TOTAL FEST IX: OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
Total Fest IX will break loose from its cage August 19-21, 2010 in majestic Missoula, Montana. We've officially opened the submission floodgates. We'll consider bands, one-person acts, special performance art outfits and the like. We're officially a music festival, but like creativity in all its forms.

To submit, we need a few things from you:

1) A good recording, CDRs are fine, of three or four songs that best represent your band. One CD is fine. Electronic submissions are a hassle for us, so don't email us saying "just go to our myspace, dude. It's all there." We are old, traditional, luddites who like the U.S. Mail, CD players and tactile experiences.

2) Some type of paragraph explaining your deal. Who you are, where you live, whether or not you like Hawkwind. We don't need a long list of the bands you've played with, but if a decent writer has written about your band, that's a helpful thing for us to have.

3) Good contact information for you (i.e. a phone and email address).

4) Your patience. We will listen to everything we get, discuss it, give it a fair shake and decide upon the bands and artists that most help us with our mission of Totality. Totally. Thank you.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: APRIL 2, 2010. Send to:

Wantage USA Attn. Total Fest IX Submissions
P.O. Box 8681
Missoula, MT 59807

(the crowd photo above was taken by Andy Kemmis at Total Fest VIII)

SAVE THE TOTAL DATES FOR SUMMER 2010!

According to these two goats, we've locked in dates with the venues for Total Fest IX!

Those days are August 19-21, 2010, 8PM-2AM will be the times, and we hope that you'll be there to get rad with us.

We'll open up officially for submissions this weekend!

THANKS FOR COMING, WE'LL SEE YOU IN AUGUST 2010!
To all who volunteered, played, roadied, attended, supported, enjoyed: thanks a ton, this was our largest TF yet both in terms of attendance (roughly 400+) and number of bands (50). We who put it together appreciate the energy and community spirit, and it seems to get better each year. Thanks again.

TFVIII: 2/3 DONE, 1/3 LEFT, SOMEHOW.

DRUNK HORSE PLAYS TONIGHT (Saturday), DUDE!

Muchas gracias are due to KBGA, the radio station responsible for underwriting the travel of Drunk Horse! Drunk Horse play tonight, Saturday night, at the Badlander.

Two days and a Big Dipper Record Swap Matinee later, we're well into Total Fest VIII. Highlights thus far are too numerous to mention, but here's a short list: Le Force, heavy, fast, agressive. Blind Shake: focused, powerful, excellent creep! the Bugs: charmariffic and a new record along to boot. Underground Railroad to Candyland: Beautiful, fun, tight. Rebreather: heavy, cinematic. Razz M'Tazz: loud! Reptile Dysfunction: rocking and focused.

Tonight's logical highlights are many and varied: Japanther, Glassell Park 3, Pine Hill Haints, DRUNK HORSE, This Runs on Blood, Socks and Sandals, etc. etc. etc. We'll see you there--

TOTALITY: INCOMING

Whether you are a Western Montanan, anti-government type from an enclave like Noxon (MT), or a Spokanite, looking to get away from the town with the gayest...yet weirdly anti-gayest mayor ever (or, we guess "former mayor"), Total Fest VIII is anticipating you, and awaits you with arms spread wide. Or as wide as you could expect from friendly Missoulians who spend the better part of 9 months making sure these three days rock hard as fuck.

It's hard to talk globally about a festival that goes to painstaking lengths to choose individual bands that we think represent the best shit going on in music currently, but hell, what's the harm: I honestly believe that we are proof that a festival can be thoroughly non-commercial, but feature some awesome talent that you'd be hard pressed to find at any larger/expensive/bogus fest. This year we've got rap, folk, punk, hardcore, metal and boogie rock, and everything in between and it's all unified by the same oneness of purpose: Quality. If you're these parts, please come out and bring a friend with you! Thank you, and we'll see you at the Badlander Thursday, August 20th!

THE HAIL SEIZURES: TOTALLY FESTIVE

"Punk as Folk,” on a perpetual broken string count, and some of the best good-time sounding, acoustic punk, The Hail Seizures embody the DIY spirit that sits at the core of Total Fest. They’ll set-up shop on the street corner, curbside, parking lot or available open space and pound out the catchiest, scream-filled tunes from a set of guitars, a cello, snare, violin and toy piano. Their positve, crusty and honest vibe is epidemic in its ability to stretch a smile across your face – the spirit of resistance is alive and well, my friends. The band is taking a hiatus at the end of the summer so we should all heed their request to “please come dance, sing, and spit beer at us. it's been endlessly fun, thank you so much for being our friends in real life. stay punk."

watch for the tie around the 0:42 mark

REJOICE: LKN / PALO VERDE!
(Transmission from Total Julie):
Everything is unknown but understood in this collaboration of Lauren K. Newman (LKN) on drums and Terrica Kleinknecht, guitar. Righteously synched, Palo Verde follow each other's cues while drawing on each other's chi, man. Amid bombastic jungle toms swirl Champs-like endless riffs... A runaway freight car travels backward downhill into a hedge maze somehow executing each turn. Take a cue from this playbook, enter the audience blindfolded and try to score.