Tag Archives: House Show

Two Shows / Many Sounds / Wednesday Night – Satellite / Milhouse 7.15

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If you feel so inclined, this Wednesday there will be two shows back to back! Satellite Records, now always beginning their shows at 6:00 PM will have sounds from the noisy gnar full band of legendary locals FORGET THE TIMES, as well as outta towners THE KBD SONIC COLLECTIVE. Expect soundscapes and meditation, with breaks filled with the sound equivalent of harsh reality.

Beyond that, MILHOUSE will be having a living room (or possibly porch) show, featuring some excellent folks out of one of our favorite cities, Milwaukee! HEAVY LEAVES and JACK TELL play their own personal brands of sad, contemplative folk. Singing songs that feel relateable as they do important.

This show will also feature locals MISERY LOVES CO., the solo project of Josh Miller of Forget The Times/Shoto. If he can play two shows, assuredly you can make it to at least one as a spectator! Also local ARIC SMEJKAL of Edith will be bringing his excellent solo works. Both locals are going to bum you the fuck out but you’ll probably also really dig it.

SATELLITE RECORDS starts at 6:00.  $5 suggested donation.

MILHOUSE starts at 9:00. donations always suggested.

be excellent.

Gnarly Noise And Earnest Songwriting – PALEHOUND (Boston, MA), GUPPY, PETRILLO – Milhouse – 6.3

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Sometimes I get so excited about a show in Kalamazoo, I don’t even know what to say. Or rather, I have plenty to say, but it all sounds like endless embarrassing gushing to a friend IMG_2579you think is too cool to hang out with you. That might be the perfect tone for this event, but I’ll keep my elated word-vomit to a minimum and try to get to the crux of the whole thing.

So here’s what you need to know:

PALEHOUND is the full-band songwriter project of Ellen Kempner out of Boston, MA. They are on Exploding In Sound records which, if you’ve been to a Milhouse show in the last 3 years, you may have seen a label-mate or two of theirs (Krill, Porches., Kal Marks, formerly Speedy Ortiz – and other great projects that have played around Kalamazoo). The music could be compared to many of those related artists. The guitar work is on point, never trite or expected, and the songwriting is personal but also clever. I love it, and in all likelihood you will love it too. If you have any doubts about the excellence of this band that you don’t know, know that they are currently on a tour with Alex G and Speedy Ortiz, and have just happened to decide to make a stop in some dingy Kalamazoo basement just because.

Also bringing the warped hooks for days and out there guitar work are two local super-groups so to speak.

GUPPY are a product of folks from The Reptilian, Anybody But The Cops, Shoto, and Ackley Kid. Equal parts undeniably hooky writing and well placed noise and gnar, Guppy are quickly solidifying themselves as some of the most compelling noisy emo bands in West Michigan. Expect a tape from them soon, but until then most of their work can only be heard live, so come check it out!

And finally PETRILLO who are a super group of women who have been doing nothing but bringing the creative ruckus to DIY and other circles in Kalamazoo for YEARS, though not often musically. They have found each other and are now making some of the most interesting music I have personally see come out of Kalamazoo in years. If you are finding things to be much to formulaic, and you’d like to see something a bit more off the wall (the range of influences you could pin to this band are staggering, honestly) that still strikes a chord emotionally, this band is for you! They have no recordings. Come to the show and find out for yourself.

This show starts at 8:30 PM! Please bring money for the touring act. Be excellent to each and every person around ya. Email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address.

FUZZ.REVERB.FEEDBACK. – Skull Kid (PA) | Take One Car (NY) | Edith | Cardboard Highway | Welcome Neighbors – 5/28 – Rey Mysterio’s

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Too many bands on this bill to waste your time being long-winded about the whole thing. Two out of towners. Three locals. One house. Lots and lots of hooks and yelling. Too good to miss! But don’t take my word for it, listen to the sounds yourself.

SKULL KID (Pittsburgh, PA) sound like the band you’re going to get obsessed with this summer

 

TAKE ONE CAR (Poughkeepsie,NY) sound like the lines you’ll get stuck in your head for days that you might accidentally falsely attribute to mewithoutYou

 

EDITH (here) sounds like if Alex G broke into your band’s practice space with some friends and just started fucking around with some new stuff you haven’t heard yet

 

CARDBOARD HIGHWAY (here) sound like Kalamazoo in 2009 though you just moved here last year so you’re not entirely sure what that’s all about but it feels nostalgic as all get out.

 

WELCOME NEIGHBORS (here) sound like a new band that you might not have heard and wont unless you just go to the show yourself and give it a listen.

TWO GROUPS FROM FAR AWAY SO DONATE. BE KIND TO REY MYSTERIO AND HIS ABODE.

Tours/Reunions/Celebrations – Anybody But The Cops (tape release + tour kickoff) | The Gray Beast | Another One | Guppy – Milhouse – 4.5

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This show is too good to waste a bunch of words on, so I’m going to keep it brief. On this day of days, this springtime Sunday, some Milhouse music will be happening.

15.04.05Local queerdo/weirdo band ANYBODY BUT THE COPS will be releasing their first set of recordings that sound subjectively better than any of their other recordings, as well as preparing for a 2 week long tour. Described as “Post-Jazz Punk for the Pre-Reset World” and “musical garbage disposals” ABTC are guaranteeing you something along the lines of 20 minutes of music and hopefully minimal un-mic’d banter. The new release is coming out on ALREADY DEAD TAPES. Check it out! Or buy it at this show to save on shipping.

THE GRAY BEAST are dancy, catchy, wordy fellas from Marquette, MI, fronted by the profound and profane genius Sycamore Smith. Having last seen them open for Child Bite, you can be sure that this band kicks it. They are on tour and they have a demo to sell ya, so don’t be scared to check it out.

ANOTHER ONE are a pop-punk band without the bullshit. They are here to present you a hook once instead of three times because that sort of repetition is time that could be spent playing two more songs. So that’s what they do. Old friends out of Grand Rapids that have not yet played Kalamazoo, so give them a warm welcome.

GUPPY are equal parts excellent songwriting/song structure and heavy chaotic noise. It blends together in the most perfect way. The band was on a hiatus for a bit, but now with Jose from Anybody But The Cops on bass, their back at it. Check the hype

DONATE TO THE OUTTA TOWNERS AND TO THE TOURS. BE EXCELLENT. BE THERE RIGHT AT 9:00 TO SEE GUPPY KICK IT OFF. TREAT YOUR FRIENDS WELL AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS. BE MINDFUL OF THOSE AROUND YOU. WOMEN AND QUEERZ TO THE FRONT FOREVER.

Email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address.

Punk Throughout The Ages – KNIFE THE SYMPHONY, THE SHANKS, BROWN COMPANY, FACE-EATER – Milhouse – 3.21

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If you like punk rock – cool, if you like post hardcore – great, if you like old school thrash – 15.03.21excellent, if you like experimental punk – perfect. It’s all represented at this particular Milhouse show, plus more!

KNIFE THE SYMPHONY come from Cincinnati, and make me re-think what I thought I knew about Ohio. This band was on the bill for one of the first shows I saw in Kalamazoo, back in 2007, and one of the only Kraftbrau (rip) shows I attended. They killed it then, they’ll kill it now. It’s heavy, noisy, and no bullshit.

THE SHANKS are KTS’s tour buddies coming from Toronto bringing their own stylish blend of fuzzed out rock ‘n’ roll with some stoner metal and punk goodness. Their sound is probably too dialed-in for a basement show, so it’s in all likelihood going to completely blow you away.

BROWN COMPANY are local legendary punk experimenters. Never before have you felt like a 15 minute long song completely embodied what you felt like was missing from your intake of punk. It’s noisy, it’s vocal-less, there’s a theramin, and they’re about to be your favorite local if they haven’t won your heart already.

Finally, FACE-EATER are the thrash metal newcomers, playing their 2nd show out and their first house show. Their new demo rips way harder than a demo has any right to. Give them a warm welcome, they’re kicking this whole damn thing off and would love to see your faces lost in a sincere headbang.

BRING YR MONEY, BRING THE FUNK. BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER, RESPECT THE RULES OF THE HOUSE. SHOW BEGINS RIGHT AT 9:00. EMAIL DITKALAMAZOO@GMAIL.COM FOR THE ADDRESS.

Milhouse Show – Punk In All It’s Infinite Derivative Glory – ED SCHRADER’S MUSIC BEAT | DESIRING DEAD FLESH | ANYBODY BUT THE COPS | SEVENTEEN AGAIN – 2.27

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img090Punk is an endless scrawling abyss of sounds, concepts, theories, notions. Some things are to be expected, and others may shift your paradigm of what is to be considered.

This show is going to bring a lot of variety to the table, but what you can count on in common among all is genuine ferocity. Whether simplistic or complex, whether goofy or sincere to the core, it’s all done with captivating intensity – and if that’s your dig then you’re going to love this.

ED SCHRADER’S MUSIC BEAT is generally two-band sonic onslaught, paying homage to past innovators in the proto-punk as well as no-wave experimentations, while bringing something entirely new to the table. Ed Schrader has said in interviews that, though having had the opportunity to tour with some great projects, his favorite shows are the smaller, stranger, more focused shows – and Kalamazoo knows how to bring that, so lets see if we can make that happen.

DESIRING DEAD FLESH are a long-standing staple of Michigan punk. They are guaranteed to make you feel a certain youthful nostalgia – either because you saw this band back when you were still wearing zipper pants and an all-too-crisp leather jacket with safety pinned patches, or because you will see these young kids totally shredding for the first time and remember how you first got into this crazy punk world. Be ready to let go of yourself for a bit and just have fun, it’ll be hard not to.

SEVENTEEN AGAIN are making their return to Kalamazoo basements and a return to your hearts, now featuring Brok Leshman on bass and featuring tons of new songs to try out on you. Seventeen Again remain the best under 20 minutes in Kalamazoo. They’re playing first so don’t miss ’em.

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1/3rd of Anybody But The Cops kind of looks like this

ANYBODY BUT THE COPS have always been and will always be too complicated for their own good – but you have to admit they are some snappy dressers. Come participate in the gnarly mess. No PA’s no masters.

This show begins right at 9:00 PM with Seventeen Again, so do not miss! Ed Schrader and Desiring Dead Flesh are on two different tours, so please please please bring cash for donation and/or merch. House venues don’t accept square and if you want to know why I’m sure the donation collector can give you a solid explanation. Be excellent to each other first and foremost. We’ll be excellent to you. Email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address to Milhouse.

Kalamazoo Throwbacks and Favorites – PROBLEMS THAT FIX THEMSELVES, THE NEW DIET, FORGET THE TIMES @ Milhouse 11.29

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If you haven’t heard, former Kalamazoo project turned Chicago project PROBLEMS THAT FIX THEMSELVES have released a new album. You can read all about it right here, on a lovely earlier DIT post. You can also go to the listening party at Satellite 10697266_10102636338802822_2225884409184879828_oRecords on the 29th, at 6:00PM, where you could win a free copy of the record!

Problems is a long-standing but ever changing noise project from Josh Tabbia, the Chicago counterpart to the Kalamazoo/Chicago tape and record label ALREADY DEAD, which you may or may not be familiar with from the Already Dead Family Reunion – a yearly musical event that happens in the fall based around the label.

Sean Hartman, the Kalamazoo counterpart to the label, will also be performing at the Milhouse show in his full band noise collective FORGET THE TIMES. A large difference in sound and performance style from Problems, this show is sure to illustrate variance of noise music to you, if you are still yet unfamiliar.

Finally, Kalamazoo favorites out of Chicago THE NEW DIET will be making another appearance. Though you may or may not have seen them before, rumor has it that this show will be somewhat of a departure from the stuff your familiar with. If you’re curious as to what that means, you’ll just have to come and find out. Here’s a snippet of an earlier performance of theirs at Milhouse.

Please please please bring money for donatin’ the outta towners, and be sure to take a look at the merch if you’re into that sot of thing! Be excellent to each other. No time for punk time, so be there at 9:00. Email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address.

 

The Aptly Named ALREADY DEAD FAMILY REUNION 4 – Day One – Milhouse/Satellite 9.24

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As someone who has been on the periphery of involvement in Already Dead Tapes & Records, and in the Family Reunion, I have often felt that Family Reunion VS Festival is such a fitting title for the event. If your friends are your family, like so often is the case in my life personally, you may feel similarly. Many of the artists who have played this fest have a vested interest in Kalamazoo – they live here currently, they’ve played here, they’ve ADstickfound meaningful relationships here, and they’ve all been honing their craft for the year to showcase to you, and to the rest of the family/friends/aacquaintancesnewcomers in attendance.

But if you feel like you don’t know anyone on this list (and that might be true, this event focuses on some fairly unknown or under-praised artists) the structure allows for you to not even get to know some art you’ve never heard, but to get to know the people involved. This is what Kalamazoo does best and what keeps people coming here, the open mind about all sorts of music, and the openness to new people from near and far. Come meet the family – chances are it’ll actually be less awkward than an actual Family Reunion.

DAY ONE of ADFR will ease us in with a potluck gathering and (weather permitting) acoustic acts on the Milhouse porch (contact DITkalamazoo@gmail.com for address)

VICTORIA BLADE (Chicago) will showcase her talents for the first time as a solo artist in Kalamazoo. This former resident

AXEL QUINLAN (Kalamazoo) is an unsung hero of modern folk music, and there’s little chance you wont be taken in by his writing and steadfast presentation.

PLUS SHOW AT SATELLITE (starts at 9:00)

ARGERN (????) I can’t find anything about this artist, you’ll just have to come and see!

FORGET THE TIMES (Kalamazoo) are noise guitar/drums abstract expressionists .

DUMBELIEVERS (Kalamazoo) are highly hyped bizarre guitar

CELLULAR CHAOS (Brooklyn) a project of Weasel Walter of The Flying Leuttenbachers  that plays some of the best freakout jazz punk you’ve never heard or will ever hear.

Find more info about the entire fest at http://familyreunion.alreadydeadtapes.com/ / http://alreadydeadtapes.storenvy.com/products/8859087-family-reunion-3-day-pass (1 day passes available as well, but this is the best deal!) or stay tuned for more individual posts on DITK about individual days!

SEVENTEEN AGAIN | MARCY | THE SHORTLIFE | CHURCHKEY – CASA MONA – 7.17

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bundle up!

SEVENTEEN AGAIN

local pals playing heavy music at crunch-time pace. On their first tour with their first record!

MARCY

Former folks from one of the Kalamazoo favorites from across the lake ALTA

CHURCHKEY

Hard hitting rock n roll /emo from Chicago ILLLL

THE SHORTLIFE

Local Hunk Haus Heros and members of Natural Disasters

 

SHOW STARTS AT 8:00. RESPECT THE HOUSE // RESPECT THE EVERYONE // Don’t Ruin the fun for everyone just because you can’t keep it together. DONATE!

Email DITKALAMAZOO@GMAIL.COM for address

Ghost Mice of Plan-it-X Return To Kalamazoo at Full House (2.0) 3/24/13

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ghostmice

Ghost Mice playing in Kalamazoo almost exactly 5 years ago at Rocketstar Cafe. Photo by Jes Kramer.

It’s been almost four years since the acoustic duo Ghost Mice (featuring Chris Clavin, co-founder of the almost 20 years standing record label Plan-it-X) have been in Kalamazoo Michigan. Not too long after that tour, Ghost Mice called a hiatus, mostly due to fiddle player Hannah having a kiddo. Chris did several solo tours since then, a couple of which he ended up playing wonderful shows in Kalamazoo. However, they’re back as the original band and they’ve got a new album  “All We’ve Got Is Eachother,” with a fuller sound than previous, and they are just as sweet of folks as they’ve ever been.

Speaking of new albums, also on the bill for this show is local guitar and violin duo Lincoln County War, who will be releasing their first ever recordings at this show! Though LCW has been playing locally for roughly three years, the only recorded material of theirs can be found mostly on dodgy youtube videos, so come to this show to purchase at a super affordable price, properly recorded versions of these songs. Though the set up for LCW and Ghost Mice are similar, the sound is much different. Although they could both be classified as “folk punk,” Lincoln County features an angrier, harsher tone, more akin with Andrew Jackson Jihad, or if Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads were stripped down.

Long-time Kalamazoo underground composer Travis of Circle, Get Square will also be performing. Whether Travis is currently living in Kalamazoo or anywhere else, if he is performing in Kalamazoo, he is treated and appreciated like a dear local. Stylistically shifting from lo-fi keyboard pop tunes to full, melancholic folk songs, Circle, Get Square is a dynamic project that if you haven’t yet seen, you’re definitely not going to want to miss.

Finally, Arms Akimbo will also be performing to round out this acoustic endeavor. Though this project is the newest locally, Topher, the singer/songwriter of this one man project, has been writing and performing for many years, and for several different musical stylings. Here you will find introspective folk songs, fitting perfectly into the mix of this show.

You can see excellent samples of all three locals by browing through http://www.DITsessions.com

This show will start at 7PM on Sunday the 24th, and is the first show at this location! If you don’t know where it is, shoot an email to DIT. Please bring donations for the touring group (or even some dollars for merch), and please respect the household.