Ok, I’m going to try something a little new here. From here on out, the front page will be devoted to “What’s New” in the scene. New vinyl, new shirts, new merch, new bands, upcoming events/shows, … everything along those lines, as I see fit. So send those pics my way, and let’s get this thing going.
Peace.
Back in 1994, I got a cd by this band called Naked Aggression. At the time, I remember being blown away by the sound. Sure, punk rock with female vocals. But it was more than that. It was the empowered and slightly acidic bite that really pulled me in. I recall playing that cd over and over again, always ready to turn down the volume in case my mom came in the room.
Offsides reminds me heavily of Naked Aggression updated for 2007 (holy crap, how is Naked Aggression still a band in 2007? Jeez, mind blowing), and a little less in your face. The political undertones are there and so is the biting edge. There is also a guy in the band named Bearded Jon. No correlation to Naked Aggression, just pretty cool. I can’t grow a beard so I’ll probably never be nicknamed Bearded Brian (which sounds pretty cool). Jealousy, I guess.
You can check out Offsides on Myspace or at just about any show in CT. In fact, either way you investigate, I’m sure you can hear some demo tracks and see pics/live action. Support CTHC. Peace.
This weekend I was hanging with my brother and his girlfriend. We were moving them from one street over to another street. It was a pretty easy actually. While moving, I saw something in a box that caused me to stop and stare. It was a mid 80s Lance Mountain black Future Primitive deck with a weird hole drilled into the middle (later, I learned it was a warped deck made into a clock, done by Powell – Peralta. She won it in a raffle. Wow.). My mind was blown. Of course, I forgot to get pics. It looked like this.
But I did get pics of the last deck she rode. My mind was again blown back.
What about those risers? And 63mm Blind wheels. Jason Lee would be proud.
Then she pulled out this shirt. Read it and weep. Check those signatures.
Let’s see who signed that bad boy? Jim Thiebaud, Kevin Harris, Steve Saiz, oh and Mike Vallely.
Let’s just say I never would have guessed. So this blog post goes out to Ne Ne. Props. Ne Ne, if you are read this, thanks for sharing. I’m sure my friend will hound me forever after these pics.
I received 2 more pairs of Nike Dunks to stuff. Not sure why I procrastinated so long in getting the work done, but I did. Thankfully, the final product looks great. Hopefully, the customer thinks they were worth the wait too. Judge for yourself.
Doors were at 6pm. The show was supposed to start at 6:30. Here’s the crowd being a little restless because the show didn’t start until 7:30. This was courtesy of Bane jack knifing the van at the end of Pete’s driveway and holding up the backline.
First up was Soul Control. Jim C, Matt Dude and dudes. Real dudes. Good band. Great set.
Before I Rise hit the stage, I decided it was a good time to play with various settings on my camera. After all, if I’m going to get any better, I should probably know what all the little buttons and doo hickeys do.
More black and white.
This time in color.
This time real blurry.
Hey, still blurry.
I Rise had a great set. Kids were moshing, Pauley Edge was singing along, the home town scene was super supportive. Also nice to see Nicky X’d up. You almost wouldn’t know he was straight edge based on his hair. HA!
Ambitions was up next. Same reaction as the night before basically, and pretty much the same set. This time, no Misfits cover though.
Verse hit the stage next. The guitarist had a blow out in his pants, but that didn’t stop him from rocking out. It didn’t even phase Sean.
Drafty
Bane rounded out the night nicely. The crowd was super young, but a lot of the older songs still got a great reaction. Possibly one of the smallest turn outs I’ve seen for Bane in Worcester since 98. This didn’t stop Bane from having a blast. And it definitely didn’t stop the kids from having a blast.
At one point, Raio stole my camera and started taking random pics. I think he does this with every camera he can find. Also, Amanda P felt the urge to do the same thing. She however wanted to take pics of muffin tops and beards. Most of those pics came out super blurry so they got the ax. Here’s what made the cut.
Mikey covering a beard
Amanda P demonstrating her style in an XL Bane hood
Tour tradition. Stevie would have captured it better.
Way back on March 4th, after the Celtics game, I grabbed Bedard and we headed to New London, CT. The Geeks, Ambitions, Down To Nothing, Bane and a few other bands. Here’s the crowd at various points through out the night. It was a little weird. It seemed real empty, but finally during Ambitions and Bane, it really filled in.
Deep thinking
Upping the Artsy Fartsy scale
More Arty
Super Arty
First up was Down To Nothing. Literally, someone else played before them, but I missed them. Down To Nothing rips. Dave is a pos man through and through.
Then The Geeks hit the stage. The Geeks ripped too. Ki was dropping knowledge on people, and the residents of CT were appreciative. For a dude who isn’t a native English speaker, he still did a great job of saying insightful ideas. Some deep philosophical shit too. Ki was also front and center singing along to every band. He is probably the Korean Pat Flynn.
After The Geeks, another band played. They talked shit on Bane merch.
No pics of that band. But they did smash a cake over someone’s head and made a super slippery mess on stage. Here’s Stevie working his super roady skills.
Next up was Ambitions. CT is lucky they have such an awesome band. And the new songs are starting to grow on me. THE ILLUSION!!!
Wrapping up the night was Bane. They set it off correctly, and the crowd was into it. Overall, great set. Good mix of old and new.
Best Pic I Took All Night
Here are some goofy/ chill shots. Enjoy.
Illin w/ Canada
Great night, great dudes, chill venue. Good times.
Mother Night is the name of a classic novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. It’s about a German during WWII who becomes a big minister of Nazi propaganda but is secretly an American spy. It’s a deep book with a lot of political and philosophical undertones, as can be expected of a Vonnegut book. I am a big fan of the author and book.
Mother Night is also the name of a band from New Jersey. They have nothing in common with Vonnegut or the Mother Night story. Their sound is in that laid back hardcore vein. The kind that you can slow mosh to but it’s hard to finger point or really sing along. Catchy choruses are not the meat and potatoes of this album. Their myspace page lists the following sounds-likes “Burn, Quicksand, 108, Eleven Thirty-Four, Undertow, Pantera, the apocalypse.” I don’t really hear most of that. Maybe 108, maybe. In my mind, this band reminds me more of an apolitical Suicide File, but hey, that’s just me.
You can find more info on Mother Night at their Myspace page. They have a couple of tracks up and some cool pics.
Spooky, right? Also spooky is the fact that the bassist is named CC. And no, it’s not that CC.
The other day, I was interviewed for Decibel Magazine. Check your newstands. I think I’m part of the April article. Anyway, I needed a pic to go along with my portion of the interview. I asked a few dudes for some 300 DPI pics, specifically, Dan Future-Breed and Illissa, but no luck. No reply from Dan, and Melissa said I was pulling a mosh retirement the day she was around with her camera. Unlikely. That’s what I said.
So Briggs and I took on the job. Now remember, I’m no Dobek. My picture taking skills aren’t so pro. So we hit the streets. We started here.
Then we hit the streets for our afternoon walk. I was racking my brains on a good pic when I pulled this one.
Getting closer. I then realized something was missing. ME! So I went for this shot.
Better, better, but something still seemed lacking. Then I hit this pic and felt good.
It was a good thing I pulled that last pic because around the next corner, we ran into IAMON. And he doesn’t mess around.
That’s it. I sent the pic to Decibel. We’ll see how it goes. I might need to resubmit something that works better. We’ll see. Dan, if you are reading this, hit me up. Peace.
2 weeks back, I went to the New Garden for a PG rated bachelor party. It was so family friendly that the bachelor’s dad was there. It was nice. A good game. The C’s won in double overtime. But I did have to sit next to a guy wearing a Timberwolves jersey. Yuck. Here are some ridiculous pics.
I got props on these sneakers
Here are some dudes chilling in the crowd
And finally, here I am FAPE spotting. Artsy too.
Overall, good times. I’d do it again.
I know I’ll never be Ansel Adams, but I’m working on taking & framing better pictures. I’ll probably post up some random shots from here on out, so get ready for something a little different.
I am just trying to keep up with the Dobeks. You know?