#contributor: Jasey Lucker

[expandmedia]

You CAN Fix Your All-Male Tours

Yesterday afternoon, Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low tweeted out this photo, captioning it “Tour fam ::: Young Renegades US tour 2017 ::: We need more ladies around !!!” Which raised some eyebrows and opened up a discussion about what bands should be doing to improve the visibility of women in the music industry. This is far from the first tour to be all male, and All Time Low have participated in more than just a couple of those, which is, unfortunately, the norm.

Now, since Alex has taken the criticism he’s received as an attack on his character, I’d like to clarify that this is simply criticism and proposed improvements. I’m a long time fan, and I truly do think that Alex wants to exemplify more progressive ideals - but the fact of the matter is that they had a chance to do that, and failed to do so.

This tour was All Time Low’s headliner. It would be one thing if they packed the lineup with established bands, but they chose to take out a bunch of smaller bands. The Wrecks - the first opener for the tour - are unsigned and have only released three singles. All Time Low could have taken out a similarly sized band with female members. Alex co-wrote at least one song with The Wrecks though, so this may have been some sort of deal? It’s honestly unclear why such a small all-male band was chosen if Alex really does want to help women in the industry. There are countless bands they could have taken on tour who would have improved the visibility of female artists. That is a fact. The idea that they couldn’t find a single female band that would take the spot means they didn’t look very hard. Bands at the same level as The Wrecks that have female members aren’t exactly few and far between. As influencers, it would be easy for All Time Low to use their position to promote bands with at least one female member, especially ones that already have followings, and yet they are choosing all-male bands. While this could be excused as them helping small bands get on their feet, it doesn’t excuse that none of the bands chosen have female members.

Also, Alex’s defense that they’ve periodically had one or two females on their crew speaks to the deeper problem. One or two isn’t acceptable. The industry should be 50/50. Your crew for your all male band should have more than a one or two girls on it a couple years ago. I am not proposing that they need to fire their crew - that’s not how the industry works. All Time Low have excellent crew retention, and I know they’re very close with their crew and firing them would also be jeopardizing the income and wellbeing of people that the band members are friends with. However, I do think that they should prioritize hiring women when they have openings. All bands should. That is the only way to fix this situation.

This problem is absolutely NOT exclusive to All Time Low – it’s a problem that is rampant across the music industry, and we should hold all bands accountable to improve this. Tell your favorite bands that you want them to hire women. Hell, find bands with women in them, make them your new favorite bands, and promote them so they get more visibility. It’s time for a change in the music industry, and it’s up to fans to make that change. Be the change you want to see in music, and work with bands to improve things to the best of your ability.

By Jasey Lucker

Check out some of our favorite bands with female members below!

Some bands for your consideration-

Tigress

Latest music: their latest EP “Like It Is” was released 17th May 2017

Their bandcamp can be found here and their website is here

Diet Cig

Latest music: their first full studio album was released 7th April 2017

Their bandcamp can be found here

Milk Teeth

Latest music: their first full studio album was released 29th January 2016

Their bandcamp can be found here

Melkbelly

Latest music: a full-length album is said to be coming Fall 2017

Their bandcamp can be found here

Bully

Latest music: their debut album premiered in 2015, with a second album scheduled to be released 20th October 2017

Their bandcamp can be found here

The Pretty Reckless

Latest music: their latest studio album was released 21st October 2016

Their bandcamp can be found here

[expandmedia]

Dodie Announces Her Second EP, You

Dodie has announced her sophomore EP You which is due out August 11th. Pre-order for You begins July 7th, and with it will drop the first single from the EP “6/10”. You can listen to “6/10” tomorrow on Dodie’s Spotify and pre-order You from Apple Music.

[expandmedia]

Band of the Week: +HIRS+

About

+HIRS+ is a grindcore/thrash collective hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that began in 2011. They have a very atypical anonymity, and have a host of musical contributors. They embody much of the spirit that traditionally comes from Philly hardcore, and the riotous, blistering live show that you would expect from such a band.

Sounds Like

A meat grinder? Honestly that might be the best way possible to describe the boisterous sound that +HIRS+ produces. They keep things short and generally not so sweet as his hardcore tradition, but pack a punch in their songs that almost always stay below a minute in length. Their lyrics delve deep into frontwoman JP’s experience as a trans woman, and into the political and social injustices that plague trans people, often becoming ostensively anti-cop, but the collective as a whole is intensely anti-authoritarian. The poignant and bluntly spoken lyrics along with the absolute wall of noise +HIRS+ back them up with make for an amazing and captivating experience 

Music

The collective has done a variety of splits, some notable personal favorites being ones done with Water Torture, Peeple Watchin, Lifes, and their most recent release with Romantic States. They have a truly huge discography, which I suppose is easy to do if you have songs that are occasionally one second long. They have two of what could be considered full lengths - one titled THE FIRST 100 SONGS, the second, surprise! Is called THE SECOND 100 SONGS. If you’re worried about the length - a whole hundred songs? Consider this: the shortest song on the latter of the two albums - “we are.” - clocks in under one second. They have some awesome EPs that are also worth a listen, too YØU CAN’T KILL US, TRANS GIRL TAKEOVER 2K17, and The Sexxxy Flexxxi are all very notable moments in the collectives’ extensive history. You can check out all of their music on their Bandcamp.

Photo courtesy of Yoni Kroll

Members

+HIRS+, rather than having a typical lineup exists as a collective. Frontwoman JP and guitarist Esem are usually part of the lineup, but the collective consists of a host of rotating musicians, and because of others’ involvement prefer to refer to themselves as a collective, rather than a band.

Tour

Currently the only show +HIRS+ is planning on having is in their hometown of Philadelphia, PA  on July 11th @ Glitter Galaxy with Pube, Pandemix, and TVO

How Are They Diverse?

+HIRS+ have never shied away from the ‘queercore’ label, speaking extensively about frontwoman JP’s experience as a trans woman in this day and age. Many of their musical collaborators have also been trans or gender non-conforming, and +HIRS+ seem to care very deeply about visibility, activism, and lgbtq+ issues.

[expandmedia]

Julien Baker Releases Summer Tour Dates

Julien Baker has announced a summer US tour that she will be doing with Cold War Kids, Belle & Sebastian, Luray, and Ben Folds. You can find Julien’s music on her bandcamp, the dates for her US shows below, and tickets here.

7/27 Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre #

8/4 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room +

8/5 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre +

8/7 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater +

8/9 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court +

8/10 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory %

8/12-13 Missoula, MT @ Travelers’ Rest

8/15 St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre  #

8/16 Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre #

8/17 Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amatheater #

8/26 Davenport, IA @ Adler Theater ^

# - w/ Belle & Sebastian

% w/ Cold War Kids

+ w/ Luray

^ w/ Ben Folds

[expandmedia]

Album Review: All Time Low - Last Young Renegade 3.5/5

Recommended Tracks  - “Ground Control”, “Dark Side of Your Room”, “Dirty Laundry”

   All Time Low are hardly new in the alternative scene - their breakthrough album So Wrong It’s Right came out a decade ago, and all four original members have been a part of the band for 14 years. Their latest release, Last Young Renegade is the band's 7th studio album, and their first released under Fueled By Ramen. The album is a first for the band in many regards, not only have they left their previous label home, Hopeless Records, but it also marks a huge musical shift for them. It leaves many of the pretenses of their early 2000s pop-punk sound for an 80s tinged, synth driven, more straightforward pop rock. While their previous LP Future Hearts was driving more towards the pop rock sound that Last Young Renegade really hones in, the 80s influences really seem to make the sound work much better for the band. Frontman Alex Gaskarth has also stated that this is a concept album of sorts - the lyrics venture to explore his perception of how others view him, and aim to give a persona to those perceptions. I think the album is a decent offering, but is generally a little lackluster. The risks the band took often paid off, but several tracks fell very short for me. 

   The album kicks off with two tracks that I view as being cut from a similar cloth, “Last Young Renegade” and “Drugs and Candy” - both remind me very distinctly of their third studio album Nothing Personal. “Last Young Renegade” really re-captures Nothing Personal’s young love narrative that was so deeply endearing. It made it an amazing start to the album, really giving a good background to the character Gaskarth was creating. “Drugs and Candy” on the other hand reminded me of some of the more negative aspects of Nothing Personal - cliché, over dramatic lyrics, and clunky-sounding synths. Both songs have nasty, overly compressed vocal overlays that are clearly wanting to play into the 80s vibe, but are just unneeded. Both have very mediocre guitar tones, but amazing drumming courtesy of their drummer, Rian Dawson.

  “Dirty Laundry” - the first single released from the album - is the third track, and really takes it up a notch from the two tracks preceding it. It, yet again, has the vocal effects that I don’t think jive well with the music. The snare through most of the beginning also has an echo-y sound that doesn’t really fit the other instrumentation on the song that well, and I think that the post-chorus kills the momentum the chorus builds - but all of those complaints are honestly incredibly minor. The guitar on this is some of the most interesting instrumentation on the album: the tone is extremely solid, and the solo in the middle, while not complex, is fun and works very well. The song goes from vaguely average to being absolutely amazing going into the last few choruses. It gets rather anthemic, and will surely become a huge staple of the band’s live set.

   All Time Low have always had really good, softer offerings, and “Good Times” is no exception. It’s the first song on the album to mostly do away with the strange vocal effects, and it really lets Gaskarth’s vocals shine through. It is honestly a very normal, more acoustically-minded All Time Low song, and is maybe a little bland for it, but not bad at all. The song does use a pitched vocal sample method that is recurring on this album that does get rather tiring by the end.

    The next two tracks “Nice2KnoU” and “Life of the Party” are both very solid offerings that complement each other very well. “Nice2KnoU” is a great pace changer from “Good Times” and feels like a very typical All Time Low song. This song was the first time that I really felt the album’s concept shining through; Gaskarth may be seeing himself through the eyes of all of those that he’s left behind over the years. “Life of the Party” continues strong with the concept, with it standing as an antithesis to ironic party jams like “Poppin’ Champagne” that they’ve put out over the years. It’s a great showcase of Gaskarth’s high range - except that they muddle his talent with yet another compressed sounding vocal effect. Dawson also does some interesting things percussively in the second to last chorus that I enjoyed.

   I think the best summation of “Nightmares” - the 7th track on the album - is that it’s going to give me nightmares. I understand what Gaskarth was trying to go for here - but oh my god does it miss the mark. He was trying to play to the concept again and explore this character’s childhood trauma, but in his attempt to drive home the thematic childhood, he makes this song sound simplistic, empty and almost unfinished. The song is riddled with played out boring clichés and is beyond repetitive with two extremely short verses and the long, already repetitive chorus repeating five (five!!!!) times.The layered filtered vocals do work on this track better than many of the others, but they still end up sounding rather grating. It completely lacks any kind of dynamic and just falls incredibly flat for me. This song alone took this album from a 4/5 to a 3.5/5, and it kills the momentum the album had been building to.

    Luckily, things pick up pretty spectacularly from there. The anthemic “Dark Side of Your Room” is a hidden gem on this album - I would be surprised if they do not release this as a single later into the album’s cycle, it’s easily one of the strongest tracks on the album. While “Drugs and Candy” was a clearly about clinging to a toxic relationship - and nearly revelling in it - “Dark Side of Your Room” seems to be the realization that it’s really not going to work out. The layered vocals sound raw here, and I think that causes the song to hit harder and closer than any of the others up to this point. The synths, which were rather trite on other songs, make sense here and sound very nice. The chorus is incredible - something that will so easily go off in a live setting - and is backed by the best drums on the album.

     Another hit for me was the duet with Tegan & Sara “Ground Control”, the second to last song on the album. The pairing of the two bands seems highly unlikely, but works absolutely incredibly. This is the song where the 80s influence is head turning and makes an incredible amount of sense. The instrumentation is the best on the album - the synths work so well, the clean production makes the emotional nature of the lyrics shine to an absurd degree, and even the vocal effects that were so grating on other songs work extremely well. I appreciate the title’s tribute to Bowie - it makes sense in the face of his loss, and Gaskarth has said that Bowie was played often during the recording of this album. It’s fitting, beautiful, and haunting. Gaskarth’s voice sounds perfect with Tegan & Sara’s. This song is easily my favorite off of the album, and one I was expecting to be strange and not really my thing, just from the oddity that was the duet. I honestly think this is the best song Gaskarth has ever written.

    Somehow, the album still ends on a sour note. “Afterglow” is a confusing song doesn't seem to know what it's supposed to be, and takes the amazing vibe from the past two songs and just…warps it. The drums were often the thing keeping songs together on this album, but instead of taking advantage of their incredibly talented drummer, they have him on hand drums giving this song an extremely weird and disjointed vibe. On top of that, “Afterglow” sounds like a weird hybrid between a christian rock song, and Imagine Dragons-esque bland mid-2010s indie. The group vocals at the end only work to enhance the feeling that this is a song a “cool” youth pastor would send your way. The synths that start at the second chorus are big, dirty, and ripping and are actually one of the biggest high points of this song. It was all in all, a lacking conclusion. It’s somehow fitting that the album ends in a song that’s seemingly having an identity crisis.

    In summation, this album is riding the 80s nostalgia train, and it works - sometimes. The new sound generally works for the band, but my biggest gripe with it the effects they constantly layer over Alex’s vocals. I think this album was a huge improvement from Future Hearts, but still much of their discography leaves this album in the dust. I think that the light concept was interesting, but only really even remotely clear at a few moments. All of the other songs just felt like what Gaskarth has been writing about for over a decade now - relationships, himself, and his life - and there’s nothing wrong with that. I think that the exploration that the band took paid off, and made for an interesting and listenable album.

[expandmedia]

We’re Covering Salem Warped Tour Tomorrow 6/17!

Check out our instagram @expandmediaofficial for coverage of the following bands:

Bad Cop/Bad Cop

Bad Seed Rising

Barb Wire Dolls

The Fantastic Plastics

Fire From The Gods

Jule Vera

New Years Day

Save Ferris

Sonic Boom Box

Valiant Thorr

War On Women

Microwave

See a band you think we should cover that’s not on the list? Let us know!

[expandmedia]

SAINTE Release Debut EP, Music Video

Ex-We Are The In Crowd frontwoman Tay Jardine has released her debut EP Smile and Wave under the moniker SAINTE. In celebration of the new EP, she also released a video for the single “Eyes Are Open” which was released earlier this week. You can find Smile and Wave on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play.

[expandmedia]

Lights Releases New Song And Music Video

Lights has released ��Giants” - the first single from her upcoming album Skin&Earth - and its accompanying music video. The video delves into the comic world that will be displayed in the monthly comic book series that will coincide with the album that will also be called Skin&Earth. The first issue of the comic is dropping July 12th via Dynamite Entertainment, and you can pre-order it here.

Lights will be on your with PVRIS this fall - check out the dates below!

9/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo 9/25 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA 9/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren 9/29 – Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory 9/30 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s 10/1 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live 10/3 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor 10/4 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live 10/6 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works 10/7 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore 10/8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory 10/10 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 10/12 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues 10/16 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club 10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre 10/22 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre

[expandmedia]

PWR BTTM Lose Touring Members and Opening Bands Amidst Sexual Assault Allegations

UPDATE 10/12 7:30 PST

Salty Artist - PWR BTTM’s management have now announced via twitter that they will no longer be representing the band. Jezebel has done an interview with a victim of Ben’s going by the pseudonym Jen where some details of the alleged assault are outlined. Their record label Polyvinyl are offering refunds for the groups album Pagent which was out today if you email their support at mailorder@polyvinylrecords.com. Hopscotch Music Fest has also taken the band off of this years’ lineup. iji, another opener for their May tour has also dropped off. You can read all of the mentioned statements and an excerpt from the jezebel interview below the read more.

10/12 11:00 AM PST

Yesterday, allegations against PWR BTTM’s Ben Hopkins surfaced on a private facebook group for the DIY punk scene in Chicago. The allegations included mention of sexual abuse, predatory behavior, and anti-Semitism. Today, touring members Cameron West and Nicholas Cummins have distanced themselves from the band, and T-Rextacy, Tancred, and Nnamdi Ogbonnaya – the opening bands for their upcoming tour – have dropped off. Their album release show that was scheduled for today has been canceled, and Bled Fest have dropped the band from their lineup. Chicago Venue Subterranean is also offering refunds to fans for PWR BTTM’s scheduled show there May 30th. You can read statements from PWR BTTM, Cameron West, Nicholas Cummins, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, T-Rextacty, and Bled Fest below. 

We will continue to update this post as more information comes to light.

STATEMENTS MENTIONED IN UPDATE

Salty Artist Management

“In light of allegations involving members of PWR BTTM, Salty Artist Management will no longer be working with the band. We do not take these kind of allegations lightly and our thoughts are with the victims and survivors of abuse who have been affected by this.

If you need someone to talk to, these organizations can provide information and support

National Sexual Assault Hotline (800) 656-4673

The Trevor Project (866) 488-7386

LGBT National Help Center (888) 843-4564

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (212) 714-1141��

Jezebel Interview

““I just felt totally powerless in the situation, first due to physicality because they are so much bigger than me in size and also social status,” [Jen] told Jezebel. “I was trying to be okay with whatever was going on.”

Hopkins continued to send Jen nude photos after the assault. Jen said she didn’t initially process her experience with Hopkins as rape after being assaulted in high-school. “In high school I was blamed, told it was my fault, shouldn’t have gone to this place,” she told Jezebel. “I have a lot of that internalized, unfortunately.” A month later, she said, Hopkins assaulted her again. After talking about the experience with a few musicians and friends, Jen said she realized she was assaulted and, like Coredo-Kolin, gradually began to hear more stories about Hopkins’s predatory behavior.

In the duo’s statement, they wrote that the allegations “come as a surprise.” Early this year Hopkins’s bandmate Liv Bruce reached out to Jen after “hearing stories,” and she told Bruce “everything” about her assault. “Their response to me was, I don’t think Ben knows what they did, maybe you should reach out to them,” Jen said. “Then they never spoke out about it again and continued being in the band.”

“The statement that they made, I know for a fact, is an actual lie because I know they did know,” she said. “The statement they made is 100 percent false.””

Hopscotch Music Fest

“Each year, as we book and program artists, we do so with the intent of making Hopscotch Music Festival an inclusive, positive, and safe space for all members of our community. This week’s allegations against Ben Hopkins of PWR BTTM are ones that we do not take lightly. It is absolutely necessary to believe and support survivors of abuse, and to take steps toward holding abusers accountable. For these reasons, we have removed the band from our 2017 lineup.

We will be in contact with local LGBTQ+ and social justice organizations to address how to best raise awareness and funds for marginalized communities here in North Carolina. It is the primary goal of the festival organizers to ensure that everyone feels safe and free to be themselves.

Thank you for your continued support. Take care of each other.”

Iji said via Twitter

“Friends, iji band has decided to drop off the #PwrBttm tour in support of the people coming forward about the bands abusive behavior. In many ways this was an easy decision. Whats not easy is we are now trying to book a last minute DIY tour. Please get in touch if you have questions or if you would like to see iji in your town in July.”

STATEMENTS MENTIONED BEFORE UPDATE WAS MADE

PWR BTTM said via Twitter

“Hi everyone,

Ben and Liv here. We want to respond to some very serious allegations that have been made against Ben. The allegations come as a surprise, but we are trying to address them with openness and accountability. With respect to the image included with these allegations, Ben previously addressed this matter on their/the band’s Twitter in January (https://ibb.co/dsNRRQ).

Unfortunately we live in a culture which trivializes and normalizes violations of consent. There are people who have violated others’ consent and do not know. Ben has not been contacted by any survivor(s) of abuse. These allegations are shocking to us and we take them very seriously. Further, the alleged behavior is not representative of who Ben is and the manner in which they try to conduct themselves.

To address this matter head on, we have set up an email address through which a survivor or someone working directly with a survivor can discuss the allegations being expressed on social media: pwrbttm.ask@gmail.com We are currently looking for a mediator with the necessary qualifications. This will be the only person with access to the account. Ben does not have access to the account, for two reasons: 1) because we acknowledge that certain individuals will not feel comfortable establishing a direct communication link between themselves and Ben, and 2) to protect Ben in the event that a malicious party attempts to use the address for anything but its intended purpose.

Our primary goal here is to ensure that a survivor of abuse has a voice, that their story should be heard and that people who cross the line should be held accountable. What this means for the band, our album, our fans and our upcoming tours is, as of yet, unclear. Music is everything to us, but we feel strongly that this matter needs to be addressed first. Updates forthcoming.”

Cameron west said via Facebook post:

“Hi everyone. Today, like many PWR BTTM fans, I was shocked to discover that sexual assault allegations were levied against Ben Hopkins. From my understanding, these accusations were in fact levied via e-mail months ago, but were left unshared with other members of the band, including myself. In order to provide the highest possible respect to everyone who has come forward, I am hereby ending my tenure with the band as an arranger and touring musician.”

Nicholas Cummins said via Twitter

“I’ll say what I told Ben; while I will never dispose of them as a human, I fully believe all accusations that came up today. Regardless of their intent it’s clear that multiple people had their boundaries crossed. that’s incredibly unacceptable and needs to be acknowledged… I am deeply horrified by the thought of any role I may have played in doing harm to those people when playing with that band. All I can do is hope that the band does the right thing and pursues accountability in an honest and transparent way.”

Tancred said via Facebook

“Due to the allegations that have come to light over the past few days I will be removing myself from the upcoming PWR BTTM tour dates. Siding with any and all survivors is and should always be a priority.”

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya said via Facebook

“Hey y'all. I’ll no longer be opening up for PWR BTTM on this upcoming tour. It Fucking sucks for everyone involved and in light of the allegations I can’t comfortably continue. I hope that truth is found/admitted and I’m incredibly disappointed at this type of shit continuously happening. I love all of you. Also DO NOT message me on here anymore. Email me about this or anything else at nnamdi@sooperrecords.com”

T-Rextacy said via Twitter yesterday

“We wish we could say these allegations come as a complete surprise, but that is not the truth. Around the time we agreed to a July tour w PWR BTTM, someone came to us privately + warned us that they had these experiences w Ben. They asked us not to share them publicly. At the time we felt we should continue w the tour. We did not want to out the person who had had come to us in confidence. We feared that ducking out of a tour offer with no excuse would damage our professional relationships, many connected very personally to PWR BTTM. This in no way excuses us from culpability. We were scared and confused but we were also selfish. We made a mistake supporting this band. We put our career above the safety of fans who have trusted us and supported us and there’s no way for us to remedy that.”

They also clarified today:

“Hi folks. We wanted to state clearly and in our own words that we have decided to pull out of the PWR BTTM tour.”

Bled Fest said via Facebook

“Hi friends, Two days ago, our team was made aware of allegations of sexual assault by a member of the band PWR BTTM that were making their way around the internet. We appreciate everyone who respectfully made us aware of these allegations. After taking the needed time to discuss the situation with folks that we have a great working relationship with, we’ve made the decision to remove PWR BTTM from this year’s lineup. We do not have any tolerance for this kind of activity, and it’s important that we act in favor of any victims, whether we know them directly or not. One of the things that we’ve always taken pride in, but doubled down on this year, is creating a safe space for fans of all ages and walks of life, where they could enjoy themselves regardless of who they are. We don’t love the term “safe space” (just like we dislike the word “scene”), because it implies the opposite of some of the elements of danger and excitement that drew us to punk rock in the first place. However, we try very hard to make our little festival a safe place for folks of all walks of life. All races, genders, religions, sexes, preferences, and ages are welcome here. And importantly, in this case, all past victims of abuse of any type are welcome here, and are meant to feel comfortable inside our venue. We cannot control what happens in the world, but we can control who we feature on our stages, and the allegations against PWR BTTM are such that we cannot maintain that promise and allow them to remain on our stage. One of the new features of BLED FEST in 2017 that we announced last week is our Community Room, where we’ll host 4 discussion panels. One of which, entitled “Safe Spaces, Not Boring Spaces”, will tackle this exact issue in depth. We’d love to hear your voice and what you have to say. We’ll announce the panelists next week. Finally, we are going to actively try to fill the spot vacated by PWR BTTM’s removal, but it’s late in the game, and we can’t promise to have anything booked on such short notice. If we don’t, we’ll just move set times around (those announce May 16). We’re working to have news for you soon regarding the acts that were supporting PWR BTTM’s tour (Tancred and Nnamdi Ogbonnaya). We want them to know that they’re still welcome here, and that we were excited for their performances on the festival, independent of their involvement in any tour. We’re fans of both, and hope to have good news about them soon! If you have any questions about anything, I’m willing to discuss via email at nate@fusionshows.com. I have an incredibly busy weekend working with my wife’s dance recitals, so my responses may be delayed, but I will answer every message sent my way. Thank you for your support, your energy, and your passion. BLED FEST is a strange, special day each year, and this year will be no different. Take care of one another, and we’ll see you on May 27! Sincerely, Nate Dorough Fusion Shows P.S. Please give us a few hours to update all the artwork on our various sites.”

[expandmedia]

Green Day Release “Revolution Radio” Music Video

Green Day take us back to their roots with their new music video for their track “Revolution Radio” from their recent album bearing the same name. The video features archival footage of them playing at Berkeley venue 924 Gilman well over a decade ago,

Green Day are currently in Europe leg for their Revolution Radio tour, and will be following that up with the North American leg later this summer - find the dates under the cut.

European Dates

6/14    Lucca Lu, Italy @ Piazza Napoleone 6/15    Milan, Italy @ I-DAYS MILANO 2017 6/17    Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Nova Rock 6/18    Budapest, Hungary @ Papp Laszlo Arena 6/21    Goteborg, Sweden @ Scandinavium 6/23    Scheeßel, Germany @ Germany Hurricane Festival 6/24    Neuhausen Ob Eck, Germany @ Germany Southside Festival 6/28    Belfast, United Kingdom @ Ormeau Park 6/29    Dublin, Ireland @ Royal Hospital Kilmainham 7/1   London, United Kingdom @ Hyde Park  7/3    Sheffield, United Kingdom @ Sheffield Arena 7/4    Glasgow, United Kingdom @ Glasgow Bellahouston Park 7/7     Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival

North American Dates

8/1    Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre^ 8/2    Portland, OR @  Moda Center^ 8/5     Oakland, CA @ Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum^ 8/7    Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre^ 8/9    Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre^ 8/11    Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center^ 8/12    Omaha, NE @ CenturyLink Center^ 8/14    Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre^ 8/16    Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center^ 8/18     Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage^ 8/20     Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center^ 8/21    Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center^ 8/26    Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center^ 8/28    Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center^ 8/29    Hartford, CT @ The XFINITY Theatre^ 8/31    Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion^ 9/1    Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek^ 9/3    West Palm Beach, FL @ Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre^ 9/5    Tampa, FL @ MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre^ 9/6    Orange Beach, AL @ The Wharf Amphitheater^ 9/8    San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center^ 9/9    Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheater^ 9/11    Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater^ 9/13    Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre^ ^ With Catfish and the Bottlemen

[expandmedia]

Band of the Week: The Slants

Image courtesy of Upswept Creative

About

The Slants are an all-Asian dance-rock band hailing from Portland, Oregon that formed in 2006. While the band has been making a lot of noise in their local scene and worldwide for over a decade, they’ve recently been making waves in legal circles with their recent Supreme Court case (Lee v. Tam) over their band’s name and the issues surrounding reclaiming slurs in the public sphere.  Their music often delves into their cultural heritage, along with the social issues that they fight for. The ACLU has even covered them for their work with civil liberties and anti-racist causes.

Sounds Like

The Slants’ music is about as true to 80s synth-pop as you can get from a contemporary artist. They cite their influences on their Facebook as “The Faint, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Ramones, Peelander Z, Notorious MSG.” They hold very true to their influences, while often delving more into personal and social issues that face them than their forefathers did.

Music

Their Debut album Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts won “Best New Album” in 2008 from the Portland Music Awards, has been editors choice in LA Weekly, and has won the band a handful of other accolades. They’ve put out five releases since then, one a remix of Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts called Slants! Slants! Revolution, Three full length LPs called Pageantry, The Yellow Album, and Something Slanted This Way Comes. Their most recent release The Band Who Must Not Be Named EP was released one month before their supreme court case was heard.

Members

The Slants consist of bassist Simon "Young" Tam, lead vocalist Ken Shima, guitarist Joe X. Jiang and drummer Yuya Matsuda

How Are They Diverse?

Being an all-Asian American band, The Slants are a stark contrast to Portland’s predominantly white scene. They’ve fought hard to try to make it clear that marginalized people can reclaim  and use slurs that have been used against them, and are trying to pave the way for other groups that would like to copyright and use those words in an act of reclamation.

Tour

They are currently wrapping up “The Band Who Must Not Be Named” Tour. Upcoming dates include:

5/6 Logan, UT @ WhySound Venue

5/10 Seattle, WA @ University of Washington & High Dive

5/13 Bend, OR @ TEDxBend for a talk with bassist Simon Tam

[expandmedia]

Paramore Release New Song ‘Hard Times’, Announce New Album ‘After Laughter’

We’ve known Paramore were up to something for a while now, and it’s no wonder as it’s been four years since their self titled album was released. 

The song “Hard Times” is the first single from their upcoming 5th LP After Laughter, which is due out May 12th via Fueled By Ramen. The track is the first we’ve heard from the band since original drummer Zac Farro has rejoined.  

Album art for After Laughter

UK & EU Tour dates, as well as track listing under the read more

Tracklisting:

1.       Hard Times 2.       Rose-Colored Boy 3.       Told You So 4.       Forgiveness 5.       Fake Happy 6.       26 7.       Pool 8.       Grudges 9.       Caught In The Middle 10.    Idle Worship 11.    No Friend 12.    Tell Me How

Tour One

6/15 Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia

6/16 Belfast, UK @ Waterfront

6/18 Manchester, UK @ U2 Apollo

6/19 London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall

6/21 Bristol, UK @ Colston Hall

6/22 Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hal

6/24 Cologne, Germany @ Palladium

6/25 Tilburg, The Netherlands @ 013

6/27 Paris, France @ Grand Rex

6/29 Vienna, Austria @ Arena Open Air

6/30 Sopron, Hungary @ Volt Festival

7/2 Berlin, Germany @ Admeralspalast 

7/3 Hamburg, Germany @ Stadtpark

7/5 Hredec Kralove, Czech Republic @ Rock For People

7/7 Stockholm, Sweden @ Circus

7/9 Turku, Finland @ Ruisrock

7/12 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega

7/14  Tonsberg, Norway @ Slottsfjell

[expandmedia]

The Slants Win Supreme Court Case Regarding Name

    After fighting for a trademark over their band name for over two years now, The Slants case regarding their band name that went all the way to the supreme court has finally come to a conclusion - and ruled that the band can, in fact, trademark their name.

The Decision comes after the band was denied a trademark for their name under section 2(a) of the trademark act, which allows the government to deny the proposed trademark if it is “immoral,” “scandalous,” or “disparaging” - with the denial being on the grounds of it being “disparaging.” The band being all Asian-american, they wanted the rights to reclaim a slur that was used against them, and the ruling, after a very long and hard fought legal battle came back in their favor. 

There have been concerns raised that their victory will mean something for the Washington Redskins - but the primary difference in the two cases is that the “disparaging” nature of the words used in both cases are actually used against The Slants, while you have Native American groups out protesting the use of ‘redskins’ in the football team’s name. That there is push back from the people who the “disparaging” nature of the claim is towards makes all the difference.

The band released an extended version of the music video for their song “Level Up” to celebrate their victory - which you can see on their facebook!

[expandmedia]

Paramore Announce North American Tour

Paramore have announced Tour Two, the second leg of their world tour in support of their new album After Laughter. Check out all their upcoming dates below!

5/17 Los Angeles, CA @ Jimmy Kimmel Live! 5/20 Carson, CA @ KROQ Weenie Roast Y Fiesta 6/15 Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia 6/16 Belfast, Ireland @ Waterfront 6/18 Manchester, England @ 02 Apollo 6/19 London, England @ Royal Albert Hall 6/21 Bristol, England @ Colton Hall 6/22 Edinburgh, England @ Usher Hall 6/24 Köln, Germany @ Palladium 6/25 Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013 6/27 Paris, France @ Grand Rex 6/29 Wien, Austria @ Arena Open Air 6/30 Sopron, Hungary @ Volt Festival 7/2 Berlin, Germany @ Admiralspalast 7/3 Hamburg, Germany @ Stadtpark 7/5 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic @ Rock For People 7/7 Stockholm, Sweden @ Cirkus 7/9 Turku, Finland @ Ruisrock 7/12 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega 7/14 Tonsberg, Norway @ Slottsfjell Festival 7/21 Centre Hall, PA @ Karoondinha Festival 7/28 Hinckley, MN @ Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater 7/29 Minot, ND @ North Dakota State Fair 8/12 Billings, MT @ Montanafair 8/14 Des Moines, IA @ Iowa State Fair 8/25 New York, NY @ Good Morning America 9/6 Jacksonville, FL @ Moran Theater 9/8 Miami, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater 9/9 Orlando, FL @ Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts 9/11 Charlotte, NC @ Ovens Auditorium * 9/13 Washington, DC @ MGM National Harbor Theater * 9/15 Detroit, MI @ The Fox Theatre * 9/16-17 Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest * 9/19 Sioux City, IA @ Orpheum Theatre * 9/21 Denver, CO @ BellCo Theatre * 9/22 Orem, UT @ Utah Valley University Events Center * 9/24 Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre * 9/26 Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theater * 9/27 Phoenix, AZ @ Comercia Theatre * 9/29 Houston, TX @ Smart Financial Center at Sugar Land * 9/30 Dallas, TX @ Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie * 10/02 Atlanta, GA @ The Fox Theater * 10/04 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall * 10/07 Boston, MA @ Boston Opera House* 10/10 Bethlehem, PA @ Sands Bethlehem Event Center * 10/12 Montreal, Quebec @ St. Denis Theatre * 10/13 Toronto, Ontario @ Massey Hall * 10/15 Akron, OH @ Akron Civic Theatre * 10/17 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium * 4/6/18 - 4/10/18 Miami, FL @ Parahoy! Deep Search

* with Best Coast

[expandmedia]

PWR BTTM Release Video for “Answer My Text”

PWR BTTM have released the music video for their single “Answer My Text” that is somehow even more fun and colorful than the single itself is! The track is off of the band’s upcoming sophomore album Pageant which is due out May 12th via Polyvinyl Records .

[expandmedia]

Paramore release new single ‘Told You So’, music video

Paramore have released the second single “Told You So”  and its accompanying music video from their upcoming album After Laughter, which is out May 15th via Fueled By Ramen. 

You can check out the album’s tracklist and their upcoming tour dates below!

Tracklist:

1.       Hard Times

2.       Rose-Colored Boy

3.       Told You So

4.       Forgiveness

5.       Fake Happy

6.       26

7.       Pool

8.       Grudges

9.       Caught In The Middle

10.    Idle Worship

11.    No Friend

12.    Tell Me How

Tour One:

6/15 Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia

6/16 Belfast, UK @ Waterfront

6/18 Manchester, UK @ U2 Apollo

6/19 London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall

6/21 Bristol, UK @ Colston Hall

6/22 Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hal

6/24 Cologne, Germany @ Palladium

6/25 Tilburg, The Netherlands @ 013

6/27 Paris, France @ Grand Rex

6/29 Vienna, Austria @ Arena Open Air

6/30 Sopron, Hungary @ Volt Festival

7/2 Berlin, Germany @ Admeralspalast

7/3 Hamburg, Germany @ Stadtpark

7/5 Hredec Kralove, Czech Republic @ Rock For People

7/7 Stockholm, Sweden @ Circus

7/9 Turku, Finland @ Ruisrock

7/12 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega

7/14  Tonsberg, Norway @ Slottsfjell