Ska Is Dead tour is just around the corner! So get ready for for some kick ass shows!
If you don’t know already we will be hitting the long road with the Toasters, Mustard Plug, Deal’s Gone Bad, Pilfers, and Green Room Rockers to name a few. Do us favor and spread the word however you can! We guarantee one hell of a good time.
Thanks and we’ll see you at the show!
VGS
www.SkaIsDead.com
www.myspace.com/theskaisdeadtour
Ska Is Dead on Facebook
We got a new album out on the California Street Music Store. It’s from the Japanese trio Friday Knights and they play straight up punk rock. Eddie of the Voodoo Glow Skulls produced and recorded the album. They do a very nice cover of the VGS song Shoot The Moon. So, grab the banner below and post away! Help spread the word and the music!
<a href="http://calstreetmusic.com"> <img src="http://calstreetmusic.com/ads/MagnificentThreeAd.gif" border="0" alt="Friday Knights - The Magnificent Three" /></a>
Some Voodoo Glow Skull dates! Check em!
Mar 26 2009 7:00P(all ages)
ANGELO’S PIZZA@ POMONA, California
Mar 27 2009 8:00P(21+)
ALEX’S BAR@ LONG BEACH, California
Mar 28 2009 2:00P(all ages)
GRIND@TREVI ENTERTAINMENT CENTER@ LAKE ELSINORE, California
Mar 29 2009 6:30P(all ages)
COBALT CAFE@ CANOGA PARK, California
Apr 9 2009 7:00P
WICKED SHAMROCK@ LOMPOC, California
Apr 10 2009 7:00P(all ages)
HOGUE BARMICHAELS@ NEWPORT BEACH, California
Apr 11 2009 2:00P(all ages)
DOWNTOWN STREET JAM@ RIVERSIDE, California
Ska is Dead is back from the grave and headed out west. Since 2004, The Ska is Dead Tour has been North America’s premier ska festival / tour proving that ska is very much alive. Previous incarnations of the tour have crossed North America three times, and crossed the Atlantic once to tour the U.K. Ska is Dead I, II, and III have featured the biggest names in the genre, selling thousands of tickets in some of North America’s best venues. The upcoming tour is no exception and is quickly shaping up to be the best one yet.
Ska is Dead IV includes North America’s longest running ska band The Toasters, as well as skacore legends Voodoo Glow Skulls on all dates along with Deal’s Gone Bad (January 23-Feburary 8, 2009), Mustard Plug (January 23-25, 2009), Buck-O-Nine (February 3-8, 2009), Monkey ( January 22- February 1, 2009) and many more to be announced.
Ska Is Dead IV Tour Routing
1/22/2009 Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad
1/23/2009 Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep Café
1/24/2009 Ft. Collins, CO @ The Aggie Theater
1/25/2009 Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
1/26/2009 Grand Junction, CO @ Mesa Theater
1/27/2009 Salt Lake City, UT @ Avalon Theater
1/28/2009 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
1/29/2009 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
1/30/2009 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
1/31/2009 Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
2/01/2009 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
2/03/2009 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
2/04/2009 TBA
2/05/2009 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
2/06/2009 Las Vegas, NV @ TBA
2/07/2009 Hollywood, CA @ The Knitting Factory
2/08/2009 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
More dates including a second leg of the tour to be announced shortly.
For more information please visit:
www.skaisdead.com
www.myspace.com/theskaisdeadtour
www.toasters.org
www.mustardplug.com
www.buckonine.com
www.voodooglowskulls.com
www.dealsgonebad.com
www.myspace.com/monkeyska
When Voodoo Glow Skulls announced they were starting a new label dubbed, California Street Music, which is the same name as their latest album and that their new label was releasing the 2nd full length, Another Wasted Night from the Riverside cohorts Knock-Out, I thought it would be worth a listen.
I can definitely see why Voodoo Glow Skulls would be interested in this band. The trio comprised of Jared Palazzolo on guitar and vocals, Anthony Marquez on bass, and Hoss Scholz on Drums. That’s right, their drummer’s name is Hoss.
The band comes right out of the gate with a song called Same Ol Thing which could easily be found on a Voodoo Glow Skulls B-Side Album. The songs ominous beginning leads to a fury of snare hits and the thumping bass similar to Voodoo Glow Skulls’ unique blend of Punk & Ska. The band continues with a solid punk performance until they mix things up on Track 4, a song called Fade Away. On Fade Away the band slows things down to a reggae like jam. At first this may seem like an awkward transition but the band is equally effective on the slow jams on the record like, Fade Away and Free Yourself as they are with the furious punk rock tunes like One Night in Paris, The Tank, and the title track.
As I listened to the album a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time, I became more and more impressed with the singing of
Palazzolo. His voice reminds me of a blend of Brad Nowell of Sublime and Chuck Robertson of the Mad Caddies. Its not an overpowering voice mind you but Jared delivers a strong vocal performance that shows his versatility when the songs go from straight up punk rock to the laid back reggae vibe.
Another stand out track that I must mention is the bonus track on Another Wasted Night where the band covers Roberta Flack’s, Killing Me Softly. This unexpected jam was the perfect way to end the record. The band takes this classic song and gives it a fun, ska jam sound.
On the Rocket Fuel gage for albums, 0 being that the album is out of gas, 5 being that the tank is half full or average, and a 10 being that the album is full of gas and ready to blast off, I give Another Wasted Night by Knock-Out a “7″. The collaboration with Eddie and the boys from Voodoo Glow Skulls was a good one and I look forward to seeing what it will yield in the future.
Jeff
Rocket Fuel – Tallahassee, FL
If news about Riverside-based ska-punkers Voodoo Glow Skulls launching their own record label sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because a dozen years ago the band formed El Pocho Loco (a label with a terrific logo that mocked the “El Pollo Loco” restaurant chain emblem), releasing a disc of VGS early cuts (The Potty Training Years in 2000), plus noteworthy albums from Sick Sense, Tribal Lust & The Horny Natives, Still Dreadful and other locals.
Fast forward to today, where déjà vu strikes all over again and news that the Voodoos—namely the familial triumvirate of Frank, Jorge and Eddie Casillas—are back in the label biz, ready to pump out new releases from both their own efforts and other area artists. Rather than resuscitating the El Pocho Loco name, they’ve started fresh by affixing a new moniker to their operation, California Street Music, a name taken from VGS’s latest full-length which hit shelves last fall on Victory Records.
Having started (and closed) record labels in the past, it’s interesting to see that the Casillas brothers have opted to launch California Street Music, with their inaugural release coming from Riverside-based ska/reggae/punk trio Knockout this week. But perhaps it’s a good thing, as they’re better prepared, knowing the rigors of running an indie record label (particularly these days, with sales of physical releases spiraling).
First, Frank notes that he’s more aware of the artists he’s planning to work with this time around. “We’re just not going to sign a bunch of bands that think they’re getting a career handed to them by signing with us,” he says. “That was the case before, when we tried this. It takes two to tango!”
He’s also well aware of the challenges he faces on both technological and financial fronts. “CD retail sales are pretty much obsolete nowadays because of downloads,” Casillas says. “And big retail distributors don’t like to pay for their product on time. But there will always be a core underground following of people who still enjoy actually buying music at their local music retailer. So, we will seek out some independent distribution for stores. One of our main focuses behind selling actual CDs will be at the live shows. Bands gotta tour, because that’s one of the last things that you cannot really duplicate—the live performance.”
Despite the potential hurdles, Casillas feels compelled to make California Street Music a successful venture—if not for his own musical endeavors, then at least for his peers. “We just feel that it’s kind of our duty to represent where we come from, what we’ve accomplished, and possibly help out others who we feel have undiscovered talent.”
Note: Original article can be found here.