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Overheard at a Punk Show

Hey all,

It’s been a long time since I updated this Tumblr page. So why not break the silence to introduce you to a new Twitter/Instagram page that sprouted up with a very creative concept.

It’s called, Overheard at a Punk Show and it started in Summer of 2018. Basically the concept is a twitter page, and later, a Instagram page that shares concertgoers experiences during various rock shows across the world as they overhear the strangest conversations being carried out while a band is performing a set.

It’s quite humorous and sometime a little disturbing.

It’s definitely worth a follow for a great laugh at the expense of the fans of some of your favorite bands (punk, pop punk, or otherwise)

A few memorable submissions to wet your whistle:

You can Follow Overheard at a Punk Show on Twitter: @overheardpunk or on Instagram: @overheardpunk

See Ya in the PIT!

#punk poppunk overheard overheardatapunkshow rockandroll music rockscene punkrock alternative random funny humor meme memes

I’m listening to the *repeat repeat podcast podcast with TuneIn. #NowPlaying

The Pink Spiders recently sat down with the Nashville based podcast, called Repeat Repeat Podcast Podcast to talk about the past and future (yes! There IS a future for the Pink Spiders again!!!).

Search the TuneIn App or Itunes for The Pink Spiders to listen to the interview

It’s a great interview with the hilariously crazy World’s Greatest Drummer, Bob Ferrari being his wild and crazy self and a one on one interview with Matt Friction about the history of the band and what led to the downfall of the band back in 2008 (interband drama is not the only culprit for the breakup).

All this leads to talk about their active Pledge Music campaign that has about one week left for the band to raise the necessary funds to be able to write, record, and release a BRAND NEW PINK SPIDERS ALBUM!!!!!!!!

Yes, That’s right! THE PINK SPIDERS WANT TO RELEASE MORE MUSIC but they need your help! They are currently at 40% on their pledgemusic campaign with a week left in the campaign. They have to get 100% raised in order to get the money amd head to the studio!

This is where you come in. Gp to www.thepinkspiders.com to be directed to their campaign page where you can watch the HILARIOUS pledge video and most awesome pitchman, Bob Ferrari telling you about e campaign and the unique and excitong prizes/perks you can receive for donating as much or as little money to the band as your current financial situation can allow.

This is crunch time!!! Help spread the word and help get one of the best bands of the early 2000’s pop punk boom to successfully comeback as a band again and hopefully fuel enough excitement for a potential returning tour!!!! HAPPY 2017 PUNK ROCKERS!!!

Recently I got to the point where my box of concert memorabilia (concert tickets, flyers, stickers, photos, etc.) started to get overcrowded. I decided to catalog all the awesome memories into TWO scrapbooks to commemorate ever single concert I have had the privilege to attend. It is an Amazing idea to catalog all the free swag and photos that one picks up at a concert! Instead of cramming it all in a box, it’s so much more enjoyable to turn it all into a book that you and your friends can flip through at leisure! I had such an amazing time creating these scrapbooks and the memories that came back as I was constructing each pages was a pleasant experience. I highly recommend this little project for all those who are extreme concert fanatics like myself.

The photos I have posted are from 2 scrapbooks. While I cannot post every photo of every page in the books, here are a few pages to help give you a visual of what a Concert Scrapbook entails.

Each scrapbook commemorates ever concert I’ve been to dating back to 2004 up through 2015 and I will be adding a page for every concert I attend from 2016 on. Each concert has it’s own page and a list of each band that played that show. For bands I have seen multiple times, I typed up a list of every single show to add to their designated page. I gave a particular concert it’s own page in the book based on how much memorabilia I had collected from that show (toys, picks, flyers, etc.)

#concerts #scrapbooking #rockandroll #livemusic #summerfestivals #poppunk #hardrock #warpedtour #AlternativePress #WKQX #WKQX101 #Chicago #JBTV #CBGB #RiotFest #Lollapalooza #hardcore #punkrock #rockconcerts #ticketstubs #bandstickers #bandart #bandbuttons #buttons #setlists #concertsetlists #concertflyers #guitarpicks #drumsticks #autographs #colorful #creative #fun #love #memories #concertfun #Weezer #ThePinkSpiders #Cobaltandthehiredguns #DotDotDot #FallOutBoy #Cuteiswhatweaimfor #Paramore #GoodCharlotte #AndrewWK

Ohh,The Memories!!!

Ohhh MySpace music, How I miss thee

There has been a lull in scouting new music to post about. The Rock scene is definitely in a transition period these days. 2003-2008 was the year of the independent pop punk scene with amazing Warped Tour lineups. To this day Warped Tour 2006 was LIFE CHANGING for me. That day can be summed up in 3 words: THE PINK SPIDERS. The band that started it all with me.

As I look back on all the bands I featured in this blog I realize that well over half the bands are now broken up. This is deeply saddening. I only just recently discovered that New York band, Waking Heroes are now on a permanent hiatus.

As I am reminiscing in the glory days of the rock scene in the early 2000's I realize just how much influence MySpace had on the success that rock bands made during that time. MySpace was THE SHIT!!! Remember getting bombarded by friend requests from hundreds of unsigned rock bands begging you to listen to their music and spread the word? Remember the excitement of sitting on the computer just listening to random band after random band until you found that one band that totally BLEW YOU AWAY with awesomeness to the point where they quickly became a top favorite band? Remember Top 8 Friends (later expanded to Top 16, 24, etc). I remember after a while, changing my top 4 to be my top 4 fav bands. The Pink Spiders, The Crash Moderns, and Dot Dot Dot never left my top 3 spots (I think The Pink Spiders never left my top 1 spot since the Top 8 feature was introduced!).

Those random band requests on MySpace was like being a detective...sleuthing around for the next great band and...in turn, that next great band that would evidently become your friends!

To this day I remember when Daniel David from LA band, Spence messaged me and band requested me to listen to his band's music and started spamming me with messages to listen to his music. I always thought the dude was just mass messaging myself and a handful of others like a MySpace robot. Who knew that we'd become good friends now.

Actually, A lot of bands I connected with through MySpace have very much expanded beyond the fan relationship into a straight up band friendship! The Pink Spiders, Dot Dot Dot, and The Crash Moderns, to name a few.

Facebook doesn't have that ability like MySpace does, which could be why it's so hard to find new music these days, not to mention Zuckerburg keeps trying to make bands pay money for having a Facebook page (not cool, Mark, not cool). I DO hope 2015 brings bigger and better things to the rock scene to help bring it back out from the underground and back to the status it was in during the MySpace days!

Someone really needs to bring back the CLASSIC MySpace BEFORE Tom sold it to Rupert Murdoch and murdered the awesomeness that was "a place for music".

mattryd

A Small Way to Help Your Favorite Indie Bands

So, I was listening to this podcast the other day where John Hodgman said something interesting. He has a new special coming out on Netflix on June 20th, and he told everyone (paraphrased), “If you’re a fan of what I’m doing, all I ask is that at the very least, you go on Netflix, push play, and walk away. I’d love it if you sat and watched it, but the best way to make sure I’m able to keep making things is to make sure it gets played on Netflix.” He went on to emphasize how important it is for independent content creators to tell people the easy ways to help them monetize what they make.

So, let me tell you what I do, and let me offer the suggestion that you do it, too. I buy a lot of albums, especially of friends/compatriots in the independent music scene. But when I listen to their music, I almost always use Spotify, rather than playing from my phone’s memory or in iTunes. Why? Because, in addition to the money they received from my album purchase, they get a small amount every time their music is streamed. And every stream puts them higher on Spotify’s radar. It makes no difference to me how I listen to the music, so if I can help a bit by listening through Spotify, putting a few extra cents in their coffers, and promoting them (by posting my history to Facebook, my Spotify followers)… why not?

That’s a (as one expect from me) really longwinded saying: even if you own the album, try to listen to our records on a streaming service. It’s a tiny thing, and hopefully no inconvenience to you at all, but it offers us some small help, and we’d all appreciate it.

With all of my gratitude, Matt

Truth. Gotta support these bands cause record labels won't!

There's no denying that the music industry has changed drastically over the past few decades. In the 90's it was all about a band striving to get heard by record label executives in the hopes of landing a record deal. Since the inception of the internet and social media outlets, more and more bands are taking it on themselves to write, record, and play their music the way THEY want. Lately record labels are all about the money and creating that one hit song that will catapult a band into super stardom. It's all fun and games until the bands gets back in the studio and are struggling to reach the level of popularity of that one hit song.

It's all about the one hit wonders with the music industry and a lot of these independent bands are worth more than that. So rather than striving for a record label, a LOT of rock bands today are succeeding on their own and I CELEBRATE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!

The way of the independent band has now moved towards online fundraising. Bands alert their fans of the situation they are facing and explain to them just how bad the industry has gotten and just how much money goes into touring, making music and all that jazz. I recently came across a recent fundraiser from LA based band, Spence (www.myspence.com) and after watching the video posted on their Rocket Hub page I decided it’s too good to not share with you all. Watch the video and understand where Spence and any other independent rock band is coming from when they are asking their fans for help. It’s a fun way to interact with fans and give them a little something for being so supportive! Seriously, to a touring band, even one dollar will win over their hungry hearts!

Probably the greatest example of one of these online fundraisers doing good is when Chicago based band, Cobalt & The Hired Guns (www.cobaltandthehiredguns.com) did a Kickstarter campaign to fun their album, Everybody Wins - which was released in June of 2012. They did the same thing that Spence is doing right now. and had a goal of $5,000 to raise towards producing the album and allowing it to see the light of day in the end. By the time the fundraiser ended, the project was over they successfully raised $8,081 that went towards producing and releasing a truly AMAZING album that went on to receive rave reviews from various different outlets.

See Cobalt and the Hired Guns' past campaign here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/720783403/everybody-wins-cobalt-and-the-hired-guns-a-new-rec

You can also stream the whole album in it's entirety on Spotify.

So whose to say that Spence won't produce something equally as amazing if they receive the same funding?! Or any band going down this same route of kickstarter campaigns.

EXAMPLES OF 2 ACTIVE BANDS DOING A FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN:

HELP OUT SPENCE: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/27220-send-spence-to-the-studio-new-album

Help out the New Jersey based band, Waking Heroes: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/wakingheroes

#www.myspence.com #www.cobaltandthehiredguns.com #www.wakingheroes.com #Spence #Cobalt & The Hired Guns #Waking Heroes #Kickstarter campaigns #Independent Rock Bands #Future of music #Support the music

Pictures of the infamous see-through guitar in action from their Chicago show with Spence (www.myspence.com)

#www.facebook.com/spencetheband #www.facebook.com/goodingmusic #bandception #rockandroll

Rock and Roll didn't die, it went to Kansas.

Recently I went out to a show to support my friends in the Los Angeles based band, SPENCE (www.myspence.com) when they returned to Chicago for another night of pure rock at, easily my favorite Chicago music venue, The Elbo Room (www.elboroomlive.com). Spence was supposed to open the show that night but due to a last minute schedule changed, they were the last band to play so I had some time to kill.

While waiting for Spence to take the stage I became a fan of the Kansas/LA based band, GOODING (www.goodingmusic.com), who took the stage before Spence that night. This band won me over as they were setting up their instruments on stage before their set. Gooding has quite possibly THE COOLEST guitar ever! It’s free-standing and totally SEE-THROUGH!!! Yeah, that’s right! I instantly knew just by looking at this unique guitar I would really like this band! The frontman of the band, Gooding (and the origin of the band name) is so badass on stage. He plays two guitars at once! A fender Stratocaster around his neck plays the role of lead guitar while the see-through guitar comes in for a few songs. This guy has got skills, he can switch playing from one guitar to the next so fast and never skips a beat till the song is over! I was in awe when I saw this going on! It’s hard to explain how awesome Gooding is live, which is why you HAVE TO see this band live, or at least search some Gooding live videos on the YouTube! After the show I was able to have a conversation with Gooding, himself and received a copy of their newest album, “Buffalo.” Listening to it is just as good as the live show. Definitely headbang worthy!

My personal favorites are:

Crash

Hey Hey

Still Want You

100 Miles to Nowhere

I absolutely LOVE these songs specifically, they just make you want to get up and rock out! I love music that makes you move, whether it’s dancing, headbanging, or tapping your foot to the beat, you know a band is doing something right if their audience can’t stand still (Sorry Emo Bands…).

Plus, they even have their own band mascot, a sad little red guy that makes a presence in all their Facebook tour updates to let their fans know what city they’ll be in. They even have a plush toy of the red guy as well as other trademark band merch in their merch store!

Check them out in all their Rock and roll glory:

www.goodingmusic.com

https://goodingmusic.com/goodingshop/store/

https://www.facebook.com/goodingmusic?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/goodingmusic

And be sure to check out their new album, “Buffalo” (You can stream it for free on the band’s website!!

#www.facebook.com/goodingmusic #@goodingmusic #www.goodingmusic.com

BAND-CEPTION - when being a fan of one band led you to become a fan of another band and without the first band you never would have known about the second band.

BAND-CEPTION....It's a thing! The new and improved band promotion

I absolutely love discovering new music through a band that I already discovered and became a fan of. If you've been following along with this blog since it started then you are familiar with this pattern. Just simply going to one band's show and staying the whole night can turn you onto a truly amazing band that you normally wouldn't have discovered had you not gone to that particular show! To this day I am forever grateful that the pop/rock band, Dot Dot Dot (www.dotdotdotonline.com) was asked to play a show with Indie rock band, Cobalt & the Hired Guns (www.cobaltandthehiredguns.com) back in January 2011. I had originally gone to the show to support my friends in Dot Dot Dot and had no idea who Cobalt & the Hired Guns were. Thanks to my openness to new music and giving the unfamiliar a chance, I found one of my top favorite bands hiding in the underground of the Chicago music scene. Today, Cobalt & the Hired Guns are some of my best friends and have shared the stage with dozens of great bands that I am also a fan of.

I call this the BAND-CEPTION concept, when being a fan of one band led you to become a fan of another band and without the first band you never would have known about the second band. For eight years now, BAND-CEPTION has played a huge part in my life. So many of my favorite bands have influenced me in giving another band a chance whether it’s a personal recommendation from one of the band members or seeing a new band because they shared the same stage as another band. Initially my goal is to make BAND-CEPTION a popular hashtag that people can Tweet, Instagram, Facebook and whatever other social networking adjective is the hot new internet craze. I hope that BAND-CEPTION can be a tool for band promoting to emphasize a whole new kind of six degrees of separation: band version. This would be the NEW and improved band promotion technique. Promoting two or more bands at the same time!!!

Coming Soon...

Features for the following amazing bands*:

Gooding

Common Shiner

Lady Laura

Wax Works

The Empty Pockets

Matt Ryd

Starlike Collision

Mike Roth

* In no particular order, just when I get around to it. #finalsisabitch

THIS. THIS IS what Chicago music is all about!

An amazing show full of amazing bands that know how to have a blast celebrating Star Wars Day 2013!

It would be of use for all of you to go check these bands out NOW and keep updated on future shows. If you don't live in the Midwest, then go tell them that and demand that they make a stop in your city for a show!!!

You won't regret it!

#www.cobaltandthehiredguns.com #www.facebook.com/mikerothmusic #http://ladylauramusic.bandcamp.com/#www.facebook.com/mattryd

Villains are the new superheroes!

When your in a band, you have to be willing to stand out to become noticed, especially now, during the DIY age of being in a rock band. I recently came across a Chicago based band by the name of V IS FOR VILLAINS while at a local independant arts and music fest (I AM FEST) here in good old Chicago.

The V is For Villains guys and girl were not performing at I AM FEST, they were promoting. Promoting for their own House of Blues headlining show that I had the privilege to attend this past Saturday (9/8/12). V is For Villains is not your average everyday rock band, from the second you see them you instantly become interested to find out more about them. Why? Because they are each in full Steampunk costume portraying their villainous alter-egos, Mr. Agitator-Singer, Fallon Flynn-Guitar, Veronica Jade-Keyboards, and The Pulse-Drums. This band goes all out portraying their Villain characters, they each have their own trading cards that describe in full detail what their character is all about! All their band merch is directly related to each villain from t-shirts, to jewelry, to leather bracelets with the V is for Villains logo on it, they even have mini top hats like the really really rediculously huge one Mr. Agitator aka Nick Santiago wears(seriously, i dare you to steal his hat and try it on, major kudos if you can get it to stay on your head!).

This band definitely knows how to market themselves and create a memorable experience for all who come out to rock out with them!

So after you get pulled in by their villainous wardrobe, you become curious about the style of music they play. Well, V is For Villains is a Steampunk, Electronic-Rock band that knows how to have fun while making music. Their live shows are evidence of a good time, playing headbang worthy songs while in full costume to a crowd of fans who also dress up in their own villain costumes!!! I think that's the coolest thing about this band, their creativity and fun nature encourages others to get into the concept of being villains, which, in the end makes for a REALLY FUN SHOW!

It's kind of hard to describe V is For Villains, you just have to see for yourself: http://www.visforvillains.com Memorable appearance is half of what makes this band so awesome.

The other half is the MUSIC! Ohh man, I recently picked up their debut album, "Evolve or Die" and give it 4 stars. It's basically if Tim Burton and Danny Elfman joined a rock band, specifically when you listen to track 12 - "March of the Villains"

Songs to check out:

"Just Another Sinner"

"Everybody Hates Me" (my personal favorite)

"Rise Above"

"Black Swan Love Song"

"Playing the Villain"

and the title track, "Evolve or Die"

....to name a few.

For all things VILLIANOUS go to http://www.visforvillains.com where you can stream songs, meet the band and their villainous alter egos*, and they even have their own street team, Midnight Minons, where they turn any fans who wish, into an honorary Villain to present at future V is for Villains' shows in full costume.

*When not portraying their alter egos, they go by their outstanding citizen names, Nick Santiago(Mr. Agitator), Jon Santiago(Fallon Flynn), Richard Nash(The Pulse), and Carrie Hegenderfer(Veronica Jade).

LIKE THEM ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/VIsForVillains They probably have the coolest Band Interests section out of any band on Facebook: Band Interests: "Villainy! Lazer Guns! Secret Lairs and Evil Schemes!" Seriously, how epically awesome is that?! Almost as epic as their About the band section: "One day we WILL rule the world...and on that day we will have our OWN breakfast cereal!" I don't know about you, but I would love to make V is For Villains apart of my balanced breakfast, while watching them fight the Lucky Charms Leprechaun for the title of greatest Breakfast cereal mascots of Saturday Mornings!

To tweet at them your plans for world domination, follow them on twitter at: http://twitter.com/visforvillains

And the band is relatively a new band, having formed in October 2010, so they are just getting their name out there and I am excited to see how far their quest for world domination goes! Really crossing my fingers about that breakfast cereal, and eventually maybe even action figures to go with those sweet sweet trading cards(eat your heard out Pokemon!).

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