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Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012 Lineup Announced!

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Since 2006, Fun Fun Fun Fest has been nothing short of fun x 3.  Every year, the music/art/food festival seems to turn it up a notch, so much, that last year I actually decided enough is enough and headed to Austin, TX, to check it out.  The result, minus Danzig acting like a little bitch, was a killer weekend with friends fueled by amazing bands.  In other words, I had fun.  A ton of fun.

The festival was well organized, and all three days of music was well worth the $200 or so bucks I dropped on a wristband.  By the want of the fest last year, I told myself and my friends I wanted to return the following year.

This year, the good people at FFF Fest have outdone themselves.  Not only did they get RUN-DMC to reform, but they also had put together almost a dream lineup for this music lover.  Refused, De La Soul, Seaweed, The Promise Ring, Bob Mould, Lucero, Lagwagon, Braid, OFF!, Against Me!, F’d Up, Superchunk, Minus The Bear…I can keep going…P.I.L., Explosions In The Sky, X, Turbonegro…

Seriously, check out all who will be playing this year:

This does not even include the FFFEST Nites, the nightly free (with wristband) concerts around the city.

I am planning on returning to Auditorium Shores in November to take in this festival.  Since I have moved, I have not seen one live band due to a lack of venues, but this festival will make up for it.  Not to mention Austin is one of my favorite cities and I am now only a 6 hour drive away…

For more info, visit FUNFUNFUNFEST.COM

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Rock On The Range 2012 Lineup Announced!

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Now in its 6th year, the ever popular Rock On The Range is taking over Columbus, OH, from May 18th to the 20th at Columbus Crew Stadium.

“If you thought last time was a blast, then this time we are gonna blow your f#@*ing mind,” – co-headliner Rob Zombie.

The current lineup for RotR 2012 is as follows: Incubus, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Marilyn Manson, Five Finger Death Punch, Slash, Megadeth, Chevelle, Cypress Hill, Mastodon, Theory of a Deadman, Volbeat, Down, The Darkness, Halestorm, Escape The Fate, P.O.D., Lacuna Coil, Adelitas Way, Black Stone Cherry, Cavo, Attack Attack!, Trivium, Bobaflex, Falling In Reverse, Redlight King, Aranda, Emphatic, Otherwise, James Durbin, Black Tide, Kyng, 12 Stones, SOiL, Rival Sons, Eve To Adam, and Ghosts of August.

That’s a pretty healthy lineup!  I do not know about you, but there a few bands playing this year that I would not mind checking out, including The Darkness, Volbeat, Mastodon, and Down.

To make things even more fun, the Friday Night 4Play returns, which is an absolutely FREE with every RotR weekend ticket purchase. The May 18th party will be featuring performances from Hairball, Foxy Shazam, Hells Bells and more… Did someone say Foxy Shazam???

Tickets go on sale on Friday Feb. 10th at 10am.

This has proved to be a fun weekend festival year after year.  Don’t miss out!

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Best Of 2011 According To BHP

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Well it would appear that 2011 is coming to an end.  With that said, it’s time for a “Best Of…” Broken Headphones 2011 edition.

There were a ton of amazing releases throughout the year as well as live shows that I was able to attend.  Below is just a various list of bands that caught my attention, be it a recording or live show, over the past 12 months.

I should add that some of my favorite releases were from local Akron/Cleveland acts.  I am not just dropping their names because we are pals or anything, they all worked hard and put out some excellent releases.  If you have not heard of any of them, you really should check them out.

I may have missed a band here or there, but the following were the ones that stood out over the rest.

Albums of the Year:

Seahaven – Winter Forever

*Hands down this is one of my favorite albums to drop this year.  They just have this indie punk rock sound that is ever so likable – trust me on this.  The first time I listened to it, I was hooked.  I see big things happening with this band in the near future.

Nothington – Borrowed Time

*This is another album I favored over the rest this year.  Catchy lyrics layered over wholesome punk rock is what this album is all about.  To make matters even better, they kick ass live.  They are coming back to Cleveland next month and I can not wait to see them again.  Listening to this band brings me band to the punk rock 90s I grew up on.

All Dinosaurs – Paranoid Indigenous

*So maybe the music was released in 2010, but the LP dropped this past Spring so I consider it a 2011 release.  This Cleveland act is beyond fun to listen to plus they put on one of the best live shows ever.  They are funny, quote 80s movies and are in it for the fun.  It helps they are also all super cool dudes.  If you are a Cleveland native, you should already know how amazing this band is.

Dave Hause – Resolutions

*I was a little late checking this album out as it was released in early 2011, but am glad I did not pass it up.  Hause (The Loved Ones) is an amazing musician and proves it in this killer solo release.  With help from his friends, he put together one hell of a release.  Do me a favor, if you like music, listen to this.

Living With Lions – Holy Shit

*Words can not really describe how impressed I was when I heard these guys.  All I know is I will have this album playing regularly for a long long time.

Deer Tick – Divine Providence

*The boys in Deer Tick changed it up a bit and put forth a bitching rock album that I really dug.

Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong

*Oh Dawes…you’ve done it again.  What a solid release.  You guys are on your way to being huge.  Keep it up.

Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose

*The girls and Lynwood dropped a impressive follow-up to their debut this year and I adore it.  Still kicking around the country-punk attitude, the foursome toyed with a more indie / garage rock sound and did a fine job doing so.

Old Man Markley – Guts n’ Teeth

*This self-proclaimed “New Grass” band was one of the more fun releases I had have the pleasure of checking out this year.  I can not wait to see what happens next with these guys and gals.

Banner Pilot – Heart Beats Pacific

*Impressive release by a great punk rock band.  They need to play Cleveland soon.

White Wives – Happeners

*This was the surprise release of the year for me.  Featuring members of Anti-Flag, this album is far from a pop-punk rock album.  On the lines of indie rock, White Wives needs to be heard.

A.A. Bondy – Believers

*This guy really outdid himself.  You really have to check it out for yourself to realize why I appreciate it so much.  It’s a really beautiful release to listen to.

Bon Iver – Bon Iver

*Not normally something I would listen to, but holy shit – it rules.

The Black Keys – El Camino

*Yeah yeah yeah… The former Akron, OH boys once again put out a release I admit I love.  I do not love the fact that the next time they hit Cleveland, they will be playing an arena.  It is safe to say they made it big time.  Let’s hope they don’t screw it up.

Signals Midwest – Latitudes & Longitudes

*And yet another local act.  These guys are a big deal though…to me at least.  The dropped a really good record.  For serious.

EPs of the year:

Luther – Siblings & Sevens

*Folk / Punk / Rock awesomeness.  I was caught off guard by this band.  They rule.  Sadly they had to cancel their Cleveland show after the band was involved in an accident in Chicago.  Luckily no one was seriously injured.  I can not wait for their full-length to drop.

Harvey Pekar – Thirty Ghosts

*Dear Harvey Pekar (the band), thank you for existing.

Worship This! – Demo

*I normally do not mention bands that I am really good friends with the members, but I adore this band.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Two Hand Fools – Believeland

*These guys better get signed in 2012 or else I am going to fight someone.  Another Cleveland act with plenty of talent.

Cherry Cola Champions – EP

*I remember the first time I saw these guys live.  I was not into them during their first song, and once their second song started, I was blown away.  Looking forward to seeing what this duo has up their sleeves next year.

The Awesome:

-Going to SXSW and seeing bands such as The Dead Milkmen, Flatliners, Dead To Me, Eyehategod, and tons others at various venues in Austin, TX earlier this Spring.  It was one hell of an experience to see so many bands cramped into such an amazing city.  Sadly when you have that many bands, you tend to miss out on some great sets by amazing bands.  Regardless, it was just awesome.  Plus…I saw Dale Watson play at Ginny’s.  That right there made my trip.

-Hanging out with Ninja Gun for a few days.  These guys are some of the best dudes I know.  They wanted to play shows on the East coast and I was able to lure them to Kent to play a show in September.  We all enjoyed hanging out so much that they kicked it for a couple more days where I took them up to Melt for some cheesy deliciousness.

-Getting Dave Hause to play a house show in Akron.  After seeing that Dave Hause was not playing a show in the Cleveland area just 2 weeks ago, I threw him the idea of a house show and he and tour mate Cory Branan were totally down with the idea.  The result was a show to remember with Hause and Branan trading off songs all night long.

-Hanging out with friends, new and old, at the Inner Sanctum Pier show on the E. 9th pier.  More people could have showed up, but regardless, I had a killer time that sunny day and got to watch Pat The Producer turn into a human tomato.

-Hanging out with Rise Against and doing some charity work them at the Malachi House in Cleveland.  The guys were super cool to hang with and really did not have that “rock star” attitude built from success.  Props to 92.3 for making that happen.

-Making the trip back to Austin, TX early November and attending Fun Fun Fun Fest.  I got to see some of my favorite bands all in one weekend including Murder City Devils, Hot Snakes, Hum, Slayer, Eyehategod, The Damned, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, and Russian Circles.  This was one of my favorite festivals of all time.  It was a festival I had wanted to attend for a a few years now and I decided to go for it.  I am so glad I did.

-It’s A Kling Thing House & Girley House.  Both houses put on some amazing shows in 2011 with local acts as well as touring bands.  Seeing Jeff Rowe over the summer as well as Mixtapes just a month or so ago in a basement is as good as live shows get for this guy.

-Daytrotter’s Barnstormer Tour.  What a great evening of music that was.  The show was in a freaking barn.  Yes, I do not remember much as the beers were going down like water, but I know I had a blast with some pretty special people.

The Suck:

-Ben Weasel’s SXSW blowout.  Sadly I was on the other side of town watching Cleveland’s very own Ringworm in a ghetto ass bar.  Don’t ask me why I skipped out on seeing Screeching Weasel live, I was under the influence of many ice cold Lone Star beers.  Honestly, I am kind of glad I missed Weasel acting like a little girl on stage.

-Danzig’s Fun Fun Fun hissy fit.  One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Fun Fun Fun Fest was because the Danzig Legacy was playing it.  I was stoked to finally see Danzig sing some Misfits songs with Doyle on stage.  Instead I witnessed a diva take the stage late and get their set cut as they played past curfew.  I only heard two Misfits songs and left with a bad taste in my mouth.  People can think what they want about Danzig and that night.  I was in the crowd watching heater being pulled on stage as well as the side of the stage tarped up so that little Glen would not get cold.  It was over an hour until the stage met his needs and the dude was fully aware of the curfew.  I will say that the two Mistfits songs had me feeling like a kid all over again.  Shame I could not witness the entire set that he had planned.  Lucky for me Ted Leo did a TV Casualty set the next day and made up for the Danzig drama.

-Seeing NOFX over Those Darlins.  I regret that decision a lot.  Two of my favorite bands played the same night and I had to choose one over the other.  The good news was that I got to see and meet Old Man Markley.  Sorry Darlins, I will not miss you next time you all hit up Cleveland.  Please forgive me.

-Atari Teenage Riot’s Cleveland show getting cancelled.  I was stoked to see these guys and was prepared to lose my hearing that night.  Hours before the show, their promoter cancelled the show.  Needless to say, I was pissed.

-92.3 and 107.3 changing formats.  Cleveland is a lost cause with radio now that both those stations were yanked.

Wrapping it up…

2011 ended with a bang for this music lover.  Thanks to all my friends from all over who made this year extra special for me.  You all know who you are.  From letting me crashing on couches to allowing bands to play in their basements you helped make this year what it was.  Also to everyone who attended shows with me and shared the same passion I have for music, thanks.

Happy holidays everyone and thanks for taking a part out of your day to visit this site.

Ok 2012, let’s see what you have in store.


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Dearest Danzig…Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 Still Ruled.

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I am sure many of you caught my last post about good ol’ Danzig’s awesome show I caught at Fun Fun Fun Fest this past weekend.  Love it or hate it, Danzig’s set on Friday night had the potential to ruin my weekend.

I knew the plug was going to get pulled the moment he announced to the crowd that they were told they could only play 5 more minutes.  That’s why I grabbed my camera and took that terrible video.  I wanted to capture the moment shit hit the fan, and I did.  I just discovered the Spin.com has used the video in one of their posts.

Prior to that announcement, I was finally starting to get into the set, granted the band just played “Vampira”.  I will not lie, they could have sounded way better.  I am sure there was a multitude of factors that resulted in what I heard.  It was windy as hell out and the equipment was heavily used all day , but there is no doubt in my mind that the band’s techs were not satisfied with their sound check.  Not only did the asshats do an impromptu sound check while the Murder City Devils were still playing (dicks), but they also had that extra 45 minutes before Danzig went on stage.

One of the whole reasons I went to Fun Fun Fun Fest this year was to check out the Danzig Legacy.  I was so hoping to hear “Hybrid Moments” and maybe even “Hollywood Babylon”, but we all know that was not the case.  Instead I heard heard Danzig, including 2 mediocre songs, some not so good sounding Samhain, and you know what happened after…

Plug pulled + Temper tantrum on stage = Me leaving and getting awesome vegan pad thai in downtown Austin.

Danzig make $100k that night and never finished his set.  The fans were all disappointed, and I was too.  Face it, we were all standing in front of the Black Stage to hear Misfits songs and nothing else.  With the time limit, one would think that Danzig could scrap one part of his set and focus on what people really wanted.  I felt worse for Doyle who probably just caked all that make-up on his face before coming out on stage.

Don’t worry, I did not want to tear off my Misfits tattoos and stomp on it after what I saw.  Hell, I am still a fan and always will be.  I was just pissed that Danzig was acting like a diva but also knew that I had 2 more days of Fun Fun to look forward to.  Perhaps the Misfits, the REAL Misfits, were never meant to be resurrected.  I do not care what Danzig has done for the music world, all I know is what I saw was unprofessional and beyond rockstar.  He was given fair warning of the time limit, did not want to even play, and then pulled his shit.  You know what?  I’m done talking about it.  Maybe if the Danzig calamity happened Sunday night I would have a different “Attitude” about the weekend but it was only night one.

I was already in a great mood after seeing Murder City Devils and Russian Circles take the stage Friday night.  Saturday I got to see Hot Snakes and The Damned (both were mind-blowing).  Sunday I saw Eyehategod, Kid Dynamite, Cannibal Corpse, HUM ( amazing) and eff’n Slayer. I also throughout the weekend saw Major Lazer, Diplo, Childish Gambino, Big Freeda, Spoon and Del The Funky Homosapien.

There was one quick performance though that just made me happy to be a part of the entire weekend.  While my friends and I were walking across Auditorium Shores to check out a veggie hot dog eating contest we noticed that there was a band covering Misfits songs on one of the main stages.  We all stopped dead in our tracks and literally ran to see what the hell was going on.  We caught the end of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’s set where Leo and friends were performing their Misfits cover band TV Casualty.  It was awesome, it was funny, and it sounded awesome.  The four songs that Leo and crew played made up for the bullshit Danzig stirred up Friday night.

I’ve been to a whole bunch of festivals in my time.  This years Fun Fun Fun Fest was the best one I have ever been to and I was only at maybe 1-1/2 of it.  I missed all of the early shows due to other things going on in Austin like eaten grub or getting a sweet tattoo (stay tuned for that).  I was ok with missing a couple of the acts as the main ones were in the evening.  I got to see MCD, Hot Snakes, and HUM all in a weekend.  How cool is that?

This is not a review.  This is me declaring how much fun I had last weekend.  Great music with the greatest of friends, old and new.  Throw in the sweet motor-boating I did on a healthy rack right before Slayer and, my friends, I may have had one of the best weekends ever, in fact, I know I did.  Thanks Austin.  Thanks Fun Fun Fun Fest.  I wish it was last weekend all over again.

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Concert Review: Daytrotter’s Barnstormer Tour 5 – Akron, OH – 08/31/2011

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It was a beautiful night this past Wednesday at the Conrad Botzum Farmstead located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park just outside of Akron, Ohio.

Thanks to Sean Moeller of Daytrotter, the Barnstormer Tour 5 took over the farmstead for the night and turned it into one of the more unique venues that I have attended in quite some time.

What normally is a place for people to gather for parties and weddings showcased five unique bands including Wildlife, Princeton, Doug Paisley, White Rabbits and Hacienda within the walls of a giant barn.  Each band set up on one side of the barn throughout the evening hours turning it into their very own stage. The atmosphere was perfect for such an event.

Having been to the 100-plus year old barn at the Conrad Botzum Farmstead before, I knew it was going to act as a beautiful landscaping for a great idea. Daytrotter for the last five years has done something different in means of live music performances by creating the Barnstormer Tour with one idea in mind – live music in barns.  Sure, it may sound a little hick-ish, but it is more personable and traditional than any other type of live performance out there.

Daytrotter did the Barnstormer Tour mostly on their own and kept costs down. Tickets were sold on their website for a reasonable $20 exclusively to fans or they could be purchased at the day of the show for a few bucks more. There were no food vendors littering the grounds with $10 beers and $14 pretzels, no security telling you to bend over and spread ’em before you entered the area, and there was really only one rule: smokers please smoke by the firepit. In fact, this was a BYOB event (or BYOP for those who brought pretzels), and all who did maintained their trash and showed the utmost respect to the grounds.

Arriving much earlier than anticipated, bands were busy unloading their gear from white vans and transporting it up six steps to the large wooden porch that led into the giant barn. All who arrived for the show immediately marveled at the barn and explored the scenery. Some hung close to the stage area in the bard while others frolicked in the grass. One black and white striped pants wearing female was even seen skipping about in the fields of grain that reached beyond the fence.

The music started just before the sun began its departure into the western sky at around 6:30 pm. While in the barn, the sun actually made its way into the windows of the barn as Wildlife played their set opening up the evening. The pop-rock band from Ontario, who were all dressed in black, were actually quite impressive to watch even though the barn was just a tad too warm thanks to the sun pounding on the barn walls.  “What a great idea” said one of the band members as they told the crowd they dressed alike on purpose forgetting about the sun.  Whoops!

Princeton followed shortly after to a slowly increasing crowd. Perhaps it was the temperatures cooling down, or the fact that many of the fans, including myself, had a few beers in them, but everyone seemed very relaxed. Reminding me a lot of Phoenix, the band was heavy on the keyboards and encouraged the crowd to move a little.  After seeing them live, I am intrigued by their sound and will be checking them out a little more in-depth shortly.

Doug Paisley, also from Ontario, took a more intimate approach and played to the decent sized crowd unplugged. This could be a misconception on my end, but I was not even aware he was playing in the barn while I was sitting by the campfire. It was only until I heard a loud uproar of clapping did I realize I was missing a performance. I quickly made way back into the barn and moved up front to take in Paisley’s set.  Soft-spoken yet powerful songs came from that man and I have to say, I really enjoyed what i heard and if any artist should have played in that barn, it should have been Paisley.  Oh, I should also mention the near assault of Paisley by a resident barn bat.  No one was injured in the event.

White Rabbits stole the night as far as I am conderned.  The UK band played song newer songs at the beginning of their set and by the end returned to a more falmilular rhelm.  People were loving what they had heard and were jumping and dancing about.  Luckily for everyone crammed in the barn, the floors never gave out.  Having just gotten into White Rabbit a couple of week prior to the show, I was excited to hear a couple of the songs I remembered digging. 

Hacienda closed out the night with some wholesome and soulful Texas rock-n-roll.  The band, who recently just finished up recording at local native Dan Auerbach’s (Black Keys) Nashville studio, played a few new selections to the hyped up crowd.  I was lucky enough to catch them support Auerbach as his backing band a few years back when Auerbach went on his solo tour.  I knew well in advance that  I was going to get into their set, and that I did.

The Barnstormer Tour was simple and fitting. It was the bands, the fans, and a whole lot of scenery for all to enjoy. It was indeed one of the more unique concerts I have attended, and it was only 5 minutes away from my residence – bonus.

The Akron Barnstormer stop was the first time Daytrotter invaded northeast Ohio and proved to be a successful display of live music for all who attended. I know there was concern on poor ticket sales for the Akron stop, but from what I saw, there was a good number of folk who attended and appeared to be having a good time.  Of course it would have been nice to see thousands of people standing in and around the barn, but I suppose there is always next year.

Sean Moeller’s vision of taking live music literally to its roots in turn was a memorable experience I was happy to say I was a part of.  I was stoked years ago when Moeller found an original idea to share bands by having them record sessions at his studio also known as the Daytrotter Session.  I really feel he’s outdone himself by making the Barnstormer Tour more than a one time idea. 

Here’s hoping that next year’s Barnstormer Tour considers returning to northeastern Ohio again.  I’ll also be excited to see what bands he picks to have play out regardless if Ohio is a stop or not.  I’d even be willing to travel to attend another Barnstormer Tour, it was that enjoyable.