Toronto rocker DANKO JONES recently launched a column at Canada's Huffington Post. Following is an excerpt from his latest article:

"Since the late 90s, reality shows have taken over almost all of today's television programming. At the helm of this movement was, and still is, the mammoth singing competition called American Idol. Franchised all over the world, it has made its winners, judges and even a few losing contestants worldwide stars. The lure of the show is simple and timeless -- watching a frog turn into a prince. Everyone loves a rags-to-riches story, hell, it's the American dream! Who doesn't want to watch that?

Me, that's who.

There's something to be said for 'paying your dues,' the only problem is it isn't actually said very often anymore. Even hearing the term roll off my own tongue sounds antiquated. No one uses the term because there aren't any dues to pay. Dues, for anybody interested, used to come in the form of slogging it in nightclubs to little acclaim for virtually pennies on the off chance that something would spark. It was romantic and dare I say even noble. Today, what has replaced these 'dues' are endless line-ups made up of people waiting for a handout and willing to forgo their dignity for 30 seconds of fame consisting of being laughed at for attempting to sing.

What this new star process yields are anxious, malleable, vacant performers who ape correctly, take instructions obediently and, outside of pleasing the masses, don't have a shred of genuine character. That's not to say they don't have it within them to maybe one day become interesting artists, but that rarely happens given the accelerated nature of network television.

It's this immediacy within the petri dish of the television studio that produces hobbling gimp stars who, within a short period of time, will begin to exhibit injurious recessive genes that come with fame when mixed with inherent naivety and newfound ego. Inevitably, their fate will most likely consist of being eaten and spat back out by the general public, much like one does after eating a half-cooked meat."

Go to this location for the complete article.

In anticipation of their upcoming appearances in Australia on the Soundwave Festival tour, Danko Jones (the band) have issued the following video Update:

Acts confirmed for Soundwave Festival 2013 include: METALLICA, LINKIN PARK, BLINK 182, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, THE VANDALS, THE SWORD, CHELSEA GRIN, THE CHARIOT, SHARKS, NORTHLANE, O’BROTHER, DR.ACULA, MILESTONES, A PERFECT CIRCLE, THE OFFSPRING, PARAMORE, SLAYER, GARBAGE, CYPRESS HILL, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, TOMAHAWK, STONE SOUR, BRING ME THE HORIZON, KYUSS LIVES, ANTHRAX, SUM 41, DRAGONFORCE, ALL TIME LOW, FLOGGING MOLLY, GHOST, DUFF McKAGAN’S LOADED, BILLY TALENT, MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE, THE AMITY AFFLICTION, SICK OF IT ALL, KINGDOM OF SORROW, FOZZY, THE LAWRENCE ARMS, SLEEPING WITH SIRENS, CANCER BATS, THE BLACKOUT, GALLOWS, MADBALL, FUCKED UP, VISION OF DISORDER, PIERCE THE VEIL, PERIPHERY, SHAI HALUD, OF MICE & MEN, THIS IS HELL, MISS MAY I, DANKO JONES, LUCERO, WOE, IS ME, THE WONDER YEARS, POLAR BEAR CLUB, WHILE SHE SLEEPS, CEREBRAL BALLZY, THE EARLY NOVEMBER, SUCH GOLD, SIX FEET UNDER, THE DEAR HUNTER, DEAF HAVANA, RED FANG, VERSUS THE WORLD, BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR, CONFESSION, CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK!, SYLOSIS, MEMPHIS MAY FIRE, CROSSFAITH.

The full dates for Soundwave 2013 are as follows

February

23 - Brisbane, Australia - RNA Showgrounds
24 - Sydney , Australia - Olympic Park

March

1 - Melbourne, Australia - Flemington Racecourse
2 - Adelaide, Australia - Bonython Park
4 - Perth, Australia - Claremont Showground

In addition, Danko Jones have confirmed two sideshows together with DUFF McKAGAN's LOADED in Sydney and Melbourne. Dates are as follows:

February

25 - Sydney, Australia - Manning Bar
28 - Melbourne, Australia - Gershwin Room

Tickets are available via OzTix.com.

Danko Jones released their latest effort, Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue, on October 9th, 2012. The video for the first single from the album, ‘Just A Beautiful Day’, was directed by the Diamond Bros and filmed in New York City in September. It can be seen below: