Halloween is almost upon us people and tickets are flying out the door, so I highly recommend picking up yours right away over at Brown Paper Tickets. We got a hell of a lineup, sure to be one of the best lineups yet. Baby Gramps! The Peculiar Pretzelmen! Bakelite 78! Bella Jovan International Belly Dancer! La Petite Mort! And, of course, our incomparable MC Diva le Déviant. Hesitate at your own peril!
I was just sitting here putting together the set list for Monday’s show with Firewater and thinking how lucky I am to share the stage with a major musical influence for the second time.
Back when I was in A Midnite Choir, there weren’t a lot of gypsy punk or klezmer punk or steampunk or punk cabaret or whatever-the-fuck-you-want-to-call-them bands. There was some interesting stuff coming out of Denver like 16 Horsepower, the Denver Gentlemen and Devotchka, some cool stuff from Boston, mainly Reverend Glasseye and his Wooden Legs, a few great bands out of the South like the Pine Hill Haints, the collection of weirdness that was starting to assemble in the Pacific Northwest….and, of course, New York had Firewater!
So, we’re heading into the last two weeks of our Fire Fundraising Campaign on IndieGoGo and we’re pretty far from our goal. We still have lots of equipment to replace and an upcoming release on the horizon so we still need all the help we can get. In an effort to encourage more folks to contribute we are offering a couple great incentives.
First one is for our fans and supporters in the great city of New Orleans. Our friends in Freaksheaux to Geaux, a musical, vaudevillian, circus, magic, burlesque show have offered to help out by offering guest list spots to any NOLA-based or NOLA bound Bad Things fan who contributes to the IndieGoGo campaign. All you have to do is e-mail freaksheaux@gmail.com after you contribute and they’ll add you to the list of the show of your choice. Their upcoming show on Friday, October 26th will feature Bad Things co-conspirator La Petite Mort and dear friend Eliza Rickman. Here’s their list of other Coming Attractions and below is a little taste of their incredible show.
For all you Seattle based fans, we are offering seriously discounted tickets to our Halloween show, the 9th Annual Cabaret Macabre for all IndieGoGo contributors. How that will work is, once you contribute to the campaign, we will send you a discount code that you will enter on the ticket page to reveal the secret discounted price. This is only available until September 26th, when the campaign ends so get yours today. You can pick up tickets right over here.
And, to everyone that’s contributed so far, we love you and can’t express our appreciation enough.
Thanks to Tony Fulgham of Jackrabbit for the amazing artwork for Friday night’s show at the High Dive. I know it’s been hot Seattle, but it’s about to get much hotter! RSVP here.
Usually we take the month of August off. In fact, in the past, we’ve taken most of the summer off, but this summer kicked off with a bang….in a bad way…and we found ourselves playing a ton in June, which led to us booking a show in July, which led to us booking two shows in August, so no rest for the wicked or the bad….things that is.
We played Big Al Brewing in White Center last year as part of their Summer Concert Series and had an absolute blast so we were honored to be asked back. We’ll be gracing their stage this Saturday, August 4th. It’s just us all night, or at least until 10pm with things kicking off around 6:30pm. Because they are technically a tasting room, they can have kids there and adults can drink as well so it’s a great deal for south end parents: free show, all-ages, adult beverages, surly drunks with accordions and banjos on stage, food carts and Zippy’s Burgers down the street. Plus, we’ve been known to bump our favorite 60s and 70s ska, rocksteady and reggae classics between sets so it’s a guaranteed good time. Hope to see you all there.
Now, I know a lot of you don’t live in the south end and adhere to a later schedule and are adverse to the presence of children. Don’t worry, we understand. That’s why we were excited to get added to this last minute bill with our good buddies from Portland, Sassparilla at the High Dive on Friday, August 17. This will be your more typical Bad Things gig with us headlining in the wee hours after way too many PBRs, Jim Beams on the rocks and…ahem…herbal performance enhancements. It’s always tough to follow Sassparilla because they put on a kick-ass show. Plus, opening the night will be the really high-quality twang of Jackrabbit, who we are new to but already big fans of. So, despite having to weave through the Friday night douchebags in Fremont to get to the High Dive, this is guaranteed to be a kick-ass night of amazing drinking music. Check out this video of Sassparilla busking at Folklife last year and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about.
Summer has arrived in Seattle and last week’s show at the Rogue & Peasant kicked it in with a vengeance! We got a couple more for the summer season and the next one will happen next Saturday, July 7th at The Q Cafe in Magnolia. This is part of a great series of matinees that Artist Home is putting on that brings bands that grown-ups love into a kid-friendly environment.
As all you parents out there know, seeing great live music gets harder and harder once kids come along. It can be painful to see “kid-friendly” bands when you’re a discerning music lover with eclectic tastes. Well, no worries! These shows are for you. They happen on Saturdays between 4 and 7pm so you can rock out with your kids and then get them home in time for a proper bedtime.
Now, I know a lot of you out there have the crazy idea that we aren’t such a family friendly band, but kids love us and we promise to curtail some of our raunchier material and language. Our singer Jimmy the Pickpocket’s 17-month old boy Desmond will be rocking out in the front row with all the other kiddies so you know he’ll have to behave.
Opening the show will be one of our favorite local bands at the moment, Nu Klezmer Army so this is a no-brainer. Even if you don’t have kids you can come out, see great music and then go out for a night on the town. We only have one other show this summer and that’s not until August so come out and enjoy. You can get more information and RSVP here.
With The Castaways at The Neptune Theater.
Wow. What a month it’s been. Incredible lows and highs. The lows were talked about in our previous post, the highs were all the amazing celebrations of love and life we were lucky enough to have been a part of, Hales Palladium, The Neptune and then the other night at Conor Byrnes and The Tractor. Thanks to all our fellow friends and musicians that shared the stage with us. It was fantastic to have everyone together for such an important cause. Don’t forget, you can still donate by clicking on the widget to the right. The families of the victims and the lone survivor could really use it.
But, no worries, because the beat goes on and we got a show coming up this Saturday with some of our favorite rude boys. Opening the night will be Eugene’s ska kings, The Longshots and then Seattle’s own rocksteady rulers The Georgetown Orbits with an extra 
special appearance by none other than Lynval Golding of 2 Tone Ska legends The Specials! Also, our buddy Bill Geoghegan of Notables/Stingers/Contra Coup fame will be holding down the keys. As many know, we’re big fans of classic Jamaican music and it’s going to be a blast to get our dance on before we hit the stage. It all goes down at the Rogue & Peasant in Fremont, this Saturday, the 23rd. See you on the dance floor. More info here.
After that, on Saturday, July 7th, we got the Artist Home Family Matinee with our buddies in Nu Klezmer Army and then nothing ’til August. Summer vacation! See you guys at one of these fine events. Onwards and upwards!
Well, life is certainly different now that we’re big TV stars. We can barely walk down the street without being mobbed. It’s crazy!
Not really but we can dream can’t we? If you missed the show, you can watch the highlights online. Here’s us doing Georgia Lee Is Dead. And, here we are premièring our new song Not Tonight. And here’s the whole darn show.
Tonight at 7pm, we’ll also be featured on the online radio station 1337ology Radio courtesy of our buddy Josh Black AKA Ronald McFondle’s brand new podcast Reversible Battlemat. This is their debut show and Josh will feature a musical act every week. We’re honored to be featured on their grand debut. Remember, that’s tonight, Tuesday, April 3rd at 7pm PST.
Then, of course, this Friday, we’ll be causing havoc and getting rowdy with our buddies Titanium Sporkestra at the Columbia City Theater.
Quite a week for us Bad Things!
Thanks to all that came out to the Columbia City Theater on Sunday night. A good time was had by all.
The Bad Thing’s next public appearance will be a live television broadcast! That’s right, good ‘ol live Bad Things action beaming right into your living room. I get tingles just thinking about it. Our television debut will air on Friday, March 30th at 8pm on the Seattle Channel (Channel 21) as part of Art Zone with Nancy Guppy. We’ll be performing one brand new song and one Bad Things classic. The episode will also be re-broadcast throughout the following week so check out the schedule and find a time that’s convenient for you.
After that, on Friday, April 6th, we’ll return to the Columbia City Theater with the great Titanium Sporkestra headlining and Oakland’s legendary Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggets opening. This is a dream lineup for a Friday night and a good opportunity to engage in questionable behavior in a non-judgmental atmosphere. Hey, what happens in Columbia City, stays in Columbia City. We promise.
You can pick up tickets from Brown Paper Tickets right over here. I recommend picking them up in advance as this will be a packed show.
Here’s a little preview of Bobby Ebola’s classic “Life Is Excellent.”
The Bad Things 