Chances are, you’ve heard some of the buzz going around for the big music festival coming up this month, The Already Dead Family Reunion 2. In case yr unaware of the details or aren’t sure about attending, I shall attempt to illuminate and entice.

The Reunion is the second annual music festival put on by local label Already Dead Tapes & Records. The label has been around since 2009 and is run by myself and Joshua Tabbia of Problems That Fix Themselves. Our goal is to use the Reunion to bring together bands from near and far that are members, friends and associates of the label. Both the label and festival strive for diversity. We take in bands from all over the genre map. Folk, Noise, Indie, Rock, Jazz, Punk, Electronica, Pop and more! There are 28 bands playing in total over the course of three days.

This festival is very special to me. I’m excited to see every single performer over the weekend. These are bands that could literally change your life if you let them. On top of that, there are some truly great and inspiring people that will be hanging out. I want to see folks come together and share the experience. This will be a time to remember.

Discount weekend passes are available right now for only $12! Don’t wait, as prices will go up once the first 25 and 50 tickets have sold. They can only be purchased via Already Dead Tapes: http://alreadydeadtapes.bigcartel.com/category/tickets. There are no additional fees and buyers will be added to a will call list. 100% of the money made will go to the travelling bands and production cost. 17 of the bands playing are travelling here (some from very far away) and I’d like to make sure they are supported. There will also be plenty of amazing merch available from Already Dead and the individual performers.

The first show is being held at No Fun House on Thursday, September 20th. 6pm-12am. Single day tickets are $5 door and $4 pre sale.

The mood for this day will be low key as most of the artists are folk and acoustic based. Here’s the lineup:

6/6:45 – Alex Quinlan
6:45/7:30 – Peter Damien Cook
7:30/8:15 – Tim Tapper
8:15/9 – Eskimeaux (Philadelphia, PA)
9/9:45 – Lovestranger MD (Minneapolis, MN)
9:45/10:30 – About A Million (Honey Brook, PA)
10:30/11:15 – Fiona Dickinson
11:15/12 – Spectral Being

Here’s a videos of About A Million and Peter Cook playing at last year’s Reunion.

Day 2 is being held on Friday, September 21st at Louie’s Trophy House Grill. 6pm-12am. Single day tickets will be $10 door and are available right now for $7 pre sale.

Everyone on Friday will have a full band setup. There is a wide variety of styles while all featuring a sort of ‘noisy pop’ theme. Here’s what’s in store:

6/6:45 – Morseville Bridge (Flint, MI)
6:45/7:30 – Ou Oú (St. Louis, MO)
7:30/8:15 – The Binary Marketing Show (Little Rock, AR)
8:15/9 – Brown Company
9/9:45 – Problems That Fix Themselves (Chicago, IL)
9:45/10:30 – Hermit Thrushes (Philadelphia, PA)
10:30/11:15 – Daniel Francis Doyle (Houston, TX)
11:15/12 – Saturday Looks Good To Me (Ann Arbor, MI)

Morseville Bridge and Problems That Fix Themselves are both returning after playing last year’s Reunion. Brown Company are local long time avant-garde masters playing their first show since changing their name from ‘Unitard’. Rumor has it they might even be adding some members! The celebrated Daniel Francis Doyle will be making his third appearance in Kalamazoo and bringing back his solo set! A 12″ split on AD is in the works with Dan and Hermit Thrushes who will be playing back to back. Saturday Looks Good To Me are headlining the night and making their first Kalamazoo appearance in years! SLGTM’s singer, Fred Thomas did an AD tape split with Radiator Hospital earlier this year.

Here’s a few videos to check out:

The final day of the Reunion will be on Saturday, September 22 and is a two part show. The first part is at Louie’s Trophy House Grill, 6pm-12am. This will be immoderately followed by an after party house show at Wayne Manor. Single day tickets are also available for only $10 door and $7 pre sale.

Saturday will be the loudest of the weekend. Many of the bands have a more ‘punk rock’ influence with a few notable exceptions. Here’s what’s on the slab:

LOUIE’S –

6/6:45 – Jeremy Ruggles & The Echo Chamber Family Band
6:45/7:30 – The Reptilian
7:30/8:15 – The New Diet (Chicago, IL)
8:15/9 – Br’er (Philadelphia, PA)
9/9:45 – Spelling Bee (St. Louis, MO)
9:45/10:30 – Hypocrite In A Hippy Crypt (Bloomington, IN)
10:30/11:15 – Emperor X (CA)
11:15/12 – Forget The Times Infinite Family Arkestra

AFTER PARTY –

1/1:30 – WearWolf
1:30/2 – Braining (St. Louis, MO)
2/2:30 – Anybody But The Cops
2:30/3 – The Grow Fangs (Minneapolis, MN)

The New Diet are driving out from Chicago to share their heartfelt brand of post punk. AD released a 7″ split with them and The Binary Marketing Show a few weeks ago. I’m super excited to see Br’er again after touring with them for two weeks back in May. Spelling Bee is one of the greatest math punk bands I’ve ever seen. Without question. AD is pressing their new full length on vinyl right now. May even be available at the Reunion. Hypocrite In A Hippy Crypt is making his first ever live appearance! Emperor X is one of my all time favorite pop song writers. His live performances are not to be missed! I will personally be closing out the Louie’s portion of the night with a one off performance with The Forget The Times Infinite Family Arkestra. We’re assembling a 12 piece band exclusively for this show. Full horn section, extra synthesizers, and a drumline. Prepare yrself!
As everyone knows, after the party it’s the afterparty. We’ll be taking you into the wee hours of the morning. At 2:30am, the legendary Grow Fangs will be wrapping up the whole festival. GF were a local favorite good natured thrash punk super group. They’ve since all moved away. This is the first full reunion in quite some time. Heads will explode.

To hear more of the bands, go to: http://alreadydeadtapes.com/adt/?page_id=795

If you feel like being super helpful, hop on over to facebook and spread the event around: http://www.facebook.com/events/424137840941510/

Thanks for reading! I’ll leave you with these videos: