This is one of those shows that I almost missed but I’m glad I didn’t. I bought my ticket the day of this sold-out show online and headed over by myself knowing that I was in for a night of great music. The place was packed and I got to see a lot of familiar faces and the crowd there was really friendly overall so it was a great time. All of the bands that I saw put on an extraordinary show and the sound was good, too. I was able to get a good spot in the front to take some pictures on my little digital camera so here are a few of them. This was the second time I was able to see Black Wine play and this set was just perfect, especially since I got their record at their last show and got to know the songs better before seeing them this time around. I was psyched that they played one of my favorite songs off the record called “Greengrove Road” because it sounds kind of haunted. JEFF the Brotherhood played an explosive set and the crowd went pretty crazy for them. I got a slight Cliff Burton feel from their sound which is awesome and they played KISS songs on their i-pod in between songs during their set. Definitely check them out. Screaming Females were also great as usual and unfortunately I left after they played because I vowed to leave at a semi-decent hour to hang out at home with my wife while she painted for her next art show. So I missed Forgetters and Shellshag and I’m sure that I missed some more awesomeness because I had seen Shellshag play the Mercury Lounge a couple of months ago and they were a lot of fun. I’ll see them again at some point, I’m sure. But all in all, yea…this show was a great experience and all of the bands that I saw were just terrific, and nice people as well. And as a bonus, I bought some merch and got a goody-bag with some free Don Giovanni Records releases.
Brody Dalle, formerly of the popular punk band The Distillers has a newer band called Spinnerette which has a much more pop feel to it. I’m a big fan of female-fronted, poppy bands so this is worth checking out. I’m feeling hints of the band Garbage here and Dalle’s vocals are a bit less gritty at times, which nicely displays her clean voice until she brings the punch up in the chorus with a little more grind on songs like “All Babes are Wolves”. The band has recently won “Best Pop/Rock” album for their self-titled release on Anthem Records by the Independent Music Awards which featured the great Tom Waits among the roster of judges. Click on the image below to see the full list of the winners on the IMA website:
Hello folks! You can now stream music on www.definethemeaning.com. Thanks to Suburban Home our first record stream is Tim Barry’s ‘28th & Stonewall,” which you can listen to it here.
Tim’s new album will be up for listening pleasure for two weeks so be sure to let us know what you think of his new album and also we’d like to hear your feed back on being able to listen to music while being on www.definethemeaning.com at the same time! Enjoy!
Although the Shook Ones already accomplished their mission of being compared to some of their influences (such as Jersey’s Lifetime), the Seattle hardcore band has no intentions of stopping anytime soon. Despite the members defining themselves as a “part-time” band, the guys have managed to gather a loyal gathering of fans. The band is heading to Europe in just a few weeks for a tour, but not for too long. According to guitarist Kelly Aiken, the guys can’t stay on the road as long as they used to due to other bands and commitments, but their passion for playing keeps them going. Check out what Aiken filled us in on in a recent interview.
Since this is your first interview with Define the Meaning can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Kelly Aiken, and I am the less goofy (and skillful) guitar player.
You mentioned in previous interviews that when the band formed you
wanted to sound like Lifetime. What influence did Lifetime have on
you? And what is it about that band that you guys love so much?
Well, I have lifetime lyrics tattooed on me (as does Scotty) so that’s
always been a pretty important band to me. I first heard that band
when I was 17 and immediately connected, and it’s been a torrid love
affair ever since then. Initially, it was the lyrics that got me -
obviously there’s some teenage lovesickness going on there, and Ari
always had a gift for delivering some pretty essentially sad bastard
vibes without being pathetic. As time has gone on, I can appreciate
more aspects – the genius bass tone, the sweet tempo changes, the
ragingly melodic guitar lines. It’s a complete package and ‘Jersey’s
Best Dancers’ is still top 5 for me, has been since I heard it 10
years ago. I actually wasn’t in Shook Ones when the band started, but
I always wanted to be in a band that had a Lifetime-vibe, and was a
huge fan of the band from the start – when I heard they needed a
guitar player, I figured out all the demo songs on my own just in
case. At this point, we’ve had the pleasure to play with and befriend
some of those dudes, so it’s very fulfilling on a personal level. I
know we all still look to Dan Yemin as a prime example of how to grow
up and continue to keep your shit together while doing the whole punk
rock/band thing.
Do you ever get tired of being compared to them?
Nah, who gets bummed about being compared to one of their favorite
bands? Obviously we like to think we’re doing a little bit more than
just ripping off Lifetime/Kid Dynamite, and hopefully folks take the
time to notice what else we’re trying to do, but getting the same
compliment over and over doesn’t make it any less complimentary.
The Ocean revealed information about their two upcoming albums ” Heliocentric and Anthropcentric which will be released April and October of 2010.
“Our new vocalist Loic Rossetti has immensely widenened the musical spectrum of this band and there are some songs on the album that even those people who have conceived of this band as being unpredictable and daring would have never imagined”, adds Robin Staps. “But this is exactly what makes it a 150% The Ocean album”.”
“Heliocentric” continues where the Proterozoic half of the Precambrian album left off, with dense, epic songs and big orchestrations. Anthropocentric is going to be a bit more straight forward rocking and technical, whilst tapping the full dynamic range from acoustic pieces to eclectic heaviness as well.”
Here is the track listing for Heliocentric:
1. Shamayim
2. Firmament
3. The First Commandment of the Luminaries
4. Ptolemy Was Wrong
5. Metaphysics of the Hangman
6. Catharsis of a Heretic
7. Swallowed by the Earth
8. Epiphany
9. The Origin of Species
10. The Origin of God
Megadeth and Slayer announced the confirmed and new dates for the routing of the American Carnage North American Tour. The Amiercan Carnage will be a run of 26 dates across United States and Eastern Canada.
The Caranage Tour was scheduled originally to start in Jan/Feb but was put on hold due to Slayer’s vocalist/bassist, Tom Araya for his ongloing treatments for what was diagnosed as Cervical Radiculopathy. In the beginning of the year Araya made the deision to undergo surgical procedure called Anteriror Cervical Discectomy with Fusion. Has been said that the servery will have an excellent recovery rate.
“The doctors said that Tom’s surgery went very smoothly and was a resounding success,” said Rick Sales, long-time Slayer manager. “He’s home now, doing really well, and he said the numbness in his fingers had already diminished considerably.”
The American Carnage Tour will be the first time that Megadeth, Slayer and Testament they have toured since 1991 “Clash of the Titans,” tour.
Leaving NYC to Ottawa, Canada then to Frankfurt, Germany!
Ted and Mike on a plane
NYC From Above
Dee Plaaaaane – in Canada – freakin Cold!
Ted Sleepin’
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Jan 7th – Frankfurt Airport – Aachen, Germany
Welcome to Germany! Just landed in Frankfurt!
While at the airport, we met up with our driver Freddy
We ran into our friends The Casualties at the Frankfurt airport… they were touring Europe too, but going the exact opposite way we were!
Then it was off to pick up the equipment from the good folks at Gates To Hell in Dortmund, Germany…
We then got in touch with Christian, the promoter of the first show, and headed to his place in Aachen, Germany…
We met up with Isabeth, Christian’s wife (and Co-Promoter) who took amazing care of us! We ate tons of food! Danke!
Then walked around Aachen…
Later that night we finally met Christian (owner of Lion Heart Records)
we then headed over to the MusikBunker for the show….
It was about 3AM when we got all packed up and ready for bed, -5C outside and tired from the flying. Thank you for the great service Christian and Isabeth! DANKE SCHOËN!!!
The Freddy Mobile!
New OY Stickers! Thanks from Countdown!
Metalization!
King Freddy The 1st
German Homer Simpson works there
Street Flyers for our show!
Isabeth and friend taking us around Aachen
The Oldest Pub in Aachen
Olde York Price List In Euros
Danke to Volka Racho for these Photos:
Olde York And Christian from Lion Heart Records
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Jan 8th – Essen, DE
We overheard there was a big snow storm coming, so we left early to Essen, DE…
Played in Cafe Nova, where we shared the Stage with 2 powerful bands… Strength and Go For it.
After the show, we headed towards Belgium to stay at our Driver Freddy’s place… (he lives on a horse farm)
Then Ted and Blake went out drinking in the town’s local pub. Came back at 6AM
Haris from Go For It
Freddy checkin up on his latest porn sites
Strength and Olde York
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Jan 9th – Den Haag, NL
That morning Freddy’s Parents with true Belgian Hospitality, made us a great breakfast before we headed to Holland…
On the Road to Den Haag, NL., we made a one hour detour towards the ever-so-popular spot of Amsterdam. Freddy dropped us off in the heart of the town and said, “You have one hour, meet back here… The Red Light District is that way…”
We walked around there for a bit, and saw the various girls in their doorways… The best sign was: live action porn inside!
Headed down to the Venue where we met Erik the promoter from Old School Alliance
and other great people! Sam, Daniel, Marcel, Mark OSA, and Mark 21GS, Maggie (just to name a few) and by the way, if any bands need a merch girl, Sam is looking for a band to tour with!!
It was a great show, and a pleasure to share the stage with great bands and great people, Pride Runs Deep, 21 Gun Salute and All For Nothing.
After the show we headed back to Freddys farm to sleep… only this time he went to the bar alone at 3am haha…
Freddy’s Farm House
Breakfast
Amsterdam!
OY In Amsterdam!
Blake Saying, wheres the girls?!
Daniel Ted and Mr. Orange
Den Haag Gang!
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Jan 10th – Chemitz, DE
In Belgian hospitality fashion, freddy made us Pommes Frites… It was a great way to start the day!
We then headed towards East Germany! Chemitz, DE. Home of Karl Marx!
Took about 8 hours from Belgium, mostly due to the snow storm and the clearing of the Autobahn.
Got to Subway to Peter, met with the owner/promoter/chef who made us a great personal veggie dinner while freddy had his favorite, Banana beer.
Had a great show! A lot of people came. Even the snow storm didn’t stop them! Thats Hardcore!
Met some great people, who showed tons of support!
Slept down the street in the cold un-heated punk rock band room. Filled with posters and messages, reminding us of how many bands and groupies slept on those beds haha…
Freddy Cookin up some Belgian Fries
Pony
Subway To Peter!
New Friends!
Danke to Jack McBeer for the photos:
Its a tradition at Subway to Peter, you must drink a booze or syrup garlic shot…
Walking to the band room
Band Room!
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Jan 11th – Berlin, DE
The Road to Berlin!
Checked into our hostel-hotel and headed out to explore a couple hours of what berlin had for us New Yorkers…
Went to Wild at heart where we ran into our New Yorker friend Shannon who currently resides in Berlin. Hendrik and Bianca also came down to hang out.
Then we ran into the the Norwegian 3 (the Berlin Bulldogs) who kept buying us drinks non stop throughout the night! They showed massive support and knew every song!
Dev, Mike and Shannon went on a little adventure to see whats left of the berlin wall at 3am
Our Hotel
Mike And Blake Bringing in their gutiars
A Berlin Wall Divider – East Meets West
German’s Finest
Kennedy
Berlin Wall
Vast Berlin Wall
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Jan 12th – Hradec Kralove, CZ
Czech here we come!!
On the way to Hradec Kralove, we decided to make the classic Kafka-stopover, to Prague. In no time, Freddy took us to the center of the city and threw us out of the car (with love of course!) and said I’ll see you back here in 15 mins…
Saw just a few of the sites of Prague including the famous bridge and tourist shops…
We then drove over to our show in the city of Hradec Kralove… Met up with our man Helmet, the promoter at RC Strojovna Club. Then Czech Mark from Brooklyn! Who now lives back home in Czech… Funny how he knew everybody from the NYHC scene that we know… Good to talk to a ny’er again. We shared the stage with Cross Check and PNS.
The locals gave us a present, a home made brandy called “Black Death.” 51%! It helped keep us warm in the winter.
We did an interview with our new friend Petr of SkinRead zine.
Show ended at 1AM… Then Freddy (the man!) Decided to take us on the long journey to Vicenza italy in 1 long over night drive….
To Prague!
Beggar laying on the icy ground floor
Olde York Merch Prices in Czech Koruna
Black Death and Czech Mark
51% “See you in hell”
Helmut Czech Promoter!
Hradec Kralove kids!
New Fan dust-taggin’ our van with “We Love Your Band”
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Jan 13th – Vicenza, IT
Around 3AM we crossed the border to Germany, leaving Czech,
6AM Hit Austrian border leaving Germany.
9AM Crossed the Austrian/Italian Alps. Viva Italia!
Made it to Vicenza at fuckin 11AM in 1 shot… What a great guy Freddy is, driving 10 damn hours straight overnight with no breaks! And on little sleep!
We met up with our label owner Luca of Countdown Records. And hung out around the town… drinking café and eating pasta. (hey im not stereotyping, thats what we did, ask luca)
We also met up with our tour-booking-main-guy, Padrone Aldo il Napoletano.
Bar-hopped a bit… Then headed over to the Sabotage Bar (our venue).
Ate more pasta, then did an interview for Salad Days magazine. Thanks to Martina for setting up the interview and snapping a few photos.
After the show we went to grab a quick bite to eat in an area full of prostitutes, and a few inside eating, or just waiting for drunk people to walk in and want more then a Panini.
Countdown Rex HQ
Countdown Rex HQ 2
1st Pasta dish of Italy (but not the last)
OY In Vicenza
Prima café di Italia
Dopo il café di Italia – Classic Italian toilet
Sabotage A Tutto HC!!!!
Screaming Whores and Olde York
Grazie mille a Martina Lavarda per il fotografia:
Aldo (Pizza Connection Booking) & Olde York
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Jan 14th – Rome, IT
Half of us stayed in a hotel the other half stayed at Luca’s place… The people that stayed with Luca got a nice Sicilian breakfast (Cannoli and Cappuccino).
Then we made it on the road to Rome!
Of course Aldo (il Napoletano) said to the Driver, “Freddy I have to take a shit” Then we pulled over and stopped at an AutoGrill… But all Aldo had to do was take a smoking break and Café…. Cazzo Aldo!
Got to Rome later that night, hung out for a bit then played the show. For dinner we had a plate of pasta… Then pizza right after.
After the show, some of us were tired and went to the Hostel to sleep in… The others went to Alex from Strength Approach’s Tattoo Shop, where we had an all night Tattoo Party! It was Olde York, Strength Approach, GTA, Payback, Pizza Connection Booking and Countdown Records. Damiano from Payback (and our promoter for Rome), Emiliano of Strength Approach, Sandro from Grand Theft Age, and Blake from Olde York getting tattooed… Got back to the Hostel at around 6am
Ted, Aldo & Mustache
Tattoo Party!!! – Blake and Alex in the background
Roma Souvenir!
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Jan 15th – Florence, IT
Florence!
Arrived at the squat/venue, K100 Fuegos. It was a Communist/Anti-Fascist themed place… Tons of photos of Ché and various other leaders and flags. Very Political.
In-between our set they played the Fiorentina (florence football team) Anthem… Everybody sung along as Blake conducted…
The song:
After the show there was a huge party with people drinking and singing italian oi songs about fuck fascists and such… It was great time!
That night we stayed in the cold attic… Ted passed out on the computer while trying to type to his new Czech friends….
Flyer for tonights show
The venue
Pizza Party!
Freddy Sleeping while the bands are playing
View of Bands from our bedroom
Ted and His Italian Twin
Aldo and his new best friend!
Forza Fiorentina!
Look, Twins!
Ted sleeping while trying to google translate a message in Czech
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Jan 16th – Milan, IT
Forza Milano!
Got to SGA! Freddy went to the Hostel to take a shower, but they wouldn’t let him, so he cursed them out! He needed a shower! poor guy! (Im surprised they let us stay there after the words he used towards them. haha)
Played with our good friends, Strength Approach and No More Fear for their reunion show! Also played with our new friends True Spirit. (We demanded that No More Fear play a reunion show for us since blake was their old roadie, and so they did! Suckers! hahah )
It was a great show! at least 200+ people packed into the small venue. Hope it wasnt No More Fear’s Last show! They dedicated a song to blake and how he lost some money in Atlantic City, so they covered Floorpunch – Let It Ride.
We got back to the Hostel late that night in central Milan, full of Asian Prostitutes…
AutoGril! Best place in Italy!
Our Hotel, we only had 5 hours to sleep there… Freddy’s favorite Hotel!
Aldo and Freddy, BFF-For-Eva!
Before the show
Olde York wearing the Gold sponsored T-shirts!
Olde York and Strength Approach Merch Table
Strength Approach!
After The Show
Blake, Saverio (King of Italy) and Aldo
Olde York European Tour 2010 Road Crew!
(from Left to right)
Freddy, Aldo (pizza connection), Luca (Countdown Records), Saverio (Concrete Block), Dan (No More Fear), Blake, Mike, Dev and Ted
We said goodbye to Luca from Countdown Records and Aldo from Pizza Connection Booking as we went north to our final show in Ulm, DE.
In the Van we had to throw away Freddy’s Trucker Bomb. (Look up a trucker bomb if you dont know what that is)
We met Dan, singer of No More Fear, Grazia (who wanted to come to ulm with us) and Marion (The Promoter) and Natalie for the Ulm show in Switzerland, to grab something to eat. Then we raced them through the Swiss Alps and into south Germany… And of course, we won!
It was a great final show to wrap the tour! We saw some good old friends from Austria and Poland who even stopped by to say hello!
The audience showed massive support, they even organized a 10 man mosh-pit-row-boat In the middle of our set! they all went on the floor in the middle of the mosh pit and simulated a row boat! That’s fuckin’ Punk Rock!
Crossing Swiss Boarder from Italy – Ciao Italia
Marion took a photo of us winning the race in Switzerland.
Side shot of us winning the race in Switzerland…. There’s Dan And Freddy!
Swiss Alps
Outside the Club
Chief Jesus Genius – Freddy
OY Sticker that has been there for 3 years!
Cheap Beer!!
We left the club and Marion at 430am to leave for frankfurt. Half asleep we said our goodbyes and got to the airport at around 8am.
The flight turned out to be 4 and half hours delayed, so we didnt leave till about 3.30pm…
Landed in NYC, back home, end of tour!
Till next time! Thank you to everybody who we met along the way, old friends and new ones! To Promoters and other people! Keep it up! Thanks for all the hospitality! Thank you Aldo from Pizza Connection Bookings and Luca from Countdown Records! And most of all, thank you Freddy for taking our Yankee asses all throughout europe. The best driver in the world!
Are you a fan of H20? Well, we are too so that is why we are helping them celebrate their 15 year anniversary! And in order to do so we are going to be putting together a feature on the band which will express to them you favorite memory of the band!
What you need to do to be apart of this is to do the following:
1) Submit pictures of any H20 tattoos you may have
2) Submit any photos you may have taken of the band from old school shows in the 90-s to now
3) Write us your favorite memory of the band whether it be when you met them or the first time you saw them. Why is H20 so important to you?!
Please be sure to include your name. age and where you are from and submit everything to definethemeaningzine@gmail.com in the subject please put H20. Deadline to submit is Feb 28th, 2010
It’s been four years since Canadian hard rock band Priestess released their debut album, Hello Master, and they are back with a fiery vengeance that will have you rocking through eleven songs that “will scalp you and cast spells on you,” according to the band in a recent interview with DTM. The band released their sophomore album Prior to the Fire in Canada back in October, but it took some effort and searching to find the means to release the album in the States. The good news is, the wait is over and the album will be available at all your American record stores next month. The band recently wrapped up a tour with Trigger Effect and is on the verge of hitting the road again in Europe in a week. Check out what the guys had to say in a recent Q and A.
By: Melanie Wolfson
Congrats on the new album. Can you tell me a little about it? How does it compare to Hello Master? Thanks! The album is called Prior to the Fire, and it consists of 11 songs that will scalp you and cast spells on you. The only real comparison is that it’s the same four guys, but musically it’s a nice big step up we like to think!
You had a lot of problems with your American label releasing Prior to the Fire. What happened exactly? We weren’t on the same page. They wanted radio compatible songs; we just weren’t in that frame of mind this time around.
How did it ultimately work out? We were dropped from the label. But the split was very amicable, and it actually worked out in our favor. We’ll be releasing the album in the US in early 2010 through Tee Pee records.
What did you guys do for the most part between the releases of your two albums- from 2006 to 2009? How much time did you spend on tour and writing new material? We spent the majority of that time touring. I think in 4 years, we had about 6 months at home, where we spent our time trying to understand home life. With the off time being spread out over 4 years, we never really had time to settle into a comfortable writing environment. Until of course, the end of the touring cycle.
Most recent tour was with Gwar and Cattle Decapitation. How did the audience react to your more classic style of hard rock, while Gwar and CD are more on the gory/crazy side? Well it wasn’t our first time out with GWAR. And like the first time, the crowd was great, in fact better because I think some of the GWAR regulars were more familiar with us. There are also a surprising number of Priestess fans at those shows. I think this time around we were more concerned with Cattle Decapitation, because we didn’t know what to expect going on after them. But, again, it turned out great!
How did you feel about taking Trigger Effect on the road with you on your last tour? Very positive. We asked them to come out with us because they’re so fun to pick on and great to watch live.
What’s the audience response like in Canada versus the States? More ayes, less ohs. Towns differ one from another, it’s too broad to compare US vs. Canada as wholes.
What up and coming bands are you listening to right now? Children, Bison BC, Danava, Earthless, Barn Burner.
What do you have planned for 2010?
What we know best…. lots and lots of touring. This time more overseas.
I had a great time at this show. The bands who played were all great (Torchbearer, Stressed Out, Chambers, Banquets) and I got some decent video on Stressed Out (wow, what a great set) and Torchbearer (who were loud as fuck). These videos are from a basement show so I hope you enjoy the beauty of their rawness in look and sound:
STRESSED OUT!
TORCHBEARER
I will most likely upload videos from Chambers & Banquets later this week. I also have a video from a new NJ punk band called Dead Limbs that I hope to upload as well.
The Bamboo Kids are a Punk Rock and Roll band from New York City who have been around since 2003 but this is the first time I’ve heard them after receiving their EP “The Way Things Are” that was released in October. The band’s sound on this 4-song EP on Drug Front Records has matured a bit as compared to their previous efforts on their myspace page, and this is a good thing for fans of the more straight rock and roll vibe a la The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen. The band cites The Clash (their band name comes from the Clash song Straight To Hell) and The New York Dolls as influences but I would call this recent effort a more “polished” one, with songs like the closing “Central European Time” having singer Dwight Weeks’ humble and almost mellow-sounding vocals over a nice melodic display of piano and horns. The opening song of this EP “Daylight Be Damned” is a more catchy tune with great guitar tones reminiscent of the later Damned records while the title track seemingly praises The Rolling Stones without hiding it. The great thing about this EP is the fact that they are very good at what they do and they aren’t trying to be anything other than that. I love the singer’s voice throughout this release and the songs grow on me more each time i listen. I know a lot of you are big fans of The Gaslight Anthem and The Boss and I suggest that you check out this band as they are within that same realm to a certain degree.
H20 recently announced that in honor of their 15 year anniversary they will be playing two belated anniversary shows The first show will be on Friday Feb 19th at the Trocadero in Philly and the second will be held at Gramercy Theatre in NYC on Feb 20th. Bands playing both evenings are Trapped Under Ice,Maximum Penality,Attack and more bands TBA. Be sure to buy tickets at www.ticketmaster.com as the shows should sell out!
Hatebreed recently announced that they are to headline the second stage at this years Jagermeister Stage at Mayhem Festival. The tour will start on July 10th and will end on August 14th. Pre-sale tickets go on sale April 2nd and tickets go on sale to general public on April 16th at LiveNation.com. You can also check www.mayhemfest.com
for more info. Tour dates are listed below!
Jul. 10 – San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheater
Jul. 11 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Jul. 13 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheater Southeast
Jul. 16 – Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Wireless Pavilion
Jul. 17 – Albuquerque, NM – Journal Pavilion
Jul. 18 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
Jul. 20 – Maryland Heights, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jul. 21 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Jul. 23 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
Jul. 24 – Hartford, CT – The Comcast Theatre
Jul. 25 – Montreal, QC – Parc Jean Drapeau
Jul. 27 – Mansfield, MA – Comcast Center
Jul. 28 – Holmdel, NJ – P.N.C. Bank Arts Center
Jul. 30 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Jul. 31 – Noblesville, IN – Verizon Wireless Music Center
Aug. 01 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre
Aug. 04 – Virginia Beach, VA – Virginia Beach Amphitheater
Aug. 06 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 07 – Pittsburgh, PA – Post Gazette Pavilion At Star Lake
Aug. 08 – Bristow, VA – Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
Aug. 10 – Tampa, FL – Ford Amphitheatre
Aug. 11 – West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheater
On Feb 26th @ Brooklyn’s Bell House Agnostic Front will relive their glory moments with their original line up from 1984 with Vinny Stigma, Roger Miret, Rob Kabula and Dave Jones.
“We haven’t played together since ’84, this is the CLASSIC lineup together again doing vintage AF songs and some classics. We couldn’t be more excited to do this!” said vocalist Roger Miret.
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony could have easily been called Grand Theft Auto: Greatest Hits. I say this because with TBOGT, Rockstar has created an episode of GTA IV that is a culmination of all the greatest aspects of GTA IV without any slow down whatsoever. Not that GTA IV was that slow of a game, but you did have to build Niko from the ground up. In the TBOGT, you are thrown right into the top-tier mix right from the very beginning. Thanks to this fact it is a nonstop action ride until the very end.
In TBOGT, you play as Luis Lopez, Gay Tony’s bodyguard and right hand man. Gay Tony is your boss, and is a part of Algonquin’s elite night life. Tony owns two nightclubs and is part of the high society within Algonquin. This choice means you have access to missions and to people that in the original GTA IV you would not have access to until towards the second half of the game. You have the nicer cars. You have the helicopters. You have the weapons. There is no building yourself up. . What this does is create a much more enjoyable and memorable experience right from the beginning.
Naturally, Rockstar also has introduced new mini games based around this different society. In the nightclubs you can dance and pick up women for a quick romp in the bathroom. You can get drunk. You can even go to a golf driving range to alleviate some stress. And probably the best new aspect of the game is the base jumping. You unlock it fairly early on thanks to a specific mission, and once you do, you will have a whole lot of locations on your map marked with a parachute that you can go to and try to accomplish a specific jump. Some are just as simple as jumping off a building and hitting a certain markers. Others are trying to land on a moving truck, etc… The base jumping alone is incredibly fun and one could eat up hours upon hours just having fun with it.
GTA games have always been known for their great stories and characters, and TBOGT is no different. I truly do not want to get into much at all, as I believe it is better off experience first hand, you are Luis, who still has his boys from the block and his mother from his old neighborhood that he tries to maintain a civil relationship with. He naturally winds up meeting several characters thanks to his connection to Tony, which of course leads him to different missions and choices of whom to align with. Easily, the most memorable character you will encounter is Yusuf. If you remember Brucie in GTA IV, Yusuf is TBOGT’s answer to Brucie. He is hilarious, over the top, and will definitely make you laugh out loud. Just to meet Yusuf (and his accompanying missions) is worth the price of his admission, as he really is that much of a character. His missions alone are some of the absolute best. For example if hijacking a car from a moving train sounds like fun times, Yusuf is your man.
Define The Meaning have partnered with several video game companies in order to bring you awesome video game news in the upcoming months. The first company we partnered with is Rockstar, the company that brought you the undeniable Grand Theft Auto series. For our first review, we gave chiptune artist Facundo Rockstar’s Beaterator, a music generator game Rockstar created with producer Timbaland. Enjoy!
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Rockstar and Timbaland released Beaterator for the Sony PSP. A Step Sequencer based program for musicians on the go. It is essentially what seems like a watered down, very basic version of FruityLoops that you can just pop into your PSP (instead of dragging a bulky laptop everywhere you go). The program has a few different modes, including a game mode, and more importantly has the ability to import your own wav clips as samples.
Anyone familiar with the chiptune community knows all about the “Timbaland drama” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbaland_plagiarism_controversy) by now and will most likely be turned off by the sole existance of this game. I went beyond that, looked the other way, and gave this thing a shot.
I’ve been making music using older gaming consoles since 2005 and from my perspective, I wouldn’t use Beaterator on the PSP for my music. I prefer my GameBoy and LSDJ (I feel more comfortable with its tracker layout). Needless to say, I don’t find this program completely useless. I tinkered around with some of the pre-made samples/loops and was able to create a song quickly. Nothing too fancy, nothing too complicated. Aside from his (Timbaland) pre made loops, you can make your own loops, with your own pre-loaded sounds.
I have not seen any other step sequencers for PSP – maybe they’re out there as homebrew apps (and if that’s the case, I’d suggest going with Piggy Tracker instead – a free sample based music tracker created by Mark Nostromo) (http://www.littlegptracker.com). For being an actual release (not a homebrew program), Rockstar’s Beaterator is not bad for what it is. Facundo approves.
One more thing that I found VERY interesting is that Rockstar held a competition to see who could compose the best track using the Beaterator software. They announced the winner on January 8th, 2010 and it just happened to be Seattle’s own Leeni (www.leeni.us), who performed at this year’s Blip Festival (www.blipfestival.org) which is a yearly chiptunes mulitple day event with artists performing from all over the world. Congratulations Leeni for looking past the drama, and crating a song awesome enough to take this competition! -FACUNDO CASTRO
In honor to support Haiti Blink 182 has released an exclusive Haiti Chairty T-shirt. All proceeds from sales will go strictly to Red Cross. T-shirts are $15 each so be sure to do the right thing and buy one. You can do so at www.blink182merch.com
Here are 2 videos from the Black Wine show at the Warren American Legion Hall in NJ. They played a great, fun, catchy set and the crowd was way into it. If you are a fan of Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets, The Vaselines, etc…then you should check this band out!
Here’s a video with a song from the NJ indie band Control. Paul Cherch from Killed by the Bull plays bass in this band and they put on a really good show. Check it out:
The American Carnage Tour featuring Slayer, Testament, and Megadeth has been put on hold due to health issues from Slayer’s vocalist/bassist Tom Araya. Araya is in need of back surgery which cannot be postponed. Even though this was one of the most anticipated tours of the year Megadeth are extremely concerned for Araya’s health and wish him well and to have a fast recovery.
Megadeth will be scheduling a headlinging tour for the US for March/April and will hope to re-schedule the American Carnage Tour for Summer 2010.
Anyone who has purchased an American Carnage ticket should hold onto it until further notice. Please visit www.megadeth.com for the latest updates.
BEHEMOTH are hitting the states in support of the Evangelia Amerika Tour. The tour starts on Jan 7th in Philadelphia at the Theatre of The Living Arts. Opening will be Septicflesh of Greece and their label mates Lighting Swords Of Death. If you are a huge fan of Behemoth you’ll get to meet the band at 7 of the in store signings. Here are the bands upcoming tour dates.
In store signings:
1/19 Bellevue American Music- Seattle 3:00PM
1/21 Axe Music- Calgary 2:30PM
1/22 Axe Music- Edmonton 2:30PM
1/23 B Sharp- Regina 2:30PM
1/24 CD Plus- Winnipeg 5:00PM
1/28 Pianos N Stuff- Pittsburgh 3:30PM
1/29 Union Music- Worcester 5:00PM
Tour dates for Evangelia Amerika Tour:
01/07 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
01/08 West Springfield, VA Jaxx
01/09 Raleigh, NC Volume 11 Tavern w/ Graves of Valor
01/10 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade w/ Graves of Valor
01/11 St. Petersburg, FL State Theatre
01/13 Austin, TX Emo’s
01/15 Tucson, AZ The Rock
01/16 West Hollywood, CA House of Blues
01/17 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
01/18 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater w/ Those Who Lie Beneath
01/19 Seattle, WA El Corazon w/ Those Who Lie Beneath
01/21 Calgary, AB The Republik
01/22 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
01/23 Regina, SK The Exchange
01/24 Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Center
01/25 St. Paul, MN Station 4 w/ Demonicon
01/26 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
01/27 Cleveland, OH Peabody’s Down Under
01/28 Millvale, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre
01/29 Worcester, MA The Palladium w/ DevilDriver, Suffocation, Goatwhore, Thy Will Be Done, and Septicflesh Bound By The Road Tour w/ DevilDriver, Suffocation, Goatwhore, Thy Will Be Done
01/30 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
01/31 Farmingdale, NY The Crazy Donkey
Alkaline Trio will be releasing “This Addiction,” their seventh album on Feb 23rd through Epitaph Records / Heart & Skull. The band recorded with Matt Allison at Atlas Studios in Chicago Today you will be able to stream it here:
This Addiction Tracklisting (Standard CD/Digital):
This Addiction – 2:35
Dine, Dine My Darling – 2:58
Lead Poisoning – 2:37
Dead On the Floor – 4:20
The American Scream – 3:00
Off The Map – 3:16
Draculina – 3:34
Eating Me Alive – 2:53
Piss And Vinegar – 2:28
Dorothy – 3:32
Fine – 3:17
This Addiction Tracklisting (Deluxe/Collector’s CD):
This Addiction – 2:35
Dine, Dine My Darling – 2:58
Lead Poisoning – 2:37
Dead On the Floor – 4:20
The American Scream – 3:00
Off The Map – 3:16
Draculina – 3:34
Eating Me Alive – 2:53
Piss And Vinegar – 2:28
Dorothy – 3:32
Fine – 3:17
Kick Rocks – 2:45
Those Lungs – 3:49
This Addiction (acoustic) – 2:37
Dine, Dine My Darling (acoustic) – 3:00
Dead On the Floor (acoustic) – 4:08
Fine (acoustic) – 3:13
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DVD – “Alkaline Trio Live At the House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV. 2008″
(with Deluxe/Collector’s CD only)
Upcoming tour dates:
Alkaline Trio Tour Dates: Feb 16 – Pomona, CA – Glass House (Ticketmaster.com)
Feb 17 – Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues (Sunset) (Ticketmaster.com)
Feb 18 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom (Ticketmaster.com)
Feb 19 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom (Ducatking.com)
Feb 20 – Seattle, WA – Neumo’s (Ducatking.com)
Feb 23 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory (Ducatking.com)
Feb 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue (Ducatking.com)
Feb 25 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre (Ducatking.com)
Feb 26 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater (Ducatking.com)
Feb 27 – Chicago, IL – Metro (Ducatking.com)
Feb 28 – Chicago, IL – Metro (Ducatking.com)
March 2 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak (Ducatking.com)
March 3 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall (Ticketmaster.com)
March 4 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues (Ticketmaster.com)
March 5 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Zoo (Ticketmaster.com)
March 6 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre (Ticketmaster.com)
March 8 – Clifton Park, NY – Northern Light (Ducatking.com)
March 9 – Hartford, CT – Webster Theatre (Ducatking.com)
March 11 – Philadelphia, PA – Tracadero (Ticketmaster.com)
March 12 – New York, NY – Nokia Theatre (Ticketmaster.com)
March 13 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland (Ticketmaster.com)
March 14 – Providence, RI – Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (Ducatking.com)
March 16 – Towson, MD – Recher Theatre (Ticketmaster.com)
March 17 – Charlotte, NC – Amos’ Southend (Ducatking.com)
March 18 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm (Ducatking.com)
March 19 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (Ticketmaster.com)
March 20 – Jacksonville Beach, FL – Freebird Live (Ducatking.com)
March 22 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues (Ducatking.com)
March 23 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution (Ticketmaster.com)
March 25 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues (Ducatking.com)
March 26 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live (Ducatking.com)
March 27 – Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom (Ticketmaster.com)
March 28 – Austin, TX – Emo’s (Ticketmaster.com)
March 30 – Tempe, AZ – The Marquee (Ducatking.com)
April 1 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues (Ticketmaster.com)
April 2 – Los Angeles – House of Blues (Ticketmaster.com)
Here are two videos I took last night from the Glassjaw and Thursday show at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. Other bands that played were our good friends The Casting Out, United Nations, and Dillinger Escape Plan. Only two videos are posted for now, we’ll post more from the other bands soon. It was a great show and a great way to close off 2009. Happy New Year everyone!
On Friday January 8th, 2010, punk legend Eerie Von (Danzig, Samhain) will make a special in-store appearance at Generation Records in support of his new photography book Misery Obscura: The Photography of Eerie Von (1981-2009).
Misery Obscura gives fans unique insight into the punk and metal scene of the 1980’s and early 90’s from the perspective one of its greatest stars, chronicling the rise of The Misfits, Rosemary’s Babies, Danzig, and Samhain through the worldwide success of the punk and metal scene as they tour with acts like Metallica and White Zombie.
Eerie Von will play a rare acoustic performance with Lyle Preslar (Minor Threat) and Mike D’Antonio (Killswitch Engage) during the in-store appearance at the store, and sign copies of Misery Obscura along with designer Tom Bejgrowicz.
So Bill decided that he didn’t want to go on anymore with the band and we respect his decision. No hard feelings there. But our good friend Paul Klein is taking his place and will be playing his first show with us at the Warren American Legion on Saturday, 1/9 with Black Wine. Paul also plays in The Banner and played in Gotham Road with Michael Graves. Please come to our next show to pay him a warm welcome. And we thank Bill for all of the hard work he put into this band since day one…all of the shows, the road trips, the records he played on, the good times we had, and the friendship which is still intact. It all is valuable and has helped us to get to where we are now, and where we will be going in the future.
A video from Bill’s last show is posted below along with the new video for “Turn Me Into Dirt”.
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you soon at the next show!
Hello folks ! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving spending some quality time with your families. I wanted to apologize about the delay in issue #9. We had a few technical difficulties with a new printing company that we were going to go with but decided at best to part our ways and go back to our old printer. This issue is also taking a tad bit longer as we made some new changes to the magazine. I know it seems like we are always making change, but change in DTM world is always good! In issue #9 you will notice that it will be our first newsprint issue with a full color glossy cover. (This is why the printing is taking a big longer then usual especially going to print around Holidays). To our subscribers you will be receiving your copies as soon as we get them in which will be sometime next week!
If you haven’t subscribed yet be sure to head over to www.magazines.com to subscribe for our one year or two-year subscriptions.
By early next year we will be expanding coming out with full digital versions of Define the Meaning making it easier to distribute and to get more information on some of your favorite hardcore -punk – metal bands. Not to frighten anyone we will still be publishing the news print version as Define the Meaning would not be the same with out it ! If anyone ever has any questions about getting your band’s album reviewed, interviewed or even being business partners or wanting to write or be a photographer for Define the Meaning please be sure to reach out to us as we are more than welcoming to new inquiries.
New Jersey’s E-Town Concrete will be playing Starland Ballroom on Feb 13th, 2010. Bands opening will be Acacia Strain, Ill Bill, The Mongoloids and more.
You know its that time of year when Bouncing Souls announce their home for the holidays line ups. Here they are folks. Be sure to purchase your tickets fast before they sell out !
Stressed Out are a punk/thrash band from New Brunswick, NJ who play fast, thrashy, short songs infused with angry vocals that are like marriage to the aggression of the drums, bass and guitars on these four songs displayed on this split 7″ with Rip It Up, another NJ band of the same genre. The lyrics are very transparent in dealing with the everyday woes of today’s society and the feelings that it brings out, whether it be the choice to be a vegetarian or to speculate on someone’s hardships and learn from it by imagining yourself in their shoes (which more people should do these days). My personal favorite is the song “Stressed Out” with its straight-forward feelings of self-loathing and despair. The songs run right into each other without much room to breathe and this goes well with the overall urgent feel of the record. There are slight traces of Suicidal Tendencies and perhaps even Washington DC’s State of Alert and Minor Threat so if you are into this kind of sound, you will be into this record.
Rip It Up play fast, crunchy, moshy punk/thrash as well that sounds like great punk basement music, and this is meant in a good way, of course. The vocals are done well on both bands as you can feel them rather than just hear them. Also, this is great artwork. Notice the “X” is only on one of his hands. Can you guess which of these bands are straight edge? Check em out below!
Late 90’s emo/post-hardcore band Inside announced two reunion shows in Long Island early next year. For more information, visit the band’s MySpace profile.
