DEVILDRIVER bassist Aaron "Bubble" Patrick has been hospitalized with pneumonia, and is currently undergoing tests which will force him to miss the kickoff of the band's Metal Allicance Tour. Chris Towning, who played with Patrick in BURY YOUR DEAD, will fill in for him.

More dates have been confirmed, and VIP ticket packages are now available, for the Metal Alliance Tour 2012, which will run from March 15th - April 21st

This year’s festival features the lineup of DevilDriver, THE FACELESS, DYING FETUS, JOB FOR A COWBOY, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, IMPENDING DOOM and the WRETCHED.

Metal Alliance Tour recently added dates in Albuquerque, NM, Little Rock, AR and a change of venue in San Francisco and Boston. All of the dates are now finalized and 100% confirmed. Each venue is now offering a limited number of exclusive VIP Package tickets that include the following items:

- 1 General Admission Ticket
- 1 Meet and Greet Pass with Metal Alliance bands before doors
- 1 Bottle of Hot Sauce from High River Sauces
- 1 Commemorative VIP Laminate
- 1 Autographed Poster of all Metal Alliance bands featuring artwork from Brian Mercer
- 1 Issue of Revolver Magazine
- 1 Metal Alliance Beer Koozie

The dates now include:

March

15 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Scoot Inn
16 - New Orleans, LA - The Hangar
17 - St Petersburg, FL - State Theater
18 - Charlotte, NC - Amos' Southend
20 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
21 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theater
22 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
23 - Montreal, QC - Le National
24 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
25 - Columbus, OH - Alrosa Villa
26 - Joliet, IL - Mojoe's
27 - St Paul, MN - Station-4
28 - Winnipeg, MB - Garrick Centre
29 - Regina, SK - Riddell Centre
30 - Edmonton, AB - Edmonton Events Centre
31 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theater

April

1 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
2 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
5 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
6 - Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues
7 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater
8 - Albuquerque, NM - El Rey Theater
9 - Denver, CO - The Summit Music Hall
10 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
11 - Des Moines, IA - 7 Flags Event Center
13 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theater
14 - Little Rock, AR - Clear Channel Metroplex
15 - Lawrence, KS - Granada Theater
16 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
19 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
20 - Austin, TX - Emo's East
21 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues

More info at this location.

DevilDriver recently announced that they will be heading to Australia for their first ever headlining tour. Tour dates can be found below:

May

4 - Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli
5 – Sydney, Australia - The Hi Fi
6 - Melbourne, Australia - Billboard
7 – Adelaide, Australia - Fowlers Live
9 – Perth, Australia – Capitol

All tickets are on sale now except for Brisbane which will go on sale tomorrow.