November 14, 2009

On our way back home...I think we are scheduled back around 8:00....Thanks to everyone for a great tour! Notably, Blessure Grave who were awesome tour buddies, and of course the Keller clan for being such great hosts...Calvin, I'm sending $ for the drum heads! Here are more pics from the trip...Enjoy!

Soundtrack: Giles, Giles & Fripp - How Do They Know

November 13, 2009 - Silver factory

Sadly our last full day in California...out for coffee and a walk, then out to shop for a few final souvenirs and a stop by Amoeba Records (LA) before conveining back to Echo Park to run through the equipment and setlist options. Decided down to Front Street to pick up some new threads from the always cool Endofanera clothing line to sport for tonight's show.
Silver Factory studios turned out to be a
gallery room within a warehouse space near downtown; nate informes me this is the new thing to do as opposed to the traditional going to clubs to see bands. This was also our last show with the Blessure Grave crew as well, but the line-up was a good one and we had our lovely
LA contingent in tow. Local favorites Bestial
Mouths opened the night to a happy and
enthusiastic crowd, followed by Blessure Grave,
who put on another stellar show; the drums and
bass were especially rocking tonight. We were up third, and started the set off strong until the bass decided to drop out during Queens (SXSW flashback); we limped through China Walls and Flesh, where Jared joined us again and played beautifully despite the technical difficulties, and we recovered strong with Secrets, then proceeded finish the rest of the set respectably. Jared and Colin's band Full Frontal closed the evening and had everyone dancing into 2 encores. Loading out, we got to catch up with the other bands and friends; apparently a very smashed "reality TV winner" was in our midst, but didn't want her picture taken, so she will remain anonymous. We all gathered for one final group pic and closed out a phenominal night. Nate and I decided to drop Tommy off and take in an authentic Echo Park afterparty until the cold late hours of the California am; homemade tamales never tasted better!

Soundtrack: Blessure Grave - Stranger in the House

November 12, 2009 - Music Trader Sports Arena

Assembled the crew and drove south to lovely San Diego for a pretty kick ass bill, reuniting us again with Blessure Grave, along with Wet Hair and Talk Normal at Music Trader Sports Arena, which is actually more music trader than sports arena. We met at Citi Deli with the lovely Veronica to strategise, then over to Hillcrest to shop and meet the crew at TAANG, and then a stopover in the touristy Gaslamp and a tease of nearby Tijuana before heading over to the venue. Loaded in and shopped a bit in the already crowded store; wanted to visit the Adult Arcade, but decided to head over to the Rhythym Lounge for "Cocktails & Entertainment" and to raid the jukebox befor Hip Hop Night started.

Blessure Grave started first, and played another great show; great bass tone, and vocals, although the levels could have been turned up more. Fierce female Brooklyn duo Talk Normal were

up next, and I really enjoyed their minimal and powerful sound. We played third, and I thought we delivered a nice set as well; Jared joined us

on Confusion and China Walls and did a great job! Iowa City duo Wet Hair closed the night

with a really cool electro keyboard and drum set.

Hung out with Blessure again during load out and talked about tomorrow night's "Aphrodesiac Tea" induced finale in LA. Decided to get on the road and start fresh in the am. Apparently San Diego wanted us to stay, as we were detoured off the 5, then encountered a freak rainstorm, then California's finest decided to block the entire interstate for a stranded vehicle. Homebase for late night Burrito King and fade out to a 2012 bootleg. Looking forward to tomorrow night...

Soundtrack: Kesha - Tic Toc

November 11, 2009 - Break

Free day to catch up, so a quick stop by
Vacation Vinyl, then off to the Griffith Observatory for the day. We cought up with Einstein, daggered the moon, did our best James Dean knife fight impressions, and even activated the tesla coil. Hilarity ensues...

Afterwards, we conveined back for thoughts of night croquet in nearby Elysian fields park, then to put Jared through a strenous audition to play guitar for Entertainment for the next couple of shows....let's just say someone did their homework, and I was very proud!

Soundtrack - Black Tambourine - For ExLovers Only

November 10, 2009 - Orgami Vinyl In-store

Out to explore Echo Park, and of course the annual stop at Barrigan's. happy to see some changes in the 'hood. A few errands, then back for a quick runthrough the set at Orgami Vinly tonight. The Gypsy Lounge show was moved, so we were presented an in-store show opportunity instead. Initial idea was to play the set acoustically as we did with the WUOG Public Radio show last year...instead, opted to use the "Jiggytron" and a few pieces of the acoustic set. Aside from the crummy PA, keyboards disappearing after the first song, and jiggytron PA volume down until the middle of the first song, I really dug the sound, a nice departure from the usual set minus, Romance.

Orgami insert
"Come on over around 7pm and check out Entertainment. It has been said...and it is true...
few bands can make music this cold and abyssal; so fiery and enticing. Tonight, November
10th at 7pm. Bring a scarf...or a rope"

Oragami filmed the performance at it's entirety, and has it archived on it's site.

Soundtrack - bauhaus - Hope

November 9th, 2009 - Los Angeles

Up early to return drums to Sam's and then down to Antioch to retrieve Tommy for our anticipated return to Los Angeles. We opted for the 6 hour drive south on Hwy. 5 through old California, as the coastal scenic route was unfortunately out of the question due to time.
An odd landscape, there were periods of wind turbine and grass covered mumps spaced intermittent with flat pasture and orange groves. Somewhere between Los Banos and Mettier, I could have sworn we were passed by the Fear and Loathing cadillac, equipped with a boom box in the back seat.Got into Echo Park after rush hour to Jared's house to retrieve drums, catch-up and then off for a stroll before load in. Stopped by Orgami Records (where we were to do an in-store performance the next night) to meet and greet and find out we're playing up in the loft. Met up with the gang at the newly relocated L'KEG gallery, loaded in, etc. Tonight's Line-up included us, Haunted Tiger, Seth and his new Sheila, Cariss'a band, Velvet Stars Collide (Seth's first show ever), Lately Blu Blu and LANTVRN. We played last to a pretty sparse crowd, but served as a nice warm up for the upcoming shows... Calvin's drum heads still bore the divets from our last trip to LA. Loaded up and off to the bar to meet up with Nate, Calvin and the rest of the crew, then home for more shots, found videos and Mighty Boosh reruns.

Soundtrack - U2 - Indian Summer Sky

November 8th, 2009 - 924 Gilman

Drove over to the Haight-Ashbury district for breakfast and an Amoeba Records run. Looking through the newly busted passenger window,
I admit I was a little disappointed with the once "Hippie Mecca" of the world, as I could see the same exact thing at home...minus the Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop. 1 Giles, Giles & Fripp cd later, we headed across the bay and past a nice view of Alcatraz to Berkley to meet up with Tommy's parents. After a late lunch, we loaded
in and took in the historic 924 Gilman space, where back in the day, a band had to scrub the bathrooms in order to play. I scored a shirt,
just in time to catch the first of many great
acts on the bill that night.
Secret Tones started the night as an impromptu 2-piece, who still managed to pull it off; Blessure Grave killed it again with swirling bass tones and textures; we were third up and played pretty well, albeit a little sloppy in my opinion - Swann Danger were really impressive, and then New Thrill Parade (whom we played with earlier this year at Go Bar - TO ABSOLUTELY NO ONE - GO Athens!) finished off the night with a steamy orgasim of sound! (Props to T's parents for enduring the whole thing!) Packed up and back into SF for cheesy macaroni and hashbrowns at
Sparky's. and TV demolition..."And remember,
If you're not first, you're last... "

Soundtrack - Echo and the Bunnymen - Do It Clean

November 7th, 2009 - Kimo's

Arrived into San Francisco around Noon,
picked up the rental and navigated to
Sam Adato's Drum shop to pick up the set Sam had generously arranged for us, then off to Kimo's to load in and skulk about. Apparently Kimo's was once a gay bar with a concert area located on the second floor; actually reminded
me of the bar on the Morrison Hotel album cover. We loaded in and were then off to explore the coffee shops, restaurants and book stores until dark when we noticed all of the creatures coming out around the Gulch, including Ricearoni, Tucan Sam and the asian "Troll Lady" who would riddle all passers by while wearing no less than 6 layers of sweaters. Entropy Destiny opened the show and brought out the weird and painted Art Rock; Blessure Grave were next in what proved an inspiring initial performance and the first of many we would see while on tour together. We then closed with a decent first set, consisting of a sturdy representation from the Ent. catalog...started with Queens and 2 of the new songs and standards including Romance. After loading up and whisked out, we were abducted by a group of toothless trannies and taken to GrubStake, an all-nite eatery, then saved by Amy from VVV. We then retired with the first
of many, many Mexican meals sure to come.

Soundtrack - Chrome - Eyes In The Center

California Dates Confirmed

The Final dates for California have been confirmed!

November 7 - Kimos w/ Blessure Grave and New Thrill Parade, San Francisco, CA

November 8 - 924 Gilman w/ Blessure Grave and Swann Danger, Berkley, CA

November 9 - L'KEG Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
November 10 - Gypsy Lounge, Lake Forrest, CA

November 12 - Magic Trader Sports Arena w/ Blessure Grave, San Diego, CA

November 13 - Silver Factory w/ Blessure Grave, Los Angeles, CA

Entertainment/Revel Hotel/White Light Lametta @ Coco66

Traveled to New York for a quick show in Brooklyn with friends Revel Hotel and the rest of the always stylish, always enthusiastic New York team. For the sake of sounding redundant, I'll just insert here an entry from Shadowtime NYC, a spinoff blog of Bigtakeover.com. Special thanks to Kristen , Hillary and to Todd...

Frankie Teardrop curated an excellent lineup
last night at Greenpoint's Coco66, featuring
electropop duo White Light Lametta; his own band, the increasingly sweepingly excellent Revel Hotel; and Athens, Georgia's dark, damaged darlings, Entertainment. Openers White Light Lametta were unexpectedly charming: the seductive synths and sexy monotone chorus of "U Wanna B My + 1" and their cover of the 80's montage classic "Scarface (Push It To the Limit)" completely won me over. Then came Revel Hotel, who have really come into their own, fusing decadent, glitter-dusted cabaret with jagged slices of heated electronic fervor. (The band's much anticipated debut EP, The Beating of the Wings, will be reviewed closer to its release.)The marvel of the evening, however, had to be Entertainment, whom I'd heard on record, but never saw in the flesh. A slow burn of anarchic pleasures moving between pounding, tribal vigor and creeping, Gothic slither, few bands can make music this cold and abyssal so fiery and enticing. Frontman Trey Ehart switched between keys and guitar whilst alternating between seething seriousness, eyes piercing through the fog, and gleeful, devilish half grins - even efortlessly telling one heckler to "fuck off" with the same bratty bravado. Although I reviewed Entertainment's most recent release, Gender, for The Big Takeover, the band's sound live comes across as more vital and unique. Not merely a tarted up younger sibling of Christian Death or the Virgin Prunes, Entertainment forge beyond their influences with inimitable style, snapping sonic sinew in their wake, leaving listeners bruised and scorched in an auralgasmic aftermath. Post-show, you'll likely require a frozen cold shower.

The rest of the evening was spent at the local hangout until 4:00am, where even then they lock and pull the shades and continue the arsenal of tequila shots and Stella draft (Thanks Robert), just to stumble out onto the streets to witness

all the vampires about, purchasing fresh flowers and deli sandwiches... only in Brooklyn!

Soundtrack: The Faint - The Geeks Were Right

Because California says it's cool...

Nothing major to report as of late...just a few scattered and sporatic local shows in the predictably fickle Atlanta and Athens music scenes; COME ON ATL! Looking for an escape, we are in the final stages of announcing a short tour of California set for early-to-mid-November with a few notable current bands from the burgeoning west coast underground music scene; confirmed dates coming soon...

Jacksonville w/Christian Death

Saturday, August 8
One of the greater things about being a musician is being able to visit new places and meet some great people; and sometimes even being able to play with some legendary bands. This time,
we were asked back to Jacksonville for another show, this time to play with Christian Death,
considered by many to be the founding fathers
of American goth-rock. Although Valor Kand remains the only original member of this lineup, we were very excited for the opportunity to join them for one of only a few North American dates before their extensive South American tour.
After a mad scramble back to Atlanta to
pick up the new run of Entertainment t-shirts,
we arrived in Jacksonville for load in just as
Christian Death were running through sound check. We looked on with pre-party drinks of Wild Turkey American Honey liquor and tequila shots; after our sound check, we ventured next door for sushi, then readied for the show with a few fortune tellers and fire dancers. A decent crowd saw us through a set that offered everything including a broken drum stick and guitar string, some new songs to be released on the upcoming album, and a power outage half way through Queens. We come right back with Flesh, newly re-added Romance, and then closed with an enthusiastic Nervous Talks, while a supportive Valor and Chuck watched on.
Christian Death went on next and put on a great show; I honestly wasn't sure what to expect them to play; maybe a few classics, maybe none; turns out, they played both, including Sleepwalk.
I was especially impressed with the newer material from their newly released American Inquisition album; Maitri and Nathan were impressive as well, as they powered through an encore. After the club kicked us out, we took the post party back to Max & T's for more tequila shots and bloody suspender wrestling and stories of early CX exploits. Up sometime the next afternoon to pack-up hangovers and get a sick Tommy back to Athens.
Soundtrack: Brain Eno - Driving Me Backwards

Florida, June 26th, 27th

Friday, Gainesville

Ventured south to sunny Florida to play a couple of shows and try out the revised tour stategy by first working all coasts, and then slowly working inwards. We got into Gainesville around 7:00 for a quick bite then load in at the Atlantic in the heart of downtown for our show with Sarcastic, Oddknock, and Girls on Film. Wasn't sure what to expect from another college-town while school was out, but there was a surprisingly nice eclectic turnout; even the Chuppacabra made an appearance and seemed to take a shine to Trey during the puppet show. Considering a weeks absence from being able to get together, we picked right up and played very inspired and tight set, further strengthening the new demo songs. After one of the best sets I've seen by GoF, we mingled a bit, packed up and joined the locals at a late-night pizza joint where we judged bikes and tried to teach the official Entertainment hand sign. Special thanks to Electronic Subsouth and the guys from Sarcastic for showing us around, and to Uber Alex for making the trek
all the way from Michigan...
Soundtrack - Joy Division - Transmission

Saturday, Jacksonville

Drove to Jacksonville for tonight's show at Edge 17, run by Tommy's old friend Max. We explored downtown Jacksonville and took in some local fare, and were regailed with stories of the days when Limp Bizkit and crew were playing and recording here.

Back at the venue, wc caught the finals of the local Jacksonville Idol competition before it was turned over to Factory kids. The venue had a very impressive set up; we played the smaller
of the 2 rooms, equipped with strobes

and fog machines. After an impromptu
photo session, we played another strong
set set to a very receptive crowd, so much so the grinding on the dance floor proved too much for a full shows
attention...but, apparently this was a good thing. Afterwards, we caoght up with the rest of the Movement Magazine folks, and discussed coming back for another big show in the Fall. Then back to Max's for an afterparty, then a quick bite, and on the
road home.

Photo by Max
Soundtrack - Rolling Stones - Monkey Man

It's Official!

After long delay, and to much chagrin from the DR.com folks, Gender was voted Deathrock Album of the Year 2008...thanks to those who voted!

03.23.09 - Drunken Unicorn w/ Attention System and Prids

Limping in for the final show of the "Austin - Haircuts and Dreams" min-tour found us back home at the Drunken Unicorn with local friends Attention System and west coast lovers The Prids, with new keyboardess extraordinaire, Maile.

We ended-up kidnapping the Prids and took them back to the underground lair with us for late night hot cocoa and pool. Hi-Fi Hillary enjoyed herself so much she decided to stay an extra couple of days, and we bonded over Malasian food and Iron Man.

Photos stolen from Hi-Fi Hillary

SXSW 2009 Recap

Sorry for the dealy; I'll promise to be more
diligent with the updates and spare myself the nasty email requests for timely recaps!
We'll start out with some pics from our trip to South By Southwest.









Here are a couple from a convenience store in
Dallas; it's true when they say everything is
bigger in Texas...where else can you get over
800 varieties of beef jerky!







Here's Tommy trying out a new hat.



Austin is really a swell town...home of mobile taco trucks on every corner, Lone Star Beer, sundresses and cowboy boots, tons of music venues, and this obnoxiously vocal bird called
the Great Tailed Grackle...









We played on the Post-Punk.com bill with other post punk bands from all across the country. Good chance to meet-up with our contemporaries. Final line-up: Times New Roman, Mother/Father, Shiloe,
The Public, Autodrone, Romance, Entertainment, The Prids, and Blacklist.
















Best head in town




Saw tons of shows over 3 days... highlights were the Dumps at the
40-Watt Showcase, They Promised Us Jetpacks, The Proclaimers (yes, that band!), Primal Scream and The Warlocks. We tried to sneak into the Janes Addiction secret show, but apparently we don't smoke...

Deathrock.com Album of the Year!

Apparently, we are up for the Deathrock.com 2008 album of the year for Gender! Go vote for us if you haven't. You have to join the Message Board to vote, which you should do anyway because the site is going to be hot this year! Go to Deathrock.com to vote!

Entertainment News!

RECORD RELEASE PARTIES in EUROPE!

We have a new European / World wide distro deal!
"Gender" is being re-released for Europe on March 13th 2009! Here's the record release parties for Gender outside the US:

We also have the re-mastered limited Vinyl edition of Gender from Duchess Archive records (NY) this spring. It'll look like this:

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

Played the annual Stickfigure Records Showcase,
a 4-day event featuring bands on the local
Stickfigure Records Label. The final showcase night featured Lid Emba, Tenth to the Moon, Entertainment, and Feeding Fingers. Missed Lid Emba, but Tenth to the Moon put on a great performance! We played this show as a 3-piece, and true to previous performances as a "Power Trio", the response was overwhelming... Apparently, the sound takes on a "more raw, punk ethic..." We played a strong 8-song set, which included 2 new songs. Also, christened
the new Roland module; 700 sounds of trigger possibilities. Coyote J & Mrs. Vicky were in attendance all the way from Birmingham, as well as nearly all of the invited local contention; especially good to see nephew Brian and Krista. Feeding Fingers closed the night with a great performance as well. Topped the evening off with Jeff C. and I cursing the parking lot beggars and wannabe's and finally meeting up at the Albert with the crew for a nightcap!

Photos by Kasey L. Johnson of Homeslice Photography.

Soundtrack: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Rifles