The Meridian Calendar December 28, 2007

DECEMBER

28 ASESINO
With Special Guests: Pinhed, Eternal Decimation, Cerebral Rot, All The Way To The Bank, Lao Tzu, Sever The Silence
Death Metal/Grindcore/Metal: Asesino features Emilio Marquez from Sadistic Intent, Dino Cazares the former guitar player from Fear Factory & Brujeria, & Tony Campos the current guitar player for Static X. Asesino is the off-shoot project of Brujeria guitarist Asesino, which has featured members of Brujeria, Fear Factory, Sepultura, Hatebreed and Static-X. Unlike Brujeria, whose style is a more mid-tempo, bare-bones form of grindcore, Asesino plays an extreme, up-tempo deathgrind.
It is not unusual for Asesino to do Slayer covers live, most notably Angel of Death or Raining Blood. As with Brujeria, the lyrics are sung entirely in Spanish and with the same subject matter of death, violence, and perversion. Guitarist Asesino describes the band as "the new Brujeria." Asesino also has the tendency of making satirical comments during the show, and when playing Brujeria songs, change the original lyrics to something more fitting.
"Asesino" is Spanish for "assassin".
29 DANCE STATIK- HaVoK's PRE-NYE FETISH BALL/CONCERT
With Special Guest DJs: DJ FetishDolly, DJ Whisperwish, DJ Statik
& Special Guest Bands: Opulent, Decimation Theory, Altercation, Until Dawn, Hidrolyx
Rave/Fetish/Gothic/: Entertainment provided by the Digi-Dollz. This event includes a Fetish Show, Best 2007 Fetish Contest, Vendors, & much more, so let's end 2007 with a BANG @ HaVoK's Pre-NYE Fetish Bash! This event is 18+.
31 NYE WITH EVANS BLUE
With Special Guest Hosts: Zakk United & AD from 94.5 The BUZZ & Local Celebrity Presents
Plus, Special Guests: Another Day (Also featuring AD from The BUZZ), Glass Intrepid, & Subversa
Rock/Alternative/Metal: Evans Blue is a rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada founded in 2005. Evans Blue completed work on their debut album, The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume, in early November of 2005. The first single, Cold (But I'm Still Here) hit airwaves in December and was accompanied by a music video. The album was released February 21st, 2006 through Hollywood Records. It spent several weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and spawned a second single, Over.
In late March of 2006, Evans Blue embarked upon their first U.S. tour alongside Taproot. They have since played with bands such as Staind, Alice in Chains, Three Days Grace, Flyleaf and labelmates Breaking Benjamin. They have also played on 102.1's Edge Fest with other Canadian groups such as Mobile, Hot Hot Heat and Our Lady Peace.
On April 1, 2006, drummer Darryl Brown left without explanation. To cover for his absence the rest of the band worked out acoustic sets to play while they searched for a replacement. Danny D was brought in temporarily from Boston to close out the rest of the tour, which lasted until late October.
After an eight month stint touring around the United States, Evans Blue returned home. After a one month break, they began work upon their second album, The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends. Danny D left the band and was replaced by Davis Howard. In March of 2007, Evans Blue was nominated for "Best New Band" at the annual Juno Awards.
The first single off their second album, The Pursuit, hit airwaves May 21, 2007 and was accompanied by a music video, directed by Jesse Ewles. The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends was released July 24, 2007. The website was given an overhaul to portray the sounds, images and themes of the new album. In March 2007, Evans Blue recorded acoustic versions of each song from The Melody to be released on DVD. It was included with each purchase of The Pursuit from Best Buy, and contains commentary from lead singer, Matisyn, as well as a making-of documentary of the second album. The FYE version of the album did not include the Unplugged Melody, but instead had two additional tracks.
Evans Blue kicked off their first head-lining tour, Curbside Confession of a Catastrophe, on July 10, 2007 in Toronto. The rest of the tour stopped across the western United States, with occasional performances in Vancouver and British Columbia. They were accompanied by Framing Hanley, Fair to Midland and Submersed throughout the summer 2007 tour, which spanned through September.
After a one month break, the tour kicked off again October 27th 2007. Framing Hanley rejoined the band for the tour, with the additions of Saving Abel and Canadian rockers Neurosonic.

JANUARY

3 HANK III
With Special Guests: Assjack, Those Poor Bastards
Country/Rock/Metal/Cowpunk/Punk Rock:: Shelton Hank Williams (December 12, 1972) is an American musician. He is sometimes credited as Hank III or even III. The three is often represented by a modified version of Raymond Pettibon's Black Flag logo.
The grandson of Hank Williams, Sr. and the son of Hank Williams Jr, both country music legends, the younger Williams' music alternates between somewhat traditional country, and a more aggressive music that touches on punk rock and elements of various heavy metal styles. His music is difficult to classify concisely, but has been described as hard-twang, punkabilly, cowpunk, altcountry, hellbilly, and honky punk.[1]
Hank III enjoys an extremely loyal grassroots fan base and much of his success can be attributed to his taper-friendly stance of his frenetic live tours, which have been his main promotional vehicle.
5 LAMAR HIGHSCHOOL PARTY
11 NELO
Rock/Folk Rock/Pop: nelo (rhymes with "hello"), whose tight songs have been described as joyful and emotional, packs its live shows with a combination of original pop-rock songs and powerful condensed jams. It was born when Matt Ragland, songwriter and acoustic guitarist, started writing songs in Austin, where he attended The University of Texas at the same time as singer Reid Umstattd. Ragland formed a band, mostly of musician friends from high school, and moved to Athens, Ga. After playing there for little more than a year and building a devoted fan base, nelo moved back to Austin to play for its growing Texas high-school and college-age audiences and started recording its debut album, slated for release February 2008 on Pedernales Records. Prior to joining nelo, Chris Hill (drums, percussion), Stephen Goodson (electric guitar), David Long (tenor & soprano sax, flute) and Mike St. Clair (bass, trombone) all attended the University of North Texas, where they studied jazz.
12 DOOMSDAY WRESTLING
With Special Guest Emcees: Tex Lonestar, AJ Bootilootikus
& Special Guest Wrestlers: Bill "The Thrill" Korczynski, Precious Jules, Your Worst Nightmare, Boomshakalaka, Ula Bula the Savage, The Stormin' Mormons, Jack HellHammer, Herschal Moskowitz "The Kosher Killer", Charlene Lonestar (Tex's niece), The Russian Bear, The Plague, Picture Perfect, Buck LeSabre, Rosco Valentine
Comedy Wrestling: voted "Best Comedy Show" by the Press "Best of " issue, 2007
DOOMSDAY Wrestling
presents
The Pink Menace
A fog of mystery has settled over the good people of Gulf Coast All Star Wrestling. Doomsday returns to the bayou, but as Bill "The Thrill" Korczynski defends his title, the pink enigma known as Precious Jules clouds the entire world of wrestling into a haze of glittery confusion. What does this gender-neutral menace, clad head-to-toe in pink spandex, have under his tight, rosy sleeve?
Does the devious Mexican wrestling manager, Dirty Sanchez, and his wrestling monster, Your Worst Nightmare, have a scheme to defeat pernicious Precious? Will Herschel Moskowitz, AKA "The Kosher Killer," Ula Bula the Savage, or tag team The Stormin' Mormons have a chance against the profligate Precious Jules? Can anyone survive the pink menace? Violence has never been this funny.
14 GALLOWS
Rock/Punk Revival: Gallows are an English punk rock band from Watford. Their debut album, Orchestra of Wolves was distributed in the U.S. by the famous independent label Epitaph Records, and they have recently signed a one million pound four-album deal with Warner Bros.[2] Their sound was described by Razorcake Magazine as "Converge-lite".

The band signed to Nottingham?s In At The Deep Records and recorded their debut album ?Orchestra Of Wolves?. Released in September 2006 this fraught collection snow-balled as word on the record spread through the underground and into the national press and radio.
Accolades followed from the likes of NME, Kerrang! Rock Sound and Metal Hammer and much airplay from the Radio 1 Rock Show and Punk Show and the XFM Rock Show. As a DIY hardcore band, it was an interesting juxtaposition. But with their feet in the underground and their eyes looking towards bigger things Gallows proved themselves more than ready to make that leap. Others agreed and in January 2007 they became the smallest UK band to grace the cover of Kerrang! in many years.
Following a now legendary UK headline tour in March that climaxed with a night of sheer chaos at the 100 Club that saw major record company executives having to sneak into the fire-escape to see the band and a series of incendiary performances at SXSW in Texas, Gallows inked a deal for their own Black Envelope Records through Warner Bros Records and signed to Epitaph Records for North America.
Since that moment, life in Gallows has been a blur of activity. Single releases of both ?Abandon Ship? and ?In The Belly Of The Shark? followed while their incendiary adaptation of The Ruts punk classic ?Staring At The Rude Bois?, featuring guest vocals from Lethal Bizzle, showed a band prepared to spread their wings.
Life-affirming sets at both Reading/Leeds and the Download Festival firmly put the band on the map in the UK while the rest of the world finally got their first taste of Gallows as both the Warped and Taste Of Chaos tours took the band all over the globe. Prior to their performance at the Leeds Festival, the band came away with a Kerrang! Award for ?Best British Newcomer? marking an incredible few months with a taste of what was to come.

18 COREY SMITH
Acoustic/Rock/Country: Georgia native Corey Smith melds country, rock and blues into a sound that is all his own. That distinctive musical flair combined with Smith?s pensive, well-crafted lyrics and soulful Southern voice has earned him an enthusiastic legion of fans. ?I think it?s a little of everything,? says Smith in describing his innovative style. ?We don?t live in cultural bubbles anymore. We?re all exposed to many different types of music through TV, radio, and now especially the internet. I like to think my songs reflect the variety of musical styles that have impacted my life in Georgia. Gospel, country, blues, rock, hip-hop ? strands of all these are there.? Smith grew up in Jefferson, Georgia, soaking up an array of music from George Jones to Lynyrd Skynyrd to Nirvana to Tupac. ?I graduated from high school with about 50 or 60 people. One of the cool things about Jefferson is that it?s so close to Athens. Sure we lived out in the country, but when we partied on the weekends, we went to this place that was almost cosmopolitan. That really had a big impact on me.? That diversity is especially evident on his newest project, Hard-Headed Fool. ?The songs on it are very different from one another production-wise. I tried to incorporate a larger cross-section of my musical influences into this record, while addressing common themes, lyrically, to glue the songs together.?
19 THE 999 EYES FREAKSHOW + DIRTY COMEDY SHOW
With Special Guest Local Comedians: Rob Mungle, Danny Rios (a.k.a. Meridian's own "Booger Prezley"), Sam Demaris in the Red Room
Freakshow: The 999 Eyes Freakshow in the Blue Room. Due to Adult Content, this event is 18+!
20 HARMONE' THE BLACK PEARL
Soul/R & B: She sings, writes, produces, and still manages to stay humble and down-to-earth; something rare in todays music world. Harmone.. hails from the Midwest where she was influenced by gospel and the 'Ol Skool' sounds of Motown. She was blessed at being a child of the 70's and the beneficiary of that great lyrical era. She performed her first song while at the age of 4 and enjoyed the thrill of being on stage and touching lives with her voice. By the time Harmone.. entered college, she began writing poems which eventually turned into songs and developed a more adult voice that echoed her experiences and her emotions. "All I Ask" is her debut album. Filled with real emotions, real moments, and real life; something in which everyone can relate. Play this CD and allow it to set the tone for your evening with that special someone. The ambiance is perfect for Love.
21 JAMESON PRIVATE PARTY RENTAL
23 ONEREPUBLIC
Rock/Alternative/Pop: OneRepublic is part of the post-Coldplay wave of bands featuring prominent piano and sensitive vocals in front of U2-inspired anthemic rock songs. Formed in 2004 by singer/pianist/guitarist Ryan Tedder and lead guitarist Zach Filkins, the duo quickly left Colorado Springs and relocated to Los Angeles. Adding keyboardist Drew Brown, bassist and cellist Brent Kutzle, and drummer Eddie Fisher, OneRepublic signed Interscope through hip-hop superstar producer Timbaland's custom label Mosley Music Group (Tedder has worked as a song doctor on some of Timbaland's projects; he also co-wrote and produced a song on Hilary Duff's Dignity), OneRepublic finally made their public bow when their mentor remixed their Keane-like ballad "Apologize" for his spring 2007 album Timbaland Presents Shock Value. The band's original version was also issued to radio and online outlets as their first single, and OneRepublic made their full-length debut that November with Dreaming Out Loud.
25 THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
With Special Guests: 3 Inches Of Blood, Hate Eternal
Death Metal/Metal/Thrash: The Black Dahlia Murder (BDM) is a melodic death metal/metalcore band from Waterford, Michigan, and is a leader in the Detroit metal music scene. The Black Dahlia Murder is named after the unsolved murder of actress Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia.

The band played in Ozzfest 2005 and also participated in the Sounds of the Underground tour in 2006, which encompasses both the United States and Canada. They also played at Wacken Open Air in 2007.
Current bassist Bart Williams left his former band, Detroit's Today I Wait, to tour with the Black Dahlia Murder. After touring with the band on their co-headlining gig with Throwdown and their European dates with Liar, he joined the group full-time. Bart was one of two engineers (the other being Walls of Jericho's Mike Hasty) on the band's first full-length album, Unhallowed.
They are currently preparing to tour the UK with Metal Blade Records' Anterior.
The second most recent album Miasma peaked at #118 on the Billboard 200[3] Recently, Pierre Langlois left the band for a more secure lifestyle, and the band has finished their search for a replacement drummer and found former All That Remains drummer, Shannon Lucas.
While originally the band had a website at blackdahliamurder.org, sometime between late 2006 and early 2007 it went offline and disappeared completely. There are no indications left whether the site will be brought back or not, but for the time being, the band can be found on its MySpace page. Their new album, entitled Nocturnal, was released on September 18, 2007. The album debuted at #72 on the Billboard 200.[4]
26 ROBIN TROWER
Rock/Blues Rock: Throughout his long and winding solo career, guitarist Robin Trower has had to endure countless comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, due to his uncanny ability to channel Hendrix's bluesy/psychedelic, Fender Strat-fueled playing style. Born on March 9, 1945, in Catford, England, Trower spent the early '60s playing guitar in various London based outfits; the most successful one being the R&B group the Paramounts, who specialized mostly in covers, but managed to issue several singles between 1963 and 1965. It wasn't until 1967 that Trower received his big break however, when he joined Procol Harum. The group had just scored a worldwide smash hit with "A Whiter Shade of Pale," but the only problem was that the band's leader, singer/pianist Gary Brooker, didn't have a proper band to back him. Brooker was previously a bandmate of Trower's in the Paramounts, and offered the guitar slot in his new fast-rising project to his old friend. As a result, Trower appeared on such Procol Harum classics as 1967's Procol Harum, 1968's Shine on Brightly, 1969's A Salty Dog, 1970's Home (which spawned the popular Trower tune "Whiskey Train"), and 1971's Broken Barricades. While Procol Harum helped launch Trower's career, he realized there was limited space for his guitar work, and eventually left for a solo career.
27 EXODUS
Thrash/Death Metal/Metal: BEWARE!!! There is a shovel headed kill machine on the loose with Gary Holt sitting behind the wheel ? and he is angry! This machine will stop for nothing and is absolutely relentless! Listen to serial killers such as 'Raze', 'Deathamphetamine', 'I Am Abomination', 'Going Going Gone' or '44 Magnum Opus' and you will know exactly what I mean. New partners in crime are: Paul Bostaph (from SLAYER and FORBIDDEN), Rob Dukes ? the new singer - a mixture of Baloff, Anselmo and Zetro, and Lee Altus (from HEATHEN), well known from the bay area and one of the best riffers around. Tom Hunting, Kirk Hammett and Gary Holt founded EXODUS in 1982. Within the following year EXODUS gained huge attention in the international underground scene, evolving from an insiders' tip of the tape trading community to a highly popular act. Innovative song writing and explosive live shows made the difference, EXODUS brought Bay Area Thrash to the world and inspired many bands, among them METALLICA, TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIOLENCE, and MACHINE HEAD. In 1983 Kirk Hammet left the band to join METALLICA, and was replaced by Rick Hunolt, and soon after Rob McKillop complimented the mix. The debut "Bonded By Blood" was released two years later and became a timeless thrash classic. A vast tour with SLAYER and VENOM preceded next thus the name EXODUS spread more and more!!!



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