A Busy Weekend

Well, the crazy kids at DIT (K) went and did it again – or at least two of them did. DIT Kalamazoo as a whole would like to apologize for the lack of updates this weekend, specifically because we were busy gettin’ Sean Hartman and Sam Madrid married. Congrats to the both of you, Mr. and Mrs. Hartman, from all the boys and girls of DIT!

While the newlyweds are out honeymooning for the week, though, they’re gonna miss out on some excellent shows. Andreas Kapsalis Trio will be tearing down The Strutt with Matt Land trio tonight. Show will start around 9, so make sure you check it out if exotic guitar sounds is what you’re hankering for.

If a bit harder sort of rock is what you need, though, Wednesday has 1994!, Big Kids, and The Reptilian kicking it hardcore, also at The Strutt. Then, Thursday night, Analecta (a band that was previously recommended), Paucity, and Ambassador are gonna wreck things further. Both shows will start 9ish, so check ’em out.

Friday is a jam at the No Fun House, where local math-rockers Good News will be playing support to Seatle-based The Fox and the Law. These guys are super-solid, hard-groovin’ rock with just enough of a bite to remind you that life hurts sometimes. They’re bringing with them And I Was Like, What?, a nice blend between pop-rock and technical guitar work. It’s gonna be a good show fer sure, and these guys are a long way from home, so make sure you come through and toss ’em a few bucks for gas and the like. Show starts at 9 at No Fun House, no punk rock time. let’s do it to it.

EDIT: Sorry for the mix-up on dates. All information has been righted, and all bands accounted for.

August 7 @ No Fun House – The Reptilian, Former Thieves(IA), and Native(IN)

Former Thieves from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Native from Northwest Indiana will be beginning a US tour soon. Their Michigan stop for this tour was canceled due to a venue closure just a few days ago. Fortunately we were able to move this show to the No Fun House. Also playing will be the Reptilian. You can bet it will be a crazy good time. I am fully expecting this to be the wildest No Fun show so far. Help us make it so.

Welcome Home Boys

It’s a busy weekend here in DIT (as alluded to in an earlier post). Our very own Sean A. Hartman and Samantha Madrid are tying the proverbial knot tomorrow, and that’s sort of a big deal. As a result, there’s not much goin’ on in terms of DIT stuff that is open to all attendants.

That’s alright though, because there’s plenty going on next week. Andreas Kapsalis Trio and Matt Land Trio will be exercising the Strutt of any curses, hexes and enchantments (or laying down some of their own) on Monday night. AKT performs good solid experimental music with a tinge of the middle east, a fresh and welcome sound.

Then, on Wednesday, 1994! and Big Kids will do their best to tear down the Strutt again. This time, though, we’re welcoming home the Kalamazoo-based hardcore rockers The Reptilian after a month-long tour. Make sure you make it out to cushion their return from a hard life on the road. It’s tough out there.

shamelessly stolen from The Reptilian's tour photos on Facebook.

It’s gonna be a good week. See all you cats at the jams.

No Wrench in These Works (So far so good, anyway)

It’s been a busy summer for DIT (K). No Fun House opened, La Iglesia just had it’s last show. By the time everything is said and done, we will have had 3 DIT weddings (can I get a hell yeah?), and we’re even gonna put on an avant-garde music festival right here in Kalamazoo.

Yes, this summer has been (and will continue to be) pretty hectic, and it won’t be slowing down any time soon. Dates for the No Fun House and other venues are already filling up through September, and new bands from new cities are getting on contact every week. By the time school starts back up for some of the young whipper-snappers here in town, we should have a veritable slew of excellent shows lined up, so you scholarly cats can start off the Fall semester right.

Until then, though, there’s still a lot of great music to catch here in the Zoo. This week yet, Coma Nova, The Doctor, and Manic Zamboni are  gonna lay it down hot and heavy at the Strutt Thursday night. Saturday, Chris Bathgate and distant-traveling Dave Dondero will cool The Strutt right back down with a couple acoustic guitars and some excellent music.

If you missed Run Forever, Brandon Reid and The Almanac Shouters last night, then you goofed up. But that’s alright. Life’s hard. Just don’t let it happen again, eh?

A Little Mood Music, If You Will.

It’s Tuesday so you know what that means right y’all? The Almanac Shouters will be gracing the No Fun House with their presence, and along for the ride this time is Pittsburgh’s Run Forever, and Brandon Reid who hails from Alaska. The Show is running a little later than usual this time due to electrical work, so be sure to be there around 9:30pm, bands should start around 10. See y’all there.

Punk Rock Pancakes Review (La Iglesia Finale)

So I was at La Iglesia Friday night for punk rock pancakes and some noisey tunes from some of the finest artists kickin’ it in this fair city of ours:

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Bronson Blvd kicked off the night, followed by Forget The Times. This First Band as well as Problems that Fix Themselves used synth to make noise, while the other two bands used drums and guitars(s), but all of the bands at La Iglesia that night made alot of noise, and seeing as how the show was “Punk Rock Pancakes” (which were made, lack of syrup be damned) I suppose that makes a whole lotta sense.

Before Forget The Times started, we had to set up a sophisticated police detection system in preparation. This included a look-out, and a text message. Fortunately for us and the police, they decided not to bug us. I don’t think anyone would’ve been surprised, however, because Forget the Times was loud…real loud. They smashed their way through songs, practically distorting the gravity in the room. Not for the faint of heart.

Problems that fix Themselves similarly warped the soundwaves in the room, with Josh Tabbia piloting his synth-craft from atop the Iglesia’s kitchen counter. I didn’t see much of this act, but I heard it, and it was warped in a good way. Check it out if you can.

And The Grow Fangs! well, they were loud too. The crowd cheered for random guitar ditties done between songs, as we were all amped up from all the rockin’, and The Grow Fangs! capitalized on this and put on a good show accordingly. There was a guy holding a boom box, face covered by a bandanna, creating some kind of distortion with his stereo but mostly adding to the overall aesthetic of the band, while James Duke was bottomless, and Ray Jackson was topless. Also Ray almost fell out of the window.

It was a good send off, and I think all parties involved had a great time. I suggest, if you see one of these bands playing somewhere in the future, you should go listen to their set. Word.

EDIT: I was having a good time Friday night and I got things a little mixed up in terms of order. I fixed it, though, and even if I said it in the wrong time line, everything I said was true.

The. Last. La. Iglesia. Show. Ever.

Tonight, one of Kalamazoo’s most prominent DIY venues is celebrating it’s long, successful run, and ending it with a bang. Tonight, the Iglesians are coming together and jamming out the most delicious way they know how: Punk Rock Pancakes.

If you don’t know what Punk Rock Pancakes is, it’s a unique concert format. You come, you pay 2 dollars (to pay for batter and pay touring bands), and you bring your favorite pancake topping to pass. It was quite successful last summer, and quite delicious to boot.

The music is gonna be good too. Two new bands made up of current Iglesians and DIT members will be opening the show – This is the first ever show for the experimental electronic band Bronson Blvd, and the the third show ever for the experimental noise project Forget The Times. Neither of these bands have web presence yet, so suffice it to say it’s gonna be an excellent way to start the last Iglesia show ever.

The real party starts with Problems that Fix Themselves, a La Iglesia original featuring Joshua Tabbia wrecking the stratosphere with his experimental synthesizer. Every show is unique, and this one is the last one ever at La Iglesia. Detect a theme?

Closing the show is crowd favorites and Iglesia originals The Grow Fangs! Ray Jackson and James Duke will do their best to show you exactly what happens at 7o’clock on a Friday night. I don’t think much more needs to be said.

La Iglesia. 9pm (no punk rock time). Be there, or miss the last La Iglesia show ever.

Psych-Pop ‘n’ Skiffle madness at Strutt TONIGHT Thursday 07/15/2010!

A whirlwind of psychedelic organ pop and down ‘n’ dirty rock ‘n’ roll is set to bring down the stage at The Strutt in downtown Kalamazoo tonight!

Hollows

Chicago’s Hollows bring giant female vocal harmonies layered over haunting, dark 60s-influenced organ pop.  It’s terrifyingly delicious, one listen to “Shadows in the Dark” on their MySpace should convince anyone with a soul.

YellowFever

YellowFever are traveling from Texas with a paranoid rock ‘n’ roll jitter that’ll get the kids shakin’ in their skivvies and spilling their coffee all over the floor (or perhaps beer for the particularly edgy).  The Austin-based band recently released their record on the Vivian Girls label Wild World label and have been receiving wider critical acclaim.  On her NPR blog, Carrie Brownstein described their sound as “haunted house surf music.”

Local support shall come from the high energy live bounce of Tiny Rhythm with their psycho-skiffle beat.  There’s a chance this will be a prehistoric set where Bo Diddley receives a visit from velociraptors.

Opening the night shortly after 9 p.m. will be the Vox-driven garage pop of The Philly Crawlers. Their sound is kinda like what might’ve happened if Pavement had been trying to imitate The Seeds and Strawberry Alarm Clock instead of The Fall.

For $5, just a little over a dollar per band, you can’t really find a better way to spend on a Thursday night in Kalamazoo.

The Strutt is located at 773 W. Michigan in Kalamazoo, MI.  The show is 18 yrs old and up, costs $5, and starts at 9 p.m.

La Iglesia and the Folk Punks

Last night marked the third time that We’re Wolves were booked to play the No Fun House, but then something silly happened. Fortunately, last night’s catastrophe was not a deal-breaker, and We’re Wolves went on as a free show, opened by 3/4 of Forget The Times in an impromptu free 2-band No Fun extravaganza. We’re Wolves were excellent, and almost more importantly, excellent sports about the crazy luck that seems to follow them around at No Fun.

Tonight will be a bit different, but equally rockin’, what with a few great bands coming in from who-knows-where and playing acoustic guitars with attitude and gusto. Is there a better way to spend a hot summer night than rocking out to good music? The answer is ‘no’, so nobody has a reason to miss this one.

Trunks and Tales is a suburbs-of-Philly-based folk-punk outfit. They rock hard and get rowdy for a six-string wielding duo, and while I haven’t seen them live (yet), it sounds like they’re having a blast either howling about whatever makes ’em pissed, or calming down and veritably crooning about lost love.

Riding shotgun on the proverbial tour-bus T&T is the New Hampshirian Young Mountain, a high-energy folk-punk quartet. La Iglesia will be treated to a tight and well-rehearsed band jammin’ some catchy, hooky, folky, ‘I hope you die’ (or specifically, get eaten by a cannibal) sort of punk music. And we can all use a little more catchy, hooky, folky, ‘I hope you die’ sort of punk music in our lives.

Local support is coming in the form of Everyone & Their Empty Cups – I.E. a guy and a guitar telling good stories and occasionally screaming, with the potential for guest appearances always around the corner. It’ll be a good, solid open for what is sure to be an excellent show.

Make sure you slide through La Iglesia tonight, catch some good bands who are far from home, and throw ’em two bucks at the door. it’s a long way from the Illadelph, and I’m not even sure where New Hampshire is on the map. Plus, this is La Iglesia’s SECOND TO LAST SHOW EVER. Just saying. No pressure.

See you guys there!