What to buy on June 19th

The Junior Varsity's new album, Cinematographic ("sinn-uh-matt-o-graphic").



They played some new songs from it at their show in Middletown last night, and they were pretty amazing. Asa Dawson's live vocals have improved tremendously (not that they were anything less than wondrous before), Chris Birch's beats were stomp- and danceable (I did a bit of shaking, I'll admit), Nick Dodson's synths were fun and trippy (not that I've ever been on a figurative "trip," but I imagine if I was, I'd hear such neat sounds), and Andy Wildrick and Sergio Coronado continue to shred like mothereffers (and mothereffers can really shred).

Because I made the band cupcakes, I was invited into their van to preview the new CD, which features a guest vocal by Ken Vasoli (better known as "Kenny from The Starting Line") on one of the songs. The tracks are all well-written, meticulously performed, and straight up good. It has a lot of songs you're going to be singing in your car with the windows down during the summer, as opposed to Wide Eyed, their more mellow, introspective (but still damn fine, for sure) debut.

I didn't take any pictures because the lighting was weird in the venue and everything came out looking like big white blobs, but I will note that within six days, two lovely Illinois gentlemen wore the same red striped shirt (Nick Dodson of TJV and Mark of Spitalfield). I think there's something in the water there that makes people super sweet, super talented, and super (if inadvertent) walking evidence of Carl Jung's collective unconscious.

Come back soon, boys. We rather enjoy you here!


*Jess, who eats too much raw cake batter and will likely get salmonella from it someday (and who uses a lot of parentheticals).

Perfuma WIN the Break Contest

Hi hi,

Good news. Perfuma won The Break Contest and will be playing Bamboozle this year! I don't have which day confirmed yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I do. In the mean time, listen to them at www.myspace.com/perfuma. New demos are being created and they are damn catchy and fun. Here are some pictures from The Break contest yesterday!

Love,
Joelle, who manages Perfuma and lives vicariously through them, as she has no musical talent :)

Vans Warped Tour Kick Off Party

April 13, 2007 @ The Key Club (West Hollywood, CA)
By: Jackie Rudolph



Friday the 13th was nowhere near an unlucky day. Let’s just put this way, Happy Lucky #13 Warped Tour! That’s right, it was the 13th season of Warped Tour as the famous Sunset Strip venue, the Key Club, hosted the Vans Warped Tour Kick Off Party featuring an unbelievable lineup of Bleed The Dream, The Briggs, Meg & Dia, K-OS, and The Almost. To top it off, before the show, a press conference took place in the basement, also known as, The Plush Lounge. Here, I ran into a ton of artists, and even had the chance to speak with some of them including Pepper, Bleed The Dream, and of course, the founder of Warped himself, Kevin Lyman. It’s already a given that these guys are stoked for Warped, but really…how excited are they? First off, I got to hang with Pepper, who seemed totally ecstatic. Coming from Kona, Hawaii and making their way to the west coast with a few years experience of playing the Volcom Stage, Pepper finally has the chance to play the main stage at Warped, and for the whole entire tour too…pretty amazing you have got to say. Even if these guys had to help with stage crew first in order to have some playing time, look at them now, what a huge success. Also, be on the look out because these guys love meeting fans (especially females since they’re all about the women), so make sure to stop by the merch booth, or at least show them some love at the main stage. After kicking it with Pepper, I ran into Keith Thompson, bassist of Bleed The Dream. Cool guy I’ve gotta say, his energy and optimism about Warped Tour was so great. Holding a beer in one hand, and in love with the catering (by the way, those bbq’s after Warped are pretty much the best thing), Keith is all about Warped, especially since this is his 4th year touring with Warped. To top it off, him and his band even performed that night at the kickoff party, and might I add, they were pretty good that night too! Goes to show that bands on Kevin Lyman’s record label, WARCON Enterprises, has the best of the best, and those are the ones that you’ll get to see show their skills off this summer. Speaking of the man himself, Kevin Lyman, I had the chance to speak with him. This guy is incredible. Working his way up, and now at the top, let’s just give him the title of biggest success of the year. Lyman, a SoCal native, and fellow neighbor to Snoop Dog in Claremont, CA, talked about his ladder of promoting and club venue jobs. Gaining the experience and knowledge of event management, he began Warped 13 years back. It takes a lot of work, but in the end it’s totally worth it. Kevin grew up in the music atmosphere, and shows that he truly belongs in it too. Even if 4,000 bands try to play Warped Tour each year, the 400 chosen by Kevin and his fellow colleagues goes to show that the bands really do have true talent. To pass the Kevin Lyman test proves that the chosen bands for this year’s Warped Tour are the summer fad. Basically, get ready for this summer, because it’s gonna be HUGE. Who cares if you get sunburned, or kicked in the face by a crowd surfer, at least you’ll have stories from that one day in the summer of 2007 at Vans Warped Tour!

Diary of a Spitalfield Chauffeur, via my cellular phone records

9:42 am, Sat April 21
I hop out of the shower and receive a text message from "Markalfield" saying that Spitalfield's ride from Newark Airport to the Skate or Die Fest in Flanders, NJ is a no-go, and asking if I'd be available around noon.

9:47 am, Sat April 21
Flight information is confirmed, as is my picking the boys up.

9:51 am, Sat April 21
I leave Sara Holzinger a frantic, frenzied voicemail telling her to call me as soon as is humanly possible, because I do not want to drive alone to the airport.

Roughly 10:45,I leave for the airport, stopping at a fruit market on the way to appease my Granny Smith apple craving.

11:12 am, Sat April 21
Nigel's engine stops in the middle of Route 18.  I shake like a salt shaker and call my dad in a panic.  He calmly instructs me to shut up, put the van in park, and start it again, and explains that because we don't use it all that much that the transmission gets "sticky" if stopped for too long at first.  This works.  I relax and continue on my way.

11:37 am, Sat April 21
Sara calls me back while I'm on the Turnpike.  I tell her about the engine issue, and we fret briefly, until I reach my destination.

12:00 pm, Sat April 21
Text message from Markalfield:  "The bird has landed...  Over n out."

12:25 pm, Sat April 21
Call from Markalfield describing the boys' location in relation to my own, using latitudes and longitudes in the form of "Okay, I'm between 109 and 110 in the parking lot, near those big poles with the red things.."  I ask a friendly security-crossing guard hybrid outside how on Earth to get to terminal A to wait without paying for parking or being ticketed.  He says I have a nice smile and to just drive up and it'll be fine.  I thank him, blow him a kiss, and drive off to find the gents.



Roughly 12:30, we take off, using directions from Mitch, to Route 78 East for the show.

Roughly 1:00 (after TJ used his supreme map reading skills), we realize that Mitch is, in fact, pretty idiotic, and that we were supposed to have taken 78 West.  We turn around near the Holland Tunnel.  I pray a lot.

From roughly 1:00-2:00, we sing songs to pass the time in the hideous traffic mess. Our playlist:

"Little Red Corvette" - Prince
"Hyperspace" - Nada Surf
"Come Into My World" - Kylie Minogue
"See You Around" - Jesse Camp and the 8th Street Kids
"Kiss Me, Diss Me" - Homegrown
"Bells" - Hey Mercedes
"Mad World" - Gary Jules
"Here's to You" - Diffuser
"Change" - The Deftones
"Drive" - The Cars
"Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol
"Shade" - Silverchair
"Big Empty" - Stone Temple Pilots
"If It's Here When We Get Back, It's Ours" - Texas is the Reason
All of Alkaline Trio's Crimson album

Roughly 2:15, we finally travel a whopping four miles.  Yes, traffic was that horrific.

Roughly 3:30, we get excited to hit Route 206.

Roughly 3:50, we finally get to the show.  I nearly rear-end a minivan in front of us, asking, "Holy shit, Mark, did I hit him?"
"No, almost!"
Susanne, a sweetheart, tells me to drop the guys and their gear off, and to park in the lot down the street and take a shuttle to the show.  A security guard leads me to the back band lot to drop off the equipment, where we all decide that I'm not taking a fucking shuttle bus after driving the headlining act to the show.  TJ gets out of the van and coaches my parking, making sure I pull far enough up to be out of the way.









Roughly 4:00, Mark comes with my meal ticket (a real, literal one--so awesome) and wristbands.  Susanne asks where they found me and tells me I'm a Godsend.  I am reminded of that creepy De Niro movie of that title.  I go watch some band fronted by a chick with questionable taste in belts, but a good stage presence.  Sara arrives soon with her friend who looks like Baelynn and visibly enjoys male attention.

I spend most of the day alternating between hanging out with Sara and sitting on the grass reading The Tempest.  I use my meal ticket on the best cheeseburger I've ever had.

Roughly 4:30, Jeff needs my help because Nigel went all Beyonce on him and rang his alarm.

Roughly 5:30, Mark needs the keys to tune his guitar from the van.  I give the keys to Jeff to hold on to in case they have trouble tracking me down.

7:36 pm, Sat April 21 Mark put in a call and Nigel again rang the alarm.

Roughly 8:15 pm, the boys finally go on.  They call the winning raffle ticket number for an autographed skateboard, which goes to a very happy lil' sk8r boi (please note that typing "sk8r boi" makes me want to kill myself).






  Their set is magnificent. 





















Mark plays a solo cover of Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T."  Life is worth living. 



A blonde adolescent behind me keeps glaring at me.  I mutter for her to die in a fire, smile, and go about my business.

Roughly 9:45 pm, we begin to load out; Jeff, TJ, and JD are amazed by my knowledge of Jay-Z lyrics as I recite "Public Service Announcement" along with the van across from ours blasting it. We head for the hotel.

Roughly 10:30 pm, we arrive at the hotel and I send them off.




Roughly 10:31 pm, I begin to miss them.

*By Jess, who thinks of her pal Carlo whenever she hears "I Loved the Way She Said 'L.A.'"

Happy birthday, Joelle!

Happy birthday to the hardest working, best looking, most darling woman I know. And she's a great mom to her Skye, too!

<3jess

P.S. I have an awesome birthday treat for you Tuesday!

Unspeakable.

Innumerable thoughts and prayers go out to everyone suffering from the travesty that occurred at Virginia Tech today.

So far, there are twenty-two thirty-one killed and at least that many injured, making this the worst (at least statistically speaking) school shooting ever in American history.

It's insane and unfortunate that we're able to make comparisons in situations like this.


*By Jess, who is now no longer in the good mood she'd started her day with.

Brokenhearted: 18 Visions Announce Breakup

"Eighteen Visions broke up." That was not the best news I could have heard from a middle of night phone call. I actually didn't believe it at first, because it made no sense. But alas, a little investigating on the WWW and I found the following:

The End Of Eighteen Visions
After 11 years of making music, Southern California harcore-punk band Eighteen Visions have broken up.

The news comes via online message in which the bands states: "After several years of touring and quite a few album releases we have decided that it is time to go our seperate ways. We have been a band for a very long time and feel good about everything we were able to accomplish. At this point in our lives and our careers we feel its time to move on to something fresh and new. Weither it be music, touring or just being at home to live and enjoy life. We would like to thank all of our fans, friends and families for all of the great support over the years. We would also like to thank all of the bands we have shared the stage with and everyone who has ever worked with the band, opened a door or reached out a hand. We will be playing our final two shows in April. One in San Diego and one in Orange County. Come rock with us one more time."

Eighteen Visions released five albums including their latest, Eighteen Visions, in 2006.

So there it is. Even though I'd still like to pretend it's not true because there's no official posting on the band's Web site or MySpace page. I mean, someone could have hacked into Trevor's profile and posted the bulletin, right? OK, wishful thinking.....

I'm glad I got to see them one last time, and that it was at The Stone Pony with Lostprophets. It was when 18 V and Lostprophets first toured together a few years ago, that I first discovered them, so it's sorta fitting.

This was one live band that I never wanted to miss. They were my only reason for even going to Warped Tour last year. And I must say, everyone in the band is super rad. Mickdeth and Keith even did an impromtu interview with me at Warped Tour last year and it's been a "lost" Planet Verge interview that I was waiting for the right time to transcibe. So I'm gonna do it now and do a whole 18 Visions proper send off for you all. I'll put up my interview with James Hart, who was one of my favorite people to interview.

Even if you didn't love them then, you should love them now.

Here's to the years of inspiration, adrenaline rush-filled performances, stage presence that will make any camera shutter, and music that stood for something and will last in hearts forever. Here's to 18 Visions and wherever life leads them next.

*Joelle, who thinks it is even sadder that 18 Visions are playing their final show on her birthday and wishes she was in California to see it.

In Defense of Don Imus

As a student at Rutgers University, people keep asking me how I feel about Don Imus, who was, until this afternoon, a notorious radio "shock jock"--think Howard Stern, but with sports instead of strippers.

Frankly? I don't give a shit.

Is the Rutgers University women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy headed hos?" Of course not. Everyone and their mother knows this. Is Don Imus a bigot and an asshole? Perhaps. Don Imus is also an old man who was probably around before schools were integrated and whose balls probably sag much lower than anything the RU women's basketball team could ever conceivably dribble. While I'm not saying this is a reason to cut him any slack, I do find it useful to get into his mindset: He's a crazy old dude.

The fact is, bringing attention to Don Imus's comments about the team caused much more harm than good. Most of the student body had no idea who Don Imus was until the media blew this entirely out of proportion and plastered it on front pages of newspapers nationwide, and most of the student body--myself included--still does not care. And now that an actual good governor acting as a mediator between the RU women's team and Imus is in critical condition resulting from an accident happening on his way to the meeting between the parties? I think that was quite a bit of a sign that this has been taken much, much too far.

In addition to that potential tragedy, we also have on our hands the potential damage to our First Amendment rights. CBS and MSNBC have cowered to threats not of moral or ethical integrity, but of advertising pulls. By firing Don Imus, we are saying that free expression--even if it is expression of ideas we may not agree with--is not a Constitutional right, but a privilege that must be paid for by corporate sponsorship, and that is a much more offensive and dangerous view than any that Imus has expressed throughout his decades on sports radio.

*By Jess, who likes football better anyway

THE TAKE ACTION! TOUR 2007

This year music united with 1(800)SUICIDE to try and saves lives. The Take Action! Tour promoted the hotline and is hoping to have an affect…an affect large enough to hopefully take suicide out of the number 3 spot in killers among people ages 15-24.

As I pulled up to the vintage rock palace that many of us Jersey music fans have come to call a second home it was hard to miss the oversized tour buses that the performing talent has inhabited for the past month. The Stone Pony was hosting the The Action! Tour, and its hard to pull up to a venue like this knowing that some of your favorite acts are going to be performing, and not get butterflies in your stomach…

This tour was STAKED with big name talent. The line up included the likes of Kaddisfly, A Static Lullaby, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Emery, with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus as the show headliner. Hopeless Records Capitalized and set up a huge merch table where you could find random band members chillin’.

The first band of the night is one of AP magazine’s 100 bands to know for this year…Kaddisfly. It mattered very little to them that they were the show opener. They packed their performance with music, antics, and most definitely talent. They pulled the crowd into their performance every chance they got….with their enchanting tune entitled ‘Campfire’ they were able to get a lot of the crazed fans to sing a long. Kaddisfly is certainly a band to watch. Their presence on this tour can not be ignored; great things can be expected from their future.

*Show Spotlight: Kaddisfly, hailing from Portland Oregon is one of this year’s most anticipated acts in the indie-alt world… Since being signed to Hopeless Records, they have already developed a natural, very empowering lyrically driven sound. This band is packed and stacked with the raw talent that no one can deny is refreshing alternative and their release is certainly something that you want to pick up because for a “newer” band, they have it going on.

A Static Lullaby slammed the stage with a lot of their older tunes much to their fans delight. Guitarist John explained to me that they would rather play their older stuff that fans really got into because the band isn’t feeling much success of this latest release. There hardcore sound bellowed around the Stone Pony giving everyone…including myself, chills. You would have never known that they had been “unsuccessful” with the energy that each member of the band brought to the stage. They played their latest song gone video ‘Hang ‘em High’ along with an older hit ‘Lip Gloss and Let Down.’

There is absolutely NOTHING like watching the guys of Scary Kids Scaring Kids take the stage. Each one of them are unique with their stage behavior, but they all deliver a similar message…this is what we love, take it or leave it. Their love of music certainly shines through as lead singer Tyson Stevens belts (and screams) out the lyrics to a hit of theirs…The City Sleeps in Flames. Pouyan’s dramatic and fun stage thrashing, and near de-pantsing makes watching their performance not only a musical experience but an entertaining moment of mystery…will his pants actually fall of this time? The band played one of my very favorites of their album (The City Sleeps in Flames 2005) My Darkest Hour, and it was difficult to find someone that wasn’t singing along. Much like the two bands that played before them, Scary Kids is a MUST watch band. Since I wrote the article on them earlier this year, they have already seen a tremendous peak in their success. Their last album is one that is ALWAYS in the cd player…I come back to it time and time again it never fails to put me in a “comfort zone” ( one that only the best music can provide) and the familiar confidence you get from listening to it, I am hard pressed to see how their up and coming release will be anything but amazing.

Emery was a pleasant departure from the previous more “screamo” type bands we had been seeing…while they still do their share of screaming, their slower ballads are enchanting and make you wanna sway. By far the highlight of their set was watching of the the crazy band members climb the rafter type piping situation that the Stone Pony has all over the ceiling… As I was standing their, not far from Static Lullaby guitarist John, I got a little nervous that the rafter would give and their would be screaming and well, and end to the show. Emery played a solid set, and I say that with no hesitation. They are a band you can watch play for hours.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was certainly a crowd favorite. With their radio smash hit entitled Face Down, they have been selling records, and as a result, building a fan base that ranges from college age kids, to 6th graders to post college graduates, and everything in between. They are also a band is that for me, the press, has fun with. Their delightful manner and overflow of creative talent that affects everyone around them in such a positive way is definitely a highlight of watching them perform their album hits. Their emotional out pour in Face Down was most certainly the crowd favorite.

Its hard to find a GOOD solid tour where every band is one you don’t want to miss….but boys and girls…this was one of them. Each band brought something different to the table and it just made it that much better. I give this show 5 out of 5 stars…


PHOTO CREDIT: Amanda Tumulty


*By Amanda who is oh so thankful for soy chai tea lattes from Starbucks

A Whole Lotta Lovin' Butch Walker

My name is Joelle and I'm a Butch Walker-aholic. When Butch binges occur, I can often be found making my own version of his greatest hits and stuffing them into Christmas/birthday/you name it gifts for my friends. I've even sunken to making my mother watch clips of his DVD and my co-workers go visit his MySpace page. Luckily, my boyfriend accepts this and it doesn't cause any turmoil in our relationship. Actually, he's probably even got a manly crush on Butch. He is quite the enviable one, one after all.

No one else can control a crowd like Butch Walker. Hell, he should be called in as an emergency rescue worker next time a riot breaks out, they way people worship his every word. This week, he had the entire pretty much sold-out crowd at Irving Plaza under his command. When he told the audience to sing, they belted out notes. When he said sit, boy did their buttocks hit the floor. The same thing occurred at The Stone Pony the previous evening.

Maybe it’s magic. Or it’s just that current musicians lack personal connections with their fans, whereas Walker thrives. It could be his devastatingly sexy allure and the way he catches that guitar pick after spitting it out his mouth. Or his gift for witty lyricism to which no one can compare and eye locking live performances that make you sweat just watching him work that stage.

Whatever it is, it’s something that middle America needs right now. Not just the indie rockers and hipsters who secretly like those Avril Lavigne songs he worked on. Butch Walker restores faith in modern music. There is life outside emo, guys! There’s a musician who’s schooled in the classics, can cover songs better than their originators and is constantly evolving. And he’s on a stage somewhere in the world right now, holding his microphone out to the crowd and smiling as they sing “Best Thing You Never Had” for him. Each Butch Walker album might as well be a testament in the Rock ‘N Roll Bible.

During my worship this week, I suffered a bit of a straight-edge hangover, going to shows multiple days in a row and not being able to function at work because I can’t miss a moment of Butch Walker in the area. This tour in particular was one of my favorites because he dusted off some Marvelous 3 classics. The only downside was that there were more people in my way and sometimes it was hard to see. But the noticeably larger crowds are a sign that Butch Fever is spreading and that’s a reason to rejoice!

*By Joelle, who has written about Butch Walker more than any other artist and probably won’t be writing about anyone else until next time he’s around. Haha






STAY TUNED FOR MORE BUTCH WALKER AS CAIT REVEALS WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOLLOWING THE TOUR FOR A WEEK AND EVEN LETTING HER VOCAL CHORDS LOOSE DURING A SHOW!

If I could go back and change ONE thing...

I'd totally have let James Valentine of Maroon 5 spit game at me instead of rolling my eyes and walking away.

Yes, they were rude to my beloved Carlo. Yes, they were staring at my rack. Yes, they looked like they could use a shower or seven.

However, they are loaded, and I have tuition to pay. That, and their new drummer Matt Flynn is absolutely lovely.

And did I mention James Valentine is BFF with John Mayer?

If I ever say I have no regrets in life, remind me of this and tell me I'm full of shit.

*By Jess, who would like to someday marry rich so she can stay home and bake all day.

Armor for Sleep Interview with Anthony Dilonno

March 13, 2007 @ UC Irvine Bren Events Center


By: Jackie Rudolph


Sitting with bassist, Anthony Dilonno, from Armor for Sleep in an Orange County college basketball locker room, I was able to learn more about him, the band, and the success that Armor has reached throughout the years. Anthony first started with Armor when Ben Jorgensen (lead singer, guitarist) of Armor for Sleep came up to him at a local show in their home state of New Jersey, and gave him a demo that Armor had been working on. Anthony liked the demo, but was still in another band. Yet, coincidentally two weeks later his band broke up. It was the great year of 2002, and Anthony had just joined this new band which included a pair of cousins, PJ and Nash, and Ben, to form Armor for Sleep which was now in tact.


Armor for Sleep is the perfect name for these guys. Anthony explains that the first few songs that his band mate, Ben, stirred up late at night was his armor for sleep in the dead hours of the night. With Ben’s skill of writing, he dedicated this sophomore album, “What to Do When You Are Dead” to writing songs about death. But why death? Anthony answers, “Car underwater is about suicide. The rest of the record is based loosely around the person who died and how they made a big mistake and how much they want to be back. It’s just an idea Ben had which he wrote about. There’s no primary message. I like how Ben writes the lyrics because his lyrics can relate to a lot of people in a lot of different ways. There’s many different meanings.” There you have it. So try not to underestimate these fellas and think that they’re just writing about death, when really these guys see the world in so many different ways and value their lives.


These four band mates put a ton of effort into making Armor for Sleep what it is today with their constant contributions. Anthony explains, “Everyone contributes in the music part. Ben usually comes in with something that he wrote or was playing with and we’ll feed off that until we’re happy.” With the success of being signed to the major label, Warner Brothers/Sire Records, with artists such as H.I.M and Less Than Jake, Armor for Sleep has shown true success. Yet, success is different in many ways. Anthony says, “I can’t judge success because you work so hard to try to get to the next level and you never know if you’re gonna get to that next level. I can’t put my finger on it because we’re just gonna keep on working as hard as we can.” At least we can say that Anthony is more successful than when he worked as a cashier at Shop Rite at the ripe age of 15.

Now that Shop Rite is in the past, he feels that he has definitely changed over the years. He talks about how he has seen so much, more than what men twice the age of him have seen. He comments, “When you’re doing what we do, I mean you really get to see so much. It’s really kind of just a head start at seeing the world. Just because, you see my dad is 50, and he hasn’t been to half the places that I have. There’s kids my age now who are out of college and do not really know much because they grew up in one place and then moved to another place for 4 years. It doesn’t really go for everyone, but there are a lot of people who don’t get to see much since they’re in one place all the time.” Exploring and creating yourself is what had made Anthony. He loves the life he lives, and is more than satisfied with his career with Armor.

Looks like life is good for Armor. Hopefully, more success is on its way as their third album hits stores this summer. These guys have been working extremely hard on this next album, with recording taking place ever since December 2006. It’s obvious that a ton of effort has been put into this third album. So watch out this summer, with all of Armor for Sleep’s crazy touring and promoting, but most of all make sure you go out buy their new record!