With our buds Robbers on High Street.
They were great, we played w them a year ago it was awesome. Come out.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I wanna go surfing!
I stopped by Annex to see the Drums 2nite. They great!
Jonathan is a superb performer and their hooks are breathtaking. I can't wait to play with them in 2 weeks.
Tom
Jonathan is a superb performer and their hooks are breathtaking. I can't wait to play with them in 2 weeks.
Tom
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Galaxy
Watch the end where you can see the spine of the Milky Way. Far out...
Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Pianos!
We had a lovely show with XYZ Affair on Monday which officially concluded our Spring Tour. We are all exhausted and taking a couple days off before our show this Friday at Newsonic in Bushwick.
XYZ's are superb and really talented. They have some new-ish songs up on their myspace that are dope. We played with them last year at Music Hall of Williamsburg, the night of the torrential downpour of '08.
Monday was the first show of their residency and the last show of our tour. The crowd was really great and, for a NYC crowd, enthusiastic (middle america is just so damn friendly, you forget about NYC...) But it was seriously a blast.
Our set from this show will be broadcast on Jezz Harkin's Breakthru Radio in early June so check back for details. Our pal Helge, who mixed 2 tracks on Lay That Cable, is giving the show a once-over as we speak.
We are really stoked to have some unique and wonderful NYC shows coming up. As mentioned, this friday, May 15th is at Newsonic, which is by all acounts an INSANE party. Then May 28th we're opening for our indie heroes the 1990's at Mercury Lounge. June 13th we're playing the Exit 44 fest at Wonderland with Tigercity, whom we played with at Bowery last year and really dig. We're planning our summer tour in late July/early August, so we should be back in a lot of the places we hit this time around again. We cant' wait!
Tom
XYZ's are superb and really talented. They have some new-ish songs up on their myspace that are dope. We played with them last year at Music Hall of Williamsburg, the night of the torrential downpour of '08.
Monday was the first show of their residency and the last show of our tour. The crowd was really great and, for a NYC crowd, enthusiastic (middle america is just so damn friendly, you forget about NYC...) But it was seriously a blast.
Our set from this show will be broadcast on Jezz Harkin's Breakthru Radio in early June so check back for details. Our pal Helge, who mixed 2 tracks on Lay That Cable, is giving the show a once-over as we speak.
We are really stoked to have some unique and wonderful NYC shows coming up. As mentioned, this friday, May 15th is at Newsonic, which is by all acounts an INSANE party. Then May 28th we're opening for our indie heroes the 1990's at Mercury Lounge. June 13th we're playing the Exit 44 fest at Wonderland with Tigercity, whom we played with at Bowery last year and really dig. We're planning our summer tour in late July/early August, so we should be back in a lot of the places we hit this time around again. We cant' wait!
Tom
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Back home!
We made it back in one piece to Brooklyn last night for a super sweaty set at Retox/Glass House in Bushwick. We were exhausted but had a blast. Disasteradio, a one-piece synth rock freakout session from New Zealand played as well. Fun stuff.
The last few days of the tour were pretty amazing despite being incredibly drained (can you tell how tired we are in this photo?) from so much driving and shitty rest stop food. It's unbelievable that you cannot buy anything fresh off the interstate in this country. I won't rant about it except to say that shitty food makes you feel shitty and it's no wonder this country is so unhealthy.
That aside, the shows were amazing and we met and crashed with some of the most wonderful and friendly people on the planet. Cincinnati was a highlight. We played a short set at WOXY radio, which was such a thrill as we all listen to those guys all the damn time anyway. They are great hosts and super people who love what they do so much. One wishes that there were more people like them, fighting the good fight and doing incredible work out of sheer passion for music and radio. DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE SET AND INTERVIEW HERE.
After the set we killed time for a couple hours, bought some cables at a typically douchey Guitar Center and then went to the Northside Tavern and played an awesome gig with Koala Fires. The turnout was awesome, people danced and shouted. We partied serious.
Here is a review from that show:
The Action Painters got people dancing last night at the Northside Tavern, which is always a good thing for an indie band! The band feels somewhere between The Strokes and The Killers, before both got too commercialized. The Action Painters have the refreshing qualities those bands had when they first started out. They began their set with an unreleased Beatlesesque “How Could It Be So Wrong” and yes I think I even spotted a Harmonica which showed some range. The majority of the evening however they kept the kids dancing to songs like “Sooner or Later” and “456”. The Brooklyn band played a mix of songs from their 2007 album Chubby Dancer, brand new EP Lay That Cable, and some unreleased tracks. They ended with the crowd pleaser from the new EP “Money Changes Everything.” I believe that there will be nothing but good things to come for this band!
We have a ton of NYC shows in the near future, starting with Pianos tomorrow night with the XYZ Affair as they kick off their residency, which is sponsored by OhMyRockness. Sweeeet.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Great review of our Pittsburgh show
This is a great, in-depth review of our Pittsburgh show:
Songs in the Key of Touche
For at least two weeks now, the Action Painters’ debut album, Chubby Dancer, has been in heavy rotation for me. If I had it on vinyl, it would show serious wear along the grooves of “456” and “Sooner or Later.” So my hopes were high last night when they opened for Triggers in the Southside. Thankfully, they killed...
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE...
Songs in the Key of Touche
For at least two weeks now, the Action Painters’ debut album, Chubby Dancer, has been in heavy rotation for me. If I had it on vinyl, it would show serious wear along the grooves of “456” and “Sooner or Later.” So my hopes were high last night when they opened for Triggers in the Southside. Thankfully, they killed...
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW HERE...
Columbus/Day Off etc
No updates for the last few days. Computers have been hard to come by.
We are in the Taj Mahal of Terre Haute, also known as the Holiday Inn.
We had an off day yesterday after four solid days of heavy driving and great shows. The mid-west is more spread out than it looks on the map, let me tell you. We had a great time in Detroit at the Belmont. The gig was a benefit for a local Detroit charity, so it was cool to connect with a local scene in a different way than usual. People were hella friendly, which you may not guess driving through the husk of a city that is Detroit. I always like those kinds of towns with their desolate beauty and no bullshit attitude. People have no pretense, they welcome you like family. Ray won a picnic basket in the silent auction before the bands went on and almost flipped out when he couldn't find it at the end of the night but it turned out to be behind the bar so all was well. My friend Jessicallyn who just moved back to D-troit from NYC to have her first beautiful baby also came to the show. Great to see a familiar face somewhere you've never been before. We played a great set and had a blast. It was a rowdy crowd who'd been drinking since the afternoon it seemed, so the energy carried us throughout the night.
We didn't stay in Detroit after the show and drove straight through the night to Columbus, Ohio. At Columbus we crashed with three college girls who were amazingly gracious hosts. We then headed to our gig: this awesome little club called Treehouse which we liked as soon as we got there. It reminded us of Cake Shop in NYC, but distinctly midwestern: xmas lights strung up throughout, cheap beers, wood paneling, mellow vibes, good juke box. In the live room there is a gigantic tree, must be over 100 years old, growing through the floor and up through the roof into the night sky. Maybe it was the spirit of the tree, but we played one of our best sets of the tour there, and the crowd was at one with us the entire time. The one thing I'm consistently getting off on this tour is how each crowd seems to really connect to almost everything we play. They LISTEN to what we're doing and whether they're dancing, nodding their heads, or just watching from the back, they seem locked in. It's a powerful thing to be a part of and feels like we are tapping into the great vein of music gold every night, letting it take us for a ride.
After our set, Gost Shirt came on and completely slayed. It was without a doubt one of the highlights of our tour to see these guys play. They played a purely creative and high-energy set that went from whisper quiet to punk screaming, but all the while with great feel, hooks, lyrics and heart. Listen to them. We are going to do our best to get them out to Brooklyn in the coming months. They need to be heard.
After the show and many hugs and drugs from and with locals and yocals, we retreated to the back yard of our Columbus hosts for the tail end of a bonfire cook out. Some brilliant friends schooled us on the phrases "off drip" and "off rip". Expect to see these show up lyrically in future AP songs.
Which brings us to yesterday, our off day. Drove to Terre Haute. Hotels are dirt cheap, so a good place to have a free day. We swam in the pool and drank at the bar all afternoon and evening, went to some mainstream chain restaurant and ate unspeakable foods at night, and crashed early and happy.
We are now off to St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati (yay WOXY!!!!), Athens and one other Ohio town which I cannot remember the name of at present, before heading back to Brooklyn.
We will post a ton of photos as soon as we can.
And make sure to TUNE IN ON MAY 6TH AT 4PM EASTERN TIME FOR OUR WOXY.COM LIVE SESSION.
We are in the Taj Mahal of Terre Haute, also known as the Holiday Inn.
We had an off day yesterday after four solid days of heavy driving and great shows. The mid-west is more spread out than it looks on the map, let me tell you. We had a great time in Detroit at the Belmont. The gig was a benefit for a local Detroit charity, so it was cool to connect with a local scene in a different way than usual. People were hella friendly, which you may not guess driving through the husk of a city that is Detroit. I always like those kinds of towns with their desolate beauty and no bullshit attitude. People have no pretense, they welcome you like family. Ray won a picnic basket in the silent auction before the bands went on and almost flipped out when he couldn't find it at the end of the night but it turned out to be behind the bar so all was well. My friend Jessicallyn who just moved back to D-troit from NYC to have her first beautiful baby also came to the show. Great to see a familiar face somewhere you've never been before. We played a great set and had a blast. It was a rowdy crowd who'd been drinking since the afternoon it seemed, so the energy carried us throughout the night.
We didn't stay in Detroit after the show and drove straight through the night to Columbus, Ohio. At Columbus we crashed with three college girls who were amazingly gracious hosts. We then headed to our gig: this awesome little club called Treehouse which we liked as soon as we got there. It reminded us of Cake Shop in NYC, but distinctly midwestern: xmas lights strung up throughout, cheap beers, wood paneling, mellow vibes, good juke box. In the live room there is a gigantic tree, must be over 100 years old, growing through the floor and up through the roof into the night sky. Maybe it was the spirit of the tree, but we played one of our best sets of the tour there, and the crowd was at one with us the entire time. The one thing I'm consistently getting off on this tour is how each crowd seems to really connect to almost everything we play. They LISTEN to what we're doing and whether they're dancing, nodding their heads, or just watching from the back, they seem locked in. It's a powerful thing to be a part of and feels like we are tapping into the great vein of music gold every night, letting it take us for a ride.
After our set, Gost Shirt came on and completely slayed. It was without a doubt one of the highlights of our tour to see these guys play. They played a purely creative and high-energy set that went from whisper quiet to punk screaming, but all the while with great feel, hooks, lyrics and heart. Listen to them. We are going to do our best to get them out to Brooklyn in the coming months. They need to be heard.
After the show and many hugs and drugs from and with locals and yocals, we retreated to the back yard of our Columbus hosts for the tail end of a bonfire cook out. Some brilliant friends schooled us on the phrases "off drip" and "off rip". Expect to see these show up lyrically in future AP songs.
Which brings us to yesterday, our off day. Drove to Terre Haute. Hotels are dirt cheap, so a good place to have a free day. We swam in the pool and drank at the bar all afternoon and evening, went to some mainstream chain restaurant and ate unspeakable foods at night, and crashed early and happy.
We are now off to St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati (yay WOXY!!!!), Athens and one other Ohio town which I cannot remember the name of at present, before heading back to Brooklyn.
We will post a ton of photos as soon as we can.
And make sure to TUNE IN ON MAY 6TH AT 4PM EASTERN TIME FOR OUR WOXY.COM LIVE SESSION.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Cleveland, Pittsburgh
Hey all!
It's been an amazing couple of days. Cleveland' Beachland was a treat: great stage, super hyped crowd, some guys Dave and Alex from Kent State who taped our show for their college TV station, a cool online magazine writer came out to see us too. Beachland gives you free food and plenty of drink tickets, so we were firing on all cylinders on stage. Can't wait to get back there. We will post the interview and footage from the Kent State boys as soon as they put it up.
Pittsburgh last night was insane at the Lava Lounge. Crowd was fantastic, the space itself is a wierd, mod lava cave with cool twists and turns, hot local Pittsburghers, and strong drinks. Triggers, our host band, were super tight and a great band to dance to. Definitely check them out. My mom, who's from Pittsburgh, came out with my long-lost cousin Kim to see us. We are staying at Joe's friend's Kate who is a great host and super cool girl. She took us for perogies at 3am last night.
TO top it off, I ate some tainted french fries a few hours before the show. I'd been sticking to a vegetarian, non-processed food diet the entire tour and the fries were doom. Ray had a disguisting chili dog at the same shitty bar but it seemed only to bolster his constitution, so I dunno what that says. I felt dizzy the entire set and literally saw stars during the 2nd chorus of Supermarket, so while it was weird it was also transcendental.
ok we have to to hit the road for Detroit but i"Ll write more later.
-T
It's been an amazing couple of days. Cleveland' Beachland was a treat: great stage, super hyped crowd, some guys Dave and Alex from Kent State who taped our show for their college TV station, a cool online magazine writer came out to see us too. Beachland gives you free food and plenty of drink tickets, so we were firing on all cylinders on stage. Can't wait to get back there. We will post the interview and footage from the Kent State boys as soon as they put it up.
Pittsburgh last night was insane at the Lava Lounge. Crowd was fantastic, the space itself is a wierd, mod lava cave with cool twists and turns, hot local Pittsburghers, and strong drinks. Triggers, our host band, were super tight and a great band to dance to. Definitely check them out. My mom, who's from Pittsburgh, came out with my long-lost cousin Kim to see us. We are staying at Joe's friend's Kate who is a great host and super cool girl. She took us for perogies at 3am last night.
TO top it off, I ate some tainted french fries a few hours before the show. I'd been sticking to a vegetarian, non-processed food diet the entire tour and the fries were doom. Ray had a disguisting chili dog at the same shitty bar but it seemed only to bolster his constitution, so I dunno what that says. I felt dizzy the entire set and literally saw stars during the 2nd chorus of Supermarket, so while it was weird it was also transcendental.
ok we have to to hit the road for Detroit but i"Ll write more later.
-T
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
UPDATED TOUR PRESS
People have been writing about us and our tour.
Listen up. I'm only going to say this once: Action Painters are the best band in New York... Latest single release "456" comes with an EP Lay That Cable and a spring tour. I shouldn't need to encourage you to see this band. But I will anyways: go see this band. They are probably in your town. As for "456," it is the band's biggest work to date. The scope is utterly enormous.
On Wednesday, Action Panthers from good old Brooklyn, NY, are gonna rock the Beachland. These folks are pretty cool, with a nice indie rock sound that isn't too minimalist. I've been digging these guys since the dudes at Citizen Dick blogged about them last month, and was stoked to see them making their way into town. Allison Zatarain, is a serious contender for my indie rock crush of the week. Not only is she cute and a good writer, but her name reminds me of Cajun food, which is totally awesome.)
Their 2007 debut, Chubby Dancer, is solid all the way through, at times wearing post-punk influences shamelessly well, at others shedding them and showing off an original brand of sunny guitar pop that might have lingered and transformed in the night.
It's a sound that should resonate perfectly in the walls of the Southside's Lava Lounge, where they’re playing Thursday night [Apr 30] with Triggers.
Action Painters have been getting a fair amount of buzz lately... it is clear what the buzz is about when you listen to the music - it is undeniably catchy, yet still rough around the edges, exactly what we want from our ‘indie’ rock. Synths add a vintage touch. I don’t think I’ve ever warmed to a band so quickly!
Pasta Prima-Baltimore
Pasta Prima-Baltimore
It’s Friday night in Baltimore and there’s plenty to see! The Metro Gallery has a good one with Action Painters...
Vinyl Visions- Baltimore
Vinyl Visions- Baltimore
The band's style is similar to that of Julius Airwave, but the amount of energy in their songs set them apart from most groups that share their style.
Brightest Young Things- Washington, DC
Brightest Young Things- Washington, DC
Need some action? Action Painters frontman Tom Haslow won’t let you down. But don’t come just for the eye candy (see also: Allison Zatarain on keyboards), not that there’s anything wrong with that. Come for the total package — um, no pun intended — just a little raw and just below the radar.
Some cool indie rock from Brooklyn just landed on my desk and thought I’d share a track with y’all. These guys are on a big ol’ US tour including a stop here in Philly on Saturday night at the North Star Bar with my pals East Hundred
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Our sincere thanks to everyone who came out to see us the last few days, especially the Philly maniacs who made our first show there so epic. Each of the last four shows was amazing in its own way. This phase is just beginning for us and it's a beautiful thing that we have discovered.
Being in hot and dirty NYC is way less exciting than it should be.
-Tom
Being in hot and dirty NYC is way less exciting than it should be.
-Tom
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Day 4 of the tour found us in Philadelphia, PA, home of liberty, independence, colonial flags, and sweet sweet colon bombs. We bid a warm fondue to Casa Hankin in the afternoon and rolled into Philly, where, because we're tourists and don't have the sense God gave a danged grasshopper, we proceeded to chow down on delicious, greasy-ass cheesesteaks on Market Street and completely cripple ourselves for the next several hours. (Occasionally I tease Allison about being a vegetarian -- after that, never again.)
The afternoon in Philly was gorgeous -- hot and sunny and amenable to the rabble-rousing that was happening in front of Independence Hall. We took a pleasant walk around Olde City, probably the only neighborhood in America that can legitimately put an e at the end of "Old." Lessons learned: a) unlike New York, which spaces out its squares (Union, Herald, Times, etc.) every twenty blocks or so, Philadelphia decided to put all of its squares in a single, centralized square district; b) if you lose your metronome, consider getting a horse and putting it on a treadmill; c) when you don't know what you're looking at or talking about, every building's stairs look just like the stairs from Rocky.
North Star Bar is a really kick-ass venue. It's huge, it's got a sweet balcony, it's got a cozy green room downstairs (which was blissfully cool, considering we rocked the main room up to about 130 degrees and 400% humidity), and errebody's real friendly. The place was packed, the crowd was fired up, and we melted some faces. East Hundred, our band-friends who hooked us up down Philly-way, played a fearsomely tight set right after us and brought the place down. We were glad to see some familiar faces that night, including Ray's ladyfriend Cameron and her ladyfriends; Amit's buddy Todd from Holy Land days; and my high school friend Adam, who I used to tool around the B-more suburbs with, driving a ridiculous white minivan and generally acting a fool.
We're back in NYC for a couple days and then it's off to the heartland: Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and points west, south, and sort of east. (We're just setting the GPS to the intersection of Bread Basket and Rust Belt and seeing where it takes us.)
--Joe
The afternoon in Philly was gorgeous -- hot and sunny and amenable to the rabble-rousing that was happening in front of Independence Hall. We took a pleasant walk around Olde City, probably the only neighborhood in America that can legitimately put an e at the end of "Old." Lessons learned: a) unlike New York, which spaces out its squares (Union, Herald, Times, etc.) every twenty blocks or so, Philadelphia decided to put all of its squares in a single, centralized square district; b) if you lose your metronome, consider getting a horse and putting it on a treadmill; c) when you don't know what you're looking at or talking about, every building's stairs look just like the stairs from Rocky.
North Star Bar is a really kick-ass venue. It's huge, it's got a sweet balcony, it's got a cozy green room downstairs (which was blissfully cool, considering we rocked the main room up to about 130 degrees and 400% humidity), and errebody's real friendly. The place was packed, the crowd was fired up, and we melted some faces. East Hundred, our band-friends who hooked us up down Philly-way, played a fearsomely tight set right after us and brought the place down. We were glad to see some familiar faces that night, including Ray's ladyfriend Cameron and her ladyfriends; Amit's buddy Todd from Holy Land days; and my high school friend Adam, who I used to tool around the B-more suburbs with, driving a ridiculous white minivan and generally acting a fool.
We're back in NYC for a couple days and then it's off to the heartland: Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and points west, south, and sort of east. (We're just setting the GPS to the intersection of Bread Basket and Rust Belt and seeing where it takes us.)
--Joe
Baltimore Pixxx
Joe here. Just adding a couple of pictures to Ray's account of our night in Baltimore:
On stage at Metro Gallery, Baltimore, Md. The backdrop was a crazy painting!
Departing from Casa Hankin. My dad doesn't actually report for the New York Herald circa 1932, that's just the only hat he has.
On stage at Metro Gallery, Baltimore, Md. The backdrop was a crazy painting!
Departing from Casa Hankin. My dad doesn't actually report for the New York Herald circa 1932, that's just the only hat he has.
Action Painters bassist/ghost writer Ray here.
Night three of the tour brought us to the Metro Gallery in Baltimore. Right after unloading we gave an interview to B'more blog Vinyl Visions (whose writers had to talk their way in after they were turned away for being under 21). Pretty in-depth stuff, too; we covered everything from favorite food to the difference between a Venn diagram and a Van diagram, the latter being who gets shotgun on the looming nine hour drive to Athens, OH.
We played against the backdrop of artist Brian C. Baker's ethereal painting series Soulforms, whose massive scale fit the giant gallery space just right. Nice turnout since the show doubled as AP guitarist/local hero Joe Hankin's homecoming (big ups once again to the 'rents, Craig and Esther Hankin).
Loaded out, drank down the street at Club Charles, piled back in the van and headed to Paper Moon for a 2 AM early/late breakfast with Joe's electron microscopist buddy Ned, called it a night.
So now it's on to Philly for cheesesteak and cheap beer. I promise I will blackout by the end of the night since my girl Cameron will be in attendance, and today she turns 23! It is impossible to outdrink a birthday girl, although I will give it my all.
On a serious note I've gotta say RIP Bea Arthur from our very own Golden Girls superfan and keyboardist Allison.
Come on Philly.
Night three of the tour brought us to the Metro Gallery in Baltimore. Right after unloading we gave an interview to B'more blog Vinyl Visions (whose writers had to talk their way in after they were turned away for being under 21). Pretty in-depth stuff, too; we covered everything from favorite food to the difference between a Venn diagram and a Van diagram, the latter being who gets shotgun on the looming nine hour drive to Athens, OH.
We played against the backdrop of artist Brian C. Baker's ethereal painting series Soulforms, whose massive scale fit the giant gallery space just right. Nice turnout since the show doubled as AP guitarist/local hero Joe Hankin's homecoming (big ups once again to the 'rents, Craig and Esther Hankin).
Loaded out, drank down the street at Club Charles, piled back in the van and headed to Paper Moon for a 2 AM early/late breakfast with Joe's electron microscopist buddy Ned, called it a night.
So now it's on to Philly for cheesesteak and cheap beer. I promise I will blackout by the end of the night since my girl Cameron will be in attendance, and today she turns 23! It is impossible to outdrink a birthday girl, although I will give it my all.
On a serious note I've gotta say RIP Bea Arthur from our very own Golden Girls superfan and keyboardist Allison.
Come on Philly.
tour press
People have been writing about us and our tour.
Broken Bell
Pasta Prima
Vinyl Visions
Brightest Young Things
Broken Bell
Pasta Prima
Vinyl Visions
Brightest Young Things
Friday, April 24, 2009
Day 2 - New Hope - New Bag of Corn Chips
Day 2
Venue: John & Peter's
City: New Hope, Penn.
Band's Caloric Intake: 6800
Band's Mood Ring Color: Orangish
Phrase of the Day: "Get me awaaaay from those Fritos"
After several hours of serene suburban sprawlin' we got into pre-gig mode. Applied make up, stretched out our jazz hands and played a variety of Commie trust games. On our way out of Baltimore we stopped for a spiritual re-charge at the local Guitar Center. I bought some sticks, Allison bought a keyboard stand, Tom was trying to barter with a guy in Pro Audio for his goatee - but failed.
In the car I devised a game that I believe will catch on very quickly in the US - The rules are simple, the pleasure is unimaginable. It doesn't have a name yet but I am open to suggestions. Basically, one names 2 real full names from ones high school and one made-up name. After this, the other bored, nauseous passengers then have to guess which name is bullshit. Extra points for you if you can keep the first name constant (i.e. John Glenn, John Roberts, John Balls) or construct believable sounding Indian surnames.
Three short hours later we arrived in New Hope. New Hope is a great town if you like over priced tie-dye gear and yuppies pretending to be hippies pretending to like you. I kid, I kid, its a great town, home to The Bucks County Play House, where I won an acting award several years back for my one man review "Shelly Long: Where The Shit Are You?"
We arrived at the bar and announced ourselves. This was met with smiles and confusion since we walked into the wrong fucking bar. Too bad- the bar looked cool. At the right bar, John and Peters, we loaded out with the help of some locals who were wonderfully kind and juiced for our set.
John and Peters is a cool looking venue, cavernous and cottagey - blues & rock semi- famous rockers pictures pepper the walls. The stage is situated smack in the middle of the room and carpeted really really nicely. I think the stage doubles as a gymnasium for toddlers during the days. The sound is pretty good and the lighting rig is no joke man.
We set up, drank beer, ate various foods and talked to locals. We hit the stage with a mission to rock and by all accounts succeeded - though Tom's amp died two songs in, and the NHL playoffs are systematically trying to fuck our draw, we overcame these obstacles and played a spirited and energetic set. The highlights included a powerful "Sooner or Later," "That's Alright Momma" Featuring Z-Cup on lead vox, and my personal fav of the night Tom sharing with the audience that he is indeed the son of Cindy Lauper and either Sting or Captain Lou Albano.
The crowd felt our heat and were thoroughly entertained. We made some friends, some cash and a thoroughly strong enough response by the club to be asked back again on a Saturday - Holla Holla!
And so we did our thing in New Hope and hit the road back to Baltimore. On the way home I once again debated Tom on the merit and glory of right wing, religious or wacky sports talk radio. Allison and Joe slept, Ray serviced himself in the back row for most of the trip, all the while barking uncontrollably every time he saw a bright red car. Why do you do that Ray...? Perhaps we will find out later this tour.
Amit
More photos + video (below post has max of 5 lame)
A few pics from this morning + video from last night.
Day 2 of the Tour in New Hope: A Night of Firsts
I'm not going to write much today cause it's technically "Amit's day." Whatever. Today is day #3 of the tour. We played New Hope last night after a failed attempt at stenciling the amps and drums (who knew the spray paint we found in Joe's parents' garage would be old and empty?)
New Hope was quaint and smokey. You can smoke inside there no shit. Joe, Ray, and Tom had cigs hanging from their lips while rocking it, which looked like more trouble than it was worth to me. We played to a rocking room, and since we were the only band on the bill we kept the jams coming despite Tom's blown amp. I sang a little "That's Alright Mama" live for the first time for the enjoyment of everyone. I also played behind a double-stack keys stand for the first time - very strange. Wall of keys! A night of firsts indeed. Here are some photos - enjoy!
XO,
Allison + Action Painters
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Day 1 of tour in DC: AWESOME!
Day 1 of the tour is already over. We drove all day yesterday from NY to DC. The band gave my shotty cause I get mad carsick.
We got to DC early (thank you traffic gods) and parked right outside of the Red & the Black club. Then we took a leisurely, google-map guided stroll to the Capitol Building. I got a looksy from a senator and I felt the power. Then we returned to the club to set up our stuff and got ready to rock the f*ck out!
The show was amazing. The attic-like room at the Red & the Black was packed and very sweaty. We were stoked since this was our first trip to DC - we will definitely be back. The sound gal had to cut us off, (we had to wait for the hockey freaks to trickle in post-game), the crowd was asking for more, and we left them with a little Cyndi Lauper action.
Day 2 of the tour has begin. We woke up at Joe's parent's house in the middle of nature in the outskirts of Baltimore. I already have a gimp arm from playing Wii tennis against Tom, who I beat like a bitch. (Ok then he beat me but I totally let him). I think we're going to do some ill stenciling to our gear - the world will know our name.
Over and out for now,
Allison (+ Action Painters)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
TOUR STARTS WEDNESDAY IN DC
WE WILL BE BLOGGING DAILY HERE.
COME OUT AND SEE US!
AND REMEMBER, YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AN ALBUM'S WORTH OF AP TUNES AT WWW.ACTIONPAINTERSBAND.COM.
TOUR DATES:
4/22/09 Washington DC - THE RED AND THE BLACK
4/23/09 New Hope, PA - JOHN AND PETER’S
4/24/09 Baltimore, MD - METRO GALLERY
4/25/09 Philadelphia, PA - NORTHSTAR BAR w/East Hundred
4/29/09 Cleveland, OH - BEACHLAND w/GoodTouchBadTouch/Posh Army-ALL AGES SHOW
4/30/09 Pittsburgh, PA - LAVA LOUNGE w/Triggers
5/01/09 Detroit, MI - THE BELMONT - w/Cowboy Messiah
5/02/09 Columbus, OH - TREEHOUSE
5/04/09 St. Louis, MO - OFF BROADWAY - w/Target Market
5/05/09 Chicago, IL - ELBO ROOM
5/06/09 Cincinnati, OH - WOXY Lounge Act Session
5/07/09 Cincinnati, Ohio - NORTHSIDE TAVERN w/The Koala Fires
5/07/09 Athens, OH - THE UNION w/Russenorsk & She Bears
5/08/09 Canton, OH - OLD GLORY
5/09/09 Brooklyn, NY - RETOX- w/Disasteradio
5/11/09 New York, NY - PIANOS - XYZ Affair Residency show
AND SOME UP AND COMING NYC SHOWS:
5/15/09 Brooklyn, NY - NEWSONIC (THE LOFT)
5/28/09 New York, NY - MERCURY LOUNGE w/1990’s
6/13/09 Queens, NY - WONDERLAND COLLECTIVE - ASTORIA
COME OUT AND SEE US!
AND REMEMBER, YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AN ALBUM'S WORTH OF AP TUNES AT WWW.ACTIONPAINTERSBAND.COM.
TOUR DATES:
4/22/09 Washington DC - THE RED AND THE BLACK
4/23/09 New Hope, PA - JOHN AND PETER’S
4/24/09 Baltimore, MD - METRO GALLERY
4/25/09 Philadelphia, PA - NORTHSTAR BAR w/East Hundred
4/29/09 Cleveland, OH - BEACHLAND w/GoodTouchBadTouch/Posh Army-ALL AGES SHOW
4/30/09 Pittsburgh, PA - LAVA LOUNGE w/Triggers
5/01/09 Detroit, MI - THE BELMONT - w/Cowboy Messiah
5/02/09 Columbus, OH - TREEHOUSE
5/04/09 St. Louis, MO - OFF BROADWAY - w/Target Market
5/05/09 Chicago, IL - ELBO ROOM
5/06/09 Cincinnati, OH - WOXY Lounge Act Session
5/07/09 Cincinnati, Ohio - NORTHSIDE TAVERN w/The Koala Fires
5/07/09 Athens, OH - THE UNION w/Russenorsk & She Bears
5/08/09 Canton, OH - OLD GLORY
5/09/09 Brooklyn, NY - RETOX- w/Disasteradio
5/11/09 New York, NY - PIANOS - XYZ Affair Residency show
AND SOME UP AND COMING NYC SHOWS:
5/15/09 Brooklyn, NY - NEWSONIC (THE LOFT)
5/28/09 New York, NY - MERCURY LOUNGE w/1990’s
6/13/09 Queens, NY - WONDERLAND COLLECTIVE - ASTORIA
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Nice
It's getting warmer in NYC, we're about to go on tour, and damn we're excited. We feel like this:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
OUR NEW EP, LAY THAT CABLE, IS OUT!!!
Our new album is out!
You can download it for free at www.actionpaintersband.com/laythatcable.
All we ask is for your email address so we can keep you up to date about future stuff. You can opt out whenever bro.
We have to thank the following people: Helge Bernhardt for co-creating and shooting the video for "456" and mixing 2 songs, Natalie M for shooting the vid, Jason Whalen for the beautiful cover art, Jesse McLean who is designing the t-shirts we will soon print and who's been a huge support in many ways, Dave Kross for playing bass on the tracks, and Peter Wade for keeping us motivated and on our game.
This EP is a little blip of what we are planning for this year, so enjoy it and expect more stuff soon...
Also, the blogs are blowin' up about it! Here are what some lovely and kind music writers have said about it.
http://citizendick.org/2009/03/31/action-painters-citizen-dick-news-alert/
http://www.boomboomchik.com/2009/03/action-painters-new-ep.html
http://bonafidedarling.blogspot.com/2009/03/action-painters-lay-that-cable-ep.html
http://youretheshitandimkneedeepinit.blogspot.com/2009/03/lay-that-cable-open-door.html
http://yourexloverisdeadblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/ye-lid-news-action-painters-done.html
http://insomniaradio.net/2009/03/31/action-painters-money-changes-everything/
http://ihavemadeyouamixedtape.blogspot.com/2009/03/btla-vol-3.html
http://www.sitkot.com/2009/04/new-tracks-and-upcoming-shows.html
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Lil' Bloggggg listings
We are featured in a new UK mag called Fashion/Music/Style
http://www.fashionmusicstyle.com/current_issue.htm
Sooner or Later was featured here:
http://catalouge.blogspot.com/2009/02/february-tracks.html
A hot listing in NY Press from last week:
http://www.nypress.com/blog-3417-live-tonight-fiasco-action-painters-cause-co-motion_-mr-falcon.html
And finally, we are/were in the top 20 indie pop bands on Deli Magazine. The list seems to be fluctuating I guess they have some kind of math at work.
Isn't that special?
http://www.fashionmusicstyle.com/current_issue.htm
Sooner or Later was featured here:
http://catalouge.blogspot.com/2009/02/february-tracks.html
A hot listing in NY Press from last week:
http://www.nypress.com/blog-3417-live-tonight-fiasco-action-painters-cause-co-motion_-mr-falcon.html
And finally, we are/were in the top 20 indie pop bands on Deli Magazine. The list seems to be fluctuating I guess they have some kind of math at work.
Isn't that special?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year's Eve
New Year's was drunken and amazing! We headlined at Lit, which we haven't played in ages, but it was great in that Lit sort of way. Everyone smells a little funny today. Thanks for the insane crowd that turned out. Really awesome.
We're playing Mercury Lounge on Jan 22nd. B there!
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