TF PRE-BLAST: SHANNON & THE CLAMS, IS OKAY, SHAHS, MIDNIGHT HOTDOG 7-19-15

Excited for Total Fest but wait to start having fun with us? Don't worry, we like throwing pre-parties or "pre-blasts" a few times a summer, and we're extra-special stoked to tell you about this one. The Ole Beck VFW Post #209 (a Total Fest venue) is hosting California's Shannon & The Clams (themselves Total Fest alumni) this upcoming Sunday, July 19th. If you're unawares as to the kind of music these Clams make, well, it's somewhere between doo-wop, garage, psych, surf, etc. etc. They've got a ton of killer tunes and we just love it when they visit. So so so much fun.

We're feeling pretty special that Shannon & The Clams included Missoula on their summer mini-tour. They're releasing a new LP in September and will be traveling full-on about that time but yeah, it's pretty sweet they wanna stop in in July. Missoula seems to go ape for these Clams and we're right there with you.

Joining Shannon & The Clams are locals Is Okay, Shahs (playing Total Fest this year), and Midnight Hotdog (the first show from Total Fest alumni Adelaide and Mikki of Needlecraft as well as Max Bauerly from Slut River). We're hoping this blast will get you folks in the mood to totally party with us in August.



PERTINENT INFO: Shannon & The Clams, Is Okay, Shahs, and Midnight Hotdog play the Ole Beck VFW Post #209 on Sunday, July 19th at 9pm. Advance tickets are $8 from Ear Candy Music or $9 from Total Fest (there's some fees related to online sales). Tickets on the day of the show are $10 for those 21+ or $15 for those 18-20.

Mikki's Top 10 for Total Fest

Mikki Lunda's Top 10-ish bands she's most excited to see at Total Fest XIII:

(in particular order)

1. Greco- Fri. 8pm, Palace
I hear from a reliable source that he wears a full-body-tiger-print-cat-suit, when he plays live.  And he's a bigger shameless self promoter than I am. All of his songs are about how rad he is.
[Editor's Note: You can listen to a couple of his tracks here at the Total Fest band camp.]

2. Obnox- Thurs. 9:15, ZACC
Dane Hansen (Bad Naked) told me "you can't miss this set."

3. Shannon & the Clams- Thur. 10:45pm, ZACC
I love this band's live energy. I've seen them bunches of times and they still made my top 3, that's saying something.

4. Underground Railroad to Candyland- Fri. 9:45pm, Palace
Last month I played with these guys in Pomona, CA. They are a party on stage, super fun to watch and are super tight. (multiple drummers)

5. j sherri- Sat. 12pm, Big Dipper
I'm just going to come right out and say it. These hotties have been my favorite local band for the last 2 years. I'm stoked to see them in the HOT HOT summer sun while licking a melty ice cream.

6. Woolen Men- Thur. 8pm, ZACC
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

7. Toupee- Sat. 8pm, Badlander
My pop idol, Richard Album, was in town last week and he said "in Chicago, anyone with our musical integrity will have this band on their list of favorites". I trust that.

8. Dreamsalon- Fri. 10pm, Palace
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

9. Kitten Forever, Sat. 10:15pm, Badlander
This band does it right. How they figured out how to transition instruments like that, is a straight up miracle.

10. Wimps- Sat. 9:15pm, Badlander
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

11. Dear Rabbit- Sat. 12:35pm, Big Dipper
Love his stage persona, he has a great booming voice and I'm impressed by people who can play 2 instruments at once. (Accordion/ trumpet)

12. Chemical Lawns- Fri. 8pm, Badlander
Another of my FAV locals.

Wowie, I can't wait to see all these amazing bands and more!
See you all there!
- Mikki "internet" Lunda

Check out Kate's Top 10 for Total Fest over at Missoula Punk News and Tom "T. Money" Helgerson's Top 10 over at Weird Missoula.

NORTHWEST EXCLUSIVE SHOW: SHANNON AND THE CLAMS

Oh man, you guys. SHANNON & THE CLAMS are playing Total Fest XIII. It's real, it's happening and I can't wait. We're so excited to welcome these rocking Total Fest XI veterans back to Missoula. If you've never seen this band play, you seriously need to. They're proficient musicians, have great energy and wear costumes. What's not to like? If you can make it through the set without being pulled into their enthusiasm or the energy of the crowd, you might be a robot.

Musically, Shannon & the Clams hits on garage, soul, doo wop and pop. The band is comprised of Shannon Shaw, a bombshell on bass and lead vocals. Cody Blanchard, who I'm consistently impressed at his ability to play sweet surf riffs while wearing that tight of jacket and highly buttoned collar and Nate Mahan, until recently I thought his last name was 'Mayhem' and it fit after seeing him on drums. 

Let me put it this way; I've never even considered writing a blog post before and this doesn't feel weird because it's about a band I'm stoked to see.

— Mikki "internet" Lunda

Check out more info and find downloadable tracks for Shannon and the Clams here.

WHO'S READY FOR THAT OL' TOTAL MAGIC?

While August 14-16, 2014 aren't exactly just around any corners just yet, it'll be here soon enough, and we've been blowing our speakers trying to sort out the best set of tunes to launch this deal into the Moon's orbit. We are pretty stoked about what we've got lined up. Oh, and did we mention you can get a pass starting today? We've released our first batch of passes, man.

Here's what we've got on this Friday in May for you:

With some big help from Total Fest's co-presentin'-est radio station in the west, KBGA we are so damned excited to be able to announce that we're bringing up SHANNON AND THE CLAMS this year. Few bands have same ability to cut across the rock-garage-punk-hardcore-curmudgeon music fan distinctionss like Shannon does. We were pretty sure their 2013 Dreams In The Rat House LP was about the best thing we heard last year. We wrote about that here. It grew, grew and grew some more on us. Then we put it down, and we went back about a week later. Punk, soul, garage, a little doo-woppy. Whatever man.

Shannon and the Clams

VAZ, or as organizer Paul says "Vahhz", are a three piece group who do more to vocabluarize the Soviet space program and the Cold War than anything that's written. Vaz's 2013 Visiting Hours was a whopper of a shredding force that showed the 15-year old band creating a Masonic-quality temple to cold riff after cold riff. And they're originally from around Fargo.

Obnox

OBNOX is Lamont "Bim" Thomas's two-piece Ohio outfit. Lamont's a multi-talented, Rustbelt-stalwart-been-doing-awesome-bands-forever (Puffy Aereolas, Bassholes, This Moment In Black History) kind of dude, who's got no shortage of excellent ideas, and the means to readily execute them. He's never brought Obnox to Montana before.Goddamn!

CHASTITY BELT 's tags on their bandcamp page say "no regerts, punk, walla walla, blood, classical, metal, sex." The tunes they turn out soar around at about 35,000 ft. with  a dry, high desert oeuvre and we hear there's a tour with Wire coming up.

ED SCHRADER'S MUSIC BEAT is from the same Baltimore scene that turned loose Dan Deacon, Roomrunner and you know, around a dozen radical groups. Dan recommended Ed Schrader's Music Beat to us, and we're excited to have locked them in.

Lots more announcements soon.