Tegan & Sara Join Macklemore and Ryan Lewis On Stage

While we tend not to float too much in the pop waters around here, choosing instead to be all hard with the rock vibe and swear words, I still have an ear for what my children are listening to.

And with that in mind, I don't have a problem with Macklemore.

More so now than before.

The Canadian twins joined Mackemore and Ryan Lewis on stage at the Some Festival Up In Canada Festival for a version of "Same Love." There's an obvious link between them and Macklemore's words, and a pretty clear indication that he's doing this song from the heart.

It's important. You should probably watch it. More importantly, you should probably take a look at what your words in the comment section of You Tube or whatever social media you play in really mean to others. I get the sense from most of them that the people who write them wouldn't have the nerve to talk to the other person like that face to face. It's a matter of being held accountable, I suppose, but I also believe that so many people live in a world where an electronic device is so often in front of them that they use it like a shield. It's an invisible one, and unfortunately, that's only discovered when someone in real life verbalizes the pain that someone else's words have caused them. Then all of a sudden, you realize that there isn't really a shield that blocks you from being immune to what you really are: a callous bully that lacks vital empathy skills required for becoming a better person.

"We become so numb to what we're sayin'"

Live and let live, man. At the end of the day, the only thing that is significant is finding a way where we can respect our creator and each other by living in a manner where our world is made as beautiful as it can be during the short amount of time we inhabit it.

Anyway. The gals contribution is less revelatory than a signal that the song's message is a far-reaching one.

Press:

Tegan and Sara joined Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on stage this weekend at Osheaga festival in Montreal to perform the equal rights anthem "Same Love".

As openly out musicians, Tegan and Sara have long been outspoken public advocates on all LGBT issues, including marriage equality. The collaboration proved as transcendent as the message itself, representing the first time these artists have appeared together on stage. 

 "Closer," Tegan and Sara's hit single off their seventh studio album, Heartthrob, made its debut on the Top 40 radio chart over the weekend thanks to big support from major radio stations like Z100/New York, WIOQ/Philly, KMVQ/SF, KMVA/Phoenix, KBFF/Portland and SiriusXM Hits 1 among others. A milestone for Tegan and Sara, who have never had a song chart at pop radio before.

Tegan and Sara played Lollapalooza to a record crowd last night and will be playing the remainder of the Fun. "Most Nights" Tour in North America. For a full list of upcoming shows, see the list below. More dates coming soon.

Confirmed Tegan and Sara Tour Dates:
08/21 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO*
08/22 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO*
08/23 GREAT SALT AIR - Salt Lake City, UT*
08/27 Lake Tahoe Harvey's Outdoor Arena - Stateline, NV*
08/28 Idaho Botanical Garden - Boise, ID*
08/29 Edgefield - Portland, OR*
08/30 Britt Pavilion - Jacksonville, OR
08/31 Ambleside Park - West Vancouver, Canada*
09/01 Bumbershoot - Seattle, WA
09/03 The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA*
09/04 The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA*
09/06 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA*
09/07 Santa Barbara Bowl - Santa Barbara, CA*
09/08 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA*
09/10 Comerica Theatre - Phoenix, AZ*
09/12 Gexa Energy Pavilion - Dallas, TX*
09/13 Stubb's Waller Creel Amphitheatre - Austin, TX
09/14 Sunset Station - San Antonio, TX
09/15 House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
09/16 Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre - Tuscaloosa, AL*
09/18 Mizner Park Amphitheatre - Boca Raton, FL*
09/19 UCF Arena - Orlando, FL*
09/21 Music Midtown - Atlanta, GA
09/22 The Woods at Fontanel - Nashville, TN*
09/24 Family Circle Cup Stadium - Charleston, SC*
09/25 Red Hat Amphitheatre - Raleigh, NC*
09/26 nTelos Wirless Pavilion - Charlottesville, VA*
09/27 Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
09/28 Webster Bank Arena - Bridgeport, CT*
*"Most Nights" Tour with Fun.

Sly & Robbie Present: Stepper Takes The Taxi

As much as I return to reggae music, I have to acknowledge that it is a genre where my own knowledge of it ended several decades ago. I couldn’t tell you who the current leaders in the genre are, outside of Snoop Dogg’s request to now be known as Snoop Lion.

Of course, this probably explains why I no longer follow the genre.

But when the iconic “Riddim Twins” are featured prominently on a new release, there’s a good chance that their shared history will come through in the recording.

Sly & RobbiePresent: Stepper Takes The Taxi is a collaboration featuring saxophonist Guillaume “Stepper” Briard, the long-time Taxi Gang member and lifelong devotee to the Jamaican artform. It is an instrumental album where Guillaume was given access to Sly & Robbie’s catalog of unfinished work, as well as new sessions.

It harkens to reggae’s classic period while sounding stunningly fresh as the collaborators have created a debut record for Guillaume that is incredibly timeless. For anyone who hasn’t strayed too far from the genre’s bountiful origins or may be too timid to explore reggae’s new urban direction, Stepper Takes The Taxi is a perfect cab ride back to the time when our island neighbor had the world’s ear.

New Devo Bobbleheads Perfect For Spuds Of Any Age

It's a new rock bobblehead, this time for the mighty Devo. The press release is found below.

I'd be remiss in not mentioning the death of Devo drummer Alan Myers over the summer. He played on the first seven Devo releases and left after his role became greatly diminished after Mark Mothersbaugh began using more programming instead of an actual drummer. This despite the fact that Myers was incredibly reliable when it came down to keeping time.

Admittedly, I never really thought that much about Devo's choice in drummers, particularly since Myers was used more as a timekeeper than as a finesse or power percussionist.

That all changed one night when me and a pair of chuckleheads sat down and watched a live video of Devo during the Freedom Of Choice tour. One of the first things we noticed was how much Myers looked like a rat. The second thing we noticed was how friggin' good he was behind the kit.

A new facet to the band emerged: a taught rock and roll band that could be just as aggressive as any punk band (see their early cuts compilation Hardcore for further evidence) while delivering a show that far exceeded most of the arena rock bands that littered America's venues during the same time period.

In the video, goes beyond his normal duties as the "human metronome." He is a flurry of activity, providing the band with extra muscle while hiding his abilities on the majority of Devo's studio output.

There are exceptions of course: the looping and clever patterns he created for Devo's cover of "Satisfaction," the dynamic drumming for "Shrivel Up," and this early video of "Gut Feeling" where Myers is a madman.

Come to think of it, I began to lose interest in Devo right around the same time that his work was pushed farther and farther into the mix.

An incredibly underrated drummer that was a vital part to Devo's most influential moments.

Press:

Use your Freedom Of Choice by pre-ordering this Officially Licensed DEVO Energy Dome Throbblehead figure... DEVO in effigy!

Made by Aggronautix. Features figure dressed in DEVO's Freedom Of Choice tour outfit circa 1980 sporting the band's patented red Energy Dome. It wiggles and jiggles on the head of this 7" tall, polyresin figure, accurately sculpted right down to the 1980's Keytar. Limited to just 2000 numbered units.

Singles 45's & Under: PowerSource - Dear Mr. Jesus

College is a great place to foster and develop one’s cynicism. In light of tragedy and things beyond one’s control, cynicism serves an important purpose. If offsets the realities of this cruel world by preparing us to tackle another day. If we linger too long on everything that is wrong with this planet, we find ways to hasten our exit from it, either consciously or subconsciously.

I never understood child abuse growing up, but then again, what is there to understand about it anyway? It’s a topic that grows exponentially horrid when you have children, and as a person who believes that we as a species should be better than killing another person in the name of justice, I falter a bit on the position whenever I hear stories about child abuse.

In 1987, a New York attorney was arrested after beating his step-daughter  to death. She collapsed after a blow to the head, and as she lay in the bathroom of the family’s Bronx apartment, slipping in and out of consciousness from her injuries, her step-father left her alone without medical attention, occasionally leaving the home to freebase cocaine.

He lived with a woman for several years, and she was also to blame for allowing the abuse to continue in the couple’s home. When she returned home from her job as an editor of children’s books for Random House one evening, she found the child close to death. The girl had been suffering for over 10 hours. It was at this time that she finally convinced her abusive partner that they needed to contact the authorities. The girl later died from her injuries.

The case gained national prominence, but I remember it for another reason.

During the trial, a radio station discovered a song recorded by PowerSource, a contemporary Christian musical group led by Richard Klender. The group recorded a song called “Dear Mr. Jesus,” a schmaltzy ballad about child abuse with stunningly bad 80’s production values. The song’s notoriety was secured when Klender asked 6 year-old Sharon Batts to perform lead vocals on his new song.

PowerSource released their first and only album Shelter From The Storm in 1986. “Dear Mr. Jesus” was nestled in the Bedford, Texas’s full length and probably would have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for the aforementioned child abuse case in New York City. When some clever disc jockey found it and began playing it during the trial, listeners called in by the thousands to request it. From there, it began to spread across the country, where it finally entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #61 in January 1988.

I remember it being played repeatedly in the Midwest during the 1987 holiday season. My cynicism took note of the song’s content and the manner in which Mr. Klender chose to address the topic by enlisting a 6 year-old girl to sing it.

Take a look/listen to this incredible piece of 80’s righteousness and marvel at how Klender seemed to foreshadow later events about a girl “beaten black and blue.” The girl narrator is troubled by the news and decides to take her concerns directly to Jesus, or “Mr. Jesus” as it were.

Taking a clue from George Jones’ classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Klender saves a money shot for the end of the song, when the little girl asks Mr. Jesus to look into this topic of child abuse, and to keep a family secret to himself.

“Please don’t tell my Daddy, that my Mommy hits me too.”

While my cynicism certainly took notice of this forgotten gem, it was the song’s curious decision to highlight the topic from the perspective of a 6 year-old girl that stuck with me for almost three decades. I recently found the song online and have been thoroughly enjoying it in the most ironic of ways for the past week.

In fact, I have been subjecting the children to this piece of fine art, causing my daughter to sing the refrain of “Please, don’t let them hurt your children” over and over, while my son has decided to stick with the “my Mommy hits me too” line, particularly when his own mom tells him to come in for the evening.

I also have the song on vinyl, a promotional single that I acquired from a radio station. When I found it, I used it for a few cassette mixes, utilizing some production tricks in the process. On the flip side, Klender conducted an interview with the young Sharon, asking her complicated questions about abuse and her supposed advocacy concerning the topic. Of course, her responses were exactly what you would expect from a 6 year-old girl who had been heavily coached beforehand. There are lots of one-line answers as well as the expected “child abuse is bad” message. It is exploitation at its most blatant, but it is exactly what you’d expect from a song that was created from such obvious heart-tugging that it can potentially cause cardiac arrest.

For my mix tapes, I would let Klender’s introductions and interview “questions” spin at the normal 45 r.p.m. speed. Then, whenever Sharon would pause to respond, I would change the speed to 33 r.p.m., causing her voice to resonate with a creepy, lower pitched voice. To hear Sharon’s innocent responses under the guise of a middle-age man’s voice was positively stunning. I wish I would have kept a copy for myself.

Child abuse is certainly no laughing matter. I understand this completely as a parent. But while my own opinion of this topic can certainly elicit unchecked rage from within, there’s something inherently wrong about exploiting a child to address a subject as morally repulsive to begin with.

Jesus, thought I’d take this right to you…

Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever

Can we cut the shit and finally admit that maybe, just maybe, Ted Nugent doesn’t deserve the notoriety that he continues to receive some forty-plus years after he dodged his military obligation and chose to become “The Motor City Madman” instead?

The fact is that the Nuge hasn’t produced anything worthwhile in over thirty of those forty years, and his greatest accomplishment-Cat Scratch Fever-isn’t all that it’s stacked up to be.

Come to think of it, this record, and the two preceding it, are only a Ted Nugent solo record in name alone, as the large burst of creativity was just as much a product of the rest of his band as it was to  his own compositional "prowess."

In fact, Nugent enjoyed the attention that Cat Scratch Fever provided him so much that he began acting like a complete asshole. And when he alienated himself so much, the talent left him, the hits stopped coming, his impact turned into caricature, and his political commentary began to outweigh anything else he composed in song.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at his chart performance and sales totals after Cat Scratch Fever. They are as slippery as the notion that trickle-down economics somehow can trigger a robust economy.

But let’s go back and take another look at his 1977 high-water mark, a blistering 10-song set that features fellow Michigan-native Derek St. Holmes as the lead singer of a band fronted by a hairy dude in a loincloth, playing a big ol’ Gibson Birdland.

Originally written by Skunk Tarver, “Cat Scratch Fever” is a strange, minor-key ode to promiscuity and the effects of syphilis on the male mind. To study the title track of Ted’s most notorious song is to squander its precious moment: a riff that is to die for. When you combine the riff along with chorus, essentially a lather-rinse-repeat of the song title, you have a legitimate contender for one of rock ‘n roll’s most awesome songs, even if the content and actual lyrics are completely inane.

Beyond that, the rest of Cat Scratch Fever the album in nothing more than a decent 70’s hard rock collection that undoubtedly served its purpose in every Monte Carlo that cruised Main Street on a Saturday night, but it’s hardly a song that defines the decade or the emotional triggers that stemmed from it. It’s is the musical equivalent of a one night stand, an evening where the parties remember each other’s names for prosperity, but with no emotional connection beyond the orgasm (read: riff), “Cat Scratch Fever” is not the kind of song you’d plan as a wedding song.

Leave it to the Nuge to top this with a song that’s so offensively awesome that it too deserves a tip of the hat to old Ted, “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang.” Again, it’s the riff that matters here, and with the lyricist being sort of a dumb witted misogynist, you tend to allow a wide-birth for the fact that it’s essentially a song about how the female reproductive system can make men do (and write) some pretty stupid things.

These two moments of flawed perfection were released as a single, and even with the content being so questionable, Ted managed to score his only Top 40 hit, sans Damn Yankees, of course.

And if it weren’t for the fact that “Cat Scratch Fever” the single contained a pointless edit that only shaved a half-minute off the album version’s running time, I might be inclined to suggest that everyone save their money and seek out just the single.

But there are a few more enjoyable tracks within the full-length, albeit all of them are riddled with clichés and endless machismo. What makes them the best thing in Uncle Ted’s discography is the fact that Cat Scratch Fever (as well as his debut and Free For All-both recommended for further listening) was the product of a band.

Regardless of the fact that Ted’s name is the primary composer on nearly every song, it doesn’t deter from the fact that these songs were conceived, arranged, and executed with three other men who compliment Nugent’s shortcomings.

When vocalist Derek St. Holmes left (the bassist and drummer followed shortly after), Ted was left to his own isolationist views, taking a “my way or the highway” approach that signaled a serious loss in quality while promoting his asshole opinions ahead of anything he could manage to strangle from his guitar.

A  waste of talent for sure, but Cat Scratch Fever also shows that it was nothing more than a mid-level entry to a very prolific decade, particularly when it came to hard rock entries. It is Nugent’s most notable moment, but given his endless parade of political nonsense and a mouth as loud as any humbucker pickup, listeners who want to distance themselves from any contact with the record’s primary creative force will not be missing much by placing Cat Scratch Fever into quarantine.

Built To Spill Announce Fall 2013 Tour

Bundled up and ready to tackle the upper Midwest, starting now.

And there's an Iowa date!

I've been spinning Live and Perfect From Now On recently and, if you didn't know this already, both are holding up remarkably well.

I'm getting stoked at the notion that they're going to try and cram all of that gear into the Iowa City venue they've chosen. Should be fun.

Jim Roth-the dude in the hat-is best know around these parts to anyone over the age of 35 as a one-time Hollowmen bud and the head honcho of the most awesome Voodoo Gearshift.

These guys are friggin road dogs-check out the one-a-days below. They haven't had a new record out in 4 years, so maybe there's lots of new material on this run.

Press:

Built To Spill, one of the most endearing and enduring bands of our generation, have announced a string of fall headlining tour dates; select dates will go on sale July 27th. In addition to touring the U.S., the band is currently writing songs for their next Warner Bros. Records release.

Vocalist/guitarist Doug Martsch, guitarists Brett Netson and Jim Roth, drummer Steve Gere and bassist Jason Albertini have been on the road all year touring throughout North America. They also performed at the Sub Pop Silver Jubilee show in Seattle and will perform at the Rock for Oklahoma City benefit concert on July 23rd. Built to Spill released its most recent album There Is No Enemy in October 2009. It was the band's first album since 2006'sYou In Reverse. Previous studio albums include 2001's Ancient Melodies of the Future, 1999's Keep It Like A Secret, and their major-label debut, 1997's Perfect From Now On. In 2013 Built to Spill remain an influential force in compositionally intelligent, lyrically thoughtful, melodic, guitar-centric rock music.

Built to Spill's upcoming tour dates are as follows:

08/10 Olga, WA Doe Bay Festival
10/16 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court*
10/17 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater*
10/18 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room**
10/19 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck**
10/20 St. Louis, MO The Firebird**
10/21 Bloomington, IL The Castle Theatre*
10/22 Newport, KY Southgate House*
10/23 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel*
10/24 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse*
10/25 Jacksonville, FL Free Bird Live*
10/26 Orlando, FL Beacham Theater*
10/27 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room*
10/28 Gainesville, FL High Dive*
10/29 Charleston, SC The Music Farm*
10/30 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle*
10/31 Richmond, VA The Canal Club*
11/01 Washington, DC 9:30 Club*
11/02 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer***
11/03 Lancaster, PA Chameleon Club+
11/05 Hamden, CT Spaceland Ballroom***
11/06 Pawtucket, RI The Met***
11/07 NewYork , NY Irving Plaza***
11/08 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club++
11/09 Ithaca, NY State Theater***
11/10 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom***
11/11 Millvale, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre***
11/12 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop***
11/13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall***
11/14 Chicago, IL Metro***
11/15 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom***
11/16 Madison, WI Barrymore Theatre***
11/17 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue***
11/18 Iowa City, IA Blue Moose Tap House*
11/20 Little Rock, AR The Rev Room*
11/21 Dallas, TX Granada Theater*
11/22 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's*
11/23 Austin, TX Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre*
11/24 El Paso, TX Tricky Falls*
11/25 Tucson, AZ Club Congress+++
11/26 Las Vegas, NV Vinyl*
11/27 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge*
*with Slam Dunk and Genders
**with Lee Ranaldo & The Dust
***Slam Dunk and The Warm Hair
+with Slam Dunk, The Warm Hair, and Crosss
++with Slam Dunk, The Warm Hair, and Parasol
+++with Slam Dunk, Genders, and Lenguas Largas

Tegan and Sara Might Have Their First Top 40 Hit Next Week

We'll see if the power of radio has any power over the worthless Billboard Top 100.

I noticed on last week's chart, a song from Pitch Perfect (currently playing on HBO) is in the Top 10.

It seems like only yesterday when the Bever Brown Band did the same thing.

Eddie Lives!!

Press:

Tegan and Sara performed their hit single "Closer" and "I Was a Fool" on CBS This Morning this past Saturday. Watch their stripped down performance now on the show's website. They also just performed on NPR WNYC's "Soundcheck" yesterday, listen to the interview and watch the performance

 

Tegan and Sara recently asked their fans to submit their own fun video of themselves performing "Closer" in the vein of the official music video. The result, the "Closer" Karaoke montage video. Speaking of "Closer," the song recently went to Top 40 radio and just got added by New York's Z100, WIOQ/Philly and WMVQ/San Francisco among others.


Tegan and Sara are on the verge of charting at Top 40 for the first time in their career, a subject they discuss "Soundcheck" interview.

The girls are presently on the road with Fun. as part of the "Most Nights" Tour. The tour kicked off earlier this month and A portion of the ticket sales from it will benefit The Ally Coalition, a partnership created by Fun. and designer Rachel Antonoff, devoted to encouraging and inspiring the music, fashion, and entertainment communities to take action in support of LGBTQ equality.

Each tour stop will showcase The Ally Coalition Equality Village, featuring TAC as well as other local and national LGBTQ equality organizations. For a complete list of upcoming tour dates, check out the list below. 

Confirmed Tegan and Sara Tour Dates:

07/23 Hudson River Park­ - New York, NY*
07/25 The Paramount - Huntington, NY
07/26 The Wang Theatre - Boston, MA
07/27 State Theatre - Portland, ME
07/29 MILE ONE CENTRE - St. John's, Canada
07/30 Metro Centre - Halifax, Canada
07/31 Casino New Brunswick - Moncton, Canada
08/01 Imperial de Quebec - Quebec City, Canada
08/03 Osheaga Festival - Montreal Canada
08/04 Lollapalooza - Chicago, IL
08/21 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO*
08/22 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO*
08/23 GREAT SALT AIR - Salt Lake City, UT*
08/27 Lake Tahoe Harvey's Outdoor Arena - Stateline, NV*
08/28 Idaho Botanical Garden - Boise, ID*
08/29 Edgefield - Portland, OR*
08/30 Britt Pavilion - Jacksonville, OR
08/31 Ambleside Park - West Vancouver, Canada*
09/01 Bumbershoot - Seattle, WA
09/03 The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA*
09/04 The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA*
09/06 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA*
09/07 Santa Barbara Bowl - Santa Barbara, CA*
09/08 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA*
09/10 Comerica Theatre - Phoenix, AZ*
09/12 Gexa Energy Pavilion - Dallas, TX*
09/13 Stubb's Waller Creel Amphitheatre - Austin, TX
09/14 Sunset Station - San Antonio, TX
09/15 House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
09/16 Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre - Tuscaloosa, AL*
09/18 Mizner Park Amphitheatre - Boca Raton, FL*
09/19 UCF Arena - Orlando, FL*
09/21 Music Midtown - Atlanta, GA
09/22 The Woods at Fontanel - Nashville, TN*
09/24 Family Circle Cup Stadium - Charleston, SC*
09/25 Red Hat Amphitheatre - Raleigh, NC*
09/26 nTelos Wirless Pavilion - Charlottesville, VA*
09/27 Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
09/28 Webster Bank Arena - Bridgeport, CT*

*"Most Nights" Tour with Fun.

Phil Hall Tackles The Worst Movies Of All Time

Jerry Lewis as a Gore Vidal-inspired extra-terrestrial?

Immediately placed Visit To A Small Planet on my Netflix queue after hearing about this!

Press:

ALBANY, GA. - BearManor Media announces the release of The Greatest Bad Movies of All Time, the latest book by noted film writer Phil Hall. This new celebration of cinematic inanity will be available beginning August 12 for a suggested retail price of $21.95.

These are the films that inspire wonder - you are left wondering how seemingly intelligent people could gather together and spend money to create such bizarre productions. From A-list atrocities to Grade-Z zaniness, 100 of the most wonderfully warped anti-classics have been gathered together for this celebration of cinematic kookiness.

Relive the jaw-dropping spectacle of John Wayne as Genghis Khan, Halle Berry as Catwoman, Jack Palance as Fidel Castro, and Jerry Lewis as a Gore Vidal-inspired extra-terrestrial. Sing along with a naked Anthony Newley, tap your toes to a "Pennsylvania Polka" dance number in the middle of an unauthorized remake of A Streetcar Named Desire, watch a suicidal Elizabeth Taylor run amok in Rome and appreciate Coleridge's poetry with topless women.

Hook up with Edward D. Wood Jr., Phil Tucker, Tommy Wiseau and their peers in the so-bad-they're-good genre, and marvel at how cinema royalty including Stanley Kubrick, George Cukor, Michelangelo Antonioni and Clint Eastwood could conceive celluloid debacles of an unprecedented scale.

When it comes to shock and awe, nothing compares to The Greatest Bad Movies of All Time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Phil Hall is a contributing editor for the influential online site Film Threat, where he is best known for his long-running weekly column The Bootleg Files. His previous books include: The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies (2004), Independent Film Distribution (2006) and The History of Independent Cinema (2009). His film writing has also been published by the New York Times, New York Daily News, Wired and American Movie Classics Magazine.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER: Founded in 2001, BearManor Media is an independent book publisher specializing in titles related to all aspects of the entertainment world.

Supersuckers To Release First New Album In Five Years

...And a free e.p. to boot!

Press:

Acetate Records announces the addition of legendary Seattle band Supersuckers to their roster. The as of yet untitled album will be recorded at Willie Nelson's famous Arlyn Studio, in Austin, TX. It will be the band's ninth studio record and their first since 2008's Get It Together, released on the band's own Mid-Fi Recordings label.

"The band is really firing on all cylinders here lately and we're super stoked to get into the very same studio where we recorded Sacrilicious (SubPop, 1995) and create this rock-n-roll juggernaut," writes frontman Eddie Spaghetti. "We're also excited that we'll be releasing the record through Acetate Records, a new home for us and we're all in the honeymoon stages of the relationship now, so things are rosy and looking up."

To celebrate this union of rock, Acetate Records and Supersuckers are offering fans a FREE E.P. entitled 50,000 Middle Fingers Can't Be Wrong, featuring selections from their past catalog.

"It's been a rough few years for us, but that means more angry rock for you to enjoy! So batten down the hatches, lock up your wives and trim the hedges! The Supersuckers are fucking BACK!!!," concluded Spaghetti. The new album will be released at the end of 2013.

D.O.A. Announce Farewell Tour Because It's Time, Quite Frankly

Not to be a dick about it but, yeah, it's probably two decades too late but D.O.A. have finally announced their retirement and the obligatory farewell tour coming to a local dive near you.

What a send off!

Joey Shithead is excited about the news because people will finally stop calling him 'Joey Shithead' when his nametag at Lowes finally presents his real name, Joe Keithley.

Oh, and the band recently announced a new beer (no shit, shithead) called D.O.Ale, which is really just old expired cans of Blatz beer with a D.O.A. sticker stuck on it.

Press:

D.O.A. announces USA / Europe Farewell Tour, D.O.A. Beer, plus a New Video Farewell Tour of USA Midwest and East Coast this September

D.O.A. Farewell Tour of Europe this October

D.O.A. teams up with Old Yale Brewing to produce D.O.A. Ale New D.O.A.

Video "Boneyard" feat. Hugh Dillon (Headstones, Flashpoint) from the We Come in Peace album Coming this fall on Sudden Death Records Welcome to Chinatown: D.O.A. Live new double live album and Sudden Death reissues the classic D.O.A. 12" War on 45

D.O.A., the Hardcore Punk Kings are gearing up for a farewell tour of the America's midwest and east coast this September. As well they will tour Europe and the U.K. this October. Canada's punk godfather Joe Keithley will lead his talented henchmen: Dirty Dan Sedan (bass) and JJ Heath (drums) on a punk rock rampage to forty, soon to be shaken to the core, cities this fall.

The Men of Action will employ their over the top, no holds barred, deafening combo of riffs, politics and humor to a wide collection of older D.O.A. classics, as well they will jolt you with some more recent nuggets as well. This farewell tour also serves as promotion for the latest studio album We Come in Peace and the upcoming D.O.A. double live album coming out in September entitled Welcome to Chinatown.(Complete date listing below)

It's like a dream come true, on many a long tour around the world, the D.O.A. guys have always speculated about what product would have the perfect association with D.O.A. The answer to that was always "a D.O.A. beer!" Well now you have it, the band has teamed up with award winning micro brewery Old Yale Brewing of Chilliwack, BC, to produce some top notch suds called D.O.Ale.

Joe Keithley, somewhat of a noted beer connoisseur, after recently trying one of the early batches, had this to say "D.O.A. Ale, it's wicked, powerful and tasty! It will get the gig rockin' and the kids going crazy. You'll race back for more!"

And a big thanks to CBC Radio 3 and their band beer series.

Right now D.O.Ale is available around greater Vancouver in private liquor stores. It will soon be coming to Alberta and Ontario.

D.O.A. has teamed up with old friend and film maker Marcus Rogers to make a wildly innovative new video for Boneyard, which is the lead track from D.O.A.'s blistering new album We Come in Peace. The video also features Hugh Dillon (Canadian rock legends Headstones lead vocalist and star of the hit series Flashpoint) splitting the lead vocals with Joe.

TOUR DATES

Thursday August 29, The Shakedown, Bellingham, WA
Friday August 30, El Corazon, Seattle, WA w/ The Fastbacks
Saturday August 31, Hawthorne Theater, Portland, OR
Wednesday Sept. 4, TBA
Thursday Sept. 5, Crunchy Frog, Green Bay, WI
Friday Sept. 6, Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Saturday Sept. 7, Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago. IL
Sunday Sept. 8, Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, MI 
Monday Sept. 9, The Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH 
Tuesday Sept. 10, 2013, Bug Jar, Rochester, NY
Wednesday Sept. 11, Bogies, Albany, NY
Thursday Sept. 12, Middle East, Cambridge, MA 
Friday Sept. 13, Firehouse 13, Providence, MA
Saturday Sept. 14, Europa, Brooklyn, NY
Sunday Sept. 15, The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
Monday Sept. 16, TBA
Tuesday Sept. 17, The Note, West Chester, PA 
Wednesday Sept 18, Black Cat, Washington DC 
Thursday Sept. 19, 31st Street Pub, Pittsburgh, PA
Friday Sept. 20, TBA
Saturday Sept. 21, Rumba Cafe, Columbus, OH
Sunday Sept. 22, Wander Inn, Mishawaka, IN

D.O.A. Farewell to Europe and the U.K. Tour - October 8 to October 27 all dates TBA

Shaun White's New Band Sucks Just As Bad As His Stride Gum Does

Seriously.

What the fuck.

The snowboarders isn't even the frontman, but a lowly guitarist, while another cat takes up the lead singer spot. $10 bucks says that this minor problem won't be around for long, particularly when Warner Bros. signs his band.

Do you think that they were signed for their talent and abilities, or just because they're a band that features Shaun White in their line-up?

Here, listen for yourself:
Now be swayed by the press release that convinces you how a band featuring Shaun White on guitar is what you were looking for all along:

In ten years, you'll be embarrassed about this shirt, dude

LA rock band Bad Things - that consists of front man/lead singer Davis LeDuke, bass player Jared Palomar, guitarist Anthony Sanudo, drummer Lena Zawaideh and lead guitarist Shaun White, the professional snowboarder and skateboarder - has signed to Warner Bros. Records and will be putting out their debut album later this year. Shaun, Lena and Anthony grew up in North County San Diego, CA and have been friends for years. Jared and Davis joined this past year, and together, the band has written a collection of songs for their debut, which is being produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliot Smith, The Vines). The first offering from the album is a booming track called "Caught Inside," which is now streaming on the band's SoundCloud.

Bad Things will be hitting the road next month, playing two shows in NYC - Popshop July 11th at Santos Party House and Brooklyn Bowl on July 13th - followed by a Northeast and Midwest headlining run.

A full list of dates is below.

7/28 - Philadelphia, PA - Milk Boy
7/30 - Washington, DC - DC9
7/31 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
8/1 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
8/3 - Providence, RI - Fete Lounge
8/4 - Montreal, QC - Parterre Parc Jean Drapeau/Osheaga Festival
8/5 - Toronto, ON - El Mo
8/7 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
8/8 - Madison, WI - Frequency
8/9 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock

It Is Now One Month Before The New No Age Record Is Released

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As If Wayne Coyne's Life Wasn't Cartoony Enough...

Sure. Why not.

Press:

WAYNE COYNE ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF FIRST-EVER COMIC BOOK THE SUN IS SICK, ADULT-THEMED COMIC FROM FLAMING LIPS FRONTMAN, WILL BE AVAILABLE AT COMIC-CON 2013

July 15, 2013 - (Burbank, CA) - Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne has announced the release of his first ever comic book, entitled The Sun Is Sick. The adult-themed comic is a 40-page 6 ½" x 8 ½" full-color psychedelic fantasy in classic comic book form. It will go on sale at Comic-Com 2013 (at the San Diego Convention Center) beginning July 18th through 21st in an extremely limited print run and is sure to sell out.

After that,The Sun Is Sick will be available through the official LIPS web store only beginning July 22nd where it will disappear fast. WARNING!! The Sun Is Sick may be a comic book but make no mistake; this is not suitable for children and depending on what sort of person you are, it may not be suitable for some of you non-children either. If you have doubts at this moment then The Sun Is Sick is not for you. If you happen to be a LIPS fan that has enjoyed Wayne's beautiful artwork in the past and like adult-themed comic books then by all means this instant Collector's Item is waiting for you, but you better be quick.

In other LIPS news, the band has been nominated for a 2013 AIM Independent Music Award for "Best Live Act." AIM is a trade body established in 1999 to provide a collective voice for the UK's independent music industry.

THE LIPS are signed to Bella Union in the U.K.

Coyne is featured on a track called "The Perfect Life" on Moby's new album Innocents, which will be released on Oct 1st in the U.S.

The band are currently touring in support of their latest album The Terror.

West Coast tour dates will be announced soon. For now, see tour dates below:

07/15 Wallingford, CT Oakdale Theatre (Spiritualized supports)
07/16 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE Outdoors (Spiritualized supports)
07/17 Lewiston, NY Artpark
07/23 Oklahoma City, OK Rock For Oklahoma Benefit / Chesapeake Arena (with Kings Of Leon, Jackson Browne, Built to Spill and more)
07/25 Salt Lake City, UT Twilight Concert Series, Pioneer Park
07/27 Troutdale, OR McMenamins Edgefield
07/28 Seattle, WA Capitol Hill Block Party
07/30 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
07/31 Costa Mesa, CA The Pacific Amphitheatre
08/01 Las Vegas, NV Bud Light Music First, House of Blues
08/17 Omaha, NE Maha Maha Festival
09/06 Isle Of Wight, UK Bestival
09/07 Stekene, Belgium Crammerock Festival
09/30 Boston, MA Agganis Arena (w/ Tame Impala)
10/01 New York, NY Terminal 5 (w/ Tame Impala)
10/02 New York, NY Terminal 5 (w/ Tame Impala)
10/03 Philadelphia, PA Penn's Landing, Festival Pier (w/ Tame Impala)
10/04 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion (w/ Tame Impala)
10/21 Tokyo, Japan Blitz
10/22 Tokyo, Japan Blitz
10/23 Osaka, Japan Hatch
10/24 Nagoya, Japan Club Diamond Hall

Additional West Coast tour dates will be announced soon. Keep an eye on www.flaminglips.com for details, new merch and important clues.

Detroit's Rock & Roll Heyday Chronicled On 'Blowing Fuses Left And Right'

I loves me some good ol' Detroit Rock and Roll music and right after that, I loves hearin' me some stories about good ol' Detroit Rock and Roll music.

And then someone shows me a recent picture of the disrepair of the Grande Ballroom and then I begin hating that city all over again.

Wait up, Barry Gordy! I'm coming with you!

Another interview movie appealing to only to music geeks like me is now available and probably worth viewing.

Somewhat related: check out the Metro Times story from almost a decade ago detailing the whereabouts of Detroit rock photographer Leni Sinclair, most noted for that iconic MC5 shot from back in the day.

Press:

25 Year Old Interviews With Members of MC5 and Stooges Finally See Light Of Day in 
Blowing Fuses Left & Right on DVD and Deluxe DVD July 2

O-Rama LLC and MVD are proud to release Blowing Fuses Left And Right: The Legendary Detroit Rock Interviews digitally and on DVD on July 9.

The thought-to-be-destroyed original tapes from 1988 were recently re-discovered in an attic in NJ - the five hours worth of footage include interviews with Ron Asheton (the Stooges), Dennis Morgan (the MC5) and Rob Tyner (also from the MC5 in, apparently, his final interview).

A deluxe DVD will also be released that includes additional interviews with Scott Morgan (The Rationals), Russ Gibb (owner of Detroit's Grande Ballroom) and John Sinclair (manager of the MC5 and former head of the White Panther Party).

 

Another Band With 'Las Vegas' Reference In Their Name Releases A New Video

This time without William Shatner and this time with a Nikki Sixx connection.

I've actually seen The Last Vegas live once and thought, "They're a perfectly decent afterthought." Probably in the same way people view the bands Shooting Star or Missouri today.

But I'm old school: The Last Vegas ain't got nothin' on Shooting Star.

So they have a new view out, a new record in the works, Nikki Sixx discovered them, blah blah woof woof.

Press:


The Last Vegas back with a video for "She's My Confusion," US and Euro Tour announced with Buckcherry and Hardcore Superstar, new album in the works!

Chicago rockers The Last Vegas are back with another eye-catching music video for the song "She's My Confusion" off the band's fourth full-length album, Bad Decisions, released last fall through FrostByte Media.

The video is produced and directed by the Chicago-based video production company Motion Source Video Solutions, the same team responsible for the "Evil Eyes" music video.

The video is based on a well-known Chicago area ghost story named Resurrection Mary that's been around since the '30s. The young woman, Mary, had spent the evening dancing at the Oh Henry Ballroom (now the Willowbrook) with a boyfriend. Following an argument that evening Mary stormed out into the cold winter's night, leaving the ballroom behind and walked along Archer Avenue. Not long after, she was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver who fled the scene leaving her to die. The story survives through the many men who claim picking up a young female hitchhiker along Archer Avenue between the Willowbrook Ballroom (which is the locale for the video) and Resurrection Cemetery. When reaching the cemetery, the young woman is let out only to disappear into the cemetery.

"The Willowbrook Ballroom is a Chicago musical institution; one bad-ass, old-school place which drips of mystery, intrigue and aura. What better place to film an unconventional rock video for 'She's My Confusion?' We stepped back in time and addressed whether those noises we hear in the night are real, or just a dream?" - Adam Arling

TLV are a straight-up rock n' roll meets garage/punk rock band that turn any event into a raucous. Hailing from Chicago and formed in 2005, TLV burst onto the national scene in 2009 when Motley's Crue's Nikki Sixx saw them play live in Los Angeles and subsequently co-produced their third album, Whatever Gets You Off. More touring followed, including a stint opening Motley Crue's "Saints Of Los Angeles" tour. The Onion referred to their sound as "Swaggering, stomping, balls-out guitar rock", while The Chicago Sun-Times declared them to be "Red hot garage-rockers."

The Last Vegas is: Chad Cherry (vocals), Adam Arling (guitars), Danny Smash (bass), Nate Arling (drums) and Johnny Wator (guitars).

TLV are in studio this month laying down tracks for their fifth full-length album, title yet to be determined, working with the great Roy Z (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson, Sepultura) and immediately following up with a North American tour and then a European tour supporting Buckcherry and Hardcore Superstar, but they're not doing any of that alone.

Partnering with fans through PledgeMusic, TLV are offering up a variety of great exclusive opportunities like a studio hang, an acoustic performance/backyard BBQ and more! For more details on specific dates and chances to win, visit TheLastVegas.com!

Remaining tour dates listed below.

 North American Tour:

Jul 18 in Chesaning, Michigan at Chesaning Showboat Music Festival w/ Theory of a Deadman
Jul 19 in Pecatonica, Illinois at Breast Fest w/ Pop Evil, NonPoint, Wayland, SOIL
Jul 20 in Kenosha, Wisconsin at Brat Stop w/ Sevendust
Aug 17 in Chicago, Illinois at Glenwood Ave. Arts Fest
Aug 24 in Hillsdale, Michigan @ Checker Records Street Dance
Aug 30 in Burnsville, Minnesota @ High Five
Aug 31 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin @ BMO Harris Pavilion w/ Halestorm

European Tour:

Nov 8 in Cologne, Germany @ Essigfabrik w/ Buckcherry
Nov 9 in Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Club w/ Buckcherry
Nov 10 in Vienna, Austria @ Szene Wien w/ Buckcherry
Nov 12 in Munich, Germany @ Backstage Halle w/ Buckcherry
Nov 13 in Zürich, Switzerland @ Plaza w/ Buckcherry
Nov 15 in Roncade TV, Italy @ New Age Club
Nov 16 in Bologna, Italy @ Estragon w/ Buckcherry
Nov 17 in Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz w/ Buckcherry
Nov 19 in Aschaffenburg, Germany @ Colo-Saal w/ Buckcherry
Nov 20 in Vauréal, France @ Le Forum w/ Buckcherry
Nov 22 in London, United Kingdom @ Koko w/ Buckcherry
Nov 23 in Coventry, United Kingdom @ Kasbah w/ Buckcherry
Nov 25 in Manchester, United Kingdom @ The Ritz w/ Buckcherry
Nov 26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom @ ABC w/ Buckcherry
Nov 27 in Belfast, United Kingdom @ The Limelight 2 w/ Buckcherry
Nov 29 in Dublin, Ireland @ Button Factory w/ Buckcherry
Nov 30 in Nottingham, United Kingdom @ Rock City w/ Buckcherry
Dec 2 in Bristol, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy Bristol w/ Buckcherry
Dec 3 in Cardiff, United Kingdom @ Solus w/ Buckcherry
Dec 4 in Exeter, United Kingdom @ Lemon Grove w/ Buckcherry
Dec 6 in Vosselaar, Belgium @ Biebob w/ Buckcherry
Dec 7 in Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg w/ Buckcherry
Dec 8 in Hamburg, Germany @ Markthalle w/ Buckcherry

Will Work For Ensure: William Shatner Appears In Glasvegas Video

In a never-ending quest to fend off dementia, William Shatner appears in the new Glasvegas video, "If." The video is a parody of the British music show The Old Grey Whistle Test with the 83 year old actor serving as host.

In unrelated news, Shatner also appears as a spokesman for an Eastern Iowa law office that specializes in workman's comp claims.

So who are Glasvega? Without the obligatory Google search, I'd say their name is a "clever" combination of "Glasgow" and "Las Vegas." As far as the connection between the two locales, I have no idea.

And the music?

From what I see and hear, they are fans of The Joshua Tree, the lead vocalist tries to look like Joe Strummer, and they have a drummer from the school of Teresa Nervosa. It's all very polite and forgettable 80's pap, as evidenced by the title track of the band's new digital e.p.

Have at it and judge for yourself.

Press:

Glasvegas premier the new video for "If" starring William Shatner.

The new video features the legendary William Shatner and is Glasvegas' take on the iconic BBC Music show "The Old Grey Whistle Test." James Allan, Glasvegas song-writer, guitarist, vocalist, frontman, beloved people's poet (and profound Glaswegian) explains... "When we played on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson a while back, William Shatner introduced our live performance as he is a fan of the band. I then thought it would be a cool thing to incorporate his introduction of us into our new video since it also has a 'late show' theme. We got in touch with him to ask his permission and he got back to us almost immediately to give us the thumbs up!"

Taken from their forthcoming album Later...When The TV Turns To Static, 'If' melds trademark Glasvegas' soaring choruses to a martial drum and Phil Spector inspired opening. 'If' is accompanied on the EP, which is now available on iTunes by three exclusive recordings from the band. A cover of PJ Harvey's 'The Words That Maketh Murder', 'Press ' a brand new track written especially for the EP by James Allan and a demo version of 'Finished Sympathy' which is the last track on the new album.

"A lot of thought went into the If EP" says James "from the decision about the cover track right down to the wee <> symbols in the 'Press title, which I wanted to make look like a button on a VCR. The reason for choosing 'The Words That Maketh Murder' was that some of the covers we have done in the past have been older songs, so we wanted to go for something newer. The PJ Harvey album Let England Shake is a record we had been listening to and it seemed an obvious choice to pick a song from this record. Press is a new song and is me speaking in a hypothetical sense, a 'what if-scenario', and the demo of Finished Sympathy, well it's a bloody good song from the album that we are really proud of, based on my opinion that "sympathy" is something that's finished at too young an age. You can expect heavy fireworks from the album version."

Saliva Preps Another Shitty Album

Dumb hard rockers Saliva are getting ready to release a new album, one that will probably rank as being shittier than the last one.

In keeping with their tradition of combining their shitty name with shitty album titles, the band has decided to call it In It To Win It, a homage to their favorite television show Minute To Win It starring Olympic warrior Apollo Creed.

And in the "you can't make this shit up" department, the new album will be released on Rum Bum records.

Press release:



(New York, NY) - Multi-platinum rockers Saliva's brand new album In It To Win It has now been confirmed for a September 3rd North American release date via new label home Rum Bum Records. The full track listing for the album can be seen below.

The first single from the forthcoming album, the aggressively anthemic title track "In It To Win It" is now available on iTunes and can be purchased here. Saliva is currently playing select tour dates in North America in advance of the album's release; please also see below for the itinerary.

In It To Win It, Saliva's eight full-length release, was produced by Bobby Huff (known for his songwriting work with Meat Loaf, Halestorm, Drowning Pool, Saliva, Papa Roach, 3 Doors Down and more) and executive produced by Rum Bum Records Owner Luis Bacardi.

Saliva is an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. Saliva self-released their self-titled debut album in August, 1997 after competing in the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Grammy Showcase competition, where they advanced to the final round in New York City. The album sold 10,000 copies independently, prompting record labels to take notice. Saliva signed with Island Records and went on to release six more albums with the label including the double-platinum certified Every Six Seconds, the offering which also contained their Grammy-nominated single, "Your Disease." Saliva has enjoyed widespread success at Rock radio with such hit singles as "Always," which nabbed the #1 spot on the Modern Rock Chart and climbed to #51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In late 2012, Saliva signed to Rum Bum Records to begin a new phase of their already impressive career with new lead singer Bobby Amaru on board. To date, Saliva has sold millions of albums worldwide and has toured with the likes of KISS, Aerosmith, Godsmack, Sum 41, Nickelback and many more. Saliva is Bobby Amaru (vocals), Dave Novotny (bass), Paul Crosby (drums) and Wayne Swinny (guitar).

About Rum Bum Records Rum Bum Records is an independent record label based in South Florida. Led by a team of industry veterans dedicated to finding original talent of all genres, the label offers worldwide distribution, and provides artists with the resources necessary to develop and expand their careers. By utilizing a variety of platforms including imaging, video production, marketing, social media, and publicity, Rum Bum Records is able to create versatile portfolios for talent, opening the doors to as many opportunities as possible. Additionally, the label has a full state of the art HD Film studio to successfully build an artist's image and brand identity into one that is fully recognized and sought after by the public.

Saliva In It To Win It track listing:
1. Animal
2. She Can Sure Hide Crazy
3. In It To Win It
4. Choke
5. Redneck Freakshow
6. Lost
7. 1000 Eyes
8. Flesh
9. The Enemy
10. Rise Up
11. I Don't Want It
12. I.D.N.A.E.
13. No One But Me

Saliva North American tour dates:
JULY
10 Minot, ND The Original Bar & Nightclub
12 Enumclaw, WA Crystal Saloon
13 Yakima, WA Speakeasy
14 Meridian, ID New Frontier Club
16 Moorhead, MN The Garage Bar
17 Oshkosh, WI Rock USA
18 Janesville, WI The Back Bar
19 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Company
20 Springville, IN Lawrence County Recreational
21 Columbus, OH Screamin' Willie's
23 Arlington Heights, IL H.O.M.E.
25 Royalton, MN Halfway Jam
26 Marshalltown, IA Impala Ballroom
27 Battle Creek, MI Planet Rock
28 Oglesby, IL Prime Time Tap

AUGUST
1 Jerome, ID Diamondz Bar
2 Denver, CO Casselman's Bar And Venue
3 North Platte, NE Sculley's Shooters
4 Sturgis, SD Easyrider's Saloon
5 Sturgis, SD Glencoe Camp Resort
10 Three Forks, MT The Bridge At Three Forks
22 Viroqua, WI Vernon County Fairgrounds

SEPTEMBER
6 Akron, NY Braun's Bar And Grill

OCTOBER
6 Kokomo, IN Centerstage Bar & Grill

80/35 Festival: 2013 Recap

“That band from Cedar Falls is playing 80/35 this year.” Advised my father, a bastion of knowledge concerning Des Moines’ entertainment schedule.  His database is the entertainment section of the Des Moines Register and another local weekly that he keeps close at hand, usually underneath a decretive bowel that holds his remote controls.

The “that band” he was referring to is House of Large Sizes, a now defunct power trio that provided the Hawkeye state with some of the most intuitive and original blend of rock music during their initial run. Since going on hiatus over a decade ago, the band has re-formed sporadically for quick Iowa/Minnesota weekend reunions and for special occasions like headlining the Kum and Go free stage, one of three areas at the 80/35 festival with live music offerings.

The comment I made to my dad went something along the lines of “I don’t want to diminish the memories that I already have,” which is partially true as H.O.L.S. would qualify as a band that I’ve seen more than any other, beginning with their second gig ever over a quarter century ago. There is nothing like watching a band start from uneasy footing and progress into a remarkable one, and H.O.L.S. turned into exactly that.

With a year, House of Large Sizes became a very potent live band, and I can safely tell you that, while not every performance was transcendent, a large portion of them were and I can’t ever recall a moment where I wasn’t disappointed in attending.

Probably the only performance that came close to qualifying as a disappointment would have been one of those weekend reunions where many Iowa natives returned home to witness H.O.L.S. reunite. There was nothing to complain about from a music perspective, but from the audience it was quite unsettling watching your peers, visibly older, pretending to be in their 20’s and navigating the Mevlevi Order directly in front of the stage.

That’s a problem for me to address. Not the band. Not the 45 year-old fellow caught up in the time machine, screaming “I used to walk to school! I used to walk to school!” while H.O.L.S. tore through their first hint of awesomeness with their early standout track, “1½ On A Hill.”

The visuals obtained from these gigs were enough to have me keep my memories of this great band intact by abstaining from any further reunion shows or one-off engagements.

So when Dad dutifully mentioned “that band from Cedar Falls,” I confessed my predicament and admitted that there were really only two bands in 80/35’s schedule that I wanted to see this year-Wavves and Deerhunter-and out of those, only Deerhunter made me want to get my wallet out and purchase a ticket.

The two headliners this year were David Byrne/St. Vincent (Friday night) and Wu Tang Clang (Saturday night), both of which were not enough to save 80/35 from their lowest paid attendance since the festival’s first event, six years ago.

When I went to that inaugural show, I was a buzzkill. I was suffering from the belief that I had grown beyond the challenges that any festival event prevents (drunkenness, heat, lack of manners, etc.) and that somehow the festival needed to adapt to my expectations.

It’s a ridiculous complaint, and the only way around it is to simply make the choice not to attend, which I have done in the past. But each year the festival presents at least one or two acts that I would like to see, so I’m forced to make some form of compromise if I want to see them.

This year, that challenge came from the band Deerhunter, a band that I admire a great deal and one that has not touched Iowa soil since their inception.

I bitched and whined about my choices until the last day of the festival, where I finally headed over to Des Moines without a ticket, hoping to score “a miracle,” to use Grateful Dead parlance.

Leave it to my mother to save the day, handing me $50 bucks from her purse and telling me just to go and buy a ticket at the gate. I didn’t see the value in spending $45 for what would have been one band, two if I felt inclined enough to battle the heat and check out Wavves mid-afternoon.

But as temperatures hovered in the mid-90’s and my parent’s two new kittens falling asleep on my chest after a hard afternoon play, Wavves didn’t make the cut.

That left the agenda wide open, and only two bands remained in the running.

For everyone else, it was the Wu Tang Clan, who I enjoy to a certain degree haven’t paid attention to since O.D.B. died. This isn’t to suggest that his input isn’t as essential to the Wu as a creative unit, but you know, when does the point of a collective turn into the whims of a few select members? When does all of it turn into a money-grab after the solo efforts begin to not get the attention that they once did?

And when does it all turn into an ungrateful booking where the remaining members finally hit the stage 45 minutes after their scheduled start time?

I was long gone before this, so I don’t have a dog in this hunt. But I do get a bit defensive when an act comes in to my state without any evidence of respect towards the people who paid to see them. That includes festivals, county fairs, and any opening act that gets on stage and mocks patrons like those fucks in Los Lobos.

I’m glad Paul Simon ripped off your shit and you don’t make a dime off Graceland. You don’t deserve it, you smug fucks.

The sun had begun to set when Deerhunter-specifically frontman Bradford Cox-fought with some unruly guitar pedals and barked orders at the soundman before the set began. When the music did finally start-right around the scheduled time, so fuck you, Wu-the soundman had apparently done his magic, appeasing the crowd and Cox with some very luscious sonics.

Beginning with “Cover Me (Slowly)” > “Agoraphobia,” the set pulled heavily from Halcyon Digest, which is fine, because Halcyon Digest is most awesome. For some reason, I felt the need to tell anyone near me that I had driven from Cedar Rapids (2 hours) and paid full price ($45) just to see Deerhunter. “Really?” said one of my neighbors standing next to me, feigning interest. He moved before I had a chance to tell him that my mommy bought the ticket for me and pushed my curfew to Midnight.

Cox is looking older these days, and he was nowhere near as flamboyant as I would have liked him to be. He made the curious decision to wear a black Cramps t-shirt with dark green corduroy highwaters and sandals. It was the look of someone who merely woke up in Atlanta, GA, hopped on a plane to Iowa, played 60 minutes at a festival and then flew home.

This is exactly what happened, probably. But I’m sure the shocking blue Teisco Del-Rey he was manning came with him on the plane. Most awesome.

Bassist Josh Fauver is no longer in the band, apparently having grown tired of this type of thing (touring). This was a concern at first, since he had a hand in one of the most awesome Deerhunter songs of all time (“Nothing Ever Happened”) and it meant that it probably would not be a part of the set list that evening.

New bassist Josh McKay has a pretty nifty look about him, and as far as I could tell, filled Fauver’s shoes nicely in terms of the band’s increasing reliance on strong 4/4 rhythms

.

All the girls love guitarist Lockett Pundt, who worked “Desire Lines” into the evening’s most memorable moment. Fans of his reverb-laden Jazzmaster are advised to check out his band Atlas Sound, although I’m sure I’m speaking to the converted if you’re a fan of Deerhunter already.

Don't you cry, Timmy. There's a heaven above you, baby.

They have an additional guitarist, Frankie Boyles, who is actually the drummer in Atlas Sound, so go figure.

Drummer Moses Archuleta is pretty solid player, and I was impressed with his consistency.  His timekeeping was critical in matching the band’s more extended pieces into credible forms of translation. When they were on, they were perfect. When they were off-which was rare-they were nowhere near the troublemaking persona that made this show such a must-see-with-your-mother’s-money event.

The most tomfoolery that took place was Bradford’s banter with the timid crowd; most of their fans stood towards the front while the sourpusses waiting for Wu Tang Clan sulked in the back, discounting the weird white boy singling out audience members for some gentle ribbing.

“What’s with Nic Cage?” he asked, noticing that a member of the audience had taken the time to attach a big picture of Nicolas Cage’s head to a broom handle and brought it to Deerhunter’s set.

“What happened to Nic Cage today?” he continued to ponder, looking for an explanation as to why someone would find the need to bring a big picture of the star’s head to a rock concert. “You guys in Iowa like irony and humor, don’t you?” finding out that the gag really served no purpose other than to confound.

He then noticed a young man wearing a Black Flag t-shirt, who he promptly named “Timmy,” and complimented him on his attire. “Timmy” then suffered regular dedications and even a few alterations to song lyrics (“Don’t Cry” from Halcyon Digest became “Don’t Cry, Timmy” for example) on his behalf. Then Bradford noticed another youngster in a Swans shirt, complimented him on his choice, and then dedicated the next song to him.

“You guys have cool music t-shirts here in Des Moines.” He noted.

You could probably tell that I didn’t hang around for the Wu set, although I could sense it was going to be a long night for those that promptly made their way to the front of the stage just as Deerhunter’s fans were moving away from it. It would be an even longer wait thanks to the Wu’s poor time management skills.

Courtesy of David Byrne's journal. 

As is the case with any 80/35 main stage act, Deerhunter’s set was restricted to the allotted 60 minutes and it was clear that there would be no encore when the stage crew began shutting of the amplifiers still omitting feedback and tearing down the microphones.

The night was still young and the early July evening was shaping up to be a very beautiful thing. I decided to take a look at some old friends at the Kum & Go stage, a poorly named convenience store here in the Midwest that even David Byrne noticed when he was in town the night before, performing and riding some of Iowa’s extensive bike trail systems.

House of Large Sizes had already begun when I made the three block trek to the stage. The street directly in front of the stage was packed. There was a higher proportion of older people at this show, but a pretty big crowd for an act that hasn’t been together for the past decade.

The band tore through a catalog now measured in decades, and it seemed like they were trying to cram everything into an abbreviated set (again, one hour). I remember a few early gigs when HOLS was gaining popularity in the region when I loudly lamented to their drummer at the time that the band was losing speed by the end of the set.

He didn’t appreciate that comment from me, and I probably had no right in saying it.

I can safely say that this is never a problem with drummer Brent Hanson, who keeps the proceedings fit ‘n active by propelling a bunch of these classic cuts into double-time territory. Seriously, it was like those stories about the Ramones and how they managed to trim the fat on every tour, to the point where they would keep tabs at how quickly they could pound through a set, often ending a tour a full quarter-hour faster than comparable sets towards the beginning of it.

Hanson spends his time these days laying the foundation for metal bands in the Twin Cities area (see the badassed Bastard Saint for more insight into his skin work) when he isn’t commuting down to Ioway for HOLS practice on one of their regular reunion shows.

Good thing too: Hanson exudes enthusiasm with nearly every beat, transforming HOLS into a clarion of ass-kicking rock that’s inspiring to the crowd under the age of 30 who hasn’t been swayed away with EDM soundtracks and safe surroundings. House proved to be incredibly dangerous during their set and just as powerful as any other gig they may have implanted into our collective memory.

Barb Schlif. Tuck-and-Roll.

Bassist Barb Schilf jumped and twirled her braided ponytails around like a woman possessed, and I caught at least a few moments where she turned to face her ginormous Kustom cab like she was challenging it, the speakers pushing the air with so much intensity that her eyes began to roll back. The music was literally transforming her into La Dame Blanche right before us in a transfixing display of performing from a completely different space and time. That moment alone made the brief walk to the Kum & Go stage completely worthwhile and it made me miss the fact that House was no longer around  full-time  to recreate this kind of supernatural magic on a regular basis.

I was reminded of when this band started. Barb was still learning the instrument, and many performances found her looking down at the frets, making sure her fingers were on the proper location of the neck. There is none of that anymore, as Schilf has the notes embedded inside of her, but it’s the joy of executing those rumbles that practically make her the focal point of House’s live show.

This fact takes nothing away from the band’s designated driver, Dave Deibler, who commandeered the proceedings like an old pro. He joked with the crowd concerning his age, fibbing that he recently celebrated his 40^th birthday recently. After receiving a few bits of audience approval, he then admitted that he subtracted 10 years from the figure, which only made the speed that HOLS was chugging along with that much more impressive.

What I feared would turn out to be just another nostalgic offering was instead an honest attempt at getting old-school natives like yours truly to miss the possibility of what this band could accomplish with just a few more years of navigating the circuit. Mission accomplished, but with Dave and Barb now committed to their family and their businesses, it would be hard to have them justify a return when they’re making a bigger impact with the gear tucked away.

Big as a house and twice as wide, indeed!

Not only was my opinion of House of Large Sizes changed, but so was my overall opinion of the 80/35 Festival. It is a small-scale festival that regularly brings healthy support from fans of music from across the state. And while that may not seem like much to any fan of music that has a major music festival within a short drive of their home, for us in the Hawkeye State our options are limited based on our population and perception.

The only way around this is through events like these, where financial supporters and the festival organizers put their money and time on the line and we come out and participate, even when we have multiple reasons not to.

Iowa is hot around the 4^th of July and it can stay brutal like that for weeks afterwards. But it can also be a place where we use excuses like that to stay at home, only to whine when the heat breaks that nobody ever comes here to play. Des Moines is changing that with some really active venues, and the organizers of 80/35 are a big part of putting our state on the radar.

My issues with the event are of my own prejudice-a natural part of the aging process that grows tired of large crowds and drunken shenanigans. But the moment you have confined yourself from opportunities simply because you're unable to control the actions of others is a sign that you’re moving away from the very appeal of music: the ability to enjoy the human experience through song.

Don’t get me wrong, if I’m in the middle of a heat wave, I’m going to find shade (and if there are no shades like there wasn’t during Fucked Up and Dinosaur Jr.’s 100+ degree performances during last year’s 80/35Festival, then I’ll lather on sunscreen and drink water like it’s going out of style). If there’s drunken revelers, then I’ll stand clear of the mouthbreathers and find a calmer area.

And if I can’t find a cheap ticket, I’ll ask my mom if she can grab her purse and help contribute to one our state’s best outlets for good music.