Naughty Pajama Party with A-Town Mob

Apr 19, 2010 News

We played another show with A-Town Mob, this time at TBC Venue on April 16^th. A-Town Mob has invited us to play quite a few show with them now, and we have almost become the token rock band. But somehow we seem to fit in really well with the crowd and the shows go over really well.

We were really excited about this show for a few different reasons. First, TBC Venue was a new club for us. It’s always exciting for us to play a new place. Not only was it a new venue, it was also off the beaten path for us. Located in Pevely, MO, TBC Venue at first seemed like it was pretty far away, almost an out of town show. Especially with the response from our friends, “Oh man, I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll make it to that show, it’s so far away.” But after taking the 20-minute trek to the ‘Far Away Club’ we arrived early and still with a near full tank of gas.

Another exciting thing about this show was TBC Venue has a great stage. From the bands standpoint it’s really nice because it big and has a padded floor. Big means we have a lot of room to move around, that also means a more interesting show for the audience. There is also a movie projector pointing at the stage, for the viewing pleasure of the audience. We asked them to turn it on for our show, which allowed us to play to some vampire love. I hope there are pictures. If you find some let us know, I’d like to see them.

This was also our first show after recording Norman and Broken. Not that it really means much, but it was sort of odd playing the songs live rather than piece-by-piece in a studio. The power was there as well as the excitement of the songs. They also blended in well with the other songs we were playing, which is also something we missed in the studio.

So, to get to the point, the show was a success. It reminded me of a high school party, with people just hanging out everywhere, inside and out. The music was loud and good, and more than entertaining. My only advise to you if you missed it, go see Achalachia at their next show. Another piece of advise, check out A-Town Mob. You are guaranteed to have a good time.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tags: A-Town Mob, Show Review

First Show At The Library

Oct 1, 2009 News

So we had our first show at The Library and it’s definitely a venue I would like to play again. The sound is great, they installed nice new lights, the staff is helpful, the beer is cold, and because of the size of the room you would never know that it’s a smoking bar.

This was a last minute show, so that means we had to race to gather our gear and then race to get to the club at a reasonable time. In fact, I’m quite impressed with the band, we were able to pack all of our gear and get to the club in about an hour.

We arrived at the club around 6:30 Wednesday evening and began the long process of loading our gear in, and that’s when I remembered, The Library has tons of stairs to climb to get in the doors, which is the only draw back to the club that I’ve found. We lugged our 300 pounds worth of gear up the stairs without complaint because of the mild excitement of playing a new club. Moving as fast as we could so we could set up and open the show.

As we were loading in, The Library was finishing up the installation of their new lighting system. Which, once I saw the lights in action, I thought they looked amazing. We spoke with Sheri, the booking manager, and got settled in. She seemed grateful that we came to help out the club because of the dropout of another band.

One thing I will never understand is why a band would skip out on a show after they have confirmed. I understand that shit happens and things come up, but it seems like every time we play a show there is always a band missing.

I recognized a few of the bands from The Library’s open house, even one that wasn’t playing but just came out to support us, Common Era. I was really cool of them, apparently they were asked to play the show as well but couldn’t (so they didn’t confirm), but were curious of who was playing. When they found out we took the spot they came out.

As for the actual show, it wasn’t a crowded night, but a decent turnout for a Wednesday, and as usual, we rock the house. From a bands perspective, you could hear everything clearly through the monitors. From the crowd response, it must have sounded pretty good out there because people seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was told after the set, by a friend who goes to nearly every show, that the sound was better than most clubs.

Adam commented later, “One of the coolest parts for me was looking towards the backstage area while we were playing and only seeing some guy’s foot tapping along with Fellow.”

The way the stage is set up at The Library and the building is designed, people can be on any side of the stage. There is a loft area that wraps around the stage and the band room underneath that. Occasionally, someone on the loft behind the stage would talk to us during the set, and they let us know it sounded great up there as well. And it was really cool to have the other bands watching from behind the stage. I thought it really added to the experience, and at least for me, made the show better.

We finished our 40 minute set, unloaded our gear, and prepared to watch the other bands rock. The way the stage is designed, it makes it quick and easy for band transitions. Meaning there is less waiting for the audience. Meaning you get more music for your money. And the music is why you went to the venue in the first place.

All-in-all, The Library in Historic Soulard is an awesome venue to play and also being a local music fan, it’s a great place to see music. No matter if we are playing there or not, I suggest anyone interested in local music to visit The Library at least once and make up their own mind.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tags: Last Minute Shows, Show Review, The Library

Rock For Hope Review

Sep 8, 2009 News

I’m going to begin this with a personal apology to anyone that tried to come to this show. The venue of the show was changed and we were never informed. The show was scheduled to be at the Warren County Fairground, but ended up being at the American Legion.

We were more than excited about the Rock For Hope show. We were supposed to be playing a benefit show for free to help raise money for children with cancer at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. It was also supposed to be an outdoor performance, in front of hundreds of people, with over 100 bands on three different stages for three days!

We left early on the morning of the 6th, early as in 11:30am, to arrive at the show by 12:30 or so. We don’t have a band van so we had to drive 3 different cars. Normally this is fine for shows around town, but anything over 15 miles it starts to get expensive.

We followed the directions given to us and ended up in the completely wrong spot. We drove around the Wentzville / Warrenton area for over 2 hours looking for the show and after asking a few different gas station clerks we finally found the correct place that the show was supposed to be at, but it was empty.

At around 2:30 or so we had decided to give up, we were tired of driving, hungry and very disappointed at not getting to play a show. My phone was almost dead, I was using it as our map, and I needed a charger, so we ended up in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Warrenton. While there we received word from one of our fans that the show was right down the road at the American Legion. Not knowing if we were still going to be able to play our set, we decided to show up anyway and when we arrived it was a bitter disappointment.

The Rock For Hope people wanted us to play still, but there was no one there – most likely because no one knew where it was. One band had just finished their set and was leaving and there was another band waiting for their drummer to show up. Other than that, the only people there were the security guards and the people we brought.

We have never and will never skip out on a show, so we set up our stuff and rocked the empty room. We haven’t played that small of a crowd in five years. Nick said that while we were playing the show he counted 15 people, and that’s including the security guards and the cook (who kept popping his head out of the kitchen to watch).

It almost seemed like a practice rather than a show. Because there were no other bands ready to play we had an unlimited amount of time, so we played for a little over an hour. We cracked stupid jokes and made the set up as we went along. All in all it was a really good set, and the few people there seemed to really enjoy it.

After our set we packed up our stuff, had a beer and spoke with nearly everybody that was there. It was nice, we normally don’t get to sit and talk with the people we just performed to.

After nearly 300 miles and 6 hours, the show was over and time to go home. Which we all did, only to pack our stuff up again for our show on September 19 at Felix’s, which we hope to see everyone there. And if anyone knows of a cheep van or has one they would like to donate, let us know.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tags: Rock For Hope, Show Review

Ten Mile House August 21 Show Review

Aug 24, 2009 News

For all you skimmers and headline readers, to sum this show up, it rocked! There was a good turnout, Girl Jimi was awesome, the Ten Mile House treated us well, and I think we got it all on film!

As usual, we showed up to the show hours too early. We got there at 6:30 for a 10:00 show time. Why? We have nothing better to do than sit at a bar and drink. But the Ten Mile House treated us nice, we ate well and our drinks were cold. All in all we had a good time waiting.

Nick decided that the bar was too quiet, so he went to throw a few dollars in the jukebox. Some people sitting near it thought he might pick some good music with his long hair, tattoos, and Slayer t-shirt, so they gave him a few bucks as well. The next thing we notice is Nick in a panic as dance music starts blasting throughout the bar. We saw our buddy start to get into a little trouble, so we decided to help him out by shouting, “KILL HIM, KICK HIS ASS!” Six bikers nearly did, and Nick was finally able to sulk back to the table and drink his beer. Everyone got to listen to the wonderful tunes.

Girl Jimi started their show after Broken Chord (an acoustic act) and rocked the house. I was disappointed to find out that we did not record them. They were exciting to watch and a sound that most local band don’t have, which is good. They were able to get a crowd of mostly Achalachia fans to get out of their chairs and mosh, which was eventually broken up.

We eventually began our show. Our hour and a half set list was shortened to about an hour, due to the late start of Broken Chord. I have not seen the recording of the show yet, but I hope it shows what I saw on stage. Fans were jumping the stage pouring beer down our throats while screaming along to the songs! Personally, I’m surprised nothing was broken. I will say that it is hard to sing with a cup in your face.

By the time we started the show I was a bit tired/drunk and wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but the enthusiasm of the crowd woke the band up. For me personally, crowd participation not only makes us play better, but makes the show more fun. Why would anyone want to just sit in a chair and watch a rock show? But if that’s your thing, go ahead, be bored.

Rest assured, if the video turns out well we’ll post it for your viewing pleasure. We should also have some pictures soon. We hope to see you at the next show!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tags: Girl Jimi, Show Review, Ten Mile House

Jupiter Studios Battle Of The Bands Review

Jul 8, 2009 News

Let me start this by saying, “Thank You” to all who came out to support us at Fubar for the Jupiter Studios Battle of the Bands. Alas, we didn’t win, but IMHO we rocked. I am not one to give my band or myself too much credit, I always think we can do better, but I believe that this show was amazing!

I’m not going to give you a play by play of the evening, for that you can read A Night At Fubar on JohnNemec.com, but I will give you the short of the show.

Of the six bands scheduled to play the show, only 3 arrived: Achalachia, The Phranklyn Project, and Almost Modest. We had a half hour set scheduled, July 1 Set List, but with the missing bands we had to fill in 45 minutes. Also, the show was scheduled to begin at 8 but was pushed back to 8:30.

I’ll never understand why a band would drop out of a show, ever. But of all the shows to drop out of, why this one? Just for playing this show every band receives 10 free hours of studio time from Jupiter Studios. If that wasn’t enough, what about the fact that the whole reason people are in bands is to play their music, which they’ve worked hard to create, on stage in front of people other than your mother.

That being said, the set we ended up playing was:

• Vomit
• Self Esteem
• Hey Refrain
• Norman
• Broken
• Sappy
• Personal Canary

We guessed our time wrong and didn’t get to play Petunia Pussylittle, which was the first time we didn’t play the song at a show since it was made. But it turned out well, and it was refreshing not to play it.

The other bands were good, but I truly believe that we were better. “Then why didn’t you win?” you ask, well, bottom line is, we didn’t sell as many tickets. Both of the other bands brought far more people than us, and the judging was based on how loud the crowd gets after the set. After our set the crowd was VERY loud, and I thought we might have a chance of winning, but towards the end of the show about 30 fourteen year old kids walked through the door. The boys balls hadn’t dropped and the girls hadn’t found cigarettes yet so the decibel range had to be off the chart. At least that’s what I tell myself to make me feel better.

Win or lose, we still have our 10 free hours of studio time, so that gives us a grand total of 20 hours at Jupiter Studios to record some songs. We are still thinking of recording Petunia Pussylittle and Personal Canary. If you have any other suggestions, please let us know.

Now we are preparing for the 105.7 The Point and Pop’s Battle for Pointfest show. We will need everyone support if we are going to win this one. The winner gets to play the side stage at Pointfest. So bring your friends, neighbors, and your mom. Also, buy your tickets from us, it makes us look better, and you can get your tickets by sending us an email on our contact page.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tags: Battle of the Bands, Fubar, Jupiter Studio, recording, Show Review