Local art masters, Diamond Wave Press, are celebrating the release of their chapbook at Louie’s this Friday. The book contains works of art and poetry from many Kalamazoo favorites.
The event will be accompanied by the musical musings of Tim Tapper, Alex Quinlan, and Deep Waters. Visual art works by David Spalvieri-Kruse will be on display as part of the November Art Hop. Come check out the art and the music!
Poetry at 8; Music at 9
The Kalamazoo Peace Center and OUTspoken are bringing Andrea Gibson tomorrow!
Andrea Gibson, an award-winning and world-renowned slam poet and activist, was the first winner of the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2009. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, social reform and the struggles queer people face in today’s society. She uses poetry to express what she feels and to provide social and political commentary on real issues. She is involved with many activist groups, especially those that focus on examining the wrongs of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy. She often performs at Take Back the Night Events, LGBT and Pride events, Anti-war and Peace rallies, and organizations against the occupation of Palestine. The subject matter of Andrea Gibson’s poems are stimulating, tear-jerking and hopeful. Her words speak to those among us who sometimes want to give up because of socially oppressive constructs, shake those who are comfortable out of their complacency, and will leave everyone feeling enlightened…
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Come on out for the Goat House’s first-ever show! Enjoy sweet acoustic goodness in our living room! We have three local singer-songwriters who will delight your ears, PLUS all the way from Scotland, folk-punker Billy Liar! Due to some last-minute Facebook wizardry, we will be joined by BILLY LIAR, “the romantic punk singer, travelling the world with a battered acoustic guitar and writing about everything he observes. He is a whirlwind of acoustic strings, folk poetry and trusty chords.”
Our lineup Thursday will include:
Kalamazoo favorite ARMS AKIMBO, whose songs always get stuck in my head at the most inconvenient times.
Up-and-coming JAIME PENNELLY, who sez: “music, performing, singing, and songwriting makes me come to life.” That’s funny, hearing her music makes me feel the same way.
JAKE NIVALA, whose gorgeous guitar playing and pensive lyrics are perfect for these autumn days.
Show starts at 8pm. Email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address. See you there!
Listen here:
Arms Akimbo http://armsakimbokalamazoo.bandcamp.com/
Jake Nivala https://myspace.com/lunalouiloveyou/music/songs
Jaime Pennelly https://www.musicpage.com/jamiepennelly
Make your bummer-time middle-of-the-week Wednesday something more memorable by checking out the dense, heavy, massive, gigantic jams at Milhouse.
Touring in for the evening, LES RHINOCEROS are a band with releases on John Zorn’s label Tzadik (and if that means absolutely anything to you, I’ve probably already sold you on checking out this show) from Washington DC. They are a technical math-rock band, incorporating rhythmic patterns from the middle east, coupled with hard-hitting fuzzed out rock riffs. If you happened to have been at the Joint Chiefs of Math / Reptilian Shape Shifter show at Milhouse earlier this year, you will also enjoy this band almost assuredly.
Backing up this Les Rhinoceros will be local hard-hitters BROWN COMPANY – a band comprised of many veterans in the weird / rock / punk of Kalamazoo. This group creates a hell of a wall of sound, and are a highly compelling live show. This will also be their first house show, so lets give them a warm welcome.
Also on the bill, a combined effort from two experimental groups – PROGNOSIS NEGATIVE and FUZZ TOWN – will be making an appearance. They have never played together, chances are they never will again. Fuzz Town is an experimental guitar / pedal / loops/ beats duo comprised of the birthday boy of the day Poncho, and Josh Miller of many local bands. Prognosis Negative is a saxophone improv duo comprised of local notorious figures Saxquatch and Sean Hartman. Together these groups have something special in mind for the evening.
Show begins at 9:00 on the dot with BROWN COMPANY. Please bring money for the touring group. Strive to be the best person you can be. Tell your friends.
If this doesn’t sound like your sort of deal, not to worry! Fireplace Club and Courthouse will also be having shows this day. Fireplace Club will be starting earlier in the evening (with pumpkin carving!) and Courthouse later, so feasibly you could check out all performances!
FIREPLACE CLUB: Glowfriends (tour kickoff), Deep Waters, Erich Kuperschmidt
COURTHOUSE: Anwar Sadat, White Reaper, SAPPHIC
For any of these addresses, email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com
Local noise gods Forget the Times and Sid Redlin take the stage tonight with Traverse City Native DENTAL WORK at the eccentric Louie’s Trophy House Grill tonight at 9.
If you haven’t had the chance to check out any of Kalamazoo’s many noise shows, this would be a good time to start.
Forget the Times brings dystopian love songs from an alternate universe where everything is opposite as it is here.
Sid Redlin is an oscillator freak with a penchant for the absurd. His music is Below is a clip from a live performance with his band BORON NUZZLE at the Black Lodge earlier this year.
I have never seen Dental Work live. What I can say though, by listening to their bandcamp, and the fact that they have played with Boron Nuzzle before and therefore I came in contact with a copy of ANXIETY.ADDICTION.ABUSE. and listened to a good portion of it: is that Dental Work is raw and aggressive. Made with what I can only assume is a manajerie of some wicked electronics, Dental Work’s abrasive and entrancing style will be sure to sate your thirst for unique aural experiences.
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Doors at 8
Show at 9
Suggested $5 donation
Tonight, Milhouse is playing host to some excellent, loud, and technical music, and a bunch of awesome people, too. If you’ve got nothing else to do this Tuesday night, you should highly consider changing that for the better.
Coming in all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada and Top Shelf Records, Caravels will be creating a wall of sound too tall to see over. Shattering cymbals, beautiful guitars. Matter-of-fact vocals. High-powered like a substation.
Also on tour and traveling, Baltimore, MD has allowed us to borrow their Have Mercy. Pulsing and rhythmic, the sound is almost reserved at times, while absolutely full-bore at others. With a vocal delivery that is often thoughtful almost on the verge of being soft-spoken, Have Mercy brings an interesting mix of dynamics and concept to the table.
From way up Grand Rapids way, No Health is bringing their brand of Post-hardcore to the room. Screaming vocals. sharp-edged guitars. and a penchant for bridging the gap between wistful and heavy-handed.
Finally, Seventeen Again will be playing. Made up of members from William Bonney, The Reptilian, and Ackley Kid, Seventeen again is easily the best 18 minutes in Kalamazoo.
Music starts at 9pm. Please be prompt so we can get this show over before midnight! Also, please bring two or three dollars for the touring bands, or a little bit more cash to score some merch.
Let’s do this thing, Kalamazoo.
This Monday, two New York artists, TOLD SLANT and FLORIST will be touring into Kalamazoo to perform in the new(er) house venue, the ithinkyercute house.
This show will incorporate elements of folk, coupled with spacious and intense ambient influence. All the artists are guaranteed to make you feel some feel.
TOLD SLANT is a three piece indie folk outfit headed by distinct-sounding singer Felix Walworth. Though the songs our simple, they have a compelling strong honest feel that is hard to ignore. Plus, their live presentation is unconventional, as can be seen here:
Told Slant is on tour with FLORIST who play spacey, off-kilter folk music. The sort of music that is perfect for fall, and for sitting in a home self-reflecting with all your friends.
Supporting these traveling folks will be FIONA DICKINSON, a local favorite as far as intense folk songwriting, and a true powerhouse when it comes to an honestly compelling live presence. DEEP WATERS will also be performing richly complex and thoughtful compositions. Sometimes performed with guitars, sometimes keyboards – just going to have to show up to find out!
This show is starting at 8:00, Please bring money for the traveling acts. Respect the house, the bands, yourself.
ithinkyercute is a fairly new location in town, so if you need the address email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com.
It’s that time again, folks…Kalamashoegazer 7 is upon us, this Saturday, October 12th at Louie’s Trophy House Grill. The all ages shoegaze and dreampop festival starts at 4 p.m. (doors at 3) with Helical Scan from Grand Rapids, followed by Crash City Saints from Kalamazoo, Whales from Chicago, 800Beloved from Midland, Glowfriends from Kalamazoo, Brief Candles from Milwaukee, and closing out with Airiel from Chicago, headlining.
Admission to the show is $10. Advance tickets are still available at Corner Record Shop in Kalamazoo and Grandville, Michigan, and also at Louie’s Trophy House Grill in Kalamazoo. Tickets may be purchased on-line from http://www.brownpapertickets.com, however there is a small service fee. Any person attending the show that presents an advance ticket at the door will receive a free copy of the Limited Edition Kalamashoegazer 7 cassette, that includes one rare and previously unreleased track by each band that is playing the festival. If there are any cassettes left, they will be available for purchase at the show for $5 each. (Cassettes are LTD to 200 copies.)
Here’s a brief description of the history of the festival and the bands playing it this year…
Kalamashoegazer was started in 2007 by April Zimont and her brother, Mark Morris of the glowfriends. They had been touring out on the West Coast in the early 2000’s when the found out about a burgeoning underground shoegaze scene that was going in southern California. After a show they played at the Troubadour on Santa Monica Blvd, April was handed a flyer by someone outside the venue for a “shoegaze night” at Club Violaine. For several years, when they were out that way on tour, April and Mark attended Violaine’s events, which involved DJ’s spinning obscure shoegaze/dreampop/ambient/noise music, along with usually 3 or 4 bands playing that night as well. Fans gathered, danced, traded music, and a good time was had by all. The idea of bringing something similar to Michigan, to invite shoegaze fans from all over the midwest to gather together in Kalamazoo for one entire day celebrating “the scene that celebrates itself” was born.
Helical Scan – The opening band this year is a new band from Grand Rapids, MI, called Helical Scan. Noisy, dreamy, and melodic, Helical Scan have somewhat of a 90’s thing going with a sound that is uniquely their own. Fans of Sonic Youth, Ride, and Slowdive will enjoy the scattered and beautiful waves that Helical Scan create.
Crash City Saints – CCS are one of Kalamazoo’s longest running bands, led by Joshua Garman. The band has seen as many line-up changes as the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and drama to boot. They released an amazing record on a Japanese record label a few years back, and are having a new one mixed and mastered right now by Elliott Frazier of Ringo Deathstarr. The band is currently playing with it’s most solid and consistent line-up thus far, and the songs have got enough reverb and distortion to melt your mind.
Whales – Chicago based band Whales are a Kalamazoo favorite and have a great following here. If you haven’t seen them yet, you’ve likely heard the buzz about them, and ought to do yourself a favor and check out this super sweet, fun, noisy band. Raw, almost punk-like energy that comes out of nowhere and then drifts into blissful melodic and dreamy segments and back again…this band will totally catch your attention live. Their new full length album, “Size and Scale” will be released at the show.
800beloved – The ever elusive 800beloved, from “some suburban Michigan town” is lead by Sean Lynch, who writes unconventionally perfect pop tunes that are darkly melodic and enchanting. This band’s music practically has a smell to it that will take you back to the 80’s or at the very least, the awesome head space you were in when you first heard the Psychedelic Furs or the Cure. If that sounds amazing to you, this 800beloved will totally be your cup of tea.
Glowfriends – Kalamazoo’s own glowfriends are 6 piece dreampop band who make some pretty music that is sometimes really quiet and delicate and sometimes really loud and abrasive. Go figure. The pop sensibilities are all there, the songs are catchy and melodic, yet somehow not predictable, male/female harmonies abound, guitars soar and distort their way through every emotion possible in a 40 minute set. Kevin Dixon from Brief Candles just recorded and produced glowfriends new album, “Gather us Together” which will be released on vinyl sometime in 2014.
Brief Candles – From Milwaukee, WI, Brief Candles are another fan favorite in Kalamazoo…something cathartic happens when they play here, and everyone is ready to dance and throw down to their powerful sound. The band is touring for their newest EP, “Newhouse” which was just released on Guilt Ridden Pop. If you’ve seen them before, it’s likely they’re a top reason you’re going to Kalamashoegazer, and if you haven’t seen them yet, prepare yourself…this band is amazing live.
Airiel – Legendary shoegaze band, Airiel, from Chicago, are the headliners this year, and we’re thrilled to have them! The band has been around since 1997, and are much loved in the shoegaze scene world wide. Fans of Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, etc. will not want to miss!
Whhaaaa? Kalamazoo’s favorite sons are returning home? Taking a break from their tour with Useless Eaters, The Spits are making a somewhat impromptu appearance at Louie’s Trophy House Bar and Grill.
If you haven’t yet heard….The Spits are a band that originated in Kalamazoo, MI over 15 years ago. A “PUNK FOR THE PEOPLE”-kind of band on IN THE RED RECORDS they have toured all around the world and made some serious waves. Hold onto your butts, Kalamazoo.
What makes this all even crazier is that they will be debuting 6 new songs at 9 O’Clock sharp! Doors are at 8!
Find more details about The Spits official tour here….
https://www.songkick.com/artists/125164-spits
RSVP here….
https://www.facebook.com/events/668867176476686/?ref=notif¬if_t=plan_edited
DITKalamazoo 