Await Rescue’s big time rock rattled The Middle East.
Await Rescue @ The Middle East Upstairs 8.15.2014
Await Rescue @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.25.2014
Precision. That’s the word I keep coming back to with Await Rescue’s Rumble run. These guys are a well oiled machine of heavy, melodic rock. They delivered every time they got on TT’s stage. They were the wildcard into The Finals and set out to show the world they deserved to be there.
2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Finals
Await Rescue
Petty Morals
Goddamn Draculas (2014 Rumble Champs)
The Information (Non-Competing Guest Band)
Friday Finals Flashback
So, you’re headed to the sold out Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Finals tonight and you’re wondering what to expect. Look, these things are pretty unpredictable. No one ever really knows what’s going to happen. Petty Morals, Await Rescue and Goddamn Draculas have been on point the whole Rumble. There’s no reason to expect anything less tonight. However, if you think you know what tricks the bands have up their sleeves or who’s going home in a tiara, you may be in for a surprise. We’ll find out soon enough when we pack into TT’s to watch in all unfold. Then we’ll catch a set from The Information before they announce the winner and spray the champagne. In the end, we’ll have our memories. Maybe we’ll have some pictures. Here are a few of mine from the last 3 Rumble Finals. See you tonight!
Oh, and let’s not forget the celebrations…
Random Rumble Ramblings: 2014 (Part III)
The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble has been a doozy. The 35th installment of this storied event has seen incredible sets, meticulous preparation, substitute wildcards, misunderstood lyrics and riffs galore. Friday night will find Goddamn Draculas, Petty Morals and Await Rescue (wildcard) squaring off on the friendship stage to see who goes home with the Rumble tiara. It all happens at T.T. The Bear’s Place. The Information are in The Rumble.* Until then, chew on this…
Second Chances At First Impressions
If you want to talk about first impressions, you can’t do better than the second Rumble sets from Tigerman Woah and Goddamn Draculas. Tigerman Woah began their semifinal set singin’ and stompin’ among the TT’s crowd. Not to be outdone, Bice Nathan and Chris Duggan from Goddamn Draculas stood side by side, backs to the crowd, in total darkness to start their set. When the word “DRAX” was projected onto the stage, it revealed the rallying cry printed on the back of their shirts: WE CAME TO SUCK.
Tight and Outta Sight
“Tight and Outta Sight” may be a Petty Morals song, but it also represents a Rumble state of mind. You’ve got to have your act together to do well in this competition. Petty Morals put on a real rock ‘n’ roll show to take the first semifinal night, but they weren’t alone in the preparation game. Await Rescue** and Barricades closed out their nights with precise and energetic sets that kept the outcomes in question to the very end.
Wild Wild Card
Aw man. I hate when stuff like this happens. Feints earned a spot as the Friday night wildcard, only to be silenced by doctor’s orders.*** Such a bummer. The plus side? Rumble-goers got another chance to witness Yellabird riff it up on the TT’s stage. Well done, gentlemen.
Fun With Numbers
- Two out of three ain’t bad: Both of the Semifinal winners came from the 3rd slot of their respective nights (Petty Morals and Goddamn Draculas).
- Deuces are wild: There were 2 duos in this year’s Rumble. When Particles Collide and Yellabird both made it to the semifinal round as wildcards.
- One way tie: After a strong showing for formal neckwear in the preliminary round, only Greg Alexandropoulos of Western Education wore a tie in the semifinals.
Play Me Out
The semifinal round was chock full o’tunes. Here are some of the ones that had me wired.
* As this year’s non-competing guest band.
** Jed Gottlieb observed that “nobody prepared more for the Rumble” than Await Rescue. I’m not going to argue with him.
*** Get well soon, Amy!
Await Rescue @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.17.2014
The Rumble just ran into a buzz saw. Await Rescue tore through their amped up semifinal set with precision and attitude.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2014 Semifinal Night #1
When Particle Collide
Western Education
Petty Morals (Winner)
Await Rescue
Oh, hey, it’s a Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble word search!
Can’t get enough of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble? Have I got a treat for you! Here’s a word search featuring the twenty-four participants in this year’s event. Pretty great, right? Print one out for yourself. It’s fun! Share it with a friend. Give it to your kids. Maybe they’ll ask you who Airport is and you can play them “Knot Again.”* Maybe they’ll ask you what goddamn means because they already know Dracula is awesome. Or give it to a friend’s kid. When they ask who Gondoliers are you can show them these pictures.
*They’ll love it. Trust me on this one.
Random Rumble Ramblings: 2014 (Part II)
How was your Rumble prelims week? Pretty great, right? The semifinal round gets going at TT’s on Thursday with Await Rescue, Petty Morals, Western Education and When Particle Collide(wildcard). Friday will find Barricades, Goddamn Draculas, Tigerman Woah and Feints(wildcard) taking the stage. Until then, here are a few thoughts on the second half of the preliminary round.
Old Favorites
It’s always fun to see bands I’m familiar with rise to the occasion that is The Rumble. Butterknife put on the best set I’ve ever seen from them. Slowdim followed with another goodie. It was the second time I’ve seen these bands play together. I’d love to see it happen again. Gondoliers and Harris Hawk both had gut-check sets. Intense, powerful stuff. It had been about 3 years since I saw Vary Lumar on the TT’s stage. Apparently I’ve been missing out on some inventive electro-indie rock. Feints ripped it up to open the show on Friday night. They earned themselves a wildcard spot in the semifinals.
New Faces
I had high expectations for Petty Morals. They blew right past them. Damn, that was fun. Summoner was amazing. These guys play my favorite type of metal: loud, riffy and melodic. Yellabird sound way bigger than two guys should sound. Western Education generated enough excitement closing out Prelim Night #4 to take home a win.
Return of the Riff
If the early prelim nights were dominated by hooks and texture, then the second half found the participants climbing Riff Mountain. Summoner were the first to reach the peak, ascending on the back of the elusive Winged Beast Of Doom. Saturday night found Harris Hawk, Yellabird and Await Rescue feeding on the blow minds of would-be air guitarists. Await Rescue will carry that momentum into the semifinals.
Fun With Numbers
- See Three Trios: There were 3 trios in the second half of the prelims. Butterknife, Slowdim and Gondoliers played back-to-back-to-back on Thursday night.
- Eight Is Enough: 46 performers took the stage in the second half of the week. That’s 8 fewer than the first three nights.
- I Can’t Count That High: Again, riffs.
Play Me Out
The Color And Sound are one of the most lovable bands in town. When they played “Graves” on Saturday night I thought the place would burst. Here are some songs that have been running through my head from the second half of the prelims.
Await Rescue @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.12.2014
Await Rescue provided nonstop action for their Rumble set. The band’s fast and furious release kept Prelim Night #6 buzzing along. Their meticulous execution carried them to the win.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2014 Prelim Night #6
Harris Hawk
Await Rescue (Winner)
The Color And Sound
Yellabird
13 Things About 24 Bands – OR – The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Starts Sunday Night
The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble starts Sunday night. Here are 13 things about the 24 bands playing this year’s shindig…
- Airport, Slowdim, Butterknife and Sinnet are all in The Rumble. That means you can catch four of the bands writing the best songs in the city at TT’s next week. Sinnet plays Sunday, Airport on Tuesday. Butterknife and Slowdim go head to head on Thursday. We’re a lucky bunch.
- I’ve seen Doom Lover twice, both times without Nikki Dessingue. I still haven’t had the full Doom Lover experience. I’m sure this is my loss. The Rumble will see this remedied on Monday night.
- Riffs, riffs, riffs. I gotta have riffs. Color me excited to hear what Summoner and Yellabird are laying down. Summoner is up Friday. Yellabird is the last band of the whole Rumble on Saturday.
- Harmonies, harmonies, harmonies. Goddamn Draculas (Monday) and Airport have some of the best I’ve ever heard.
- Z*L(Tuesday) and Petty Morals(Friday) are two bands I’ve been dying to see. I really dig what the folks in these band have done in the past. I’m excited to (finally) see what they’re doing now.
- The Color And Sound played one of the most energetic sets I’ve ever seen. They’re going to impress a lot of people on Saturday.
- What will Gondoliers do on Thursday night? Seriously, what are they gonna do? You never know with these guys. They’re masters. Definitely one of my most anticipated Rumble sets.
- It seems like there’s been a big surge of prog-influenced rock in this town. Emma Ate The Lion will be repping the movement on Monday night.
- Getting through the early part of Rumble prelims week can be tough. With three bands-I’ve-never-seen-much-to-the-dismay-of-friends-who-have-seen-them in the first two nights, I think I’ll make it through okay. Tigerman Woah and Guillermo Sexo are on Sunday. When Particles Collide follow on Monday.
- Rebuilder is the pop-punkiest pop punk band to play The Rumble in a while. They’ll get the whole thing started on Sunday night.
- I always enjoy seeing a band for the second time (for an explanation, see reason #18 here). In addition to the previously mentioned Sinnet and The Color And Sound, I’ll be catching second sets from Feints(Friday), Vary Lumar(Friday) and Await Rescue(Saturday).
- Between The Life Electric(Tuesday), Barricades(Tuesday) and Western Education(Thursday) there’s a pretty impressive variety of highly polished modern indie rock on tap for this year’s Rumble.
- Harris Hawk will be kicking off the final night of the Rumble prelims, thus ensuring that any Rumble hangover from nights 1-5 will be quickly smashed to bits. Pay attention Saturday night. They don’t mess around.
That’s all I’ve got. The full 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble schedule can be found here. Maybe you should go to one or all of the shows.
The 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Preliminary Round lineups are set!
OK, here we go. This is where it gets real. We already knew the bands participating in the 35th edition of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble. Now the preliminary round schedule is set. Now we’re reminded why The Rumble is so special. Now we get to see the types of bills you just don’t see every day. Now we get to pretend to know who the favorite is to win each night, only to realize such a task is but a fun and foolish game. Ready?
2014 ROCK ‘N’ ROLL RUMBLE PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
Sunday April 6th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:00 – Rebuilder (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
9:45 – Tigerman Woah (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:30 – Sinnet (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:15 – Guillermo Sexo (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Monday April 7th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:00 – Doom Lover (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
9:45 – When Particles Collide (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:30 –
Goddamn Draculas (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:15 – Emma Ate The Lion (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Tuesday April 8th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:00 – Barricades (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
9:45 – Airport (Facebook | Bandcamp)
10:30 – Z*L (Facebook | Bandcamp)
11:15 – The Life Electric (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Thursday April 10th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:30 – Butterknife (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:15 – Slowdim (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:00 – Gondoliers (Facebook | Bandcamp)
11:45 – Western Education (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Friday April 11th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:30 – Feints (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
10:15 – Petty Morals (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:00 – Summoner (Facebook | Bandcamp)
11:45 – Vary Lumar (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
Saturday April 12th, 2014 (FB Event)
9:30 – Harris Hawk (Facebook | Bandcamp)
10:15 – Await Rescue (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:00 – The Color And Sound (Web | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
11:45 – Yellabird (Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp)
More info: Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Website