Okay here we go with this week’s edition of “Next Week”. I did want to mention that I’ve heard from reliable sources that Minority Party is going to play a return show at Lunchbox Records. I will also say I haven’t seen any mention of it anywhere so we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll let you know if I find out anything. In the meantime, on with the show!

The Milestone Club- Bruce Hazel & Some Volunteers w/ Howlies 9/4/09- Bruce Hazel & Some Volunteers have become quite a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s that special blend of garage rock and soul that sends it over the top. Maybe a little early Springsteen mixed with a touch of Joe Cocker. More interesting is the slightly punk vibe that sneaks in under the radar. I dig it, you probably would too. Check out his myspace page (www.myspace.com/brucehazel) and listen to “Power to the Working Class” if you need any more convincing. Opener Howlies from the ATL claim the garage rock label but to me they seem like indie with just a nod to garage rock. Not that it’s a bad thing but sometimes it seems a little odd. It’ll still be a good warm up for Bruce Hazel. Doors are at 8pm and no price listed yet but it’s probably $6 for over 21 and $8 for under. 18+ only please.

The Milestone Club- the Independents w/ the Rogue Nations and Greasy Kitty 9/5/09- The Independents played the Stillnotdead Christmas last year and have come through a few times since then.  I gotta admit, their look does not get you ready for the music you are about to receive. It’s like the Misfits if they ever got into a touch of ska and mixed that with a little (very small) touch of rockabilly. Sound confusing? It can be at times but they hold it together and have a fairly solid following because of it. The Rogue Nations recently made their return at PRP2 and are sporting a brand new guitar player. He adds some beef to the guitars and is a welcome addition to this group. And by the way that’s not a new drummer, he just cut his hair! Greasy Kitty also played PRP2 so you should know what you’re in for with these guys. They also have a brand new guitarist and rocked the house early on at PRP2 so be sure to check these guys out. For a sneak preview of these two bands go to the Punk Rock Picnic videos and check them out! Doors are at 8pm and admission is $8 for over and $10 for under. 18 + only please.

Buddy Holly tribute show at Rodi in Gastonia, NC 9/5/09!

Okay, sorry for being late with this week’s column! My youngest brother got married over the weekend and it’s been hectic to say the least! Anyway, now that the dust has settled it’s time to get back to work! Here’s this edition of “Next Week”!

Tremont Music Hall- Junior Astronomers, O’Brother, The Lights Fluorescent, Dignan 8/29/09- The Junior Astronomers are a great live band, I caught them at the Charlotte Local Music Showcase a few months back. Their vocalist has a great stage presence and an awesome voice. Check out Stillnotdead TV to find a video of them performing “Flavorless Candy”. The Lights, Fluorescent are also a great live band and have quite a buzz floating about the local music scene. Also playing are Dignan and O’Brother. Doors are at 8pm and it’s $8 for over 21 and $11 for under.

Amanda Crap doing her Mike Ness impersonation!

The Milestone Club- Amanda Crap’s Birthday Bonanza featuring IED, The 33’s and When It Hits 8/27/09- Amanda was priceless when I first started up Stillnotdead and if it wasn’t for her I probably wouldn’t have had enough content to launch when I did so of course I have to mention her Birthday Bonanza! Amanda has put together a pretty good show that will include the return of Charlotte’s When It Hits, who haven’t been seen in quite a while, the 33’s from Charleston, SC, who are a great crunchy guitar slinging punk band and IED who as you saw at Punk Rock Picnic are the Queencity’s own kings of ska-core! Should be a kickass party so come hang out and rock out to some great music as well! $5 for over 21, $7 for under. 18+ only and the doors are at 8pm!

Duofest Two-OH @ The Milestone 8/28/09!!

The Milestone Club- Duofest Two-OH featuring Siren, The Have and the Have Nots, Battle Beast, Machete!, and No Shoulders 8/28/09- Charlotte has quite a phenomenon going on currently. We have an amazing number of bands that are shunning typical band dynamics in favor of minimalists lineups. To prove it we’ve got a whole bill of those who among other terms, have been labeled “heretics”. We’ll let you decide as Siren, The Have and the Have Nots and Battle Beast join No Shoulders and Machete! in a massive free for all at the Milestone. Btw, those who think this will be quieter because the bands like members are crazy! I know for a fact that Machete will hold their own with any 4 piece band! Earplugs are recommended! Doors are at 8pm and it’s $6 for over 21 and $8 for under. 18+ only

please.

Snug Harbor- The Truckstop Preachers 8/28/09- This band dellivers a great honky tonk, country/ rockabilly sound and they put on a massive live show. How can you go wrong with a band belting out a solid Johnny Cash sounding song while the singer wears a deerhead as a mask! It should be good times! Look for this one to start around 11pm!

Well that’s it for this brief addition of “Next Week”. I’ll post another blog later this week with the finalized lineup for PRS Fest 2009! See you on the forums!!

Ryan Dead

Hey what’s up? First off this week, some people on the forum have been talking about Gaslight Anthem who will be coming to Tremont in October. I just looked it up and tickets officially go on sale August 15th. The tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door with a $3 surcharge for under 21. They will be accompanied by Murder by Death and The Loved Ones.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s get on to our shows in this addition of “Next Week”!

Road Trip! Star City vs. Queen City!!! 8/21/09 Roanoke VA!

Lamb Handler at the Milestone Club 8/21/09!!

The Milestone Club 8/21/09 Lamb Handler, Shine River and Up with the Jones- Tennessee’s Up With the Jones describe themselves as “rock/punk/ Jam Band” on their myspace page. I think I would call them rock, but not the clearly defined rock you think of nowadays. Their rock like the Screaming Trees were rock back when everyone was screaming grunge. They’ve got a good rock sound that never sounds strange with an acoustic guitar in the mix. Mellow without being light, intense without being unaccessible these guys have a moody rock influenced sound with some great guitar work, definitely an interesting mix. Shine River is from Charlotte and put no description of their sound on their page. I like that, it’s like ” make up your own mind, we just play the music”. These guys definitely love their guitars and I think they definitely belong in the rock category with a leaning toward garage rock with a slight nod to stoner rock. Choruses with strange alternating chants make me thing of old 60’s stoner bands definitely. It doesn’t hurt that on the first song their chorus is the words “Crystal Meth” over and over. I dig it though, it’s rock with big fuzzy guitars and vocals that at times are treated like performance art. Lamb Handler finished up the bill and I’ve said it a million times but they are the best rock band in Charlotte! They’ve spent decades in the wood shed to perfect the ‘Handler sound. Crunchy, driving rhythms with snaking smooth leads and ultra smooth vocals are the norm for the Shepherds of Rock. I was surprised to check out a really smooth cover of Megadeth’s “Peace Sells….But Who’s Buying?”. Check it out at www.myspace.com/lambhandler !  Doors for this show are at 8pm and it’s 18+. No price had been announced as of today. It will probably be somewhere  between $6 and $8.

PEN15 Reunion at the Milestone Club 8/21/09 ( Jellico will not be playing this show!)

The Milestone Club 8/22/09 PEN15 Reunion show w/ Planet Piss and Homeless Boner- Back in the nineties during my heyday of running the Milestone Club their existed a band called PEN15. These british and american lads played many a show at the Milestone and it was always a drunken party. These guys could seriously run up a bar tab and never had any problems with the fact that I made them pay it. But that was the way it was. Playing a show for them was an excuse to get drunk and party and they were great at it. I remember one night they unveiled a new song called “Get Your Tits Out”. You can guess what the purpose of the song was. That was the PEN15 I remembered though. Drunken anthems about getting drunk and other rude behavior. Now they are back for one last reunion show (supposedly!). This time they are bringing Planet Piss with them, who although they aren’t known for songs about drinking, are known for extremely wild shows. This should be a lot of fun, if we don’t get arrested!! Homeless Boner is also playing and I’m not even touching that! (HA!) Doors are at 8pm and admission is $6 for over 21 and $8 for under. 18+ only.

The Neighborhood Theater 8/21/09 Eyes of the Elders CD Release party- I caught Eyes of the Elder a few months back at the Rock for Peace at Home at the Philosophers Stone. I was very impressed with our local hip hop act. There is a lot of talk about hip hop acts on our forum and all you hip hop fans of the forum owe it to yourself to check out our homegrown act. Spitting rhymes at the speed of thought these guys have great beats and great rhymes. Nothing amateur about these guys with interesting hooks and beats and did I mention they rock it with a live band? No doubt, this guys are great even though the multiple emcee approach sometimes result in a “vocal avalanche”. I can deal with it, plus they drop a yoda sample ( look for it in “empty matchbook”). The force is strong in these guys for sure! This is there cd release party for “Separated Shelves” and I give the Neighborhood Theater grief for their high prices normally but this show will be free so I can’t hate on that either. It should be an awesome night!

Well that’s it for this edition of “Next Week” I hope to see all of you out at Punk Rock Picnic 2. It’s gonna be great fun to have a huge cookout with you guys, plus we’ll have volleyball, free food and 10 punk, reggae and ska bands. See you guys there! In the meantime, always send me your flyers so I can talk about your show in the next edition of “Next Week”!

Ryan Dead

25 Minutes to Go advertise family style!

This is an awesome flyer! I had to put this up because if I’m not mistaken that is the daughter of 25 Minutes to Go’s frontman, Jonathan Hughes. That just shows it’s never too early to get your kids into local music! As they would say, Bladow!!

Ryan

This coming weekend is gonna be epic! There are some great shows and thanks to the combination of the Wednesday night Snug show and Punk Rock Picnic 2 I think almost every band in the local punk scene will be playing somewhere this coming weekend. Typically I have a cookout at my house on Sunday afternoons, this week I’m bringing my Sunday tradition to you guys. Want to learn more, read on…

The Milestone Club 8/14/09 Snagglepuss, Guam High and Black Lashes- Hope Nicholls has always had a influence on the Charlotte scene. In the 80’s it was Fetchin’ Bones, in the 90’s it was Sugarsmack. For the new millennium  the project is Snagglepuss, a rowdy, glammed out party band! Their latest record The Sound Report has been called southern fried pop and unhinged mayhem with a newly revealed appreciationfor the sickly slick radio mainstays of their youth. I think that sums it up for this local supergroup. Although I would add not to take them too seriously because trust me, their tongue is firmly in cheek! Also playing is Guam High, who don’t have any songs or description of their sound on their myspace page! Also on the show is Black Lashes who have even less info on their page. Although both bands pages are very stylish and Black Lashes opened the Penguin July 4th show, so I guess both of those things say quite a bit about the bands right their. Draw your own conclusions. Snagglepuss are quite awesome though and that makes up for the lack of info on the others.. Doors are at 8pm and believe it or not, there is no price listed so you’ll just have to guess on how much money to take with you. I can tell you there is a $2 surcharge for under 21. Otherwise I have no clue.

Rodi, Gastonia NC 8/14/09 Jem Crossland & The Hypertonics- Jem Crossland may have a new side project ( Diamond Jem & The Ace) but the Hypertonics are still going strong. These shows at Rodi are a favorite of mine because they are free and Rodi has great food. Jem Crossland & The Hypertonics are a great local rockabilly act who play music in the vein of Roy Orbison, Elvis or Johnny Cash. You’ll hear alot of cool originals mixed in with a healthy amount of nostalgia. Trust me it will be a great night and did I mention it’s free?!

Snug Harbor 7/12/09 South Side Punx, 25 Minutes to Go, The Ignorant- It’s a Wednesday night punk out at Snug Harbor! Queen City’s own kings of street punk, The South Side Punx will headline ( I’m assuming from the listing) this excellent show. Bands like the Casualties could learn a lot from SSPX who spend less time worrying about what color their hair is and more time thinking about writing songs to incite a riot! 25 Minutes to Go are riding the momentum of their new cd “It’s Go Time” and I caught the start of their set at Tremont the other night and they appear to have it perfected to an art with a sound that is part Social D and part Bad Religion with quite a few “whooooaaaaooooh”s thrown in for good measure. The Ignorant, from L.A. are on a full tour of the U. S. and sound like they have all the prerequisite snotty posturing anti authority rhetoric to go over great with the crowd. It’ll be a fun night. I’ve also heard that there will be free pizza for those who get their early enough. ( If 25 Minutes to Go don’t eat it first!) It’ll be a great time! Show starts at 10.

Snug Harbor 7/14/09 The Poontanglers, Colossus and Machete-This will be a major night of super heavy music at Snug! Machete played the Stillnotdead Stimulus show a few weeks ago and they have a massive sound for a two piece. Bass and drums are the weapons and Machete will bash you senseless. Colossus are from Chapel Hill and rock out with an Iron Maiden style sound that I love! The Poontanglers are Charlotte’s own metal lords. In their case though it’s more style than actual satan worshipping though as the metal is always delivered with a sense of wink, wink , nudge, nudge say no more! Show starts late at 11pm!(?)

Punk Rock Picnic 2 @ Tremont Music Hall 7/14/09!

Tremont Music Hall 7/16/09 Punk Rock Picnic 2- Stillnotdead.com is throwing a summer cookout and you are all invited!! We’ve got 10 punk, ska and reggae bands on hand to rock out at Tremont Music Hall and we’ve also got free food from Summer of Meat! This is the FAREWELL COOKOUT by Summer of Meat so you know it’s gonna be a wild party! The show starts at 4pm so be sure to come out early! The first six bands will play on the patio outside at Tremont and we’ll have plenty of beverages, free food and games to make this cookout a great party. The second half of the show will take place in the Casbah at Tremont. The lineup is a whose who of local and regional punk, ska and reggae bands. We’ve got Bums Lie, IED, The Not Likelys, Razorkat, Greasy Kitty, You Me and Us, Sick Sick Sick and Rekless Youth. We also have the Charlotte debut of Jojo Taterhead Revival, the new ska/reggae band from former members of DSS Crew. Also we have the return of the Rogue Nations! This will be their first show back since getting a new guitar player! It’s gonna be a great party and you’re all invited. It’s all ages and the admission for this extravaganza will be only $7 bucks! Plus there is NO SURCHARGE for under 21! That’s right we’re throwing a party where everyone pays the same price and our under 21 friends don’t have to worry about paying extra! You’re welcome! The show starts early at 4pm so be sure to come out early. I’ll put up the official schedule next week on the main page so be sure to check back to find out the official order of bands! We’ll see you there!

Btw, last week I was incorrect in stating that Rekless Youth had a new guitarist, they actually have a new drummer. My bad, at one point they had a new guitarist but that changed so there you go. On the plus side, a friend of mine saw Rekless Youth with their new drummer and said they sounded like the Clash with the new drummer so I think that’s a huge compliment. Come to PRP 2 and check them out!

Well that’s it for this week, I’ll hopefully see all you guys out at Punk Rock Picnic 2! If you have flyers for shows send them my way and we’ll talk about your show Next Week! Thanks!

Ryan Dead