Category Archives: Music

RIVERSIDE: ‘World of Warcraft’-inspired band Songhammer releases album

Songhammer has released their debut album and video. (Contributed Image)

Songhammer has released its debut album and video. (Contributed Image)

Songhammer might have released the most epic album of 2013.

Want proof? The first song on the group’s debut full-length “World of Songhammer,” which came out Tuesday, Oct. 22, is called “Songhammer Always Wins.”

Throughout the album the group goes on to fight bad guys, dragons and tell stories from the perspective of angry pandas.

The band’s genesis came from Songhammer members Dustin Miller (a.k.a. CroonHammer) and Ben Stewart (a.k.a. ShredHammer) collaborating to enter the BlizzCon 2011 International Songwriting Competition, which they went on to win. BlizzCon, which is coming up in Anaheim in early November, is the convention for everything Blizzard Entertainment does, including the massively multiplayer online role playing game “World of Warcraft.”

Songhammer is more than just a band, too. It has a popular guild in the “World of Warcraft” universe, where the focus is on being positive and having fun.

The music follows the same ideals. There are metal songs, pop songs, songs that draw from the influences of Queen and Muse and Mumford and Sons and more. Miller, of Fontana, and Stewart, of Riverside, met in a music class at Riverside City College.

I’ll have more about the band’s music in an interview that will be published in the coming weeks, but I wanted to share the video for “Death Is on the Way.”

“We wanted it to sound like this old radio program,” Stewart said.

The video itself, directed by John Leonetti, is part silent film, part western and all awesome.

“It’s more like silent movie meets Buck Rogers in the 1980s,” Stewart said.

Fun fact: In the video, Death is played by Devanand Bassanoo, Stewart’s former bandmate in their metal band Conspiracy of Thought. Not only did he choreograph the big fight scene, but he’s also performing with Songhammer now.

You can check out more from Songhammer at www.songhammer.com.

SPOTLIGHT 29: Dwight Yoakam rides into town Feb. 1

Dwight Yoakam performs on Saturday, April 27, 2013, at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)

After dazzling country fans at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival this spring, and not just because of his bedazzled jean jacket, Dwight Yoakam will return to the Coachella Valley in February 2014.

Yoakam will perform at Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella on Saturday, Feb. 1 and tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 25. They are priced at $45, $55 and $65 and will be available via www.Spotlight29.com, Star Tickets at 800-585-3737, or the Spotlight 29 Box Office and Gift Shop.

With his honky tonk sound, Yoakam was a pioneer in his early years in Los Angeles. He went from playing bills with bands like Los Angeles punkers X to finding his niche and recording with folks like Buck Owens, racking up hits like “Streets of Bakersfield,” with the aforementioned Owens, “I Sang Dixie” and “Honky Tonk Man.”

Yoakam’s 2012 effort, “3 Pears,” found the icon matched up with an interesting mix of artists, from Beck to Kid Rock.

And don’t discount his work as an actor, either. His acting was far better than Jared Leto’s weird cornrows in “Panic Room.”

RIVERSIDE: OneHundred Proof holds re-release show

OneHundred Proof is releasing its debut record with a celebratory show at the Mission Tobacco Lounge on Oct. 26. (Taadow/Contributed Image)

When OneHundred Proof released its debut album earlier this year, the 150 hard copies they had were gone within a half-hour after the release show in their hometown of Redlands.

In the months since, the hip-hop/rock/alternative band out has landed on a local label and is celebrating the re-release of the album, “Wolf Among the Sheep,” with a show at Mission Tobacco Lounge in Riverside on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Earlier this year, the band signed with the music arm of Sullen Clothing and now Sullen Musik is releasing the record digitally.

The songs have been remastered, some have been cut and there’s a new track, a remixed version of the song “Stronger.”

Band members and brothers Eric and Jimi Estrada, said OneHundred Proof has a couple of other shows on the books for the rest of the year and they’re planning to go on tour in the beginning of 2014.

The band is eager to work on new material as well.

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“Great music is the best way to repay the fans,” Eric Estrada said.

Low Life Music, Assuming We Survive and The Slow Forward are also on the bill. The show also has a costume contest component.

8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Mission Tobacco Lounge,3630 University Ave., Riverside, $6 with a costume, $8 without, 21 and older only.

Visit www.facebook.com/Official100Proof for more on the band.

Here’s the band performing “Place to Be” at the 2012 Localpalooza battle at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

HALLOWEEN 2013: Rob Zombie adds another Great American Nightmare performance

Rob Zombie has added a second performance at his Great American Nightmare experience in Pomona. (2013/File Photo)

There is much more Halloween info available at PE.com. Visit Halloween Guide 2013 for costumes, contests and more.

Apparently the masses just can’t get enough of Rob Zombie this Halloween season.

The macabre-loving rocker, filmmaker and haunted experience coordinator extraordinaire has announced that he will perform at a second date of his Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare at the Pomona Fairplex.

The Halloween attraction combines scary mazes and big-name concerts so you can rock out and get scared out of your mind in the same night.

Zombie was already booked to headline Saturday, Nov. 2, the final night of Great American Nightmare, with Eagles of Death Metal and Powerman 5000. Now he is also on the bill for Friday, Nov. 1 with Powerman 5000 and 45 Grave.

There is also an electronic dance music late-night after party on Nov. 1 with Destroid and Dirtyphonics.

The Great American Nightmare has multiple mazes, including one where the walls shock you while you are deprived of sight, and one that’s too explicit to talk about in detail in a family publication.

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Speaking of the Great American Nightmare, Andrew W.K., who I just saw at The Vault in Temecula over the weekend, is performing on Halloween night with Jello Biafra, Agent Orange and more.

Pre-sale tickets start at $30 for Thursdays and Sundays and $35 for Fridays and Saturdays, but the Rob Zombie nights start at $45. The tickets get you into the show and the mazes.

Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare is located at the Pomona Fairplex at 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona. Visit www.greatamericannightmare.com for more information.

PE LIVE: The McKintree Boys get instrumental

The McKintree Boys perform at Hangar 24 during a recent taping of PE Live. (Matthew Schoenmann/Freelance Photographer)

If you need some music for your halftime celebration today, check out The McKintree Boys on PE Live.

We filmed the band, whose members live in Riverside, Redlands and San Bernardino, last Saturday out at Hangar 24 Brewery.

They kicked off the night of high-energy music with this instrumental, “Valley of Drum Oak.”

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TEMECULA: Photos of Andrew W.K. at The Vault

Andrew W.K. performs at The Vault in Temecula on Oct. 18, 2013 while his hype man Blakey Boy sprays the crowd with water during the finale “I Get Wet.” (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

One of the best parts of my job is that sometimes I get to take pictures in addition to spending my days listening to and writing about music.

Being that I love to take pictures at shows, the one thing I hate is the paranoia that sets in ever since I blew not one, but two camera shutters over the three days at Stagecoach 2012. On Friday night, at the Andrew W.K. show at The Vault in Temecula, I almost had a breakdown when I got the dreaded “error 99” on a camera that had been working fine when I tested it before I went down to the show.

Luckily it was merely a busted battery and I was able to duck back into the pit to get a couple of shots of The Infamous They before the Temecula band wrapped up its set. I also snapped some shots of fellow opening acts Midnight Satellites, The Coltranes and Strike Twelve. Sadly, the traffic was too gnarly for me to make it down to see the first band of the night, Ascension, but they’ve been getting rave reviews.

Thanks to The Vault, who is always super cool about letting us photograph the entire show, not just the first couple of songs.

Check out the pictures of Andrew W.K.’s show at The Vault in Temecula and read more about Andrew W.K.’s Party Messiah show.

Andrew W.K. performs at The Vault in Temecula on Oct. 18, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

TEMECULA: Andrew W.K. parties at The Vault

Andrew W.K. performs at The Vault in Temecula on Oct. 18, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

Andrew W.K. promised a party and that’s what the rocker brought to The Vault in Temecula on Friday, Oct. 18.

The intimate show was part of W.K.’s “Party Messiah” tour and featured only him on the keyboards, plus his dancer/backup singer/tour manager/hype man Blakey Boy.

(Remember how the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have Ben Carr, their dancing member? Imagine him crossed with a wind-up dancing toy that pirouettes, pumps its fists in the air and keeps the party vibe going. That’s Blakey Boy.)

This was not your typical rock show, something W.K. reiterated throughout the evening.

“It’s just a party,” he told the crowd.

PHOTO GALLERY: Andrew W.K. at The Vault in Temecula

With fog machines setting the mood, W.K. took the stage in his typical white T-shirt, white jeans and white sneakers and launched into “It’s Time to Party,” stuffing a microphone in the front of his pants. (It was a matter of efficiency, not an obscene gesture.)

He spent most of the show behind the keyboard, his long brown hair bouncing as he pounded on the keys.

W.K. told the crowd the show was his first visit to the Inland Empire and praised the opening bands, particularly Temecula’s Midnight Satellites.

Andrew W.K. performs at The Vault in Temecula on Oct. 18, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

The night of music also included Strike Twelve, The Coltranes, The Infamous They and Ascension.

The supporting bands also showed their appreciation for W.K.. The merch table was easily the most raucous area of fans during W.K.’s set, with synchronized dancing, chanting and general partying.

W.K. also complimented The Vault from the stage. His Inland Empire adoration continued when he tried to change the lyrics to “I Love NYC” to “I Love Inland Empire.”

It didn’t quite work as well as New York City in the song, but the crowd appreciated the effort.

The set was filled with W.K.’s party-centric favorites, primarily from his debut album “I Get Wet. Highlights included “Ready to Die” and “Party Hard.”

I also think there’s something hilarious about singing “We Want Fun” and its party-centric, let’s get wasted lyrics in an all ages club in Temecula where the hardest things you can ingest are a can of Coke and M&Ms.

Andrew W.K. had the crowd count backwards from 100 before topping the night off with the title track “I Get Wet.”

But the party wasn’t quite over. He invited fan Petre Spassov, of Fullerton, onto the stage after the song. Spassov proposed to his girlfriend, Becky Radu, on the stage. She said yes.

Spassov had been planning the proposal for six months. Why propose at an Andrew W.K. show?

“I love Andrew W.K. He got me through some hard times,” Spassov said.

Check out the photo gallery from the show over at PE.com.

PE LIVE: The McKintree Boys tell the story of a boat

The McKintree Boys perform at Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands. (Matthew Schoenmann/Freelance Photographer)

The McKintree Boys have just displaced both the theme song from “The Love Boat” and “I’m on a Boat” as my favorite nautical tunes–and they did it with a song about a boat that helped people escape the Irish Potato Famine.

“The Auld Pat Henry” is a rocking number by the Inland band, which has plenty of Celtic tradition in its music. If you enjoy Flogging Molly with a touch of the Dropkick Murphys, this is for you.

Watch The McKintree Boys perform it with one of our PE Live videos.

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TEMECULA: Andrew W.K. talks about the power of positive partying

Andrew W.K. is coming to Temecula on Friday, Oct. 18. (Ashley Eberbach/Contributed Image)

Earlier this week I posted some of the party tips Andrew W.K. shared with me ahead of his show at The Vault in Temecula on Friday, Oct. 18.

W.K. is also the feature story in my column for the print edition of the Audio File this week. One of the things we talked about was his upcoming book, “The Party Bible,” which Simon & Schuster will be publishing next year. Here’s an excerpt from the story:

“It’s not a memoir; it’s really not an autobiography or anything like that, it’s more of a self-help book,” W.K. said. “I’m trying to help myself as much as anyone else.”

The book embraces W.K.’s ethos — harnessing the power of positive partying.

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“I’m just trying to cheer up our brain and have some fun and not go completely insane,” W.K. said.

You can read the full story with Andrew W.K. over at the iGuide. He’ll also be back in town on Halloween for a show at Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare thing in Pomona.

W.K. also encouraged fans to ask him party questions and connect with him via the Internet. He’s often on Twitter, where he disseminates some of the best party tips of all.

YUCAIPA: Dynasty plays The Paradigm Saturday

Darasuum will perform at The Paradigm in Yucaipa. (Contributed Image)

If the name Dynasty conjures up images of cat fights and Joan Collins, don’t be tempted by a big metal and hardcore show at The Paradigm in Yucaipa this weekend.

Yes, the headlining band is Dynasty, but it will be less soap opera and more mosh pit.

Inland band Darasuum (pictured) is also performing, plus Brave Coast, Palace in Ruins, The City Moves, Narrow Lies the Path and Deadlands.

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5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, The Paradigm, 13700 Calimesa Blvd. Yucaipa, $7, all ages.

Visit www.facebook.com/theparadigmvenue for more information.