The Adventurers Club

MC Lars - The Edgar Allan Poe EP

Record of the Week is primarily reserved for vinyl, but occasionally I'll also feature a cool release in another format.

I first heard about MC Lars through his association with Jaret Reddick. Reddick is of course the front man for Bowling for Soup. In addition to a tour with Bowling for Soup, MC Lars also signed a distribution deal with Jaret's record label, Crappy Records.

This was also how I discovered the very touching MC Lars song "23". This song is about a college friend that committed suicide. It's a beautiful song that needs to be seen by a lot more people. The video was directed by Heath Balderston and Jaret Reddick for Built By Ninjas Productions

I next heard of Lars when he toured with Wheatus in the UK. That tour led to the show that I saw at the Milestone Club as MC Lars and Math the Band continued their touring relationship by doing a series of shows in the States.

Our current ROTW is the new EP by MC Lars, The Edgar Allan Poe EP. The EP is released on Horris records which is the label founded by Lars. I picked up this CD at his Milestone show and it's indie all the way down to it's handwritten "label". This is the kind of merch I love, music straight from the artist.

MC Lars - The Edgar Allan Poe EP

 

MC Lars - The Edgar Allan Poe EP

 

MC Lars - The Edgar Allan Poe EP

 

MC Lars - Merch table at The Milestone Club

 

"Flow Like Poe" the official video from MC Lars

I'm not what you would call a rap fan, but I love good music and good lyrics. I have to admit I'm hooked on the stuff that Lars is recording. I'll be keeping up with his career.

Check out both of the videos I've embedded here and check out MC Lars next time he's in town.

'til  Lars does a take on Dr. Tar and Professor Feather

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Math the Band - 4 to 6

Another Awesome Record of the Week featuring Math the Band.

I first became aware of Math the Band through their tour with Wheatus and MC Lars. After the Wheatus tour MC Lars and Math continued with a U.S. tour, and that tour came to The Milestone Club in Charlotte.

Math the Band is Kevin Steinhauser and Justine Mainville. They play a pretty intense set of electronic punk. Actually, that's probably not a good description, you'll just have to go see them to get a good idea of their show. On stage Kevin plays the guitar while Justine plays a keyboard and a drum. To say their show is high energy is an understatement. I'm not quite sure how their instruments can keep up, but I think they must have to perform quite a bit of maintenance.

Watch the video, visit their web page, and check 'em out when they come to your town. 

Math the Band - 4 to 6 - Picture Sleeve

 

Math the Band - 4 to 6 - Sleeve Back

 

Math the Band - 4 to 6 - A Side

 

Math the Band - 4 to 6 - B Side

 

Math the Band - 4 to 6 - Inner Sleeve

 

A different color of vinyl. Taken from the Math the Band merch store on their web site. Sadly, I don't own one of these.

 

Math the Band Merch table from The Milestone Club show.

 

A cool Math the Band Gameboy T-shirt

 

4 to 6 the official video: 

 

'til Math the Band comes to your town

KeeP the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Vanity Theft - Rattle Rattle

Out third post from the Vanity Theft show at The Milestone Club in Charlotte. This show was part of the Lady Killers Tour with Sick of Sarah and Hunter Valentine.

Rattle Rattle is available on iTunes.

Alicia Grodecki - Lady Killers Tour - Milestone Club

 

Allison Kelly, Alicia Grodecki, Elyse Driskill and Brittany Hill of Vanity Theft at The Milestone Club

 

Vanity Theft at The Milestone Club during the Lady Killers Tour

 

Allison Kelly and Alicia Grodecki of Vanity Theft at The Milestone Club

 

Vanity Theft performs Rattle Rattle at The Milestone Club

 

'til we get back to The Milestone

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Vanity Theft - Anatomy

Here's a little more Vanity theft from their Milestone Club appearance on August 22nd. This show was part of the Lady Killers Tour with Sick of Sarah and Hunter Valentine.

Anatomy is available on iTunes.

Vanity Thefty at The Milestone in Charlotte

 

Alicia Grodecki - Vanity Theft - The Milestone Club in Charlotte

 

Elyse Driskill - Vanity Theft - The Milestone Club Charlotte

 

Brittany Hill - Guitar Pedals - The Milestone Club Charlotte

 

Vanity Theft perform Anatomy at The Milestone Club in Charlotte

'til Vanity Theft once again graces the Milestone stage

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Hunter Valentine - A Youthful Existence - The Milestone Club

We discovered Hunter Valentine because of The Dollyrots who recommend them highly. August was our second time seeing these ladies and they rocked just as hard as they did the first time. For those that aren't familar with them, I'm not sure how to classify them other than to say take a dash of blues, punk, and rock, mix it up, shake the hell of it, and then add some tabasco sauce. Yeah, that'll do it.

Actually just check Hunter Valentine out on iTunes or scroll down to the clip from the Milestone show below. 

If you get a chance, go see these women and say hi, we know from personal experience they give great hugs.

Hunter Valentine at The Milestone Club - Lady Killer Tour - August 22, 2011

Kiyomi McCloskey - Hunter Valentine at The Milestone Club - Lady Killer Tour - August 22, 2011

Laura Petracca - Hunter Valentine at The Milestone Club - Lady Killer Tour - August 22, 2011

Veronica Sanchez - Hunter Valentine at The Milestone Club - Lady Killer Tour - August 22, 2011

Hunter Valentine - A Youthful Existence - The World Famous Milestone Club - Lady Killer Tour

 

For those that are familiar with Hunter Valentine, it was announced shortly after this show that Adrienne Lloyd was in fact no longer in the band, and had been replaced by Veronica.

'til another Lady Killers tour

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Sick of Sarah - Simple Parts - The Milestone Club

Sick of Sarah (Abish Uhl, Jamie Holm, Katie Murphy, Jessie Farmer and Jessica Forsythe) returned to The Milestone Club on August 22nd not long after their stint on Warped Tour.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these ladies remind me of The Bangles. If you've heard their records you might expect a pretty normal concert experience, but the reality is much different. These ladies are intense and play with tons of energy. You could feel it in the room the minute they took the stage and the audience could feel it too. These ladies ROCK.

Sick of Sarah is a very fan friendly band and Abisha Uhl knows how to work a crowd. It's almost a shame if you've only seen them at Warped. Abisha really shines when she can get out among the crowd and include the fans. Check out our video of Sick of Sarah's Autograph from back in March to see what I mean.

It's clear from the Sick of Sarah tour videos that a lot of the stage presence you see is a carryover from their everyday personalities. They clearly love what they do, and it shows in their performances.

For some reason radio ignores the all-female bands. If they spent a few hours with these ladies I think that might change. Here's hoping it does.

Sick of Sarah (Jamie, Abisha, Jessie, Jessica) set up at The Milestone Club. Kiyomi from Hunter Valentine is in the background.

Katie and Jamie of Sick of Sarah setting up at The Milestone Club

 

Katie Murphy stringing her guitar pre-show at The Milestone Club

Katie Murphy playing at The Milestone Club

Jamie Holm of Sick of Sarah playing at The Milestone Club

Sick of Sarah perform Simple Parts at The Milestone Club

'til Sick of Sarah return 

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Vanity Theft - Trainwreck - The Milestone

The Lady Killers tour stopped at The Milestone on August 22nd. Vanity Theft played the Ghetto Fortress along with Hunter Valentine and Sick of Sarah.

The core trio of Vanity Theft consists of Alicia Grodecki (Lead Vocals, Keyboards), Brittany Hill (Lead Guitar) and Elyse Driskill (drums). For this tour they've added Allison Kelly on bass and she seems a perfect fit with the band.

Vanity Theft are an entertaining and energetic live band and I really enjoyed their use of keyboards during the show. Most of the bands I see at the Milestone are guitar driven Punk, so it was nice to see a little more of a New Wave vibe. They have a lot of confidence on stage and it's obvious they've spent a lot of time honing their chops on the road. If radio discovers these ladies I see really big things ahead.

If you get a chance check 'em out. You can grab their CD Get What You Came For at iTunes.

Alicia Grodecki of Vanity Theft at The Milestone

Vanity Theft (Allison, Alicia, Brittany, Elyse) play The Milestone on The Lady Killers Tour

Allison Kelly and Alicia Grodecki of Vanity Theft at The Milestone

Vanity Theft Tour Poster - The Milestone

Vanity Theft "Trainwreck" Live at The Milestone 

'til LadyKillers II

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Dirtbag Love Affair - Growin' Up

This is another example of me taking way too long to post about something. When I saw The Dollyrots back in March I was blown away by one of the bands that opened for them.  Dirtbag Love Affair is the real deal. Great musicians, great performers, and a killer set list of hard-rocking, hook-filled songs. There are way too many bands in our area that can't write songs, but Dirtbag Love Affair shows them how it's done.

They are currently in fund raising mode for a new album. Help them out and contribute via Kickstarter, we're looking forward to another record from these guys.

Here's some video I shot back in March: 

Dirtbag Love Affair at The Milestone 

Dirtbag Love Affair at The Milestone 

'til We're Just a Teenage Dirtbag

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Sick of Sarah - Autograph - The World Famous Milestone

Another video from Sick of Sarah of their performance at The World Famous Milestone on March 27th, 2011.

This video features "Autograph" and includes a lot of interaction with fans at the show. I think it gives you a great idea of what a show at The Milestone is like. 

It begins with Jamie Holm introducing the Milestone to her parents. That clip first appeared in Sick of Sarah On Tour March 2011 Part 16. I encourage to watch that video and all of the "On Tour" clips. They are very entertaining.

Sick of Sarah - 2205 

'til Jamie introduces my next video

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@adventuretom

Luis and Chris - The Dollyrots Soundcheck

Another in a series of iPhone concert photos.

Chris and Luis of The Dollyrots running through soundcheck at The World Famous Milestone.

Chris Black and Luis Cabezas

'til the next show

Keep the adventure alive,

@adventuretom

 

P.S.  Yes, I've posted this before in its original form.

Sick of Sarah - Abisha & Jessie

Another iPhone photo from the Milestone show on March 27th. Though it's just a "phone" I've been pleased with the photos, and not terribly disturbed I didn't use a real camera. I can see the real photographers cringe as I type this!

Jessie Farmer and Abisha Uhl 

'til my iPhone gets a zoom lens

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@adventuretom

Jamie Holm via my iPhone

Playing around with the Halftone app on the iPhone. This is another iPhone pic from the Sick of Sarah show, bassist Jamie Holm.

I like the Halftone app, but I'm not sure the "old comic book" look actually improves photos.

Of course considering my photography skills "old comic book" might actually be an improvement!

Here's my original photo. My favorite part of this photo is Jamie's look: "You want a picture, I'll give you a picture." 

 Jamie Holm at The World Famous Milestone

'til they create an app that makes all your photos awesome!

@adventuretom

 

Sick of Sarah - Photos from The World Famous Milestone

Just a few iPhone photos from the Milestone show in Charlotte on March 27th.

Jamie Holm

Katie Murphy

'til Sick of Sarah returns from the UK

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Hunter Valentine at The World Famous Milestone - "Your Love"

I have to thank The Dollyrots for my discovery of Hunter Valentine.

Kelly, Chris and Luis of The Dollyrots are clearly fans, and because of that, I decided to check Hunter Valentine out when they came to town.

Hunter Valentine

I wasn't disappointed, these ladies can rock. They put on an amazing show, and they are highly personable, so not only is the music aspect there, they are just plain fun to watch. This has always been important to me, I've never cared much for live acts that don't interact with the audience. To me a concert is an interactive experience for both parties, and if that isn't there, it just doesn't work.

To see an example of how a band can totally ignore an audience, pull up an 80's era Cars show. I've always said Ric and the boys could have placed cardboard cutouts on the stage and played a tape. No one would've noticed the difference.

Back to Hunter Valentine. I picked up their new CD at the show and it rocks just as hard as they do live. Clearly they've gone to great effort to record the energy they have while performing. 

Below is a clip I shot at The Milestone. This is Hunter Valentine performing a cover of the Outfield's "Your Love".  I'm still editing footage, so look for more Hunter Valentine at The Milestone in the coming days.

Hunter Valentine "Your Love"

 

This is the new Hunter Valentine CD. Buy it, you'll thank me.

'til that Dollyrots & Hunter Valentine tour

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Sick of Sarah perform Kick Back at The World Famous Milestone

Sick of Sarah came to town March 27th. Here's the band performing "Kick Back" to start the show.

Sick of Sarah "Kick Back" 

Sick of Sarah remind me of the early Bangles. They record great melodic pop songs, but without the overly glossy production you hear in most of what passes as pop-rock today. Live, they kick ass. You have to go to a show to see how hard they really rock.

This was another great show at The Milestone which also featured Hunter Valentine and Lucas of The Cliks. More video from the 27th coming up.

Kick Back is from the new album 2205. Great record, I highly recommend you picking this one up.

'til Sick of Sarah comes back on the Warped Tour

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom