CELEBRATED SUMMER

Lets play catch up!

2011-09-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! So it's been a bit since we have updated so here is the round up of what has been going on!

First off the Baltimore City Paper voted us Best Place to buy Vinyl for the Second year in a row! We are beside ourselves with pride and thank them from the bottom of our Record clogged heart!

BEST OF BALTIMORE

secondly we had our 5 year Anniversary show at Ottobar and it was a great time!

Again Emily Devan graced us with a sweet cake, this time a overhead view of the store itself!

All the bands killed it and it was great fun doing a Deep Sleep set upstairs after the show wrapped up, Samiam, Mean Jeans, Shirks, HollyWood, Walter and Murder have my utmost thanks!

MEAN JEANS

HOLLYWOOD

THE SHIRKS

SAMIAM

What else? For some odd reason we got it into our heads that buying a donut case for the store was a good idea! So for Septembers First Friday we filled it with free donuts and had our first annual Donut Social! We will be filling it with free delicious treats randomly so come in some time and maybe you will get lucky!

Hmm let's see, reaching into the mailbag we have some pretty sweet fan art from My 10 year old niece Elizabeth:

And Maddy, the daughter of our good friend and Customer Eric Stanger!

We love them! Hopefully more on the way!

What else what else??? Well randomly the vocalist from our favorite band THE DESCENDENTS showed up at a local show and was kind enough to sign a record and take a picture with us! We were pretty geeked out!

Here is a guide to shopping at CSR for all of you new shoppers!

oh yeah and we have gotten in HUNDREDS of awesome new and used Records over the past two weeks! Stop by and say hello!

FIVE YEARS!!!!

2011-07-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe but we are still here and going strong!

RECORD STORE DAY INFORMATION!

2011-04-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! This Saturday April 16th is Record Store Day! We are really excited to step it up a bit this year with some cool releases!

We will be open at 11am, all releases are one per person and on a first come first serve basis.
We will have Free Donuts and Free Vegan Donuts plus some other surprises for you folks showing up early!

10 percent of ALL of our sales on Record Store Day will be Donated to the RED CROSS for Japan Earthquake relief!

We are located at 3620 Falls Road in Baltimore Maryland, inside of Atomic Books.

Here are some of the releases we will have, please note there are VERY FEW of some of these releases here, we do our best to order wisely but many of these were allocated pretty close to the bone for stores.

CELEBRATED SUMMER EXCLUSIVES:

PULLING TEETH-One Sided 12 inch single from their new LP. These are strictly limited to 50 copies with a Silk Screened cover and numbered. They will not be available at any other stores or through the Mail. Just on RSD and Just here!

MINDSET-Time and Pressure Alternate Cover. Powder blue vinyl and a new cover designed by EV and limited to 40 copies only, they will be hand numbered and not available at any other stores or through the mail. Just on RSD and Just here!

OTHER RSD RELEASES WE WILL HAVE:

JIMMY EAT WORLD-BLEED AMERICAN 3 X LP
MASTODON-LIVE AT ARGONON BALLROOM 2 X LP + DVD
LOWER DENS-Deer Knives single
YARDBIRDS-Goodnight sweet Josephine Single
VELVET UNDERGROUND-Foggy Notion Single
BLITZEN TRAPPER-Maybe Baby Single
INTERNATIONAL SUBMARINE BAND W/GRAM PARSONS LP + Single
FLEET FOXES-Helplessness Blues 12 Inch single
OFF!- Live at Generation Records Single
BOUNCING SOULS-Live at Generation records LP
YOUTH OF TODAY-Final single Color vinyl 1000 only
QUICKSAND-S/T Single Color Vinyl 1000 only
BURN S/T Single Color Vinyl 1000 only
FUCKED UP-Town Comp LP
SUPERCHUNK-Here's where the Strings come in LP

There may be more as well but honestly we won't know until almost the day of so come on out!

Our new Shop Shirts will also be available on RSD they are a collaboration between us and the Multi-Talented LIZ PRINCE.

CELEBRATED SUMMER X HEIDI KENNEY SHIRT!

2010-10-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

On October 15th Heidi Kenney Will be Signing copies of her new book here at Atomic/CSR and we will have our long in gestation T-shirt ready to go! We could not be more excited!

Check out her stuff!

www.mypapercrane.com

NEW LOCATION IN ATOMIC BOOKS!

2010-09-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this Blog is our Place-holder until our new website is up and running.
Feel free to add us on Facebook to get updates on all the new and used records coming through the store! Also, thanks so much to the City Paper for naming Celebrated Summer "Best place to buy Vinyl" in the 2010 Best of Baltimore issue It means a lot to us!

Here are some Shots of the opening of the new location! More updates soon!

Our kitty logo as a Cake made by Emily Devan!

First sale at the new shop, thanks Neil!

BERZERK!

Jess and Amy!

John and Kristie!

Last Day at Towson location in Pics.

2010-07-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here it is, pretty self-explanatory, I don't really want to write anything about it right now, I know the move was for the best but I had a lot of great memories in that space, I'm super excited to make new ones in the new location but I always have a hard time letting go.

PRAISE

LION OF JUDAH

DEEP SLEEP

DEEP SLEEP

MIKE ERG

NICK AND EMMA

MIKE

ME AND MIKEY

ME AND DARICK

WITH ANDY

WITH ROB

TOM AND HALEY

WITH BARON

NEW LOCATION, GNU GEAR!

2010-06-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

We will have these ready to go when we open this Friday!

Get them while they last!

construction update!

2010-06-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, so we are going a little crazy trying to be in two places at the same time and get our shop moved but it would be a whole lot worse without the amazing help we have received from our friends!

First up Lynn Twinning get's the painting done! Much neater than I ever could!
Next up Evan from local amazing HC band MINDSET does an sick job on some drywall!

And John Twining (yep they are brother and sister team!) Gets the painted and built LP bins in the store!

I can not thank all of them enough and Benn and Rachel at Atomic for letting this all happen!

Playing Catch up!

2010-06-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! So I've been neglecting the blog again but I plan on keeping up with it, so book mark this thing! Ok here is a rundown of everything important from the last few months!

First Celebrated Summer is moving locations! Our last day at our Towson store will be Sunday June 27th and will also be marked by this show:

We are very sad to be leaving our home of the past four years inside of Legends Comics but cannot wait to join the Atomic Books Family! After this final show we will be closed until July 2nd when we have this opening day fun:

After this we will be celebrating our Four year anniversary and grand opening at the Golden West Cafe. This show is going to be insane!

We will also be using our move as a chance to make some improvements in the overall design of the shop. Our great friend John Twinning has designed and built these new record bins as our old ones were getting very rickety. More construction updates as they occur!

NEW BINS!

So what else has happened in the last year??? Glad you asked!

One of our favorite Power-Pop purveyors Gentleman Jesse played in the shop!

Me and the Boys out front!

Video of the show taken by Noel Danger!

RAW NERVE also came by for a set with TRIAC and MIND AS PRISON who also killed it!

RAW NERVE!

Hmm, even though it happened over an entire YEAR ago, it looks like I never put up footage of MASSHYSTERI playing in the shop! These Natives of Umea, Sweeden play some of my favorite Punk ever! they also have a brand new LP out since this show.

Footage again taken by our own Noel Danger!

Hmm what else? We went back to Japan last year and had one of our greatest trips ever! I was once again hosted by my great friend Jesse Conway and saw amazing bands and bought great records! Here is a quick look:

I love Ponyo!

At YUKIO MISHIMA's grave.

the mighty D.S.B.

getting lost up a mountain with Jesse

Graves of children

New friends from RAZOR'S EDGE/SLANG/COBRA show!

Biking around at night

Also I:

Saw ZYANOSE

Pet and fed some Deer

and enjoyed some Tea on top of a mountain!

I think that is everything I can fit at the moment! More soon!

Dutch Deep Sleep Review

2009-05-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

"Grave Mistake, known for high quality 80s hardcore punk, has his first CD Deep Sleep delivered. The CD contains 21 tracks, lasts 25 minutes and consists of three previously recorded 7 "EPs entitled Paranoid Futures, Manic Euphoria and You're Screwed.

Deep Sleep fits perfectly in my shed of Grave Mistake home. You immediately hear that the men from Baltimore influenced by Adolescents and old descendants in voting and I even had to immediately think of Milo, but a little snot tier. Although I do not normally like that smooth straps hold had been, poppier tracks a bit to my taste, but the raw edges of course also be the charm. I see at least in this band.
Maybe not your new favorite band of all time, but without doubt a punk-rock reinforcement plates for each cabinet."

BALZAC Superfan!

2008-12-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

So I like BALZAC, The Japanese Misfits/Samhain styled Horrorpunk band. I try not to obsess too hard as they have hundreds of Toys, Shirts and releases, many more than I will ever be able to collect. Now and again however I get a email about some new DVD or record and I put in an order without thinking about it too much. While on the DEEP SLEEP tour I got an email for the "Hatred lies deep inside" 2x DVD. Without thinking I sent out in an order and today THIS monster showed up??? Just to give some perspective the total package was 666mm or 26 inches or so all the way around!

Package as it showed up

Giant Silk-screened bag it showed up in!

Print,Poster and Paperwork

Slipcase Front

Slipcase Back

Insert DVD holder front

Insert DVD holder Back

And just for fun here is some of my other stuff:

Yep, super nerd!

SOLD OUT!!!

2008-11-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

Might make some more soon, thanks for buying them all!

Also DEATH IN JUNE tribute Button for two year anniversary is gone as well :(

And here are a few from the vaults:

On temporary hiatus:

Perhaps I'll use this one day:
More art/project craziness soon!

MINDSET/MIND OF ASIAN Live in the store

2008-11-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

We just had another sweet show in the shop! Video of Mind of Asian and more pictures soon!
Thanks to everyone who came out and made it rule!

MIND OF ASIAN @ CELEBRATED SUMMER RECORDS

ME + MIND OF ASIAN OUT FRONT OF THE STORE!

MINDSET (all pictures by Radek Matweecha)

VIDEO:MINDSET @ CELEBRATED SUMMER RECORDS

Mindset - Be the Spark from hate5six productions on Vimeo.

VIDEO:MINDSET X DEEP SLEEP @ CELEBRATED SUMMER RECORDS

Mindset - Impact (Chain of Strength) from hate5six productions on Vimeo.

CSR ANNIVERSARY SHOW # 2!

2008-11-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

I think this is the best thing I have ever been a part of! this show was so much fun and there were so many people there raging out, I'll never forget it! More video and pics will be posted as I get them!

THE ERGS CSR ANNIVERSARY @ TEN CAR PILE UP
(note:there are 400 more people behind this shot on the floor!)
ERGS VIDEO FROM THE SHOW

DEEP SLEEP VIDEO FROM THE SHOW

GOVERNMENT WARNINGVIDEO FROM THE SHOW

RUINER CSR ANNIVERSARY SHOW @ TEN CAR PILE UP

More pictures and video soon!

CSR ANNIVERSARY SHOW # 1

2008-11-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

Yep I am waaayyy behind on getting this stuff up here but let me say both anniversary shows were a blast and I had an amazing time! The video is highlights from the first of the two shows! Enjoy!

HELLNATION @CELEBRATED SUMMER (Eldon Baldwin)

NICE VIEW @ CELEBRATED SUMMER (Eldon Baldwin)

WEEKEND NACHOS @ CELEBRATED SUMMER

COKE BUST @ CELEBRATED SUMMER

DEEP SLEEP @The Fest 7!

2008-11-20T13:01:00.001-08:00

Record Shopping and COFFINS surprise set!

2008-05-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had my first full day off with Moo since she moved in. We slept in like whoa and then got some nice brunch at Golden West. Lots of record shopping and I picked up some cool Lp's!

First up is this J Mascis Record I had never seen which turned out to be some awesome acoustic/chanting/singing tracks with some hippy like percussion. Really cool and on sweet purple vinyl!

Next up a triple threat of great 12' singles First one of my favorite mid-period RAMONES tracks "bonzo goes to bitburg"
B-sides on that one are "go home ann" and "daytime dilemma"
Followed by this sweet promo 12' for the BUZZCOCKS box set "product" I have all the songs on this but the art is so sweet I needed this as well!
Last but in no way least a badass REPLACEMENTS 12' of "I will dare" with "20th century boy" and a live version of "hey good lookin" on the flip.
We also made a stop at ATOMIC POP and I had an agenda, that being the SUICIDAL TENDENCIES Bearbrick in the new blind box set. Amazingly it was in the first box I bought!

FRONT:
BACK:
I would be remiss in not mentioning that earlyer in the week when things were pretty shitty Moo cheered me up with this amazing re-issue of WHITEHOUSE "Total Sex" 2xLP She is the sweetest!
Tonight While at practice I got the message that Japan's masters of DOOM/CRUST COFFINS would be playing a few songs at the end of the TRIAC/FIGHT AMPUTATION?DRUGS OF FAITH/SURROUNDINGS show. I got there in time to see TRIAC totally kill it and ENDLESS BLOCKADE play a short set before COFFINS fucking destroyed. Short but amazing I think this is what HELL must sound like!

ENDLESS BLOCKADE
COFFINS

DRAG THE RIVER SURPRISE SHOW!

2008-02-08T09:49:00.001-08:00

I had planned on a quiet evening at home when a txt shot my way by Pat Martin said that Both Jon and Chad from Drag the River were at the Ottobar. I was excited but confused as the few shows they were playing for the release of the new record were nowhere near Baltimore. I jumped in the car and headed to the club to find Jon and Chad in good spirits, drinking and hanging out. Turns out they had a flight canceled and just took the first one that would put them on the East Coast. Lucky for us it was straight to Baltimore. Over the years of seeing Drag I've gotten to know Jon as one of the kindest, nicest people. So much so that I almost felt bad playing the guilt card and suggesting I find them some acoustic guitars to play a little bit downstairs (there was no show that night). After a little bit of asking around and a phone call to Kristin we found two serviceable guitars . I bought everyone a round of shots and we headed downstairs. It was only about 6 of us so we just broke out some chairs and Jon asked for requests. I think at least these songs were played: Medicine, song for Robin Reicheart, Brutal, A Thin Lizzy cover whose name I forget, A Jeff black cover titled I know and amazingly a taken request from me for "She used to smile" one of my favorite songs from the demo that kept me company on a lot of different tours. Getting to hear it live after all these years in such an intimate setting made me close enough to tears I may as well have been crying. There were other songs played and the night drug into drunken silliness including a created on the spot song or two by Jon (Full on which was about Pat talking about the full nudity of the upstairs touch-screen machine, Scrapple Omllette which I am sure you can guess was about and a few bars of Erica Noss also, self explanatory) Anyways it was a great an unexpected night, I tried to txt some people to let them know it was going down but there was only about 15 min or so between idea and execution. Sorry to those who missed it but I'm going to try to bring those guys back soon to play at the shop. I'll keep you updated.
ME AND JON DOWNSTAIRS, OTTOBAR

Some recent shows in the store!

2008-02-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have two sweet shows go down here at the shop. The first one was on Sunday and had one of my Favorite existing bands THE ERGS play an all-acoustic set before their late show at the Ottobar with the QUEERS. Any time The Ergs come to town I'm excited but getting to see them twice in one day was great. At first people were just trickling in so I floated the idea of doing the show in the store proper as opposed to in the gaming area of the Comic Shop that houses us. That Idea went to hell when right before they were about to play about 60 or so people showed up. It was a great turn out and The Ergs did an awesome Job considering they were playing in the middle of Magic the Gathering players and had no PA. I can't wait to have them back!

THE ERGS LIVE IN CELEBRATED SUMMER

The next day was a Monday and we were going up against a MADBALL show but still about 35 people showed up for FUN BRIGADE, ACID REFLUX and LIBYANS also at the store.

Things kicked off right away with FUN BRIGADE doing all OPERATION IVY covers, I think some of the other bands and people that showed up thought this was going to be DEEP SLEEP playing under another name or it was some kind of Joke but neither was the case and people were really into it. they did a great Job with the songs and people were singing along and dancing, it was a great way to start things off.

FUN BRIGADE@CELEBRATED SUMMER

After this ACID REFLUX hit it hard playing fast as hell 80's Punk/Hardcore that brings to mind ADRENALIN O.D. and ANGRY SAMOANS, to me at least. They were awesome and kids seemed to really be into them.

ACID REFLUX@CELEBRATED SUMMER

After that LIBYANS finished out the night with a different brand of Female fronted 80's Punk. They were fast and powerful but also really really catchy, I can't wait till the single comes out! All in all it was a great two shows, so thanks to the kids that came out and made it happen there will be more in the future!

LIBYANS@CELEBRATED SUMMER

"THE KIDS" shop at the store!

JAPAN 2007

2008-01-01T20:48:00.001-08:00

Well my New Years resolution is to start posting the backlog of blogs I've kept notes on for the past few months and to stay up with it a bit better in the future. Running the store and now working at Ottobar again have put me in a tight place for time so I'm going to reach back a bit and get some photos from my most recent trip to Japan up here.

As with my last trip I owe much to the hospitality of both Frank Supiot and Jesse Conway. Both were nice enough to let me stay with them in Tokyo and Osaka respectively and Jesse went out of his way not only to make me feel at home but also to take days off of work and show me around. He also has an amazing blog about his time living in Japan with much better pictures and detail than this, you should check it out here:

JESSE'S BLOG

Like my previous trips I flew in to Narita airport and took the express into Tokyo Station. From there, the subway to Franks neighborhood Nishi-Ogikubu, some catching up and much needed sleep. Here are some Photos from the Tokyo part of the trip:

Akihabara is the electronic and Anime/Game center of Japan and maybe even the world. On my previous trips I skipped this part of Tokyo but after watching

DENSHA OTOKO

and falling in love with the show I just had to go to where a good deal of it was filmed and much of the action takes place. The above photo was taken at the Akihabara Station which you can see featured in the closing credits of each Densha episode. Check it out for the sweet ending theme!

here:

Another photo from Akihabara:

I was really lucky to catch some great shows this time around including the out of control

SLIGHT SLAPPERS

They were great and despite the language barrier were amazingly nice and made me feel really welcome.

SLIGHT SLAPPERS

The next day I was lucky enough to catch FUCK ON THE BEACH and SPROUTS play an amazing show at 2000V. The Sprouts Pins and Glasses single has been in rotation on my record player for forever now and although they had some technical problems it was great to finally see them! For those not in the know they play a combination of full tilt DRI style thrash mixed with Rock and Roll!

SPROUTS!

FUCK ON THE BEACH have been keeping the Powerviolence scene alive in Japan and did not disappoint! Their guitar tone sounded like a dental drill going into a tooth! It was amazing and they put on a great show!

fuck on the beach!

I spent the rest of my time in Tokyo split between hanging out with frank and doing some serious record shopping. I went to quite a few toy stores mostly looking for a KERORO GUNSO t-shirt as seen in Densha Otoko, but no luck. I did grab a few toys and a sweet pick of the frog himself here:
Next up was the Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka. I can't really express just how fast this thing goes so I took a quick film from my window. The funny thing is I don't even think my camera was able to capture just how fast we were going.

Osaka was amazing, Jesse was a great host and introduced me to some of the nicest people I have ever met. the previous year I was only able to spend one day there so I was thrilled to be able to explore a bit more. Some photos from Osaka:no caption needed!

BAR BRODY

Many of my friends love to scold me for my awful eating habits, namely that I only eat like four things, those being Pizza, French Fries, French Fries and Burritos! So I was super excited when we had lunch at BAR BRODY named for the wrestler Bruiser Brody so beloved by the Japanese. In addition to the Lucha masks on the wall and classic posters pictured above, two screens constantly played Mexican wrestling. It was great but both times we tried to return they were closed.

Next up on my list of favorite things was Neko-Cha! This translates to Cat-Tea and is a small cafe where you can....wait for it......drink tea and PET CATS! I was loving it!

NEKO-CHA!

I wish someone would open one of those here!

JESSE AND YUMI!

ME AND YUMI @ STARBUCKS

ME AND KAMEN RIDER!

Amazing Pushead art for Astro-Zombies Toy store!

I was told later that the singer from CITY INDIANS runs this place??? I wish I had known!

SO HAPPY!

I also saw a few great shows on this part of my trip as well one of which featured Jesse's band SLUTS. I have to say I was blown away by the speed and power with which they played. A definite early US hardcore influence as well. I'll have demos at the store really soon but until then here are a few pics:

SLUTS

After the show everyone went out to a restaurant and paid a set amount for all you could eat and drink for a few hours, It was great hanging out and making some awesome new friends.
AFTER THE SHOW
JUST GUESS WHAT I ATE!

I was so excited to catch RAZOR'S EDGE playing a rare hometown show at FANDANGO as well. Anyone who has listened to me blather on about RE knows how highly I think of them but nothing prepared me for seeing them in a small club with so many loyal fans. I was smashed up front against the monitors as they careened through song after song of their 1000 mile per hour RAMONES influenced Thrash/Pop stopping only for front man Kenji to joke with the crowd. It's hard to put into words but being there and seeing them play with such energy made me feel completely renewed with Punk and Hardcore. I cannot imagine how big the smile on my face was but I could feel my heart hammering in my chest and I remember thinking that I never wanted to see another shitty Baltimore Hipster Art/Rock/Metal show again in my life. I was so excited I did not think it could get any better, and then they played KILL YOUR TELEVISION by NEDS ATOMIC DUSTBIN and the crowd went crazy, surely THIS was as good as it was going to be, I felt 15 years younger and more excited then I had been in so long but then they played MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN and even the Bouncers started stage-diving and I completely lost my proverbial shit. Even now just thinking about that show makes my heart race and helps whatever bullshit I might have to deal with just slide off my shoulders.

I know that sometimes people find out about a band and they want it to be their little secret but if I could make Razor's Edge the biggest band in the world I would. I was too stoked to take any Pictures but check out these clips!

RAZORS EDGE "RADIO PUNK007" 4mar.2007

Add to My Profile | More Videos
RAZORS EDGE "EAT THE PASSION" 21mar.2007

Add to My Profile | More Videos

RE GEAR I PICKED UP

I can thank Chris X, My former boss at Reptilian Records with introducing me to THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT one of the greatest Rock and Roll bands I have ever heard. It turns out that my luck was in order as the new band THE BIRTHDAY featuring The vocalist and drummer of TMGE was playing not far from Osaka while I was there. I bought a (expensive!) ticket in advance and that was a good thing as every show on their tour was completely sold out.
They put on an intense show that featured only them (no openers!) and really made me feel that I had gotten my moneys worth. Singer Chiba Yuske has such a passionate and expressive voice that it was chilling to hear it in person and through such an amazing sound system! No cameras were allowed in the show but here are a flier and a clip!

Another highlight was getting to meet Jacky from FRAMTID/CRUST WAR. He invited me and Jesse back to his small apartment, bought us food and let us dig through and listen to his extensive collection of Japanese Punk records. It was painful seeing such amazing records I'm never going to own but it was such a great visit and just cemented my feelings for Osaka!He also let me dig through and grab some amazing fliers he had duplicates of! Before I left I asked to catch a photo as a memento, Jacky agreed but not before putting on a bullet belt! I grabbed his jacket and BAM! Instant Crust cred!

ME AND JACKY

I didn't head back to the Ghibli Museum this time but I could not resist taking a picture of this stray Totoro!
Tommy Lee Jones is the Mother Fucking BOSS Y'all!

OSAKA!

I feel like I could post another giant blog on the side trip to Kyoto Jesse was nice enough to take me on. It was beautiful and it was great to have a day outside and away from the neon and Punk rock that permeated most of my trip.

We walked about one mile straight up the side of this mountain behind the Fushimi Inari shrine. There were also smaller shrines on the path towards the top. In addition to this the paths were lined with Tori Gates almost the entire way up.

TORI GATES

JESSE AT THE TOP! Master of all he surveys!

"Characterising the site are numerous statues of foxes, messengers of Inari, and guardians of the shrine. A pair of stone fox statues stand on guard at the entry to each of the site's shrines and sub-shrines. Inari's foxes are said to be helpful, but others are said to be dangerous and bewitch people, sometimes even in the guise of beautiful woman. Foxes are also believed to be capable of possessing humans, entering them under their fingernails. A key often seen in the mouth of a fox statue is for the rice granary."

Awesome! Me and the Fox attempting to enter me through my fingernails. I'm listening to COFFINS on the Ipod appropriately!

We also took some time to check out Nijo Castle. Easily my favorite part of this was the excessively loud squeaking when walking on the floorboards said to be the way intruders or assassins would be given away trying to sneak in.
NIJO CASTLE

I'm sure I'm missing tons, but it was such a great trip I don't think there would be anyway to capture it all in a post. Heres some more random Photos tho.....

MIGHTY ATOM! in Kyoto.

Adult theater, Osaka

PUSHEAD BOOK Purchased at ASTRO-ZOMBIES.

!!!!!MINE!!!!!!!!!

THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT BOX SET.

BIRTHDAY LP'S

SHATTER YOUR DAY!

2007-08-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

The second of the three Celebrated Summer anniversary shows happened on Friday August Third inside of Legends comics which houses CSR. I was super nervous about this show since it was a lot to plan for and I really did not want anything to go wrong. Luckily I had the help of Tom, Moo, John and Robs to make things easier and in the end it turned out great. Deep Sleep went on first and I was a bit distracted/nervous not just because of trying to do everything but also my Mom and Sister, her husband and their children and my Aunt were all there. It was great to see them and they all seemed in really good spirits, especially after all the free Pizza, Root beer and cupcakes(Moo made them!) I had gotten for this thing. Anyways we played pretty well and it was fun/surreal to be playing at the store in the spot normally where it's kids playing Magic the gathering.
Deep Sleep (Mom and Aunt on left) Pics by Eldon Baldwin

I got a few pretty amazing presents, one being this great painting by Jeriminus (who has done other excellent art for the store)
another being this great cake set from Amanda Sobus and Jesse Kuzniarski

cakes! Pic by Eldon Baldwin.

Moo made amazing cupcakes and gave me a sweet card. Photos of the cupcakes and uneaten cakes soon!

For science played an awesome set next and I have photos coming soon!
After them The Ergs played and the crowd was jumping around and singing along like crazy. They played songs from almost all of their releases and even "stinking of whiskey blues" for me!

The Ergs pics by Eldon Baldwin Set list Pic by Me.

Next up was Philly Punk Legends F.O.D.! They were super nice and completely hilarious! They brought some free porn to give away and put on a really energetic set. It was getting a bit late by this point so the crowd had thinned out but it was their loss for sure as these guys ripped!

F.O.D. Pics including setlist by Eldon Baldwin.
Cleanup was super easy and It could not have gone better. I'll start taking suggestions on who should play next year now!

MINE!

2007-08-06T23:24:00.001-07:00

Showed up today thanks to Moo!!!

FAT NATION!

2007-08-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

On July 18th Deep Sleep was lucky enough to play in the parking lot of the Warehouse Next Door in Washington DC with Fucked up(CANADA), Government Warning(RVA) and FIYA(FLA). Originally Cloak Dagger were supposed to play but their drummer broke his hand so that was that.
Lots of good friends at the show and although we played first and the sound was still being fiddled with it was a great time and a nice change to play outdoors.

Deep Sleep

I was inside when FIYA played but by the time Government Warning went on I was right up front. Kids went off and GW played a great set. Fucked Up went on next and although the crowd reaction was not as strong as it was for GW they got a great response and played really well. Overall a pretty great time and big thanks to Katty Otto for putting it all together, she did a great job.

EAT RICE!

2007-08-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

July 27th was the first of the three Celebrated Summer Anniversary shows. The Charm City Art space was the location and we were honored to have both Conquest for death (CA) and BREAKFAST (TOKYO) to set things off. First up was The Cult Classics (MD) with some high energy thrash that got the circle pit going. Patrick from CC was also the one responsible for booking this show so my thanks go out to him twice over. Next up Deep Sleep played and although we were more Punk then thrash and more Pop than fast I think we did a pretty good job and I had an awesome time playing in addition to being honored to play with Breakfast. Conquest for Death was up next and pretty much tore the roof off of the space with energy and jumps I have not seen in forever. Also they were fast as hell and amazing musicians along with being incredibly friendly. conquest for death

Breakfast were as good if not better than when I had previously seen them in Tokyo in 2004. They started off with a barrage of skate-thrash and then broke it down into the Jazz punk that sets them apart from almost everyone. The kids circle pitted to the Thrash and Danced it up for the Jazz. It was amazingly fun and the perfect vibe for the first of the anniversary shows.

Breakfast

Lucky Lisp

2007-07-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

Monday I left the store in the capable hands of Pat Martin so that me and Moo (Melissa) could make the Trek to Philadelphia To see Morrissey play his make up show at the Mann theater.
The week before we had caught awful traffic heading to the Deep Sleep/Fighting Dogs/Criminal Damage show at Disgraceland so this time we prepared with a fully charged Ipod and a much earlier start.
We need not have worried as we hit no traffic and had plenty of hours to kill before the show which we filled doing a decent amount of shopping. Moo picked up the new Isis 2xLP at the Relapse store and a reasonably priced copy of the Smiths "hatfull of hollow" LP at Beautiful World Syndicate. I grabbed a sweet copy of the Ripcord "your choice live" LP also at BWS and a rad Tokidoki shirt at some random shop on South St.

We hit the Mann and as soon as we walked through the gate met some really cool Hardcore kids from Richmond. Turns out they had walked from central Philly for miles to get there! After promising to meet up with them after the show to give them a ride back we found our seats and waited for the show to start. The set was pretty heavy on the new stuff but overall I was really into it. Lots of joking with the crowd, shaking hands and stage invasions (toward the end) I also was pretty excited for Moo being excited, as this was her first time seeing Moz.

Here is the Philly set list:

THE QUEEN IS DEAD
FIRST OF THE GANG TO DIE
YOU HAVE KILLED ME
ALL YOU NEED IS ME
IN THE FUTURE WHEN ALL'S WELL
WHATEVER HAPPENS I LOVE YOU
THE BOY WITH THE THORN IN HIS SIDE
LET ME KISS YOU
EVERYDAY IS LIKE SUNDAY
I'M THROWING MY ARMS AROUND PARIS
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GET WHAT I WANT
IRISH BLOOD ENGLISH HEART
THE NATIONAL FRONT DISCO
DISAPPOINTED
I WILL SEE YOU IN FAR OFF PLACES
I JUST WANT TO SEE THE BOY HAPPY
GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA
AT LAST I AM BORN
LIFE IS A PIGSTY
HOW SOON IS NOW
LAST OF THE FAMOUS INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOYS

The ride back to the city was super fun with our new friends. (Names are escaping me right now) Here is some sample dialog :

"I think we parked our car on that street"
"That street is AWESOME"!

Great kids for sure and it reminded me that really only in Hardcore and punk do you just hook up with random new friends so easily based on a shirt someone might be wearing.

The next day me and Moo had a great walk around Philly and some time in a nice shady park before heading home. We split up for a bit and then met back up at Reptilian/Ottobar to see Modern life is War play with some pretty awful "Emo" Bands. We hung around just long enough for the last MLIW chord to ring out and then bailed for Fells Point and some Pizza and hanging out on the waterfront.

While at the always awesome Reptilian I picked up "You're gonna miss me" A film about Rocky Erickson.
After Fells Point we headed back to Moo's place to check it out. Having been a fan of both the 13th Floor Elevators and Rocky's solo records I was super glad to be owning this. Much darker in tone than the somewhat comparable "Devil in Daniel Johnston" but still amazing. Great footage throughout his career and a compelling and heartbreaking story of a family under very serious stress. Well worth checking out.