Well, we took some time off to celebrate May Day and Cinco De Mayo. But we here at the Gatecrasher blog are back and fired up about area rock shows. We’re planning on supporting the economy by procuring a couple of cool new local CDs. And, there are some cool shows in Charleston, Huntington and Morgantown, so Hillary and Barack will know where to go to rock if they swing through for baby kissin’. Read on…

THU 5.8

So you think you’re more jam-trance than us? Pfft. You must not have heard us talk about Symmetrical Kickboxing. After we mentioned them here at the blog, they’ve been featured first in Graffiti and most recently in the Daily Atheneum, WVU’s student newspaper. Do they deserve the coverage? You bet. They rock. Is the coverage correlated in any way? No, coincidence. They play an end of semester bash (and their last Morgantown show) Thursday night at 123 Pleasant St. in Morgantown, so bring $5 and your least favorite couch.

FRI 5.9

A killer evening of shows in Charleston Friday night, starting with Huntington’s Jeff Ellis coming to Taylor Books (226 Capitol St.) for a solo acoustic show. Ellis is set to release “Covering The Distance” very soon — it’s the follow-up to last year’s “A Front Seat For The End Of The World” and more alt-country from what we hear, so we’re definitely looking for that. Bandmate Phil James may appear with Ellis, and Taylor is a cool place to catch acoustic shows. And best of all, there’s no cover!

Also Friday, Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls (Huntington southern-fried blues/rock) come to the Empty Glass (it says so on their website, www.emptyglass.com) as they prepare to release their EP next weekend at Marley’s Doghouse. Don’t think they’ll have the CD available yet, but you can catch them if yer in town. And you can catch footage of Carroll at the Glass back in February at the Gatecrasher. 10 p.m., $5 cover.

A bit of a last minute notice on Huntington’s powerpop trio Threefold Theory coming to town for a show at the Sound Factory Friday night. Go to the show, secretly listen/eavesdrop on Scott, Nik, and Pete, and see if you find out when they’ll put out their new CD. Let us know if you hear anything. 10 p.m., likely $5.

So let’s say you’re in Morgantown; sucks for you. Just kidding. As always there is a ton of cool shows up there. Starting with Billy Matheny and Haley Slagle at the Blue Moose Cafe (248 Walnut St.) opening up for New York City’s Paul Tabachneck with Matheny’s own version of alt-country. We heard Matheny was working on a new CD too, by God put us down for a copy of that one. He rocks. 8 p.m., $4!

Thred (Morgantown funk rock) and The Greens (Magic Town alt-rock) will likely pack 123 Pleasant Street in a nice contrast of styles. Good to see Thred back doing shows. 10 p.m., bring money!

SAT 5.10

As the college semester winds down, Huntington’s alt-metal three-piece A Place Of Solace is seemingly picking up the pace. They’ll play Marley’s Doghouse (2050 3rd Ave.) in Huntington after recently doing a show at the Glass, and being caught on camera in the latest “Radio Free Charleston” Web show. Check out APOS, and check out RFC if you haven’t yet. Oh and congrats to Misty from APOS for graduating college! 10 p.m., cash.

In Morgantown, Billy Matheny and his Frustrations do a show at 123 Pleasant St. with The Gear and Jonestown. We are just now figuring out the font with which we’ll get “Billy Matheny” tattooed on us somewhere. This pair of weekend shows, first at Blue Moose acoustic with Slagle, and then rockin’ out with the Frustrations, highlight Matheny’s range and talents; he’s one of our faves. 10 p.m., likely $5.

Hey, wow a totally blog-worthy show Friday as Jeff Ellis comes to Taylor Books. He’s got his new CD, “Covering The Distance,” ready to go — the follow-up to last year’s “A Front Seat for the End of the World.” We decided to check in with him real fast to see what was up…

“I might even have a few advance copies for sale, but I don’t know yet for sure. I think it will just be me for Taylors, but Phil (keyboards) might tag along. Looking forward to it! Athens was awesome last night, by the way. Packed house and good times.”

-Jeff

You can hear “I’m Not Leaving This Time,” off the new CD, on Ellis’ MySpace profile. Interesting that Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls helped record the CD and have been backing up Ellis at some shows recently. We look forward to hearing the new CD.

So Friday night, swing by for the new non-fiction and the cool zines, and the art, and the espresso, but oh yeah — Jeff Ellis! Show up at 226 Capitol St. after 7 p.m. and you’re good…

Well, Earth Day was a huge success, and so now you’re ready to party. The Weekend Watch series in the Gazz helps raise awareness about the coolest area rock shows, covering noise pollution in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown. Even if you’re now “off the grid” you can still find us in print — just please recycle this print Gazz you’re reading…

Friday 4.25
Of course, our local music lock o’ the week is at the V Club (741 6th Ave.) in Huntington, as The Emergency and Billy Matheny & the Frustrations come to town with Memphis the Band. Matheny and The Emergency are Morgantown rock staples, and they’re coming to Herd Country so get yer couches out, Huntington! Cover is just $5! Read the rest of this entry »

We came across this cool YouTube collection of local bands Aaron Hawley of 85 Flood put together. Check it out — you’ve read this much!

So you’ve got your taxes done and you don’t have to worry about being incarcerated for a whole ‘nother year. Why not celebrate by going to a rocking area show this weekend? The Weekend Watch series rolls on, and it’s still legal to read, so let’s go! Read the rest of this entry »

We like cluing people in to other people who go to shows, take pics, and upload them somewhere. We came across some stuff from Club Echo, so why not check them out? Pics are by Mike Adkins, otherwise known as The Most Exalted Potentate of Love…

If there were a college major in local music coverage, the “Weekend Watch” series would be required reading for your senior seminar. You couldn’t just show up at random buildings and expect to rock, you’d actually have to read it, go to the shows, and report back in essay form (and maybe with pics). It’s not that complicated, but if you’re looking for cool shows this weekend in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown, read on… Read the rest of this entry »

We love to see people in the Gatecrasher spirit. It’s a totally legal spirit that gives people the sudden urge to go to shows, and take pics at said shows. Andy Pickens snapped this cool pic of Thred at 123 Pleasant St. Thursday night, and to help raise awareness about the funk-tastic rock stylings of the Morgantown act, we thought we’d post this…

You can see more pics here.

As April rolls around, there are some pretty good shows lined up over the weekend in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown. You could check Graffiti for show schedules, but you know that the Empty Glass is not in Huntington. DOINNNG!!! Let us begin…

THU 4.3
So it’s Thursday, and that means there’s no cool shows until Friday, right? As Lee Corso would say: Not so fast my friend. If you’re “Hell Bent to Kick it Out” Thursday night then check out Huntington’s high energy hard-chargin’ Black Knots, as they come to the Glass for a show with Roanoke, Va.-based punk rock three-piece Heevahava. That’s the band’s name: Heevahaava (ED. NOTE: and here’s what it means.  Not so good a job, if you can get it). 10 p.m., likely low cost cover.

In Morgantown Thursday @ 123 Pleasant Street…

FRI 4.4
Charleston’s  honky tonk trio Buckstone stays in town to play a show at O’Kays (222 Leon Sullivan Way) Friday night starting at 9 p.m. If you missed them at the Empty Glass top 100 party Saturday night, and you need an excuse to eat good food and drink awesome imported beer, swing on by.

If you’re more into some hard rock, Ripley’s Dog Soldier and The Apology play the Glass Friday night.

Some Charleston rock shows are bigger than others. Then, there was the Empty Glass Top 100 party Saturday March 29th. With the Pistol Whippers, Campbells Creek’s psychobilly punk rock four-piece reuniting after a two-year breakup, the Glass was indeed more than half full on this night for this huge show.

By the time we got there after midnight, there was a small crowd milling about outside. By the apparent lack of parking spaces you could tell it would likely be packed. After paying the door guy (who resembles Ray Romano’s brother) and getting no special edition t-shirt, I gazed inward at the sea of people and could only mutter something to the effect of “HOLY SH–!”

Luckily enough, we got there in time to catch the tail end of Buckstone rocking their honky tonk set. Tom, Jamie and Diana put on a great show, and Kirk, out front singing & drumming in his flamboyant (is that the word?) country and/or western suit, is a sight to see. Seriously, they rock, and we knew that already…

Read the rest of this entry »