Tag Archives: The Suck

Breaking Up, DIY, Music, The Suck

Of Us Giants Call It Quits

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In January, I had the pleasure of reviewing an amazing release by an up and coming band called Of Us Giants.

Of Us Giants - Nova Scotia

My last paragraph in that review stated:

I would not be surprised if this band was taking over stages in the near future playing to sold out crowds. This is an impressive release that I can see all sorts of music lovers getting into.  Don’t sit on Of Us Giants like I did, it is too good to pass up.

I really had high expectations with this band, but sadly over the weekend, they called it quits.

I get it.  Indifferences happen, but man, this band barely took off and their debut release Nova Scotia is still in heavy rotation.

OUG really impressed me with their DIY approach and truly were excited with all that was going on.  I really could feel their excitement and was hoping their would have made it to Cleveland one day.

Even after USPS lost a bunch of their vinyl (almost $600 worth), the band fought hard to regain their losses and successfully were able to raise money thanks to their amazing fans.

Clearly something happened though forcing them to part ways before more people were able to get into them.

Here’s what the band had to say on their Facebook page:

This is really difficult to write, but here it goes… we are very sorry to announce that we have decided to call it quits as a band due to personal issues. Unfortunately, that means we are dropping off the Captives / Keyes tour. We also were planning a 7″ split with Captives to be released later this year. We are not sure if anybody would still be interested in hearing those songs, but we may still record them… maybe not… it’s up in the air right now.

We want to take the time to say THANK YOU to all of you for caring about this band over the past few years. We are forever grateful for all of your love and support. We would be nothing without all of you. Our music is free atwww.ofusgiants.com and you can pick up any of our leftover merch at www.ronaldrecords.com. All orders are shipping soon. We also want to thank all of the record labels that have taken a chance on our music and have released it for us: Songs From The Road Records / Driftwood Records / Fly the Light Records / Close To Home Records / Little League Records / Mutt Tapes.

Last but not least, thank you to everybody that has been a member of the band over the past few years. We have had the privilege of working with some amazing people/musicians.

Goodbye… for now.

We love all of you,
Dustin and Jon

Good luck guys.  I still blame USPS for this break-up…

Akron, Breaking Up, Cleveland, Live Shows, Music, Music News, Punk, The Suck

The Facials To Play Their Last Show

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It is always sad to see a band call it quits.

What’s sadder is when it is a band full of your friends who you have known for a long time.

Facials 1

Akron/Cleveland punk act The Facials recently announced that they are going to throw in the towel.  In a proper approach, they are going to play one more show before disbanding.

Note that the band is not breaking up because they hate each other but rather because they are soon to be a bit distant from one another.

I have seen the Facials countless times and have always enjoyed their live shows.  From playing the ever elegant Chuck’s Steakhouse in good ol’ Akron, to playing both stages at the Agora in Cleveland, I can honestly say they have played solid sets.

They have shared stages with Rancid, White Wives, Street Dogs, Whole Wheat Bread, Civit, Swingin’ Utters, and even The Menzingers just to name a few.

Hell, I remember the time the band did a NOFX set.  That was one hell of a night…

Facials

Bummed to see them split, but I understand totally.  I know they didn’t want it to end, and I  think Chad said it best on his Facebook post about the band coming to an end:

There has never been a show that lacked the energy we aimed to create, so hopefully everyone can make it out one last time to end it right!

I consider myself lucky to have befriended these guys.  I was introduced to them back when The Narcoleptics X5 were still playing drunk shows in the early 2000s.  I liked their Pennywise approach and tried to hit every show they played.  From there, I would see other live shows with them and party until I would fall down a flight of steps.

I remember when we would all hit up the Warped Tour and be the old men heckling all the kids.  Good times.

As the years passed, things started slowing down for them with their day gigs taking up their free time and most of the band getting married and whatnot.  I really am stoked to hear that they are going to play one last show.  This will be the prefect farewell to a bunch of good dudes what have been doing their thing for almost 13 years.

Come see the band play one last hurrah at Now That’s Class on Friday, March 21st with special guests Night Sweats, The Old One-Two, and a couple other acts to be announced.

Eye Opener, Music, Music News, Music Video, Rock, The Suck

Greek Fire Release Video For “If This is the End (The Sound of Belief)” To Raise Awareness

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Growing up, one of my best friend’s little sister was diagnosed with Leukemia.  I don’t need to get into exact detail, but I will say she recovered and is living a good life.  She was young when she had to go through all the horror of finding out what she had and kept strong while going through treatment.  It was an event I will never forget for as long as I live.

St. Louis act Greek Fire is pretty much experiencing the same thing I did years ago.  Their drummer, Johnny Venus, was diagnosed with Leukemia.  At this moment, he is still fighting to overcome it.

Greek Fire was formed in 2008 by members from Story of the Year and  Maybe Today.  If I had to describe their sound, I would have to say they resemble Muse and Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Once the band found out their drummer was diagnosed, they stepped up as any family would and devised a way to help pay for the treatment.  Recently, the band made a video for their song “If This is the End (The Sound of Belief)” with all proceeds from the track going directly to Johnny’s medical bills.  The song is full of hope and not only was created to help fund treatment, but to raise awareness to all who view it.

Over the past four years, Greek Fire has built a wide fan base through word of mouth that has been spreading rapidly in the past few months.  The band recently kicked off a tour, with Story of the Year singer Dan Marsala filling in drums for Johnny, to support their  album Deus Ex Machina.

From Greek Fire (as found on Johnny’s Tumblr page):

In February 2012, shortly after an amazing tour of Japan, GREEK FIRE drummer and longtime STORY OF THE YEAR drum tech Johnny Venus was diagnosed with Leukemia. As anyone can imagine, this devastating news came as a complete shock and rocked the entire camp to the core. Johnny is fighting the battle of his life, and even in these darkest of times his incredible courage and strength inspired Johnny’s fellow band mates to write a song about this profoundly difficult and emotional journey.

The song, “If this is the End (The Sound of Belief) was utilized for a video GREEK FIRE released via YouTube on May 15th, 2012. The video was made for zero dollars by a group of amazing and selfless individuals that donated their time and talents with no thought of reward or payment, and the result is a heartfelt and emotional offering of hope and support for anyone, anywhere who has experience with cancer. Greek Fire is releasing this video in hopes that it can help people find the courage and strength to fight with all of their heart, and that there are people everywhere in the world fighting with them. That is the mission: HOPE. Please share this video with as many people as you can. Nothing will make Johnny Venus and the band more proud than if it can help someone, somewhere, in some way.

Take a moment to watch the video about the song that surrounds the idea of believing. The ending is sad as hell, but is so real. Trust me on that.  Share it too if you so desire.

If you would like to follow Johnny’s progress or end find out how to help, head over to his Tumblr page.

I hope Johnny’s is able to kick this illness and get back behind the drums to continue his dreams.

Stream the new Greek Fire album below:

Greek Fire – Deus Ex Machina by SecretServicePublicity3

Akron, Babble Blog, Cleveland, Good Times, Personal Entry, The Awesome, The Suck

“Ohio I’m leaving, Ohio I’m gone …”

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Never thought I would actually be able to sing the following Avett Brothers lyrics and have them actually hold true to my heart:

“Cleveland, I ain’t never felt nothing so strong
Been believing the words to my songs
Ohio I’m leaving, Ohio I’m gone”

For those of you who may not have heard yet, I have taken a job promotion within my company and will be relocating from Cleveland to Las Cruces, New Mexico, within the next 3 weeks.  This decision was the most difficult thing I have ever made in my life and it just killed me to come to a decision with such little time.

I weighed all the pros and the cons over and over and realized that I needed this adventure even if it meant leaving everything I love behind.  I feel terrible about moving on, but I do not want to not go on with life and one day wonder  “what if”.  I want to just take that huge risk and see what happens and say that I did it.

For 35 years, Cleveland and Akron have been my life.  Raised in a suburb in the middle of both cities, I was privileged enough to meet a ton of people who I have the pleasure of calling friend.  From the days of sitting curbside at a Dunkin Donuts to the warm nights in the Coventry courtyard, I really was lucky to be surrounded by such cool and remarkable people.  I loved going to the Metros daily and will never forget the times I had at “The Office”.  I could not have had a better childhood.

Throughout the years, we all grew up, some  of us took our own journeys and risks, but I stayed put and called Cleveland and Akron home.  To be honest, I was so ok with that.  I am Cleveland blood, this is my town.

As I continued growing up, I met more people and became involved in the ever important Cleveland / Akron music scene, not as a band performer, but as someone who fully appreciated it.  I loved my involvement with everything I did and cherished all of the memories that were created on a nightly basis.  I am so lucky to say that I had that.

Without going into too much detail, I will just say this: The Cleveland/Akron music scene rules right now and is it better than ever was.  I am so sad to leave it all behind, but you all know you I will be doing all I can to stick around, even if I need to do it via the Internet.  No way in hell am I going to not keep updated, some of these local bands are too important to not continue to keep tabs on.

The people…my friends.  Cleveland and Akron are full of the greatest people I will ever meet.  I know you will all welcome me back with open arms if and when I make it back on Ohio soil.  Trust me on this, I will be thinking about Ohio on a daily basis for the rest of my life.  Thank you to everyone out there who I have met for being so damn cool.

Obviously I am going to miss the locally owned shops and restaurants.  I just hit up Square Records last night and know nothing like that store will exist where I am moving to.  Music Saves and Blue Arrow, I seriously am going to miss the shit out of as well as the greatest comfort food on Earth, Melt.  Pizza will never even compare to Luigi’s.  I drool at the thought of one of their salads right now…  There are so many other places I can talk about, but I am getting sad just thinking about it.  I just hope I can score some Great Lakes beers out in the desert.

Sure, there will be plenty of new places for me to experience in my move to a new city, but it will not be the same.  Anyone from Cleveland and Akron who reads this knows exactly what I am talking about.  Cleveland and Akron are not that bad and I question why so many people hate it and say they are stuck in it.  I’m glad I was born and raised here.

Do I even dare get into Cleveland sports???  I will miss that so much and you can bet your ass I will remain a fan of Cleveland teams until the day I die.  That is a promise.  Browns for life.

I really should wrap this thing up.  Before I finish though, I just wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you out there who has spoken to me one way or another, shared a beer or a smile, rocked out along with, or just stopped here on this blog to see what was on my mind.  Without you all, I know I would not be the man I am today, and this site would not be going on 4 years.  Being surrounded in so many amazing people just adds fuel to my amazing life.

Special love to my greatest friends ever who rock out in bands like The Facials, Worship This!, Signals Midwest, Beat Kids, Harvey Pekar, Annabel, All Dinosaurs, Sidekicks, and of course Narcoleptics X5 (RIP).  These bands that I surrounded me around with are full of some of the most amazing people I will ever know in my life and I will miss the shit out of all of you.

Props to places like It’s A Kling Thing House, Dag House, Now That’s Class, Grog Shop, Agora (I hope you make a sweet come back), Odeon (you too), and all the other places I have seen a show at.

AddictedToVinyl.com, aka Matt, and his amazing new fiancé Annie (congrats!!!!), thank you for everything you have ever done for me.  The same love goes to all the good people who used to slave away at 92.3 including Patt The Producer and Nard.

I plan on continuing my blog, that is for sure, but it will never be the same.  I will be sure to try and visit and who knows, maybe one day I will plant my feet back in northeastern Ohio.  Only time can tell.

I leave June 8th and hope I get to see many of you before I pack up and drive cross county.  I know Las Cruces will be good to me, but nothing like the cities I grew up in.

I am scared as hell but excited to see what happens in the next chapter of my life.  Thank you people of Cleveland for all you have done for me.  I can not help but say “Cleveland Rocks” and mean it with all of my heart.  Akron, you rule too.

Death, Hip Hop, Music News, Punk, The Suck

RIP Adam Yauch (aka MCA)

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My heart seriously just sunk a few moments ago when I learned that Adam Yauch, also known as MCA of the Beastie Boys, passed away today after a 5-year battle with cancer.  He was 47.

When I heard he was not attending the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony a few weeks back, I knew something was up, but I figured he was just getting treatment again.

At the ceremony, Ad- Rock (Adam Horovitz) and Mike D. (Michael Diamond) read a letter from Yauch in response to being inducted to the Rock Hall:

“I’d like to dedicate this to my brothers Adam and Mike. They walked the globe with me. It’s also for anyone who has ever been touched by our band. This induction is as much ours as it is yours.”

I think “touched” is an understatement.  The Beastie Boys are one of the most important bands of my lifetime.  Love them or hate them, the B-Boys changed music in a good good way and Yauch had a big part in that.

Yauch at the 2007 Virgin Mobile Festival

Currently the website / blog for the Beastie Boys is down, so I am waiting to see what the rest of the band has to say about this unfortunate loss. (UPDATE – The site is now up and there is an amazing piece about Yauch on it.  Head over to the Beastie Boys site if you would like to check it out.)

All I know is that when I found out, I was sad – really sad.  Maybe some people do not care, but I do…

I have been a fan of the Beastie Boys since I picked up Licensed To Ill in a Gold Circle store in 1986.  I remember hearing them once on MTv when it was a cable channel that actually played music videos all the time.  My Mom caved in and bought it for me.  The way I looked at music changed the moment I ripped off that cellophane wrapper.

I grew up with them and wanted to be like them as a youth.  My Paul’s Boutique cassette was played so much that it disintegrated.  I have caught them a handful of times including when they headlined at Bonnaroo in 2009.

I was lucky enough to have met Yauch, and the rest of the B-Boys, in 2007 at the Virgin Mobile Music Festival in Baltimore.  I interviewed the band for about 7 minutes and laughed more than anything.  They were cool guys and I remember specifically  Yauch just laughing hard while Ad-Rock stood ever so close to me while I rifled off some questions to them.  It was a memory I will never forget, and now plan on cherishing for the rest of my life.

Yauch was always the bad ass of the group.  He was an inspiration, an icon, a legend.  He will be missed.