Category Archives: Shows

Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh TONIGHT (13 June 2012)

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EARTHRIDE featuring Vulture and Molasses Barge

at the 31st Street Pub

3101 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh (@ 31st St. Bridge)

 

9pm | 21+ only | $5

For well over a decade now, the mighty Earthride have been making quite a name for themselves in the world of doom metal — no small feat in the over-crowded Maryland scene. Their last album, 2010’s Something Wicked, was an absolute masterpiece, and they haven’t shown any signs of slowing down anytime soon…

     More Earthride info: Facebook, Myspace, Southern Lord (label)

Our neighbors from the south will be paying a visit to our fair city this evening, appearing alongside two of the best local acts in the sludge/doom milieu, Vulture and Molasses Barge!

     More Vulture info: website, Facebook, Innervenus (label)
PLUS, read the Valley of Steel review of their full-length debut Oblivious to Ruin here.

     More Molasses Barge info: Facebook, Myspace, Innervenus (label)
ALSO, I wrote up a quasi-review of one of the Barge’s shows here,
AND, check out this really cool interview with guitarist Justin Gizzi (courtesy Hellride Music) here!

     For further details about the show: see the Facebook event pages here and here, and the 31st Street Pub Facebook page here.

Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (08-11 June 2012)

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Hey, Pittsburgh-area friends.  Here is your weekly digest of shows and events that are happening in town.  There are some good ones coming up over the next few days, so listen up.

As always, a reminder: I can only write about what I know about — so if you work for a local promotion company, a venue, or a band, please be sure to get in touch with me with anything you want to share.

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Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh TONIGHT (5 June 2012)

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“The original Scottish Canadian punk band”

Vancouver BC’s The Real McKenzies coming to Pittsburgh tonight!

with The Goddamn Gallows, “twanged-out punk rock gutterbilly” from Detroit

and featuring The Bloody Seamen and Ernie and the Berts

Altar Bar 1620 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

Doors 6:30, Show 7:30 | $13 ADV, $15 DOS | 21+ only

 
Around for nearly two decades now, The Real McKenzies were one of the first to come up with the idea of blending old Scottish drinking song styles with punk rock music — incorporating bagpipes into all their songs (as well as appearing in traditional highland dress). You can read more about the band’s inception and their long history here; then head on out to the Altar Bar this evening for some great, rowdy fun!

Shows in the middle of the week are always tough — I’m on my way to work right now and already feeling like I’m running out of gas; knowing I have to do this again tomorrow morning makes me especially unhappy. But they’ve really sweetened the pot with the rest of this line-up: you won’t want to miss this show!

Taking the rockabilly/psychobilly concept to ridiculous new heights, The Goddamn Gallows have augmented the typical “punk band with an upright bass” arrangement by also adding mandolin, banjo, accordion, and washboard; this has prompted the band to describe themselves as old-timey “gutterbilly” punk. You can read up on their story here.

And as an added bonus, there will be two a great local opening acts — pirate rockers extraordinaire The Bloody Seamen (recently profiled by Valley of Steel here) and sleazy muppet punks Ernie and the Berts (discussed in brief a few months ago, here)!

**UPDATE: Unfortunately, I’ve just learned that The Bloody Seamen will not be able to make it to this show tonight, but the other three acts should be performing as previously scheduled.**

Find all the details you’ll ever need here, including links to all the bands’ Facebook pages, information on buying tickets, and how you can win a pair of Ernie’s pants (there’s still time to get entered, but it’s running out quickly!) As an added bonus, there are additional Facebook events here, here, and here!

Out Now: Young Hunter – Stone Tools (Touring with Cormorant!)

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Young Hunter – Stone Tools (18 May 2012, Self-released)

 
A couple days ago, I saw an announcement that Cormorant would be heading out on an eight-night tour all along the west coast. (If you need a refresher on that band, check out this review of their latest album Dwellings, which incorporates a discussion of their entire discography.) Now, as they operate independently and self-fund all their activities, they don’t get the chance to do shows all that often, so for them to announce a multi-date tour is a pretty big deal. (Full details are included later in this post.) When I read that all the arrangements were made in collaboration with another DIY band, Young Hunter (who are also appearing on almost all of the scheduled dates), it made me want to check these guys out as well.
 
I’m glad I did, and now I’m going to share them with you — so you can be glad too.
 
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Upcoming Show: Catch The Whiskey Holler for Free at Market Square

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The Whiskey Holler – Hive Songs (6 April 2012, Self-released)

Good morning, readers. If you don’t mind (and actually, even if you do — tough shit, this is my blog), I’m going to step outside the realm of “metal and heavy music” for a second time this week, and talk about another “guilty pleasure”…

My wife and I have developed somewhat of an agreement whenever we’re in the car. We sort of take turns with the driving duties, and consequently we also alternate who will be the passenger. Over time, the job of passenging has evolved to include having control over the radio/CD player. Since there’s very rarely anything worthwhile on the radio, this usually means being responsible for selecting CDs for the duration of us traveling.

Now, we do have a bit of an overlap in our musical tastes, but that isn’t always the case — there are plenty of things I like that she might not have chosen, and vice versa. But after repeated exposure, I’ve discovered that we each have been adapting and expanding our comfort zones a bit, in terms of what we listen to. For example, with her obsession over neo-folk/bluegrass styles, I’ve begun to develop an appreciation for some of this material as well.

So recently when I discovered the the Pittsburgh-area band The Whiskey Holler, they really grabbed my attention.
 
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Get ’em While They’re Hot: Download Batillus Tracks from Recent Split LP for FREE!

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Batillus/Whitehorse – Split LP (20 May 2012, Vendetta Records)

Good afternoon! Here's some exciting news that just came my way recently. I haven’t talked a whole lot about Brooklyn post-doom heavyweights Batillus, although I did name their album Furnace as one of my “Top 11 of 2011.” Nevertheless, ever since I discovered the band sometime in the early part of last year, I’ve been a big fan of their immensely powerful doom’n’gloom soundscapes.

Well, just recently, Vendetta Records has released a 12″ split that also includes Whitehorse from Melbourne, Australia. To be honest, this is my first time hearing of that band, but anything that involves Batillus is guaranteed to catch my attention. The LP is now available for purchase from the Bis Auf’s Messer webstore, or you can pick up a copy directly from the two bands when they head out on tour together next month (see a full list of dates later in this post). The first 100 copies will be on a limited-edition white vinyl; all the rest will be available in standard black.

However, the two tracks from the Batillus side of the record can be downloaded for free (or whatever price you choose to pay) from their Bandcamp page —

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Contest Alert: Win Municipal Waste Tickets (PLUS Free Downloads!)

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Guess what! After last week’s post about the upcoming Municipal Waste/Toxic Holocaust split (still available for pre-order from Tankcrimes), I got word from Scion A/V that they will be giving away a pair of tickets to each and every date on the current Municipal Waste U.S. tour (with Black Tusk and 3 Inches of Blood)!

I apologize to those who live in North Carolina and Georgia, since the shows in those areas have already taken place; also, if you live in Florida, the winners for tonight’s show (29 May) in Orlando and tomorrow’s show (30 May) in Pensacola have already been drawn. Sorry!

But for the rest of the country, take a look at those tour dates (listed in last week’s post), then check out these simple directions:
 

  • Read the official rules here
  • Follow Scion A/V on Twitter here
  • Tweet this message: “@SCIONAV @MWTour [date of show]”

 
And that’s all there is to it. The randomly selected winner for each date will be notified one day before the show.

 
Just in case the chance to see them in concert for free isn’t enough for you, there’s even MORE Municipal Waste news… how about a pair of tracks for you to download ABSOLUTELY FREE?
 
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Contest Alert: Win a Stonecreep Prize Pack

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image

 
Hey there, readers. Real quick, I wanted to bring this to your attention: in a joint effort between Blistering.com and Clawhammer PR, for the next few days you can have the opportunity to win a prize package from Portlandian death-thrashers Stonecreep!

This giveaway will include a digipack of the 2011 re-release (via Old-School Metal Records) of their 2009 album The Deathmarch Crushes On, a CD copy of the 2007 demo EP We Bleed Disaster, a t-shirt, sticker, and beer koozie. All you need to do is click right here, and fill in the relevant personal information. Be sure to submit your entry soon, because the contest will close on Friday (1 June)!

Oh, and while we’re on the subject, the band will soon be heading out across the U.S. in support of the Deathmarch album’s recent re-release, on what they’re calling the Storm of the Deathmarch U.S. Tour 2012. So far there have been sixteen confirmed dates over the course of three weeks between June and July (including a stop in Pittsburgh). See below for the full details…

 

Update 12 June: the contest may have ended but the Deathmarch tour is still, umm, deathmarching soon! I’ve learned of a few adjustments to the tour schedule, which has been updated accordingly, below, along with an explanatory statement from the band…

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Out Tomorrow: Embers – Shadows (2xLP Vinyl Release)

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Embers – Shadows (Self-released, 29 March 2011 / vinyl by Iconoclast Records, 25 May 2012)

Californian blackened-crust band Embers released their debut LP Shadows to much critical acclaim early last year. At that time, it was made available as a free (or pay what you choose) download, and it’s still available that way (more details later), but the band recently announced that the album is finally being made available in a vinyl format for those fans who had been requesting that…

Tomorrow (Friday, 25 May) Embers will be kicking off a two-week European tour, starting in Bologna (see the end of this post for a list of dates). At the same time, they will be releasing Shadows as a 2xLP vinyl edition via the Bolognese label Iconoclast Records.

 
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Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (25 May 2012)

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Hello there, Pittsburgh-area readers. Once again, it’s time for me to share my weekly digest of shows and events that are happening in town. As it turns out, I’ve got a few pretty interesting ones, and they’re all taking place Friday night (the 25th). Below you will find all the necessary information and details, and then YOU can decide which you want to attend!

And once again, I can only write about what I know about — so if you work for a local promotion company, a venue, or a band, please be sure to get in touch with me with anything you want to share.

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