Hey Bands, Eat Free Taco Bell

Taco Bell is giving some touring bands free Taco Bell while they tour. I think it's just late night, post gig food so you'll still need to buy dinner and lunch or just save the leftover TB. This is kinda cool...until you think about the consequences of being trapped in a van with a bunch of dudes eating Taco Bell.

Link:
Taco Bell For Bands

R.I.P. Hilly Kristal

Hilly Kristal, the man who brought the world CBGB and with it some of the best punk bands ever has passed away. He has been fighting cancer for a while but it finally caught up with him. It's a bummer to see him go but everyone has a memory of CBGB's so he will be remembered.

Link:
Hilly Kristal

O'Death Played Williamsburg

Last week I went to a semi-secret O'Death show at a random loft in Williamsburg. I almost didn't go but at the last minute I hopped on my bike and cruised over to Bedford. When we got there we walked into a tiny little loft. Well, it was big by living standards but tiny by concert standards. There was a table full of liquor and a fridge full of beer... it was awesome.

As the room filled up the heat rose quickly. So to stay cool I grabbed a seat next to the booze and waited out the first act. It was a dude with an acoustic guitar, I wasn't terribly impressed but Tom was digging it. So were most of the people crammed into the room.

When O'Death started setting up I abandoned my post and got right up front. At this point it was gross hot, everyone was sweating. Normally I hate the heat but once they started playing I wouldn't have it any other way. The heat, the booze, and the confined quarters actually made it all the better. It had a very "juke joint" kinda vibe going on.

I've seen O'Death before at Studio B and they were good. But this is the setting they are made for! Their high energy take on bluegrass makes for one hell of a punk rock show. Everyone was jumping around and dancing and hootin' and hollerin' - it was fucking fantastic! Really one of the best shows I've been to in the last year or so. By the end of the set everyone was soaked and all the booze was gone. All hail O'Death!

Link:
O'Death MySpace

The pic above was taken by Fiddle While You Burn, I forgot my fucking camera so go check out the Fiddle set on Flickr

Tonight: Everyone Must Hurl 7

Every year my brother and his friends throw a huge bash on Aug. 24th. It's called Everyone Must Hurl and it's a tribute to excess. It happens in my hometown and draws people from all over South Jersey but it's mostly just Cumberland County folks.

But here's where it gets weird...this year the Village Voice wrote about it! Yeah, it makes absolutely no sense at all but it's the truth. Go to the corner and grab the latest issue then flip to page 40. I've been in a mild state of shock since I first saw this. How does the VV find out about a wild keg party almost 3 hours away in the woods of South Jersey?

Here's what they wrote:

Nowhere in the history of college survival kits does it say that swimming in a kiddy pool of vomit constitutes a good time—at least not that we can remember. The Everyone Must Hurl party doesn’t intend for you to actually wade in a pool of vomit, but it does ask for your most generous, bile-filled donations. The plan is basically for binge drinkers to guzzle bottles of Samuel Adams and Natty Ice until they can’t suck down any more and then let it rip. Prizes (in the shape of drink tickets) are doled out for the best upchuck and projectile hurlers score extra points. Even after spewing up the remnants of your lunch, you’ll be expected to drink some more like a real trouper. In Vineland, New Jersey.

Anyway, the party is happening tonight. I'm going to be there for the first time in 4 years and you should try and go too. And since you probably don't want to go all the way down to SJ for one party consider this, GBH is having a party in Atlantic City the next night so it's a good weekend to be in Jersey.

Links:
EMH7 in The Village Voice
Everyone Must Hurl MySpace (Details & Pics)

***That's Cutie puking in the pic above. You may remember him as the former official photographer of Brooklyn Ski Club. He also got a shot published on MyOpenBar.

Tonight: O'Death and Free Booze!

This is pretty random but sounds awesome!

Details:
O'Death Loft Party

Job Opp: BSC Concert Review Dude

I don't go to shows anymore, someone needs to go in my stead and write about it. Read the old reviews so you have an idea what kinda style we're talking.

FYI: You get nothing, sorry. I make no money from this blog so neither will you. But you will get into shows for free and probably free CDs and shit like that. Maybe you'll be awesome and groupies will offer to give you head in the bathroom at the Merc Lounge. But probably not because 10 people read this blog and you're ugly.

Radio America Acoustic Gig Tonight

My homeboys in Radio America are playing an acoustic gig tonight. Gabe just joined the band so you'll be able to see two former BSC album review guys on stage together. What a treat, aye?

RADIO AMERICA
play The Rockwood Music Hall & Bathhouse
Saturday August 18th 2007, 11:30pm
FREE!!!!!!

Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street

Trapped In The Closet Preview (Chap 13-22)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Oh Shit!

Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver (Video)

A long time ago I posted the KE version of the Dio classic "Holy Diver". Since that time I've seen tons of traffic come from people searching for it, so I'm not the only one that thinks it's a killer cover. Well now the band has released a video and it's pretty cool - I'm sure Dio would approve.

1994: Cheney Talks About Invading Iraq

Wow, this is just...I mean, he knew! I guess a lot of us knew but how could he do what he did when he clearly knew exactly what would happen? Haliburton? Anyway, watch this clip of Cheney predicting the future.

Plastic Bags WIll Destroy Us All

The whole plastic bag thing is really getting out of control. I try my best to not use these things but in NYC they basically force feed them to you. You know what I'm saying, it's like when you buy a roll of TP and the fucking clerk double bags it. First of all you don't need a bag for that at all and I highly doubt that one isn't strong enough to hold toilet paper.

In some cities they have implemented a tax to stop people from using these damn things but not NYC. We're really fucking shit up. I mean honestly, I bet the average New Yorker uses 3 per day minimum. And that's an average day without any heavy shopping.

I store up all of my plastic and take it to AAA Polymer in Greenpoint where they recycle bags. But the best thing to do is simply not use these damn things, which is easier said then done. However read this new article on the topic, it might sway you to be more proactive.

Link:
Plastic Bags Are Killing Us

"Every year, Americans throw away some 100 billion plastic bags after they've been used to transport a prescription home from the drugstore or a quart of milk from the grocery store. It's equivalent to dumping nearly 12 million barrels of oil."

"Bits of plastic bags have been found in the nests of albatrosses in the remote Midway Islands."

"...every plastic bag you've ever used in your entire life, including all those bags that the newspaper arrives in on your doorstep, even on cloudless days when there isn't a sliver of a chance of rain, still exists in some form, even fragmented bits, and will exist long after you're dead."

Chicago

You may have noticed the lack of posts lately. It's partly due to the fact I've been in Chitown for the past few days. It was my first trip to Chicago and I fucking love the place! It's kinda like New York and Philly combined and about 1000% cleaner. Seriously, I didn't see a single piece of trash on the street anywhere.

I got there on Saturday night and slept on a tiny little couch, which was not cool. The next day I woke up and headed to my hotel downtown. I pretty much just roamed the streets on Sunday and eventually ended up at Debonair. Which is the cool place to be apparently.

When I got there the place was filled with NYC kids. The first person I saw was Bronques. Anyway, I hear that at some point Danny Masterson was DJing and played an R. Kelly song, which prompted R. Kelly to stand on his table and sing along. I didn't see Danny and I didn't see R. Kelly, so I can't confirm this actually happened but that's what I heard.

On my way back to the hotel I was on some random deserted street downtown and few people were stumbling towards me. When they got closer I realized it was Franco from Shindig and High Class Elite. He was totally gone, as was most everyone in Chicago on Lollapalooza weekend. Except for me, I was a little drunk but hardly gone.

The next day I was in meetings pretty much all day and then hit some tapas joint which had some of the best grub I've ever had. And the next day I headed back to NYC, after missing my plane.

Other cool things about Chicago:

• Mass Transit - I've always had a grudge with the MTA but now that I know how great Chicago has it I really hate those fuckers. The entire time I was there I only had to wait more then 5 minutes for a train once (of course it was while I was headed to the airport).
• Cleanliness - So much cleaner then any city I've ever been to.
• Beautiful - Even the business-y part of town that looks like Midtown has tons of green space. Most of the buildings have huge outdoor plazas and courtyards open to the public. These are great if you're on foot because you can cut through the middle of the block.
• Booze - You can go to a grocery store and buy liquor, beer, and wine! All in one place. Why the fuck is this not the case everywhere?
• Food - Nothing I ate there sucked. I had the best hot dog I've ever tasted in my life. Then I looked up the place and found out it's only considered average by Chicago standards.
• Beach - They have a beach and the biggest lake I've ever seen. Not like we have Coney Island where you have to spend 2 hours on a train either. It's right there by the downtown area.

So yeah, I fucking dig Chicago. However some things are a little off putting. The hipsters there take themselves way more seriously then ours do. At least our hipsters realize at least a little that they're kinda goofy. Chicago hipsters also seem to love house music type stuff more then indie.

The other thing that sucks is the heat. It's not the same as ours, it's like when you open the oven and that cloud of heat surrounds you. And I'm not sure what elevation the city is at but it seems like the sun is way more intense there.

The airport sucks ass! Trying to find your way from the terminal to the subway is damn near impossible. The signs suck, if you follow them you will end up lost.

Otherwise I suggest you get on a plane and go to Chicago. Plane tickets from NYC are pretty cheap, like $250 round trip.

Brooklyn Tornado

Notice how everything outside is thrashed? Well weather experts think a fucking tornado may have tore through Brooklyn this morning. They aren't sure it was a tornado but it sure as shit looks like it out there. To any people out there that think the whole climate crisis/global warming thing is bullshit let me repeat myself. A FUCKING TORNADO HIT BROOKLYN!

Link:
BK Tornado

Bonds...

So he broke the record, aye? Great. The most sacred record in sports has been broken by a cheater. Super. This is a big day for sp... errr, steroids. HOORAY for steroids!

Scorpions

It's weird, I have always been a big fan of the concept that Sabbath invented metal and then I see this. Here's the thing, you know that band from the 80's the Scorpions? Yeah, "rock you like a hurricane" dudes. Well, here's the thing...they started in the 60's. It was actually 1965 to be exact and that's notable because it pre dates Sabbath. Now the sound they had in 1965 was not metal but by 72 it was close, so did they rip off or inspire Sabbath? Take a look...

1972


1977 but recorded in 65

Also, ever notice that they totally ripped off Skynyrd, bad...like really fucking bad (shameful even).

Tonight: CSS @ Studio B

It's a free CSS show at Studio B, I really don't need to say much more then that.