Manic Presents / Premier Concerts Guest Post:
Glad to see you back for this week’s edition of the Manic Presents Redscroll Blog! We’re here to tell you about newly announced events and this week’s shows! Space Ballroom is welcoming WWE Hall of Famer, Jake “The Snake” Roberts to Hamden to tell comedy-filled stories from being on the road as a world-famous wrestler on Wednesday, (11/6). Next year, the popular 80s British punk band, The Adicts, will be taking the Ballroom stage on Friday, (1/17). Over in New Haven, College Street Music Hall is hosting rock singer-songwriter Grace Potter on Tuesday, (1/28) and the legendary classic rock band Kansas, who will be playing their popular album, “The Point of Know Return” in its entirety later next year on Saturday, (5/9). Tickets for The Adicts, Grace Potter, and Kansas will be on sale at 10AM this Friday, September 27, and tickets for Jake “The Snake” Roberts are on sale now! Check out our website for details on all of these shows and to buy tickets.
For those of you looking for something fun to do this weekend, we have the solution! Tonight (9/26) at College Street Music Hall, popular storytelling podcast, The Moth, is touring through New Haven with their live event, The Moth Mainstage – where you can hear five people tell entertaining and enlightening stories. Make sure to get your tickets for this quick, as there are a limited number left! If storytelling is not your jam, Americana singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle will be playing with rock musician Jesse Malin over at Space Ballroom this evening (9/26). Now this Friday, we have something for everybody! The long awaited Something Great From ‘68 Tour with Brian Wilson and The Zombies is finally coming to Palace Theater in Waterbury tomorrow night (9/27)! Tickets for this are still available, and if you’re a Beach Boys fan, you won’t want to miss this event! For those who don’t want to leave the New Haven area tomorrow (9/27), we have options for you too — world-music group, Nahko And Medicine For The People and folk artist Ayla Nereo are taking the stage at College Street Music Hall, while experimental rock band Man Man and GRLwood will be tearing up Space Ballroom. Saturday night (9/28), iconic indie rock band Built To Spill is stopping at College Street Music Hall on their 20 year anniversary tour for their famous 1999 album, Keep It Like A Secret, and will be supported by Prism Bitch and Paul & The Tall Trees. Meanwhile, comedians Matt Braunger (MADtv) and David Hintz will be making the crowd laugh at Space Ballroom. Hailing all the way from Canada, abrasive post-hardcore band, Tunic, will be ripping up Cafe Nine with Connecticut’s one-and-only grunge band Crag Mask and experimental rock band T Wreck for this week’s Manic Monday (9/30)! If you’re bored next Tuesday night (10/1), make your way to Space Ballroom to see Boston emo synth rockers Bay Faction, indie rock artist Mons Vi, and New Haven alt-rock band Vern Matz. Make sure to grab your tickets for all of these shows soon! You can find more information and tickets for all of them on our website!
CONTEST TIME! Enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to Built to Spill at College Street Music Hall (9/28)and an autographed copy of “Keep It Like A Secret” on vinyl!
Enter here: https://forms.gle/sm5Va8JcknXVJXVi7
Upcoming Shows
Thursday, September 26th
The Moth Mainstage
$30-$55/All Ages/Doors at 6:30PM
College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
INFO: The Moth – hailed as “New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket” by The Wall Street Journal – is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. In its twenty-year history, The Moth has presented more than 35,000 stories, told live and without notes, by people from all walks of life to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth Podcast is downloaded more than 52 million times a year, and The Peabody Award-winning The Moth Radio Hour, airs weekly on more than 475 public radio stations nationwide. Each Moth Mainstage features simple, old-fashioned storytelling, by five wildly divergent raconteurs who develop and shape their stories with The Moth’s directors. TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-moth-mainstage-tickets-70328826413
Thursday, September 26th
Justin Townes Earle w/ Jesse Malin
$30/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
INFO: Justin Townes Earle has done a lot of living in his 37 years. For starters, there’s the quick-hit bullet points about his childhood that seem to get dredged up in every interview, article or review about the singer-songwriter and guitarist: Born the son of Steve Earle, who was largely absent during Justin’s childhood; struggles from a young age with addiction and numerous stints in rehab; long stretches of itinerancy and general juvenile delinquency; a youth he once said he was “lucky to have gotten out of alive.”
That’s before we get to the years spent honing his craft in Nashville bars and on club stages all over the world; the various bands, record labels and industry types that have been drawn toward and, at times, pushed away by him; and, finally, the celebrated and rather formidable body of work he has amassed since releasing his critically-acclaimed 2007 debut EP, Yuma.
It’s a seemingly bottomless well of material for a singer-songwriter to mine out of just three decades or so of life. And Earle at times has—most recently on his 2017 album, Kids in the Street, which the artist calls “one of the more personal records I’ve ever made.
But when it came to his newest effort, The Saint of Lost Causes, Earle, these days sober, married and father to a baby girl, chose to focus his gaze outward. “Maybe having a kid has made me look at the world around me more,” he says. https://www.justintownesearle.com/
Jesse Malin: American singer-songwriter.
He was born 26 January 1968 in Whitestone, Queens, New York, USA. http://www.jessemalin.com
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE.
Friday, September 27th
Nahko and Medicine for the People w/ Ayla Nereo
$29.50/All Ages/Doors 7:00PM
College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
INFO: “As storytellers, we turn the experience into something shared. We are taking to that great road again to bring our medicine to you. Naming this tour the ‘Take Your Power Back Tour’ felt entirely appropriate given the state of the planet and all Her creatures great and small. Women of wonder and potent poetry will join us on that fall road. Ayla Nereo brings her big medicine to half of this tour and Nattali Rize brings her big power to the other half. We can already feel the high vibe container, a congregation cultivating a safe space for transmission and reconciliation. Tears and laughter. Movement and medicine. Arrive at our gathering this fall with whatever shape your heart is in. Full, broken, in pieces, strong, hopeful, hurting, overflowing, all of it. We’ll help best we can. It’s us. Together. We’ll see you there, familia.” – Nahko
Nahko And Medicine For The People continue to gather dedicated members of their global Medicine Tribe of like minded fans as they spread their positive and powerful musical message around the nation on their Take Your Power Back headline tour this fall. Fans and critics alike praise the group’s worldly blend of rock, hip-hop, and alt-folk with OC Weekly calling the group “empowering” and “powerful”, while The Huffington Post compared Nahko to Bob Marley and called him a “musical prophet”. The October 2017 album ‘My Name is Bear’ premiered at #1 on iTunes and debuted on a number of Billboard charts, and the headline tour in support of the album boasted multiple sold-out dates throughout the USA and Europe. ‘My Name Is Bear’ is a 16-track collection that reflects the soul, authenticity, and spirit that Nahko And Medicine For The People’s Medicine Tribe has come to know and love. Their previous album ‘HOKA’, which was released in June 2016, sold over 8,000 units in its first week in the U.S. and debuted at #6 on the Billboard Alternative Albums Chart. The album went on to win Record of the Year at the Native American Music Awards later that year.
Nahko And Medicine For The People are firm believers in using music as a tool of empowerment to protect and preserve all of creation. They aim to inspire others to take a deeper role in protecting and preserving our planet, people, and the spirit in all of creation.
The band is thrilled to release new music in 2019 and continue their world tour this summer in advance of the Take Your Power Back fall headline tour, including stops at Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, Woodstock 50, Lockn’ Music Festival and more! Listen: http://nahko.com
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE.
Friday, September 27th
Man Man w/ GRLwood
$16/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
INFO: MAN MAN is a highly revered, avant-garde rock band born out of the weird streets of Philadelphia and now brewing in the even weirder sunshine of Los Angeles. The band sounds nothing like but is frequently compared to some of the more well-known godfathers of the genre, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Can, and The Residents. The ever-evolving ensemble mixes and mashes a variety of genres from ragtime to rock, electronic to acoustic, doo-wop to exorcism and it revels in defying classifications, expectations, and anything remotely cliché. Still, what emerges from that mixture are beautifully crafted little pop earworms that can’t easily be dislodged from your brain.
Man Man is known for its multi-instrumental style that centers around the piano abusing lead singer, songwriter, and creative force Honus Honus. The other members play a number of important roles, from wielding clavinets and marimbas to a variety of wind instruments, random toys, and noisemakers. The band’s famously engaging live shows often feel free and formless, as each musical number morphs into the next without a break, while its musicians quickly change instruments – and often costumes – as the mood and music dictates.
From its wily debut in 2004 with The Man in a Blue Turban with a Face, the band has grown into an artfully creative force as it produced Six Demon Bag in 2006, 2008’s Rabbit Habits, 2011’s Life Fantastic, and 2013’s On Oni Pond. Along the way, it has transformed an endearingly bizarre musical style to one more pop-oriented without compromising its broader intentions of presenting a high-energy, highly entertaining musical extravaganza. Man Man’s songs are as artistically diverse as Picasso paintings, but with more color, more impact, more noise, more music, and more outrageous style. This is one show you cannot afford to miss. Listen: https://www.manmanband.com
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE.
Friday, September 27th
Brian Wilson & The Zombies
$90-$137/All Ages/8:00PM
Palace Theatre – Waterbury, CT
INFO: Legendary songwriter Brian Wilson began his career as a teenaged founding member of The Beach Boys, who signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin’ Safari, that same year. The band’s initial surf-rock focus was soon broadened to include other themes. Wilson’s innovative vocal and instrumental arrangements for major hits including “I Get Around,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” and the No. 1 smash “Good Vibrations” established The Beach Boys as America’s preeminent band of the 1960s.
The Zombies:
Iconic British psychedelic pop legends, The Zombies, have returned to celebrate their long-awaited induction into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. After receiving their 4th nomination in 5 years, the support for The Zombies’ induction among the public and their peers was undeniable — the band placed 4th in the public online poll with over 330,000 votes.
Never content to only look back, The Zombies are also touring in support of their latest Billboard-charting album, Still Got That Hunger, lead by founding and current members, vocalist Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent, alongside Steve Rodford on drums, and renowned session guitarist Tom Toomey. New member, Søren Koch, joined the band following the untimely passing of The Zombies’ beloved bassist Jim Rodford (formerly of ARGENT and The Kinks) in early 2018.
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.palacetheaterct.org/shows/main-stage-presentations/brian-wilson-zombies/
Saturday, September 28th
Matt Braunger w/ Dave Hintz
$25/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
INFO: Matt Braunger was raised in Portland, Oregon. A headlining comedian since 2007 and an actor since childhood, Matt studied theatre in New York and improvisation in Chicago. Matt’s television credits include starring in the Amazon pilot The New V.I.P.’s, recurring roles on ABC’s Agent Carter, NBC’s Up All Night, Netflix’s Disjointed, go90’s My Dead Ex, and the Starz series Take My Wife. Matt was a series regular on Fox’s MADtv, a cast member of the TruTV series How to Be a Grown Up, as well as appearances on BoJack Horseman, Garfunkel and Oates, Maron, HBO’s Family Tree, the Chelsea Lately roundtable, The Michael J Fox Show, Happy Endings, CONAN, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Pete Holmes Show, United States of Tara, Pushing Daisies, Carpoolers, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Acceptable TV, and Live At Gotham.
Matt was also a regular guest on @midnight and appeared in Showtime’s SXSW Comedy with W. Kamau Bell and Comedy Central’s The Meltdown. He won the 2008 “Best Of The Fest” at the inaugural Rooftop Comedy Festival in Aspen. In 2009, he was named to Variety’s Top 10 Comics to Watch, and Comedy Central’s Hot 9 in ’09 list, his debut album Soak Up The Night was released by Comedy Central Records and he was named to the iTunes REWIND Top 20 Albums of 2009. In 2010, he recorded his half hour Comedy Central Presents special and in 2012 released his debut hour-long special entitled Shovel Fighter, also released as an album. Matt’s hour-long comedy special, Big, Dumb Animal is now available on Netflix, and he recently recorded a new hour special coming soon. He also has a hilarious podcast “Advice from a Dipshit”.
Along with touring comedy clubs across the country, Matt is also a regular at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, and he headlined the Old Milwaukee Comedy Tour for Funny Or Die in 2013. Matt has also performed at a variety of prestigious comedy festivals including the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and Chicago, The TBS Comedy Festival Las Vegas, and
South By Southwest. Matt also co-founded the popular Bridgetown Comedy Festival that takes place annually in Portland.
http://www.mattbraunger.com/
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE.
Saturday, September 28th
Built to Spill w/ Prism Bitch, Paul and The Tall Trees
$30/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
INFO: Twenty years on from first signing to Warner Bros. Records, Built To Spill returned in 2015 with its eighth studio album, Untethered Moon. That’s now two complete decades that one of America’s leading “indie rock” bands has happily made its home on a major label, and in the process redefined that clumsy descriptor of independence by operating wholly and consistently under its own steam, taking the proper time to craft timeless songs and playing endless, epic shows to a growing grip of fans each year. Under the command of its constant leader, Doug Martsch, as well as a new rhythm section, Built To Spill’s creative process continues to ebb, flow and evolve in its own orbit, reemerging on record for the first time since 2009’s There Is No Enemy with ten new songs that fit at once into the band’s resonant catalog while infusing fresh energy into that signature sound. http://www.builttospill.com
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE.
Monday, September 30th
Tunic w/ Crag Mask, T Wreck
Free w/ RSVP ($5 at the Door)/21+/Doors at 7:00PM
Cafe Nine – New Haven, CT
INFO: Tunic is born of spite. After years of touring someone else’s bass lines across the globe, David Schellenberg was told he wasn’t good enough. So he did the only logical thing: buy a guitar, quit your long-time band, and abandon everything you think you know about music. Armed with no skill and a blissfully ignorant embrace of discordant noise, Schellenberg started crafting songs, quickly enlisting childhood acquaintance Sam Neal on drums and roommate Rory Ellis on bass.
Over the past 4 years and half a dozen d.i.y. releases, tunic has managed to unleash and tame their unique blend of noise rock and hardcore. Relentless touring has taken them across Canada, Europe and the States, filling clubs, basements, and abandoned prisons with noise. The band released the single “Teeth Showing” on Toronto’s Buzz Records in 2018, which they toured with new drummer Dan Unger.
Tunic’s debut album “Complexion” was recorded in six days in their hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba with Montreal-based engineer and producer Jace Lasek (Suuns, Land of Talk, Wolf Parade). Complexion picks up where previous releases left off; 11 songs of feedback-laden filth laid over churning blows of drum and bass. Harsh verses about hurting those you never meant to hurt; choruses that sever ties where you never thought you had to. This is unconventional hardcore. This is broken indie rock. This is naïve art. Listen: http://tunicband.com/
RSVP HERE
Tuesday, October 1st
Bay Faction w/ Mons Vi, Vern Matz
$12/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
INFO: Florida Guilt is the debut album by Boston based trio Bay Faction (comprised of James McDermott, Kris Roman, and Alex Agresti). Sonically a departure from their released body of work, the band explores the duality between bedroom pop intimacy and the subdued energy of soft rock. Despite the band’s prolificity, Bay Faction have remained relatively quiet since their EP released in 2015, focusing on honing their craft as both songwriters and recording artists.
Forgoing the formal studio environment, the band tracked the album out of their Bushwick apartment with weekend retreats to drummer Agresti’s home studio. The quiet New Jersey suburb offered time for the band to mull over every detail and meticulously craft the sound design for the album.
Growing up in the post dot-com bubble, the up cycling of pop culture’s trends accelerate with today’s generation fervent for the nostalgia of kitschy consumer electronics and burgeoning social media. Deconstructed and repurposed, these artifacts manifest as a playfully ironic nod to early 2000’s electro pop and indie rock.
For the band, Florida Guilt is a cathartic release. The decrepit state, harboring a decaying population, embodies the ethos of McDermott’s religious upbringing. Plagued by Cat holic guilt stemming from the repression of his queer identity, McDermott wrestles with inner turmoil and a longing for the innocuous pleasures of youth. Listen: https://www.facebook.com/bayfactionofficial
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE HERE.
SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS
Wednesday, November 6th
Jake “The Snake” Roberts
$25/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
INFO: WWE Hall of Famer, Jake The Snake Robert’s comedy style show, appropriately named Dirty Details Tour is hitting your town! Robert’s unleashes his roadstories and pranks played on his opponents. Take a ride through backstage and behind the scenes of your favorite matches. Macho Man, Andre the Giant, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and many more. Whether you are a wrestling fan or not, this one of a kind story teller will have you wrapped in his coils begging for more! Meet the man and one of the biggest legends of WWE. Walk away with hysterical stories and a grin… Trust me!
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE.
Friday, January 17th
The Adicts
$26/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
INFO: With their distinctive, A Clockwork Orange influenced image, sensational live shows and catchy, anthemic songs, The Adicts are one of the most easily recognizable punk bands of all time. Formed in 1976, when Sunderland brothers Pete Dee and Kid Dee Davison joined forces with Monkey and Mel Ellis, The Adicts, also briefly known as ADX have released eight studio, and three live albums in their career.
Based in Ipswich, England, The Adicts were always the jokers in the punk rock pack. The flamboyant ‘Droog’ image, and their urgent, high energy, up-tempo music and light-hearted lyrics, ensured The Adicts always stood out from the rest of the punk-rock fraternity.‘It may have been a conscious effort to set ourselves against the somewhat unimaginative appearance of early ’80s punk bands or just a perception that looking a certain way might be interesting and entertaining,’ explained front man, Monkey.
The Adicts’ debut album, Songs Of Praise (which many consider an absolute must-have punk rock classic) was released in 1981, and reached number 15 in the UK Indie charts, while the follow up, Sound Of Music released a year later, blazed a trail in the same charts, peaking at number 2.Subsequent single hits in the 80s including ‘Chinese Takeaway’ and ‘Bad Boy’, television and video game placements for the song ‘Viva La Revolution’, as well as constant touring has helped The Adicts maintain a loyal and devoted fan-base all across the world.
Despite the chart success, The Adicts are best known for their live performances, which some have described as part childhood birthday party and part carnival – complete with confetti, streamers, magic tricks and outlandish outfits. Almost 35 years into their career, The Adicts are still entertaining and amazing crowds with their inimitable blend of high theatrics and good-time rock and roll.
‘Our message, such as it is, has always been, have fun,’ Monkey stated, attempting to define the secret of their longevity. ‘That’s timeless and appeals to everyone.’ Listen: https://theadicts.net/
TICKETS AVAILABLE FRIDAY (9/27).
Tuesday, January 28th
Grace Potter
$29.50-$119/All Ages/Doors at 7:00PM
College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
INFO: In the years that followed the release of her widely acclaimed 2015 album Midnight, Grace Potter considered never putting out a record again. Having endured the tumult of the breakup of her band and subsequent divorce— as well as far more joyful events like a new marriage and the birth of her first child— Potter continued writing on her own, but had no intention of sharing those songs with the world. “Too many things had happened, and I needed to take a step back,” says the Vermont-born artist. “There were moments where I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll just go back to painting houses.’”
On the title track and finale to Daylight, Potter offers up one of the album’s most galvanizing and glorious moments: a shapeshifting epic that endlessly careens from simmering blues lament to brutally thunderous rock-and-roll anthem. “It’s a song about the darkest time.” Potter recalls. “We started composing that song because we wanted to honor the long, difficult process of finding peace. It’s a musical bookmark; and a reminder that darkness doesn’t last forever.”
For Potter, the making of Daylight marks a return to the unfettered creativity she felt upon first discovering songwriting. “I really dug back into the roots of my creativity. When I was 12 or 13, I would sneak away to write songs because I didn’t want anyone to hear me bearing all,” she says. “It was all so honest, because I had no awareness of how people might perceive me.” At the same time, she made use of the masterful chops she’s developed over the course of her career, a 15-year run that’s included playing nearly every major music festival (in addition to launching her own festival, Burlington’s Grand Point North. “Throughout my career, I’ve always been a bit of a tinkerer; experimenting & exploring all these different facets of who I am through music,” says Potter. “But this album isn’t an experiment: it’s a statement.”
As she shares that statement with the world, Potter hopes that Daylight’s fearless honesty might inspire each listener to embrace their own truth, in all its messy complexity. “This album is about being able to take complete ownership of your feelings, without any anger or hate or shame. And that can be absolutely terrifying— but once you get to the other side, it’s exhilarating. It’s the feeling of knowing that you’re finally home.” Listen: https://www.gracepotter.com/
TICKETS AVAILABLE FRIDAY (9/27).
Saturday, May 9th
Kansas
$50-$125 /All Ages /Doors at 7:00PM
College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT
INFO: With a legendary career spanning more than four decades, KANSAS has firmly established itself as one of America’s iconic classic rock bands. This “garage band” from Topeka released their debut album in 1974 after being discovered by Wally Gold, who worked for Don Kirshner, and have gone on to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide.Composing a catalogue that includes fifteen studio albums and five live albums, KANSAS has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), and two one million-selling gold singles, ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ and ‘Dust in the Wind.’ KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio, and ‘Dust In the Wind’ has been played on the radio more than three million times!2016 marked the release of “The Prelude Implicit,” KANSAS’s fifteenth studio album. The wide-ranging progressive rock album was released on InsideOut Music, and marked the band’s first studio album release in 16 years.Throughout 2016-2017, the band celebrated both the release of “The Prelude Implicit” and the anniversary of breakout album “Leftoverture” with the highly successful KANSAS: Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour. That tour was released in 2017 as a live album, “Leftoverture Live & Beyond.”The band, which is currently comprised of original drummer Phil Ehart, bassist/vocalist Billy Greer, vocalist/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale, keyboardist Tom Brislin, guitarist Zak Rizvi, and original guitarist Richard Williams. KANSAS continues to perform in front of large and enthusiastic audiences around the world.Along with constant touring, KANSAS continues to remain a fixture of Classic Rock radio. The band has reached a whole new audience through their unmistakable presence on the popular video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and through their songs’ inclusion in various television shows such as ‘Supernatural,’ and ‘South Park,’ and with films ‘Old School,’ and ‘Anchorman.’ https://www.kansasband.com
TICKETS AVAILABLE FRIDAY (9/27).
**Tickets are available for all these shows in the shop without the online fees. **