Dayton937

Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

Dayton Music

Record Store Day 2013: A Guide To Celebrate The Music Holiday

By Leave a Comment

Omega Music RSDRemember your first experience visiting a local record store shop.  Remember that day.  The mystifying styles of music blasting through the speakers placed all around the building. The abundant rows of compact discs alphabetically placed by band name and genre. The sections of vinyl records that contain music from all generations.  The smells of hundreds of incents in clear glass jars waiting to be fired up.  Remember the individuals that were always in the shops.  You had the clusters of people standing around flipping thru the vinyl records, with a focused look on their faces. They have been given a special assignment-find the albums that will be just perfect.  You see another group of people standing around, conversing about music.  The windows of the structure are splashed with flyers of upcoming shows around town and promotional posters of an upcoming album.

Good memories, huh?!  Now remember how comfortable you were hanging at a record store.  You met people that have equivalent thoughts about music as you.  You came across individuals that vowed to change your views on artists that were on the fence in your mind.  You had spirited debates with the patrons, knowing that you were going to be enlightened with someone’s thoughts and beliefs.  You didn’t demean them.  You just enjoyed having the discussion.  You meet people that recreate experiences of attending a show that they recently attended.  You listen how that show was either good or bad, who they went with, etc.  The storyteller talks about the moments throughout the show that made them have moments of emotion-either good or bad.  You become comfortable being around these people.  You become friends.  Better than that-you become family.

On April 20th people will migrant to their local shops to celebrate what is consider to many to be Christmas-Record Store Day.  Record Store Day started in 2007, and it has become a day to celebrate independently owned record stores and music.  Bands and artists will perform during the course of the day, while special vinyls, CDs, and various promotional products are sold exclusively for this day.  Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April every year.  We here in Dayton and the people in Yellow Springs are lucky enough to have magnificent events going on throughout the day and evening that will give each and every music lover no reason but to fasten themselves in for a day of fun and enjoyment with others.

Record Store DayOmega Music is located in the Oregon District off 5th Street in Dayton, and the company has become a staple of the Record Store Day festivities.  Starting at 9am, consumers can come to the establishment and sink their teeth into great deals and exclusives.  If you bring a canned food item, all used merchandise will be 15% off.  Harvest Mobile Cuisine, one of the up and coming food trucks that provides specialty comfort foods prepared with locally grown products, will be in front of the store all day.  Starting at noon, there will be some tremendous local music played live.  Good English, Giant Steps, Goodbye, King Elk, Wheels, The New Old Fashioned, The Story Changes, The Seedy Seeds, My Latex Brain will perform, with a special performance from Buffalo Killers starting at 4:20.

Record Gallery is just steps away from Omega Music, located at 16 Brown Street across from Thai 9.  This establishment gives the patrons that visit them an intimate atmosphere, with vinyl littered all over.  There isn’t a space in the store that you won’t walk into that doesn’t have a large collection of vinyl.  For the die hards, Record Gallery is a place to check out for your music needs.  On Saturday, the shop will be participating in the glorious day with great specials.  $1.00 records and 45s will be 50% off, along with all 2011 record stock being 50% off.  The Record Gallery also has books CDs, DVDs, and most will be reduced to 20% off.

Music lovers that want to take a break from the live music and want to grab a beer don’t have to go far.  Blind Bob’s Bar, along with Ghettoblaster Magazine editor & co-publisher, David C. Obenour will be hosting music trivia, starting at 4.  Blind Bob’s is one of the perfect establishments to come at the Oregon District.  The vintage wooden floors, along with the exposed brick walls give the tavern some of the great American characteristics that the area some of the charm that you come to expect.  The owners, Bob and Lisa Mendenhall, have given the townspeople a gem to come to when they want to see fantastic live music, and have great beer on a nightly basis.  Each round of the music trivia will give the winner prizes, plus a grand prize of the Golden 7” and two tickets to this year’s Nelsonville Music Festival, which the lineup includes Wilco, and Cat Power.  The festival always brings great indie rock, and this year shouldn’t be any different.

I Need That RecordTo close up the day, just walk right over to one of the best movie theaters in the United States, The Neon.  The Neon is located right on East Fifth Street.  The theatre showcases of the great independently produced movies, locally and nationally.  Starting at 10:15, The Neon will be playing the music documentary I Need That Record!  The documentary, directed by Brendan Toller, examines the reasoning of 3000 independent record stores closing across the U.S. in the past decade.  I Need That Record! dives into record labels, media consolidation, radio, and the digital age blowing up causing these shops to close.  The movie also shows the way that these places are making a comeback.  Toller explores how the impact of record stores through the eyes of the employees and the consumers.  The stories of the employees watching their dream job coming to an end is gut wrenching.  However, there is some positivity that comes from the sadness.  It’s an excellent documentary that should be viewed by people that love record stores.  The viewing of the movie is free, and is first come, first serve.  Don’t miss this showing as it will be a great way to cap the day.

For the folks that will not be able to make it into the festivities in the Oregon District, make sure you visit the small, unique town of Yellow Springs.  The town has some of the best shops that you go and check out.  Go and grab a slice of pie over at Haha Pizza or Bentinos Pizza.  Also, go grab some music over at Toxic BeautyRecords, located on 220 Xenia Ave.  The good folks at this record shop will be in the mix celebrating the day by giving discounts on their music.  Also, they will be having two ticket contests, where the winners will a pair of seats to go see either Alabama Shakes at one show, Grizzley Bear and The xx at another show.

Record Store Day is a day to embrace those deep connections that we have with the local shop.  If you haven’t been to a record store as of late, April 20th is the day to do it.  Rekindle those fond memories of the days when you went to grab the latest music to come out.  Revisit friendships that you created when you spend hours and hours at the shop, just standing around and talking about music.  Also while you are at the record shop, buy some local music.  Support the local scene.  Overall, come and celebrate music in all its beauty, and come support the places that continue to give Dayton the title as one of the best that everyone calls ‘home’.

Cityfolk Musicians to Perform at ArtStreet’s 1World Celebration

By Leave a Comment

1WorldCelebrationCelebrate the intercultural experience of 1World Celebration, the University of Dayton ArtStreet’s spring festival coming up this Friday, April 19, from 7-11pm. Complete with food, fashion, and music from around the world, the celebration will kick off with a unifying intercultural walk through the University of Dayton’s student neighborhood and end with a stunning release of Thai paper lanterns into the Dayton sky.
The festival will feature collaborative musical performances, produced in partnership with Cityfolk, combining the sounds of Michael Bashaw and Puzzle of Light (jazz/world music), Son del Caribe (salsa), Seefari (reggae), and Michael Kotur (blues).

Michael Bashaw is the charismatic front man for Puzzle of Light, a Dayton local band comprised of musicians as varied as they are talented. With musical backgrounds ranging from rock to folk, this band strives to produce an easy to listen to sound that spans cultures and emanates peace and harmony. Acclaimed across the Midwest and the winner of a People’s Choice Award for best local jazz band, Puzzle of Light’s music has been described as “…a melting pot which mixes jazz, world, and folk music in a perpetual movement of invention and transformation.”-Gerard Nicollet for Ecouter Voir Dossier

Son del Caribe is a lively Cincinnati Latin music ensemble that is sure to keep you moving. Cited by many as the top salsa band in Ohio, their pan-Caribbean and pan-American sound includes not only salsa music but other forms of Latin dance music as well. Group leader Jaime Morales is an assistant professor of music at Miami University, a classical music composer, and a top salsa musician from Puerto Rico. Son del Caribe not only performs regularly at Latin dance clubs, but has also performed in Cincinnati’s Salsa Festival and Salsa on the Square.

Seefari is a nationally renown reggae performer from Dayton hailed as “Miami Valley’s own Bob Marley” by WYSO. This passionate veteran of the stage leads a Bob Marley tribute band whose most recent album has won three AMMA awards and reached the top of the charts for reggae music. With a reputation of being a crowd pleasing performer, Seefari puts on unique performances which have been described by audience members as energetic and fun for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Dayton musician Michael Kotur adds to the mix with his experimental style blues music, a sound that draws from jazz, country, and world music. With over twenty years of experience in performing, the talented Michael Kotur has developed a distinct, sometimes called “unusual,” style of guitar playing. His diverse style is sure to capture the attention of any audience member.

The 1World Celebration will be held on Friday, April 19, at 7:00 p.m. at the ArtStreet Amphitheatre located on the University of Dayton’s campus. This event is free and open to the public.
For more information about ArtStreet events at the University of Dayton, visit http://www.udayton.edu/artstreet .

Submitted by Lauren Glass, a senior at the University of Dayton who is studying journalism. Currently working as a social media assistant for ArtStreet, she enjoys music, writing, and photography.

REVIEW: The Walking Dead Invade Sharonville at HorrorHound 2013.

By 1 Comment

The first HorrorHound convention of 2013 will be remembered for many things, most being the cast of The Walking Dead….. and the 15,000 plus wall to wall sea of visitors that literary jammed the Sharonville Convention Center waiting for hours including outside, sometimes literary all day to meet Norman Reedus (Daryl), one of the other Walking Dead members or one of the many other guests who came for the show. Though the average wait time was anywhere from 1-8 hours depending on what time of day you got in the inside line, and what your position was outside to start. Hundreds of die-hards showed up hours ahead of time, some with the sun, ignoring whatever mother-nature threw at them ensuring their early spot inside once doors opened. Such dedication might seem odd or slightly insane to the casual fan but as veteran convention goers know, if there’s a movie ‘con’ in town, they, EVERYONE will come.

Though the lines were long and the weather was less than perfect over the weekend especially Sunday, almost everyone that wanted to get in did. Convention main attraction Reedus, stayed late until 1am on Friday, stayed till late evening Saturday and till around 7 Sunday hours after the show closed making sure that everyone got some Daryl time signing memorabilia and taking fan pics. To accommodate the sheer volume of humanity show hours were extended into mid-evening. Though there were some admission organization issues Friday afternoon, they were resolved by Saturday and convention organizers and venue staff worked hard to make sure everyone that came had the HorrorHound experience.

Besides Daryl, other appearing members of the Walking Dead cast included Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies), Carl (Chandler Riggs), Merle (Michael Rooker), Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson) and Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal). Other convention main attractions included John Carpenter, Tom Sizemore and Robert Patrick. A strong supporting cast of Diane Franklin, Tony Todd,  show vets Sid Haig and Bill Moseley, Subspecies director Ted Nicolaou cast members Anders Hove (radu), Denise Duff and Full Moon Director Charles Band, also the little Munster himself Butch Patrick, the car from Christine and the cast from Fear.com’s Holliston among other guests. Vendors included Toe Tag, Red Moth Records, Samhain Books, Fright Rags, and  Full Moon Entertainment among many others.  Several weekend Q n A panels including SubSpecies, House of 1000 Corpses, The Walking Dead, Christine and Holliston. The first time ever Weekend Night terrors included the Zombie Ball costume party masquerade Friday night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel along with the Horror Concert Saturday and Water Park after hour party and all night movie screenings to make sure you looked like The Walking Dead by dawn.

Saturday night’s concert sponsored by the makers of magnetic mayhem Skull 13 for all the devils, ghosts, demons and other society outcasts who’d naturally blend in the party headed across the street to the former HorrorHound home. The show also featured the talented movements of the buxom babes in beauty of Burlesque Le Moustache and the illusion, magic and wonder of slowly decaying Magician of the Living Dead Joe Lyon who tragically met his end during the performance fighting off one pissed off killer bunny rabbit.

The Big Bad

The Big Bad

The show started with The Big Bad spewing out only the best of grade A West Virginian horror punk. Guided by the eerie hypnotizing cat’s eyes of tattooed singer Mr. Von Nasty or Zackula to his friends, they immediately broke out the Bat Repellent in case any audience member chose to take flight during the show. Next was a tribute to one of the masters of horror Clive Barker and his novella Cabal which spawned the cult classic Nightbreed. Other scary tunes included twisted tales of Possession, Prom Night 1957, hello Mary Lou and a song about the holiest and most respected and embraced day for all horror fans, Halloween. Nasty’s taken some of Elvis and a little Jerry Lee Lewis and turned it into a deadly performance package. With Col Frankenstein on bass, slicing guitars by Machette and Cemetery Flowers rounded off by a dead guy on drums and a special guest saxy player. Check them out on Facebook for samples from their After Dark CD and upcoming release See You in the Shadows. Mr. Nasty was also celebrating his tenth anniversary with the lovely Mrs. Nasty. They make a cute fanged couple.

Dead Dick Hammer and the TBA Band

Dead Dick Hammer and the TBA Band

Next up was good ole Dead Dick Hammer and the TBA Band. Unfreshly arisen from their underground penthouse in the upper-crust and making their weekend residence at the Gates of Heaven Cemetery down the road, they turned on the living starting with their own Resurrection. Singing out of his custom made spade mic, decorated with black roses, skulls and authentic hallowed earth, a ‘stage prop’ that would get more use later. It’s a nice subtle way of saying ‘my mic’s a shovel-headed killing machine’ without being obvious. Adding some crazy, space aged guitar effects to hypnotize tonight’s dinn-,…. the crowd Dead Dick literary guts the sound out of his guitar then munches on the strings, drawing first blood early. Dick brings out his bag of tricks/goodies showing every country poke zombie has a good side and isn’t just trying to bribe the crowd. He offers people a slightly used buffet of common every day, house broken into items such as duct tape, dirty gloves, Neosporin, aspercreme, breathe mints, candy (for the ladies), special lube, set lists, shoe polish, nasal spray, black stockings, salve, sunburn spray (for the sparkling vamps), chap-stick, tums, burial clothes even ointments of a highly personal nature. He proudly asks if anyone needs any hemorrhoid cream before throwing it out to some unlucky a-hole. He pulls out a family pack of double A’s has second thoughts putting them down. He doesn’t want them knocking someone out before he does. He says he gets everything from the dollar store which questions the validity of the no shoes, no shirt sign, half rotted or not. The truth is everything in the bag’s taken from the homes of past vict-, …. acquaintances and friends DD and the TBA band have hung out with and they don’t like to see things sit and go to waste. He also takes a ‘prospecting’ tour from the stage mingling with the living. His lovely corpse bride the gracefully decaying cadaverous beauty Doreen Laveau smiles watching Dick play with his food. Now it’s time to rot n roll as its Last Call and the love of your life’s in the room but she won’t talk to ya. Fill up on some nice yummy, curiously crunchy Catfish Gravy. Be prepared for their new CD and get some Fourplay by the Eight Track just like dad and grandpa. Their show was loud, fast and Dead Dick showed he has a biting sense of humor. They’re not getting any younger… or older for that matter. They also claim legit rights as being the only authentic walking dead in attendance that weekend.

What do you get when you combine acoustic twanging, a banjo player, drummer and a stand-up bass with the most ugly, offensive, vulgar, graphic poetry known to mankind? Why Kokomo’s Harley Poe of course. Captained by their Mario mustached singer they break all rules of decency, any semblance of respect, decorum or civility and jam on subject matter best saved for the gentleman of Cannibal Corpse and other dapper death metal diehards. Think a po-dunk country fair on the prairie side of a honky-tonk folk jam that will make kids cry in their mother’s arms and scare families. Fun knee slappers about transvestites, vampires, dead things, feminine hygiene, psychopaths and other dirty deeds sung dirt cheap with the sincerest heartfelt sentiment. They could be Dexter’s kill-room band or what’s played at a family reunion to make everyone leave.

Stellar Corpses

Stellar Corpses

Straight from the west coast warm piranha filled waters of California comes the stone pale tanned and toned Stellar Corpses playing their first HorrorHound show showing what a 50’s greaser band plus one black n purple haired hottie would sound like with a modern day suit and tie guy ‘soc’ at the helm. Intro’d by the blue masquerade as strangers look on; Dusty Sheehan plays it cool and suave keeping it all business opening with his own Twisted Fantasies singing about that skin biting Vampire Kiss. He starts disrobing as the spotlight heat gets to him turning his eyes Blood Red as the sun goes down outside and the evil temptress spreads her wings. They’re a stellar mix of Misfits, mixed with some Chris Isaak and maybe even a little Monster Magnet. They get upright bass thumping as the Steel Butterflies take flight, after enough spirits you’re liable to see almost anything floating through the air. They pay tribute to The Evil Dead (original), play their namesake then pay ode to the Cemetery Man who’s always working at the dead of night. They’re a traveling horror movie, performing grave yard shift numbers about midnight monsters, scary corpses and the dark, deadly, dismembered side of Hollywood.

For the grand fatale finale straight from the tough streets of psychobilly Detroit rock city come the deadly when played with Koffin Kats. After 9 years of touring and over 1200 shows later they’ve come to hang out with us, possibly their scariest crowd ever, oh the horror.  The Good Times began as the high speed long string strumming started as Glen Danzig throated Vic Victor played his huge well used plaything like a guitar. Three songs in they’re out For Blood they’re Boozinacrossanation playing hillbilly rock at moonshine proof speed. There’s a twist n shout tribute to Leatherface, as the Chaos erupts in the Splatterhouse and as any horror fan knows it’s a Terrible Way to go out. Koffin Kats make horror movie chase scene music any deranged silent, knife/chainsaw/machete wielding silent killer would be happy to strike terror and savagely maim during. They slow it down a little with a passionate ode to Mary Shelley’s original green guy. All the Bad Apples come out when the Bottles Called. When they’re not recording or touring they can be found hanging out at the Graveyard Tree. The Koffin Katz Rock and they’re For Hire. Victor does upright tricks too using his bass as a ladder, seat, bat, battering ram, back scratcher and standing chair for both guitarist EZ Ian and himself.

Next HorrorHound will be in September in Indianapolis starring Friday the 13th Director Steve Miner, Independence Days Vivica Fox, and a Freddy VS Jason cast reunion among others. Check their page for guest/vendor updates. HorrorHound Magazine Editor-in-Chief/Promoter Nathan Hanneman has suggested the return of certain members of the The Walking Dead but who walks in ready to kill is anyone’s guess.

Jazz Spotlight: Dean Simms + Upcoming Jazz April 10-23

By 1 Comment

jazzLocal (Springfield, Ohio) jazz artist, Dean Simms, has created a 90 minute full length musical stage play called that tells the story about the amazing life and career of Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong. This musical tells the story about the amazing life and career of Louis Armstrong in a full 90 minute bigger than life stage production. His script was selected out of 100’s by the DC Black Theater Festival to be performed in the nation’s capital on June 21-29 2013.

I have always considered Dean an outstanding trumpet player ever since the days when Rosemary and I first caught him performing at the old Silver Fox Night Club in Dayton. As it’s my nature to mentally track the players I like, I took great interest of an email I received from Dean in October of 2011: “Hello Ron, here is the link to my next Satchmo concert.  It is sponsored by the Springfield Arts Council, and the Clark County Historical Society.  This show is both educational, highly entertaining and I have a great group of Ohio State players as backup. 

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89lyYfBSWIE’]

My next involvement with Dean’s Satchmo project: “Once upon a time in America there was a young boy who learned to play a horn in reform school, became the ambassador of jazz to all nations and left us with a wonderful world.  On Saturday, March 10th, 2012 a tribute to Louie Armstrong was held at Jazz Central, the club that’s bringing jazz back.  Dean Simms and a very talented group of Ohio State players brought “Satchmo” back on that evening.  This resurgence of jazz project was sponsored by Jazz Advocate and WDPS-FM radio.”

After the tribute to Louie at Jazz Central, which ranks #1 to any live performance I’ve ever seen, I was able to convince the folks at the Dayton Art Institute to include Dean’s show in this year’s “Vectren Jazz and Beyond” series. You will be able to catch them on September 12, which would be a wise move because I have a feeling the big times will be taking this group on high. As Dean says “My tribute to Louis Armstrong has been presented in concerts, festivals, state fairs, and night clubs as a band only. I have now taken it much further to bring his life into a full length musical play from the various time periods in his life when his career began in the 1920’s to 40 years after his passing. His accomplishments in over 35 movies, touring abroad, hit records, civil rights movement, all done in a bigger than life stage production.”

I recently backed the 1st American Rock Star Louis Armstrong the Musical on Kickstarter  with a small contribution to help Dean with this endeavor. He needs our help for travel, set design, hotels, food, rehearsal venue etc, which we can provide through Kickstarter. Check this out and if you can kick in a small donation and share this link with your friends you will be helping to keep the jazz alive.

Jazz Calendar

Here are some (not all) of the upcoming jazz events for the next couple of weeks:

Wednesday, April 10 – The Stan Kenton Alumni Band will be at Cline Elementary School in Centerville and The Blue Wisp Big Band performs in Cincinnati.

Thursday April 11 – The Jazz Central Jammers is the Dayton Art Institute and Dottie Warner and Ricky Nye are at Arnold’s Bar & Grill in Cincinnati.

Friday April 12 – Shawn Stanley Trio is at Carvers Steaks & Chops in Centerville and The Ansyn Banks Quartet is at the Thompson House in Newport, KY.

Saturday April 13 – Internationally Acclaimed Saxophonist Tim Warfield is at Blue Wisp In Cincinnati and James & Moore is at C’est Tout Bistro in Oakwood, OH.

Sunday April 14 – The Jam Session w/ Kenny Baccus continues at Dayton’s Jazz Central and the Four Freshmen are at the Gallagher Student Center Theater, Xavier University inCincinnati.

Monday April 15 – The John Taylor Trio is at Brio Tuscan Grille in Beavercreek and Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra is at the Clintonville Woman’s Club in Columbus.

Tuesday April 16 – The Part St. Tavern is having a Jazz Jam and Tony Monaco is at the Rumba Café both in Columbus.

Wednesday April 17 – The Eleven piece Different Hats Band is at The Dayton Event Connection and Rich Lopez is at Rigsby’s in Columbus.

Thursday April 18 – The Generations Big Band plays at Jazz Central in Dayton and Dave Powers is at Amano’s Sports Bar in Worthington, OH.

Friday April 19 – Sinclair Jazz Ensemble w/Tom Walsh is at Blair Hall in Dayton and The Mark Lomax Quartet w/ William Menefield is at The Thompson House  in Newport, KY.

Saturday April 20 – Big Song Music House has Ricky Nye & the Paris Blues Band w/Lisa Biales in Oxford, OH and James & Moore is at C’est Tout Bistro in Oakwood,

Sunday April 21 – There are jazz jams at Victory’s in Columbus and at Jazz Central in Dayton.

Monday April 22 – Mark Flugge, Derek Dicenzo & Jimmy Castoe are at Due Amici in Columbus and Youngstown Jazz Collective is at Nighttown in Cleveland Heights.
Tuesday April 23 – Ed Moss & the Society Jazz Orchestra is at the Schwartz Point Jazz Club and JazzCab is at The Greenwich both in Cincinnati.

 

More info and jazz listings can be found at JazzAdvocate.com

REVIEW: NIB/Aces High Play Dublin’s St Patrick’s Bash

By 1 Comment

Saturday March 16, with the Irish spirits flowing and the green stuff coming from the tap, bottle, ATM’s and everywhere else desirable and not, The Dublin Pub showcased the beginning of an all weekend long celebration to good ole St. Patrick and the snakes he drove out of Ireland way back when. In the words of Aces High singer Tony Oliver, “A group of Americans came to hear British music in an Irish pub.”

Engines of Chaos's NIB

Engines of Chaos’s NIB

Engines of Chaos’s Nativity in Black a tribute to all era Black Sabbath started the outside heated mayhem as patrons were having their fill of spirited blarney. Though the immortal wah-wah bassline intro’d song’s meaning is more about hair than evil Christmas decorations. An intro straight from the Metal Gods… or else-where filled the speakers then one of the best known riffs in metal history started to occupy our brain. We’re taken Behind the Wall of Sleep then visit their tribute namesake. While EOC singer Scott Toops doesn’t have Ozzy’s banshee wail or the hints of Birmingham hopelessness and desperation in those early songs his voice does carry the essence of the Ozzy effect. “You’ll know this one.’ He smirks as drummer Eric Estes starts kicking Marvels favorite signature tune.  All they have to give you is music that never dies; the Symptom of the Universe is written in the eyes of some fine ladies from the crowd dancing to the satanic blues. It was time to pay tribute to the little Elf with the goliath voice. Dan from Aces High joined them when the two fingered Maloik, Dio, the Neon Knight himself made famous were raised for the Mob Rules. Toop’s voice can carry Ronnie James’s pint sized heavy weight well. They reach forward playing some early solo Ozzy about the wickedest man that ever lived with original intro. Then it was all aboard the Crazy Train. The sirens screamed as the War Pigs gathered in their masses with evil minds that plot destruction. From a war stricken land we take a cool mellow trip with the incense and candles burning with Sweet Leaf through time and space to Planet Caravan. Then when you’re nice and relaxed the devils tritone jolts you back to reality as the figure in black gives chase. Due to time restraints there was no encore and no chance to go extra, extra, extra, extra f*****g crazy! God bless, Engines of Chao’s NIB loves you all.

Aces HIgh

Aces HIgh

Any band can play Iron Maiden covers but it takes true dedication and passion to design your own props,  make a large Seventh Son of a Seventh Son replica Eddie and turn a stage inside a tent into the Somewhere Back in Time tour but that’s exactly what Dayton’s Aces High have done. They show their love of all things iron and maiden. In addition they constructed an Egyptian backdrop and their own personal Eddie of Spades. They take their homage very seriously and give it to the audience up the irons as much as possible. During their 2 set 3 hour show they played heavily from the 80’s which too many die-hards is the best era. Maiden’s a band that’s acquired global success with little to no airplay but they’ve made millions scream for them. Churchill said it best, ‘we shall never surrender’! The doomsday clock says 2 Minutes to Midnight; maybe the Mayans were closer than we thought. Wasted Years is the British version of Turn the Page and one of the coolest Maiden videos for fans of Eddie art. Time to take flight on Ed Force One and touch the sun with Icarus and go Where Eagles Dare cause every Wrathchild needs a nice Piece of Mind. Transylvania was dedicated to recently deceased, early drummer Clive Burr. We go back to the ice age and get Clairvoyant with the ice man after he thaws, wakes and finds himself a Stranger in a Strange Land. We then follow the Nile to Egypt drawn back by the enchanting whispers of the ancient gods and the eye of Horus to be their Powerslave. While we’re there we’re reminded what not to do when an albatross flies over you. One of Maiden’s longest and favorite songs is played in its entirety, including sound effects but sadly no smoke machine. Lyrical belter Tony Oliver does a fine job of handling songs operatically sung by one of the greatest metal voices of all time. Though very few can completely match Dickinson’s delivery and 4 octave range, Oliver can deliver the Tattooed Millionaire’s vocal presence well enough. Bassist Randy Gaines has Steve Harris’s foot on speaker bass pointing Tailgunner style down pat. Dan Briley/Dave McCarty play the parts of three guitar maestro’s with no pressure and Matt Tickel keeps McBrain’s beat perfect.

Aces High

Aces High

Starting off the second set we get a little creepy Crowley with the Moonchild and get some spiritual help to comprehend those Infinite Dreams. They play the war dance on The Trooper and crowd favorite Run to the Hills having one of the most recognizable drum intros in metal history.

Unfortunately, once again due to time restraints as Revelation would have it a few goodies had to be cut but we do have enough time for a trip to Acacia Avenue using a little green for a good old time. Hallowed Be Thy Name of the band that’s given us nearly 40 years of incredible music. Though this evening, the sands of time for us are running low and we know the time is short to consume and finish potent Irish liquids. So let he who hath understanding reckon the number of the beers he’s hadith, for it is a human number, and condition. No worries, Dublin Pub announced Care Cab for anyone whose mind was blank, couldn’t remember how many they had and needed time to get the memories from their mind.

Engines of Chaos’s NIB and Aces High take their tributes very seriously paying respect to two of the biggest names in British music, the undisputable Alpha/Genesis of metal and the greatest band of all time to be named after a guy in a mask and a medieval torture device. Even to the most Eddie’d up ‘Irish for the evening’ stumbling patron what we all saw that night was real and not just fantasy.

REVIEW: Bogey’s Bar Hosts United We Jam Against Cancer

By Leave a Comment

Editor’s note:  In May of 2013, the Springfield News Sun reported that Michelle Mundy was under investigation for potential fraud as she allegedly had faked a cancer diagnosis.  Ms Mundy subsequently surrendered to the police.

Saturday March 9th Bogey’s Bar and Grill in Springfield held the United We Jam Music Against Cancer Fundraiser for Yellow Springs resident Michelle Mundy. Four acts as different as they were united in the cause played to help raise funds for Mrs. Mundy’s treatment and medical expenses.

Mundy was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) at 37, 8 years after fighting her first bout with the  ‘big C’ at 29. Starting chemotherapy in September of 2012, continuing into 2013, she’s gone through 6 rounds every other Monday until Mid-December. Radiation may follow. 11 tumors were found in the soft tissue, bones, organs, abs, and some attached to bones on the ribs. Her medication expenses are around $1500 a month. From September-October 2012 she received R-CHOP therapy (an administration of four chemo-related drugs) every 14 days.   NHL is found in cancerous white blood cells and is curable so the fight rages on. For more information, go to www.cancer.org.

The Shope Brothers

The Shope Brothers

The show began with the uniquely rap inclined Dipspit. In the vein of Eminen meets Tenacious D the duo perform emotional, spirited raps of slight adult nature. Spewing out ultra-serious lyrics that’ll make you laugh, roll your eyes or go WTH. The bearded high priest of sweaty movement DJ DumptRuck shouts out his backup sermon through mic and megaphone bringing their own personal mini sound system as front-man DipSpit tells the stories of the Pontoon boat and Dropkicking the Dub Plate. They’re as different in their spectacle as they are entertaining in their effort and presentation.   We’re infected with DipSpit Fever forever and the Springfield scene will never be the same.

And now for something completely different…. the Shope brothers, Jason and Jacob scale things down with an acoustic as older Jacob keeps the beat a bit differently playing a hand slapping Cajon Box. They play some sweet country tunes singing about the intoxicating effect that special girl has on you. There’s Hell on Wheels as we get the adrenaline twang going and a bootleg shiner from the law for our trouble.  Jason Aldean’s Wheels Rolling could be the cowboy hat tipping version of Turn the Page. We go cruising n sightseeing down that Florida Georgia Line whistling Dixie at all the ladies. From the southern panhandle we take a Canadian detour to heaven with Bryan Adams.

Destracore

Destracore

Dayton’s four piece angry thrashers Destracore opened their turbo’d up set turning on the metal machine full grind unleashing The Beast upon the unsuspecting onlookers. Singer Don Potter tag teams between yelling and actual singing as some screamers can’t do. Now that Twinkies have been resurrected, those and Cockroaches will still be the only things surviving the apocalypse but we’ll still all Die Out in style. The bearded Potter, technically a harry Potter possesses a unique pallet of the usual growls, screams and screeching but can also carry a tune with a bit of creepy melancholy and tension attached. They play their future single When I Close My Eyes. They’ve found a nice balance of the heavy stuff infusing some well-placed melody. They take a page from priest, and Break the Law. There’s some nice Death inspired bass and drum dancing beginning/during the Final Act slowing down the ends coming. Their core started humbly in a New Carlisle kitchen in 1998; relentless touring made them a staple in the Dayton/Springfield metal scene releasing their debut effort Yield. In 2002 they invaded the Columbus area scene and after an 8 year hiatus have returned with a five song crunching demo displaying a hybrid influenced sound and new musical presence. See them April 6th at Club Panama.

Gathering Mercury

Gathering Mercury

The sirens roar as Gathering Mercury start a Bitchin good time. They start with the opening tracks from their debut CD Where The Others Go. Ashley Stacey sings with a sweet soft spoken cue with a rasp of attitude proving with each show she’s a forerunner for her generation’s Joan Jett.  She’s the cute girl next door with a sweet smile with a ‘hint’ of rebellion you keep your eye on. They Lean Into the Fall playing their Dayton Does Dayton tribute to Mona, try out two new tunes. Stacey has the stage presence for rock n roll and Broadway. Bassist Quique Bucio plays deep notes with a side or two of comical humor and physical comedy. They finish with a little high octane Hoochie Koo then Paint it Black with mercury.  See them April 13th and May 11th at Canal Street Tavern.

Mayliner Looking To Join Area Punk Rock Elite

By Leave a Comment

The elderly hate it.  Some groups of people find it repulsive.  People question whether or not it’s actually considered music.  There are also those that would fight you for daring to speak out of line about what they are passionate about; those same individuals also say they have found something that makes them feel like they are part of a family.  What I am talking about is punk rock.

Punk rock music is beloved by many around the world.  The Ramones, The Clash, and Sex Pistols brought a brash, rebellious sound that was unapologetic and wild.  Full of energy and emotion, catching a punk show is unpredictable.  Expect a pit of people to start the intense participation of slamming into each other while forming a circle, a practice commonly known as moshing.  There is also a pretty good chance that people will be either crowd surfing or the one of the band members will be stage diving.  You never know what to expect, but you know that you are in for one crazy night.  In Dayton, we are fortunate that we have a great collection of punk rock bands taking local stages.  One band that should you should check out is Mayliner.  Mayliner consists of three memembers-guitarist/vocals Josh Caperton, bassist/vocal Chris Barnett, and drummer Paige Beller (Beller is also the lead singer of band Jasper the Colossal).

(Photo Courtesy-Jennifer Taylor Clarke)

Caperton and Barnett have had Mayliner up and running a little over a year now, but the two have been playing and writing music since their high school days.  The two took part in numerous battle of the bands around the local area and were even asked to be part of the bands that they were competing against.  They have also been there for each other through thick and thin during their previous bands’ journeys.    Mayliner alone has had their share of lineup changes, with drummers coming and going up to last year.  However, both men agree that it doesn’t affect their progress.  “As long as I see Josh next to me, and he sees me next to him-it is all good,” Barnett says.

That chemistry and bond are just part of why they are one of the good up and coming punk bands around town.  Caperton and Barnett play with viciousness, with a rapid pace of play on each of their respective instruments.  The drum play of each of their songs is fast and heavy.  Mayliner wants to do one thing: play as loud as they possibly can, a staple in any punk rock band’s live sets.

“I have been told that we sound like The Who but faster”, Barnett says when asked how he would describe the band’s sound.  The songwriting is shared by both Caperton and Barnett.  They will go to each other and share what they have, keeping the process open and free.  The lyrics songs center on experiences that have come and gone throughout their lives including songs about occurrences and encounters that weren’t delightful.  However, those songs do go into how you overcome bad events and become better, and not let the bad define you as a person.

Mayliner and Jasper the Colossal are will be releasing an split EP from the local record company FM Records this Thursday. Each band will have about 4 songs on the release.  So how was this idea brought up you wonder…

“The idea of doing the split EP was up and in the air for over a year”, Caperton explains.  “We loved the idea of doing something with Jasper, maybe with recording one of their songs and they record one of ours.  We heard that Paige (Beller) went in the studio and recorded, so we went and did our thing.”

Be expecting some fantastic punk rock that will downright be a crime if not played at a maximum level.  After all, isn’t that what punk music is supposed to be played?!

This Thursday, Mayliner and Jasper the Colossal will be playing a split EP release party at One Eyed Jacks in Fairborn, Ohio.   Go out and see why Mayliner is truly one of the up and coming punk bands rocking around the Dayton area.

 

 

Jazz Spotlight: Big Jazz Band + Upcoming Jazz Mar. 27 – Apr. 9

By Leave a Comment

Scott Gasaway and the Stivers Jazz Orchestra

Scott Gasaway and the Stivers Jazz Orchestra

Because I’ve been to six big band performances in the last couple of weeks, this is a good time to write about the impact of jazz band music past and present day in our area. The overall subject is too large to cover in depth but you can find an interesting read here.

A big band is a type of musical ensemble that originated in the United States and is associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately 12 to 25 musicians. Standard 17-piece instrumentation evolved in the big-bands, for which many commercial arrangements are available. This instrumentation consists of five saxophones (most often two altos, two tenors, and one baritone), four trumpets, four trombones (often including one bass trombone) and a four-piece rhythm section (composed of drums, acoustic bass or electric bass, piano and guitar).

There were two distinct periods in the history of popular bands. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then typically consisting of 10–25 pieces, came to dominate popular music. At that time they usually played a form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins, which was dropped after the introduction of swing in 1935.

Some names you’re likely to be familiar with today: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman and Glen Miller because today’s bands play much of their music. The big bands of old toured the country and attracted large crowds, today as a rule those audiences are no longer available but we are fortunate to have many college and high school jazz bands in our area in addition several bands that still survive the leaner economics, mainly because the players love the music and want to keep it going. In today’s market you will also find pocket bands made up of fewer players selected in a manner to play the big band charts.

Speaking of pocket bands and getting back to the performances I’ve seen lately on the 14th of this month The ShinSings Orchestra was at the Dayton Art Institute, a week prior on the 7th it was the Jazz Central Big Band, going forward it was the Sinclair Jazz Ensemble on the 15th, Stivers Jazz Orchestra on the 18th, Generations Big Band on the 21st and this last Saturday, March 23rd it was the fourth annual Jazzcakes where the Centerville School’s put on a benefit concert consisting of three middle school and three high school jazz ensembles. Some other area jazz bands/events I should mention are the Beavercreek Weekend of Jazz where a dozen or more local middle and high school bands compete. The Dayton Jazz Orchestra, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra and the Blue Wisp Big Band and coming in August a series of five weeks of big bands at RiverScape in Dayton.

One final note, I’m told on April 10th at Cline Elementary School in Centerville the Stand Kenton Alumni band concert will perform along with a pre-concert student jam session, from 6:30-7:15. Check it out here.

Jazz Calendar

Here are some (not all) of the upcoming jazz events for the next couple of weeks:

Today Wednesday, March 27 – The Blue Wisp Big Band performs in Cincinnati, OH and you can Swing Dance with Lizz & Rex Review at the Dayton Event Connection.

Thursday March 28 – The Phoenix Project Concert is at Brothers Drake Meadery in Columbus and Dottie Warner and Ricky Nye are atArnold’s Bar & Grill in Cincinnati.
Friday March 29 – Shawn Stanley Trio is at Carvers Steaks & Chops in Centerville and The Mike Wade Quintet is at the Thompson House inNewport, KY.

Saturday March 30 – The Urban Jazz Coalition is at Gilly’s In Dayton and James & Moore is at C’est Tout Bistro in Oakwood, OH.

Sunday March 31 – the Jam Session w/ Kenny Baccus continues at Dayton’s Jazz Central and the Hoo Doo Soul Band is at the Rumba Café in Columbus.
Monday April 1 – The Kyle Eastwood Group is at the Blue Wisp in Cincinnati and the John Taylor Trio is at Brio Tuscan Grille in Beavercreek.

Tuesday April 2 – Dave Greer’s Classic Jazz Stompers is at Jimmie’s Ladder 11 in Dayton and Tony Monaco is at the Rumba Café inColumbus.
Wednesday April 3 – Rich Lopez is at Rigsby’s in Columbus and Dave Powers is at Vittoria Ristorante in Powell, OH.
Thursday April 4 – the Jazz Central Big Band plays at Jazz Central in Dayton and the Elizabeth Hayes Jazz Ensemble is at The Blue Wisp inCincinnati.

Friday April 5 – the Urban Jazz Coalition is at the Thompson House  in Newport, KY and there is a  Friday Night Jazz Show at Washington Platform Saloon & Restaurant  in Cincinnati.

Saturday April 6 – Dick’s Den has the Bob Niederriter Quartet and the Lincoln Theater presents Inside Track series: Kyle Eastwood inColumbus.

Sunday April 7 – There are jazz jams at Victory’s in Columbus and at Jazz Central in Dayton.

Monday April 8 – Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra is at the Clintonville Woman’s Club in Columbus.
Tuesday April 9 – Ed Moss & the Society Jazz Orchestra is at the Schwartz Point Jazz Club in Cincinnati and Part St. Tavern Jazz Jam  continues in Columbus.
More info and jazz listings can be found at JazzAdvocate.com

A Ghastlee Night at Gilly’s….The Sequel

By 2 Comments

Friday March 8 Gilly’s Jazz club hosted an evening of extreme musical diversity. Hardcore humored adult rated acoustic singing, a human mix master, sound-machine and beat boxer, a screaming electric Ukulele playing misfit, a trippy rock n roll splattering of horror fed haunted charm and the southern Grand Ole Opry, brought to you by Bloodline Video.  The show was in honor and celebration of the evening’s host and performer, legendary local TV personality, actor and Horror Host A Ghastlee Ghoul, who toyed with the crowd played naughty games, told jokes, made rude comments and headlines as only he can.

The ever charming, cussing, swearing gentleman Felix Wussington started the evening strapped with acoustic guitar and a wide array of lyrical poetry making beautiful prose out of STD’s, lesbians, killing your significant other, the reaper and amusing domestic violence. This tattooed R-XXX rated country punk talked the sh- about backyard body burial, a romantic interlude in the Y’s swimming pool and a tribute to Herbert West and his love of playing with dead things. It’s a good thing Wussington’s someone everyone wants to hang out with and Lives Across the Street from Heaven. It might save his songwriting soul from the reaper and eternal damnation, good thing All Dudes go to Heaven. Hmmm… he could’ve beat the devil, if only he played the fiddle. Mr. Wussington also has select tunes from his debut My Cthulu’s Showing on Soundcloud.

Splattertude

Splattertude

The power and talent of the human voice and throat is put on display as human beat box master Thomas Gardner hits the mic, spins the turntable, scratches some vinyl, plays with some techno grooves all with his voice. He’s a walking sub wolfer, PA, night club sound-system, in one shades/hoodie wearing bass heavy package.

Next up Dayton’s answer to a loud live horror movie, emanating trippy sounds of the 60’s drug scene Splattertude. Like a bad stain, they don’t come out. Fronted by the howling leather and laced demoness Susperia, MC himself bassist A Ghastlee Ghoul, the ghost faced guitarist Tony Tone and the skins destroying chrome faced Christmas Devil Louu Stahl. The House of 1000 Corpses opened and your Darkest Hour begins. You won’t carry a cross but you’ll have a handful of Black Roses swirling in a pool of dark dreams and persecution. War, murder it’s just a shot away Down the Rabbit Hole. They take us on a train-wreck voyage to the cinema wastelands of Cleveland.

The always handsome Uke playing tallywacker himself Henrique Couto brought his unique brand of showmanship once again to the Gilly’s stage partnered with his friend bass player multi-talent Jay Madewell.  Often accused or assumed as being a walking wardrobe malfunction Couto’s flashy appearance may clash with itself but overall adds to his undeniable talent for drawing a reaction whether by song lyrics or personalized humor and mastery of an instrument few have dared to unlock the mysteries of. Miley Cyrus is Pregnant with his two headed love child, and Couto doesn’t even have a love mullet. He plays Better than Nothing of his new CD That’s Loud and UPS’s his heart to a stalking admirer. He believes ‘educational films’ are bullsh- and gives everyone the lyrical finger with a laugh and smile playing his most popular iTunes song.  He finishes, with a tribute to the man of his dreams saying he’d do Anything Anything to be The Dream Master.

Queen Victoria and Todd the Fox

Queen Victoria and Todd the Fox

The sovereign Queen Victoria and the Reverbnation voted best blues player in Ohio the exalted Todd the Fox take the stage and swing, swagger and silhouette the sounds of the south and old-school/classic rock with a hillbilly twang that was sweet backwater honkey-tonk  strong.  Welcome to Detroit and the Hotel Yorba, such a lovely place. We party with Mr. John Fogerty and the Old Man Down the Road.  Spin the Stealers Wheel and worship Mr. Clapton then jam to some old-time country road blues with The Carters.  There’s a Little Ghost under the Blue Moon of Kentucky, so Sleep On a beautiful haunting lullaby from Alison Krauss. Oh Boy, I see a reflection of a Bad Moon Rising in the Clearwater, I see trouble on the way in the form of big bad Imelda May and the devil divine her Handsome Man. Miss Victoria can swing an acoustic just fine and hold her own on a mandolin with the sexy grace of a rockin country queen.

DRI Thrash Out McGuffy’s

By 1 Comment

Friday February 22nd six bands threw down their best punk/hardcore /thrash performance bringing back the original spirit of the early 80’s rebellious alternative scene. Spikes, studs, leather, patches, tattooed faces and 12 inch Mohawks were the lay of the land tonight as every Dirty Rotten Imbecile showed up to mosh, thrash out, surf and tumble their way to a good time. Winding Hollow Productions’  second showcase at Dayton’s house of rock proved an initiation of cardio for the more ambitiously exercise minded in the crowd and an all-night free for all for extreme music.

Dayton’s Abortive Issue opened with the pretty, prim and proper Miss Ashley who danced around onstage like she was in her own private padded luxury cell, complete with open sleeved straightjacket and it was playtime. She embodied the spirit of Wendy O Williams fondling the mic like a plasmatic doll. She’s a raging tattooed Pat Benatar screaming in tune with schizophrenic movement, devious eyes and a psycho friendly smile warming up for mosh pit gymnastics. They play with a smack speed and lots of American Pride but those are just their Minor Qualities, and they Trash Talk too, Just for Kicks.

The Hard-Onz

The Hard-Onz

From the snow covered wastelands of Illinois come’s a modern day version of Bad Brains and Fear in hardcover form in the Hard-Onz. Making the treacherous 7 hour trek from the dark, dank back alleyways of Lake County to defeating mother-nature’s fury and passing several overturned semi’s on the way to be here tonight, bringing the smell with them. They earned their way to the McGuffys stage bringing out the old-school noisy but rebellious conglomeration of punk and hardcore that made the sound of the early 80’s the forerunner of the movement. They spent time falling over each other and even turned a few technical mishaps in their favor adlibbing a song or two.  Playing a song with a broken string totally fits the hardcore work ethos. With Leo on vocals the band jams on songs ramming us with colorful tunes about weekend beer, bitches, pigs, unidentified white powder and tramps also hitting Rock Bottom waking up to find a meth lab in the garage and a Hard-core twist on a Minor Threat classic.  They also made the pit user friendly sending their mascot, Richard Hardon the 1st to stimulate crowd participation in the vintage creepy crawl and classic circle dance moves. What they lack in prettiness and grace they make up for with drive and passion, even if they were influenced by the naked talent of GG Allen and they always towel off after finishing.

The m-m-m-m-m metal shop opened for business with Grim State combining thrash, grindcore and just flat out pounding molten metal. It’s a loud noisy state of the union address and it’s Volatile as hell. All the Deadbeats followed the imbeciles in ready to cause/spread Illness.  Turbine engines kicked on in Solitude and the Madness began as people got a little Absent-minded after a few pit hits.

The Legbone’s connected to the knee bone before a slip and slide beer on the floor disconnection. They’re a nice even groove of punk rock and metal with a packed crowd and filled pit showing a more friendly side of hardcore. With the spirits flowing there’s no Pressure. They dedicated an explicative laden crappy tune to the hard work of the Hard Onz. They’ve too happy and fun loving to be pissed off punks, too heavy to be just punk and punk enough to not just be metal. They do Swallow Razors just to prove their baddass’s though. There’s plenty of time for California dreaming after the screaming over. They cover I Drink too Much by The Give Ups who they’ll be sharing an upcoming split release with.  Next up, the prettiest girls in the ugliest town get some love. Troy gets a unique tribute on Drunk Favors for Beer. Judging by some of the crowd at this point What You Are is one dumb, drunk belligerent degenerate waking up Saturday morning saying I Got Pains, with a Two Day Hangover, so you’re at the right place and basically had fun. They officially break out the metal, throwing up the beer after beer after beer after beer… and the devil horns. They sing a double bandaged, double dose of skater tunes about skinned knees, scraped elbows, broken bones and cracked craniums after 6 foot ledge jumps onto soft concrete. If there’s nothing else you remembered from tonight’s intoxicating show remember this…. B stands for belligerent, E stands for every time I get drunk, E stands for everyone I’m hanging with, R stands for ruthie and the process.

Architects of Doom

Architects of Doom

The unholy Dayton Architects of Doom were ready to spread fury and filth with a trigger happy mutiny of loud angry aggression. They open pulling The Trigger on their own loud heavy breed of Iron Maiden meets Arch Enemy with ‘up tempo’ Morbid Angel gathered in the mix. Keith Hamilton’s vocals are a mix of Zakk Wylde and sonic screamers Randy Blythe and the equally bearded Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg. Danny definitely has some of Eddie’s influence in his fingers powered by Dragonforce. They start a fierce Mutiny playing the Martyr’s dishing out the Ritual Punishment Under a Black Flag of Bloodshed. Black Flag was dedicated to anyone in music or in any kind of art. The Architects earned the night’s most vicious pit… so far. They played new tune Awaken for the first time and new tune Bloodshed. Their sound is a delicious mulligan stew stricken with cool melody with munchy pieces of scrap iron riffs floating in the swirling muck.

DRI

DRI

The 30th Anniversary of those Houston crossover hardcore punk’s with enough thrash to insight a yard full of angry attack dogs DRI began as the Thrashard opened and In The Pit everyone went. A large perpetually moving group of sweaty, hot, stinky bastards and ladies annihilated the floor and each other spreading bloodless DNA everywhere. Kurt and the boys played all the hits and some crowd surfers barely missed hospital time thanks to the heroic patient efforts and skill of the front stage security team. Classic crossover records Four of a Kind, Thrashzone and Definition were well represented also borrowing from the old school pre-hybrid success and some tunes from the mid-nineties. Brecht and Co played with syringes, discussed the Modern World, As Seen on TV with those annoying Suit and Tie Guys. So get Beneath the Wheel and accept your Manifest Destiny because it’s too late to Do the Dream.  Brecht still has that raspy angry spoken word delivery surrounded by the punk-thrash pollutant mixture of the man of a hundred expressions bassist Harald Oimoen, drummer Rob Rampy and original guitarist Spike Cassidy. They’ve brought out the punks, skinheads and metal heads in droves from the early 80’s to present day earning them the status of being the major ‘crossover’ band of the movement. Judging by the crowd of flailing, flying, flowing and falling bodies both standing foot strong and airborne the band can still cause a Molotov Cocktail reaction in people. We’re all family in the pit anyway. Sweat and BO is the indoor version of Acid Rain. Original drummer brother Eric came up and played a few tunes from the very early days. They’ll be touring with fellow hardcore pioneers Suicidal Tendencies in April and Slayer for a few dates in May.

Cityfolk Presents Dervish + TICKET CONTEST

By Leave a Comment

DervishCityfolk is proud to present the Dervish, the internationally heralded Irish music ensemble, in concert on Friday, March 22 at Stivers School for the Arts. The concert start at 8:00 pm and is reserved seating. Tickets are $25 and be ordered at www.cityfolk.org or be calling the Cityfolk box office at 937-496-3863.

Dervish has won considerable acclaim for its rare skill in “bringing music from the session to the stage,” in the words of co-founding band member Brian McDonagh. Fronted by the charismatic singer Cathy Jordan, the Irish septet is perhaps the only traditional Irish music group in the world to have inspired “tribute bands,” which are found in many countries, but especially so in Russia and Israel.

Inspired by such legendary County Sligo musicians as Michael Coleman and James Morrison (who recorded in the U.S. in the 1920s), Dervish has “truly absorbed the techniques and, more importantly, the soul that has driven Irish traditional musicians through the years and come out of it with all the freshness, verve and timeless appeal associated with the great Irish bands of the 1970s and early 1980s…They carry Irish history with them” (Irish Voice).

The roots of Dervish stretch back to 1989, when five Irish musicians who played together at weekly pub sessions—including Liam Kelly (flute, whistles), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Michael Holmes (bouzouki, mandolin) and Brian McDonagh (mandola, guitar)—recorded an album of traditional music from County Sligo as the Boys from Sligo.

Initially, there were no plans beyond making the album, but that went so well the quintet decided to become a real band—a working band—known as Dervish. Two years later, the band assumed its present format with the addition of singer Cathy Jordan from County Roscommon and All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Shane McAleer. Amazingly, this hard-working band has had only one significant personnel change in the ensuing 22 years, fiddler Tom Morrow (from County Leitrim and another All-Ireland Fiddle Champion) joining the ranks in 1998.

Dervish made its recording debut in 1993 with Harmony Hill and has made a total of 11 albums, all released on the band’s own Whirling Disc label.

“Irish music is one of the oldest forms of music, yet it is influenced an awful lot by other things,” explains Cathy Jordan. “It evolves and evolves. Our sound is very recognizable because of the bouzouki and mandola. And though we have a modern style within the Irish context, you might not say it’s really modern, because it blends in so well. But in actual fact there are a lot of modern influences in there.

“We experiment without straying too far from the roots. We give people something familiar, yet it’s in the genre of traditional music. It’s all the instrumentation of Irish music. But it plays with people’s perceptions a bit.”

Two More Venues To Begin Your Open Mic Night Journey: Canal Street Tavern and Tumbleweed Connection

By 1 Comment

Back in the beginning of January, I wrote about my experiences diving into the world of open mic nights. I had been going around the Dayton area scoping out the hidden gems that are playing in town. At these open mic nights, I have noticed some great music being played by artists and bands that have been playing for some time; they are just fine-tuning their music. I have also seen music played by people who are just starting to get their feet on stage. I wrote about the RnR PlayDate, which is on Sundays at One Eyed Jacks in Fairborn. I also talked about the open mic night that is held on Wednesdays at South Park Tavern on Wayne Avenue in Dayton. There are open mic nights that take place at Blind Bob’s Bar and Trolley Stop, both located at the Oregon District. These four events have given many people opportunities to highlight playing music as a way to let yourself get lost in playing, or a chance to start your journey into the music scene in town. However, there are a couple more weekly open mic events that need to be spotlit as well.

Tuesday nights are owned by The Musicians Co-Op, which is held at Canal Street Tavern. To me and many others, Canal Street is a local crown jewel.  I look at Canal Street as Dayton’s version of the legendary CBGB, a concert venue Manhattan that was around from 1973 to 2006. The building hosted great acts from Blondie to The B-52’s to The Ramones. Canal Street, like CBGB, is a place that purely and strictly dedicated to music. The lights are always low, giving the venue a laid-back, intimate atmosphere. The walls are bursting with stories of the music that has been played throughout the years. The unpolished wooden floors have that vintage look and sound to them that others only dare to try to replicate.  The Musicians Co-Op is one of the oldest open mics in town, giving many the opportunity to chance to show their talent.

Victoria Baumgardner onstage at Canal Street Tavern

Victoria Baumgardner onstage at Canal Street Tavern

On a recent blisteringly cold Tuesday night, I ventured to the hollow grounds of Canal Street to witness the talent taking the stage that evening. The whole evening felt like an episode of ‘Storytellers’, with each act telling the stories behind their music. Each performer poured emotion into each note that they played. The first act I saw was Kettering native and teacher Colleen Badenhop. Her piano play was airy and beautiful, with an old soul flowing from the keys. The lyrics were about hardships. It was emotional to sit there and hear lyrics of broken hearts, and hardships that people face. Badenhop even did a stunning version of Extreme’s “More Than Words”. The next act was the host of the night E. Ryan Roth. Roth’s singing was very Alice In Chain’s Layne Staley-dense, moody vocals with haunting harmonies. He had a song that dove into the addiction of caffeine that was simply lasting. The music had a psychedelic echo to it. It was a performance that will keep me thinking about it for a while. The next performance was from the petite, Southern belle Victoria Bumgardner. She started to change the pace of the evening with her folk/country hymns that got the crowd participating throughout her set, singing classic songs ‘Evangeline’, ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ and ‘Ophelia’. Bumgardener’s vocals were very Loretta Lynn-like. Amazingly talented, Bumgardner played bigger than her height reaches (which isn’t even close to 5 feet). She gave the crowd the chance to see her impeccable personality, which is playful, open and free. The last performer that I saw at the Co-Op was Trey Stone. Stone brought a bassist and drummer for his set, which was different from what everyone else was doing. He mentioned that he has been currently working on an album (a Kickstarter project that met its goal) for the past 6 months. He played some songs from the album, which had a jazz feel to them. The crowd was glued to Stone’s band- with the fierce piano play, the double bass being strummed with looseness, and the snare drum and cymbals adding a touch of slickness. Fans of Ben Folds Five would have enjoyed this performance. After the set from Stone, I can’t wait to see how the finished album will sound.

Performers at the Tumbleweed Connection's Open Mic Night

Performers at the Tumbleweed Connection’s Open Mic Night

Another great open mic that is starting to find its footing in the Dayton area is happening at Tumbleweed Connection in the Oregon District. Tumbleweed Connection’s bar situated in the middle of our building and there is another bar upstairs on the balcony that looks over 5th Street and all its beautifulness. The structure of the building is very much has a resemblance of one of the fantastic venues that wait on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Tumbleweed Connection just adds another flavor to the Oregon District.

On Wednesday nights, Tumbleweed Connection, along with hosts Barefoot Dan and Dana Farley, gives people the opportunity to come up the stage and grace everyone with their musical abilities. Dan and Dana provide drums and a bass. The hosts provide a guitar amp. All you have to do is come to the venue and play. Tumbleweed Connection is a great place to play for any music genre. The bar patrons always give their undivided attention and will give support for all performers. You never know who will be coming to this open mic. When the musical Shrek was in town recently, some of the musicians from the show came and played a little, and hung out with everyone.

The Musicians Co-Op at Canal Street and Tumbleweed Connection are just two more open mics that you can expand your desire to play music to a crowd if you are beginning, or for the veteran musicians a chance to get out in town and continue perfected their craft. No matter which one you go to, just remember one thing-have fun.

For a list of all upcoming Open Mic Nights in Dayton, just click the link.

Jazz Spotlight: Scott Gasaway and Stivers Jazz Orchestra + Upcoming Jazz March 13 – 26

By Leave a Comment

Stivers Leader Student Combo (1)Scott Gasaway is the new Band Director at Stivers School for the Arts – though he’s not new to jazz, or to the Dayton area. Born on November 9, 1987, in San Diego, California, Scott’s family moved to Dayton when he was just six years old. Scott credits his mom, Lourdes, with providing him — and his two brothers, Nicholas and Matthew with supporting their education in the arts, an opportunity she did not have as a child.

Scott came up through the Centerville High School band program, which is where, under the guidance of many highly influential teachers, he discovered his passion for music and decided that music was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Upon his graduation, Scott went on to pursue music education and saxophone at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he studied under saxophonist Dino Govoni and saxophonist and clarinetist Shannon LeClaire and performed with vibraphonist and composer Victor Mendoza and bassist Oscar Stagnaro.

Upon graduation from Berklee, Scott accepted a position as the high school music director with Hull Public Schools, in the Town of Hull, Massachusetts, where he was put in charge of starting the band program — teaching band, piano and music technology. It was while he was back home in Dayton to visit his family last summer, that Scott received a call from Stivers Jazz Orchestra Director Emeritus Claude Thomas.

Scott had met Thomas when Thomas was a faculty member of the Miami Valley Jazz Summer Camp and Scott was still an aspiring jazz musician. Thomas was calling to say that he had retired from Stivers to focus on composing full-time and that he wanted to recommend Scott for his position. The rest, as they say, is history.

Scott is now responsible for the operation of the band at Stivers School for the Arts, where he teaches music theory, directs the middle-school concert band, the high-school symphonic wind orchestra and the jazz orchestra. “It keeps me on my toes — and I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he says, with great pride and excitement.

Scott will make his debut with the Stivers musicians in their March 18 concert entitled “On the Shoulders of Giants” — a salute to the celebrated Stivers student musicians who captured national honors at three separate Berklee High School Jazz Festivals in Boston and who were invitees and performers at Lincoln Center during the New York City Jazz Festival last year.

The March 18 concert is also a celebration of the release of the new CD “From Boston to New York.” The Stivers musicians will be joined by international jazz artist Greg Abate, who played lead alto sax with the Ray Charles Orchestra and who has recorded with jazz legends Rufus Reid and Kenny Washington. The evening’s program will include works from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Buddy Rich and more.

Click here for all of the concert details.

Jazz Calendar

Here are some (not all) of the upcoming jazz events for the next couple of weeks:

Today Wednesday, March 13 – Brian Cashwell Trio is at Wright State’s Student Union Hearth Lounge in Fairborn, OH and you can Swing Dance with Lizz & Rex Review at the Dayton Event Connection.
Thursday March 14 – The Dayton Art Institute kicks off with The Shin Sings Orchestra to open it’s 2013 its Vectren Jazz and Beyond series and Gilly’s presents a Funk In My Backyard benefit.
Friday March 15 – the Chicago Fire Comes to Dayton with Brad Goode & Bill Burns at Jazz Central, trumpeter Al Hood plays with the Sinclair Jazz Ensemble and the Classic Jazz Stompers are at Jay’s Seafood all in Dayton.
Saturday March 16 – A St. Patty’s Day Blues Jam with Kevin Dumont and Mississippi Red is at Jazz Central In Dayton.
Sunday March 17 – the Jam Session w/ Kenny Baccus continues at Dayton’s Jazz Central.
Monday March 18 – Stivers School for the Arts presents “On the Shoulders of Giants” with their new director and special guest Greg Abate.
Tuesday March 19 – the JD Allen Band is at the Blue Wisp in Cincinnati and the Part St. Tavern Jazz Jam continues in Columbus.
Wednesday March 20 – the eleven piece Different Hats Band at the Dayton Event Connection.
Thursday March 21 – the Generations Big Band plays Jazz Central in Dayton and the Rick Brunetto Big Band is at The 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant in Columbus.
Friday March 22 – Shawn Stanley Trio is at Carvers Steaks & Chops in Centerville and Stanley Jordan is Nighttown in Cleveland Heights.
Saturday March 23 – C’est Tout Bistro in Oakwood presents James & Moore and the Randy Fankell Jazz Trio will be at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dayton.
Sunday March 24 – Petra’s Recession Seven Band is at the Gallagher Student Center Theater, of Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Monday March 25 – John Taylor Trio is at the Brio Tuscan Grille in Beavercreek.
Tuesday March 26 – Ed Moss & the Society Jazz Orchestra are at the Schwartz Point Jazz Club and Jazz Cab is at The Greenwich both in Cincinnati.

More info and jazz listings can be found at JazzAdvocate.com

Jazz Spotlight: Randy Fankell + Upcoming Jazz Feb. 27 – Mar. 12

By Leave a Comment

Happy February 27th; Jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon was born on this day in 1923, he was among the earliest tenor players to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie.  Click here for more information.

Who is Randy Fankell:

I have known and followed Randy Fankell for many years and to this day, he is one of my favorite jazz drummers.

Randy has played drums for mRandy Fankell DMM clipore than four decades, making his professional debut at 18 years of age with the Steve Adams Blues Band.  Following a brief stint in college, Randy opted for education “on the road” spending the 70’s and part of the 80’s traveling and performing with a variety of bands and show groups.  Traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada included working in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Chicago, and many other major venues.  Randy has also performed in Aruba, Norway, Finland and Germany.

In the mid-80’s, Randy settled in Dayton, OH and started to pursue his real love in music – Jazz.  Randy has performed with an array of artists such as Grammy-Winning composer, pianist and recording artist Bill Cunliff, and master bassist, the late great Dave Carpenter whose credits include Buddy Rich and Peter Erskine.  Randy also played with recording artist Randy Villars, Tony Monaco and Doug Simon (Jack McDuff).  From 2003 to 2010 Randy was the house drummer at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dayton, OH, performing with a variety of artists.

After years of professional musicianship as a ‘sideman’, Randy has moved into the leadership role with the Randy Fankell Jazz Trio/Quartet and has had numerous performances in local venues to include Wright State University and The Crowne Plaza Hotel, downtown Dayton.
Upcoming events:

The next scheduled event is on Saturday, March 23, from 7 – 10pm at the top of Dayton’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, located at 33 E Fifth Street, in their newly remodeled View 162 Room.

Jazz Calendar

Here are some (not all) of the upcoming jazz events for the next couple of weeks:

Tonight Wednesday, February 27 – Arnold’s Bar & Grill presents Todd Hepburn in Cincinnati and you can Swing Dance with Lizz & Rex Review at the Dayton Event Connection.
Thursday February 28 – The Weekend of Jazz kicks off with the Beavercreek Schools free concert at their high school in Beavercreek.
Friday March 1 – The Weekend of Jazz continues with Jeff Coffin and the Mu’Tet in Beavercreek and the Cohesion Jazz Ensemble plays the Thompson House in Newport, Ky.
Saturday March 2 – The Weekend of Jazz holds their all day High School Jazz Band playoffs and presents Ramsey Lewis as the grand finale.
Sunday March 3 – a Live Jazz Party produced by Gene Walker will be at the Hunan Gourmet Restaurant in Whitehall and the Jam Session w/ Kenny Baccus is at Dayton’s Jazz Central.
Monday February 4 – a Jazz Jam hosted by Sandy Suskind Quartet is at the Blue Wisp in Cincinnati and Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra is at the Clintonville Woman’s Club in Columbus.
Tuesday March 5 – the JD Allen Band is at the Blue Wisp in Cincinnati and the Part St. Tavern Jazz Jam continues in Columbus.
Wednesday March 6 – Boudin’s Bistro & Jazz Club presents a Jam Session with Fo/Mo/Deep and Ricky Nye & Rob Lumbard are at Chez Nora in Covington, KY.
Thursday March 7 – the Jazz Central Big Band returns to Jazz Central in Dayton and Rick Brunetto Big Band is at The 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant in Columbus.
Friday March 8 – Shawn Stanley Trio is at Carvers Steaks & Chops in Centerville, OH and Phil DeGreg Quartet is at the Thompson House in Newport, Ky.
Saturday March 9 – C’est Tout Bistro in Oakwood presents James & Moore and Andrew Waters – Smooth Jazz is at the Eastern Palace Restaurant in Columbus.
Sunday March 10 – Art Gore and Friends is at the MidPointe Library in Middletown and there’s at Jazz Jam at Victory’s in Columbus..
Monday March 11 – John Taylor Trio is at the Brio Tuscan Grille in Beavercreek and Mark Flugge, Derek Dicenzo & Jimmy Castoe are at Due Amici in Columbus.
Tuesday March 12 – Ed Moss & the Society Jazz Orchestra are at the Schwartz Point Jazz Club and Jazz Cab is at The Greenwich both in Cincinnati.

More info and jazz listings can be found at JazzAdvocate.com

Alrosa Villa Amplifies Awareness for Autism/TS with Jasmine Cain.

By Leave a Comment

Writer’s note: my personal thanks and gratitude to the Cautela’s and the Make It Fit Foundation for tonight’s event as I was diagnosed with TS in grade school.

Saturday February 9th the Alrosa Villa in cooperation with the Make It Fit Foundation  held the Amplified Awareness benefit fundraiser for children with Autism and Tourette Syndrome. The evening’s entertainment all volunteering their time and talent included Loboz, Fat Dog and the hot rod riding Jasmine Cain.

Event sponsors included Beckners Costum Cycles, QFM 96, Iron Brothers of Ohio and Boyd’s Goodyear. QFM’s Sue Leighton was there to help MC the event introducing the evenings host and organizer Make It Fit founder Mike Hoover. Fans from 8 different states made the trip for tonight’s show.

 

Loboz

Loboz

Loboz opened cranking out 90 minutes of smooth flowing blues rock paying tribute to the classics and respect to some of music’s most beloved fallen heroes. Beginning with a Chris Duarte female friendly tune and the long bearded boys from Houston say Thank You. They get a little funky with The James Gang and play some sexy Latino attitude for Mamacita. They get original playing a namesake tune from their upcoming CD because somewhere Between Hell and Home you’ve Got to Groove into a swinging night taking the lady out on the town, showing her just how special she really is. If She Came in Through the Bathroom Window around dawn you know it was a good time. They set aside their bikes in favor of a red corvette traveling back to the 80’s with the roof down basking in the Purple Rain. We go to Chi-Town with the fuzzy guitar twirling eliminators hanging out on a bus with Jesus. Then Walk the Dog with the toxic twins of Boston and Scrawl with Mr. Duarte again. Though they’re opening tonight’s show they’re The King Bees playing the blues like they’ve lived the stories of seasoned headliners. But they haven’t ‘weathered’ as many storms as Mr. Vaughan… yet. They might look like the average white blues band but they definitely put some electric gypsy voodoo into their show.

 

Fat Dog

Fat Dog

Fat Dog breaks open the Pearl Jam with an Evenflow of multiple genre gems and classics combined with a Cold Crossfade of collective collectibles that went over cool with the crowd. We get a little dark, deep and introspective with Tool, wait Everlong with Dave Grohl and enlist the crash and burn Bad Company of Johnny. Time for a Journey back in time with some friends from the 80’s Anyway You Want It and a trip to the summer skies of Boston along the way. From Boston to the hair-sprayed dusty old western streets of New Jersey washed in a synthesizer wave of 80’s pop metal where it’s all the same, only the songs change. From the six string streets we go deep in the trenches with The Rooster then Ramble On with Zeppelin. Bassist Nathan Hartley shows off his pipes telling us about love then we get Hot For Teacher and those wonderful grade school memories. They throw out a ‘colourful’ tongue and cheek claim of ownership on the next tune then bust into CM Punk’s favorite theme song. The Good Times, Bad Times keep rolling then everything gets Disturbed by the The Police. The end of the show was a clear Schism of band and crowd. All the pieces fit during the show then they walked off stage.

Straight from the gas guzzling hog wild town of Sturgis comes the raven haired, leather and lace queen of the open road Miss Jasmine Cain. Here to smash your face with a few shots of Jager and a show of originals and covers you’ll want to remember, planting a pretty image in your mind you won’t want to forget. Till the early hours of the morning she weaves her headbanging gothic spell, thrashing out like a mad woman banging out deep soothing, thumping bass lines with attitude and you should hear her scream. Her sound created by red rimmed top hat keyboard playing insanest David Michael Thomas along with her own special traveling band combines the heart of country, the rebel in rock, the dark sinister side of metal with an atmospheric horror movie blend that raises holy Cain.

Jasmine Cain

Jasmine Cain

She blasts into the enchanting nocturnal song of the Nightingale spreading delusional fantasies of hopes and dreams drowned in the wishing well. She breathes out the ice cold embrace of Frostbite then takes us face down in a liquid dream with a Whiskey Kiss. We go back to 1995, a great year to learn to drive and ride officially starting the mileage of life. The engines roar, gasoline and oil burn as we hear the hog-lovers lullaby as she travels down that endless gypsy road the Highway Prophet. She’s a road wise woman with hard living stories spiced with a sweet country slap. An acoustic version was played on QFM’s Arch & Elliot Show the previous morning followed by an appearance at the Columbus Easyrider show. She’s a pretty haunted gothic princess moving under the Evanescence of scattered spotlights, adding her own satin locked touch to Miss Lee’s opus. We get Zombified with a Thunderkiss 30 years before ’95. Whether it’s the whiskey or the past the witching hour, hour talking she’s still got some devil in her lungs proving good loud heavy music is still the ‘international colors’ of the two wheeled roaring beasts. Enter night as the sandman takes over for the Nightingale spreading wicked dreams turning front stage Alrosa into the snakepit. With a cold winter’s moon above Cain is definitely of wolf and woman (and a bit of a Dreamweaver in her own right).

The organ blasted out The Phantoms welcome as the Abbey’s creaky gates opened to a Lady Cain guided tour of Mr. Crowley’s house. Bats on the left, doves on the right, don’t expect to leave tonight. We all yell Hey Man Nice Shot as the drinks pour, she lets out a sensual roar and we keep feeling More Human Than Human. She sings like she’d have your back in a bar fight and flings her bass around playing like she’s its scorned lover. It was time for old Ozzy vs. new Ozzy. It’s just a hand in the bush. Tonight was their first show since November and they’ve had plenty of time to make us their Audioslave. Jasmine reminds us that Life is Beautiful and we’re all the Beautiful People, the beautiful people, in it. She gives us a little bit of a ‘sappy’ Love Song then harnesses the energy to Rage Against the Machine.

As part of the fundraiser, a guitar signed by all performing band members was raffled and won by Derek of Ohio’s Number #1 Biker Magazine Thunder Roads Ohio. After a loudly encouraged encore we got a small slice of Americana from The Boss then saving the enchanting White Winged Dove for the last mesmerizing soulful seduction.

Jasmine Cain has come a long way since being the house band for the Full Throttle Saloon back in 2000. She released her debut album The Inside and title track video in 2004 (wins 2 JPF awards in ’06). Videos for Sweet Euphoria and Help Me are released in ’05. Headlines Easyrider shows three years in a row starting in ’07, releases Locks & Keys in ’08 winning 6 JPF awards for it in ’09 and releases Highway Prophet in 2011 winning Female Rock Vocalist of the year award at the first annual Music City Mayhem Awards. Last year the Highway Prophet video was released and they were nominated for three MCMA awards.

The Make It Fit foundation has spearheaded its push for Autism awareness since November 2011. They’ve worked with professional athletes from MMA, football and baseball also appearing at the Arnold Classic and Mr. Olympia 2011 and 12. They’ve donated to numerous charities including Autism Speaks, The Autism Society of Ohio, Cookies for Ipads, Recreation Unlimited, Oakstone Academy and several more. They’ve also partnered with the owners of White Castle who donated 10 million dollars to further Autism research and also donated to Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in a joint venture called The Ingram Autism Research Center. Make It Fit will also be donating to The Ingram Center this year and to the Tourette Syndrome Society of Ohio, tsaohio.org. An Autism Motorcycle was built by Kip Meeks and Mark Beckner of Beckners Custom Cycles painted by Steve ‘Copperhead’ Stritenberger and taken to conventions/fundraisers/Easyrider shows, viewed by millions and auctioned off last year. The annual Ohio Ride for Autism will roar through Columbus on July 27 and The All About Autism Car Truck and Motorcycle show will be on August 17. The Alrosa Villa hopes to make Amplified Awareness an annual event.

Autism is described as a neural disorder affecting mental, emotional development resulting in impaired social interaction, communication and repetitive behavior. It is one of three disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs) the other’s being Asperger Syndrome which lacks delays in cognitive/linguistic development but greatly affects social behavior. Pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) is diagnosed when the whole set of criteria for the other two aren’t met. Autism has a strong genetic base and signs are noticed within the first two years of life. Movies with autistic characters include The Boy Who Could Fly, Rain Man, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Bless the Child and Mercury Rising and on TV’s Parenthood, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Law &Order Criminal Minds, The Shield and most recently Touch.

Tourette Syndrome is an inherited mental disorder onset in childhood characterized by multiple physical (motor) and vocal (phonic) tics that come and go and can be temporary suppressed occurring from an oncoming pre-urge. TS is defined as a tic disorder which are sudden, repetitive, body movements, sounds and vocalizations which include sniffing, blinking, facial movements, body jerks and spasms. Audio tics include making noises, involuntary cussing, swearing and other derogatory verbiage, though the tics generally subside with age. TV shows featuring TS characters include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Sopranos and The Tourette Guy with documentaries Twitch and Shout, last year’s Magic Camp and the film short Harvie Krumpet. The 2008 TV movie Front of the Class is based on the real life story of TS diagnosed Brad Cohen who became a gifted teacher. Depending on your sense of humor TS has also been lampooned in Deuce Bigalow and mentioned in The Wedding Singer. Celebrities with TS include Howie Mandel, Howard Hughes and Dan Aykroyd. May 15-June 15 is national TS awareness month.

Gaelic Storm Comes to Dayton’s Victoria Theatre + TICKET CONTEST

By 12 Comments

Gaelic Storm (1)GAELIC STORM returns to the Dayton area on February 20th at 8pm following the July 2011 release of their dazzling #1 Billboard World Album Chicken Boxer, a heavyweight record that comes out swinging with a mix of empowering anthems and traditional ballads. Chicken Boxer is Gaelic Storm’s third album to debut at the #1 sport on the Billboard World Albums Chart, with What’s the Rumpus? and Cabbage preceding it in 2008 and 2010 respectively. It is also the fifth album to be released on the band’s own label, Lost Again records, and shows the songwriting and musicianship of a band that has made their mark bringing fans to their feet two hundred days per year. With their signature acoustic production, GAELIC STORM blends indie-folk and world grooves with Celtic tradition to serve up a ringside seat for fifteen rounds of pugilistic poultry pounding sound. A regular at the Dayton Celtic Festival, GAELIC STORM will perform at the Victoria Theatre for the first time!

gs_logo

Through the course of nine albums, the core of Celtic-rock group Gaelic Storm—frontman Patrick Murphy and guitarist-vocalist Steve Twigger—have lived, written and recorded in the United States, far from the overseas environs of Patrick’s native Ireland and Steve’s birthplace of England. So when it came time to find inspiration for Gaelic Storm’s new album, the group’s chief songwriters decided a trip back across the pond was in order.

The result is the dazzling #1 Billboard World Album Chicken Boxer, a heavyweight record that comes out swinging with a mix of empowering anthems and traditional ballads, and the fifth to be released on the band’s own label, Lost Again Records.

“Twigger and I returned to Ireland, driving around the entire coastline in search of Irish music,” says Patrick. “Going back was great and we got some good stories and ideas for songs.”

“That was a really important trip to us,” agrees Steve, who produced the album with help from Patrick and drummer Ryan Lacey. Steve says the journey back to their musical home informs the new album. “The idea of home is all over Chicken Boxer. Whether home is where you were born or where you make your living, that theme runs throughout the album.”

Rounded out by drummer Ryan, piper Pete Purvis and fiddle player Jessie Burns, Gaelic Storm has earned a reputation as one of the world-music scene’s preeminent Celtic bands. With catalog sales of more than 1 million, the group has now had three albums debut at #1 on the Billboard World Albums Chart. (from GaelicStorm.com)

Tickets are on sale now through Ticket Center Stage for $21 each, and may be purchased at the Ticket Center Stage Box Office in downtown Dayton or by phone, at (937) 228-3630 or toll free (888) 228-3630. Ticket Center Stage hours are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday, noon – 4 p.m., and two hours prior to each performance. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.ticketcenterstage.com.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coBIkX_3hL8′]

Dayton Most Metro Ticket Contest

We have ONE PAIR OF TICKETS to give away to a lucky reader for the Gaelic Storm concert on Feb. 20th – simply fill out the form below and then leave a comment saying that YOU want to win tickets to see Gaelic Storm from Dayton Most Metro (tag us for extra love).  We’ll announce a winner on Monday Feb. 18 – GOOD LUCK!

CONTEST CLOSED

Congratulations to  Laura Rea!