TSOL – The Crowd – Joes Garage – at The Galaxy – Santa Ana, CA

It's been a few months since The Galaxy in Santa Ana last held a good punk show. On Friday, August 28, the line-up consisted of Joe's Garage, Disguster, The Strangers, The Crowd, and TSOL. The parking lot was pretty empty and it wasn’t crowded inside. It made it seem like not a lot of people were going to show up. Inside the venue one of the first things you noticed was signs that read NO MOSHING. It made people wonder if that was really going to be enforced or not.

Joe's Garage
The show didn't get started until a little after 8 o clock.  First to take the stage was Joe's Garage.  These guys are full of energy and they easily get your attention. Joe's Garage had plenty of fans showing their support by singing along and moving around.


Disguster
A lot more people had showed up just in time to see Disguster.  Once Disguster got started, so did the pit. The security had the most puzzled look on their faces when they saw this.  They didn't quite know what to do and next thing you know they were pulling kids out thinking they were fighting.  People continued to pit for Disguster and it grew once everyone recognized their cover of Communication Breakdown.  Security had finally realized there was nothing they could do to stop it.

The Strangers were next and their music was mellower compared to the last two bands.  They had a Social Distortion sound to them and there songs were actually pretty catchy. Although they were a bit different, everyone still was having a good time and seemed to really enjoy their set.

The Crowd
Next, The Crowd took the stage and attracted even more people.  Once they started playing, you knew it was only going to get better.  They played some well-known songs like Living In Madrid, Right Time, Trix Are For Kids, and Letter Bomb.  The whole time they were playing, the lead singer, Jim Trash, was dancing and jumping around stage and just enjoying what he was doing.  The Crowd was fun whether you were in the pit or just sitting back and enjoying the show.  They played an awesome set which prepared everyone for TSOL.

The floor was packed and everyone was anxiously waiting for TSOL to start playing.  They opened up with World War Three and as soon as that opening bass line was played, the crowd went insane.  TSOL played popular songs like In My Head, Sounds of Laughter, and Dance With Me.  The pit kept growing every time another favorite was played.  Like always, Jack Grisham was making fun of people and making everyone laugh.

TSOL
They played some more crowd pleasers such as Superficial Love and Abolish Government.  Before they ended their set, Jack Grisham when on about how he had a surprise for us.  He talked about a little boy named Mikey who said that he could play with TSOL anytime they played.  A few minutes later an amp was brought out and Mikey was plugged in and ready to play.  Since TSOL hadn’t played a certain song yet, we all knew what was coming.  Sure enough, they started playing Code Blue and within seconds the biggest circle pit of the night had started. People were falling left and right and singing all the words.  After Code Blue, people were yelling out for TSOL to play one more song, but that was it.  The show was awesome and there couldn’t have been a better way to end the night.


 

Corrina P.
Big Wheel Guest Reporter

Photos by:
Associate Big Wheel photographer - Dead Man Photography


 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

Municipal Waste – Massive Aggressive

Municipal Waste is one of those bands, where if they announce a tour or show in your area, you immediately buy tickets because you KNOW if you don't go, you'll be missing out on an amazing time. Municipal Waste was formed in Virginia in 2001, and "Massive Aggressive" is their fourth album, put out by Earache Records. To the listeners advantage, this album is anything but harmful to your ears. Municipal Waste gained mass popularity with their sophomore and junior albums, "Hazardous Mutation" and "The Art of Partying", and "Massive Aggressive" is the perfect blend of the two.
 
One way I could describe Municipal Waste is, if they were a kid in high school, they would be the weirdly funny, yet popular guy whose always throwing a wild party, yet is a mature and deep person inside. "Massive Aggressive" really showcases the "deep person" inside, being that this CD is more mature lyrically. Plus, the choruses are catchier and the riffs are sharper, always an advantage on a crossover album. Municipal Waste, of course, includes humorous song titles such as, "Horny for Blood", "Masked by Delirium", "The Wrath of the Severed Head", and "Acid Sentence" on this album, however, through these songs they maintain their power and aggression that makes Municipal Waste such a great band. As I was listening to the album, I noticed that Waste had two songs labeled "Upside Down Church" and "Divine Blasphemer". The repetition of mocking religion show the true whimsy that the band has, as well as the ability to display their emotions in a productive manner (which also goes back to my simile of the high school student). Another theme that is prevalent in "Massive Aggressive" is 80's horror, especially shown in "Mech-Cannibal" (one of my favorite songs on the album) and one of the most popular tracks, "Wolves of Chernobyl" Ryan Waste, the guitarist for the band, vocalist Tony Foresta, bassist and vocalist Landphil, and drummer Dave Witte all showcase their talent and full potential as a band through the songs, "Shredded Offering" and "Wrong Answer", which is full of catchy riffs and a vigorous tune. One of my favorite tracks on the album, "Media Skeptic" reminds me of the older Municipal Waste from "Hazardous Mutation", and makes me happy that although they have somewhat slowed down on some tunes, they are still the same old Waste, full of vivacity and fun.
 
After listening to the farce and compelling content within "Massive Aggressive", I checked Municipal Waste's MySpace page to look at their tour dates, just to make sure I wasn't missing a show in Los Angeles or Orange County. Thankfully, they're touring in Europe, and I'm not missing anything local. IF Waste does decide to come over to Southern California sometime soon, I'll be the first one to purchase tickets, because I want Municipal Waste to "fuck me up!", as boldly declared literally in their lyrics, and through their dynamic actions.

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/municipalwaste
 

 

-Sarah K.-
Music scene reporter
Big Wheel Online Magazine

 

 

 

 

 

Spirits in the Sky at Muddy Waters – Santa Barbara, CA

Billy Corgan.

Just the name alone can drum up some kind of feeling in a music fan. It is hard not to like the bald headed man responsible for “Siamese Dreams” or “Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness”, two of the most important albums of 90’s. But it’s hard not to shake your head at that rumored affair with Courtney Love, that bomb that was Zwan, that solo album, and that every original member in The Pumpkins not being him has been replaced.

I try to overlook most of his new ventures and remain in the past because I like the guy. One thing I couldn’t overlook was the announcement of an intimate six-date Californian tour of a group now known as Billy Corgan and Spirits in the Sky. I had the pleasure of seeing the first incarnate of the group doing a four song set at the Sky Saxon tribute show and was able to secure a ticket to the second night of the tour, at a little coffee house, in Santa Barbara known as Muddy Waters. I haven’t been to a show in Santa Barbara since 2000 when I caught Oasis and The Black Crows so I wasn’t sure how traffic was going to be. I got in the car from Los Angeles at 3:30 and was exiting for the venue a few minutes before 5. Obviously arriving at a show 3 hours before doors is just a little too early. So early that there was still no line and a couple people inside getting their java on.

Hunger called and it was a short walk up the street for authentic Mexican street tacos for $1 each. It was a total score and totally recommended if you are ever by this venue. Just walk north up the street 3 blocks. While munching on my carne asada I heard some guitars and decided it was time to walk back over to Muddy Waters. The door was open and no one was outside or by the door so I just walked in. There was about a hand full of people standing by the counter as the group of 9 members ranging from Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction) to Mark Tulin (Electric Prunes) started to warm up some songs for the show.

Yeah the jerk that is Billy Corgan let anyone who wanted to walk in and hear a few songs pre show. The band was even nice enough to let those of us there to snap off pics to shoot the sound check. It also allowed everyone to get a look at what the lineup had become, as Navarro, Ysanne Spevack (violin) and Linda Strawberry were all not in the first performance of the group.

After the quick sound check the members all made their way outside and took the time to chat and just hang out in the warm afternoon sun. The few girls all gathered around Dave which left Billy, wearing an old man fisherman hat, alone to answer my question.

I only had one question for Billy, and a simple one at that, “Why the small tour?”

“Everyone in the music world has said I lost it, that I don’t have it anymore, that I will never be on top. I am doing this to prove them wrong.

”After about an hour I had sweat dripping down my face and into my eyes. I am sure a 9 piece band had never played at this makeshift venue and I am sure that there had never been that many people packed inside (and those that couldn’t get a ticket that were pressed into the windows outside) all added to the heat.

“So who wants to go outside for a break? We are all family here, everyone remember where you were and let everyone go back to their same spots.”

There was a roar from the group as Billy gave everyone this option. People wanted to go but no one wanted the band to stop playing.

“Alright, break time, come outside.”

And with that the band all made their way outside with around half of the audience.

The ten minute break was much needed and allowed everyone to cool off before another set with only a handful of the members came back to play another round of songs.


This second part of the set was stripped down, with no keyboard or second drummer, even the extra guitar was gone, just Corgan, Navarro, Byrne and Spevack. This section of songs would all be Billy acoustic songs and included the new songs “A Song for a Son” and “Caroline, Yes”.

“Caroline, Yes” is quite simply a hidden gem that needs to be released. And really the whole acoustic section made me want a solo Corgan tour even more.

With the whole first part of the evening being new Pumpkin’s songs mixed in with a few covers (including a Seeds and Grateful Dead cover) it never offered a true sing-a-long until the last songs of the set.

Two cover songs in a row were played, with the first being the classic Velvet Underground with Nico song “Femme Fatale”. By this point it was no longer acoustic and the whole group came back to add to the sound and back up the Lou Reed parts of the song while Billy took over for the part of Nico.

It actually was downright classic to hear Dave singing the “She’s a femme fatale” part.

I really didn’t think it was going to get much better than that, but again, Billy wanted to show everyone he was back and concluded with a cover by Pink Floyd, “Lucifer Sam”.

Sure most of the new songs had a rather pop sound to it, there wasn’t the dirty guitar solos layered over more solos that is synonomous with a Pumpkins song. Well this cover was a reminder of how good Billy.

Back and forth through the cover Billy and Dave would trade solo for solo, looking and laughing at eachother the whole time.

You could see how much fun everyone was having and could understand when Billy said “This is my family up here”.

Billy’s family of musicians would have one more cover before the evening would end. A final encore, which was a cover by a band I am unfamiliar with, Quicksilver Message Service, entitled “Long Haired Lady”.

This would be the ending of the 18 song set that would send everyone out of the still blistering coffee house and into the breezy evening. The nighttime ocean air in Santa Barbara was refreshing but not as refreshing as seeing Billy already outside chatting away with fans and posing for pictures.

So did Billy prove he could be on top again? I know he did but for those of you still on the fence here is the audio of the show http://www.archive.org/details/bc2009-08-26.dab.flac16


 

Carl Pocket
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

The 12 most annoying types on MySpace and Facebook

A recent study categorized 40 percent of Twitter tweets as "pointless babble," and it wouldn't be surprising if updates on Facebook and MySpace -That is what the study they conducted said. Big Wheel over the past 4 years has been doing a similar study and our findings mirror this study. One tid bit from our study showed that a way to tell if a band, people or entities are small, to no time with no real audience, look and see if they put out a bulletin every day to tell you the same thing they said in the previous day.

Have Heart

The first time I saw Have Heart was at a show in Providence, Rhode Island. They were opening for Modern Life Is War at a small DIY run club called AS220. This was in the winter of 2003/2004 and before they went on I wasn't expecting much. At the time I was pretty burnt out on most of the new bands coming out of the Boston area and was expecting Have Heart to be a boring and generic band following the status quo of hardcore. However from the second that the band took stage I was floored by their sheer energy and passion. Vocalist Pat Flynn's face and head (which had just been shaved) were turning bright red from screaming with such intensity. Their strength as a live band came from Flynn's charismatic stage presence and the band's commitment to putting every ounce that they had into their performances.

I bought the band's demo and played it over and over again in my car's tape deck. At the time there was a real void in Boston hardcore scene and there were no other bands playing straight edge hardcore with the same level of sincerity and urgency as Have Heart. Over and over their early sound was compared to Rhode Island's Verbal Assault and sure enough the last song on the demo was a cover of V.A.'s "More Than Music" which really seemed to sum up Have Heart's attitude towards hardcore and life. The song that really stuck out though was a song called "The Worth," which spoke to me on a deeply personal level as many of my college age friends were losing interest in the scene. The song's chorus  "If it means that I'll stand on my own/That's the price I'll pay and I'll pay it alone/If only I'll stand, then alone I will strive/To remain, sustain." Coming from almost any other band at any other time these lyrics would have come off as completely cheesy and contrived but given the circumstances the lyrics made sense and became somewhat of a battle cry in my day to day life.

With time I had more interactions with the band and learned to respect them as musicians and as people. On several occasions my band at the time opened for them and I also booked Have Heart to play at my college. They had no egos and money was never a motive for them. At every show that they played they were the most energetic band of the night and they always seemed grateful just to be able to play.

In 2004 Have Heart released their "What Counts" 7" on Think Fast! records. With some slight lineup changes their sound got a little thicker, with big guitar sounds and a slightly more heavy edge. Think Fast! was a modest but successful label and "What Counts" immediately caught attention of people all across the country and in Europe. They quickly became a buzz band and where ever they toured people started talking about them.

By 2005 the band was signed to Bridge 9 records which was already a major institution for modern hardcore. B9 released their first full length record, "The Things We Carry." By this time Pat Flynn's lyrics were increasingly getting more personal and having less to do with scene politics and the hardcore scene at large. The most powerful and emotional song on record was "Watch Me Rise" which addressed the issue of overcoming depression. This subject matter was a common theme throughout the album and undoubtedly spoke to a lot of the band's fans.

After "The Things We Carry" was released Have Heart became one of the most popular hardcore bands in the country. They were featured in a National Geographic documentary about the straight edge movement and a photo of the band playing live appeared on the cover of a book published by Rutgers University Press called Straight Edge: Clean Living, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change. It seemed that the band had become a face plate for the positive straight edge movement and by touring around the world relentlessly while also staying true to their ideals they were helping to reshape the somewhat ugly image that straight edge had earned in the 1990's.

2008's "Songs to Scream at the Sun" debuted in Billboard's Top 200 which is almost unheard of for a hardcore Punk band. This album showed the band trying out some heavier sounds and the subject matter of the lyrics was often deeply personal, dealing with family issues. While the sound was not radically different from the Have Heart's previous releases it did show a new level of maturity.
 
This Summer the band embarked on a world tour that stretched across six continents. Just before leaving home the band announced from their Myspace profile that this will be their last tour. The impact was felt immediately and the bulletin received over 400 comments. Next week Have Heart will play their annual show at Anaheim, California's Chain Reaction and a daytime show  beforehand at a smaller venue in Whittier, California. This string of dates will be the band's last shows in California.

On October 17, 2009 Have Heart will play their last show at an undisclosed location in Massachusetts. This is a significant date as it is the tenth anniversary of the break up of Boston's Ten Yard Fight, which was dubbed National Edge Day. The following year another significant Boston straight edge band, In My Eyes played their final show at an Edge Day celebration. This appropriately fulfills the legacy of a band that helped to keep Boston Straight Edge alive or "Back on the Map." Have Heart will surely be missed.

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/haveheart
Band Website: www.bridge9.com/haveheart



 

Go to IKEA – Sleep, eat and pose for pictures, but dont buy anything

 Customers hop into display beds and nap, pose for snapshots with the decor and enjoy the air conditioning and free soda refills. They just don’t buy much… what a burn. "Today we didn’t plan to buy anything, just eat and rest," "There’s so much great stuff here," said He, 23. "I didn’t know where to start." He photographed his friends beating each other with stuffed toys.

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