NJ Brings the Fire

I was collaborating with Jordan Stargot of Blind Hero and Nifty Breed, when he brought a band to my attention. It was Dillinger Escape Plan. From watching Youtube videos about them anyone can see that their stage presentation and following is more than awesome.

The lineup was Her Chance To Dream, Heart of a Lion, Stray from the Path, Knife the Glitter, The Number 12 Looks Like You, and the Dillinger Escape Plan. I missed the first set with Her Chance to Dream, but the had demo cds! I popped it into my car's cd player and I really liked what I heard. These kids have a really good idea of how to play epic tracks. There's this one track called Killer Klowns that has a very eerie break down, and it really threw me back.

The other bands were pretty tight, but only Knife the Glitter and Dillinger stood out to me. Knife the Glitter is a three piece instrumental band, that is the weirdest band ever. It is important to have a stage presence, these guys just made it really weird. The bassist would constantly be on his tippy toes running around in a little circle, shaking his head more and more violently as the songs went on, throwing his hair out of it's little bun, getting very messy...all this every song.

His facial expressions were so weird too... check them out. The recorded stuff I think is better than live. I can't really say their music won me over, but I will never forget these guys.

Dillinger. Wow. After taking 30 minutes, if not more, to set up their set, Dillinger came out hard. I've seen youtube videos of the lead singer Greg Puciato walking out on the tops of people's heads within ten seconds of the show starting (Watch Video for this performance). It was great though. You could hear everything, they looked and sounded so professional. People were getting very riled up during their set, at least one fight had to be broken up by the bouncers, which usually means one person thought the other was getting too crazy. Hey folks, it's a hardcore metal show. You get run into and the such.

So I am super happy I got the chance to see such a legendary band such as Dillinger. I wish i had the chance to interview them, maybe one day soon UW will be be presented with such a chance.

Till next show!

Crazines at the Donkey

About two weeks ago Uncharted Waves was lucky to have Shane Told, lead singer of Silverstein, call into the station for an interview to talk about their album release tour. "A Shipwreck in the Sand" debuted back in March, and the band's fans are loving it.

This past Thursday Silverstein's tour hit New York at the Crazy Donkey, and it was wild. The place had so many people in it that my body temperature raised 10 degrees when we stepped in. The lineup included Norma Jean, Bless The Fall, Before Their Eyes and of course Silverstein.

This show proved that the hardcore scene is not dead, and it is actually thriving right here on LI. It was by far the most people I have seen in the Donkey since Adler's Appetite. Everybody was moving and the mosh pit took up almost the entire center floor. It was crazy watching bodies flying into the air and fists pumping with every beat, you could really feel the energy of the bands music filling into the crowd. When Silverstein played there new single "Vices" the whole floor moved in completely unpredictable patterns, everybody was just running around and getting absolutely wild!



This is still pretty early in Silverstein's tour, but from Shane's lips to the fan's ears, it was one of the most energetic shows so far. The quality of the music was amazing, you could really pick out each instrument if you listened close enough. And the light show was really impressive too, I have never seen them look so good at the Donkey, and we've seen quite a few shows there. Just goes to show that the more money the ticket is, the more professional the shows get. Usually they are pretty good, but almost monotonous at times, but these lights always felt fresh.











For upcoming dates on Silverstein's "Shipwreck in the Sand" tour go HERE. This is an huge tour, so check out if they are coming to your town, this is a show you don't want to miss.


Thank YOU Long Island for keeping the scene alive! Keep coming out!

Crazy Donkey is for Someone who is in Trouble...

I was not sure of what to expect from this night. There was a nice mix of genres at the Donkey this past Thursday, and let me tell you, it meshed together quite nicely.

The lineup was Barnaby Jones(punk/hardcore), Vision Through Sound(experimental indie), Hazmat Bay (reggae), Whack (instrumental polka ska), and The World Inferno Friendship Society (ska?).

The place was pretty full for a weekday night, the number of tickets sold were over 200. Most of the people there were kids, and they only had one bar open in the back due to this. Being an all ages show does not take away from the energy in the room at all though, and on this night the place was moving with bodies.

We came in at the end of Vision Through Sound's set, and you should totally check them out, their cd is amazing. Next up was our friends, Hazmat Bay. They totally killed the crowd. Everyone was grooving to the guitar solos and the feeling of reggae was in the air. I got lucky enough to be invited on stage to take pictures, and they came out great.

Whack, kinda stood there. It was interesting seeing an accordion on stage, and when the lead singer got in front of the microphone to "sing" it was really captivating. But other than that, it sounded like a lot of noise. I totally was bobbing my head to the beat, just not totally feeling the ensemble. Check them out, very skankable music.

NEW EDIT
Due to comments on this blog, I've decided to go into more detail of why Whack didn't float my boat. For one thing, I couldn't hear any of the breakdowns. It sounded like a high school music class when everyone is first trying to learn a song. Granted Whack has been around for a little, and they have recordings and a following. However, Linkin Park also has hundreds of thousands of fans, and they still kinda suck live. But I'd rather have seen them because they have stage presense, and Whack did not. After the show I listened to the Whack recordings and at least these I can enjoy what they sound like. They play music that can rile up a lot of different emotions, although I wish they had better recording quality. Once they can get into a professional studio and really put their music together they have some really marketable music. HOWEVER, bringing that studio sound to a live show is difficult, because the fact is you record each instrument seperatly. If you can't come on stage and play in sync, you sound like NOISE with a beat thanks to drums and bass.
/END EDIT

The World Inferno Friendship Society was pretty cool too. I did not know what kind of music they played, and I still can't really put my finger on it. Mostly ska, but there were heavy rock undertones and even some cabaret in there. The crowd ate them up. They knew all the words, the pit was HUGE, people were flinging themselves into the air off of chairs, it got crazy when they hit the stage.

Yet another great show at the Donkey. Check out the PICTURES.

Farewell at The Crazy Donkey

The Crazy Donkey was a lot of fun as always, but this time it did have a small sense of despair. This was to be The Mercurial's last show due to complications in the band, they never really gave a reason. However, it is what it is and we loved them while they were together making that really awesome sound.

First up at the Donkey was Beyond All Eyes, followed by Set in Color. The Mercurial came up next and it was a lacking performance. However, being that the Mercurial has a large dedicated following, the show was still exciting. Chris and the rest of the band put on an awesome performance. Tonight was their last show together as we know them, and they went out with a bang! When they invited all of their fans to join them on stage for their last song, everyone took advantage of the opportunity, the stage was packed!

It was an all age show, but after the Mercurial got off stage only about 20 people remained up at the stage, most under 18. The rest were at the bar enjoying the rest of the music and a few drinks. There was Zolof, the Rock and Roll Destroyer and The Pink Spiders. Zolof was ok, you can check them out and see if you like them, and of course check out The Pink Spiders. Their sound was unique and their attitudes on stage were really cool, definitely worth the headline title.

It was a good night, can't wait to see where the players of the Mercurial end up, but we will be sure to follow them.

The last picture shown is symbolic of The Mercurial's farewell. Lead singer Chris Sanchez exchanging his microphone for a camera...the lime light for the memories. You will be missed.

Rockin Night at The Crazy Donkey

Friday the 13th this year will be remembered for a long time. Twas the day when Cast In Shadows, Livid, Earth Eatz Dog, and Adler's Appetite rocked the house at the Crazy Donkey.

I would first and formost like to thank Micky James from Earth Eatz Dog for giving us an interview and having us at the show. Check out Micky's work at Freedom of Speech Recording Studio and be sure to say hi! Also, I'd like to thank Rick Eberle from Pop Core Entertainment for getting us in as well! You guys rock!

Doors opened at 6 and by 7 the place started to fill up. By 8 you couldn't move around without snaking your way through the crowd. It was packed. Also to my suprise, there was no banister between the crowd and the stage. So everyone was right there, gathered around the feet of rock stars rocking out.

Inbetween sets the Donkey provided the crowd with entertainment; music, alcohol and of course the Loaded Dancers. This would be the first time that I've seen them, and apparantly the term "loaded" means really sexy and hot. I wonder how much money they got from tips by the end of the night...

I must say, Earth Eatz Dog was incredible. They were the first band to fill in the gap between the first table and the stage, and without a doubt gave one hell of a performance. To my suprise Micky called me up on stage, and after falling off of it twice or tree times, I made it up there for my first on-stage anything! It is such a different feel up there. When you look out on the crowd going wild it really rushes your adrenaline and I can imagine it fuels the musicians to put out even more energy. The energy that Earth Eatz Dog put out was so awesome. They really have the ability to take the songs out of the studio and put them on show live and sound just as good. Keep on bringing the rock!

The band that was headlining was Adler's Appetite, with Steven Adler right there in the drummers seat. For those who do not know, Adler was the drummer for Guns 'n Roses back in the day. And you know what? He's still got it. They freaking rocked, everyone was having so much fun. They played the whole album "Appetite for Destruction", the 1987 Guns 'n Roses release. Although they were covering GnR, they simply rocked. Everyone was having a blast and you really got the rock star persona on stage. From the way they dressed to their solid perfomance, bravo. I take it back Adler, you still got it.

So that was a fun night! Come out and hang with us at some shows, we love meeting new people all the time!

1/24 COP day 2 @ Crazy Donkey

Not too long ago I met a man by the name of Anthony Dobrini (or just Dob), and we read the news together on the radio at Nassau Community. Now, he is the proud owner of Calling Out Productions, which exclusively books shows for This Condition, as well as so many other Long Island Bands. Dob also is working on a new website called The Scene Life which talks about the underground movement of music and indie arts right here on Long Island.


So this show at the Crazy Donkey marked his one year anniversary of Calling Out. It was the second show, preceding one at the Vibe Lounge the night before. This event was huge, two days, and 16 bands. All handpicked by Dob. Even in the beginning of the show, there were at least 40 people there which is pretty good compared to the scattered 10-15 at other openers. Here was the line-up:

Last One Standing
East Of Eden
Astro Junk
Merchants Concourse
Hotspur
Table 21
Of The Pillar
Kids Of Survival
Lion Of Ido
The Mercurial

The whole floor was packed for each band. Granted for the lesser known bands the pit was forming further in the back. But that didn't stop the bands from rocking out. For a song's entirety the lead singer of Last One Standing ran out into the crowd to mosh a bit. The size of the place was great for this kind of show, minus these tables that were kinda on the outskirts of the floor. One was for the kitchen section, but the other was just in the way.

But regardless of the fung shui, this was a show to be reckoned with. It was Astro Junk's final show, and they put out like a five dollar whore. It was a sick show, I can't believe for the first time I saw them, they say they are not playing anymore. It makes me sad, but go listen to their stuff, it's pretty unique. They had the place going crazy pretty much.

And the band Hotspur came all the way from Maryland, around the DC area as they like to tell people without any geographical idea of where Maryland is. But they represent nicely, and they are some really cool guys. I hope they come up again so all you Long Islanders get a chance to check em out live.

The crowd really went nuts for the last five bands. The place reached maximum capacity, and the bouncers had to make their way inside to keep things cool, which they let heat up a lot. The pit was nuts, people were crowd surfing and joining the musicians on stage. It was wild in the house man, but it was really the Mercurial that blow the house up the most. They played out their set from top to bottom with no glitches, and with no stopping. It was one hell of a show, and during the encore they had like 20 kids on stage dancing and rocking out with them, I can't wait to put up those pictures.

Allrighty enough out of me. I'll be posting those pics soon. Until then, check out all those bands, indie music lives on.

peace.