by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Death to All at Irving Plaza, 2012 (more by Justina Villaneuva)

Chuck Schuldiner may be gone, but he is certainly not forgotten. The remaining members of his legendary band Death reformed as Death to All last year, and return to NYC tonight (4/24) with the Human lineup at Irving Plaza. Anciients play support.

As discussed, the focus of their performance the first four LPs from the death metal giants, leaning heavily on the Human record. Proceeds benefit Sweet Relief, so get them now OR you can try your luck at winning a pair! Details below...

Continue reading "Death to All are here -- win tix to tonight's Irving Plaza show"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Death at BrooklynVegan SXSW party - 3/15/13

Rediscovered Detroit protopunk legends Death are still around, and as they mentioned at our BrooklynVegan Thursday SXSW party, they've got a new album coming out this year. Though details on that album are still sparse, we'll most likely get a chance to hear some of the material when they play a one-off in NYC on July 1 at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets for that show are not on sale yet but check LPR's site for updates.

UPDATE: Tickets are on sale now. Rough Francis and The Everymen open the show.

At our SXSW party, Death played our punk-oriented stage which also included sets from Cloud Nothings, METZ, The Spits, Milk Music, Single Mothers, and Rough Francis (whose lineup features sons of the members of Death). A belated set of pictures of Death and all the other bands on that stage is in this post.

More pictures, and a full stream of Death's 1974-recorded, 2009-released For The Whole World To See, below...

Continue reading "Death playing a one-off at Le Poisson Rouge +++ belated pics from their BV-SXSW show w/ Single Mothers, Milk Music, more"

photos by Sarah Frankie Linder

Beach Fossils/The Spits/Parenthetical Girls

The second of our four SXSW day parties at connected Austin venues The Main and The Jr. happened Thursday (3/15). In addition to Cloud Nothings' joyously raucous set, The Main was fairly wild all day. We got reunited Detroit protopunk legends Death, fellow Micheganites The Spits, Pacific Northwest fuzz-freaks Milk Music, highly-excitable Canadians METZ, plus Rough Francis and Single Mothers.

Meanwhile on The Jr. stage, things were a little more indie, with a double shot headlinging sets from two Captured Tracks bands, Widowspeak and Beach Fossils. Not to mention: Dutch artist Jacco Gardner made amazingly precise recreations of late-'60s baroque pysche pop; Scotland's PAWS did raw-throated, seriously catchy yell-alongs; Parenthetical Girls kept Austin strange during their mesmerizing set; Toronto's Moon King gave a dose of shoegaze; plus Japanese singer-songwriter Shugo Tokumaru and the folky sounds of J. Thoven. What a day!

For those reading this in NYC, don't forget Parenthetical Girls play Glasslands on March 25 (tickets) and Bowery Electric on March 26 (tickets); and Jacco Gardner plays Mercury Lounge on March 23 with his Trouble in Mind labelmates Mmoss (tickets)

In addition to the music, Onkyo was there, sampling their new headphones which hit stores next month. mophie, maker of invaluable iPhone chargers, were giving away discount cards good at their pop-up shop which was set up right across the street on Red River.. We were also serving complimentary Jameson, and Zico coconut water, free vegan queso and chips from Food For Lovers, and free vegan breakfast tacos from Pink Avocado. We also had BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 50 people in the door, thanks to American Apparel. Also thanks to our other sponsors, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Creative Recreation, Signazon, Mirrored Media, ASCAP, and Redigi.

Our free Friday day party at The Main and The Jr. just got underway. The Main stage will be crowded for 20-something headliners The Polyphonic Spree, and that side will also have sets from Akron/Family, The Thermals, Shout Out Louds, Diamond Rings, TOY, and Half Moon Run.

The Jr. stage today is curated by out loud brethren at Invisible Oranges, with Today is the Day, Pallbearer, Royal Thunder, Inter Arma Batillus, and Babtists.

Then tonight is the official BrooklynVegan showcase at Maggie Mae's Rooftop with 3421, Brooke Candy, Giraffage, Man Without Country, Mykki Blanco, Pictureplane, The Underachievers, XXYYXX, and Zebra Katz. If you're in Austin, come on down!

More pics from Thursday's day party are below.

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SXSW Thursday day party in pics (METZ, Beach Fossils, Widowspeak, Parenthetical Girls, Spits + more)"

Death at Europa in 2010 (more by Ben Lozovsky)

Long lost protopunk band Death, who made a return in 2009 when Drag City released their debut album and have been sticking around ever since, have gotten the documentary treatment. A Band Called Death, directed by Mark Covino and Jeff Howlett, was released in 2012 and it will be screening at SXSW this year (screening times are HERE).

The film description reads:

Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early '70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn't until recently -- when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby's attic nearly 30 years after Death's heyday -- that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them.

Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family chronicle, the story of Death is one of brotherly love and fierce, divinely inspired expression.

A Band Called Death trailer and a stream of their track, "Politicians In My Eyes," below...

Continue reading "Death (the protopunk band) are subject of new documentary, playing live at SXSW (BrooklynVegan show included)"

As you know, BrooklynVegan is returning to Austin for SXSW this year and throwing four days of day parties at The Main & The Jr aka 603 Red River Street at the corner of 6th aka the old Emo's location. Those happen Wed (3/13), Thurs, Fri and Saturday (3/16). All shows are 100% FREE with RSVP.

We announced the Saturday lineup, and then the Friday lineup, and now HERE IS THURSDAY...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan free SXSW 2013 Thursday day party lineup (Cloud Nothings, Death, Parenthetical Girls, Widowspeak, METZ, Beach Fossils, Milk Music, Spits, Single Mothers & more)"

Metallica at Orion 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Metallica held their inaugural Orion Music & More festival in Atlantic City in 2012, and as mentioned, they'll be moving to Detroit for the 2013 installment. It happens from June 8 - 9 in Belle Isle and the lineup was just announced, including headliners Metallica joined by Japandroids, FLAG, Tomahawk, Gogol Bordello, Death Grips, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Deftones, The Dirtbombs, Death, Foals, The Bronx, The Orwells, Red Hot Chili Peppers, FIDLAR, and more. Full lineup below. The announcement includes no word on Metallica playing full albums like they did last year.

Tickets for the festival go on sale to the general public on Friday (3/1) at 10 AM EST with a Met Club presale starting Tuesday (2/26) at 10 AM and an Orion E-list member presale on Wednesday (2/27) at 10 AM.

Continue reading "Metallica announce line-up & tix for Orion Music & More 2013 (Japandroids, FLAG, Tomahawk, Death Grips, RHCP & more)"

Haunted Coliseum (via @thizz31)

As if they didn't take a big enough hit when they found out they lost the Islanders, The Haunted Coliseum, a rave party that went down at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday (10/27) with Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia, DJ Alesso and Otto Knows was cut short due to some pre-Sandy (and unrelated to Sandy) "chaos" caused by drunk teens (between 14 and 18) apparently needing medical assistance less than an hour into the show. Nassau County police Inspector Kenneth Lack said, "We started getting calls for multiple aided cases for highly intoxicated individuals whether it be on alcohol or controlled substances. As soon as it reached a level where it became apparent that something was going desperately wrong, we made the decision to close it down for the good of public safety."

The situation was made worse when when a helicopter pilot decided to land his bird in a grassy area near the coliseum where there were reportedly about 20 people. The 44-year-old pilot was arrested and his helicopter impounded. Needless to say, many of the attendees are unhappy their party was shut down and have been venting their rage on Haunted Coliseum'sFacebook page.

Meanwhile, three people died in Madrid last night (10/31) at a massive Halloween party headlined by Steve Aoki where 20,000 revelers crowded into the Madrid Arena which is meant hold half that. El Pais reports that trouble started when a disturbance in the crowd started a stampede towards the exits and the deaths were caused by  "trauma by crushing, possibly having suffered a fall and being trampled." Police are still investigating.

Steve Aoki, who cancelled his show in Bilbao tonight, has issued a statement. You can read it below...

Continue reading "Long Island 'Haunted Coliseum' rave ends in chaos; three trampled to death at Steve Aoki Halloween party in Madrid"

photos by Justina Villanueva; words by Klaus Kinski

On Thursday June 28th, 2012, Death / Chuck Schuldiner tribute band Death To All rolled into NYC to lay a beating onto a sold-out, sweaty, wood-swellingly humid Irving Plaza. To call them a tribute band sort of trivializes just how mighty an assemblage Death To All actually is; a tribute band generally consists of fanboys and fangirls trying to make a buck playing someone else's music for roomfuls of mouthbreathers with low entertainment standards. The members of Death to All, however, were actual band members of Death during their ever evolving 18 year history, from 1983 through 2001 when the band disbanded following the sad and probably preventable death of Chuck Schuldiner.

For those not in the know; On May 13th, 1999, on his 32nd birthday, Chuck Schuldiner was diagnosed with a high-grade pontine glioma which is a malignant type of brain cancer that invades the brainstem. After a serious onslaught of radiation therapy, the tumor was neutralized and, after a surgery to remove what was left of the tumor, Schuldiner appeared to have a clean bill of health; and a pile of medical bills totaling over $70,000. Uninsured and unable to cover the costs, the metal community rallied in support of Schuldiner with benefit concerts, auctions, and other fundraisers to raise the appropriate funds. After this experience Schuldiner got himself insurance, but when the cancer came back his insurer wouldn't cover the procedures necessary to saving his life as his cancer was a pre-existing condition. More large scale benefits and auctions took place to come to his aid once again, but he eventually succumbed to pneumonia on December 13th, 2001.

This Death To All Tour was not only set about to pay tribute to Chuck Schuldiner who is hands down THE father of Death metal, but it was also devised with the intention of donating 20% of all ticket sales to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund whose aim is to provide "financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems." And, man, this show could not have happened on a more historical day as Thursday June 28th, 2012 is the day the Supreme Court upheld President Obama's health care overhaul law. Had this existed in 1999, perhaps Death would be still be cranking out ear splitting masterworks in death metal.

Gorguts

The show kicked off at 8PM on the nose with Canadian death metal gods Gorguts. I first came to know Gorguts back in 1989 or 1990 when I saw a small blurb about them in Metal Maniacs. At the tail end of the blurb was an address from where you could order their demo tape. I sent away for the demo and when I got it it blew my mind. Seeing them last night was a personal triumph as I had never seen them before. The years have not slowed them down one bit. Their blast beats and time changes were super tight and brought me back to the day when bands like Gorguts and Deicide dominated the blast beat death metal scene. They played a phenomenal selection of cuts during their 45-minute set, a particular highlight for me being Stiff and Cold.

After a brief intermission for a gear changeover, the lights dimmed, the projector screen ascended, and the crowd absolutely exploded. I can't imagine a more enthusiastic response even if Chuck had shown up in the flesh. Although we wouldn't be seeing Chuck, we would be seeing some of the other members behind one of death metal's greatest bands. They kicked things off with the song "Zombie Ritual" from their 1987 debut Scream Bloody Gore. This song for me is THE archetypical death metal song; it's got speed, classic half time sections, fast double bass pummeling, throat splitting vocals... the works. For them to open the show with this was a stroke of genius because it not only represents the beginning of Death's career releasing records, but it also represents the very birth of death metal as we know it.

Other highlights included Spiritual Healing's "Within the Mind" and Human's "Lack of comprehension," but the set covered their entire canon. At one point early in the evening Irving Plaza's AC clearly stopped working, creating an atmosphere of unbearable heat, humidity, and misery. The humidity level was so appalling that every surface in the venue with the exception of the lower lobby was covered in moisture; stairs, bars, walls, bouncers... the balcony even looked like it was in a fog. It was as though as steam pipe had ruptured or something. At about 10:45 I couldn't take it anymore and so I joined legions of other fans in the lower lobby to watch the show on a TV. It was very disappointing to have to close out the evening like that, but it got to the point that not only was every floor surface a slip-fall-break-something hazard, but breathing was almost impossible. On the plus side I got to meet and talk to Gorguts' main man Luc Lemay at the merch table. Not only was he one of the nicest people I have ever met, he had a hand shake that could crush a bowling ball.

More steamy pictures from Death to All and Gorguts sets are below.

Continue reading "Death to All and Gorguts played Irving Plaza (pics, review)"

by BBG

Gorguts at Knitting Factory (more by Greg Cristman)

The Death to All tour got a little more interesting today with the addition of the amazing Gorguts to the lineup. The reactivated death metal crew, which now contains John Longstreth (Dim Mak, Origin, The Red Chord), Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia, Vaura), and Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Behold.. The Arctopus) in addition to mastermind Luc LeMay, will participate in all dates on the tour including the previously discussed date at Irving Plaza on June 28th. "VIP Tickets" are currently on sale, with general admission hitting on March 30th.

Reminder: I will I DJ the evening on March 31 at Public Assembly when join Vaura (with Kevin Hufnagel) is joined by Alcest and Deafheaven (both of which played our day parties during SXSW). Tickets are still available, but dangerously close to sell-out.

All Gorguts dates and some video below.

Continue reading "Gorguts added to the "Death to All" tour"

Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner (May 13, 1967 - December 13, 2001) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Schuldiner was the singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the band Death, which he founded in 1983, initially under the name Mantas. He also recorded as guitarist and songwriter with his other band, Control Denied. Schuldiner is often referred to as "The Father of Death Metal" -[wiki]

The tour includes a NYC stop at Irving Plaza on June 28th. Ticketing info is forthcoming.

All tour dates and a teaser for "Death to All" below...

Continue reading ""Death to All" is Death minus the legendary Chuck Schuldiner; they're going on a benefit tour"

Death at Purchase Fall Fest (more by Kellyann Petry)

While the Duck Down vs Blacksmith showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg is indicating that hip hop is alive and well, Afro-Punk is declaring the opposite with a show at the venue just 4 days prior. Billed as "DEATH to Hip-Hop", protopunk pioneers Death will join Cerebral Ballzy, Ninjasonik, and Jersey Klan with Stack-Aly between sets as part of a CMJ event on 10/18 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets go on sale on 9/22 at noon, or try to get in with your CMJ badge. No other Death dates to report at the moment.

In between the birth and death of hip hop, Music Hall of Williamsburg will feature another two CMJ showcases. 10/20 will see Metronomy team with Class Actress (tickets) while 10/21 is the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase with BRAIDS, Active Child, Weekend, Pepper Rabbit, and Blue Hawaii. Tickets are on sale for our CMJ show, or be one of the people to get in with your badge.

That leaves only one hole in MHOW's CMJ schedule. Nothing has been announced there for Wed., 10/19 yet. I can't say what will happen that night, but I can say that it will be interesting (and NOT affiliated with CMJ).

words by Andrew Sacher, photos by Kellyann Petry

Brooklyn based garage rock band The So So Glos, who announced from stage that they're no longer signed to Green Owl who just released their EP Low Back Chain Shift, opened the show. The audience was initially unresponsive, but the band didn't let their energy die. By the second to last song, "Execution," the crowd started to feed off of the band's enthusiasm and broke out into a full blown push pit.

Instrumental downtempo artist Ras G played a DJ set mainly focused on hip hop influenced electronic beats. The set contained a great deal of improvisation and most songs flowed directly into the next. His songs put a greater emphasis on using monotonous ambience than melody to complement his beats. He added to the diversity of the show, but being sandwiched between two hard hitting rock bands definitely overshadowed his calmer performance.

If you ever find yourself in a darkened room, and three tall figures in black hooded cloaks who call themselves Death appear in front of you, you're about to encounter one of two things; either an eternity of suffering and punishment, or the reunited proto-punk trio from Detroit executing a half hour of raw fury. Once the band removed their cloaks, revealing that they were not in fact satanic demons, Death made no hesitation to crash down on the opening chords of "Views" and turn the entire room into a mass frenzy. The level of intensity only heightened when Death went straight into "Keep On Knocking" and proceeded to play For The Whole World To See in its entirety (other than switching the order of "Freakin' Out" and "You're A Prisoner").

Just when it seemed like the show couldn't get crazier, Death's Dannis Hackney attacked his drums in "Rock-N-Roll Victim" with a ferocity matched only by his brother Bobby's piercing shouts, which cut through the music even more sharply than on 1975's recorded version. After truly making the audience feel like victims of Death's rock-n-roll, they lent a little bit of breathing room with "Let The World Turn." This song gave Death a chance to show off their more psychedelic, progressive side with Bobbie Duncan's reverb drenched guitar acting as the only complement to Bobby Hackney's confident vocal delivery. About two minutes in, however, the band schizophrenically shifted back into breakneck rock and roll, reigniting the audience's frenzy.

Later on, Bobby Hackney took the time to introduce the band members and honor his brother David, the original guitarist of Death, who passed away in 2000. "We refer to him not as the late David Hackney, but the early David Hackney," Bobby told the crowd, who responded with shouts of support. Hackney also took time before their last song to deliver one more speech. He told the audience that back in the '70s, under the reign of Nixon, anyone over the age of eighteen was constantly in fear of being drafted. Hackney added that although we don't have that problem today, the government is always taking new approaches to get in our way. "No matter what it is, we still say: POLITICIANS IN MY EYES!" The crowd erupted with applause as the one single Death was able to release back in 1975 thundered through the room, ending the set even more forcefully than it began.

Earlier that day I sat down with Death who answered some of my questions. Read that interview HERE.

Fucked Up didn't get kicked off by the cops this time, but they undoubtedly incited a riot. The assault of Fucked Up's triple guitars coupled with the fact that frontman Damian Abraham spends as much time in the audience as he does on stage was worthy of at least a misdemeanor. The audience didn't think twice about adding to the beast that the band created. At least one person stage dived every other second into the sea of mosh pits. After a half hour of pure aggression, Fucked Up ended their set with a rendition of Nirvana's "Breed."

If you were to walk in on the middle of Omar Souleyman's set, you wouldn't know what the hell was going on, but you would know that you wanted to be a part of it. Omar Souleyman, who played Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn three days earlier, is a pop musician from Syria who plays a style of music native to his country known as dabke. Whether or not you're familiar with dabke, you can enjoy its perfect mix of Arabic melodies and dance beats. Omar Souleyman built upon that sound with a prophetic vocal delivery that captivated the audience until the moment he left the stage. It's unlikely that anyone in the audience understood a word of what Souleyman was saying or singing, but not even the language barrier could prevent a dance party breaking out both on and off stage.

Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, whose solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... was one of the defining albums of the golden age of hip hop, has been making a huge comeback after the release of 2009's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt II, the thematic follow-up to his debut. Since its release, he has been performing constantly and writing prolifically (including releasing 2010's Wu-Massacre with Method Man and Ghostface Killah, and is currently working on another solo album expected to be released in 2011). Raekwon's performance at SUNY Purchase's Fall Fest furthered the impact of his comeback. He performed songs off of both parts of Cuban Linx in addition to some Wu-Tang classics, including a throwback/dedication to O.D.B. In between songs, he gave appropriate advice for a college crowd, advocating a balance of partying while still getting a degree: "You can do your drugs and still be a smart mothafucka." He remained positive even when a fight broke out on stage during one of his songs. Raekwon stopped the song and did everything in his power to clear the stage and break up the fight: "Push that bitch off stage!"

Raekwon opens for Disco Biscuits at Terminal 5 in December, and the rest of Wu-Tang tours the same month. More pictures from Fall Fest below...

Continue reading "Purchase Fall Fest in pics & review (Raekwon, Omar Souleyman, Death, Fucked Up, So So Glos & more) "

by Andrew Sacher w/ photos by Kellyann Petry

Death @ Purchase

"Forgotten except by the most fervent punk rock record collectors -- the band's self-released 1976 single recently traded hands for the equivalent of $800 -- Death would likely have remained lost in obscurity if not for the discovery [in 2008] of a 1974 demo tape in Bobby Sr.'s attic. Released [in 2009] by Drag City Records as "... For the Whole World to See," Death's newly unearthed recordings reveal a remarkable missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early '70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and '77. Death's songs "Politicians in My Eyes," "Keep On Knocking" and "Freakin Out" are scorching blasts of feral ur-punk, making the brothers unwitting artistic kin to their punk-pioneer contemporaries the Ramones, in New York; Rocket From the Tombs, in Cleveland; and the Saints, in Brisbane, Australia. They also preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years." [NY Times]

BASEMENT OF WHAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS GROOVESVILLE STUDIOS - DETROIT, MI - May 7th, 2010

"After searching for almost eight hours, I removed a box with a Master in it and vaguely saw some big red letters on the box below it. I shinned the light on this box to clearly see the writing in big red letters DEATH. I screamed with excitement DEATH!!, DEATH!!, DEATH!! Everyone in the building starting to scream and wildly cheer and applause. Upon seeing those tapes, it brought it all back, David had written those big red letters on the tape. Engineer Jim Vitti had jokingly drew a skull and crossbones on the box after the name to which David did not like telling him "We are not that kind of Death". I was full of emotion, I cried. We were all elated, Jacque was elated, I called up Dannis who was in Vermont and he began to joyfully celebrate. I thought about David. If David were here with us all that has happened to Death up to this point would pale in comparison to what we found today. The tapes were right where Brian said they were sitting there awaiting us for 34 years." - Bobby Hackney

--

BV: Welcome to New York, how was your trip?

BH: Trip was great, thank you for welcoming us, first time in Purchase.

BV: I know it's not the most conventional setting to play, being that it's a small college an hour outside the city, but from what I gather, you guys have performed as Lambsbread at a number of colleges, so you are no stranger to performing at colleges.

BH: Oh no. We've played a lot of colleges in New England, just about every college in New England. A lot in the state of New York too, so you are correct about that.

BV: How is that, performing for kids at school, especially being that Death is now appreciated by younger fans who weren't even born when you first formed?

BH: It's amazing, I mean it's really magical to us, we just really appreciate the fact that people are tuning in to our music. It's great, it's really great.

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview with Death (about the new LP, reggae, unreleased material, Iggy Pop & more) "

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: The So So Glos - "Lindy Hop" (MP3)

So So Glos Fans (more by Zach Stern)

The lineup has been announced for this year's SUNY Purchase Fall Fest, an annual one-day, students-only festival which will take place on November 5th in the SUNY Purchase Student Center (The Stood). Fall Fest '10 (aka Halloween 2) will be headlined by Raekwon, and features a very varied lineup of other acts including Death who just announced a NEW album...

BASEMENT OF WHAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS GROOVESVILLE STUDIOS - DETROIT, MI - May 7th, 2010

"After searching for almost eight hours, I removed a box with a Master in it and vaguely saw some big red letters on the box below it. I shinned the light on this box to clearly see the writing in big red letters DEATH. I screamed with excitement DEATH!!, DEATH!!, DEATH!! Everyone in the building starting to scream and wildly cheer and applause. Upon seeing those tapes, it brought it all back, David had written those big red letters on the tape. Engineer Jim Vitti had jokingly drew a skull and crossbones on the box after the name to which David did not like telling him "We are not that kind of Death". I was full of emotion, I cried. We were all elated, Jacque was elated, I called up Dannis who was in Vermont and he began to joyfully celebrate. I thought about David. If David were here with us all that has happened to Death up to this point would pale in comparison to what we found today. The tapes were right where Brian said they were sitting there awaiting us for 34 years." - Bobby Hackney

Spiritual, Mental, Physical is the new Death CD/LP and it will be released 01/25/11.

The So So Glos will also be performing at SUNY, and are about to embark on a Five Borough NYC tour to celebrate the release of their new EP, Low Back Chain Shift, which came out Tuesday, October 12. The NYC tour happens to take place during CMJ, kicks off in Staten Island, includes a Queens BBQ with Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus, and a showcase at Pianos...

Friday, Oct. 22
at Pianos
158 Ludlow St

Force Field PR Official CMJ Showcase
08pm - Lord Huron
09pm - La Sera
10pm - Violens
11pm - Woven Bones
12am - Wild Nothing
01am - The So So Glos

FREE w/ CMJ Badge
or $10 advance / $12 at door

Omar Souleyman will be performing at SUNY as the concluding date on his current tour, which also includes a November 2nd show at MHOW. Updated dates below.

Fucked Up is also returning to Purchase after getting their set cut short by the police at their 2008 Culture Shock Performance.

Full Purchase lineup, videos, and other tour dates below...

Continue reading "Purchase Fall Fest, new Death, So So Glos dates, Omar Souleyman's updated schedule & stuff"

Mountain Winery stage (a previous show) (MattAlbers)

Writes [a] witness:

"Glen was just finishing a little song that one of his band members had made up. The crowd was singing along with him and he was looking for the band member as we finished singing along. I just happened to look up and I saw this guy falling from the top of the roof on the right side of the building behind the stage. He landed about 3 feet to the left of Glen [Hansard] on a speaker and he was motionless, like a rag doll. It was about 10pm. At first there was a split moment where everyone was like, what is going on and then people started to scramble to help. They did CPR. The show stopped immediately. The crowd was in shock, but pretty cooperative exiting the venue."

And another witness:

"I saw him fall from what appeared to be the lighting rigging, which is why I thought it was a light at first. He fell about three stories, if he did in fact jump off [the] roof. It was about 10pm. The band was between songs with most of them off stage. Lead singer [Glen Hansard] had just led crowd in a sort-of sing-along. Crowd seemed stunned at first, like me. Then you could hear some people sobbing. He fell on the front right of stage as you look at it from [the] audience. They performed CPR."
[SF Weekly]

This incident comes just one day after a man almost died after jumping down 25+ feet at a Phish concert in NY.

The Swell Season played Brooklyn & the Newport Folk Festival at the end of July.

Video taken at the Saratoga show right after the man jumped, below...

Continue reading "Man kills himself at Swell Season concert (jumped from roof over stage during show at Mountain Winery in Saratoga)"

Bonnaroo masses line up @ a water station in the Tennessee heat (suesthegrl)

"MANCHESTER, Tenn.- The heat is possibly to blame for a death at Bonnaroo in Manchester.

David Sloane, 29, from North Carolina collapsed early Sunday morning in front of medical personnel. Medics rushed him to the hospital where he later died.

The Tullahoma News reports Sloane had a core body temperature of 108. The medical examiner will now do an autopsy to figure out exactly how he died." [Channel5]

Continue reading "it was hot @ Bonnaroo, one man died "

In addition to Lincoln Center's 2010 Midsummer Night Swing which runs from June 29th to July 17th, the schedule for this year's Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival (July 28th-August 15th) has been set, and in it there's a wealth of worthy, free music.

One of the centerpieces is an all-day Ponderosa Stomp-presented lineup on Saturday, July 31st. That's split up into an afternoon show at the Hearst Plaza Stage, and a night show at Damrosch Park Bandshell, and includes music from "sixties garage icons Mitch Ryder and ? and the Mysterians, iconoclastic rockers The Gories and Death (who recently played Europa), nomadic bluesman Eddie Kirkland, stirring soul singers Melvin Davis and Spyder Turner, Motown hitmakers The Velvelettes and Dennis Coffey and R&B all stars The Party Stompers."

The July 31st shows are part of the two-day 27th Annual Roots Of American Music series that also includes a show on Sunday, August 1st with Asylum Street Spankers , Los Straitjackets, David Johansen, and Melvin Van Peebles performing a one-act version of Hamlet adapted by Shel Silverstein.

Also on the schedule are Balkan Beat Box, Kronos Quartet with Gamelan Galak Tika, and multiple appearances by Asphalt Orchestra, which debuted last year. August 4th has Robert Glasper Experiment with special guests Q-Tip and Bilal (who also plays a free show at Metrotech this summer). There's actually too much to list up here right now (Juana Molina, Tom Verlaine...) The full lineup is below...

Continue reading "Lincoln Center 2010 Out of Doors Festival (free shows include Death, Q-Tip, Ponderosa Stomp, Kronos Quartet, many more)"

by Ben Lozovsky

Death was alive and well Friday night (4/2), resurrecting its impassioned proto-punk for a rare reunion show at Europa in Brooklyn. It was another chapter tacked on to an agonizingly short but compelling story, one of a visionary group that never got a chance to diffuse its influence throughout the music world.

There are plenty of recipes for how to not succeed in the entertainment business, and during their brief career in the 1970's, Death seemed to embrace the ultimate one: an all-black rock trio spouting political dissent and charging aggressively behind a moribund handle, coining an ambitious art-first punk ethos in a volatile city like Detroit.

But for a band with little likelihood of flourishing, or even merely persisting, there was no shortage of bleeding deference Friday. Amid near-fanatical appeals from fans and crowd chants like "you still got it," the Hackney brothers continued to build on a legacy that took a major upswing with last year's Drag City reissue of their modest mid-70's output.

Bobby and Dannis (with guitarist Bobbie Duncan of reggae band Lambsbread, in which the two brothers also play) brought the pummeling earnestness of songs like "Politicians in My Eyes" and "Where Do We Go From Here???" out of obscurity. In a tribute to brother David, the band's original guitarist, leader, and main songwriter who passed away from cancer in 2000, Death performed with a spirit and dexterity that made those long lost cuts feel as urgent as they must have when they first emerged in a racially divided Motor City.

Keeping it in the family, Bobby's three sons performed as opener Rough Francis, a band that initially formed as a tribute to Death but now appealingly channels the original's group's ferocity in their own output.

As Death finished the show with a performance of never released song "Can You Give Me a Thrill," Bobby announced the band's intentions on putting out new material in the near future. Better late than never, Death lives on.

The Brooklyn show happened less than two weeks after the band's one show at SXSW which took place March 20th at the Mohawk. More pictures from Europa (where Sister Anne played first), below...

Continue reading "Death & Rough Francis @ Europa in Brooklyn - pics "

Death, alive at Fun Fun Fun fest (more here)

The question on everyone's mind before the set was if the members of Death (who had just reunited this year) would be able to recreate the songs on their debut album ...For the Whole World to See, despite not having played them in 35 years. While it didn't start off good with a 20 minute soundcheck, but from the opening notes that echoed into the crowd, any fears were instantly shattered into a million pieces. ...Punk dreams do come true and Fun Fun Fun Fest helps every step of the way. - [A Review of Death at Fun Fun Fun Fest by The Creative Intersection]

Death are also set to play an official SXSW showcase at the Mohawk in Austin on Saturday, March 20th. More dates TBA.

Death's only NYC reunion show so far was a short appearance at the 2009 Joey Ramone Birthday bash. The 2010 version of that show happens May 19th at Irving Plaza.

Videos of Death from FFFFest below...

Continue reading "Death playing Brooklyn & SXSW ++ Fun Fun Fun Fest videos "

Annual Austin music festival Fun Fun Fun Fest lived up to its name once again today (Saturday, November 7th). And that was just Day One. The fun continues on Sunday which ends with a headlining set by Danzig (and Of Montreal on another stage). More coverage and pictures to come, but before I run out to the Saturday night afterparties (going to try and see Voxtrot at Mohawk and Negative Approach at Red 7), I just wanted to post a few pictures. Check them out below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest - Day 1 in pics "

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)"

DOWNLOAD: Death - Politicians In My Eyes (MP3)

Death of Detroit

Forgotten except by the most fervent punk rock record collectors... Death would likely have remained lost in obscurity if not for the discovery last year of a 1974 demo tape in [bassist] Bobby [Hackney]'s attic. Released [in February] by Drag City Records as "... For the Whole World to See," Death's newly unearthed recordings reveal a remarkable missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early '70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and '77. Death's songs "Politicians in My Eyes," "Keep On Knocking" and "Freakin Out" are scorching blasts of feral ur-punk, making the brothers unwitting artistic kin to their punk-pioneer contemporaries the Ramones, in New York; Rocket From the Tombs, in Cleveland; and the Saints, in Brisbane, Australia. They also preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years. [NYTimes]

No word on who will fill the shoes of guitarist David Hackney (he passed from lung cancer in 2000), though odds are one of the Hackney's sons in Rough Francis will probably be elected. Rough Francis, who routinely cover material by Death, will provide support on all dates (minus Fun Fun Fun). Earlier this year they appeared with members of Death at Joey Ramone's 58th birthday show on May 19th at Irving Plaza. Videos of their performance are posted below.

Death's back story is an interesting one:

In 1975 at Detroit's United Sound Studios with engineer Jim Vitti, they recorded seven songs written by David and Bobby. According to the Hackney family, Columbia Records president Clive Davis funded the recording sessions, but asked the band to change its name to something more commercially palatable than Death. When the Hackneys refused, Davis ceased his support. The following year they self-released 500 copies from the session on the 7" single "Politicians in My Eyes" b/w "Keep on Knocking," on their Tryangle label, which eventually became a collectors' item.

Continue reading "Death played Ramones gig, playing FFFFest & other shows"

Lollapalooza 2009 - rain & Bon Iver (Trey Many)

"The producers of Lollapalooza are deeply saddedned to learn of the death of a patron who collapsed at the festival today at approximately 1:00 p.m. Festival paramedics responded immediately and the gentleman was then transported by Chicago Fire Department to Northwestern Hospital. Local media are reporting the fan died at approximately 2:30 p.m. Due to privacy issues, further details are not available."

Big Valley Jamboree - sunny on July 31, 2009 (Taylor and Kevin)

Big Valley Jamboree - knocked over toilets on August 1, 2009 (Taylor and Kevin)

"Family has identified Donna Moore of Lloydminster as the woman killed at the Big Valley Jamboree after the festival's main stage collapsed during a severe thunderstorm Saturday.

Moore's son, Mike Tebbe, spent Sunday together with family and said he was not prepared to talk about his mother yet.

Moore was a huge country music fan who was at the festival for the weekend, said friend Warne Noyce.

"She was pumped to go to Big Valley. It makes me sick to my stomach because she was such an awesome lady," he said. "She was hanging out watching music with people she loved."...

...Stage speakers fell on Moore, crushing her, after a wind gust of about 100 kilometres per hour toppled stage scaffolding." [Calgary Herald]

NYC had their own storms this weekend too, causing chaos and cancellations for outdoor music, but luckily no tragedies.

Videos from Big Valley below...

Continue reading "1 dead, 75 injured when storm causes stage collapse at Canadian music festival Big Valley Jamboree (videos)"

Celebrating what would have been the 58th birthday of punk icon Joey Ramone, the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash will take place Tuesday, May 19th at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. Mickey Leigh, event organizer and brother of Joey Ramone, has announced that, as part of the 9th annual Bash, fans will be treated to a special advance sneak peek listen to rough mixes of never-before-heard Joey Ramone solo recordings. Various producers, including long-time Ramones producer Ed Stasium, are currently preparing tracks for a full album worth of material, slated for posthumous release at the end of the year.

This year's headliners are Fishbone and Supersuckers. The spectacular party will conclude with The Friends Of Joey featuring Richie Ramone, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jean Beauvoir, Ivan Julian, George Tabb, Al Maddy and Mickey Leigh. Also appearing are Death and Rough Francis (both bands were the subject of a feature story in the New York Times on March 12), Uncle Monk (featuring Tommy Ramone), Bebe Buell, and Tom Clark & The High Action Boys. As the audience enters the venue they will once again be greeted by musician Tracy Thornton, playing Ramones songs on the steel drum. And, in what has become a Birthday Bash tradition, Sean O'Sullivan's Punk Pipers will round out the night on the bagpipes. The fete will be emceed by Matt Pinfield and Peter Aschner. Additional surprises are expected at the evening's events...Net proceeds from the Bash go to support the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

Videos from the 2008 party, below...

Continue reading "2009 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash lineup & new album info "