Happy New Year! After finishing up 2017 with a few new episodes we are trying to keep that momentum going in January. No themes this time, just a solid hour or so of Ohio music. Old stuff (The Pagans), brand new stuff (Drift Mouth, Slackluster, Ampline), and everything inbetween. Full track list below. Enjoy.
Ampline – “Drip”
Southeast Engine – “Holy Ghost”
Mourning A Blkstr – “Roberta”
Megachurch – “Receive It”
Corbezzolo – “This Evening”
Herzog – “Theme for Boys”
Kipp Stone – “Cult Classic”
Pete Fosco – “Purple Blooms”
Drift Mouth – “Wake You Up”
The Pagans – “Street Where Nobody Lives”
Slackluster – “Efficient Machine”
Rex Apple – “Keep Your Head Straight”
Kyle Siegrist – “New Mexico”
Hiram Maxim – “Visceral”
Chargers Street Gang, Cobra Verde, This Moment In Black History, and Megachurch play a benefit for John Neely at the Grog Shop this Saturday, January 11.
Chargers Street Gang, Cobra Verde, This Moment In Black History, and Megachurch play a benefit for John Neely at the Grog Shop this Saturday, January 11.
If you are up Cleveland way on Saturday, January 11th be sure to head over to the Grog Shop for Chargers Street Gang, Cobra Verde, This Moment In Black History, and Megachurch, it’s a benefit show for John Neely. For a $10 suggested donation you will get to see four of Cleveland’s most incredible bands right in one place. Chargers Street Gang were Cleveland punks from the days this author was in high school, they broke up in 2003 and have only played a few times since. Cobra Verde is another fantastic Cleveland band started after the demise of John Petkovic’s previous band Death of Samantha, they are also known for backing Uncle Bob in Guided By Voices for a couple years and playing a Foreigner cover band on the OC once. This Moment In Black History take an always intriguing approach to the ideas of rock and roll, blasting it open with every genre and influence that its members bring (those guys also play/have played in Obnox, National Suicide Day, and Chargers Street Gang). And you know a show is going to be really crazy if Megachurch is the fourth of four bands listed. Go see awesome music for a good cause. Show starts at 9:00, doors at 8:00pm and it says its all ages. Grog Shop is located at 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd in Cleveland Heights, OH (on the corner of Euclid Hts and Coventry).
Things are really exciting here at Aquabear HQ. Our brand new compilation Aquabear Legion Volume 4 is all finished up and ready to be heard by all, coming in at a whopping 38 songs from 38 Ohio bands all on 2 CD’s. We are celebrating the official release THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 11th at The Union in Athens, Ohio with music from Seascapes, Black Owls, Scubadog, and Weedghost. Comps will be for sale (at a special price!) and there will be some awesome music which will start around 10pm.
The compilation features hand screen printed art by Jed Collins and looks real sweet. They will be for sale at the show and then on our website and at good places around the state in the coming weeks.
Cleveland's Megachurch joins Chickenpussy, Hex Net, Scubadog, Left Hand Shake, and Weedghost at The Union on Saturday, March 5 for Aquabear County Fair Night Three!
The 5th annual Aquabear County Fair is coming up this weekend (March 3-6) and we think this year just might be the best yet. The Aquabear is serving up four days of Ohio music with 16 bands.
SATURDAY, March 5th the County Fair moves back to The Union for a huge night of rock and roll. Chickenpussy (Athens), Hex Net (Athens), Megachurch (Cleveland), Scubadog (Athens), Left Hand Shake (Athens), and Weedghost (Athens/Dayton). Music starts at 9pm (sharp), doors before that.
Chickenpussy! I guarantee that I will be right up in front of the stage rocking out really hard. I hope we can all do that together.
Hex Net is Seth Riddlebarger (Dragline Brothers) new project with an all-star lineup of some of our county’s finest musicians. These guys play some damn near perfect psychedelic garage rock, and can be counted on for both badass riffs and weird projects. There is no videos of the Hex Net, so you will just have to come see them with your real non-internet eyes.
Megachurch is from Cleveland, Ohio. They were described by our own Aquabear writer Kris Poland who said of their self titled debut “Through a mere six songs, Megachurch rocks out more than most bands can accomplish in their entire careers.” Agreed. Aquabear gladly welcomes them back for their second trip to Athens.
Scubadog is from Athens is also made up of some pretty great local musicians. Featuring folks who have spent time in Kaslo, Southeast Engine, She Bears, and others. No videos I can find, so make sure to head over to their bandcamp and download their singles. “Patience/Nations” will be on the upcoming Aquabear Legion Volume Four.
Left Hand Shake is a brand new Athens band put together by Zach Oden (The 65’s, Sad Bastards, etc.) and I think this one of their first shows. Sweet.
And of course the Aquabear County Fair would not be complete without a visit from Weedghost. The duo will play short, improvised sets in a booth upstairs in-between bands.
This year mark’s the 5th annual Aquabear County Fair so we decided to make it bigger than ever before. We’re pretty excited for this one… many more details to come.
This year we present 16 bands total in Athens, Ohio over 4 days on March 3-6. 15 Ohio bands and even 1 from Japan.
Thursday, March 3 at 10pm
COUNTY FAIR NIGHT ONE
at The Union curated by Blackout
Zoobombs (Japan)
Wheels On Fire (Athens)
Valleyboys (Athens)
The Pleasuredomes (Athens)
Friday, March 4 at 10:30pm
COUNTY FAIR NIGHT TWO
at Casa Cantina – FREE SHOW!
She Bears (Columbus)
Narrow + The Brights (Columbus)
Whale Zombie (Athens)
*donations benefit Aquabear Legion
Saturday, March 5 at 9pm
COUNTY FAIR NIGHT THREE
at The Union
Chickenpussy (Athens)
Megachurch (Cleveland)
Hex Net (Athens)
Scubadog (Athens)
The 65’s (Athens)
Weedghost (Athens/Dayton)
Sunday, March 6 at 2pm
COUNTY FAIR DAY FOUR
at ARTS/West – FREE AFTERNOON POTLUCK
Super Desserts (Columbus)
Brian Harnetty (Columbus)
Adam Remnant (Athens)
*donations encouraged to benefit bands and space
“Holy shit! These guys are fucking awesome!†That was how I responded when I first saw Megachurch play live at last year’s Aquabear County Fair. That exact same reaction held true when I first heard this album. Their music is a punch to the gut. It hurts a little bit, but it makes you feel like more of a man (or woman) afterward.
Megachurch offers up the soundtrack to the end of days with driving, gigantic drums and a duo of talented bassists. The only vocals to be heard are samples from numerous preachers speaking the gospel to throngs of adoring followers. Plus, it’s all recorded and mixed so masterfully that you’ll feel as if you’re sitting in Ted Haggard’s congregation just as the floor cracks open and hell’s legions drag him down into the abyss. Through a mere six songs, Megachurch rocks out more than most bands can accomplish in their entire careers. Let’s break it down track by track.
I was very excited to come up with a list of my favorite music from Ohio this year, particularly because not too much on the national scene really blew me away this year. The following list however features some very, very good music and all of it comes at high suggestion for me. Great records from Megachurch, Super Desserts, Wheels On Fire, Sun God, This Moment In Black History, Whale Zombie, The Black Swans, Orchestraville, Manor Animals, Seascapes, and Weedghost. When possible we have included a link and where you could purchase a copy, though a few of these things may be out of print.
I know I missed a few (sorry), and I am putting them in arbitrary order as I cannot possibly rank anything. But, I did limit it to 11, because 10 just didn’t work…
Happy New Year from the Aquabear Legion! 2011 is gonna be pretty awesome.
Aquabear is pretty excited about Cleveland, Ohio’s Megachurch making its first visit down to Athens… These guys are damn good, they even opened up for Mission of Burma at last year’s Studio-Rama. A drummer and two basses, these guys have spent a good deal of time over the years in many other projects both past and current including Machine Go Boom, The Buried Wires, Washout Corporation, and a lot more. These guys play sweet math rock driven by pounding drums and twice the bass.
The 4th annual Aquabear County Fair takes place March 4-6, 2010 in Athens, Ohio and we are thrilled to announce the lineups for that weekend! And this one is shaping up to be one of the best we’ve had…
Saturday, March 6th at The Union, 8pm
This Moment in Black History (Cleveland)
Makebelieves (Athens)
Men of Gentle Birth (Columbus)
Megachurch (Cleveland)
We March (Athens)
Sun God (Cleveland)
Weedghost (Athens/Dayton)
Friday, March 5th at Casa Cantina, 10:30pm FREE SHOW!
Dragline Bros (Athens)
She Bears (Athens)
Manor Animals (Athens)
Chris Biester (Athens)
Thursday, March 4th at The (bruce) Manor, 7pm
Seascapes (Athens)
In Silent Movies (Athens)
Thx. Tiger (Columbus/Athens)
Dead Winds of Summer (Athens)
– And look for one more event on Saturday afternoon to celebrate County Fair weekend, more details soon!
– Holy crap this is going to be awesome
