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Quick note: this blog post is dedicated to Marcus over at Endless Quest. Good work finding your white whale.

Back to the action.

Unless you've been hiding in cave with Osama for the last 6 months, you know Bane released a new EP. Not only did they release a new EP, but it was released on 400 different labels all over the world. Here are all the EPs I've received so far.

Here's what you see. Left to Right, Top to Bottom.

Row 1

6131 Records - 3:58 Los Angeles - green vinyl
6131 Records - 3:58 Los Angeles - milky orange vinyl
6131 Records - 3:58 Los Angeles - milky milk vinyl

Hurry Up Records - 11:58 Dublin - tour press green vinyl
Hurry Up Records - 11:58 Dublin - tour press black vinyl

Row 2.

Triple B Records - 6:58 Boston - clear blue vinyl
Triple B Records - 6:58 Boston - clear red vinyl
Triple B Records - 6:58 Boston - black vinyl

Hurry Up Records - 11:58 Dublin - speckled orange vinyl
Hurry Up Records - 11:58 Dublin - orange vinyl
Hurry Up Records - 11:58 Dublin - black orange vinyl

That's some vinyl haul! Still waiting on the second round of vinyl from Hurry Up Records.

CDs were also released in Tokyo, South America and Australia. This is the 7:58 Tokyo cd package. It came with stickers, a pin, and a tee. I ordered 4 packages. I ended up with 4 tees and 2 cds. Funny story: my tees smell like gasoline. Real weird. Real, real weird.

Along with the X:58 EP, Bane also contributed to Stephen Fallis' zine, At Both Ends. This EP is a comp of 4 bands. Bane, Unrestrained, Grade & Between Earth And Sky. No idea who Between Earth And Sky is, but Unrestrained is this chill band. You may recognize one or two of these characters from the xStuck In The Pastx blog. Great blog, chill band.

Group shot of my 3 sets. Here are the individual pics too.

If I find out what the pressing info is, I'll make sure to share it.

Preface: a few weeks back, my friend Sami asked me to do a top 10 list for his zine/site, Trumbull. As it was the end of the year, I was in a tad bit of deadline hell and whipped out a top 10 tshirt list with nary a comment. Just shirt after shirt. I was happy with it. It covered my bases.

Skip forward to this week. Sami and Owen began compiling all the lists and publishing them. After reading Mark Baumer's very detailed "Best 71 Movies ...," I felt shame. I had basically called in my list. It was good enough, but it certainly wasn't my best effort.

In order to right this wrong, I'm putting together a top 10 list that will be stupidly long, full of personal jokes and tender moments. I will go on ad nauseum about stuff no one cares about. BUT, no one will ever say I "called this one in."

My Top 10 Vegan Restaurants of the Last Decade

Please note. These restaurants are all ones I frequented in the last decade. And that order is determined by memories of times spent there. Food played a big part in the ranking as well, but memories beat food any day.

Runner Ups

Washington Square Park Vegan Indian Cart - Manhattan, New York, New York USA - get your veggie samosa to go!

Lula's Sweet Apothecary - Manhattan, New York, New York USA - a new comer on the dessert scene. I was sold on the shoppe before my first bite.

Hillside Quickie - Seattle, WA USA - great, greasy sandwiches. Sooo good.

Mighty O Donuts - Seattle, WA USA - my first vegan donut. I was stoked. I had given up on those crappy vegan donuts in a plastic bag. This place reminded why I loved donuts as a kid.

Ronald's Donuts - Las Vegas, NV USA - my second first vegan doughnut. Blew my mind. Literally. I did my part to polish off 3 dozen donuts in 3 days. A good friend then over nighted me some. It was probably the best thing I have ever received in the mail. And I once received an original Project X EP in the mail.

Help Yourself, Cafe, Island Joes Coffee - Key West, FL USA - Key West came strong on the vegan food tip. I enjoyed the best iced soy latte I've ever had before at Island Joes Coffee. Help Yourself helped me to a wonderful smoothie, and the library had a very nice bathroom.

10. Annapurna - Albuquerque, NM USA

In 2007 and 2008, my work kept sending me to Albuquerque, NM. We were doing work at Kirtland, and we had to spend weeks at a time there. The first couple of times I went, I never got a chance to hit up Annapurna. The first time, I just missed it. I ended up at 20 Carrots for a shake and Fei's Cafe (which felt like Quan Yin minus Master Ching Hai). Nothing too memorable, really. But on the third trip, I went earlier than the other guys and made sure to hit up Annapurna right away. It was worth it. The fresh bread was heavenly and I gorged myself on all the food. I spent a whole evening sitting there working on my laptop and just enjoying myself. Later in the week, I would have a chance to go back to pick up sandwiches for a co-worker and myself. The meat eating coworker proclaimed the sandwich to be one of the best he ever had. Now that's cool. Another funny note, my manager at the time had a nephew who was working there. I happened upon him and surprised him by knowing his name and who is uncle was. It was chill. Great restaurant.

9. The Big Sur Bakery - Big Sur, CA USA

During the summer of 2002, the wife and I spent two amazing weeks driving up and down PCH1 in California. We saw it all. Hearst Castle, The Golden Gate Bridge, Hollywood, the works. We ate at a million wonderful spots and enjoyed all of it. The weirdest spot was probably the Inn of the Seven Rays. No one else was there, and it was decorated for a wedding. Very weird. One day while driving through beautiful mountains and dreading a potential dinner of french fries and salads, we found ourselves at The Big Sur Bakery. If you've never been through that area, let me tell you, there is nothing out there. Just road, trees and hippies. Not a bad thing but not the best thing for a starving vegan. Luckily, The Big Sur Bakery hooked us up. This was probably the first time I ever ate a wood fired pizza. And a pizza that didn't have red sauce. I went with a taco style pizza, black bean sauce. It was amazing. The crust was just crunchy enough, and the toppings were applied without over applying. It just worked. That restaurant found us, we didn't find it, that's for sure.

8b. Garden Grille Cafe - Providence, RI USA

Friends of ours moved to Pawtucket a few years back. We would visit on occasion and always had a blast. One night, we went out to this restaurant that was literally 3 blocks from their house. It was called The Garden Grille Cafe. The food immediately blew my mind. To this day, I still make my own version of the Crazy Weech (it's a shake with chocolate soy milk, bananas and peanut butter. Hmmm, so flipping good). The ingredients are always super fresh, there are a ton of vegan options and the food is just damn good. Sometimes a meal would be forgotten and we'd have to make a ruckus, but for the most part, every trip was enjoyable. We love hanging with our friends, and we loved going to The Garden Grille. One time we ran into Merrick there. And he ran into his ex-girlfriend's mother or some relationship like that. He spent most of the night entertaining our friends' baby, despite sitting at a totally different table. Of course, they have recently moved out of Pawtucket. I'm not sure what we'll do now.

8a. Udupi Bhavan - A few spots, Mass USA

I went to WPI in Worcester. I'm a computer nerd with a Master's degree. Learning about vegan indian food was perhaps the best part about being a grad student at WPI (just kidding, dad!). Many of the other grad students were Chinese, but one fellow, PUNIT, was from India. Not only that, but he was vegetarian to boot. When he discovered that I didn't eat meat either, we became life long friends. He turned us onto Udupi Bhavan. At this time, it was located in Ashland. We rode up one night not sure what to expect. We left with minds blown. It was amazing. I loved every bite. I especially loved the South Indian breads that I had never seen before (due to eating at mostly North Indian restaurants). Channa Batura? Yes please. And some vegetable samosas, thanks. One time, we took my family to eat there. My dad was so amazed by the batura that he took a picture of the waiter carrying it to our table. I don't think the waiter was keen on that. And one night, we saw Elijah from The Trust. His girl gave us the worst recipe for cheese cake we had ever made. Terrible recipe but great people. We followed them when they moved to the train station in Framingham too. It was bigger, but usually colder. Then one day, the door was shut, and it was closed. We thought forever. But it finally reopened in Shrewsbury, Mass. It was great. It doesn't hurt that right down the street are vegan cupcakes either ...

7b. Love & Haight - San Francisco, CA USA

I love sandwiches. I hit this spot up on the Bane / Strike Anywhere Dead Note tour of 2006. We stopped in San Francisco to scoop up our friend Kris Hallee. I probably hadn't spent that much time with him in 8+ years when he lived on John St. It was awesome. And we met up with my friend Plante too. She's great. Toss in some excellent sandwiches, and I'm sold. Of course, the lady behind the counter thought I was stealing drinks. In reality, I had grabbed the wrong juice and switched them out. Pomegranate and cranberry look pretty similar, but I wasn't in the mood for pomegranate. Great eats, followed by a day of checking out shops and getting a sweet tattoo. Overall, top notch day.

7a. Real Food Daily - Santa Monica, CA USA

I also hit up this joint on the Bane / Strike Anywhere tour. I'm pretty sure I had been there before with the wife, but she can't recall us eating there. Likely, I'm confusing our trip with another trip I took with friends the summer before. It happens. More than she would like, I bet. Anyway, this visit was especially great. I love hanging with friends, hitting the road, and seeing excellent shows. Great food and camaraderie never hurts. As we emptied the van, we then quickly filled the upstairs seating loft. Mostly just Bane heads, but Hallee was there. Stevie Fallis too. Just good times and good eats.

6. Eat & Two Veg - London, England

The wife and I hit up London in March of 2006 for some a little bit of vacation. I've always been enamored by the city. So we flew on over. It didn't hurt that I had two cousins from Australia living there at the time. We did the usual tourist stuff during the day, and met up with my family in the evening. I didn't want to get too fancy on them so we found this "american styled diner" where I was sure they'd be able to find something they could enjoy (they are both probably the opposite of vegan). And enjoy they did. Everyone had fabulous food and drink. I even splurged and picked up the whole bill (when I got back to America and saw the exchange rate, I nearly needed someone to pick me up off the floor). The food was excellent. But the real best was our waiter. He was this crazy American, and he was positive we had something in common. Whether it was some Worcester connection or a college connection, I can't recall. But he was POSITIVE that he knew me somehow. He didn't, but that's cool. It definitely made the meal more entertaining, that's for sure.

5. A Naestu Grosum - Reykjavik, Iceland

During a Valentine's Day getaway in 2005, the wife and I stumbled across this great restaurant. I was worried that vegan options in Iceland would be slim. I was 100% wrong. There are probably more vegan options in Reykjavik than there are in all of Connecticut and Rhode Island. The staff, actually, just the one lady who was hostess, manager, waitress and likely chef, served up some of the tastiest, most "rib sticking" food I have ever ate. In fact, this is the only place on earth where I have ever had seconds of spelt bread.

4. Some lovely hole in the wall - Le Rue Pic, near La Sacre Coeur Paris, France

Back in 2003, I was just graduating from WPI. I had no money, and wasn't having any luck finding a job. But one day, the wife came across an offer we couldn't pass up. It was a 7 day trip for two to Paris, France. Round trip flight, hotel and breakfast for 6 nights all for $1000. That's for TWO people. $500 each. How does that even work? I have no idea. Paris must have been having one hell of a recession. So being the adventurous sort, we went. And we ended up staying at this awesome little hotel on Rue Lepic. We had a balcony, and I would sit out there in the morning and again at night just watching the people. It was one of the happiest times of my life. Up the hill from our hotel was this nice little vegetarian restaurant. I think it was run by a husband and wife. We went twice. Both times, we arrived before they even opened. The wife and I are obviously blue plate special types, eating at 5 or 530. They ushered us in, and we sat and waited. The food was excellent, and the open air seating was excellent. I breathed it all in. It was an excellent feeling.

3. Lily Pad - Worcester, Mass USA

A feather in Worcester's vegan cap. This place was the bomb. After years and years of being assaulted by Quan Yin and MSG, this place opened up and a ray of sunshine hit Worcester. It was amazing. It was fantastic. The service was probably worse than Quan Yin, but the food ... the food was without compare. Remember those teriyaki strips? Damn. Soo good. This was the place to go to eat in Worcester. Every time you were in there, you'd run into someone you knew. Often times, you'd run into someone you lived with who happened to be dining their with a new girl. This happened on more than one occasion. When it closed, we all wore black for weeks. Even the rumors of them moving to Northampton couldn't cheer us up. Of course, they were just rumors.

2. Red Bamboo - Manhattan, New York, New York USA

Seriously. Nothing really needs to be said that you haven't read before about the excellent food. Many a Saturday was spent driving from Worcester to NYC. We'd eat at Red Bamboo for lunch, walk around the Lower East Side shops then hit up VP2 for dinner. Or the other way around. Many lunches went down here prior to shows at CBGBs too. Pre Final Mosh eats, pre Cro-Mags eats, Pre Mental / Bold eats ... This is another joint where you'd run into a million people you knew. Brandie Bailey, Rest In Peace.

1. Quan Yin - Worcester, Mass USA

Without a doubt, my first vegan dining experience. And I use the term "dining" lightly but in the most loving fashion. The food was super cheap, like super, super cheap, and tasty. But the service was ungodly. Normally it was just Joann running the whole show so I suppose it was understandable. One time she dumped a whole STYROFOAM cup of tea on my lap. She gave us free black bean pudding that trip. We had a joke that it didn't matter what entree you ordered, as they were all the same. After a few visits, I stopped ordering entrees. I would stick with the 21 with tofu & rice, steamed bun and a couple order of the "new" nuggets. This was the place to go and get food from. I attended a high school graduation party that was catered by Quan Yin. Best. Party. Food. Ever. Another time, I ate at a table squeezed into the corner in a chair pulled from behind the refrigerator because every other table and chair was filled by a party of 11. It was some girl's 16th birthday and she had brought her whole family to Quan Yin. Even Gran was enjoying the vegan eats. After a few years, I couldn't even order that. The MSG would kill me. And the ambiance? Wow. Master Ching Hai. She knows what's up. Sadly, Joann folded up the shop this year. After who knows how many years of being open. Crazy to think I ate at that restaurant for 12 years. Why can't Buddha Hut have steamed buns??

A few days back, I noticed a vegan acquaintance (I can't recall if I have met this person in real life, otherwise I would call him "friend." But I know we have talked over various online platforms over the years) was bumming around Las Vegas. He's vegan, I'm vegan.

He mentioned one day that he was going to Ronalds. In fact, here's the message. Key words, "dear ronald's, please have lots of vegan donuts ready for me tomorrow and sunday." Now that's what I'm talking about.

When I saw that, I jokingly responded, "uh, hey, where are my donuts from Ronalds?"

3 days later:

Homeboy shipped a few to me OVERNIGHT. They tasted amazing. It really was one of the best days ever. Also worth noting, these donuts were free. He just shipped them to me. No donut fees, no shipping fees, just one vegan hooking up another vegan. What about that?

Scott, if you read this, I owe you man. Big.

ps. The Tino got a new blankie.

Dec 12, 2009

Club Oasis / London Billiards

70 James St

$10

Outbreak, Soul Control, Mountain Man, Institutionalized & Dead Last

70 James St is basically the Espresso Bar. Awesome joint. E-Bar

Animal Instinct is hard. They make me think of Judge. That is if Judge had been formed in Cleveland instead of New York. I can definitely see Animal Instinct splitting a bill with early Integrity & Confront. Maybe playing Chubby's bday bash with PX (was that all one show?).

Also, Animal Instinct just dropped this EP on a new record label out of Switzerland, Take It Back Records. This record label is run by at least one solid dude. Christian Unsinn is a name I can recall for well over 10 years. I probably first saw him pop up on the old xmulletx swap site (and possibly the message board). Over the years, he has worked on lots of cool projects, including the GLWDRK magazine I reviewed years back. Seems like a solid dude with a solid game plan:

TAKE IT BACK is a new label dedicated to hardcore/punk. TAKE IT BACK is not about ringtones and wallpapers, it’s not about weekly newsletters. It’s about being active within the hardcore/punk community, it’s about friendship, and most important: it’s about fun.

TAKE IT BACK supports a vegetarian lifestyle.

I can back ALL of these things. And it feels like Animal Instinct can too. Their style is hard, but you definitely get a "we're doing this for all the right reasons" vibe from their sound. There is a very genuine attitude to the whole thing.

My one b33f is with the artwork. Upon first glance, I thought I was seeing a Straight Ahead rip off. But it's not. Instead, there is a jaguar crushing the throat of the king of the jungle. Subconsciously, I then equated this album to one upping the Straight Ahead 12" EP. We all know that is not possible. That album is unfuckwithable. No doubt. Likely, I'm reading too much into it. Plus, the fold out poster insert is awesome -- very frameable.

Head on over to the myspace pages to pick up the EP. Grab me a white tee in medium while you are at it. And if that doesn't work for you, try your luck on Ebay. You never know what you may find.

Chris Daily hits us up with an update. Can't wait to see this book. I think I'll have to get in on that pre-order!

The book is at the printer! The new website is live, and pre-orders are now being taken. Here is your chance to pre-order the book at a discounted price. Plus there is also an option to get the book and a limited edition, pre-order only t-shirt package deal.

The new website includes a few page spread visuals, pre-order package deals, and a promo video trailer that, I am sure will get you psyched for the book. Jim Martin, famed Anthrax era flyer artist, designed a limited edition t-shirt for those interested in a package deal, this will only be available through this pre-order offer.

http://www.anthraxclubbook.com

BOOK RELEASE PARTY: November 27th in New Haven CT at Cafe 9 (http://cafenine.com). Lost Generation and Powersurge will re-unite to blast thru sets like it was 1989 (there could be one more band as well). Free food, door prizes/give-aways (Revelation Records, Equal Vision Records, Livewire Records, Brass City Tattoo, Shopshogun Screen Printing, Smorgasbord Records, and more), books for sale, a family re-union of sorts, etc. Details are still being worked out and will be announced shortly. There will also be a smaller all ages event earlier that day in CT as well, again details need worked out.

Book Notes:
- A complete history of the club
- Forward by Moby
- Preface by Porcell
- Complete gig list from 1982 - 1990
- Over 225 never before seen photographs
- 208 pages, 7.0" x 10.0", perfect bound book

Don't sleep on this one! Watch the trailer and get chills. Amazing.

Summer 2009 is one for the record books. It was just a real good summer. In also seemed like it was all about Bane. In fact, it felt more exciting than Summer 1999 (as far as Bane goes).

1999:

June 7 1999 @ The Space Worcester Mass: Bane, Ten Yard Fight, The Swarm, Adamantium, Embrace Today ("The sooner more people get naked, the sooner we play again." Zach)

June 10 1999 @ Mcternan's Studio in DC: Bane backups for Give Blood

August 27 1999 @ Merrimack College North Andover Mass: Bane, Garrison, Errortype:11, Mid Carson July, Little Dipper

2009:

June 20, 2009 @ Blenders NYC: Sick Of It All, Bane, Capital, Inhuman

June 25, 2009 @ Some Studio Wakefield (fixed), Mass: Bane backups for the two new EPs

August 09, 2009 @ The Palladium downstairs Worcester, Mass: 10 For 10 Tour: Bane, Terror, This Is Hell, Poison The Well, ...

August 13, 2009 @ ICC Allston Mass: Bane, The Suicide File, Alpha & Omega, Foundation, Harms's Way, Convicted

August 15, 2009 @ Some Venue in Long Island, NY: Bane, This Is Hell

August 16, 2009 @ Starlight Ballroom, Philly PA: This Is Hardcore Fest: Bane, Blacklisted, Ceremony, Wisdom in Chains, Trapped Under Ice, Reach The Sky ...

Let me start with some pictures. Here are a few from the Blenders gig.

I know. You're thinking, WTF? Well, I was selling merch for most of the evening (except during Bane). That's ok, though. Blenders has the merch downstairs, and they very smartly have flatscreens all over the place showing the gig upstairs. That's good and bad. Good for merch dudes, partially bad for bands because people can chill downstairs while still "attending" the show. Good gig. Met Mario.

Ok, now here are some shots from the Bane merch table at This Is Hardcore. Noticing a trend here?

Quality merch. The kids ate it up. I felt bad for the kid I sold the XS longsleeve to with the hole in the shoulder. But his girl definitely wanted it, even after they returned it and re-bought it. That's a quality fan.

Big Bob taking a breather and Justin checking for that color vinyl. Good dudes.

Obviously the best hair cut of the weekend. Great look.

Get ready for some blurry pics of Reach The Sky and Bane now. Squint and shake your head while viewing them. That could clear them up some.

Brothers from different mothers?

And then it was over, and the crowds left. Quiet times. Of course, Bane was the last band out. Bedard and Co had to say goodbye to every single band and person in the venue, it seemed.

Finally, a good blackmail pic. So goofy.

Yeah, summer of 2009 was a good one. Hit up the beach a few times, did some camping, saw plenty of great shows, and an awesome time. No complaints here. It made me feel like a kid again (even on those weekends when I had to go to work).

Lets hope winter 2009/2010 can compete with winter 99/00.

Lately, I've been very UP on cycling. I've been trying to ride as much as possible. You can imagine that's difficult when you have

a) dogs that need walking
b) a mortgage that needs paying
c) a house that needs upkeep
d) a job that needs to be kept

Yes, all these things can add up, but I've been squeezing in miles whenever I get a chance. And not just that, but I've started to religiously follow various biking blogs. Everything from NYC Bike Snob to Fat Cyclist all the way over to prolly. Each of those guys has an extreme view coming from completely different angles of the sport & culture (especially in prolly's case).

At the end of the day, it's all motivation to go out and ride. And that's what I've been doing. I introduced my commuter ride a over 12 months ago, and here you can see it in action.

Day #1:

Getting the job done (or getting to the job):

Here's a sweet view from my office. Check the conference room in the back of the following pic.

(did you notice the poorly attached saddle bag? Whoops, it's been fixed since then)

There's something wrong with the heating system in that room so I frequently have to put up with loud, open door meetings. Usually it isn't so bad. Sometimes, however, there'll be that one ungodly loud telecon speaker. Oooofffff, diss.

That picture was actually taken one Saturday when I had to come in. Yeah, not cool, but at least it gave me the opportunity to ride. When it all boils down, that's what it is about. Getting out and riding. So coming from a bike that was found in my friend's basement, I think we've come a pretty long way. And look forward to going even further.

Now get out and ride.