Tag Archives: Chip Midnight

Saturday: Bands reunite to play my birthday bash @ KOBO

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Chip Midnight


Here’s the lineup and tentative set times:

* 9 p.m. – Doors open

* 9:15 p.m. – Columbus Priority Mail – This one-man show features Andrew Choi singing lyrics out of a notebook over top jazzy/indie rock music he produced on his computer and loaded onto his iPod Nano. I caught CPM at the Green on the Green festival earlier this summer and found Choi’s music to be really unique and different than anything I’ve experienced live in quite a long time.

* 9:45 p.m. – Oswald and the Herringbones – I’m surprised OATH doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry. Part of the campus pop-rock scene of the mid-80s to early-90s, OATH went through two different lineups during their heyday, the constants being Tom Boyer and Neal Havener. When I joined The Lantern newspaper staff at OSU in 1991, Neal was the arts editor and most of the staff were regulars at the many OATH gigs at Ruby Tuesdays on Summit. The second lineup of the band (also featuring guitarist Andy Harrison and drummer Rick Ziliak) recorded a full-length album, Time Doesn’t Matter, in 1992 and played a less-than-legendary (ha!) show at CBGB in NYC to promote the release. I traveled along with the band and it was my first time (but not last) visiting the legendary club. If memory serves correct, OATH disbanded sometime around 1994 and if they have reunited with the Harrison/Ziliak lineup, it’s been far and few between. This will be the first time I’ve seen this lineup (Aaron Pauley of Unit One will be filling in for Andy Harrison) in probably 15 or so years.

* 10:45 p.m. – Bel Auburn – This Ashland band came to my attention in 2004 when they sent me a copy of their debut, Cathedrals. I was blown away by a band that sounded like they should be signed to a major label and on tour with Coldplay and/or Mute Math. As mature sounding as the debut was, Lullabies in A&C (download for free here), which followed two years later, was even more amazing. Those who caught the band’s rare Columbus shows always walked away as fans but caught between Columbus and Cleveland, the band never really had a “home” base with built-in crowds. For all intents and purposes, Bel Auburn went on hiatus in 2007 though they did play a one-off gig at Circus in 2009. This will be their first live appearance in over 2 years.

* 11:45 p.m. – The Honey’s – This is where the idea for the birthday show first started. I ran into Columbus ex-pat, and former Honey’s bassist Lisa Lorraine, at a show at Skully’s last summer and pitched the reunion idea to her thinking she’d say, “I live in California now and don’t think I can make it back to Columbus for a show.” Much to my surprise, she said, “If you can talk Justin, Jaime and Ben into it, I’m in.” I’ve lived in Columbus since 1989 and would say The Honey’s are in my top 3 favorite local bands of all time. With the band’s last show in 2005 (at the time they said it was their one-and-only reunion show), many of you newcomers to Columbus may have missed the band’s Donnas-meet-Skid-Row ’80s throwback sound. If so, as my present to you, download the band’s 2004 release, Hot Day in Heaven here.

* 12:30 a.m. – Van Haken – There’s only one act I could think of to follow The Honey’s and that’s the Van Halen tribute band featuring members of Miranda Sound, Kopaz, Bicentennial Bear and Celebrity Pilots. This is pure David Lee Roth-era VH, none of that Sammy Hagar or Gary Cherone stuff mixed into the set (though I did ask if they’d be willing to consider it and was told “no way in hell”).

Come help me celebrate my birthday. If you missed it in the video above, the show is at KOBO. Doors open at 9 p.m. and the cover is $5.

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Friday in Columbus: The Dollyrots @ The Summit

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Chip Midnight

The Dollyrots, who released my favorite CD of 2010 (“Sweet-and-sassy POP-punk-ROCK. “Rock Control!” was 2010′s “Volcano Girls” (Veruca Salt) minus the radio airplay and flashy MTV video.”) return to Columbus on Friday night. The L.A. trio will be playing at The Summit along with locals Ranger Danger and Charlie Hustle.

The band will also be stopping in at WNCI on Friday morning to chat with the morning crew.

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Chip Midnight’s Favorite Albums of 2010

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Chip Midnight

I have no interest in listening to anything by Kanye West. I’m probably missing the boat on The Black Keys. Surfer Blood, Sleigh Bells, Best Coast, The National, Arcade Fire all got cursory plays on the iPod but not enough to land them a spot on this list. I’d love to say that Superchunk made one of the most welcomed comebacks of 2010 but every time I hit the local indie record store, they were out of the CD and I never downloaded it from iTunes.

The following 10 albums (+15 honorable mentions + 10 local releases) were absorbed the most through my earbuds in 2010.

1. The Dollyrots, A Little Messed Up
Watch: “Rock Control!” (unofficial version featuring my 5-year-old)

Sweet-and-sassy POP-punk-ROCK. “Rock Control!” was 2010′s “Volcano Girls” (Veruca Salt) minus the radio airplay and flashy MTV video.


2. Blood Red Shoes, Fire Like This
Watch: “Don’t Ask”

Remember The Subways? No worries, Blood Red Shoes do post-Nirvana boy/girl bash-and-rock as well, if not better.


3. Everest, On Approach
Watch: “Let Go” (exclusive Donewaiting.com presents Live at Electraplay)

The sophomore album by these music biz vets (Folk Implosion, Earlimart, Great Northern, Dig, Sebadoh) “discovered” by Neil Young’s manager sounds every bit as rich and warm as the debut. Think Jeff Buckley-meets-Coldplay-meets-Wilco.


4. Tame Impala, Innerspeaker
Watch: “Solitude is Bliss”

Trippy, ’70s-psychedelic-meets-dance-rock from Australia with Beatles (Lennon) and Pink Floyd (Barrett) influences.


5. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles II
Watch: “Celestica”
MP3: Violent Dreams (ECC remix)

Soundtrack to a Nintendo 64 fantasy/princess game set to a dance beat with female vocals out of the 4AD catalog.


6. The Kissaway Trail, Sleep Mountain
Watch: 3-minute interview I did with the band when they opened for Temper Trap

Danish 5-piece is equal parts Arcade Fire, Mew, Snow Patrol, Sigur Ros, Long-view, Modest Mouse and Polyphonic Spree.

7. Bad City, Welcome to the Wasteland
Watch: “Wildlife”

One only hopes that when Sebastian Bach reunites with Skid Row the output sounds as good as this.

8. The Unwinding Hours, The Unwinding Hours
Watch: “Knut”

Ex-Aereogramme members Craig B. and Iain Cook show a quieter, gentler side though still provide the occasional guitar onslaught.

9. Massy Ferguson, Hard Water
Listen: Hard Water

In the Uncle Tupelo divorce, I’ve always favored Jay Farrar/Son Volt. This Seattle band does alt-country the right way … the Jay Farrar way.


10. Nas and Damian Marley, Distant Relatives
Watch: “As We Enter”

I get a contact high every time I listen to this rap/reggae mash-up.

Others in heavy rotation on the iPod in 2010

  • Via Audio – Animalore (fun, indie, disco-pop)
  • Kopek – White Collar Lies (The Music meets L.A. Guns meets modern radio rock)
  • Ozzy Osbourne – Scream (first Ozzy CD I’ve bought since ’91′s No More Tears)
  • Scott Lucas and the Married Men – George Lassos the Moon (Local H frontman goes solo by adding 6 members to his band!)
  • The Watson Twins – Talking to You, Talking to Me (sultry and dark pop, at times like Luscious Jackson if they were a trip-hop band)
  • Gamble House – Gamble House (“Central Park” was my favorite ’70s AM pop song of the year)
  • The Posies – Blood/Candy (best since Amazing Disgrace)
  • Ratt – Infestation (sounds like classic, late ’80s Ratt)
  • Uniform Motion – Life (pastoral folk-pop sounds like Gary Lightbody fronting Hood)
  • Tired Pony – The Place We Ran From (Snow Patrol lite with an all-star cast)
  • Chief Nowhere- Chief Nowhere (heavy, fuzzy Zeppelin/Blue Cheer/Sabbath-style guitar riffs and bluesy keys)
  • Filter – The Trouble with Angels (more like Short Bus-era Filter than U2-era Filter)
  • Lawrence Arabia – Chant Darling (thought for a moment this was a George Harrison solo album)
  • No Age – Everything in Between (what I wish Times New Viking sounded like; sounds Nirvana if they had been influenced by My Bloody Valentine)
  • Palmdale – Get Wasted (EP) + How to Be Mean (EP) (so glad that Letters to Cleo’s Kay Hanley is putting out new pop-flavored rock)

Favorite local releases

1. Bookmobile – The New Patriot
2. Lydia Loveless – The Only Man
3. Earwig – Gibson Under Mountain
4. Ghost Shirt – Daniel
5. Colin Gawel and the Lonely Bones – Superior
6. The Town Monster – Ohio Sessions (EP 10 – October)
7. Kopaz – Teeth Like Cities
8. Love Culture – Aquamarine
9. Two Cow Garage – Sweet Saint Me
10. The Mooncussers – Demo

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Interview: Page Hamilton of Helmet

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Chip Midnight

It’s always cool to be able to chat with guys in bands that you’ve been listening to for nearly 20 years. A few months ago Helmet rolled through Columbus on the Seeing Eye Dog tour and founding Helmet member Page Hamilton was kind enough to let us hop aboard the band’s tour bus to chat for a few minutes.

Though Helmet’s style of music and Hamilton’s barking-style vocals may lead you to believe that he’s an unapproachable guy, that couldn’t be further from the truth as you’ll see. We’ve boiled down the 25-minute conversation to a digestible 4-minute overview here.

Thanks to Jason Sidwell and Nathan Photos of Electraplay for filming, producing and editing this video.

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Podcast: Scott Ian (Anthrax) interview

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Chip Midnight

Scott Ian of Anthrax is one of metal’s most recognizable characters. In addition to his 25 year career in the band, Ian’s also a regular fixture on VH1 and MTV when they run shows like “100 Greatest Metal Songs of All Time”.

I remember the first time I heard Anthrax, Z-Rock had “Indians”, from the 1987 release Among the Living, in rotation and played it alongside other metal bands of that time period though most were of the lipstick-and-leather variety. From that point on, I was hooked on the NYC-style thrash metal. Inadvertently, Scott turned me onto a slew of other bands simply by wearing those bands t-shirts in photo shoots for magazines like RIP, Circus and Hit Parader. It was because of one of these photos that I became a huge Fishbone fan (something you’ll hear briefly mentioned in my interview).

When Scott Ian called me a few weeks ago to talk about the Jagermeister Tour (stopping in Columbus this Sunday) featuring Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, the 18-year-old in me was in awe.

DOWNLOAD: Scott Ian interview

Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer play at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on Sunday, October 11. Tickets are $45, day of show. Gates open at 6, Anthrax hits the stage at 6:55.

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Wednesday in Columbus: L.A. Guns @ Slapsy Maxie’s

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Chip Midnight

LA Guns

With very little warning (the date still isn’t showing up on the band’s MySpace page), L.A. Guns – the version featuring founding guitarist Tracii Guns (guitars) and ex-Love/Hate vocalist Jizzy Pearl – will make a pit stop in Columbus on Wednesday.

At 6pm, the band will be doing a meet-and-greet at Best Buy (3840 Morse Rd.) and then will head to Slapsy Maxie’s for a headlining gig. Tickets for the Slapsy Maxie’s show – also featuring local bands Melodyne and Deep 6 – are $10 at the door.

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Donewaiting.com presents Live at Electraplay: Gamble House (+mp3)

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Chip Midnight

MP3: Gamble House – Second to None (Live at Electraplay)

I’m kind of of the opinion that “Central Park” is one of the best indie-pop songs released in 2010. Gamble House was a lucky find, I happened to open an e-mail from a digital marketing publicist who was sharing some MP3s, links, and tour dates and when I noticed these guys were coming through Columbus with Rogue Wave, I figured I’d give them a quick listen. Glad I did as this seems to be the kind of band that I’ll proudly boast about “discovering early” before the rest of the world caught on.

The Grizzly Bear comparisons are fair and even the guys in the band will admit that they are fans, but the level of musicianship in Gamble House rivals that of any band currently charting on the CMJ 200.

At the time of this posting, Gamble House was still an unsigned band but I can’t imagine that’ll be the case much longer. Enjoy the songs they performed at Electraplay and grab a copy of their self-titled release if you dig what you hear.

“I Came Home”

“Bonny Doon”

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Saturday night: RATT @ The Alrosa

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Chip Midnight

RATT did it right. Rather than trying to be modern sounding or advancing their sound, they went back to Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy, figured out what they did to sell millions of records in the late ’80s and used that as a template for a brand new record of songs that sound brand old.

I was hoping you’d be reading an interview with one of the guys (3 original members – Stephen Pearcy, Warran DeMartini, Bobby Blotzer, 2 newer guys – Carlos Cavazo, Robbie Crane) in this spot but nothing ever worked out even though we tried a few times.

Maybe things aren’t real good in the RATT camp these days. Pearcy recently told a British-based website that he’s looking forward to a break. “I’m ready to go with new solo stuff with the Rat Bastards and my new band Battering Ramm. Will we do another Ratt record? I don’t know. Things didn’t fall into place and I’ve left my options open. We’ll see what happens.”

Saturday night RATT will run through a greatest hits set, with a few tracks from 2010′s Infestation thrown in, to celebrate the Alrosa Villa’s 30th anniversary. This might be the last time you’ll have a chance to check out RATT before they hang it up. Tickets are $25.

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Interview: Joey Allen (Warrant)

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Chip Midnight

(Warrant rolls into Columbus on Friday night for a gig at Screamin Willie’s (1921 Channingway Center Dr.))

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the 17-year-old me can’t believe that I’m trading e-mails with Warrant guitarist Joey Allen. Warrant was an integral part of my rock n’ roll journalism career hobby as one of the first articles I wrote for my high school paper was a concert review of a pre-record-release Warrant in which I predicted big things for the L.A. band.

Five years ago I had an opportunity to speak with Joey for the first time as anything other than a fan and he couldn’t have been nicer or more down to earth. He even gave me his cell phone number and said I could call whenever I wanted to chat.

At that time, Warrant was 4/5 original members with Jamie St. James (Black N’ Blue) on lead vocals. In 2008 original singer Jani Lane returned to the band for a very short time before his demons got the best of him. Warrant was forced to bring in another new singer, this time it was Robert Mason (Cry of Love, Lynch Mob) who got the call and by all accounts he’s breathing new life into the band while also delivering a fresh take on the band’s classic hits (“Heaven”, “Cherry Pie”, “Down Boys”, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”).

I hit up Joey with some questions via e-mail. Here’s a sample of the interview:

What does Robert bring to the band that differs from what Jani and Jaime brought to Warrant?

Robert Mason is absolutely 110% singer, period! He is a professional that holds his health, craft, and performance to the highest level. His ability to hit the notes on a nightly basis is amazing. He cares about the show so he takes care of himself. If I had to compare the three I would use the analogy that Robert is in the pro league MVP and Jani and Jamie are in AAA, when they should be in AA. Both of those guys could move back into the pros it if they just made a decision between music and booze, period!

Read the entire interview over at AtomicNed.com.

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Wednesday: Gamble House opens for Rogue Wave at The Basement

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Chip Midnight

What year did Ben Becker hop in a time machine and set the dial for 2010? I’m guessing somewhere between 1968 and 1974. Hopefully we’ll get an answer to that question tomorrow when Gamble House records their Donewaiting “Live at Electraplay” session a few hours before hitting The Basement stage as the opening act for Rogue Wave.

Gamble House’s self-titled CD was released in May and there hasn’t been a single review of the CD that doesn’t reference Grizzly Bear as a comparison. I’m admittedly not that familiar with Grizzly Bear so I don’t hear the similarities but if it’s a fair comparison, I’m going to have to spend more time investigating the Grizzly Bear catalog as the Gamble House CD has been on heavy iPod rotation this week. Check it out for yourself and familiarize yourself with the music before heading to The Basement.

<a href="http://gamblehouse.bandcamp.com/album/gamble-house">Central Park by Gamble House</a>

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