Krazy Fest Recap

Whoooo! It's finally here people. The post you've all been waiting for. The moment of pure awesome. The greatest 20 minutes you will ever experience... Ok, sorry, I'll get to the point. As some of you may or may not know I went down to Louisville, KY for Krazy Fest last weekend. And, because real life sucks and I have to work and be responsible during the week I am only telling you about the weekend now. Where should I start... Well, first off, Dayton, Ohio sucks balls. Read le blog du rob to find out why. I'm done thinking about it.

Ok, on to the music. Friday night we saw Chamberlain and By the Grace of God. Both were incredible. Chamberlain was also unhappy about the length of their set so after a lot whiskey and most people had left the show they had a very impromptu and informal acoustic set/sing-a-long by some pool tables and out in the parking lot after we all got kicked out. Rob and Todd (not to be confused with Rod and Todd from The Simpsons) were pretty much in music heaven. The smiles on their faces were too genuine to describe. This is a cover of some song that I don't know the name of or the artist who originally wrote it. I'm sorry if its your favourite song. It's awesome and even after a shit ton of whiskey Chamberlain still rocked it.

Day 2 was a little weird and was going to be hard to top after what Chamberlain did the night before. Saturday was "the end of world" which was set to occur around 6pm. Luckily, Anti-Flag started their set at 5:30 so if we had all died at least I saw them live. Their set was pretty awesome. They played a lot songs off of Terror State which is one of my favourite albums. Unfortunately, there were just a few too many young teenagers in the crowd for me to really get into it. These punk kids were skanking about (quite terribly I might add) and just ruining it for us older folks... OK, I'm joking, the show was awesome. It was made even more awesome by the drummer as you will see in this video of the song Power to the Peaceful.

Saturday was also Hot Water Music's turn to take the stage. Unfortunately, I think the Apocalypse tried to happen and failed (take that God) because one hell of a thunderstorm broke out. HWM was supposed to play outside but they were moved inside to avoid serious drowning concerns (not actually). They still killed it. Rob Watson crowd surfed. Some drunk guy tried to climb over me to get closer to the stage (thanks to Todd for pulling him off of me). And of course everyone sang along ridiculously out of tune. Mostly if was just me that was really out of tune as you will hear in the video. I apologize and please don't make fun of me. I may have had one or two American beers in me and I can't carry a tune on the best of days. All in all, HWM is awesome.

Day 3 was big day. While no alcohol was consumed this day (at least by us) kraziness still ensued. Dave Hause started off our day with an awesome acoustic set. This guy is super cool. I want to be his friend. His music is also super cool. I suggest acquiring his solo album asap. He did break two strings on his guitar during his set but he managed to change them while telling some pretty funning stories. Did I mention he may be my new favourite person? I think I've developed a serious man crush here.

Ok, last performance video of the blog. This is The Bouncing Souls. They've been one of my favourite bands since... well, since I started listening to The Bouncing Souls (around grade 9ish we'll say). These guys are well into their 40s but are still rocking hard. I was front row center for this set and got pretty much demolished in the pit. I should also mention that I got really sun burnt on Friday and it was still killing me on Sunday so when this guy decided to use my back as a drum set... yah, it was a little painful. All worth it though cause The Bouncing Souls put on an awesome show. This is a video of their last two songs.

SO those were a sample of the videos I took. There are plenty more and they may make it onto youtube some day. I'll let you if that happens. The next little video is a slideshow of some of the pictures I took. There are performances from By the Grace of God, Cave In, and Against Me. There are also candid shots of Rob and Todd and our nice walks from the hotel to the venue. I just wanna say that Shively is one interesting place. Luckily because of the strip clubs, run down buildings, crazy people, and just general ghettoness, no one cares about 3 skinny white dudes walking down the street drinking beer. Especially the cops. They have bigger problems to worry about. All these elements made our walks very entertaining. (The song is by The Loved Ones (Dave Hause's band) and is a cover of Billy Bragg's 'Lover's Town Revisited')

Good job Krazy Fest, hopefully we'll be back next year.

C Dot

Putting the KRAZY in Krazyfest

Hello y'all. C Dot here again. Apparently I'm the only surviving member of the Mixtape... my companions have moved on to bigger and better things. Jackson is becoming a country music star and Tara... well, Tara has to put up with Benoit on a regular basis so her mind may be broken. Me though, I'm still here. I will never leave because I have no life and no friends. Except for next weekend when Rob Watson, his high school buddies and myself will be traveling down to Louisville for one hell of a music festival. What music festival is this you ask? Krazyfest of course. And what makes this music festival so KRAZY? Well, aside from the bands, it is mainly the presence of Rob Watson (crazy MFer). The bands though feature some of the greatest punk rock bands from the mid to late 90s that are still kicking it strong today. Info on the event can be found here. This blog will be a small preview of the bands I am most excited to see.

Anti-Flag (Est. 1988)! Aside from the fact that these guys somehow manage to put out what seems like 2 full length albums a year, their music is awesome. Extremely politically charged and just plain krazy, they hold nothing back when it comes to playing music. Grade 10 was a big year for listening to Anti-Flag. My friend Joel was obsessed with this guys. Rightfully so, they're pretty awesome and Justin Sane (leader singer) is a pretty brilliant dude. This is "Turncoat" from The Terror State, released in 2003.

Against Me! Everyone probably knows Against Me! from their popular radio releases such as "Thrash Unreal" and "I Was A Teenage Anarchist". While these guys have many more amazing songs. Definitely looking forward to rocking out during this set.  This is "Stop". Pay attention to the bassist's dance moves in this video... amazing haha!

The Bouncing Souls! THE BOUNCING SOULS! I don't think I can accurately describe how pumped I am to see these guys. I love The Bouncing Souls. LOVE THEM. They rock hard, they play great music, they seem like awesome dudes, and they have fun doing it. I may try and make out with one of them... or not. But autographs will definitely be sot after. This song wasn't written by The Bouncing Souls but its such an amazing cover that I have to share it with you. This is "Lean On Sheena". The video also features Rob Watson (if he stopped running, got a little chubby, and had to wear glasses).

Dave Hause. Dave is the front man from The Loved Ones. I love The Loved Ones. I was very happy to discover them. I first heard them on a summer sampler CD I picked up from FatWreckChords. I'm not sure if Dave will play any music from the Loved Ones but either way, I'm excited to see him. He has some pretty good solo stuff. It's along a similar theme to The Loved Ones songs but more melodic. The same passion, emotion, and intensity is there. This is "Time Will Tell".

Hot Water Music. These guys are OK, I guess. I mean if you want straight up, in your face, heart felt punk rock then I guess you would like these guys. Chuck Ragan is kinda cool. He writes some pretty good lyrics and has a very unique voice so I guess they'll be alright live... FUCK THAT! I may not make it through their set alive. I may have an adrenaline overload and go crazy in the pit resulting in massive head trauma and die. I won't care. I'll die a happy man. The problem is picking a song to share with you all. HWM has about 1.5 music videos but every other song I've posted has had a video so I'm switching it up. This is "Jack of All Trades" by HWM. Awesome song. So stoked to for these guys!

Chamberlain is also playing at KrazyFest but Youtube apparently hates them so I couldn't locate any videos for them. Definitely look them up though. I think the only band that would make this festival even more awesome would be Alkaline Trio. Probably a good thing they're not playing though or I would actually never come back alive. I will be sure to video tape and record as much mayhem as possible so that I can share it with everyone once I get back. Until then, Later days people!

On The Wing

Hello there people who chose to read this blog. I salute you. I'm just gonna wing it this week. No theme, no problem. Here's the tunes I've been digging the last couple of weeks.

Shout out to Robbie Watson for rekindling my love of Hot Water Music. I listened to these guys a lot in high school and then for some reason just stopped. Well, Rob got me back on the wagon and now HWM have been my go to band for walking home from school. Chuck Ragan's voice is some kinda raspy but it works. It takes a little getting used to. I remember Hot Water Music being one of those bands you have to listen to a few times before you really like them but then once you do you're hooked and can never go back. This is "Seein' Diamonds" which I believe was only released on Punk-O-Rama 9, but its a strong candidate for my favourite HWM song.

Next band on the go-to list these days is Alkaline Trio. Where do I even start with these guys? They're just incredible. And they're not emo, they just sing about some not so cheerful topics. I swear. I wouldn't lie to you. The only problem with Alkaline Trio is picking a song to put up on here. There's just too many options. I think I'll default to their latest music video "This Addiction". The other great thing about Alkaline Trio is their acoustic abilities. If you know Alkaline Trio you know what I'm talking about. If you ever need a good break up tune, these guys have it. All the way from sad and lonely to angry and vengeful, they're a complete package. "This Addiction" isn't a break song though, in fact, its quite the opposite, kinda.

Hey its almost spring time! Spring means it's almost summer. Summer means its time to hang out in boats and cruise around blasting All Time Low while tubing and drinking beer. Tubing while trying drinking beer is difficult. There is a lot of foamy beer consumption. It's a great past time though, much better than water skiing and drinking beer, which proves to be much too difficult to be enjoyable. Plus beer tubing allows for multiple people to take part at once prompting a new level of ruckus to be had. But back to All Time Low. These guys a pretty pop punk but manage to have just enough edge that I like them. And like I said, they have some pretty awesome summer time tunes. Here is "Weightless".

Rise Against is dropping a new album soon. March 15th to be precise. Titled End Game. Should be good, I hope. I'm more of an old school Rise Against fan from back in the Unraveling, Revolutions Per Minute, and Siren Songs of the Counter Culture days. I like their newer stuff, I just think the old stuff had more variety and edge. The songs seemed to hit you harder and leave a lasting impression. Like "Heaven Knows" from Revolutions Per Minute. This song has some pretty powerful lyrics, definitely take a listen.

Alrighty, I think I'm done. I hope everyone is pumped for St. Patty's Day. Expect numerous Irish tunes to come your way in the next couple of weeks in preparation.

Later Days!

Marathon Mix

Hi! You may not know me, I'm a guest to this little blog.  My name is rob and I'm gonna give ya'll my top10 marathon songs. These songs actually have nothing to do with the marathon, I just happen to be training for a marathon and I run with my mp3 player blasting the tunes most days. Some people say that real runners don't run with music. Those people are stupid. Another note I should make here, I'm old and lame and have no interest in new music. All this stuff is from back when I was younger and not quite as lame. Oldies but goodies folks, remember that.  Alright, so lets get at it. My music tastes are not very mind blowing or profound. I like my music the same way I like my love making; loud, fast and hard. okay go!



1. Lets get this started with a little number from my favourite band of all time; Hot Water Music. So many good songs, I think I'll go with this one.

2. Elliot, Lousiville Kentucky. These guys don't record to hard but they go off at their shows. To bad they broke up in 03'. The scene out of Lousiville in the 90's and early 2000's was awesome. I get sentimental listening to them.

3. When I was in 6th grade I had a paper route with my brother, I would always listen to the same cassette on my walkman when I did my route. It was Lagwagon on one side and Nofx on the other side. Then we just started dumping our papers in the garbage and not delivering them anymore...we were fired.

4. so many good bands from Jersey.  Lifetime pumps me up, and when I'm pumped I run faster, that's just the way I work.

5. Sometimes when I get to pumped I have to calm down. To do this I always turn to Chamberlain and their  album The Moon My Saddle.  I have listened to this album before almost every race I have run...ever.  Couldn't really find a good internet based sound bit. Take my word for it, it's quite good.

6. This picture was taken after I saw Avail in 9th grade (I'm the kid with my hand on my face for some reason). Such a good song, such a good band, such a good show. Fuck, thinking of this makes me run fast.

7. Also when I was in 9th grade a bunch of my friends and myself took a bus Toronto to see Strife. I was like 5'6 and 115 lbs and almost got my head kicked in in the mosh, it was rad. Hardcore is awesome, sick chants and breakdown in this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Vg-GG91TE&feature=related

8. Now for something a little newer, The Gaslight Anthem.  Saw these guys in England with Jackson from the Mixtape Collektive crew. We went to England to run fast, neither of us did, but this show made the trip worth while.

9.  Sometimes out there on the roads I need a little hip hop. Actually that's a lie, I don't like hip hop at all. But I really like the Flobots, I went to school in Colorado and these guys were very popular there so I kinda got into them. This song also reminds me of Taylor Milne day up in North Bay.

10. This last song is by the most badass guy in music, Chuck Ragan.  Chuck was in HWM (#1) and since  they broke up he has released two amazing albums.  I have listened to more Chuck than anything else during my marathon buildup. http://www.myspace.com/chuckragan/music/songs/california-burritos-30703626
Also check him out just ripping up a solo version of song #1

Well, that had pretty much nothing to do with running, but keep in mind. I have listened to all of these songs dozens of times as I'm out there on the roads. There are songs that I skip over and only listen to occasionally, but I never skip over these ones. They just rock to hard. Bye.

-rob-