Entries Tagged 'News' ↓

There hasn’t been much to blog about here lately, or at least not much for ME to blog about here lately. Running GaragePunk.com as well as my own personal life is keeping me pretty busy, so I really have less and less time to devote to this thing, much less run out and see shows these days (I managed to make it out to ONE in the last three months, so that should give you an idea of how involved I’m going to be in the future). Also, a month or two back I invited a few other local music fiends to contribute to this blog, and each expressed interest in doing so… even going so far as to register themselves as contributors here, but I haven’t seen anything from any of them since. There’s nothing complicated to figure out, guys. If you wanna write something, by all means, log in and post! Cuz, ya see, I was hoping to make this thing more of a team effort than simply me posting about stuff that I think is interesting (and I’m sure people are tired of hearing me shoot my mouth off, anyway). But if I can’t even get a few other people involved, then I’m not sure what the future of this blog will hold, and frankly, it obviously ain’t that promising. That’s not me being negative; it’s just the facts, ma’am. So please don’t hold your breath expecting great things, daily insightful posts about local rock’n'roll, record reviews, etc., at least not until some of these others come forth to help out. I was also promised a new episode of the TIRC Podcast a couple of months back, but that, too, has yet to surface. So then about a week ago I got the idea to set up a TIRC account on Twitter, which gives me a quick way to post about upcoming shows, and I also located a plugin that allows those updates to be posted daily right here on the blog automatically. Anyone that wants to follow the account can get the updates, so it’s not intrusive by any means, yet still provides a sort of service to the local music community that (so far, anyway) hasn’t been made available by anyone else. So I’ll keep doing that, and post about shows and stuff here from time to time when my schedule allows, but please don’t expect a whole lot until things change. Thanks for reading, and rock on!

I don’t really know much about this band… Joe from Euclid Records e-mailed me recently and told me about this show. I checked out the band’s Myspace page and I will admit that they sound somewhat interesting. There’s definitely some good, hard-nosed, distortion-heavy rock’n'roll going on there at times (check out their tune “Go Die” if ya don’t believe me), mixed in with a bit more indie rock shoegazerness (is that a word?) than I usually like to swallow, but still, not bad by any means. I’m detecting plenty of a soul and R&B influence for them to be able to keep my raw-boned attention live, I’d say (check out “Don’t Shake My Tree” for a prime example of that), and the organ reminds me a bit of Stereo Total, who I’ve always kinda liked in that ’60s-pop-meets-new-wave vein. Just don’t give me too much shit if you catch me at the bar chatting it up with friends and tossing back a coupla shots of Wild Turkey during the happy indie rocker “See and Be Scene” or the sappy “I Like Your Hair Long” (to quote Jason Potter, “indie rock is the new soft rock”). It’s just that, to me, they definitely have a sound that would lean more towards the Kill Rock Stars or Sub Pop crowds than, say, the In The Red, Sympathy, or even Bomp/Alive crowds. But I know there are plenty of you out there that can dip your ladles into both brew kettles with equal thirsts.

One of the really cool things about this show, though, is it’s happening at (what appears to me, anyway) as a relatively new venue for raw, “underground” rock’n'roll in River City. The Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen was once the location of the old Webster Streetside Records that closed shop about a decade ago (and good riddance to that sorry old chain, I say). According to Joe, the venue is usually home to more of a blues-based musical variety, but those people tend to clear out by 10:30, so they’re looking to book more rock acts, presumably in an effort to attract a younger audience that’s not afraid to stay out past the bewitching hour.

The show is Friday, March 7. St. Louis garage/psych rock veterans The Nevermores open, who are perfectly adept at gettin’ your gears greased for what comes after. Cover is $5, by the way, and this one’s a late show: 10pm doors.

Lo-Fi Saint Louis, St. Louis’ first internationally recognized and award-wining video podcast, will make its debut of a new seasonal episode format on Monday, March 3, 2008, and will celebrate with an event at the Mad Art Gallery on Saturday, March 8. The event will feature video screenings, live performances by two great St. Louis-area indie rock bands, the Helium Tapes and the 75s, and other surprises. Doors will open at 8:00 p.m. and admission will be $6.00.

Lo-Fi Saint Louis has been on hiatus since mid-January in order to allow for a revamping of the website and to give its creator, Bill Streeter, a long-needed break.

“I’ve been producing two videos a week for Lo-Fi for the past year and I really needed a little break to rethink some things and to recharge my creative batteries. I also wanted to do some other projects that I just didn’t have time for if I was producing so much for Lo-Fi,” Streeter said.

The podcast will now be produced on a seasonal schedule, similar to that of a television program, with separate schedules for the spring and fall seasons. Each season will consist of two videos per week for ten weeks each.

Some of the other projects Streeter will be taking on with his new spare time are the recently launched Lo-Fi Sessions and a sketch comedy video series with comedian Bill Chott that will begin production in May.

Hey folks, I’m now taking writing/blogging volunteers for this website. Looking for people to write occasional garage/punk/rock’n'roll record/show reviews, post about concerts & other events, submit interesting and appropriate videos, audio files, etc. in an effort to turn this blog into more of a local music & entertainment resource (or “webzine,” if you will). If you’re interested please send a message via the contact page or reply below. Thanks!

Greg “Frog” Kessler and I have started what we’re calling the Saint Louis Flyer Project, in which we’re trying to collect as many “vintage” St. Louis-area punk/wave/hardcore and underground/alternative rock flyers from the mid-1970s through the mid-’90s as we can for a new Flickr group. We’re only really interested in actual scans of authentic, old-school paper flyers, no Web flyers made with Photoshop or Illustrator. We just feel there are probably a lot of these things stashed away in boxes in people’s attics or basements these days, and it’d be great to get them out, dust them off and let them live again now on the Web. So please contribute to our collection if you have anything worth sharing (and if you don’t have a scanner and aren’t afraid to let one of us borrow your collection for a week or two, please get in touch and we’ll gladly scan them for you). Thanks!

GARAGE NEWS FLASH: The legendary 1966 Iowa garage band GONN, inductees into the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, featured on the “Nuggets” box set with their first record “Blackout of Gretely” and on the Sundazed “Loudest Band in Town” Beat Rocket LP, to name a few, are reuniting for a show at OFF BROADWAY in St. Louis on Saturday, January 5th, 2008. This will be the band’s first live show since their appearance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland back in 2005. GONN 2008 still features ALL ORIGINAL MEMBERS: Gerry Gabel, Craig Moore, Rex Garrett, Larry LaMaster, Dave Johnson. The group members are driving & flying in from all over the US to do this one-night show. Also appearing are The Nevermores and The Vultures, two of the St. Louis area’s best current generation of garage/punk/rock’n'roll bands. Tickets are only $10 and will be limited due to club capacity. As of this posting it is not known if advance tickets will be available or at the door only. More details can be found soon at www.myspace.com/gonn66, or at www.offbroadwaystl.com. You may also write to youngernow@ameritech.net with any specific questions. SPREAD THE WORD!

Check out Craig Moore from Gonn appearing live on stage with both The Nevermores and The Geargrinders at the recent Show-Me Blowout garage fest in St. Louis at Bill Streeter’s Lo-Fi Saint Louis video blog:

Craig Moore with The Geargrinders on “Blackout of Gretely”

Craig Moore with The Nevermores on “Doin’ Me In”

Thanks,
kopper

The insanity just never ends here at TIRC Exitprises! The company made an official statement this past Monday during a press conference called by company CEGO (Chief Executive Goof-Off) Harvey Floorbanger that they would be “GIVING AWAY FOR FREE” downloadable copies of its latest release on its struggling “TIRC Records” subsidiary. Dissatisoul from local St. Louis “garage-punk” (ahem) HEAVYWEIGHTS Left Arm is being released on the company website for a “recommended” “donation” of anywhere from three to five bucks. But who do they think they’re kiddin’? Any thrifty Beatle Bob out there in consumer la-la land knows that music is just out there (everywhere) for THE TAKING, so why not just put down that hoagie, grab it, and run like a jackal? And indeed, you CAN! Actually, there’s no need to even RUN (nor try to stealthily sneak it inside your favorite smoking jacket). No siree, Bob. No shame, a-tall! Just go to the online store and, with trusty mouse in hand, click the LEFT ARM CD cover and download away!! I mean, LOOK AROUND… No one’s going to see you do it from the privacy of your PC there. It’s just like downloading kiddie porn!! Now, any of you out there from more distinguished, cultured upbringings who may encounter feelings of guilt after doing so MAY, if you so desire, of course, return to the scene of the crime and pay a few bucks for it, but that’s only if you feel REAL GUILTY. Because obviously if there’s no guilt, there’s no CRIME!

Oh yes there’s Trouble, right here in River City… That starts with “T” and that rhymes with “C” and that stands for CRAZY!!

By the way, hard copies of the CD are for sale at the band’s website for six bucks postage paid, for you weirdos who insist on having something to hold in your hands and look at and then sell to the local used record store when you run outta cigarette money in a few months.

Tommy Smelfiger
Minister of Propaganda
TIRC Exitprises

Well, I’m happy to say that the Show-Me Blowout seemed to be a nice success. The bands were all fantastic and there were really very few complaints or problems, especially on Saturday night when some of the timing issues were corrected from the previous night. Unfortunately, the attendance for the two nights combined didn’t even reach 200 people, with the second night falling far short of expectations. This despite good press both in print and online and plenty of promotion. Still, a fun show, and Craig Moore really ripped it up on stage with The Nevermores and The Geargrinders on their covers of two classic ’60s garage punkers, “Doin’ Me In” and “Blackout of Gretely,” respectively. The Saturday afternoon BBQ Bash at Apop Records also went off without a hitch, and all four bands were great there as well. Lots of people enjoyed a keg of Schlafly Winter ESB (they were already out of the Oktoberfest), damned fine burgers and some of the largest, juiciest hot dogs the world has ever seen, all prepared perfectly on the grill by Bill Streeter of Lo-Fi Saint Louis. Were you there? Then please post your thoughts on how the whole thing shook down on the TIRC-STL google group.

That said, because of the lackluster turnout, I have a huge overstock of Blowout T-shirts available that I’m “blowing out” for just $8 plus postage. This basically means I’m making just over a buck on each shirt. Hopefully I’ll sell enough of these to break even, but somehow I doubt it. Oh, and I don’t care if you were there or not. I’ll sell a T-shirt to anybody, anywhere, anytime. Just send your money in via PayPal using the button below (and don’t forget to indicate your shirt size and include your snailmail address). Thanks!

Select Shirt Size:

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Share your photos of the event here!

The Show-Me Blowout starts tonight! In case ya missed it, here’s the local press it received this week:

Jason Toon wrote a great piece on it for “B-Sides” in this week’s RFT:
Show Me the Garage Rock!

Matt Fernandes wrote about it on the Rock Candy blog on Wednesday:
Get dirty this weekend at the Show-Me Blowout!

And, as previously noted, Thomas Crone in the 52nd City blog:
Show-Me Blowout @ Off Broadway; Q/A with Kopper

Now here’s a little somethin’ somethin’ to help get ya in the mood… BOOM!!

More info? Check out the Show-Me Blowout on THE CIRCUIT.

Doors at 7pm, show at 8:00 (or shortly thereafter). See ya tonight! And tomorrow!! And tomorrow night!!!

Thomas Crone published a Q&A with me yesterday on his 52nd City blog. Click here to read it. Thanks, Tom!

Hanging out at Blood Wall. The Cripplers will be headlining the first night of the upcoming Show-Me Blowout garage/rock’n'roll fest (Friday Oct. 12th at Off Broadway). It’ll be their first live show in over two and a half years. Click here to download their 2nd LP, Death of the Cripplers.

We were able to get the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown to give us a special rate of $89/room for the nights of October 12th and 13th. This is a savings of $20 off their regular room rate, so it’s a good deal, if not still a bit pricey (but hey, it’s a really nice hotel, too). But the big advantages of staying here is A) you’re downtown (lots to see), and B) you’re only 3.5 miles (less than 10 minutes) from Off Broadway. Just make sure you mention the Show-Me Blowout when calling in your reservation: (314) 621-8200

Now, if $89/night is still too much, we can also recommend the nearest Motel 6 at 6500 S. Lindbergh Blvd. in South St. Louis County, but that’s considerably further (9.4 miles to the venue) and isn’t really close to anything interesting, other than maybe Grant’s Farm. The normal single room rate here is just $51.99/night. They weren’t able to give us any sort of special room rate for this event, sorry. (314) 892-3664

Another thing you can do is to go to www.priceline.com and for a zip code type in St. Louis and then, after you search for hotels, look for the “name your price” link under “More Ways to Save” on the right side. Click that link, then on the next screen choose Downtown St. Louis, then either 3-Star or 2 1/2-Star Moderate-Plus. Then just put in $50 or $60 in the “Name Your Own Price” box and see what happens. You may end up at the Raddison, Ballpark Hilton, or the Sheraton. All nice hotels and downtown, which is cool, and within a few miles of the venue. Good luck.