Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Been Awhile...
(The opinions expressed in this blog are an editorial from chuck_sligh and do not reflect the opinions of Tunguska as a whole. In other words, stop taking life so seriously.)
The past couple of months have been fairly active for us. So without further adieu, here is my best recollection of some of the bizarre, but enjoyable highlights.
2011 began with the ending of an unfortunately unproductive hiatus for the band. But, it was a good chance for us as individuals to handle personal business without the looming spectre of shows and countless practices. Mid-January we got the chance to have a friend of ours book a long weekend of shows using his extensive contact list and knowledge of the regional heavy music scene. So we embarked on quite a rollercoaster weekend to play for people that have never heard of us.
The first of these performances was a quaint house show at Jeff South's wonderful Imaginarium. We got our buddies to the south HOODED EAGLE to come up for the evening and help terrify the neighborhood. Besides the rumors of impending police presence, us and Magic Missile packed the house and deafened anything within earshot. No cops, no problem.
Then we packed up the van and headed east to play a decidedly metal affair in Florence, hometown of our former vocalist. His association with the band proved to be an incredibly positive attribute in that before the show, there were actually people there to see us. Afterwords, people were surprisingly receptive to our brand of categorically un-metal music. Having never played the town before, I for one was very pleasantly surprised by the response.
Irby's. Florence, SC. 1/14/11
We then were whisked away to Charlotte, North Carolina to experience a comedy of errors that could be called a disaster, but in retrospect was fairly amusing. The weekend had already been slightly marred by a quite uncharacteristic southeast snow and ice storm. The residuals from said storm were already melted away in the Midlands, but as we trekked north and the mercury dropped, it became apparent that we would have an evening full of icy, muddy awkwardness. Arriving at the house that we were playing at that night, I wanted to meet the inhabitants. So, forgetting my social inequities I walked in to find about 10 people milling around visibly already pretty inebriated. I attempted to introduce myself to a few wayward individuals, but quickly decided to let everyone else do the talking. I retreated to the van with the other less social ones of our party and began to consume the libations purchased at the store down the street. Within an hour or so, the house was beginning to fill with people who were apparently there to party. Seemingly, everyone around was borderline incapacitated by 10PM. We then loaded our gear about fifty yards through the snow and ice (uphill, both ways!) upstairs to the single entrance dismaying party-goers all the while.
We did seem to make an impression on some. In attendance were members of other bands interested in show swaps and the such making the trip a positive endeavor. Then, due to us hanging around the van for entirely too long, the battery died. This was probably around 11 or so. So being trapped by other vans and surrounded by drunks, we laid low and planned an exit strategy. Finally around 2AM we were able to pry the owner of the car next to us away from the STILL going on show for a jumpstart. After a couple of tries, she roared to life with the fervor we know and love. Next on the agenda was getting another band's van moved that was parked directly behind us, which would be no easy task considering the inches of ice covering the mud lot that had accumulated over the night. About an hour of sliding and pushing drunks out of the way, we were finally on the road 5 or so hours after we played.
We then strolled down to Charleston to once again play with our brothers in HOODED EAGLE. at the Tin Roof. Good show, awesome venue and it was a MONSTRO reunion. Who knew?!
Our next performance was at our local haunt Hunter Gatherer with new Charleston band Quit City and noise-rock behemoths Whores.. Whores is a band that Joey initially found online and totally blew me away listening to various songs on the internet. So, we asked them to come up from Atlanta and they totally stole the show. And, they are incredibly nice people to boot!
Then, we returned to our home base of New Brookland Tavern to play with local friends ...For Science, pop-punk allstar band Kid Anthem, and Florida heavies Capsule. This pretty much went off without a hitch with all the bands playing well and a decent crowd.
The next week we were scheduled to go down to Joey's former home Auburn, Alabama, but our water pump had other plans...
Which then brings us to our April 9th show in Atlanta, Georgia. This show had been set up by our friends in Glen Iris, but they had to drop off due to a family emergency leaving us with no real grasp on who we were playing with. The show was held in the basement of a newish pizza restaurant that was kind enough to give us a discount when we showed up 4 hours early. After eating I noticed this...
That's right. A 20+ set of stairs to load our equipment down. We quickly got over the setback when we saw how crazy the room was...
Nothing but wood surrounding the stage meant that, at least on stage, the sound was unreal. The first band was a folk band with interesting harmonies and impressive musicianship. Not really my bag, but the talent was definitely there. We then played at full bore after people began trickling in. We even got a positive review by an anonymous blogger by the name of TTSCC. Followed by a blistering organ-rock set by Atlanta's The Charges. At the urging of Joey's Atlanta via Auburn friends that were there (some of the nicest people you will ever meet) we walked down the block to another bar that was hosting a lively karaoke night. When we got there a round of drinks were purchased. One of the beers was grabbed by one of the drunkest people I have ever seen who was not intended to be included on the round. With all his false machismo, he then attempted to yell at us in jumbled non-verbal belches, but was quickly silenced by the unsurprised bartender. Thinking nothing of this, we went to our table of friends and watched the show. I even got up and did a tune! Then, completely out of the blue, old drunky-I've spent a lot of money here so I can do whatever I want-dude from earlier sloppily dragged himself to our table. After uttering some more completely unintelligible grunts he began violently punching our table nearly flipping it over, but completely spilling our drinks and putting an end to our uneventful karaoke soiree. We crashed at Joey's friend's house and split for home in the morning.
Which brings us to the current. We've got some shows lined up for this coming weekend that should be at least a respite from the typical crap that's usually going on. Two shows with HOODED EAGLE and Whores., one here in Columbia at New Brookland, and one down in Charleston. Hopefully some awkward stories will come of these!
May 13th. New Brookland Tavern. Columbia, SC
May 14th. Jimbo's Rock Lounge. Charleston, SC
The past couple of months have been fairly active for us. So without further adieu, here is my best recollection of some of the bizarre, but enjoyable highlights.
2011 began with the ending of an unfortunately unproductive hiatus for the band. But, it was a good chance for us as individuals to handle personal business without the looming spectre of shows and countless practices. Mid-January we got the chance to have a friend of ours book a long weekend of shows using his extensive contact list and knowledge of the regional heavy music scene. So we embarked on quite a rollercoaster weekend to play for people that have never heard of us.
The first of these performances was a quaint house show at Jeff South's wonderful Imaginarium. We got our buddies to the south HOODED EAGLE to come up for the evening and help terrify the neighborhood. Besides the rumors of impending police presence, us and Magic Missile packed the house and deafened anything within earshot. No cops, no problem.
Then we packed up the van and headed east to play a decidedly metal affair in Florence, hometown of our former vocalist. His association with the band proved to be an incredibly positive attribute in that before the show, there were actually people there to see us. Afterwords, people were surprisingly receptive to our brand of categorically un-metal music. Having never played the town before, I for one was very pleasantly surprised by the response.
Irby's. Florence, SC. 1/14/11
We then were whisked away to Charlotte, North Carolina to experience a comedy of errors that could be called a disaster, but in retrospect was fairly amusing. The weekend had already been slightly marred by a quite uncharacteristic southeast snow and ice storm. The residuals from said storm were already melted away in the Midlands, but as we trekked north and the mercury dropped, it became apparent that we would have an evening full of icy, muddy awkwardness. Arriving at the house that we were playing at that night, I wanted to meet the inhabitants. So, forgetting my social inequities I walked in to find about 10 people milling around visibly already pretty inebriated. I attempted to introduce myself to a few wayward individuals, but quickly decided to let everyone else do the talking. I retreated to the van with the other less social ones of our party and began to consume the libations purchased at the store down the street. Within an hour or so, the house was beginning to fill with people who were apparently there to party. Seemingly, everyone around was borderline incapacitated by 10PM. We then loaded our gear about fifty yards through the snow and ice (uphill, both ways!) upstairs to the single entrance dismaying party-goers all the while.
We did seem to make an impression on some. In attendance were members of other bands interested in show swaps and the such making the trip a positive endeavor. Then, due to us hanging around the van for entirely too long, the battery died. This was probably around 11 or so. So being trapped by other vans and surrounded by drunks, we laid low and planned an exit strategy. Finally around 2AM we were able to pry the owner of the car next to us away from the STILL going on show for a jumpstart. After a couple of tries, she roared to life with the fervor we know and love. Next on the agenda was getting another band's van moved that was parked directly behind us, which would be no easy task considering the inches of ice covering the mud lot that had accumulated over the night. About an hour of sliding and pushing drunks out of the way, we were finally on the road 5 or so hours after we played.
We then strolled down to Charleston to once again play with our brothers in HOODED EAGLE. at the Tin Roof. Good show, awesome venue and it was a MONSTRO reunion. Who knew?!
Our next performance was at our local haunt Hunter Gatherer with new Charleston band Quit City and noise-rock behemoths Whores.. Whores is a band that Joey initially found online and totally blew me away listening to various songs on the internet. So, we asked them to come up from Atlanta and they totally stole the show. And, they are incredibly nice people to boot!
Then, we returned to our home base of New Brookland Tavern to play with local friends ...For Science, pop-punk allstar band Kid Anthem, and Florida heavies Capsule. This pretty much went off without a hitch with all the bands playing well and a decent crowd.
The next week we were scheduled to go down to Joey's former home Auburn, Alabama, but our water pump had other plans...
Which then brings us to our April 9th show in Atlanta, Georgia. This show had been set up by our friends in Glen Iris, but they had to drop off due to a family emergency leaving us with no real grasp on who we were playing with. The show was held in the basement of a newish pizza restaurant that was kind enough to give us a discount when we showed up 4 hours early. After eating I noticed this...
That's right. A 20+ set of stairs to load our equipment down. We quickly got over the setback when we saw how crazy the room was...
Nothing but wood surrounding the stage meant that, at least on stage, the sound was unreal. The first band was a folk band with interesting harmonies and impressive musicianship. Not really my bag, but the talent was definitely there. We then played at full bore after people began trickling in. We even got a positive review by an anonymous blogger by the name of TTSCC. Followed by a blistering organ-rock set by Atlanta's The Charges. At the urging of Joey's Atlanta via Auburn friends that were there (some of the nicest people you will ever meet) we walked down the block to another bar that was hosting a lively karaoke night. When we got there a round of drinks were purchased. One of the beers was grabbed by one of the drunkest people I have ever seen who was not intended to be included on the round. With all his false machismo, he then attempted to yell at us in jumbled non-verbal belches, but was quickly silenced by the unsurprised bartender. Thinking nothing of this, we went to our table of friends and watched the show. I even got up and did a tune! Then, completely out of the blue, old drunky-I've spent a lot of money here so I can do whatever I want-dude from earlier sloppily dragged himself to our table. After uttering some more completely unintelligible grunts he began violently punching our table nearly flipping it over, but completely spilling our drinks and putting an end to our uneventful karaoke soiree. We crashed at Joey's friend's house and split for home in the morning.
Which brings us to the current. We've got some shows lined up for this coming weekend that should be at least a respite from the typical crap that's usually going on. Two shows with HOODED EAGLE and Whores., one here in Columbia at New Brookland, and one down in Charleston. Hopefully some awkward stories will come of these!
May 13th. New Brookland Tavern. Columbia, SC
May 14th. Jimbo's Rock Lounge. Charleston, SC
Friday, December 3, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Jan 2011 Shows
Jan 13 Charleston, SC @ TBA
w/ Hooded Eagle(?)
Jan 14 Florence, SC @ Irby's
w/ From Graves of Valor, Diary of the Dead, Vindictive Sovereign
Jan 15 Charlotte, NC @ Hot House (2830 Commonwealth)
w/ Bay of Pigs, Zeus, Gruppe 36
Jan 18 Columbia, SC @ NBT
w/ The Gift
w/ Hooded Eagle(?)
Jan 14 Florence, SC @ Irby's
w/ From Graves of Valor, Diary of the Dead, Vindictive Sovereign
Jan 15 Charlotte, NC @ Hot House (2830 Commonwealth)
w/ Bay of Pigs, Zeus, Gruppe 36
Jan 18 Columbia, SC @ NBT
w/ The Gift
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Hopping on bandwagons left and right!
Well, now we have a blog. Shameless self gratification mixed with self promotion run amok! Stay tuned for slightly less boring and more informative posts to come. But, don't get your hopes up.
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