poughkeepsie.

what an interesting city. actually, i'm not sure if you can even call it a city. most city's businesses aren't closed up at 4pm on a saturday, but maybe that's just what i'm used to being from north jersey. who knows. anyway, this past saturday, i took a road trip with my brother, joey ott and his girlfriend marissa up to poughkeepsie because they were playing a show. we left around 1:30 and it was shit cold from the snowstorm on friday night. it took us about an hour and a half to get there. not suprisingly, there were about 10 people in the place when we got there. i wound up talking to a bunch of kids from some band who were from rhode island and massachussetts. i talked mad shit about the red sox and they probably didn't like it too much. whatever.

anyway, if you think its cold here, its ridiculously colder in upstate new york. poughkeepsie is laden with abandoned buildings and vehicles, weird motels and motor lodges that offer free hbo and room phones. it seems like the kind of place where serial rapists grow on trees. the strangest thing is that about 90% of the businesses were closed in the middle of the afternoon on a saturday. i mean they had the metal gates down and everything. so weird.

the show turned out to be kind of a bumblefuck. we were all under the impression that these guys would be playing on the same stage as the main acts (biohazard & life of agony), which was not the case. apparently this place has 2 or 3 different stages. joey ott was under the impression that he would be using the drum kit from 25 ta life since he was also filling in for their drummer after playing with kincaid. my brother was under the impression that he would be using a guitar cabinet from 25 ta life. neither one of these things happened. thankfully some other band let them use a bass drum.

my brother's head got miked up to the pa and joey ott played a set with kincaid and 25 ta life with only a snare, a bass drum and symbols. amazingly, him and my brother killed it regardless of the shitty circumstances. my brother is always awesome and joey ott is amazing because he makes no expression when he plays the drums. like he's just playing nintendo or something. we also got a free case of beer from rick ta life which ruled. right next door to the venue was a bar called the nuddy irishman, where me and my brother got cheeseburgers that seemed like they were cooked by god himself.

this picture basically sums up the entire trip:



i also got a few of these guys playing:





all in all, if i never saw poughkeepsie again for the rest of my life, i really wouldn't be too bummed.

updates and shit.

1. recently, my brother (the musical genius of the family) started playing guitar for a band called kincaid. these guys just got put on a bill with biohazard, life of agony and a bunch of other bands for this weekend (12.20) at the chance theater in poughkeepsie, ny. it's a pretty early show. these guys go on around 3pm. i'm gonna hop in with these guys and head up there around noon. if you have nothing to do, please come check them out. if you want to follow us - call me, text me, email me, whatever and i will give you the details. this is going to be a huge show. it could be their major big break to really put them on the map. poughkeepsie is like an hour away. it would be sick for some of our peeps to come and support. do it.

2. the animal blood reunion show is officially postponed. the meatlocker has apparently been shut down by the city of montclair again. the show was going to be moved to some place in newark, but that also got cancelled. basically, this show is not happening this weekend, but it will be at some point. if you're still looking for a decent show this weekend you can check out painful urination, who was supposed to be playing the meatlocker show. they will be playing this friday night (12.19) at dingbatz in clifton. you should go there and check them out.

3. this sunday (12.21), my man gdp will be opening up for the wu-tang clan at the starland ballroom in sayreville, nj. tickets are available through ticketmaster or you can also get them at division east on bloomfield ave in montclair.

4. my man g.wallace just put out a new video for his album "the grand scheme" which is available for download now at the division east records myspace page. the record was produced by shape, and i did all the design and layout with photos courtesy of my girl carson who takes some ill flicks. g.wallace had the concept that he wanted and we got drunk and high one night and sat in front of my computer and made it happen. i think it looks pretty sick. the booklets and inserts are already printed and the actual cds are getting printed as we speak. definitely support local shit and buy the cd. mad party jams. peep the video: