|
For the two or three of you out there who haven’t heard yet: during last weekend’s Dressed To Kiss tribute show/debacle at The State (sometimes referred to as Kim, Ravis, and Donnie’s cigarette and beer repository), Weekly Planet journalist/editor/music addict Eric Snider suffered some fairly serious facial burns during an onstage fire-breathing episode gone horribly wrong. Eric is reportedly fine, so, before we begin the requisite merciless tauntage, we just want to let the man know that we’re glad he’s okay, to apologize in advance for our inability to treat this subject with the proper solemn tone, and to remind him to, ahem, keep his chin up.
In completely unrelated news, a two-minute slow-motion video clip of some guy setting his face on fire is now available through StateMedia Video Concepts, Ltd. Interested parties may send $10.98 (check or money order payable to David Hundley) to:
Some Guy Setting His Face On Fire Video
687 Central Avenue
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
Postpunk quartet Althea have been working the online thing quite heavily of late. Their lauded Ladders To Climb And Stones To Throw EP is now available at both www.interpunk.com and www.punkwarehouse.com ; all upcoming releases will likely show up on their lists as well. Distant Rise Records (just add the old dot-com to those three words for their website address) will put out the next Althea recordings on a ten-inch, to be followed by another disc around July, after the band returns from a May tour supporting River City High. Learn all about it at Unshared Worldwide’s site, http://welcome.to/unshared …in other Unshared news, the imprint will be re-releasing The Simpletons’ This One’s For All The Beautiful Babies full-length disc, which sold out of its original pressing of one thousand in about ten minutes last year. They’re also looking for bands that don’t suck for contributions to an upcoming CD tribute to The Who… Femme-fronted Bay area outfit Book Of Shadows will host a bill of like-minded (i.e. their singers are, like, chicks) bands at The Mug on April 21. Their tune ‘Good Thing’, from the new CD Magic, recently saw some spin action over at WMNF 88.5. BOS will also take part in a Psychic Fair and Festival at Tampa Universalist Unitarian Church on May 20, as well as donating their talents for entertainment at this year’s Cancer Walk the same weekend. Not a lot of information about the Walk as of yet, but bands interested in playing for the cause can contact Gina G. at 813.928.6817…speaking of spins, did anyone hear Bubba and crew extolling the virtues of Car Bomb Driver a couple of weeks ago? Some things truly do defy all manner of rationale…Tampa strangepop duo FunKruze have been picked up by Chicago’s Thrill Jockey Records. The duo are planning to relocate to The Windy City, and are already slated to tour Europe with Low and Sam Prekop. Congratulations…local eccentric songwriter Mark McManus recently scored a gig as soundtrack coordinator for famed Nickelodeon toon Rugrats, replacing DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh… renegade guy-who-brings-killer-obscure-bands-to-town Jack Spatafora has a trio of interesting bills set up for your aural edification. Pedro The Lion, Ida, and T.W. Walsh will be at New World Brewery this Friday, April 14; Timonium, Damon (of The Swirlies), and Akasha are scheduled for Sunday, April 16 at Orphuem; and Seely and National Skyline (with opener TBA) will also perform at Orpheum on April 27. Both venues are, of course, tucked away in the ever-more-nauseating environs of Ybor City. Thanks for the sonics, Jack… Sparky’s Nightmare seem to have struck some kind of unholy musical alliance with The Flapcats; both bands appear on the following three bills: Friday, April 21 @ Spurs (Ybor City, w/Hangtown); Wednesday, April 26 @ Orpheum (w/Elston Gunnn); and Saturday, April 29 @ Dave’s (on Gandy, with a bunch of enthusiastic biker types)… Gainesville-based perfectopawp conglomerate The Pawn Rook Four will be participating in this year’s International Pop Overthrow festival out in Los Angeles during the first week in August. The PR4, who are occasionally also known as The Band That Cried Tampa (as in, when they finally do play a date here, no one will believe it’s for real), are now looking for a new drummer as well as a new bass player (former Noah’s Red Tattoo guitarist Aaron is currently covering on bass; interestingly enough, he’s also filling in on guitar for everybody’s favorite G-ville rock outfit, Slack Season). Get the skinny at www.thepr4.com …last issue, we intimated that former Silver frontman Kole Kruger might’ve been rehearsing with some unknown dudes (great band name, as in The Unknown Dudes). Well, said unknown dudes turned out to be Mike Norcia and Brent Baker – the new trio is called The Spoils, and, uh, that’s all we know. Look for them soon at yer favorite mini-stadium…props to the Puddin’ Hogs for their current, clever Reefer Madness-inspired poster campaign, quite stylish, lads. PH will host an evening of groovecore mayhem at The State on April 22, along with Voodoo Tribe, Dreadknot, and Gone Mad…saw a kid or two wearing a Jackie Papers t-shirt just recently, reminding me to remind you that Chris and his posse of lovelies are going to be down in Sarasota for an April 22 shindig at Light Painter Gallery. Wisenheimer and the semi-mythic HCA round out the show, and, holy shit, there’ll be dollar drafts all night long. Oh, yeah, Heidi Papers is putting holes in people for a living now, if you’re considering another surgical steel ornament…once-buzzed, but still excellent pop machine Orbit will be returning to the Bay area for an April 23 Orpheum set. Everone’s favorite Insane Clown Posse impersonators, Spiller, provide support, as do relative rookies The Exies… Time for another 87X benefit. The Tampa pirate radio station continues to bring irreverent cutting-edge broadcasting to at least forty or fifty square blocks; but who among you doesn’t dial in when driving around downtown on your way somewhere, just hoping to catch a little before you’re out of the zone? Dumbwaiters, ThreePio, Marc McManus, and TwoMinusThree have graciously signed on for the April 21 soiree at Orpheum. All proceeds from the door (four bucks, nine-thirty) will go directly toward sticking it to the FCC man… Hey, remember Brainiac’s Daughter? Four-piece, female singer/keyboardist, slightly Old Wave-influenced postpawp? Played everywhere up until November? Is any of this ringing a bell? Oh, you fickle bastards. Chris and K-Jo must’ve dug up some decent backing musicians somewhere (apparently, once you’ve had Woody, nothing else quite satisfies), because they’ve got a show coming up at Orlando’s Holy Grail for Tampa bands that don’t suck, The Sapphire Supper Club, on April 21. Worth the drive, just to find out what the new tuneage is like (they’ve been demoing material nonstop over the past four months); their only other confirmed date is as part of Livestock’s slate of local originals… Blaring pop outfit Bite Size, recently upgraded to quartet format with the addition of guitarist Bob Anthony, are still putting the finishing touches on their soon-to-be-unleashed full-length disc. Check them out at one of the following gigs: April 19 @ The Mug w/The Timversion, High Strung; April 29 @ New World Brewery w/Cider (from Orlando); May 13 @ The Mug w/Sagoh, Darwin’s Tattoo, Carnival Of Souls… rambunctious punk-reggae trio Crizzy @ The Punx will be at Keegan’s Clubhouse in Sarasota on April 22; Tao will also provide organized sounds. Get there well before midnight to witness great tunes and a lot of fun, skinny-guy flesh. CATP are sheduled to hit Panda Studios this weekend, and hope to get the majority of their second full-length CD (their first has sold, like, a whole bunch all over the Eastern Seaboard) laid down on the 15th and 16th. As always, get your fill of ‘em at www.crizzy.com … Sarasota-bred eclectic, intergender phenomenon Elysian Sex Drive is currently hunting for a drummer, a bassist, and a horn section (enter joke about the chicks driving all the guys out of the band here). They’ve been around for several years now, and have built themselves a pretty loyal throng on the strength of their shows. Interested parties can check out their tunes at mp3.com, visit the website at www.drive.to/elysiansexdrive , email the goils at ESDWEARE1@aol.com , or simply pick up the phone (drummers and bass players, don’t be ashamed to ask someone how it works, that’s the only way you’ll learn) and contact Kat at 941.365.0274… The Skatepark Of Tampa will be hosting a late-afternoon punk-ass matinee this Saturday, April 16. Locals Oddjob, Crooked Edge, and one more to be named later will hold their own...And now for some Hangtown news, of both the informative and enigmatic varieties. Informative: the band will soon be mixing their second full-length at Rt. 1 Studios in Monticello, Mississippi. The album will be released by Black Dog Records, the imprint which brought you Marah, The Hilltops (aka Blue Mountain), and The Mertons. Expect a fall 2000 release. See ‘em at the aforementioned April 21 Spurs show. Enigmatic: “Come and check out local roots rockers Hangtown Saturday night April 15 at the much anticipated Backyard Bash. Call 813.884.2305 for additional information and directions”. Uh, okay… Harry Dash’s shiny new full-length, Modern Life, is now available at www.amazon.com . Safe, secure credit-card ordering, and they bring it right to your house, so you won’t hurt yourself or anyone else. HD will be headlining the Third Annual Pasco Rock N’ Read fest-type thing at Crews Lake Park in Pasco County on Thursday, April 20, as well as judging the new band competition. Become fully informed by logging onto www.harrydash.com at your earliest convenience… veteran jazz composer/horn player Ira Sullivan will be making a trip up from his home in Miami for an April 30 concert at The State. Accompanying Sullivan will be locals Richard Drexler (piano), Mark Neuenschwander (bass), John Jenkins (drums), and Andy Foertsch (trombone). Tickets for this once-in-a-weekend experience are twelve bucks, but we’ll hack it on down to ten if you, you know, like jazz enough to belong to some sort of jazz-oriented organization (Nazi Skinheads for Eternal Jazz excepted)… KimMystrY will be playing at Clearwater’s Gasoline Alley on April 15. BONUS: Wishbone and Damn The Torpedoes will be on hand as well. www.kymmystry.com … Word on the street has it that NMG Records will be re-releasing all three albums by Atheist, the former band of Neurotica frontman Kelly Shaefer. The first CD, Piece of Time, is slated for an April 20 let-go, and all albums are said to feature additional, rare, and unreleased material. Neurotica are, of course, going to be rawking you at Livestock… New York City-based swing ensemble Jet Set Six will be playing at Ybor City’s Italian Club (1731 East 7th Avenue) on April 30; this cultural event will be brought to you by the fine folks at the Suncoast Swing Gang, purveyors of SwingNews. To become one with them, hit the website – www.swingnews.com … Self-described ‘Casio Army’ Spacious International is currently finishing up their debut album. I have a copy, ‘tis very rad noise indeed. Screw Music Forever will be releasing the eponymous disc sometime this month to dance floors, coffeehouse sofas, and beanbag n’ headphones combinations everywhere. It “pretty much covers the music range, spacey pop to proggy instrumentals, that SI became noted for following their live debut way back in the fall of 1998”. Check Gerald and crew out on May 6 at Orpheum, when they’ll share the stage with New York’s own eccentric songwriter Roger Manning… The most excellent Ashes of Grisum have some sound files for you up at mp3. Go to them now, those who enjoy the broken stained-glass beauty of the morning after the worst night of your life. Poetic, huh? Thanks. AoG will be taking part in a WBUL food drive and concert on the evening of April 14, along with Red Tide, Crash Mitchell, Lukali (?!), Pilots v. Aeroplanes, The Chase Theory, DJ Skinny, DJ DRM, and a few more. Some canned goods get you into The USF Special Events Center around eight, and the tuneage begins at nine. Why are you only hearing about this killer scenario now, probably Friday, on the can at your apartment? I cannot tell you, baby. It seems that a little more promotion would have been in order… Um, White Lion singer Mike Tramp (his given name, I swear) will be at Frankie’s Patio on April 19. Why in the world should you care? Good question. The answer is, because locals John Wesley (guitarist/songwriter fresh off his tour with Fish from Marillion) and Mark Prator (drums, ditto) are going to be touring with the man who penned ‘When The Children Cry’, that’s why. So is Jimmy James, though not the loveable News Radio character, but the guy who toured with Tommy Tutone back when it mattered. Laugh, cry, support John and Mark, would ya… South Florida band Nonpoint has just signed with MCA Records. The full-length the band has been working on will now be released by the big, big biggie, sometime in late fall. The outfit plans to shoot a video at Fort Lauderdale’s Fu-Bar next month… Those who indulge in the occasional jazz cigarette need to pay attention to this one. The American Cannabis Society’s SpringFling Fundraiser will be held at Skipper’s Smokehouse on April 25. Nobody cares if you want it legalized for your own selfish concerns, as long as you show up and support, and no, you won’t go into that telephone book-sized file the government stores somewhere deep in the bowels of the earth. The Gita, Meadowlark Lemon, and Buffalo Strange will perform.
Ask, ponder, fret. When will people stop talking about Mark and Beaver’s involvement with Pagan Saints? Damn, I haven’t seen Will for months, but everywhere I go people are jawing on it. Is Althea going to score some spots on the final Piebald tour? Are certain persons angling to take up space at a new shop on 9th St. (by Coney Island) for cool sales and all-ages shows? The message board at coffeestain.com holds the secrets to Livestock’s Local Lineup (consonance, the harder side of alliteration, folks). Are NutraJeff headed out to Lost Wages for this year’s slew of pop festivals? Are Barely Pink? Will a certain bald suit-and-tie guy be joining them on bass? Did anyone see Discount in the latest issue of Spin? Hey, didn’t they break up?
|
