NYC post-punk outfit Catcher have shared a comeback single entitled “Comparing Saviors and Friends,” off their upcoming debut album, due out in 2022. The single is regarded as one of the first tracks they’d written with the genesis of the band, and comes alongside a DIY music video.
Photo by Kevin Allen
Catcher is a Brooklyn-based post-punk band with a reputation for visceral and powerful live performances. Drawing comparisons to Iceage and Protomartyr, Catcher deliver music with a driving and inundating low-end, provided by childhood friends Cameron McRae and Wilson Chestney, on bass and drums respectively. Guitarists Jack Young and Christian Reech, each having been recruited earlier this year via a Craigslist ad and connection via the band’s shared Tinder, interweave melodies and noise to create an environment that manages to be at once both bleak and moving, desolate but hopeful, violent but tender.
Vocalist Austin Eichler commands listeners with a domineering and chaotic presence. From drawling croons to powerful screams, Austin’s narrative lyrics invoke a wide spectrum of emotion while creating a world of their own. Through endless hours of practice and work, the band has crafted a gripping and tight live performance and a growing international fanbase.
With a sludgy bass and frenetic guitar chords, “Comparing Saviors and Friends” charges forward like an angry bull out the gate, with a deep-seated drawl from vocalist Austin Eichler. The new single comes on the heels of the band’s first four singles: “Yesterday’s Favorite,” “The Skin,” “Only Advice,” and “Fallen Stones,” amid playing countless sold-out shows across New York City, as well as their first headlining tour across the U.S. with fellow NYC rockers Been Stellar.
Catch Catcher at Mercury Lounge on January 2, 2022 with Hello Mary. More information and tickets are available here.
On December 10th and 11th Buffalo was host to TID The Season 2021, one of the craziest shows put on by the hometown band, Every Time I Die. This two day show took place this year at the Buffalo River Works, a venue with two stories, ice skating rinks, ferris wheel, and more. Previous years, this had been held at other venues, such as The Rec Room. This has been a popular event for many years in Buffalo, so much so that when the weekend passes went on sale, they would immediately sell out, so you would have to get your hands on them quickly.
Every Time I Die
Upon arriving Friday evening, the first thing you see is the long, long line of anxious show goers waiting to get it and with the show always being in December and in Buffalo, you just never know what to expect but thankfully the weather was decent. Since the show has a Christmas theme, many showed up in fashion, with their santa hats, matching Christmas PJs, or holiday themed suits. First nights line up was 68’, which if you’ve seen their performance, it’s a sight to see. Then Kublai Khan really got the show and got the crowd going with their hardcore sound.
View from the second floor showing the packed house
A tradition of TID The Season is to mix up the sound and they did that with a band called Mariachi El Bronx, who brought some spicy tunes and the crowd was digging so much that a congo line was started! There was a slight band change as Poison The Well was listed to play but sadly had to drop out so another hometown favorite joined in on the bill, which was Buried Alive and they took things up quite a few notches. In between sets, there were other things to enjoy, food onsite, multiple bars, they even had an ice skating rink and curling available.
Mariachi El Bronx
Also, if you looked around enough, you would catch a Christmas lighted Every Time I Die sign which many throughout the night took photos and selfies with, and even Santa would appear from time to time. Next to take the stage was Circa Survive, which toned things down a bit just before the main event and as Circa’s set ends, a curtain drops, which a yule log burning was projected. The anticipation builds as the band sets up and in all in one motion, the curtain drops and Every Time I Die kicks off and the crowd explodes.
Wrestling kicking off the second day of TID The Season
Saturday started earlier in the day and with something unique to the show. One of the members Andy Williams, the guitarist, has been a long time wrestler and with every TID The Season show, the second day kicks off with a few matches and it’s truly a spectacle to witness, you may catch Santa flying around in the ring.
Every Time I Die performing on their final night of TID The Season
Once the wrestling was over, it was time to get to the music and kick things off was End and then followed by The Dirty NIL. If you ended up being bored in between sets or at the end of one, one of the other activities you could do was a bull riding machine, which was fun to see people doing their best to hold on but ultimately flown to the side.
Ice T
Continuing the music is Spiritbox with their beautiful clean vocals and gut wrenching screams, and by now, countless crowd surfers have made their way to the front. Following Spiritbox is The Bronx, which the previous night, Mariachi El Bronx which consist of some of the same members but The Bronx has a totally different sound that got the crowd to really move, especially when the singer dived into the crowd and sang two songs as a circle pit formed around him.
Knocked Loose with the unique metalcore sound, got the circle pits really going. Now, after them, was another change up from the metal, hard rock with Ice T who is well known on the stage and tv but the energy and vibe was strong nonetheless. Finally, for the conclusion of this entire two day show, we have Every Time I Die closing out again, who this time while setting up, decided the night needed to feel more like Christmas, so let it snow! The night came to an end with Every Time I Die playing their heart out for the second night and fans singing along to every song. This show has been around for awhile and has created so many memories and so many look forward to it, it almost feels like a tradition and hopefully it will continue.
Saturday, December 18, was the return of Frozen Fest in Albany, New York, at Empire Live. The show was headlined by Albany’s own State Champs, with Origami Angel, Young Culture, and Pollyanna. Pollyanna, and Albany-based Young Culture opened up Frozen Fest 2021 and primed the crowd for Origami Angel. The Washington D.C. duo took the stage and rocked harder than any duo should be able to. By the end of their set, the Frozen Fest audience was feeling loose and ready to party with State Champs.
State Champs
State Champs walked on stage before a rowdy crowd that had no idea there was a 24-song set in store for them. The long setlist bounced around State Champs’ discography and the audience loved every minute of it. The hometown band opened with ‘Criminal’ and crowd surfers immediately began pouring over the guardrail. The show’s energy slowly increased over the course of the next hour, until fans received good news.
Origami Angel
After what felt like an entire show, Derek announced to the crowd that their set was only halfway over. A few hundred sweaty and out-of-breath fans gained a second wind and the night’s energy continued on its upward trajectory. Not too long after this midpoint though, the show hit a tipping point. Fans who were too scared to crowd surf earlier had gained the confidence to try, and one person after another began giving the “up” signal to the nearest strongman they could find.
The evolution of a crowd surfer.
Eventually though, the good times would have to end. As State Champs played their final songs, the party in the crowd continued with pushing and shoving blurring with hugging and singing. The only thing that could take the night higher was a 5-minute break before a three song encore. State Champs’ set peaked during this encore as the Albany fans sent up as many crowd surfers as was physically possible. Frozen Fest 2021 would go on to end in a shower of hundreds of balloons as the crowd sang along with their hometown band.
State Champs are heading to Europe next, but you can keep track of future dates on their website.
Setlist: Criminal, Mine Is Gold, Outta My Head, Shape Up, Frozen, Xmas, Tonsil Hockey (Intro), Critical, Something About You, Shades Of Gray, Hurry Up and Wait, Our Time to Go, Breaking Ground, Hard to Please, Just Sound, Simple Existence, Slow Burn, Losing Myself, All You Are is History, Dead and Gone Encore: Time Machine, Elevated, Secrets
Psychedelic rock n’ roll trailblazers Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats return to North America in March of 2022, with their first stop slated for Brooklyn Steel. The tour features Rochester heavy psych-rock band King Buffalo, and wraps up on April 3 in Boston.
The brainchild of mercurial Cambridgeshire mystic Kevin Starrs, Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats have been making music since 2009. Always too bold and idiosyncratic to be easily pigeonholed, they emerged from an obscure corner of the labyrinthine English underground as shadowy purveyors of a new and overwhelmingly psychedelic take on hard rock and blues, Steeped in both the wayward melodies and mischievous arrangements of psychedelic pop and the dissonant thunder of proto-metal and doom, Starrs’ greatest feat has been to create an entirely fresh sonic world from these most familiar of ingredients.
The UK band was supposed to tour North America in 2022, but were postponed due to the pandemic. Some of the shows in those cities and venues are included in the 2022 tour dates.
The band shared the following message with fans:
WARNING: We’ll be returning to the stages of North America for the first time since 2019. Support from King Buffalo. See you there!
Tickets for all dates on the upcoming tour are now on sale.
Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats w/s/g King Buffalo – North American Tour 2022
March 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel March 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer March 4 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Roxian March 5 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Sound Stage March 7 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel March 8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade March 9 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz March 11 – New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues March 12 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live March 13 – Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues March 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom March 16 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory March 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco March 18 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theater March 21 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater March 22 – Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore March 23 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Market March 25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot March 26 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre March 27 – Kansas City, MO @ The Truman March 29 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue March 30 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall April 1 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth April 2 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda April 3 – Boston, MA @ Big Nite Live
A stellar post punk triple bill hit the Lower East Side’s Bowery Ballroom on Friday, December 10th featuring Preoccupations, METZ and FACS. The tour is actually a co-headline with Metz and Preoccupations switching each night with FACS providing the support. The tour hit Bushwick’s Elsewhere on Thursday night with METZ as the headliner, and Preoccupations took the late slot on Friday at Bowery.
FACS at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
Support for the shows on the tour came from the Chicago based band FACS. The band boasts a robust rhythm section with the driving drums and bass being front and center and psychedelic and dark guitar tones filling the void. FACS have three LPs under their belts since making their debut in 2018. Void Moments was released during the pandemic in 2020 and their third record, Present Tense was released earlier this year; both of which are seeing their live debut on this tour.
FACS at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
Canadian punk vets METZ took the stage next, in full support of their excellent 2020 LP Atlas Vending. Vocalist Alex Edkins spoke to the crowd between songs, explaining how weird it felt to finally be able to play the record live more than a year after it’s original release. The band played the first 5 tracks of the new album to start their set, with a couple more towards the end. Atlas Vending is METZ at their peak, and fans at Bower Ballroom on Friday were thrilled to finally experience it live.
METZ at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
Closing out the show on Friday was fellow Canadian band Preoccupations who are still touring strong behind their 2018 LP New Material. Preoccupations have been playing this record live for a while now, but this time around tracks such as “Antidote” were given a whole new live arrangement. A couple of new, unfamiliar songs were played during the set, indicating a new record may be on the way soon although nothing has been announced just yet.
Preoccupations at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
The tour continues this week with shows in Columbus and Chicago, before two hometown shows at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. Preoccupations, METZ, and FACS complimented each other so well at Bowery Ballroom and all have exciting new material either just out or on the horizon. It is certainly a show not to be missed.
On December 3rd, Starset, The Word Alive and Another Day Dawns came together and performed at The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls. To say that this performance rocked would be an understatement, as each band provided a set that was not only full of pure talent but captivating as well.
A Packed Crowd at The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls for Starset, The World Alive and Another Day Dawns. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki.
Another Day Dawns started off the night. Each song, Dakota’s vocals hit just right and really got things going with a performance filled with so much energy, their bass guitarist, Jerome Betz, jumped right into the pit.
After that, metalcore band The Word Alive was up and they brought the energy and performance from a 10 to an 11. The power behind their set caused, Tyler Smith, the lead singer, to join the crowd during the last song. Their fans were just as powerful and just had a great time.
Dakota Sean of Another Day Dawns. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki.
Finally, Starset. What they created in their set was something I have never experienced before and probably never will again. They started their performance with a curtain in front of the stage so the audience was left to guess what was going on behind it. A projection graced the curtain, depicting the band creating an army.
Once the curtain dropped, we were launched into outer space. Everything from then on was a beautiful story. This story was backed by musicality that was out of this world. It was an incredible night of music and proved to the audience that it was not just a concert, this was a demonstration.
Starset Setlist: The Breach, Where The Skies End, Infected, Carnivore, Let It Die, Trials, Manifest, Echo, Monster, Point of No Return, It Has Begun, Earthrise, Satellite, Devolution, For Whom The Bell Tolls (Originally By Metallica), Ricochet, Die For You, My Demons
Dakota Sean and Tyler Ritter of Another Day Dawns. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Jerome Betz of Another Day Dawns. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Nick McGeehan of Another Day Dawns. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Tyler Ross and Tyler Smith of The World Alive. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Mat Madiro of The World Alive. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Tyler Smith of The World Alive. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Tyler Ross of The World Alive. Photo By Samantha
Dustin Bates of Starset. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Ron DeChant of Starset. Photo By Samantha Rychlicki
Dustin Bates of Starset. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Siobhán Richards of Starset. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Zuzana Engererova of Starset. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Dustin Bates of Starset. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Starset at The Rapids Theatre. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
Iron Maiden returns to North American in 2022, bringing “The Legacy Of The Beast World Tour” to even more cities, making stops where they have not performed in for many years. Already seen by almost 2,000,000 people across the globe, the tour is hailed by fans and media alike as the most extravagant and visually spectacular performance of the band’s career to date, in addition to a decades-spanning set list of fan favorites.
The 2022 tour includes a stop at the new UBS Arena at Belmont Park, located on the border of Queens and Nassau Counties, on October 19. The show will also include some songs from their new studio album Senjutsu, being played live for the first time.
Special guests on Iron Maiden’s 2022 dates will feature Trivium on all dates between El Paso and Spokane, and Within Temptation on all dates from Sioux Falls to Tampa, including at Belmont Park.
We’re really looking forward to our return to North America so we can bring The Legacy Of The Beast show to places we didn’t get to in 2019 and to other cities we’ve not played for many years. I’m really excited about the new additions and changes to the stage production and we can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve got planned. The whole band has really enjoyed the Legacy Tour and now we just can’t wait get back out on the road to play live, have fun and see everyone again!”
Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson
The Legacy Of The Beast Tour production and set list is inspired by Maiden’s award-winning free to play mobile game of the same name which is available on iOS and Android platforms at www.ironmaiden.com/play
Next summer we will finally get to play the huge European stadium tour for The Legacy Of The Beast, and the new show will be even more spectacular so after our visit to Rock in Rio early September 2022 we decided to take it back to our fans in North America too, but in cities or venues we didn’t play in 2019, including some we haven’t visited in many years like El Paso, Spokane, Sioux Falls, Columbus, Hamilton, Ottawa and Greensboro.
Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood
The $1.1 billion multi-purpose, state of the art arena will host more than 150 major events annually while delivering an unmatched live entertainment experience including clear sightlines and premier acoustics. UBS Arena is designed to hold up to 19,000 people for concerts and audiences up to 17,000 for NHL games. In an effort to build a greener future, UBS Arena intends on being carbon neutral for operations before 2024, which will make it the first arena to do so on the eastern United States seaboard.
Verified Fan presale begins Wednesday, December 8 at 10am, as well as an exclusive pre-sale for Iron Maiden fan club members beginning Tuesday, December 7 at 10am. All presales end Thursday, December 9th at 10pm. Any remaining tickets will go on sale on December 10th at 10am.
Iron Maiden North American Tour Dates
SEPT 11 EL PASO, TX DON HASKINS CENTER SEPT 13 AUSTIN, TX MOODY CENTER SEPT 15 TULSA, OK BOK CENTER SEPT 17 DENVER, CO BALL ARENA SEPT 19 SALT LAKE CITY, UT USANA AMPHITHEATRE SEPT 21 ANAHEIM, CA HONDA CENTER SEPT 25 CHULA VISTA, CA NORTH ISLAND CREDIT UNION AMPHITHEATRE SEPT 27 CONCORD, CA CONCORD PAVILION SEPT 29 SEATTLE, WA CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA SEPT 30 SPOKANE, WA SPOKANE ARENA OCT 03 SIOUX FALLS, SD DENNY SANFORD PREMIER CENTER OCT 05 CHICAGO, IL UNITED CENTER OCT 07 COLUMBUS, OH NATIONWIDE ARENA OCT 09 DETROIT, MI LITTLE CAESARS ARENA OCT 11 TORONTO, ON SCOTIABANK CENTRE OCT 12 HAMILTON, ON FIRSTONTARIO CENTRE OCT 15 OTTAWA, ON CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE OCT 17 WORCESTER, MA DCU CENTER OCT 19 BELMONT PARK, NY UBS ARENA OCT 21 NEWARK, NJ PRUDENTIAL CENTER OCT 23 WASHINGTON, DC CAPITAL ONE ARENA OCT 25 GREENSBORO, NC GREENSBORO COLISEUM OCT 27 TAMPA, FL AMALIE ARENA
Rockland County based Indie-punk label Manic Kat Records has announced the return of their annual holiday show, “A Very Merry Punxmas IV” at Olive’s Bar in Nyack.
Hosted for a second year by TikTok influencer, KiwiCvlt A Very Merry Punxmas iV takes place on December 18th with sets from New Age Affair, When Thieves are About, Cult Classic and Just Happy To Be Here, with more live music and festivities taking place over the course of the evening.
Formed in New York in 2009, independent label Manic Kat Records continues to flourish as a hot bed of punk, rock and metal talent from North America & internationally. Manic Kat has a roster including highly-touted emerging acts such as The Anchor, American Standards, Right On, Kid and Nautical Mile.
We run our label like a family; that being said, we only work with bands that we absolutely love as people and love as musicians.
Peter James, Manic Kat president
2021 has been a busy year for the label, with new albums from Borderline Natives, Lights on The Coast, Nautical Mile and Right On, Kid all wowing pop-punk and alternative rock fans. Check out these and more artists on the Manic Kat Records label.
Advance tickets are available for $7 here, with tickets available on the door for $10.
Ice Nine Kills brought their highly anticipated second leg of the Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood Tour to Rochester for a sold-out show. The tour included Fame on Fire, Currents, and Bad Omens which fans lined well over a block in downtown Rochester waiting to get into Anthology for the show.
Opening the night was Fame on Fire, who quickly brought a bunch of fans down into the standing area and in front of the stage. While only performing five songs, the band was an instant crowd pleaser with a cover of Linkin Parks “Numb” that had the audience singing along. Their set was high energy and engaging, while using their allotted timeframe to perform as much as possible. Closing out their set with a cover of XO TOUR Llif3 by Lil Uzi Vert, Fame on Fire opened the night in fine fashion.
Currents, based out of Connecticut was up next and anticipation in the crowd was certainly growing as they were waiting to take the stage. Currents has performed in CNY/WNY recently over the past several years, and each time drawing a bigger crowd. With the release of their latest album “This Is How It Ends”, much of their setlist was taken from here which was very welcoming to hear new material performed live. With a seven song setlist, the crowd was very receptive to favorites like “The Rope”, “A Flag To Wave”, and “Monsters”. Each time Currents performs they seem to just be getting better and more polished. Opening for Ice Nine Kills has been one of the bigger bands they have toured with recently, and they will hopefully continue to keep growing and be headlining their own US Tours in the near future.
Next up was Bad Omens, and people were really starting to fill the club in now. The energy in the atmosphere was building as the band walks onto the stage to their latest release “THE DEATH OF PIECE OF MIND”. Their eight-song set was nonstop energy and some of the best metalcore I have heard live recently. Flowing seamlessly through “Glass Houses” and “The Hell I Overcame”, Bad Omens had Anthology rocking. When “Mercy” began to play, fans started crowd surfing nonstop through the entirety of the song and into their final song “Dethrone”. This was the first time of the evening that a mosh pit had really opened up, and the band only fed off of that to close out their set with as much power and energy as possible. Bad Omens was a phenomenal choice as part of the tour package, and really set the bar for Ice Nine Kills to take the stage.
As the stage crew began working on the Ice Nine Kills set, the Michael Myers theme music plays over the PA system which creates an almost small level of anxiety mixed with anticipation. The stage featured a couple LED panels which began by playing the intro off their latest album “Opening Night”, which is a mini narration about the content of the album. Leading right into “Welcome To Horrorwood” Spencer Charnas, the vocalist takes to the stage with only a spotlight on him as he sings the soft intro to the song. Immediately going from zero to 100 as the song progresses, Spencer doesn’t stop moving for what it seems like the rest of the night.
Like their last album The Silver Scream, the Welcome To Horrorwood tracks are based off of various different horror movies throughout pop culture. With the massive success of the predecessor, it was exciting to see how their new material would be live. They definitely did not disappoint, and fans new every single word to every song they performed. The crowd participation at an Ice Nine Kills show is not like any others I have really seen. The amount of pure energy and excitement the audience has during every single song is not something you see at every show. There are certain parts throughout the night when Spencer would stop singing for a second and without missing a beat the audience is screaming the exact words or lyrics that are supposed to be said.
Ice Nine Kills is not just a concert you go and see, it’s a unique theatrical music experience that puts you right in the middle of some of the best horror movies that have been made. Each band member played the parts of many different characters throughout the night, with the default appearance being an American Psycho themed dapper look. This concert was one of the best metal shows I have seen since COVID began, and what a great feeling it was. Ice Nine Kills moved flawlessly through their 16 song set playing all the favorites off the new album, and some from the previous which just complement each other so well. The props used were fantastic as well, whether is a giant butcher knife and mask for “Stabbing In The Dark”, or a chainsaw, raincoats, and balloon for “It is the end”, Ice Nine Kills doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to the perfection of their craft. There’s a reason INK is selling out just about every show they play, and that’s just because it’s such a good and fun experience. If you haven’t seen them live yet, definitely take the time to do so and you’ll be wanting to come back for more.
Setlist: Opening Night > Welcome To Horrorwood > SAVAGES > A Rash Decision > Stabbing in the Dark > Hip To be Scared > Funeral Derangements > Communion of the Cursed > Ex-Mørtis > Assault & Batteries > Farewell II Flesh > The Shower Scene > Rainy Day > A Grave Mistake > Thank God It’s Friday > The American Nightmare > It Is the end
On November 18th, Jinjer from Donetsk took over Anthology in Rochester with All Hail the Yeti from Los Angles, California, and Suicide Silence from Riverside, Californa. Opening the show was All Hail The Yeti with their unique hardcore metal hybrid sound. Anthology has been host to many touring acts, along with unique local shows. Their first album debuted in 2012 with their self-titled album and have since come out with three more after.
The All Hail The Yeti stage setup was a little more unusual than what you would typically see, they had flickering candles, mic stands decorated in leafs, and in front of the singer Connor Garritty was a big display with flowers, banner, and a light up skull. They started off the show with good energy and got the crowd pumped up.
Next up was Suicide Silence and brought the energy to the next level. Since their debut in 2002, Suicide Silence has been a power house in their genre with 6 studio albums under their belt. The reaction from the crowd as Suicide Sillence took the stage was loud as the band themselves. During their set, the front man, Hernan “Eddie” Hermida made a shout out to the band’s previous singer Mitch Lucker, who was the original singer but sadly died in 2012. It wouldn’t be a Suicide Silence set without a wall of death and when Hernan asked for one, the crowd delivered.
Finally, we have what many of the people came out for and that’s Jinjer, who is a Ukrainian metalcore band. Along with Jinjers great performance, their set was accompanied with many lights and a video wall, it was a sight to see. For a weekday show, the turn out was incredible, always great to see a sea of people supporting these shows and venues, and there’s many more to come, just check out Anthology or Rochester Entertainment Events.
