photos by Kurt Christensen, words by BBG

Vision of Disorder

Vision of Disorder re-re-reunited to play Gramercy on Friday, 8/20, alongside Incendiary, Reign Supreme, and The Judas Syndrome. Still no firm date for the upcoming VOD LP, but the band has announced that they hope to have it out this year.

VOD has no future tour dates on their upcoming sked, but Incendiary and The Judas Syndrome do. Incendiary will play Baltimore with Cro-Mags in addition to dates in NJ and Boston, while The Judas Syndrome will support Despised Icon, Misery Index, and Revocation at Europa on 9/11 (tickets).

Incendiary tour dates and tons more pics from Irving are below...

Continue reading "Vision of Disorder, Incendiary, Reign Supreme & The Judas Syndrome played Gramercy Theatre (pics)"

by BBG

Starkweather at ABC No Rio

This Is Hardcore Fest 2010 details are officially in the open, and the three day Philly festival will feature appearances from Sheer Terror, Ink & Dagger (with Geoff Rickly of Thursday filling in on vocals), Kid Dynamite, Cro-Mags, Nails, Ringworm, Starkweather, Trapped Under Ice, Seraphim, and many others. The full list is below. Tickets are on sale for the full weekend, or each individual day (Fri, Sat) though Sunday (with Kid Dynamite and Ink & Dagger) is sold out.

One of the This is Hardcore bands, Starkweather, played ABC No Rio on Saturday (May 29) with Rosetta and Shell Shock, one of TWO Rosetta shows for the weekend (the second was the BV/1000 Knives production with Ken Mode). I ducked out before the headliner Shell Shock, and missed a good portion of Rosetta's set due to beverage consumption across the street, but Starkweather were as good (better?) than I had remembered, playing a mix of metal and hardcore all anchored by vocalist weighty and powerful Rennie Resmini's voice. The band's material from their new LP This Sheltering Night sounded fantastic live as well (cop that). More pictures from their appearance are below.

Another This is Hardcore band, Seraphim, is also on board to play SATURDAY at Cake Shop alongside Altered State, Voyager, and Monolith as part of a BV/1000 Knives/Science of Silence production. The show kicks off at 5PM!

Some pics and video of Starkweather at ABC No Rio, and the full This is Hardcore fest lineup are below...

Continue reading "Starkweather played ABC No Rio (pics), playing 3-day This is Hardcore Fest in Philly w/ Kid Dynamite & many others"

It's hard to find time to discover new music at Fun Fun Fun Fest because so many bands I already like play (and many of them at the same time), but exploring can still be done, sometimes accidentally and especially in the early hours. That's when I came across Austin's The Black and White Years (who I have since found out were just in NYC for CMJ) (they played Bowery Ballroom on 10/20). The impressive voice of their mustached frontman Scott Butler channels David Byrne and other greats. They have the new wave sound of Devo, and the legendary Ohio band's good looks too.

Before their set was finished I headed to the appropriately named Black stage (aka where Danzig would play later) to see some of Philly hardcore band Reign Supreme who were thrilled to be playing on such a big stage at such a big festival. They sounded good despite the early hour and having just lost their drummer (he quit) (their manager or someone was filling in), especially to the five-or-so floor punchers who must have gotten a good night's sleep the night before.

From there I walked around the grounds a little. The festival, in addition to having four stages of music, has plenty of things to look at and spend money on (food, posters, glass pipes, etc) scattered throughout the park (not the least of which was the mechanical bull which I featured prominently in the pictures of Day One). Then I caught some of Texas post-rock band (think Explosions in the Sky) This Will Destroy You, but not for long because that's about the time it started to rain. The rain didn't stop me from getting soaked for almost the entire rest of the day, but at this early point I decided to take shelter at least until Fuck Buttons came on.

I hoped/thought the rain would stop actually, if not for Fuck Buttons, then definitely for Mika Miko who were up after them. Everyone was optimistic that it was going to pass quickly, but it never really did until right before the end of the day (before Danzig went). I watched Fuck Buttons from various angles, trying to stay dry and get used to getting wet. Read all about their recent NYC show with Growing (who also played Sunday at the fest, but before I got there) HERE. More pictures from Sunday below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest - Day 2 pics (rain & Fuck Buttons) "

August 25th, 2009 (Austin, TX) - Transmission Entertainment is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2009 Fun Fun Fun Fest, taking place on November 7th and 8th at Waterloo Park in Austin. Fun Fun Fun Fest made its first appearance on a cold Friday evening in 2006, offering a unique approach to festival booking, filling stages with talent bubbling from the underground: what sounded great, and what was making an impact, regardless of what mainstream media said was cool. What started out as a show for a few touring acts and local favorites has become a movement -- a festival that fans and bands alike realize needs to be experienced year after year.

Now in its fourth year, Fun Fun Fun Fest has made a significant impact on the country's winter calendar, successfully combining the vast worlds of indie, punk, rap, electronica and comedy while showcasing some of the city's most unique local businesses.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009 lineup (Jesus Lizard, Of Montreal, Gorilla Biscuits, LSF, 7 Seconds, D.R.I. & DANZIG!! & more)"