The Murder Junkies (above) come to Morgantown Thursday and Charleston Friday

So you went out and voted for your favorite local and/or national official for whatever reason. Now, it’s time to do something that also matters: check out the Weekend Watch series in the Gazz to find the most killer local rock shows. Supporting the local economy by going to local shows is good for America, in our opinion.

The “Appalachian Triangle” (Charleston, Huntington, & Morgantown) is loaded with cool shows from ska to punk to rock to to folk and back to reggae. And, the best thing: you don’t have to worry about anyone onstage breaking their populist promises to you. Cringe. Read on…

THU 5.15
Fuel (234 1/2 Walnut St.) in Morgantown hosts Merle GG Allin and New Jersey-based punk outfit The Murder Junkies with The Flying Hellfish and Cryptorchid Chipmunk Thursday night. You’re up there? Out of school or just like crazy hardcore punk rock in general? Go to this show. 10 p.m., bring money.

FRI 5.16

There is a full slate of cool rock shows in Charleston Friday night. We’ll start at the Sound Factory (812 Kanawha Blvd.) in Charleston, where Allin and The Murder Junkies come to town for a show with The Big Bad (WV horror punk) and Cleveland-based punkers The Struttin’ Cocks — rock out their song “Will Rock for Beer” on their MySpace site if you want. A lotta punks will be at this show. Cover is $10 from what we hear, but sorry, kidz, you can only get in if you’re over 21. Maybe you should vote for change; vote to lower the drinking age to 18! (The Gazz does not endorse the views of the Gatecrasher blog)

Let’s say reggae is more your thing. You’re in luck, because Shayar and Krooshal Force again come to The Empty Glass (410 Elizabeth St.) Friday night for a jah-tastic gig. There is a new band in Charleston that we’ve heard about: Quick & Dirty is an experimental three-piece that will play The Blue Parrot (14 Capitol St.) in Charleston with Ripley’s rock stars in Dog Soldier. 10 p.m., cover is likely $5.

Point Pleasant’s Bobaflex returns to Huntington for a show at Club Echo (1318 4th Ave.) with The Bangkok Five and one of our favorite prog-rock bands, Ashland, Kentucky’s Eye Alone, and Anna’s Arson (Mason, WV alt-metal). Bobaflex has been keeping fans informed regurlarly through their MySpace tour blog, and we’d love to see Eye Alone come to Charleston. Show is $12 pre-sale, $15 at the door. 9 p.m. is when you need to be there.

In Morgantown on Friday, a couple of our favorite electronic-type rock bands, Drown Culture and alt-rockers Depresbyterians, do a show at 123 Pleasant St. with a band that we’ve never heard of called Bed Time. Not a good name for a band that will likely be out playing in some bar late at night. Makes us wanna sleep. But check this show out if you’re up there.

SAT 5.17

A pair of cool shows out Huntington way Saturday night, with Moscow, Idaho indie folk rocker Josh Ritter and Southern Indiana-based folk rocker David McMillin coming to The V Club (6th Ave. & 8th St.) with opening alt-folk rockers Jeff Ellis from Huntington and Billy Matheny from Morgantown. Ellis and Matheny are two of our favorite performers, and this show looks to be rockin’ indeed. Ritter and McMillin are bigtime and doing tours and stuff, it looks like. Tickets for this one are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Bud Carroll and The Southern Souls will release their new EP at Marley’s Doghouse (2050 3rd Ave.) in Huntington Saturday night. We look forward to hearing this one, and if you need to pick the CD up real fast, swing by for it. In Charleston, Nashville’s honkytonk “Hillbilly Sex Pistols” three-piece Super Chimp comes to town for a show at the Glass with The Diablo Blues Band. Rock factor could be high at this show. 10 p.m., bring money.

So, see? If you had any questions about which shows to vote for, we hope we could help.

Taking our own advice, we decided to swing by Capitol Street Friday to catch Huntington’s Jeff Ellis for a solo acoustic show at Taylor Books. After working in customer service here at CNP until 7 p.m., I bolted as soon as I was off and met up with Jessica and Mark.

Walking in the door I caught Ellis talking with Huntington Herald-Dispatch writer (and now author) Dave Lavender,  put the ‘ol meet & greet on, and went in to get an espresso. I don’t want any milk or cream or latte or anything — gimme a shot! Maybe with some syrup.

I got to talk to Ellis for a minute, and got an advance copy of his new CD “Covering The Distance.” It’s  a 12-song alt-folk/country effort that, with Bud Carroll on lead and his Southern Souls in tow, is quite impressive, even for a not-so-finished copy. To see them together, as Carroll and crew have recently been backing Ellis at shows, would be a treat.

“Looks like I’m playin’ for the cameras,” Ellis said as he sat down to play as (to start) there were more cameras than people. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we took some time off to celebrate May Day and Cinco De Mayo. But we here at the Gatecrasher blog are back and fired up about area rock shows. We’re planning on supporting the economy by procuring a couple of cool new local CDs. And, there are some cool shows in Charleston, Huntington and Morgantown, so Hillary and Barack will know where to go to rock if they swing through for baby kissin’. Read on… Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, wow a totally blog-worthy show Friday as Jeff Ellis comes to Taylor Books. He’s got his new CD, “Covering The Distance,” ready to go — the follow-up to last year’s “A Front Seat for the End of the World.” We decided to check in with him real fast to see what was up…

“I might even have a few advance copies for sale, but I don’t know yet for sure. I think it will just be me for Taylors, but Phil (keyboards) might tag along. Looking forward to it! Athens was awesome last night, by the way. Packed house and good times.”

-Jeff

You can hear “I’m Not Leaving This Time,” off the new CD, on Ellis’ MySpace profile. Interesting that Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls helped record the CD and have been backing up Ellis at some shows recently. We look forward to hearing the new CD.

So Friday night, swing by for the new non-fiction and the cool zines, and the art, and the espresso, but oh yeah — Jeff Ellis! Show up at 226 Capitol St. after 7 p.m. and you’re good…

Well, Earth Day was a huge success, and so now you’re ready to party. The Weekend Watch series in the Gazz helps raise awareness about the coolest area rock shows, covering noise pollution in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown. Even if you’re now “off the grid” you can still find us in print — just please recycle this print Gazz you’re reading…

Friday 4.25
Of course, our local music lock o’ the week is at the V Club (741 6th Ave.) in Huntington, as The Emergency and Billy Matheny & the Frustrations come to town with Memphis the Band. Matheny and The Emergency are Morgantown rock staples, and they’re coming to Herd Country so get yer couches out, Huntington! Cover is just $5! Read the rest of this entry »

We came across this cool YouTube collection of local bands Aaron Hawley of 85 Flood put together. Check it out — you’ve read this much!

So you’ve got your taxes done and you don’t have to worry about being incarcerated for a whole ‘nother year. Why not celebrate by going to a rocking area show this weekend? The Weekend Watch series rolls on, and it’s still legal to read, so let’s go! Read the rest of this entry »

We like cluing people in to other people who go to shows, take pics, and upload them somewhere. We came across some stuff from Club Echo, so why not check them out? Pics are by Mike Adkins, otherwise known as The Most Exalted Potentate of Love…

If there were a college major in local music coverage, the “Weekend Watch” series would be required reading for your senior seminar. You couldn’t just show up at random buildings and expect to rock, you’d actually have to read it, go to the shows, and report back in essay form (and maybe with pics). It’s not that complicated, but if you’re looking for cool shows this weekend in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown, read on… Read the rest of this entry »

We love to see people in the Gatecrasher spirit. It’s a totally legal spirit that gives people the sudden urge to go to shows, and take pics at said shows. Andy Pickens snapped this cool pic of Thred at 123 Pleasant St. Thursday night, and to help raise awareness about the funk-tastic rock stylings of the Morgantown act, we thought we’d post this…

You can see more pics here.