Thank goodness there’s no cussing in this flyer — just the good ol’ downhome ska-flavor that only Morgantown’s Cryptorchid Chipmunk can bring. Haven’t heard about them playing a local show? Maybe it’s cuz they don’t have a drummer. Now you know. Oh, and, according to the flyer, they’re strange and sexy, like Gatecrasher itself.

Thursday they’ll welcome Philly’s Emotron (true vulgar American synth punk) and Mose Giganticus to Magic Town, with Of Truth opening. The Gatecrasher blog has two things in common with The Emotron; 1. We both apparently love the Moog-soaked output from The Rentals, and 2. We both know that Michael Jackson is dead.

Chuck and co. up at Yesterday’s Draught House in Wheeling are having a couple of big shows over the next couple of days.

They’re celebrating on the 3rd with a free show and cookout; always awesome.

And, they’re celebrating another year of bringing “the hardcore” to our state’s former seat of power on the fourth of July.

Hardcore bands, like Yuengling, are an acquired taste. The bands are one thing, but we know people who drink beer *shudder* and they all agree: $5 for a six-pack of Yuengling is teetering on the edge of being overpriced. It’s just one step above the swill that is Natural Light, which is good only for keeping snails out of your garden.

But kudos to Yesterday’s — they do good work. Check out our “Chat w/Chuck” and our feature on the bar we did a while back.

Buckstone returns to Live on the Levee and the Glass this weekend 

So you’re lookin’ for rockin’ shows over the weekend, and you are just toiling away online while the internet is still around, huh?

Well, it’s a good thing you checked in with us, because we’ve got all bases covered; from Live on the Levee with Buckstone to a house show with Sarasota out in Huntington, to Rasta Rafiki shows all over the state, the Weekend Watch series may or may not be more informative than the average bulletin-formatted club listing somewhere.

So read on — or not, whatever. It’s not our thing to tell people what to do.

FRI 6.26

We know by this point you’ve heard of Festivall, but we’d like to take a second and talk to you about a serious subject; Buckstone playing the Live on the Levee concert series at Haddad Riverfront Park in Charleston Friday evening with their friends in the Fabulous Bender Boys from Wheeling.

Missed Tom, Jamie, and Diana at last year’s LOL series? Still haven’t got their newest CD? Like a little country and/or Western with yer rock n’ roll? Well, don’t be afraid of swinging by this year, Charleston’s “Buckersfield” trio is as rockin’ as ever, and the cost of admission will make even the most cheapest of skates seriously consider going (it’s free).

Show starts at 7 p.m., if you don’t know where Haddad is, well, it’s pretty much right where they had the now ill-fated Regatta. Remember that lame excuse for a festival?

Alright, alright; you’re up in Morgantown, nowhere near Festivall? What to do, what to do? Well, the guys in Rasta Rafiki kick off their statewide weekend mini-tour of West Virginia Friday at 123 Pleasant Street with The Greens. Sounds cool to us.

And you there, out in Elkins; check out Magic Town’s Appalachian garage rockers ‘85 Flood Friday night at El Gran Sabor. It’s a music venue, from what we’re told. And yes, we know; Elkins is way more DIY than us anyway.

Oh, and look for a new CD from the Flood in the very near future, but don’t quote us on that, quote frontman Aaron Hawley. And if you don’t believe us, that El Gran Sabor actually exists; it’s located at 413 Kerens Avenue out there, and you can call 636.8200 to verify. Show starts at 7:30.

SAT 6.27

Cool Charleston shows lined up for Saturday, starting with Rasta Rafiki doing the LOL series at Haddad, then strolling over to the Sound Factory (812 Kanawha Blvd.) as they continue their jaunt around the state with Mike P and the Lower Case G’s. Buckstone continues their weekend of rockin’, as they welcome Sasha Colette back to town for a show at the Glass. Nice show there.

Former Rose City frontman Keith “Keetchie” Peyton’s getting hitched, and throwing a zombie party show at the Blue Parrot Saturday, welcoming NYC horror-core psychobilly act Psycho Charger to town. Congrats to him, check out Psycho Charger, dress like a zombie, and expect to pay $5 for cover.

Morgantown grunge rockers One Foot in the Gravy is back doing shows, and this Saturday they’ll play 123 again, this time with our friends in Thick As Thieves (former TOTGA, Red Bones). Haven’t caught either of these acts? By all means do so; this is a solid rock and roll show.

And yes, probably one of our favorite bands period, Huntington’s punk rock four-piece Sarasota is s’posed to play a house show for some dude’s 30th birthday party out in Huntington Saturday evening. The guy’s name? Matt Hayes. The address? 2742 4th Avenue.

Food, punk rock fun, show starts at 6 p.m., and contact the band if you have any more questions. We do not endorse Matt Hayes for any public office, and can make no guarantees about what will happen. But if you like Sarasota, you should go. Killer birthday party gift. Whoah.

SUN 6.28

So it’s Sunday and you missed Rasta Rafiki at their Magic Town and Charleston shows? Don’t ask us how we know to ask you all these questions, just know that Rasta Rafiki will play the V Club in Huntington Sunday night.

Huntington’s Heart Holds True comes to Coonskin Park’s Shoenbaum Amphitheater Wednesday evening for quite the unusual show; an IWA East Coast wrestling event featuring Oderus Urungus from Gwar, who apparently will wrestle in his Gwar apparel.

HHT, made up of former members of Holden Caulfield and The Fontaine, just got their first EP, This Is War, out and up online for sale. You can check out their tunes online, and if wrestling is your kind of thing (Rudy) then this should be right up yer alley.

Show starts at 6 p.m., tickets are $10 and up from what the flyer (placed conveniently above) sez.

Got a little sidetracked here, just wanted to plug these shows tonite cause the rock factor is high.

and out Shepherdstown way…

Pittsburgh indie rockers Meeting of Important People will make the short drive down to Magic Town Saturday for a show at 123 Pleasant St. with Fox Japan and The Demon Beat. We caught up with singer-guitarist Josh Verbanets to see what’s so important about these guys.

GAZZ: Have you guys played 123 before?

JV: One of the best shows I was ever involved with was at 123 back in 2005; we got on the bill by some fluke, a band dropped out at the last minute and a friend of a friend got us on — we were performing as The You at the time, some of the same songs we do now. The headliner was supposed to be a Ben Folds side project – his bass player or something. They ended up cancelling and we got the slot, and we kindly announced to the crowd that we were Ben Folds

Wonderful crowds in this town, and we always come down with our friends Donora who are staples of the Maidez Maidez dance party here. Kids aren’t afraid to approach you, no matter how scary you look.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Renfields return to Charleston this weekend 

As you may know, June 20th West Virginia will turn, according to our math, 146 years old. To help celebrate, Gov. Joe Manchin has booked one of the most “killer” punk bands from West Virginia (via Transylvania) — The Renfields!

Team Transylvania will return to Charleston Saturday night for a show at the Parrot with their good friends (and fans) in The Concept, making this one of the most punk rock WV birthday shows on record.

A Gatecrasher rumor being tossed about the home office here is that there will be several prominent Washington politicians and Hollywood celebrities at the show, but we haven’t confirmed that.

Also, that part about Manchin making it a law that The Concept and The Renfields play at least one Charleston show per year; we made that up.

The guys in Huntington cuss punk outfit Most Ill are winding up their big tour this week, swinging through Indianapolis today, Louisville and Ohio before coming back for shows in Parkersburg and at the Brickhouse in Nitro.

Most Ill has been touring with their hardcore/thrash friends in Downpour, from St. Petersburg (Florida, not Russia), playing shows, selling merch, and trying to party when they can. They’ve posted a lil tour blog diary last weekend on their MySpace profile, so you can read about the highs and lows of DIY regional touring.

Check it out, and wait for it — that’s right; by clicking on a particular band’s profile you henceforth waive all right to be offended at the Gatecrasher blog in perpetuity.

WHOAH! Sarasota (above) is back! 

FRI 6.12

We’re happy to announce that one of our favorite bands, Huntington’s punk rock four-piece Sarasota, is back doing shows. They’ll play Shamrock’s Friday night with Down Goes Frazier (new CD on the way) and Kentucky punks Martin Luther and the Kings.

And, in a completely unrelated matter, we’d like to announce the winner of our “best-slash-worst band name of the year 2009″ — drumroll please…and the winner is!? Martin Luther and the Kings!!! Shamrock’s is located at 2050 3rd Avenue in Huntington. Are they way more Irish than you? Depends; check ‘em out. $5 cover, so that’s cool.

Another of our favorites, Magic Town’s Billy Matheny, will bring his Frustrations to 123 Pleasant St. Friday night with fellow Morgantown rockers Moon (Mark Poole, Clint Sutton, Woody O’Hara, Bill Sheeder, and Matheny himself) and Pottsville, Pa. outfit Gleason’s Drift.

Up that way? Bored? Well, it’s Matheny’s first Magic Town show in a while, so catch him if you can. Now you know, and as G.I. Joe told ya, that’s half the battle. No, we’re nowhere near as important as the Joes, and yes, we want to see the new movie. Have you seen Snake Eyes fighting Storm Shadow? Wow! This ain’t no movie blog, though; check out Matheny.

SAT 6.13

Charleston’s own “Buckersfield” trio Buckstone (another of our favorites) is set to play Sam’s Uptown Cafe on Capitol Street Saturday night. Can’t make it out Friday to catch Tom, Jamie and Diana? Look for ‘em at Festivall’s Live on the Levee again this year, and they play the Glass at the end of the month. Didn’t get Buckstone’s latest CD Six Pack In a Paper Sack? Well, you suck just as hard as we do, then. Feel the failure.

Sam’s is located at 28 Capitol St., you can call ‘em at 346.6222 to confirm whether or not they still serve pitchers of Guinness, like they used to, if you are so inclined. No, Guinness is not sponsoring the blog.

Ashland, Kentucky jam band Genuine Junk Band plays Shamrock’s Saturday, if yer out that way and into this kind of vibe, by all means swing by. Or, check ‘em out online, we know stuff is expensive these days, and we don’t want it to be said that we tell people what to do. GJB’s funky sound will have you getting down though, and that’s a Gatecrasher promise.

(Gatecrasher promises not an actual promise, and has no monetary value or legal standing in any court of law)

This was an abbreviated Weekend Watch, obviously; check out our post on the Zeroking party shows by simply scrolling down. That’s right: you’ve read this much!

Huntington’s Zeroking will play a few birthday shows this weekend

“Friends of Gatecrasher” member and Zeroking frontman Andy Haught clued us in on a pair of birthday shows they’ll be playing this weekend, and we thought we’d whip something up in time for the shows. After the band’s apparent dissolution in late 2008, the band has regrouped and is back to their busy ways.

Friday night Zeroking will play Tequila Rocks in Huntington to help Todd Frazer, bassist for Ironton, Ohio’s Nightmare Cafe (formerly Pi) turn one year older. Haught said he’s been impressed with the revamped Monkeybar.

“We’ve played Tequila Rocks twice this year already; once back in March with Bobaflex and another show in early May on only a couple of days notice, which was the start of them getting live music up and going again. The new owner seems to be a really nice guy.”

“It’s a great stage…it’s a low dough show (only $5), plus I hear there’s going to be a $5 all you can drink draft special, so it’ll probably get pretty wild.”

(disclaimer: the Gatecrasher blog neither endorses nor condones the consumption of alcoholic beverages. In fact, they need to rename that an “all you care to drink” special)

Saturday night Zeroking will return to Charleston to help their friend Bambie turn the big however-old-she’ll be at the Blue Parrot. “Bambie has been a longtime supporter of the scene and requested us, Downtrend and Strength of Solitude to play her party. All the bands play a lot of shows together, so we’re all good friends and it should be a ton of fun.”

Haught said it’ll be the band’s first show at the Parrot in over a year, and that Parrot co-owner Tom Crouse and the staff are always kind to the band. “We’re looking forward to seeing our Charleston friends,” he added, saying it’s special that the band is asked to perform at friends’ birthday parties.

2009 has been a big year for the band so far, Haught said. Zeroking will make the short drive out to Pryor, Oklahoma next month for the Rocklahoma Festival before going back into the studio to record a new CD, and the band has teamed up with the Lexington, Kentucky-based Blastzone Entertainment Group to re-release The Sweet Sale of Excess proper sometime in September.

“So, even though the band was dead in the water for some time, we’re definitely back and takin’ names and are stronger as a unit than we’ve ever been.”