Upcoming Shows: Nationwide Edition

I'm going to try something new: Instead of focusing on New Mexico's local shows, I'm going to post flyers for shows throughout the country. Simply scroll down until you see your region, then check out what shows are coming to a bar/warehouse/slum near you. The U.S.A is a pretty big place, so this will be broken up into two parts: Part 1 will focus on the West and it's various sub-regions, and Part 2 will tackle the rest. You ready? Me neither. Let's do this.

West Coast:

Ghoul is fuckin' ace. The rest of the line up is pretty good too, but let's face it. Most of us would pay the $30  just to see Ghoul. 

So-Cal goes old-school. This show is happening in Ponoma, CA. Having never been there, I can't give you directions. I hope it's literally in a Glass House. 

Southwest: 

Holy crap, that's alot of bands in one day. I'm proud to say that Defleshment hails from my home state of New Mexico, and they have even been interviewed by Native Entertainment magazine. They will be sharing the stage with tons of talented bands at the Rocky Point Cantina in Tempe, Arizona.  Brutal Fest is happening this Saturday, so get your tickets before they sell out!

Speaking of Arizona, that's the place that Anomaly calls home. They will be playing at Warehouse 21, Santa Fe's only all-ages venue. I thought that this show was tomorrow, but since it's currently 2 A.M, I guess it's technically tonight!!

Later on, in the fine month of June, Warehouse 21 once again hosts an epic Metal show. Scalafrea from Colorado is one hell of a band, and Eat A Helicopter is Experimental DeathCore. Basically, if you come, expect some insane mosh pits. Not to mention the rest of the line up, which is comprised entirely of shredders.

This one is in Albuqurque's own Hooligans nightclub. Once again, the line up is pretty righteous, but I have a feeling that Torn Between Worlds will be the band that draws a crowd like moths to a flame. 

Torture Victim is releasing their new album! It's about damn time, too. Not for the faint of heart, lest you have a faint heart attack. 

Northwest:

This beast of a concert will take place in Studio Seven of Seattle, Washington. Fun Fact: Seattle is also home to the brilliant Stoner-Metal group Serial Hawk!

Midwest:

Goat Entertainment presents Shawn Whitaker at The What's Up Lounge in Mankato, Minnesota. I wish I could post more flyers in this region, but it took me about an hour just to find this gem. 

Wow, this is harder than I thought. And I'm not even half-way done! Iron-clad deals suck. Stay tuned for Part 2: Eastern America.  

Recent Concerts: Reliving The Memories

Have I mentioned that it's a pain in the ass to type up reviews on a smart phone? It warrants repeating, regardless. This sucks. But on the bright side, I've been so swamped with awesome metal shows that my ears are still ringing. Anyway, here's what went down recently:

 

Much like Dante was unable to express the beauty of heaven in his Paradiso, despite the fact that he's a fuckin' famous poet, I can not articulate how sick this show was. Exhumed and Jungle Rot autographed my back-issue of Decibel magazine, and they put on one hell of a show too. Other than Fields Of Elysium, I have not seen any of these bands live before. The only way I can describe it is like getting hit by a Semi-truck and experiencing a spontaneous orgasm upon impact.

So basically, check the tour dates for Despise The World 2013 and book tickets in advance. It will hit your neck of the woods before you know it. Hey, if you're lucky, maybe you'll even get an after-party like we did in Albuqurque.

The very next day was the 9th Annual Music Night at the Museum of International Folk Art. It doesn't have a flyer, because I guess gallery artists find them too uncouth. Well, I did start a museum-mosh-pit for the 2nd year in a row, and that is VERY couth. I also drank tons of their fancy-pants sparkling cranberry juice and made some obscene crayon drawings. Did I mention the whole thing was to raise awareness of AIDS/HIV? It was a good night. 

I digress... There were only 2 bands that rocked hard enough for my memory to even retain their existence. They are Sun Plexus and On Believer. Sun Plexus is a female fronted alternative rock band. Basically, think Sublime meets The Pixies. And god-damn, can that guitarist make his instrument wail. Although I did love their music, we all know my heart lies elsewhere, in heavier territory...

On Believer is a Metalcore group comprised entirely of high-schoolers. It's not what you think. They are a lot better than some whiney Bullet For My Valentine cover band. In fact, I'm impressed that such young kids have so much talent. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely room for improvement. But if they sound this decent so early on in the game, I can't wait to see them realize their full potential in the near future.

 

The very next day was Dungeonfest, which I  was unable to attend. Chances are, if you're reading my blog, you didn't see it either, and that makes me feel better for some reason. 

Actually, no it doesn't. We both missed a pretty sick line-up. Regicide is old-school grind metal, Carrion Kind is thrashy death metal, Savage Wizdom is traditional heavy metal in the vein of NWOBHM, and Blinddryve is like Nu-Metal. 

In my defense, who the hell wakes up on 4/20 before 2 PM? No-one I know, that's for sure. 

Now to reduce my thoughts to a simple numeric value for each respective event: 

Despise The World Tour obviously gets five stars:

 

 The 9th Annual Music Showcase gets 3:

 And I get a frowny face for being a slacker and not even getting off my ass to see Dungeonfest.

Upcoming Shows

I love being 21. Nothing is better than getting smashed and listening to awesome, insane, loud music. For instance...

              If that's not your thing, slightly more marketable/mainstream music is coming to the Sunshine Theater on the 30th.

  

                                     Or, you can check this out, and Scream It Like You Mean It. AAAAHHHH!!

This Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Joe Angel Productions presents Destroy It All Tour, featuring Epiphany, Carry Your Ghost, and some other crazy Metal bands. Doors open at 7 PM, cost is $7, location is the Gasworks.

Tomorrow, Warehouse 21 is hosting an all-ages show featuring HN-88, as well as up-and-coming band The Regulars. I've never heard of any of the other bands, but since I know the aformentioned artists are both Pop-Punk, I'll assume the whole line-up is similar. Besides, their flyer is an elephant in a suit. Anyway, doors open at seven, the cost is  $5, and no drugs or violence.

The fuck is with the deficit of flyers? Well, I guess I'll just tell you beautiful people all you need to know, sans visual aid. Sorry.

July 10th, HN-88 will be playing again, only this time at a bar. The Underground at Evangelos is a pretty cool venue, and the alcohol helps too. To the best of my knowledge, HN-88 will be the only band performing that night, and shows tend to cost $5, doors tend to open at 7 PM.

Saturday, July 14th, awesome Punk band Dead On Point Five is making their comeback at Hooligans Nightclub. Also playing will be Michael Lee Ostrander(think Joe Satriani on acid) and Skulldron (Think Iron Maiden on some dank weed).  Show starts at 7, I have no idea what the cover charge is but $5 is still a good bet.

Th-th-that's all, folks.

Upcoming Shows

A few days ago, I thought I'd just post a single half-assed entry and leave it there for a fortnight. However, fate/Metal/ the internet had other plans. I'm lots of fun and bad with numbers, so I'm pretty sure it's four posts and counting at this point. Well, here ya go.

Domestic Violence is best described as Super Punk Rock. They're so awesome that even people who don't like Punk music are hooked, if only by morbid curiosity. They do have music online, but quite frankly, it will never do them justice. This is an act you have to see live to truly understand the experience. It's kind of like Shock Rock for the Hardcore crowd. Whoah, I thought Metal logos were supposed to be illegible. I can't be sure I'm reading the rest of the line up correctly, but it looks like Colour Me Once, Leaky Faces, Robots Eat Brains, and Society Unknown. The first three words on the flyer are "Punk" and "All Ages", and honestly that's all I need to hear. 

I know I give Santa Fe and Albuqurque alot of cred for their contributions to the Metal scene, but it would be blasphemous to neglect our neighbor Taos. Taos is best known for it's hot springs, wicked ski slopes, crazy hippies, and insane parties. This shindig is aptly titled Metal Reign In The Northern Mountains. The extremely talented Eulogies Of The Forgotten are playing, and I can attest to their awesome shredding abilities.  Obelisk hails from my hometown, and they describe themselves, quite fittingly, as "Party Sludge".  From Sacrifice To Survival will kick your ass, musically speaking. Portrait Of A Mastermind is intricate yet heavy, plus they have a pirate song. If that doesn't shiver your timbers, nothing will. There's two other Metal bands too, so that's just $5 for 6 bands. Wicked. 

So much for June. If you need to take a breather, you can chill during July and start August off with this. As soon as Monday, I will be old enough to see all of the bar shows. I've already gone mad with my newfound power, albeit premature at this point. What could be better than booze and a concert? Maybe if there was some hotties involved, I'd say I was in heaven...

...Oh my! Thank you, Gods of Metal. \m/

Upcoming Shows

I'm a slacker and a half. This is super last minute, and yet it must be done. Apparently there's a benefit for W21 tonight, but only one of the bands is Metal (Until Chaos is freaking epic, by the way.) So support your local scene and bring your skateboard. Like all Warehouse 21 shows, doors open at seven and it only costs five bucks. Also, don't show up with drugs or a crappy attitude. Not even cool, bro.

So much for that biz. Tomorrow, things get heavier with the Slaughter Survivors Battle Of the Bands.  Atypical Night is a sublime taste of Melodic Death Metal. Of All Forms is just plain heavy.  Futilitarian is thrashy Instru-Metal.  Eulogies Of The Forgotten is best described as Blackened Thrash. I have no idea what the other bands sound like, which only makes me more excited to go. $10 at the door, show starts at 6 PM, and 9 bands in all. Location is Albuqurque's own Amped Performance Center.

If you happen to be in Nevada this Saturday, check out the amazingly talented Machine Gun Vendetta, sharing the stage with legendary Leftover Crack. This show will be awesome, no joke. I wish I had this flyer hanging in my room.

Now here's a show I've been anticipating for a while... Motherfucking GAZA. These crazy dudes have performed at the (now defunct) Little Wing venue, featured in Terrorizer Magazine, and reviewed in The Living Doorway blog. Good stuff. Not to mention their sharing the stage with local bands, including Immortal Prophecy, Saberwulf, and Harsh Words. I don't know what the cover is, and frankly, I don't care. I'd sell my soul to see this. Also, I wish I had this flyer hanging over my bed.

That's so cherry that it hurts. Anyway, more shenanigans are to ensue on the 8th, now that Scattered Hamlet are back in town. Blinddryve hails closer to home, coming from Albuqurque.And uh, two other bands that I never heard of. This is all going down at Hooligans Nightclub at 7:30. Only $8.

Yeah, I don't have the motivation or artistic integrity to conclude this properly, so... Bye.

Happy 4/20

Long story short, I'm dressed in drag trying to look like Toki Wartooth. Don't ask how things got to this level. Even as I type, innocent passerby are gawking at me in my altered state. I am little more to these people than an amusing anecdote that they will describe to their sober friends in the near future.






By the way, the teddy bear isn't in any way unusual. I always have Antar with me, as evidenced by the creepy/lame facebook profile I made for him.

Actually, there is a reason I'm doing this nonsense. Tonight is the Drag Ball at my stupid school (St. John's College), so I put minimal effort and dressed normally but with an eyeliner 'stache. But for those of us who have better things to do, there's this:

I'm all about the local scene, but sometimes that just becomes tunnel vision and I forget that every town has a local scene of it's own. So for once, I'm gonna shut up about Santa Fe and Albuqurque and talk about other New Mexico shows. This one is in Gallup. The fact that there's a band called "Orale!" makes me so happy that I can not possibly articulate my ecstasy. And when I saw the price of admission, I started laughing like Beavis and Butthead.

So that was my token flyer for a show that takes more than an hour driving time. Enough of that nonsense. Albuqurque's own Malarky's bar will be hosting a Metal show with... Uh, those guys in the picture, I guess. And it's not just on 4/20, but on the recovery day as well. NO COVER?! Being a cheap ass, I love this concert already. Too bad I'm 20 years young.

 Launchpad fucking rules. This is the only venue that I've ever seen host an all-ages battle of the bands. There's also a bar adjacent to the concert room. There's grime and glitter all over the damn place. And they've proved their worth for all-ages shows yet again with this magnificent freaking line up. Laughing Dog is old school Death Metal, who have become notorious in the local music scene thanks to their amazing performance at Bloody Ear Fest '09. Echoes Of Fallen are genuine, unrefined metal who blew me away at The Gathering Of The Sick a few years back. Torture Victim has hit the stage with the likes of Toxic Holocaust, Eulogies Of The Forgotten, and even punk bands such as Domestic Violence. I don't recognize any of those other bands, but I would sell my soul just to see the bands that I know. They rock that hard.

I already told you mongrels about this show. Eve Of An End were the worthy winners of a recent Battle Of The Bands, so you might want to check them out. Futilitarian is atmospheric, heavy fucking metal. They used to have vocals, but they rule so much that their transition to Instru-Metal was virtually seamless. Savage Wizdom is like NWOBHM: Traditional metal saturated with power chords and Halford vocals. Bodies Of Evidence are pretty damn killer too.

You may notice that I started this post around 4:20, and it is now 6:14. On a normal day, this would have taken me like 45 minutes. Happy 4/20 everyone.  :)

Metal Mafia Nationwide (The New Mexico Connection)

As much shit that I talk about Facebook, it's really a blessing in disguise. That's how I found The Living Doorway, how I get a taste of bands that would otherwise remain unknown, and how I keep track of important events. And as far as events are concerned, Facebook is worth it just for the excellent promotion skills of Metal Mafia Nationwide. This is an internet based network of underground bands, venues, and promoters who can post flyers and other media for their upcoming concerts.

I like to think I do a pretty decent job of giving local shows the exposure that they deserve. However, since the Metal Mafia allows the bands and venues to post their stuff directly, it eliminates the need for a middle-man such as myself. Then again, it sucks to scroll through a page and a half of posts quoting Avenged Sevenfold lyrics, just to get a hold of some decent info. I guess you do need me after all.

Anyway, to give you the best of both worlds, I'll direct you to the New Mexico Connection of the Metal Mafia, and show you some of the flyers for upcoming shows that I didn't mention last time. And for those of you (un)fortunate enough to live outside of this state, they have profiles for other regions too.

I thought that said Hunter S. Thompson for a second there. I've never heard of any of these bands, but I don't care. My favorite shows are the adventerous ones when you don't know what to expect. More often than not, I am pleasantly surprised.

Gorilla Music is kind of sketchy, but they know how to put on a hell of a show. I don't know any of these bands except for Soul To Rest, who are amazing. Like I said, I like the risky concerts best, so check this out.

Metal for a cause. You'd be pretty stupid to miss this.

This is a great flyer, for a great show. Thanks again, Joe Angel!

 This isn't really pertinent for underground or local bands, but it would be blasphemous to withold information of such gravity. Fucking CARNIFEX, you guys!!