Buckcherry performed the title track from their latest album, All Night Long on Jimmy Kimmel on August 12th. And now we’re giving you an excuse to eye Josh Todd up and down – it’s to spot the Lippy he’s wearing! Our “Rocker” fit Stretch Fuckn’ Jeans and black on black Men’s Lolita Candy vest seem to fit him alright, don’t ya think? He’s told us the jeans fit so good, it’s as if we made them just for him.
Ahhh, well we love compliments and we love rock n roll! Go catch Buckcherry (and Josh with his Lip Service threads) on tour in the USA now through October and in Europe at the Taste of Chaos tour beginning in November!
Prima Donna‘s latest video, “I Don’t Want You to Love Me,” featuring the dudes in their Stretch Fuck’n Jeans. You might remember ‘em from their “On The Road w/Stretch Fuck’n Jeans” blogs while on tour with Green Day throughout Europe and Asia. These guys are super cool and we love seeing ‘em rock our duds.
Prima Donna will kick off their Fall European tour w/ an all ages show at the Troubadour with The Lords of Altamont on August 19th.
guitarist / screamer/ resident Modern Day Escape douchebag
On the Road with LIP SERVICE’S Stretch Fuck’n Jeans
&
HOT TOPIC PRESENTS: The Sacred Ceremony tour
WEEK 1
First off, can we say kickin’ off the tour with sold out CA shows? Fuck yes!
Secondly, can we say Modern Day Escape’s RV breaks down in the desert? DAMN IT!
Sorry to all our friends and fans in Albuquerque, NM and Dallas, TX. We promise we’ll make it there soon…
Tonight, as I type this, we are heading to San Antonio, TX @ The White Rabbit to melt some faces with Black Veil Brides, Vampires Everywhere, Get Scared and who? Wait hold up, Modern Day GENTLEMEN? I smell drama.
It seems that the band playing directly before us is called Modern Day Gentlemen tonight.
Now, I know what you’re thinking “OH SNAP! BAND NAME / CRIPPLE FIGHT!?”
No, no, no my friends. For that is a hater’s mentality, and the world has enough of that. I propose a truce…
Modern Day Escape, we’ll change our name to Modern Day Gentlewomen, IF:
MODERN DAY Gentleman, joins MODERN DAY Gentlewomen in holy union,
under the church of LATTER DAY Saints.
In honor of the Sacred Ceremony Tour of course.
So people, I propose to you vote yes on bill #69, Same Sex Band Marriage for Heterosexual Life Partners.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The holiday playlist has made it’s debut on the iPod in the van and most everyone has broken out their heavy coat and scarf.
First off, I think that London is probably my new favorite place on earth except for the driving on the wrong side of the road that I’m used to. Our show at the Academy was awesome, great crowd and staff.
My Lip Service jeans are definitely getting their wear on stage, I’m lucky that I’m not too clumsy because if I was, I’d be begging for another pair right about now.
We met up with our friends from Deviant UK in Liverpool and then continued our eight show streak into the Netherlands where we played the Winterborn festival with the Dreamside. Rogue made a special guest appearance with the band, performing “Open Your Eyes,” which he recorded with them in 2005.
There has been a collective cold circulating the group and I have definitely sneezed more in the last three days than I have in the past three weeks.
Our new video for the Quicksilver single has been released, many thanks to Marc Shahboz for producing it! It’s definitely awesome and was a lot of fun to film. I’m adding a photo from the video shoot so you can see what I had to dance on…:-)
After a lovely day off that we spent first travelling, and then on an outing to my first Kris Kringle market. It’s an open air market with lots of artisian crafts and knick-knacks that open all over Germany for the month of December. Note to self, Nutella crepes are the best treat ever.
Tonights show is in Nurnberg and I’m hearing the last beats of Ayria’s closing song, so it’s time to start throwing poses and taking names.
The last week has been a huge blur of rock out hard, pass out, lather, rinse, and repeat…
We made the trek from Germany to the UK and have actually received some pretty lovely weather. It’s only rained badly once so far. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed; we have a few more days here still.
Sunday was my 20th birthday and I’m still officially the youngest member of the Cruxshadows, and now in the awkward place where I am not a teenager anymore, but not a real adult yet either.
But the baby always gets spoiled, right?
Our first show in England was at Corporation in Sheffield, and that was a pretty wild show. What was even more amazing was what the venue looked like after the whole night was over. There were so many plastic cups on the floor that I couldn’t take a step without crushing one. But I got outside just in time to catch Pyro in the act of catching me in the act of escaping…
We rocked a show on the floor at Fibbers, taping off part of it for a makeshift stage and tearing up the hardwood. And I have now broken the first string of the tour on my guitar.
I had my first European hamburger last night, and I was a happy camper!
Tonight we’re playing at Independent in Sunderland, and I got to see the ocean. But for the most part, all that salty air makes it significantly colder outside…and this poor lil Florida girl can’t really handle it.
We have a few more shows in the UK, working our way down to London on Friday, and I’m definitely looking forward to that!
With Great Love and Faith,
Cassandra
By the way, big thanks to James Thompson and Hans Rock for their photos from Fibbers and Aschaffenburg!
Cassandra Luger and Rogue of Crüxshadows - see full size in gallery below
This coming month, we have a killer change of pace in our On the Road with Stertch Fuck’n Jeans feature. Not only are we segueing from rock ‘n’ roll to goth-wave dance … our weekly guitarist/correspondent is … yes … *GASP* … FEMALE! For the next four weeks, we’ll be following Cassandra Luger from Crüxshadows as the Florida band tours Europe.
A bit about Crüxshadows (from their website)
One of the most enduring acts of the entire Darkwave subculture is the Florida based group The Crüxshadows. Originally formed in 1992, The Crüxshadows have consistently delivered their positive message through the portal of synth pop hooks and dark electronics to a massive international fan base of followers. From their self-released debut, the 1993 album Night Crawls In, right through to the present, The Crüxshadows have formulated their success out of old fashioned hard work. They have logged an impressive one thousand plus performances in over thirty countries via their many marathon-like tours.
With the release of the seminal Telemetry of a Fallen Angel (existing in a few incarnations prior to Dancing Ferret Discs’ version in 1997), The Crüxshadows enjoyed their first defining moment courtesy of the infinitely catchy dance floor anthem “Marilyn My Bitterness.” With additional strong releases including The Mystery of the Whisper (1999), Until the Voices Fade (1999) and Paradox Addendum (2000) backed by lengthy tours, The Crüxshadows were able to build a legion of diversified fans consisting of everything from jarheads to gamers to anime & role playing enthusiasts.
Although The Crüxshadows maintain a strong fan base in their native United States, their most perceptible success seems to be focused in Europe. It is not uncommon for the band to share stages with the likes of Ladytron, Prodigy, The Cure, or even Bjork. The 2002 Tears EP topped the Deutsche Alternative Charts for months, a practice that has continued with all subsequent releases soaring to the DAC’s Top 10. “I don’t think we’re actually more popular there (In Europe)” says Rogue, Crüxshadows’ forntman and mastermind, “It just seems like there is more access to our fans. What we do has more acceptance by the powers that be. In America it feels like all of our victories are covered up or are unacknowledged by the media.” 2002 also saw the release of their fifth full-length album Wishfire; a fan favorite that featured the Euro hit “Tears” and a number of other dark dance mainstays. Similarly the follow-up album Ethernaut (released in 2003) brought the band what has become one of its most notable tracks, the European club anthem entitled “Winterborn (This Sacrifice).”
Crüxshadows - see full size in gallery below
In 2006 the band would seem to breakaway from their underground moniker. The addictive single “Sophia” impressively debuted on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales Charts in September at position #1, replacing Beyoncé in the top spot while landing #7 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart. “We couldn’t believe it, doors began to open. It was as if we couldn’t be ignored anymore, after a decade and a half we seemed to be getting some respect. The local news in Florida even put us on the nightly news to get our take on the whole thing”, the frontman recalls. The following year was pivotal for The Crüxshadows; in May the band successfully toured China performing at the Midi Open-Air Festival in Beijing, in the presence of many thousands of new fans. Later that year the band released the highly anticipated Dreamcypher album that contained yet another Billboard #1 Dance Single with the song “Birthday.” This time the band climbed into the #2 spot on the Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart. With Dreamcypher, The Crüxshadows melded their fondness for 1980s Synth Pop/New Romantic sounds with modern Euro dance nuances into perfection. Dreamcypher joins the aforementioned shimmering “Sophia” and “Birthday” with the guitar fronted “Defender” and the majestic sounding “Eye of the Storm.” The infectious disc would become The Crüxshadows’ best selling album to date both in the United States and abroad.
Crüxshadows - see full size in gallery below
The following year witnessed another single marching up the Billboard charts. “Immortal” continued the bands musical string of hits. While The Crüxshadows spent most of 2009 touring in Europe, the band still managed to release yet another successful Billboard charting single in America. “Quicksilver” debuted just in time for their annual appearance at Atlanta’s famed Dragon*Con Convention before an impressive capacity crowd of several thousand of their most loyal fans. “I think the new single, and really the most recent releases in general, are our most polished and well written work” says Rogue, “but there are still those in the scene, and in the business in general, that just think the whole thing is just dumb luck.” Seemingly too pop for many critics and too underground for the industry, the band has apparently found the perfect balance for the people who matter the most to them; their fans.
We had a chance to ask Cassandra a few questions before she set off on tour.
LS Webzine: How long have you been w/ Crüxshadows in it’s 17 years together? Cassandra Luger: I’ve only been with the band since April of this year but it feels like a lot longer. Spending almost every day with your band makes you feel like you’ve been there forever
LS: There are currently 7 members in Crüxshadows – how well does that work while touring? Do you all get along, really? CL: we actually have nine people on the road with us and I’d say that the hardest thing about being on the road in Europe would probably be the fact that we currently use a nine passenger van so we’re all packed pretty tightly. Some days are worse than others, but we get along really well. It’s just the right group of people in the right room.
Cassandra Luger of Crüxshadows - see full size in gallery below
LS: How long have you been a musician and was guitar your favorite? Have you been in other bands? CL: I’ve been playing music since I was a whopping three years old when my grandmother would take me to piano classes and I’d sit under the keyboard for the entire lesson. I didn’t start playing guitar until I was in high school and taking it for a class but I fell in love with it. I’ve been active on the Tallahassee music scene for the past few years, making merch and all that but the Cruxshadows is the first band I’ve been in.
LS: The band’s motto is “Live, love, be, believe,” – do you have to tattoo that anywhere to be a band member? (Just kidding). Seriously, do you all contribute to the songs, musically and lyrically? CL: We all do believe in the motto but no one has gotten it tattooed…yet. Rogue is definitely the primary song writer but we all are able to contribute musically, and make our parts our own.
LS: What’s your favorite place to play a live show? How was it performing for the 2009 Gothic Cruise? CL: My favorite place to play this pas year was definitely M’Era Luna, I was looking out at a sea of people to the horizon line. It was my third show…ever. It kind of made an impact. I loved playing on the Gothic Cruise but it was hard to jump around like a maniac on a moving boat. Every time I’d leave the ground and land, the floor would be in a different place.
LS: What’s your number one must have fashion accessory (or accessories….!)? CL: I would definitely say that the thing that I NEVER take off would be my rings, four on my left hand and five on my right. I’ve been collecting them since I was young and I wear them everywhere. Even when I play.
LS: How easy is it to stay looking great while on the road? Any insider secrets? CL: Seeing as I didn’t start voluntarily wearing make-up or styling my hair until I was almost seventeen I’ve had to figure out a lot of things on the fly, but I’ve learned that eyeliner pretty much fixes everything. And if I’m too far gone, Jessica can usually fix those problems.
LS: Anything you want to say the Lip Service fans our there who have never heard of Crüxshadows ? CL: I would say that you fashion addicts need to go and check out the website! Why haven’t you gone yet? What are you doing still reading this? The interview is over…Go! :-)
First things first, a couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from Green Day & Co. It went a little something like this:
GD: Hey Chinatown (that’s the nickname Tre gave me…long story), we wanna bring Prima Donna on the Euro leg of this tour. What do you think?
KP: Bitchin! No way! Killer! Rad! For real?
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Next thing I should have done was call the band, but no. I called up Lip Service and said, “Gimme some Stretch Fuck’n Jeans!!!” Now that I handled that business, we were on a plane to Lisbon, Portugal. It was one of those flights with the personal T.V.s and since I don’t sleep on planes, I think I watched about 9 movies.
When we got to the arena in Lisbon, it was really a trip to see how giant it was. We even have a 40 foot banner to play in front of. I think the banner itself is bigger than any stage we’ve played on previous to this tour. The show was sold out and the capacity was 12,500. By the time we hit the stage, it was about 90% full! During our set, Tre set off some pyrotechnics. It was a real killer! Thousands of kids bopping along to Soul Stripper? I can get used to this!
Watching Green Day after we played was fucking amazing! I have seen them close to 30 times now and they still blow me away every time! They are the best live band on the planet. I woke up the next day with one of the biggest hangovers I’ve ever had, but I was relieved that it wasn’t all a dream. Kisses to Portugal!
We have an awesome treat for you in this month’s On the Road. For the next four weeks, you’ll join the guys from Prima Donna as they take their Lip Service Stretch Fuck’n Jeans on the road with Green Day through their European tour.
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Prima Donna’s sound is like nothing you’ve experienced. Imagine what would happen if juke-joint rock-n-roll, old school glam, and first wave punk had a three-way love child and you’d be on the right track. Depending on your own favorites, you’ll pick up flavorings of Stooges, Mott the Hoople, Bowie, Dolls, Heartbreakers, X-Ray Specs, Damned, just to name a few, but the whole sounds is purely Prima Donna’s unique recipe for kick-ass glam punk rock-n-roll. Here’s what a few reviewers had to say:
“Energetic and genuinely anthemic choruses, rousing hooks that amplify their Johnny Thunders influences while adding their own sense of seedy majesty” LA Weekly
“In a better world, songs like “Soul Stripper” & “Everything’s Wrong” would be blasting from radios all across the nation. Pick this up & inject yourself with a healthy dose of rock & roll” AMP
If you’re getting the feeling there’s nobody who does it quite like Prima Donna, you’re absolutely right. Here’s a little taste …
Since forming in 2003, the guys in Prima Donna have been awfully damn busy. In 2005, they hit the road on an eight country European concert tour with Texas Terri, played part of the American tour wit ex-Pistol Glen Matlock’s Philistines and released their first album, Kiss Kiss on Brunette Records. In 2007, they featured “Soul Stripper”, a new track from their latest release, and put out the killer heart-shaped vinyl single Eat Your Heart Out on Puke N Vomit Records. 2008 was no less busy. They released their most recent disc, After Hours on Acetate Records, and singer/guitarist Kevin Preston played guitar in the Green Day side project Foxboro Hot Tubs.
This year, Prima Donna toured the U.S. with Eddie and the Hot Rods and later with Duane Peters Gunfight before joining Green Day on their current European tour. Those of you across the pond can check out upcoming dates on their MySpace page.
Prima Donna are:
• Kevin Preston – vocals, guitar
• Aaron Minton – saxophone, keyboards
• David S. Field – drums, percussion
• Dan Nyby – bass guitar
• Erik Arcane – guitar
I had a chance to ask Kevin a few questions to get us all better acquainted before we spend the next month together.
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Webmistress: Rumor has it, you owe the start of Prima Donna to a ladies’ bathroom. What can you tell us about that?
Kevin Preston: Well, there are many stories about how we met. Most of them stem from too much Whiskey. Truth is, we met at a Josie Cotton concert.
WM: Your sound is such a rich fusion of styles, from classic juke-joint rock to early punk like Iggy & the Stooges, and a healthy bit of glam. Did it develop when you started playing with each other or was it something you imagined before Prima Donna?
KP: I had a bunch of songs written before we started that were definitely influenced by all of the above. When we began jamming together, the energy was hot! It definitely enhanced the songs.
WM: You’ve just started touring with Green Day. What is the biggest difference from shows you’ve done in the past?
KP: The biggest difference would have to be the amount of people. Before these shows, a big show to us was 700-1000 attendees. Now, We are playing to crowds of over 10,000! It’s rad. Don’t get me wrong, we still love the club experience, but playing arenas is bitchin!
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WM: Who would be the other half of your ultimate dream double-bill? KP: Green Day! It has also been a dream of mine to play a show with Adam Ant. It would have been awesome to share a bill with Josephine Baker, if we were around back in those days.
WM: It must be said … you are some seriously fashionable dudes. What inspires your look?
KP: First off, thank you! Over time I noticed that I had quite a collection of wild clothes that I permanently borrowed from ex-girlfriends. It started there, now it’s a monster! We all just try to dress in a way that is both regal and trashy. Everybody in the group is a real killer in the style department!
WM: On the same thread, what’s your one absolute must-have fashion item?
KP: Oooooohhh. I could go on and on, but if I had to pick one thing, faux fur coats. I don’t like real fur, only faux fur. The wilder the better.
WM: What’s next for Prima Donna?
KP: When we get back to Los Angeles, we are going to start recording a new record. Then, it’s back to Europe for a headlining tour! After that, we have been chosen by NASA to be the first band to play on the moon. That will make history.
So, they say these types of trips are how horror movies start, haha nice! It’s Monday, August 17th and I’m off to the mountains with my woman(Katie). It’s about a 3 hour drive from Portland, nothing like a good unplanned road trip and, fyi, you can’t plan an adventure.
An hour into the drive she asked me if I was hungry, because this is the last place to stop before we enter the mountains. If I had one last request, I wouldn’t choose Subway, but it was that or Dairy Queen…. Taco Bell sounded nice! My last meal would be “The 4th meal” anyways. My sub was sloppy and poorly made … she was no “sandwich-artist”. The lettuce was like slime and the bread was stale, but it did the job.
Fat ASS on a boat! - click to enlarge
This was so Texas Chainsaw massacre or a movie called Wrong turn, all the small, back roads country stores and no phone service…(warning A.D.D. ahead!)
Anyways, “When is a good time to write out a will?” I asked myself while listening to music and staring out the window on my drive. So I reached back into the backseat, grabbed my notebook and pen (never leave home without it). I pretended to write lyrics, sound ideas or doodles to keep Katie from knowing what was really going on in my head.
I'm bringing sexy back! - click to enlarge
Monday, august 17th @ 3:15 I decided to write my last words, goodbyes… my suicide note to everyone….
“What sums up a person in the end? What they have done, accomplished or what they didn’t do? It feels like yesterday I was 6 riding my bike in my parents front yard, dirt on my hands and a smile on my face. Life really does fly by. Not much has changed, though I still have dirt on my hands and still act like a 6 year old at times. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t want to die old, unhappy and impotent. I have everything I want right now, my music, my youth, my girl and my friends…
.. Later on I turned the lake into wine - click to enlarge
“So, I’m leaving my guitar to my brother, my horror movie collection & fangoria magazines to Jake, my iphone to my sis, my records to my girl<3, I want my dog Bear to be buried with me. Mom, I’m sorry and it’s not your fault. I’m stoked to go party with Randy Rhoads and Dad, you rule, man, hope you forgive me for being a quitter. (p.s. I hated taking Taekwondo!) To all my other friends and my dear Steadlur fans, I love YOU, steal my music!
“I was supposed to write 500 words, but screw it. Anyone who knows me, knows I talk to much! Wow, what a tangent i just got off on!
The End. (We'll miss you here at the webzine, Philip) - click to enlarge
“So, here are the pics of me at the mountain hanging out in Triangle Lake! I hope this doesn’t get my band pissed or suspended from twitter again. I know for sure youtube doesn’t care! Thanks for hanging with me and my traveling Stretch fucking jeans!
Goodbye xoxoxo”
Philip told me to make sure this was posted, so there it is.
Buckcherry performed the title track from their latest album, All Night Long on Jimmy Kimmel on August 12th. And now we’re giving you an excuse to eye Josh Todd up and down – it’s to spot the Lippy he’s wearing! Our “Rocker” fit Stretch Fuckn’ Jeans and black on black Men’s Lolita Candy vest seem to fit him alright, don’t ya think? He’s told us the jeans fit so good, it’s as if we made them just for him.
