Jawbreaker, Less Than Jake, Jawbox to headline Fest 18

Jawbreaker, Less Than Jake, and the newly reunited Jawbox are just some of the acts who will make their way to Gainesville, Florida this fall for the 2019 edition of the Fest. On Wednesday (April 3), festival organizers unveiled the first wave of bands scheduled to perform at this year’s event.

Joining the previously mentioned acts on the roster are Mariachi El Bronx, Off With Their Heads, AJJ, Iron Reagan, Joyce Manor, Teenage Bottlerocket, No Trigger, The Copyrights, Audio Karate, Kepi Ghoulie, Tsunami Bomb, Brendan Kelly (of The Lawrence Arms, The Falcon), Screaming Females, Tim Barry (of Avail), Planes Mistaken For Stars, Gouge Away, and many others.

While this is just the first set of bands to be unveiled, the music festival boasts that over 300 groups will appear at the three-day event. More acts will reportedly be announced at a later date.

As if a massive punk, ska, and hardcore-centric lineup wasn’t enough, festival organizers have also revealed that the event will include comedians and professional wrestlers. Nothing says punk rock like professional wrestlers battling it out while a band you grew up listening to plays in the background.

Tickets for the Fest are currently available on the festival’s website. Unlike previous years, this year the Fest will enact a price tier policy. For every 500 passes sold, the prices will increase by $10. As per their website, organizers are encouraging fans to get their tickets as soon as possible to avoid an increase in price.

In the spirit of giving back, they also announced that they have joined forces with Plus 1 to collect $1 from every Fest 18 pass sold. The money allocated will be given to Grace Marketplace, a local organization that works towards providing safe shelter, effective services, and permanent housing solutions to end homelessness in Gainesville and Alachua County.

In addition to working with Grace Marketplace, Fest 18 has also partnered with We Are Neutral, “an environmental nonprofit that helps businesses and individuals understand, reduce, and offset their carbon footprints.”

Fest 18 will take place during the weekend of Nov. 1-3. The event will be spread out across a slew of downtown venues.

For now, the full list of first wave bands can be found below.

The Offspring, Rancid, NOFX lead inaugural Camp Anarchy lineup

The Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, and Less than Jake are just some of the bands that will make their way to Ohio during the springtime for the first annual Camp Anarchy. On Monday (Dec. 10), Synergy Global Entertainment, Inc. and Brew Ha Ha Productions announced the debut of their brand new, punk rock-centric music festival due to take place during the final weekend of May 2019.

Joining the aforementioned bands on the inaugural roster are X, Fear, Sick of It All, Strung Out, Death By Stereo, Suicidal Tendencies, The Damned, Off!, The Suicide Machines, A Wilhelm Scream, Voodoo Glow Skulls, T.S.O.L., and The Bronx. According to the festival’s official flyer, more bands will be announced at a later date.

“[Camp Anarchy is] a punker’s dream…three days of the best bands and so much to do while camping under the stars in Ohio. What could be better?” John Reese, Camp Anarchy co-producer and founder of Synergy Global Entertainment, says in a press statement.

Mirroring Reese’s excitement about the upcoming three-day event is Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge who said: “Super stoked to be taking part in the first ever Camp Anarchy music and camping fest next year!!!”

Dragge adds: “Looks like Legend Valley will become ground zero for some serious punk rock debauchery and musical mayhem. The Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, X, Suicidal Tendencies, Less Than Jake, Fear? What the f*ck?!”

In addition to the rocking lineup, the event will also include craft beer tastings, dodge ball games, fair games, scavenger hunts, a flea market “full of stuff you probably don’t need but know you will want,” and a s’mores station for those with an epic sweet tooth.

Camp Anarchy will make its rocking debut at Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio during the weekend of May 31 – June 2. Tickets go on sale beginning this Friday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. EST. For more information about the festival, the lineup, tickets prices, and more, head on over to Camp Anarchy’s website.

For now, the complete lineup can be seen below.

Vans Warped Tour launches at sea edition

What’s more fun than getting all your friends together to spend 12 hours in the heat as you watch some of your favorite bands perform 30 minute sets? How about doing the same exact thing, except on a boat in the middle of the ocean during the week of Halloween? On Wednesday (Dec. 7), Vans Warped Tour head-honcho Kevin Lyman announced the inaugural Warped Rewind at Sea cruise.

As the name implies, Warped Rewind at Sea takes all the things Warped Tour attendees love about the “punk-rock summer camp” and places them on a cruise ship. The event will be a “special experience for 2,300 Warped fans” which will include personal interactions with some of their favorite musicians.

The cruise, which will take place during the week of Oct. 28, 2017-Nov. 1, 2017 will include a four-night round-trip cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel, Mexico. During the four nights, the passengers will be treated to multiple performances by 3OH!3, Bowling for Soup, Cartel, Good Charlotte, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Simple Plan, the Starting Line, and more to be announced at a later date.

The excursion will also feature DJs and comedians, much like Warped Tour on land, as well as a Q&A session with Lyman, activities and autograph sessions with the artists, “Emo Nite” parties, and more.

“Packing as much fun into a ship as we do into a parking lot seemed like a great challenge, and Sixthman has given us that opportunity,” said Lyman in a press release. “We are excited to finally bring Warped Tour to the sea and we hope you can join us.”

Tickets for Warped Rewind at Sea are currently available on the event’s website here. Watch the official announcement video below as you start planning how to shove all your black clothes and eyeliner into one huge luggage (spoiler: it’s hard).

Less than Jake and Pepper to embark on co-headlining tour

Less than Jake has just unveiled massive news for their longtime fans base. On Tuesday (Nov. 15), the Florida-founded ska band announced plans to hit the road in early 2017. The trek will find the Gainesville natives sharing the stage with San Diego’s Pepper for the impending, 30-show tour. The trek will kick off on Jan. 20, 2017 at Gas Monkey in Dallas and wrap up over a month later on Feb. 28 at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, FL. The excursion will be sponsored by Hamburg, Germany-based football club, St. Pauli.

“Less than Jake is the gasoline to our burning blaze of fun,” said Pepper’s Yesod Williams in a press release. “We are so filled with gratitude to be attacking the U.S. with some of the best humans to ever grace the bunks of a tour bus!”

“Touring with Pepper means only one thing, having a great time. Guaranteed,” adds Less than Jake drummer Vinnie Fiorello. “Both bands bring a summertime energy that will help get through the winter.”

Pre-sale tickets for the shows will go on sale beginning this Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 10 a.m., local time. After being available for 12 hours, the pre-sale opportunity will end at 10 p.m, local time. General ticket sales will then begin on Friday, Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. local time. The upcoming trek announcement was revealed a couple of hours after Less than Jake announced that they had joined the Pure Noise Records family. Taking to social media, the band posted that they had a double dose of good news for their fans.

“We’re teaming up with Pure Noise Records to bring you some new LTJ tunes early 2017!,” the band’s Instagram post reads.  “We just received the masters back from the Blasting Room and we’re super happy how everything came out, can’t wait for you to check it out too!” Less than Jake now joins The Story So Far, Senses Fail, Four Year Strong, and State Champs on the California-based record label’s lineup.

At the moment, the band has only teased that the new record is scheduled for an early 2017 release. The untitled record will be the follow-up to the group’s 2013 release, See the Light. For now, the complete tour itinerary can be seen below while more information about the upcoming tour can be found on Less than Jake’s website.

LESS THAN JAKE/PEPPER CO-HEADLINING TOUR 2017:

Jan. 20 – Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey

Jan. 21 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live

Jan. 22 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk

Jan. 25 – San Diego, CA @ North Park

Jan. 26 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory

Jan. 27 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory

Jan. 28 – San Franciso, CA @ Warfield

Jan. 30 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater

Jan. 31 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo

Feb. 02 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex

Feb. 03 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

Feb. 04 – Sioux City, IA @ Hard Rock

Feb. 06 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave

Feb. 07 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave

Feb. 08 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall

Feb. 09 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

Feb. 10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE

Feb. 11 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre

Feb. 12 – Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall

Feb. 15 – Portland, ME @ State Theater

Feb. 16 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues

Feb. 17 – New York City, NY @ PlayStation Theater

Feb. 18 – Huntington, NY @ Paramount

Feb. 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore

Feb. 21 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live

Feb. 22 – Richmond, VA @ The National

Feb. 23 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore

Feb. 24 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade

Feb. 25 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheater

Feb. 26 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live

Feb. 28 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live

Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish Team Up for Upcoming Tour

Watch out America, because the ska bands are taking over! Well, at least for a little while early next year.

Less Than Jake announced earlier in the day plans to hit the road in early next year across the United States. Going along for the ride and as a co-headliner will be Reel Big Fish while Authority Zero will be their special guest.

The tour is scheduled to begin on Jan. 15 in Denver at the Ogden Theater and will wrap up on Feb. 20 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood.

Complete tour date for the month and a half-long trek can be seen below on the official flyer for the gigs.

Less Than Jake just wrapped up a short Canadian tour with Big D and the Kids Table and the Interrupters last week which included a couple of U.S. stops. They also recently announced plans to hit the road with Yellowcard, their 2014 Vans Warped Tour tour mates, across the pond beginning in early March.

Pretty much, LTJ will be hopping from one tour to another. And that’s how you rack up 365 shows on the Warped Tour.

Craig Aaronson (A&R for Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, and More) Passed Away

Normally, hearing that someone from a record label passed away doesn’t really make headlines, but sometimes that person played a key role in discovering some of your favorite bands. In news that feels like a dagger to the heart, the A&R guy responsible for discovering many of the bands that helped shape our music taste and love of music, passed away.

According to several music publications including Billboard and Alternative Press, Craig Aaronson famed A&R guy from Warner Bros., passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Many artists, including those that he played a key role in discovering, have already taken to Twitter to express their condolences. Here are just some of the ones that we have found on our Twitter feed with more coming as the day progresses.

Rest in peace Craig. You gave us fire, hope, and love. Thank you.

— the spooky soup (@gerardway) October 30, 2014

News of a death is always heavy. I'm taking the rest of the night off y'all. Love the ones you got.

— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) October 30, 2014

RIP Craig Aaronson. So sad. He was a great friend who taught me alot and played a huge part in my career.

— Fred Mascherino (@thecolorfred) October 30, 2014

RIP to the nicest, most caring person I have ever met! Even through the end you lived your life to the fullest! See you again Craig Aaronson

— Kellin Quinn (@Kellinquinn) October 30, 2014

RIP Craig Aaronson – One of the few who believed. Thank you for giving me the confidence & opportunity to follow my dreams.

— Craig Owens (@craigowens) October 30, 2014

Just received heartbreaking news. The world lost a visionary man today whom I owe my career to! So sad.. Signing off for now RIP C. Aaronson

— Branden Steineckert (@801PUNX) October 30, 2014

Craig Aaronson RIP

— John Feldmann (@JohnFeldy) October 29, 2014

View this post on Instagram

It's with great sadness in our hearts that we write this message to you all. An integral part of our A7X family has passed away. Craig Aaronson was one of the driving forces behind our decision to sign with Warner Brothers Records back in 2004 along with Tom Whalley and Andy Olyphant. We had heard horror stories about independent bands signing with major labels so when we first met Craig we were skeptical. We ended up trusting him and Warner Brothers Records and in the end we are glad that we did. Craig had not only been a personal friend to us through the years, but also helped spearhead many of the bands successes, including allowing us to have complete creative control throughout all of our albums. No matter what we handed into the label he would get behind it and go to work. Our manager Larry Jacobson has always said working with Craig was like working with a partner, always agreeable even when you disagreed, and because of that, A7X and WBR got so many good things done together. A couple of years ago Craig left Warner Brothers to do other things, we were saddened by his decision but realized he needed to move on. A few months later we were informed that Craig had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. While on chemo Craig still made it out to our Hail to the King album release show in Los Angeles earlier this year. We were all blown away by his dedication and will to live. Sadly, yesterday he lost the battle against cancer. He is survived by an amazing wife and kids. We will always be grateful to Craig and everything he has done for us. He has done the same for many other countless bands and without a doubt will be sorely missed. Thank you for everything Craig. Love A7X P.S. Life is too short, spend some extra time with the ones you love today.

A post shared by Avenged Sevenfold (@avengedsevenfold) on Oct 30, 2014 at 9:24am PDT

Aaronson was most well-know for bringing bands such as My Chemical Romance, The Used, Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Avenged Sevenfold, Against Me! and more to the label and helping them reach success.

If anyone needs an example of Aaronson’s enthusiasm for the bands he helped discover and love of his job, the perfect example can be found on MCR’s first DVD, Life on the Murder Scene where we see Aaronson listening to some new tracks the band were working on at the time and how passionately excited he got while listening to them.

Aaronson kicked off his lengthy resume of successful bands by signing Jimmy Eat World back in 1995 to Capitol before leaving and getting his job at Warner Bros. Jimmy Eat World recently wrote about that and how when they had no money, Aaronson had let them sleep in his house.

All we can say is thank you very much for discovering those bands and we owe you a lot, Craig. You had a role in helping shape who we are today.

The Slam Dunk Festival Reveal 2014 Line-Up

The Slam Dunk Festival had previously revealed some of the acts that will be going on the annual short trek in the United Kingdom. The All-American Rejects, The Devil Wears Prada and the Ghost Inside had all been announced before and today, organizers have revealed that Less Than Jake, Motion City Soundtrack, We Are the In Crowd and many others will also be joining the traveling event.

Originally, the festival only had one weekend on its schedule, the weekend of May 24-26, Bank Holiday across the pond, but this year will also include two other dates on its schedule; Slam Dunk Scotland on May 23 and Slam Dunk Wales on May 27.

The full updated line-up can be seen below in the official flyer and tickets for the dates have already been put on sale and can be accessed at Slam Dunk’s website.

Warped Tour Headed to Alaska

For those who live in Alaska and have felt left out when it came to the Vans Warped Tour, it might just be your lucky day because the traveling festival will be making its way up there.

Yesterday, the line-up for The Road to Warped Tour: Alaska had been unveiled. It will be held at the Northway Festival Grounds in Anchorage, Alaska on June 11, just two days before the 2014 installation of the annual tour is slated to kick off in Houston.

Bands that will be performing at the show will include All Time Low, The Devil Wears Prada, Yellowcard
3OH!3, Less Than Jake, and Falling In Reverse. According to the Vans Warped Tour blog, the show will begin at 2 PM and end at 10 PM (estimation, we assume) and is open to all ages.

Tickets for the show will go on sale beginning Friday, February 21. Details and more information about the show can be seen on the website here.

Less Than Jake, Pentimento, and Hostage Calm Release Tour Sampler

Less than Jake will be heading out on tour with Pentimento and Hostage Calm this Summer and as a gift to fans or more like a preview of what to expect from this tour, the bands have come together to release a free tour sampler. The sampler features only three tracks which means one track per band, but that might be enough for the bands to give just a taste of what to expect come June.

To get access to the tour sampler, just click here.

While the sampler downloads, check out the tour dates below.

Less Than Jake with Hostage Calm and Pentimento
Jun 11, 2013-Patchogue, NY, Emporium
Jun 12, 2013-New York, NY, Rocks Off! Boat Cruise
Jun 14, 2013-Montebello, QC, Amnesia Rockfest
Jun 15, 2013-New Haven, CT, Toads
Jun 16, 2013-Boston, MA, Rocks On! Boat Cruise
Jun 18, 2013-Nags Head, NC, Kelly’s
Jun 19, 2013-Raleigh, NC, Lincoln Theater
Jun 20, 2013-Atlanta, GA, Masquerade
Jun 21, 2013-St Augustine, FL, The Standard
Jun 22, 2013-Melbourne, FL, County Line Saloon
Jun 28, 2013-Madison, WI, Majestic Theatre
Jun 29, 2013-Milwaukee, WI, Summerfest

Jul 21, 2013-El Paso, Texas Ink Life Tour 2013 – Texas Tattoo Showdown Festival
Aug 3, 2013-Clearfield, PA, Clearfield County Fair
Aug 10, 2013-Collingwood, ON, Wakestock
Aug 20, 2013-Norfolk, VA, The Norva
Aug 22, 2013-Charleston, SC, Music Farm
Aug 23, 2013-Myrtle Beach, SC, House Of Blues
Aug 24, 2013-Orlando, FL, House Of Blues
Aug 30, 2013-Gainesville Rock City, FL, High Dive
Aug 31, 2013-Gainesville Rock City, FL, High Dive
Sep 01, 2013-Gainesville Rock City, FL, High Dive
Oct 12, 2013-Sao Paulo, Brazil WROS FEST
Oct 13, 2013-Sao Paulo, Brazil WROS FEST