Posted in Whathaveyou on July 21st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Thief Presents continues to throw down a gauntlet with its festivals. It seemed fair after so thoroughly upping the game earlier this year with Psycho CA that big things would be in store for that fest’s autumnal counterpart, the Day of the Shred, but when you come out of the gate like it’s no big deal and be like, “Oh hey Captain Beyond is playing our fest year whatever,” you’re officially killing it. You’ve got John Garcia, Yawning Man and Ides of Gemini together, which makes me wonder if Zun won’t make an appearance, and Spirit Caravan, Elder and Crowbar, along with a righteous ton of others, up to and including Portugal’s Black Bombaim. It gets a hearty and heartfelt fucking a.
Details from the PR wire:
Day of the Shred Festival to Light Up Southern California November 1
Dia de los Muertos-themed Concert Event to Feature Performances from Captain Beyond, Spirit Caravan, Crowbar, John Garcia, Mondo Generator, Torche and More
This fall, The Day of the Shred Festival returns to Southern California, presenting a diverse lineup of heavy music acts. Billed as an experience “to gather the living and remember the dead”, The Day of the Shred will take place on November 1 (Dia de los Muertos) in Santa Ana, CA. Celebrating monolithic riffs, skateboarding and the souls of the departed, the second annual festival will be an all day, all ages event. Presented by Thief – also the creators of the annual Psycho California Festival — The Day of the Shred will feature headliners Captain Beyond, Spirit Caravan, Crowbar, Torche, John Garcia (of Kyuss fame), Elder, Saviours, Mondo Generator and more.
Tickets for the 2015 Day of the Shred Festival are on sale now at this location. Early bird general admission tickets are $59 (+ tax) and a limited VIP ticket package (which includes express entry, a signed festival screen print, access to the artist lounge, complimentary microbrew and snacks, a limited edition record bag and an exclusive Thief X Obey concert shirt) is also available. What: Day of the Shred Fest 2015 Where: The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA Time: 2PM – 2AM Tickets:Eventbrite.com/e/day-of-the-shred-2015-tickets-17017683349
The just-announced lineup for The Day of the Shred 2015 is as follows:
CAPTAIN BEYOND SPIRIT CARAVAN CROWBAR JOHN GARCIA MONDO GENERATOR TORCHE ELDER SAVIOURS OXBOW FULL OF HELL THE BODY YAWNING MAN KOWLOON WALLED CITY BLACK BOMBAIM FIGHT AMP THOU NIGHT DEMON IDES OF GEMINI MOS GENERATOR GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST WHITE MANNA POOBAH COMMUNION BLACKWITCH PUDDING DUEL Stay tuned in to The Day of the Shred Fest via the Facebook event page and follow THE DAY OF THE SHRED on social media:
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 5th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Longtime residents of Kemado Records‘ lineup, Oakland heavy thrashers Saviours have signed to Listenable Records for the release their next album, to be recorded this Spring with none other than Billy “I have the original mixes of Dopesmoker under my desk” Anderson following a quick West Coast tour in March. Saviours mark a decade since the release of their Warship debut EP in 2015, and they’ve been slugging it out the hard way most of that time, heavy touring and a string of four-to-date full-lengths that have kept them in public consciousness as they’ve heralded a new breed of West Coast heavy rock.
It’s been four years since Death’s Procession, their last LP, and I don’t think I’m telling you anything you don’t know when I say the climate for heavy bands has changed in that time and is continuing to change, so I’ll be interested to see what kind of response Saviours gets, and if the band is able to transition to maturity while keeping the brashness that’s served for the last 10 years as the core of their sound.
While I stroke my beard and consider the possibilities fully aware of my own ridiculousness, feel free to dig into this off the PR wire:
SAVIOURS ink deal with Listenable Records!
California’s SAVIOURS continue to forge ahead with towering riffs, colossal rhythm, monumental guitar harmonies and an obsession with the end of times, the occult, psychedelics and arcane. Still building upon the foundations laid by Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy and Motörhead, SAVIOURS enter their second decade in a new partnership with French label LISTENABLE RECORDS, preparing a new album for a Fall 2015 release.
The band generously comments: “We’re very happy to finally announce our deal with Listenable. They’re true supporters of what we do and have been a pleasure to work with thus far. Since last June we’ve been beating the new songs into submission and now its really starting to take shape and sound killer. There are some doomy crushers and faster ragers in the mix so its sounding like a natural and logical continuation of where we left off with Death’s Procession. In March we’ll play some West Coast shows then begin recording at Type Foundry in Portland with the inimitable Billy Anderson. Can’t wait to get this new record out, its been too fucking long!”
SAVIOURS new album will be recorded this spring for a later 2015 release.
The band will also be in for a short West Coast tour this March.
SAVIOURS Possess The West 2015 Tour 18.03 – LOS ANGELES (CA) Los Globos 19.03 – SAN DIEGO (CA) Soda Bar 20.03 – SAN FRANCISCO (CA) DNA Lounge 21.03 – RENO (NV) Shea’s Tavern
SAVIOURS IS: Austin Barber – Guitar & Vocals Sonny Reinhardt – Guitar & Vocals Scott Batiste – Drums Andy Anderson – Bass
DISCOGRAPHY Full length albums: “Crucifire” – LP / CD (Level Plane, 2006) “Into Abaddon” – LP / CD (Kemado, 2008) “Accelerated Living” – 2LP / CD (Kemado, 2009) “Death’s Procession” – LP / CD (Kemado, 2011)
EP and singles: S/T Demo – Cassette (Self released, 2004) “Warship” – 12″ EP / CDEP (Level Plane, 2005) “Cavern Of Mind” – 12″ EP (Kemado, 2007) “F.G.T.” – 7″ EP (Kemado, 2009) “Burnin Cross” – 7″ EP (Kemado, 2009) “Acid Hand” – 7″ EP (Kemado, 2009) “The Eye Obscene” – 12″ EP (Kemado, 2011) “Crete’n” – 12″ EP (Kemado, 2011)
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 9th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Supporting their earlier 2013 release, Thy Kingdom Scum (review here), Japan’s resident serial-killer-obsessed lords of Sabbathian stonerized doom madness Church of Misery will return to US shores next month. They’ll arrive fresh off a stint in Australia that ends on Oct. 6 and includes a performance at the Doomsday Festival in Sydney.
Joining them for the North American run will be a rotating cast of characters including Saviours, Wizard Rifle, The Gates of Slumber and Against the Grain. The first two will cover the West Coast portion of the tour and the latter will pick up in the Midwest and carry on east before Church of Misery head back west to finish out in Arizona and Los Angeles, as if just to make sure they’ve utterly destroyed the appropriate amount of major urban centers before leaving. No doubt they will.
Church of Misery are also set to release a new DVD on Emetic Records by the title of Terror in Tokyothat captures them in December of last year and also includes the entirety of their Maryland Deathfest performance as bonus footage. The tracklisting and a clip from that follow the tour poster below:
Church of Misery returns to the U.S.!
with Saviours, The Gates of Slumber, Wizard Rifle, Against The Grain
OCTOBER 18 Oakland CA @ Oakland Opera House 19 San Francisco CA @ Thee Parkside 20 Portland OR @ Rotture 21 Seattle WA @ The Crocodile 22 Bellingham WA @ The Shakedown 23 Vancouver BC @ Rickshaw Theater 24 Edmonton AB @ Pawn Shop 25 Calgary AB @ Palomino 30 Fargo ND @ The Aquarium 31 Saint Paul MN @ Turf Club
NOVEMBER 01 Chicago IL @ Ultra Lounge 02 Rock Island IL @ Rock Island Brewing Co. 03 Grand Rapids MI @ Pyramid Scheme 06 Pittsburgh PA @ 31st Street Pub 07 Syracuse NY @ Lost Horizon 08 Toronto ON @ Hard Luck 09 Ottawa ON @ Mavericks 10 Montreal QC @ Il Motore 11 Providence RI @ AS220 12 Brooklyn NY @ Saint Vitus Bar 13 Richmond VA @ Kingdom 14 Baltimore MD @ Ottobar 16 Atlanta GA @ The Earl 17 New Orleans LA @ One Eyed Jacks 18 Austin TX @ Mohawk 19 Dallas TX @ Club Dada 22 Tempe AZ @ Yucca Tap Room 23 Los Angeles CA @ The Satellite
Church Of Misery – Terror In Tokyo
Terror in Tokyo is Church Of Misery’s 4th dvd and first to ever be available outside of Europe or Japan and 1st since since 2007’s Live In Red – Eurotour 2005. Along with the main feature the entire set from the 2012 Maryland Death Fest has been added as bonus material.
Track Listing – Main feature at 20000 VOLT, Kouenji, Tokyo 29th December 2012. Run time 2.5 hours
1. B.T.K 0 2. Lambs to the slaughter 3. Brother Bishop 4. Candy Man 5. Born to raise hell 6. Taste the pain 7. Killfornia 8. Red ripper blues 9. El Padrino 10. Shotgun boogie 11. Sick of living 12. Badlands 13. I,Motherfucker 14. Blood sucking freaks 15. Where evil dwells ~ jamming 16. For mad men only 17 Filth bitch boogie
Church of Misery, “Blood Sucking Freaks” from Terror in Tokyo
After wrapping a stint opening for Clutch, Mondo Generator and Saviours on the former’s annual holiday run, Wino and the other support acts headed out to ring in 2013 on their own, crossing the country on a nine-day trek from New York to L.A. The full Wino set from the Pittsburgh gig Jan. 4 at the 31st St. Pub was taped by the company Digitalive Productions and featured here back in January, but it turns out that Wino also sat in with Saviours for a Motörhead cover of the song “Limb from Limb” that Digitalive also caught on tape — or, more likely, SD card — in a multi-camera shoot.
Really, that’s about all I need to hear before I’m ready to climb on board. You’ve got Wino doing a guest spot with the California-based heavy thrashers on a cover tune? Yeah sure, I’ll check that out. What makes this clip even better — aside from the production value — is how tight the cover actually is. Considering they’d only been on tour three days at this point (maybe they’d done it while on the road with Clutch, but they didn’t do it in Allentown when I saw that tour), they’ve more or less got it down with the double-guitar treatment, and of course Wino‘s vocals bring that seething edge to the song that he’s been heralded for all these many years.
“Limb from Limb” originally appeared as the closer of Motörhead‘s 1979 sophomore outing, Overkill, and if nothing else, this version shows the universal nature of the Motörhead influence, since if you sat down to search out every rock song since that used that riff, by the time you finished there’d probably be 30 or 40 new ones to find. Usually how it goes with Motörhead, especially old Motörhead.
This is week number 87 of Wino Wednesday. Hope you have a good one:
Saviours w/ Wino, “Limb from Limb” live in Pittsburgh, 2013
Posted in Reviews on January 2nd, 2013 by JJ Koczan
How bummed was I to miss Wino opening for Clutch, you ask? Well I was super friggin’ bummed. Thanks for rubbing it in. Between parking and standing on line to get into Crocodile Rock, I missed his set entirely to the point that I thought maybe he was going on after Saviours and before Mondo Generator, or maybe even after Mondo Generator and before Clutch, where they could transition from one set to another by launching into “Red Horse Rainbow” from Pure Rock Fury, on the album version of which Wino guested on guitar. No such luck. Turns out I just missed him.
It was a shitter way to start out an otherwise great night. Saviours were just getting ready to start up when I walked in. In all the years I’ve been going to shows, this was my first time at Crocodile Rock, which reminded me a bit of the Machine Shop in Flint, MI, in its late-’90s vibe. They were around for nü-metal and had the framed pictures on the wall of Union and Ill Nino to prove it. The sound wasn’t bad, but the place was already packed and only became more so. Doubtless a good portion of the crowd came as refugees from the originally scheduled Starland Ballroom show, unfortunately canceled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy while that venue, which was flooded out, rebuilds and regroups.
But for missing Wino (I mean, seriously, how do I miss Wino? I’m Mr. Wino Wednesday — you’d think I’d just have like a Wino-dar to go off and let me know when he’s playing), the evening had much to offer. Clutch rolling through on their annual holiday run playing no fewer than four new songs from the forthcoming Earth Rocker, a reinvigorated Mondo Generator, and Saviours, who I hadn’t seen in three years since they hit Brooklyn supporting Saint Vitus. Not much had changed, though their stonerly riffer’s thrash seemed all the more Californian perhaps because it was 20 degrees outside and half the crowd had their winter coats on. Some stuff is just better left to warmer weather.
Still, the band seemed to waste no time in winning over any skeptics who might have been present. “Crucifire,” from their full-length debut of the same name, was especially visceral, with guitarists Austin Barber and Sonny Reinhardt doing classic metal harmonics for an audience that seemed to appreciate the Maiden influence. Bassist Carson Binks and drummer Scott Batiste made a formidable rhythm section beneath the rampant soloing, locking in fast grooves in a kind of insistent thrust, all thrash but aware too of classic metal and hints of doomed thickness. Whatever else you can say about Saviours, they’ve always effectively straddled genre lines, and though I basically missed the boat on their 2011 album, Death’s Procession, they made a resounding statement in its favor by closing with “Crete’n” from it. If I’d been able to get to the merch table from where I was standing, I’d probably have bought a copy.
Ditto that for Mondo Generator‘s 2012 offering, Hell Comes to Your Heart, because whatever else you can say about Nick Oliveri‘s many adventures — in and out of Kyuss Lives/Vista Chino, on probation for a well-publicized swat team incident, etc. — he fucking brought it to Croc Rock. I was surprised, though I probably shouldn’t have been. He’s got more than enough presence to front a band, and though in Mondo Generator, the focus is largely on the abrasive-type edge he brought to Queens of the Stone Age during his tenure there, his songwriting core remains above average. I’m a firm believer that neither he nor Josh Homme are as strong separately as they are together, but I suppose you could say the same for any number of pivotal collaborations. Either way, the band behind him was tight, and they threw in enough QOTSA material — opening with “Ode to Clarissa” and also sprinkling “Gonna Leave You” and “Millionaire” throughout — to keep any attention that might have otherwise wandered, my own included.
At least from where I was standing, it seemed like a pretty hip room, so I think most people knew what and whom they were watching, though I heard someone comment that they must have been from NJ because guitarist Ian Taylor was wearing a shirt that said “Don’t Mess with Jersey” on the front. That led me to wonder what it might be like to see Mondo Generator without any of the context of Oliveri‘s time in Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, etc., and just to take it all on the level of “some band opening for Clutch.” I think I’d still call them a solid stage act, but the level of appreciation would undoubtedly be different, as when they closed with “13th Floor” from 2000’s Cocaine Rodeo, realizing the song also appeared on QOTSA‘s Rated Ras “Tension Head.” It’s the little things. In any case, for never having caught Oliveri‘s outfit live before, they impressed, and his bass tone remains enviable pretty much unto itself.
I was still holding out hope that Wino might just jump on stage for a couple acoustic songs before Clutch got going, but no dice. It would’ve been hard to follow the unhinged punkisms of Mondo Generator anyway, and the crowd around me didn’t exactly look like the unplugged type. Dudes in Fear Factory and Deftones shirts, Black Label Society and so forth. Sometimes I forget how distinguishable “heavy” and “metal” can be, but it’s cool, or at least it was once Clutch took the stage. They were universally agreed upon.
The set opened with “The Mob Goes Wild” and went right into “Walking in the Great Shining Path of Monster Trucks” from Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes and Undeniable Truths. That Clutch would hit up their full-length debut — which turns 20 in 2013 — at all was a shocker, but to do it so early in the set even more so. By the time they got around to some of the new songs, though, it made sense. Following “50,000 Unstoppable Watts” from 2009’s Strange Cousins from the West, the landmark Maryland foursome dove headfirst into “Crucial Velocity,” which was as straight-ahead and aggressive a song from them as I’ve heard since 2001’s Pure Rock Fury. They’ve said all along that was their intent for Earth Rocker, or at least how things wound up, but still, “Crucial Velocity” hit with a surprising swiftness from a band who’ve spent their last three records reveling in blues and funk influences almost exclusively.
Nothing against either approach. Frankly, Clutch could do whatever the hell they want and their audience, likely myself included, would be along for the ride. And if Clutch have in fact decided to take an approach more similar to their earlier noise-rocking days — some of the stuff I’ve heard from Earth Rocker bears that out, some less so; I’ve yet to listen the whole album and can only go on what I’ve seen them do live — it makes an interesting kind of sense in terms of how they relate one album to the next. Interview fodder, if nothing else. They backed “Crucial Velocity” with “Gravel Road,” frontman Neil Fallon picking up his slide and joining Tim Sult on guitar, while bassist Dan Maines — who I ‘m pretty sure was in the pocket before he even walked on stage — and drummer Jean-Paul Gaster held together a semi-extended jam that seemed to indicate that Clutch are working on reconciling the different aspects of their musical personality, still developing after more than 22 years.
“Earth Rocker” itself, the title-track of the upcoming album, reads more or less like a manifesto. Lines like, “If you’re gonna do it, do it live on stage/Or don’t do it at all,” and, “I don’t need your stinkin’ laminate/I don’t need your VIP/I don’t need your dedications/’Cause I wear it on my sleeve,” certainly back that up, and Fallon makes a convincing case with Clutch‘s roadtime bolstering his argument. The chorus was smoother in Allentown even than when I saw them play the track in Jersey in October. Once again offsetting old and new, “Earth Rocker” shot into “A Shogun Named Marcus,” and though I’d seen the setlist beforehand to take a picture of it, it was still a palpable thrill when they threw in “Regulator” from 2004’s Blast Tyrant — their first collaboration with producer Machine, who also helmed the new album. Have I mentioned Clutch have a new record coming yet? Oh, I have? Okay then.
One hopes you’ll forgive the overkill on the point, but honestly, seeing the new stuff was a big part of the reason I wanted to catch the show, Clutch‘s holiday tour tradition notwithstanding. “Cyborg Betty” seemed like it needed some more time to set in than the other two — or maybe that’s just because I didn’t know it as well — though it did well shifting into “Child of the City” from From Beale Street to Oblivion, which is a cut I initially wrote off when the record came out but has since become a favorite live, and “Cypress Grove” once again from Blast Tyrant, the pair of songs united by a heavy stomp that is definitively Clutch‘s own, and before I knew it, the show was almost over. I stayed up front the whole time, having kind of hollowed out a niche near the security barricade, and waited for “D.C. Sound Attack,” positioned as the penultimate feature of the regular set, right before “Electric Worry.”
That’s pretty good company to keep, especially for a new song, but Clutch seemed to be betting that the harmonica and midsection cowbell jam would find favor even among people unfamiliar with the song as a whole, and they were right. Probably also helped that “D.C. Sound Attack” has one of those choruses you seem to want to sing along to even before it’s over the first time — “Hell hounds on your trail/What a pity/But that’s the price you pay/Shaking hands in Necro City” — but no question that the place went off when Fallon picked up the cowbell from his mic stand. They seemed like they were still nailing down some of the transitions, and especially compared to “Cypress Grove” or “Child of the City,” two songs Clutch could probably play in their sleep if they were so inclined, “D.C. Sound Attack” seemed particularly new, but they killed it nonetheless, and one imagines that by the time Earth Rocker is out and they come back through with Orange Goblin in tow, the response will be significant.
When they came back out for an encore following “Electric Worry” — a fight broke out in the middle of the song and Fallon called it “boring” — the joke was that it was for “a couple more thrashers,” but with “Animal Farm” from 1995’s self-titled and “Pure Rock Fury,” that kind of turned out to be the case. They ripped through one song and then the next, both are classics in the Clutch canon at this point, and then were gone, offstage just past midnight. It seemed like a fast 90 minutes, but there you go.
By the time I got home about 95 minutes later, I could already feel the cold I’d been nursing come to its full brunt, and though I consoled myself for missing Wino by saying I’d catch him in Brooklyn with Mondo Generator and Saviours as their tour continues following the end of the Clutch holiday run, I left work early on account of feeling like crap and now know that’s not the case. So it goes. But though I spent Dec. 31 in full-on dead duck mode, hopped up (down?) on NyQuil and barely conscious, I still feel like I sent out 2012 in high spirits for having seen Clutch one more time before hanging up the new calendar.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 18th, 2012 by JJ Koczan
It just so happens that this past weekend found me listening to Clutch for more or less 13 hours straight. There was a break in the middle there for maybe an hour, but other than that, it was Clutch and nothing but for just about the entire waking day. Of course, since then, I’ve had an array of Clutch songs stuck in my head, from “The Devil and Me” to “Binge and Purge.” Even “Regulator,” which I didn’t actually hear in this massive Clutch session (it was also a massive drinking session, but that’s a story for a different time), has been playing nonstop on the ol’ mental jukebox.
No complaints.
Today, the band announced their annual holiday tour, which they’ll embark on hopefully having just finished or while in the process of finishing their new album, which they’re working on now. Opening for them on the gigs will be Nick Oliveri‘s Mondo Generator, along with Saviours and Wino in support. Dig the news:
CLUTCH Announces Holiday Tour
In what has become an annual tradition, CLUTCH have announced a string of Holiday tour dates for this December. The dates kick December 26th in Washington, DC and conclude with a special New Year’s Eve performance in Worcester, MA at The Palladium. Tickets for fan club members will go on sale Wednesday September 19th and to the general public on Thursday September 20th and Friday September 21st. Support on these shows will come from Mondo Generator, Saviours and Wino. Fan Club tickets are available at http://tixx1.artistarena.com/clutch/
CLUTCH will also take to the road starting on Halloween for a quick run of dates including two stops in Flint, MI and two stops in Detroit, MI. MonstrO will open these shows with Lionize providing direct support. A complete list of all confirmed dates is below.
In other news CLUTCH is currently in the studio working on what is to be their next studio release. The band is currently in pre-production and is shooting to have the album out in early 2013.
For those of you that are clamoring for new CLUTCH music the band recently released a limited edition picture disc single of the track “Pigtown Blues” via Weathermaker Music. The single is also available digitally. The A-Side is “Pigtown Blues” and the B-Side is an acoustic version of the track “Motherless Child”. The disc can be found at your favorite record store as well as online at www.clutchmerch.com.
Want to be the first to know about everything CLUTCH related? Be it tour dates, breaking news and exclusives, make sure to sign up for the CLUTCH Mobile Mailing List by texting CLUTCH to 94253
With Lionize and MonstrO
10/31: Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop – Tickets
11/1: Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop (Sold Out – Rescheduled from 5/13)
11/2: Joliet, IL @ Mojoes – Tickets
11/3: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall (Sold Out – Rescheduled from 5/12)
11/4: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall – Tickets
Holiday Tour With Mondo Generator, Saviors and Wino
12/26: Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
12/27: Asheville NC @ The Orange Peel
12/28: Lexington KY @ Buster’s Billiards & Backroom
12/29: Columbus OH @ Newport Music Hall
12/30: Sayreville NJ @ Starland Ballroom
12/31: Worcester MA @ The Palladium
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 7th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
By now it’s quite a comeback Saint Vitus have launched. They might at this point be a regular touring band. I don’t know the official designation for when you go from doing a reunion show here and there to touring. I guess it probably involves mode of transportation and shit like that. I’ll get to work on figuring it out. Meantime, the PR wire has the flier-form goods on a Vitus date for Los Angeles:
With Ancestors, Totimoshi and Saviours on the bill, that’s a good night to be in CA. Because there’s little I enjoy more than posting these videos, here’s some live Saint Vitus from Hellfest in France. The day I get tired of watching this stuff will be a sad one indeed.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 19th, 2009 by JJ Koczan
I?m hardly the world?s biggest Saviours fan, but I will say they tour like bastards, which whether or not you break out the records every day, you?ve got to respect. I?ve also seen them live on more than one occasion and they basically crush. So nothing against them on that level either.
Just a couple short days after announcing they?re going to be opening for the legendary Saint Vitus on their three-day East Coast run, Saviours let it be known they?re doing a US run with fellow van-dwellers Kylesa. Pretty good considering what they?re touring to promote is three 7? singles.
