESP on Facebook... and we're going to reward you for your efforts.

Starting today (Friday June 4) and ending in one week (Friday June 11), we're challenging you to suggest the ESP Facebook page to at least 50 friends. Easy, right? Here's how to have a chance to win...

1. Go to the official ESP Facebook page (facebook.com/espguitars) and click the "Suggest to Friends" link near the top. Then pick 50 or more friends who you think would be into ESP.

2. After you've suggested 50 or more friends, go back to the ESP Facebook page and click on the "Notes" tab on top. You'll see a note called "ESP Eternal Descent Facebook Contest Signup". Just enter your Facebook name in the comments so we can get in contact with you.

3. After June 11, we'll send you a link to an online form so you can let us know where to send your prize. That's it!

The first 100 people who do this will receive issues 1 and 2 of the Eternal Descent comic book, along with a limited-edition Eternal Descent poster! Eternal Descent is an epic comic series that features real rock stars as characters, including ESP artists like Gus G. (Ozzy/Firewind), Wayne Static (Static-X), Doc Coyle (God Forbid), Dan Jacobs (Atreyu), and more!

RULES:

• This contest is open to residents of the USA age 13 or older.
• We'll select the 100 eligible prize winners on a first-come, first served basis.
• We'll be randomly confirming the suggestions our prize winners make, so no funny business.

Best of luck to you!

Andrew W.K. photo shoot at ESP HQ

For the first time in four years, Andrew W.K. is about to head out on the road nationwide, playing on the Vans Warped Tour 2010. Since he'll probably be too busy being in 24/7 party mode from late June through mid-August, we figured now was a good time to get him to stop by the ESP headquarters in North Hollywood, CA, and take a few photos.

Here's the man himself, in a candid shot behind the actual photo shoot...



You might not know that no less than four members of Andrew W.K.'s band -- Erik Payne, John "Frank" Werner, Justin Payne, and Ken Andrews -- all play ESP. Keep your eyes open for Andrew and his multitude of ESP players during the Warped Tour, and check out more of your favorite ESP artists (and their guitars and basses) at espguitars.com!