Friday, July 8, 2016

TUCSON OH HOW WE LOVE YOUR SMALL TOWN GUMPTION

If you ask Tucson residents and people worldwide they will tell you: Tucson is a great self absorbed delusional town. A national survey released Thursday shows we're better than great: We are really, really great. No...REALLY REALLY REALLY GREAT! In fact, Tucson comes in first overall in the list of top cities in the United States for everything that is great. And that list includes NY, LA, Tokyo, London and even Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas — both of which Tucson is often compared and aspires — in the regional rankings. Here's what Value Wombat, a company that crunches numbers, does surveys and comes up with demographically based consumer lists, arrived at: • 1st overall nationally; LA, naturally, is No. 2, followed by Des Moines, Iowa; San Francisco; Phoenix-Mesa; Austin, Texas; and Passaic, New Jersey. • We're No. 1 regionally, with Austin and Tulsa, Oklahoma at 2 and 3. • We tanked to the bottom of the pile for actually having valid reasons to believe this, coming in at 200 on the list of 200 cities. • We're 39th for number of Mattress Firm stores. • Tucson came in 31st for the percentage of the population with useless degrees. The Value Wombat study evaluated 200 metropolitan areas using statistical data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Thrillist, the Burau of Labor Statistics and several media surveys including USA Today and Travel & Leisure.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Last Days of the Grumpus Room

FEB 5TH 2008- SEPT 6TH 2008 42 fun as hell shows completed
from a long time ago at a venue in the endless stream of defunct places that were more about music and bands than anything else. check out the disparate lineups sometime. when touring bands converge in the same town thats what happens when youre just trying to support an underground scene instead of whatever happens to be the "in thing"
Tucson Arizona's one and only tiny D.I.Y. all-ages shithole venue. It holds a whopping 60 bodies..its lit by poorly strung Xmas lights and no longer has a pinata.
1250 s 4th ave #138 Tucson AZ
Dont park out front unless you are a band...everyone else hit the sidestreets. There is cheap booze all over the neighborhood and excellent birria across the street. Most shows are 7 bucks and all of the $ goes to the out of town bands gas tanks
. Jun 10 2008 7:00P BOATS/STANDARD DEVIANCE/THE TICS/SLOW THOUGHT Jun 13 2008 9:00P SWING DING AMIGOS, THEE MAKEOUT PARTY, AUDACITY , POLKA MADRE Jun 24 2008 7:00P The RED DONS, The ESTRANGED, LOS RUDOS Jun 28 2008 9:00P BLACK CAMARO,ULTRAMAROON , DIGITAL LEATHER Jul 1 2008 7:00P THE POTENTIAL JOHNS, STANDARD DEVIANCE, JAPANESE MONSTERS Jul 17 2008 7:00P THE CHEAT, BASEMENT APARTMENTS Jul 25 2008 9:00P SHARK PANTS, CANADIAN RIFLE(chicago), SOLID DECLINE(germany) Friday Aug 1st Weekend Nachos (Chicago) Parasites Go! (Bay area) Slow Thought The Fisters
"Not sure if this show happened. My olde mang brane iz broak:
Sunday Aug 3rd Sourvein Alarm Serows
"I dont think this show happened"
Thursday Aug 7th This Runs On Blood (Flagstaff) Vanish Twin TRANSIENT (portland, or) Limbless Torso ???
"Kickoff night to the first Beefstock. A band that had a dog as the vocalist started it off."
Friday Aug 8th THE FANSS NOBUNNY JJCNV ???
"Second night of the first Beefstock. Justin had just left Tucson a couple months previous and this was his glorious return. Also this was JJCNV's first show in Tucson."
AUGUST 12TH- TUESDAY- 7 PM Two other touring bands I cant remember who were sort of a big deal amongst the whole post rock/noise/tech metal crowd GUILTY FACES(ex-RATBYTE) from CT STANDARD DEVIANCE GOD OF THE SEA
"GOTS were the only band that ended up playing cause they were all pretty young and ended up getting drunk and running around the neighborhood acting like nitwits pulling their pants down and pissing on everything along with other stuff bored kids do when they think theyre being shocking. I think all the touring bands ended up sleeping there and somebody brought them food the next day and had a cookout as one of the bands did repairs to their van."
Wed Aug 20th Chow Yun Fat Murder Practice(Sacramento) Full Blown AIDS Bloodied Up Knuckles Wed Aug 27th WITCH HATS(AUS) MC TRACHIOTOMY(New Orleans) two other touring bands ULTRAMAROON
"MC Trachiotomy never went on the tour and two bands from Chicago or the midwest or something played as well. I ended up being able to send Witch Hats over to Club Congress to open one of the first show's that the dudes involved in SWTF threw with their newly formed production company. They rocked my little brain to pieces"
Friday Aug 29th DEVON DISASTER THE SHUDDERS (Bay area) WINELORD
"Devon Disaster, a PHX local moved down to Tucson cause she was Shawn from Digital Leather's girlfriend, didnt play for some lame reason after begging me to book her for months. She was someone who wanted to really be a celebrity ala Madonna and thought that "punk" or whatever you want to call this garbage we are involved in was her ticket to stardom. She also used to bitch about how much she hated "local" bands, like she was some world wide entity. She proceeded to start bugging me about booking her again a week after this The Shudders had the orig bassist from the Clorox Girls, and Winelord was a great local band that at this point was a power trio and a damned good one at that. It turned into a dance party afterwards with a bunch of 80s+90s pop dance/r&b tracks." I think there were only a couple more shows after this, one being The Blind Shake and Static Static (JHK and Heather with a member of the Red Aunts)* and another being The Intelligence with another local I cant remember that was sort of popular but ran in different circles, but was friends with the Intelligence, and Isaac and Levi's brother Adam's band Sexual Ambulance or whatever they were called at the time. Which was the very last show at this place, The World's Worst Pet Store, and had me getting a ticket for disturbing the peace after the meth head that lived on the corner called the police cause somebody pooped on her steps. The location was across the street from Tucson's biggest homeless park. I never did pay that ticket.
*Ah just found evidence of this sat july 21st static static (ex detonations) the blind shake (minneapolis...michael yonkers backing band) the complainiacs +more?

20 Metal Albums Awaiting Your Discovery

This started out as a piece on thrash metal albums that never really got their due in comparison to the Big 4: Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. Out of which both Metallica and Slayer should hang it up and Anthrax and Megadeth never really seemed all that deserving of being on top. Anthrax and Megadeth both probably having enough decent material for a greatest hits comp if that. Sorry Mustaine heads nothing after "So Far, So Good, So What" is worthwhile and both that album and their first is only half decent.
If you like any of those bands you should have a working knowledge of all the following bands or at least their first couple albums, so I wont be writing about: Exodus - Bonded By Blood, Metal Church - The Dark, Testament - The Legacy, Flotsam and Jetsam - No Place For Disgrace, Voivod (all), Sodom, Carnivore, Destruction, Sacrifice, Kreator, Sepultura, Celtic Frost, Nuclear Assault, or Possessed. So writing about those bands albums is kind of unneeded as their audience already knows them and anyone you'd be introducing them too probably isn't going to like it.
Instead we will discuss some albums by bands that you might not know at all. Secret hidden works that have slipped through the cracks of time to await discovery by the lucky few.
So here are 20 bands that if you like metal (all different types) you'll probably dig
avenger blood sports germany coven blessed is the black usa cyclone temple I hate therefore I am usa deadhorse horsecore or peaceful feelings and pretty flowers usa dream death journey into mystery usa exhorder slaughter in the vatican usa grave digger heavy metal breakdown germany holy terror mind wars usa liege lord master control usa morbid saint spectrum of death usa nightstick ultimatum usa sabbat history of a time to come or dreamweaver uk sacrilege bc - party with god usa satan court in the act uk savage grace the masters disguise or after the fall from grace usa tko in your face usa tokyo blade night of the blade uk tyrant too late to pray usa violence eternal nightmare usa wehrmacht shark attack or biermacht usa