Review: Braincore in Bangor

I went up to Bangor last Friday to see my USM buddy, Jakob Battick, who held a hardcore/punk show at the Solidarity Center in Brewer. Playing at the show was Joseph Merrick, To The Barricades, Huak, and Eyes Like Fire.

Joseph Merrick

Joseph Merrick is an 80's hardcore-revival band looking to skewer people's perspective of modern hardcore and have them really think beyond the "scene". They're music was dark and emotional with drudging guitars and tantalizing drums. I've never really been into hardcore music, but seeing all the raw emotions played out on stage brought me a better understanding of the genre as a whole.

More after the cut...

Review: Gully, Winterpills, and Ladybug Transistor at SPACE

It's been awhile since I've done a concert review or for that, anything, so lets get this engine going again with a show I saw last Friday at SPACE Gallery in Portland.

The opening act was Gully, a local 90's lo-fi revival band. Fans of Pavement and Guided by Voices would find a liking to these guys. Working on a new album, they played all new songs, none to be found from their Six Songs EP. The new songs they played seemed to be a step-up in maturity from Six Songs, and that should serve as a compliment because their first EP is all-around great. Guitars were layered to create a nice texture of sound, and the drummer's and singer's unique touches added to the overall rustic timbre of the band. One of the keyboards didn't work for one of their last songs so I was disappointed to not hear that in the mix.

Read about Winterpills and Ladybug Transistor after the cut...

Results of Sunday's Battle of the Bands

Werewolves on Wheels and my band, Tony Smokes and the Ladykillers, will be moving to the finals of the Gorilla Productions Battle of the Bands later this summer. Lewiston's up-and-coming hard rock band Werewolves on Wheels took first place at the competition with an aggressive and entertaining stage presence and songs like "Girl Bombs", "Thunder-taker", and "Devil Dinosaur". With their rock-hard performance, Werewolves on Wheels won the hearts and minds of the audience. Tony Smokes trailed behind in second place, impressing fans with their diverse set of music.

Photo taken by Alexis Mantis.

My brother, Sean Martin, recorded the entire Tony Smokes performance on his video camera, so you can watch the entire set right on here or Youtube!

The Newtube Concert

Support my band at The Big Easy on Sunday!

My band, Tony Smokes and the Ladykillers, will be playing at a battle of the bands show, hosted by Gorilla Productions, on Sunday, July 6th. We will be playing with other competing bands such as Pinsky, Werewolves on Wheels, The Watches, Dead By 27, and quite a few more.

The event starts at 4PM and should end around midnight. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $12 at the door. If you would like to buy tickets in advance, please contact me on here. I will be working at the bakery at the Millcreek Hannaford from 4 to 7 tonight, so I will be able to sell you tickets there.

This will be my band's first performance at a legitimate venue. We have a pretty wild setlist prepared for all attendees. Please help support Tony Smokes and come on out to the show! See you there!

Tonight @ SPACE: The Impossible Shapes

From SPACE Gallery: Indiana's The Impossible Shapes are on tour supporting their recently released self-titled album recorded on "extra sticky analog tape." Having grown up only a few short hours from Dayton, Ohio, Guided By Voices, the Breeders and Swearing at Motorists are obvious influences. A true ensemble band with revolving instrumental duties, the band features members of John Wilkes Booze and Songs: Ohia. Portland native Robert Stillman returns from his studies in London and Pepi Ginsberg makes the trek from Brooklyn to make this lineup one to remember.

If you would like to listen to The Impossible Shapes before checking out tonight's show, go to their media page and download all their free MP3s. There's quite a few of them and all of them are really good.

After giving a week's worth of listening to these guys, I'm becoming a fan. The Impossible Shapes play well-crafted psych folk-pop, if that means anything to you. People in the past have compared them to Elephant Six bands and I think rightfully so.

The Impossible Shapes play at SPACE Gallery at 9PM. Hope to see you there!

Unlimited Enthusiasm Wrap-Up

Last Thursday, a very strange and triumphant thing happened at SPACE Gallery: it was transformed into a summer camp with wizards, sock-puppets, video games, and enough visualizations to make your dog shut up. This was the Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo, also known as Camp Jump and Yell, and it was hosted by a grand Triforce of allies: Harry and the Potters, Math the Band, and Uncle Monsterface.

Cupcakes were given with admission. Everyone had their own special Unlimited Enthusiasm nametag. There was a section of the venue dedicated to learning the "Moon Banana". The secret word was "PARABOLIC" and everyone screamed when it was mentioned. These were only a few of the many oddities happening at the show.

Unlimited Enthusiasm Theme Song

Camp Jump and Yell started off with all of the bands performing the Unlimited Enthusiasm Theme song. "You gotta jump! You gotta yell!" sang all of the Camp Jump and Yell counselors, and all of the campers repeated the simple instructions. Many times. It was a great way to increase the enthusiasm-meter to...UNLIMITED.