Aquabear Legion X-Mas: Weird Science, Bonzai, State Park, Weedghost When Friday, December 16, 2011 10:30pm - 18 + Where Casa Cantina (map) 4 W. State Street Athens, Ohio, USA 45701 « Back to the calendar
Aquabear Legion X-Mas: Weird Science, Bonzai, State Park, Weedghost When Friday, December 16, 2011 10:30pm - 18 + Where Casa Cantina (map) 4 W. State Street Athens, Ohio, USA 45701 « Back to the calendar
The holiday season is upon us. Aquabear Legion is hosting a special X-Mas show at Casa Cantina in Athens this Friday, December 16th starting at 10:30pm. Weird Science, Bonzai, State Park, and Weedghost will play music all night (in that reverse order with Weedghost kicking things off around 10:30pm) and we will have Aquabear Volume 4 compilations and new(ish) Aquabear t-shirts for those last minute gifts on your list. Plus we will be giving away stickers, buttons, and even a cd or two throughout the night… why not? It’s the holidays! Admission is $3 and all proceeds benefit the Aquabear Legion and specifically the 2012 Aquabear County Fair! Support some local music before the year is out and see some great bands.
We are always trying to think of new ideas around here, so it made sense to record as many bands as possible in a short amount of time and put it out as a compilation right? Right? Well, we somehow convinced Mike Makosky of Disjointed Records that it was a good idea and he offered up his awesome studio space in the hills of Athens County. This Saturday, November 5th we will gather out in the country for a marathon of awesome Ohio music, record it and document it, and then put it out next year for you to hear. I have a feeling it will be more then 16 bands by the time we are done too. Look for pictures, video, and more and the more info on the release as we get into 2012. 16 BANDS in 16 HOURS (in order of time, beginning at 11am) Bram Riddlebarger, Saturn Missile Batteries, The Revulvas, Cop Hugger, Dune, Hookers Made Out of Cocaine, Moon High, Skumplast, Octopus and Owl, State Park, Nate Scheible/Alex, Dead Winds of Summer, Weedghost, Goodbye Goats, Casiotone Orchestra, Saclunch, Remainder
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. FULL COMPILATION TRACK LIST AFTER THE BREAK…
Athens brand spanking new Nobrow Music Collective will make their debut tonight (Saturday, April 9) at ARTS/West with a FREE performance of Terry Riley’s masterpiece IN C. For this performance the NMC will be made up of musicians from various OU ensembles (Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, New Music Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble) as well as musicians from local bands Splank!, The Alley Cats, Scubdaog and Weedghost! The Nobrow Music Collective is a rotating cast of musicians dedicated to the performance of exciting music (be it old, new, highbrow or low). They are directed by Scubadog drummer Aaron Butler, who besides playing awesome percussion and putting together a sweet group has a very impressive beard. There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:00 followed by an open performance of IN C. So bring any acoustic instrument that you want and participate in the experience yourself! Program also includes: James Tenney – Having Never Written a Note for Percussion Tristan Perich – Momentary Expanse **This performance is presented free as a part of Arts/West’s Presents Series.** The Nobrow Music Collective is a rotating cast of musicians dedicated to the performance of exciting music (be it old, new, highbrow or low). The Nobrow...
Attention Athenians! Our wonderful town is extra sleepy this week so come out an enjoy YOUR well deserved break from all the craziness of the students with an awesome FREE show of Ohio rock and roll at Casa Cantina TONIGHT (Thursday, March 24) at 10:30. We welcome Athens ex-pats In Silent Movies down from Columbus to join local acts The D-Rays (awesome loud and fast rock and roll, members of Speedknobs), and Poppycock (Athens legends who have returned for some awesome shows as of late). And if that wasn’t enough… we added a short set from Aquabear favorites the experimental/improv duo Weedghost! Hope to see you there.
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...
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 Support Local Music! Help spread the word.
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. Megachurch, Megachurch GET IT: megachurch.bandcamp.com Super Desserts, Banjo Forever GET IT: banjoforever.com Wheels On Fire, Liar Liar GET IT: Bompstore Sun God / This Moment In Black History, The Paul EP GET IT: Smog Veil Records The Black Swans, Words Are Stupid GET IT: St. Ives and Secretly...
Those Weedghost boys are still at it, visiting the noise rock mecca that is Sheboygan, Wisconsin and spending some quality time with our Aquabear Wisconsin agent Sir Rick Dogdson! Photos above and dispatches from Andrew after the break!
“Wow. Chicago was fantastic. After a leisurely dinner at Revolution Brewery with Stacy and Wiebe, it was decided that we would play Wiebe’s living room. Perfect. Stace made a few phone calls, those friends made a few calls and boosh, an audience. They were privy to a bit of history. Weedghost play two songs? Last night we did. Thanks to Stace and Brian for hooking us up, thanks to Zach for coming down and thanks to all who showed up. We had a blast! Off to Sheboygan!”
Weedghost continues trekking across the Midwest and sending us updates of their adventures. Regarding Sunday night’s set at The Shire in Yellow Springs Weedghost says “Awesome set in the barn. Some bluegrass, courtesy of Blue Moon Soup. Beers, dogs eating the shit out of any moth they can catch, beers…and we sold $20 worth of merch. True to form, a couple bunch of beers in, I gave away another $30 worth of stuff. Modelo in a can could solve some of the worlds problems….” More photos and updates after the break! Show at Wiebe’s house tonight, Chicago!
We plan to continue to update the site with the on-the-road exploits of Weedghost as they trek across the upper Midwest. The boys should be on right about now at The Shire in Yellow Springs and then its off to Chicago. Andrew sent along the following communication: “The trunk is packed, the obscene amount of merch is (almost) done and it’s off to the Shire in Yellow Springs for the second show of tour. Weedghost uber-fan Randy is joining us tonight, all but assuring good times. Beer stop!” and “The Shire is awesome. Tucked away outside of Yellow Springs, it’s like driving into another world. A calm, relaxing 18 pack of Modelo in cans world. We’re on in about an hour. Tonight’s the night, the official Weedghost 2010 tour riff gets busted out. Bet you’re glad you’re not here, huh?” Stay tuned for more…
Weedghost and Aquabear go way back, well all the way back actually. These guys played our first showcase at The Wire in 2005 and have played every Aquabear County Fair and numerous other shows, comps and everything else over the years. They are launching an “awesome six day, three show disc golf journey across the flat, shitty paved roads of the Midwest.” according to Andrew Lampela. And they’ll be providing Aquabear with all sorts of pictures, writings, text messages, postcards, carrier pigeons, and more. Check back for updates as they head to Yellow Springs, Chicago, and Sheboygan! After the break below is the first one… and if you are in Southwest Ohio you can see Weedghost play in Yellow Springs at the most wonderful Shire.
Aquabear Live @ ARTS/West with Moon High, Whale Zombie, Weedghost When Saturday, July 10, 2010 8:00pm - All Ages Where ARTS/West (map) 132 W. State St. Athens, Ohio, USA 45701 « Back to the calendar
Dead Winds of Summer is the solo project from Andrew Lampela (Weedghost, Kid Panda Hands, Goodbye Goats, SacLunch, Wizzard Beasts, and 9 million more). Dead Winds is equal parts improv, loops, and atmosphere and just like Andrew’s other projects in those veins this one hits the mark right on. This is the perfect way to start off the Aquabear County Fair so make sure to come out to The Bruce Manor TONIGHT at 7pm, Andrew will start around 7:45, followed by Thx. Tiger, In Silent Movies, and Seascapes. Unfortunately there are no Dead Winds of Summer videos to be found, but here’s part fo Weedghost’s set from last year’s Nelsonville Music Festival (right before Mudhoney!)
There is one band that has played every Aquabear County Fair, and the even played the first Aquabear Showcase at The Wire in 2005. That band is Weedghost. They will be joining us at again at The Union on Saturday, March 6th. Comprised of Andrew Lampela and Kris Poland, Weedghost has been making and looping noise for over 5 years. These fine folks also help out a ton with Aquabear and have spent time playing in The Arch Villans, Collapse, Kid Panda Hands, Dinner of Swords and the 1,000 bands Andrew has been in. Weedghost has also been part of the group of Athens musicians who hosted and played at the regular (and now semi-regular) ARTS/West Noise Nights. At this year’s County Fair Weedghost will be playing short sets inbetween bands at The Union on Saturday, March 6th and it wouldn’t be out of the question to see them at Casa Cantina on Friday, March 5th. Watch the video below:
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 And don’t forget to become a “fan” of the new Aquabear County Fair Facebook Page…
by Kris Poland - Go West, Young Bands There is a place on West State Street where Athens music lovers can see some of the area’s best musicians display their talents. It is a place where engaging local paintings and photographs adorn the walls and where community members meet to consolidate support for the arts. It is a place that has been an invaluable resource for area arts organizations and individual artists since its inception. But its staff is unlikely to serve you vegan burritos. The place is ARTS/West, and Emily Prince hopes that it will increase its presence in the regional arts community for years to come. Prince is ARTS/West’s program specialist and directs many of this venue’s day-to-day activities. She describes her place of work as, “a venue and a little bit more.” Indeed. The administrative and artistic support that ARTS/West provides to Athens’ performing artists includes establishing press contacts and authoring press releases, organization of events, skilled instruction, technical equipment, as well as additional resources and services. A little bit more than a venue? Prince has a knack for understatement.
The 3rd Annual Aquabear County Fair March 5-7, 2009 in beautiful Athens, Ohio Thursday, March 5th Kickoff at The (Bruce) Manor with Russenorsk Dinner of Swords Battle Rabbit 7pm Friday, March 6th Night One at Casa Cantina with Brainbow Casual Future Five Deadly Venoms Weedghost 10:30pm Saturday, March 7th L’Aqua Porter Film Festival at ARTS/West Ohio films! 2pm Saturday, March 7th Night Two at The Union with We March Dragline Bros. Kaslo Flotation Walls She Bears Bram Riddlebarger and His Lonesome Self 8pm FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.myspace.com/aquabearcountyfair or www.aquabearlegion.com Based in Appalachian Ohio, The Aquabear Legion provides a community network for creative people. We are dedicated to supporting and enhancing independent music and art in our community and elsewhere. We focus on collaborative relationships to create opportunities for independent musicians and artists.
Come celebrate the holidays with Aquabear with an awesome show at ARTS/West. (the) Giants of Gender are absolutely amazing, if you are around Athens you have to check this show out.
Aquabear continues our monthly concert series at ARTS/West in Athens on Friday, September 19th at 8pm! This month we will feature: Casual Future – www.myspace.com/casualfuture Flotation Walls – www.myspace.com/flotationwalls Weedghost – www.myspace.com/weedghost Come on out and support local music and still make it out to see some great shows in uptown Athens afterward… AND… Next week we are having an Aquabear Legion Noise Showcase at The Union in Athens on Thursday, September 25th at 10pm (sharp). There will be a whole bunch of Athens noise makers doing drone, freeform stuff, improv, and probably just banging on things to some sounds come out. Look for an update this weekend with a full lineup and poster… And don’t forget: Saturday, Sept. 27th: RECLAIM MUSIC FESTIVAL (www.reclaimmusicfestival.com) Sunday, Sept. 28th: Monthly Noise Night @ ARTS/West, 6pm
The Aquabear Legion is celebrating the release of yet another compilation (Volume 3!, our 5th overall..) on Saturday, July 26th at Casa Cantina here in Athens. The compilation features music from: We March, Southeast Engine, Machine Go Boom, Casual Future, Silo Circuit, Russenorsk, The Makebelieves, The Hiders, Woody Pines and The Lonesome Two, The X Bolex, 1point3, Kaslo, Mike Elliott, Spooktober, Men of Gentle Birth, Sun God, (the) Giants of Gender, and maybe even a few more. Machine Go Boom (Cleveland) Casual Future (Athens), 1point3 (Columbus) Weedghost (Athens) will be featured at the party on Saturday, July 26th at Casa. 10pm. The compilation will be available and there will be some other new Legion merchandise as well including buttons, stickers, and more. Come on out and help us celebrate and here some really great music.
Aquabear Summer Schedule! Aquabear Legion has a lot going on this summer… 6/28: Monthly Noise Show @ ARTS/West, 6pm 7/12: Aquabear Monthly Show @ ARTS/West w/ Spooktober and Sad Bastards, 8pm 7/26: CD Release @ Casa w/ Machine Go Boom, Casual Future, 1point3, Weedghost, 10:30pm 7/27: Monthly Noise Show @ ARTS/West, 6pm 8/16: Aquabear Monthly Show @ ARTS/West with TBA 8/24: Aquabear Record Swap and Potluck @ ARTS/West (day after ACMF!), 2pm visit for more information: www.aquabearlegion.com www.myspace.com/aquabearlegion And if you are on Facebook you can become a fan here: http://www. facebook. com/pages/Aquabear-Legion/16073679690
