- 6/23/09 9:00 PM PA’s Lounge Somerville MA
- 6/24/09 9:00 PM Symposium Lakewood OH
- 6/25/09 5:00 PM Vaudeville Mews Des Moines IA
- 6/26/09 10:00 PM Way Out Club St. Louis MO
- 6/27/09 8:00 PM Penny Road Pub Barrington IL
- 6/30/09 8:00 PM Big V’s St. Paul MN
Monday, May 25, 2009
Summer Shows
The VB summer touring schedule is about a month away. In late June we hit the road for New England & the Midwest. Confirmed dates are listed below (likely more to come later; if you've got ideas for other places/parties along the way - or even just a place to crash one night - send us a comment/message). More complete info on the website "Shows" page. Tell yer friends.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Dan's New Band Crush
So Saturday night we played a party in the courtyard behind Paris Manicini's (The Natch!, America's Sweetheart) art gallery/ thrift shop EPOH OWL in Brooklyn. Great space, great lineup, and great sounding, too (thanks for the audio setup, Chris!). Lit-up cars driving into the parking lot directly behind the stage was a nice touch.
Evening started with beatbox/ guitar work by the Young Boys (boy?). Unfortunately, he left his iPod onstage and we destroyed it during our later performance. Yeah, ah, sorry about that.
Then came The Natch! (formerly America's Sweetheart). We love these guys to death, and they're writing songs like crazy and getting stronger with every show they play (and they were top-notch performers already!). Watch them take over New York (again).
And then came a band I hadn't seen before. Royal Pink: Four chicks take the stage in pink 50's poodle skirts. We're like, “Wait, how does that make sense as an opener for VB?” Well, for starters they're just flat-out awesome. Two bass players (no guitar). Great rock-solid drummer. Singer with incredibly strong pipes. And they're playing these sweetly 50's-tinged songs about protesting, getting naked, layin' pipe, jizz on the wall, having a gay boyfriend, etc., etc. They're playing and dancing their hearts out. And I'm like, “Yeah, that's EXACTLY the ideal VB opener!”
So then we take the stage and do our usual thing, and it was one of the best audiences we've had lately (and we're on a good jog recently), great sound all around (as I said above). May I say how ludicrously awesome it is to have chicks in pink poodle skirts jumping and throwing down in our mosh pit? Hell yeah. That may be central to our next music video, you heard it here first.
Evening started with beatbox/ guitar work by the Young Boys (boy?). Unfortunately, he left his iPod onstage and we destroyed it during our later performance. Yeah, ah, sorry about that.
Then came The Natch! (formerly America's Sweetheart). We love these guys to death, and they're writing songs like crazy and getting stronger with every show they play (and they were top-notch performers already!). Watch them take over New York (again).
And then came a band I hadn't seen before. Royal Pink: Four chicks take the stage in pink 50's poodle skirts. We're like, “Wait, how does that make sense as an opener for VB?” Well, for starters they're just flat-out awesome. Two bass players (no guitar). Great rock-solid drummer. Singer with incredibly strong pipes. And they're playing these sweetly 50's-tinged songs about protesting, getting naked, layin' pipe, jizz on the wall, having a gay boyfriend, etc., etc. They're playing and dancing their hearts out. And I'm like, “Yeah, that's EXACTLY the ideal VB opener!”
So then we take the stage and do our usual thing, and it was one of the best audiences we've had lately (and we're on a good jog recently), great sound all around (as I said above). May I say how ludicrously awesome it is to have chicks in pink poodle skirts jumping and throwing down in our mosh pit? Hell yeah. That may be central to our next music video, you heard it here first.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The VB Touring FAQ
1. What's the name of your band?
Victor Bravo.
2. There's just two of you?
Yep.
3. How many mics do you need?
Just one.
(One hour later...)
4. Holy god, how are you guys so LOUD!?
Ha.
Victor Bravo.
2. There's just two of you?
Yep.
3. How many mics do you need?
Just one.
(One hour later...)
4. Holy god, how are you guys so LOUD!?
Ha.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Listening to Dead Stars
I really like the band Dead Stars. The last time I saw them at Europa, I got a copy of their upcoming CD (no art or title yet, but you can hear many of the songs on their MySpace page, here: http://www.myspace.com/deadstars ).
I played the CD, like, 4 days ago, and I'm finding that I've got multiple of their songs stuck in my head as I wake up in the morning, get around town, etc. On the one hand, it might be a bit lighter than a lot of the stuff I usually listen to. Jeff on guitar/vox feels pretty poppy to me, but Jaye & John (on drums and bass) have the capacity to bring a furious prolonged beat-down whenever they want to. So, it feels like they can swing from achingly-beautiful to monster-rock at a moment's notice, with complete confidence.
I think it's the songs "Break the Tide", "The Party's Over", and "Fade Away" that I've got stuck in my head, but the whole album is incredibly solid. That's one great sign for these guys, in that every single song the disc is really satisfying and really belongs there. Other great sign is that they both sound great on a recording, and they also kick massive ass live (something that a lot of bands seem to find hard to accomplish).
They've got shows in DC, Chapel Hill, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn listed on their MySpace page, check 'em out if you have the chance.
I played the CD, like, 4 days ago, and I'm finding that I've got multiple of their songs stuck in my head as I wake up in the morning, get around town, etc. On the one hand, it might be a bit lighter than a lot of the stuff I usually listen to. Jeff on guitar/vox feels pretty poppy to me, but Jaye & John (on drums and bass) have the capacity to bring a furious prolonged beat-down whenever they want to. So, it feels like they can swing from achingly-beautiful to monster-rock at a moment's notice, with complete confidence.
I think it's the songs "Break the Tide", "The Party's Over", and "Fade Away" that I've got stuck in my head, but the whole album is incredibly solid. That's one great sign for these guys, in that every single song the disc is really satisfying and really belongs there. Other great sign is that they both sound great on a recording, and they also kick massive ass live (something that a lot of bands seem to find hard to accomplish).
They've got shows in DC, Chapel Hill, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn listed on their MySpace page, check 'em out if you have the chance.
Monday, May 4, 2009
New England Tour Recap
We had an awesome time playing New England this past weekend. We left NYC Friday and headed up to Maine to play Slainte on Preble Street in Portland. Our good friends in The Natch from NYC played first and gave everyone an amazing set. This band consists of the 3 surviving members of the recently-broken-up America's Sweetheart. They only had a few weeks as a 3-piece to get ready for this show, and you could never have known.
Then we took the stage. We opened with our new song "Jagged Cross" and right from the first chord and beat the crowd seemed really responsive. We had a total blast playing. Slainte is kind of small and intimate, but it ended up suiting us wonderfully. The set list for those who need it:
1. Jagged Cross
2. Make the Escape
3. Sarbanes-Oxley
4. Spin Cycle
5. Better Lives
6. The Door
7. Night Scales
8. Alien Homeland
9. Binge
10. Motherfucker
Apparently we were the loudest band to ever play Slainte, which of course delights us to no end. Huge thanks to Laura and Rob, and all their friends for coming out, to Ian of Slainte for assisting us and being such an amazing host, and to Trish and The Natch for setting up the show and inviting us on to the bill.
The following day we went to see X-Men: Origins in Newington, New Hampshire, then booked it on down to Lowell, Massachusetts to play 119 Gallery.
We fell in love with this combination art gallery/music space immediately. It had been recommended to us by our friends in Runny, who played there a short while back. The booker Angie was super-nice to us from the first e-mail I sent her asking if we could play, to the moment we left after the show. And it was an awesome bill of local bands that preceded us: 1,000 Paper Cranes kicked the night off in grand rockin' style with their third show ever as a band, Wednesday Night Militia revved it up a notch with their first show ever, and Hayburner nearly blew the roof off the place before we had our shot at it. Folks in Wendesday Night Militia and Hayburner stuck around for our set and were very complimentary and supportive. We really liked everyone we met and hope to play with all of them again at some point. Again, it was a great crowd who shouted, jumped around and gave us a fantastic response after every song, and even demanded an encore (which we rarely grant, but for these special folks we made an exception!).
The set list from that show:
1. Jagged Cross
2. Make the Escape
3. Sarbanes-Oxley
4. Better Lives
5. Into Debt
6. Alien Homeland
7. Binge
8. Transparent
9. Motherfucker
10 (Encore). Name Today
Thanks on this one first off to Lemon Cookie of Runny for giving us the low-down on the place, to 119 Gallery, to Angie for booking us and Mike for helping us out with sound and set-up, to all 3 of the amazing bands that played before us, to our Boston-area superfans John and Theresa for coming out, rocking out, giving us a great place to crash afterwards and feeding us so generously, and to everyone who came out and stuck around for our show. We love you all, and can't wait to go back.
We're gearing up now for our trip to Ohio this weekend to play 19-South in Athens, Ohio (home of Ohio University) with the totally-rad, all-female punk band The Revulvas. We are PSYCHED.
Then we took the stage. We opened with our new song "Jagged Cross" and right from the first chord and beat the crowd seemed really responsive. We had a total blast playing. Slainte is kind of small and intimate, but it ended up suiting us wonderfully. The set list for those who need it:
1. Jagged Cross
2. Make the Escape
3. Sarbanes-Oxley
4. Spin Cycle
5. Better Lives
6. The Door
7. Night Scales
8. Alien Homeland
9. Binge
10. Motherfucker
Apparently we were the loudest band to ever play Slainte, which of course delights us to no end. Huge thanks to Laura and Rob, and all their friends for coming out, to Ian of Slainte for assisting us and being such an amazing host, and to Trish and The Natch for setting up the show and inviting us on to the bill.
The following day we went to see X-Men: Origins in Newington, New Hampshire, then booked it on down to Lowell, Massachusetts to play 119 Gallery.
We fell in love with this combination art gallery/music space immediately. It had been recommended to us by our friends in Runny, who played there a short while back. The booker Angie was super-nice to us from the first e-mail I sent her asking if we could play, to the moment we left after the show. And it was an awesome bill of local bands that preceded us: 1,000 Paper Cranes kicked the night off in grand rockin' style with their third show ever as a band, Wednesday Night Militia revved it up a notch with their first show ever, and Hayburner nearly blew the roof off the place before we had our shot at it. Folks in Wendesday Night Militia and Hayburner stuck around for our set and were very complimentary and supportive. We really liked everyone we met and hope to play with all of them again at some point. Again, it was a great crowd who shouted, jumped around and gave us a fantastic response after every song, and even demanded an encore (which we rarely grant, but for these special folks we made an exception!).
The set list from that show:
1. Jagged Cross
2. Make the Escape
3. Sarbanes-Oxley
4. Better Lives
5. Into Debt
6. Alien Homeland
7. Binge
8. Transparent
9. Motherfucker
10 (Encore). Name Today
Thanks on this one first off to Lemon Cookie of Runny for giving us the low-down on the place, to 119 Gallery, to Angie for booking us and Mike for helping us out with sound and set-up, to all 3 of the amazing bands that played before us, to our Boston-area superfans John and Theresa for coming out, rocking out, giving us a great place to crash afterwards and feeding us so generously, and to everyone who came out and stuck around for our show. We love you all, and can't wait to go back.
We're gearing up now for our trip to Ohio this weekend to play 19-South in Athens, Ohio (home of Ohio University) with the totally-rad, all-female punk band The Revulvas. We are PSYCHED.
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