So my tale begins about 15 years ago. Believe it or not there was life before internet. To find out about shows one had to come across an actual physical concert flyer, they didn’t get invited or alerted or notified…You were given a piece of paper with all the information of whatever shows might be coming to town. Some people, some DIY “promoters” were better at getting fliers distributed across their town or city. If they didn’t do a good job of getting fliers out to all the hotspots or bring them to any shows in the weeks or even months preceding the sacred date it just might mean that you missed out. Hopefully your homies knew if you didn’t and they bothered to call you and let you know. Again, sometimes you just missed out. Sometimes the bands missed out too because there wasn’t anyone there, no one bothered to flyer the show…
MISERY and EXTINCTION OF MANKIND were coming to Denver and I had no idea. I had made plans to go to Phoenix with a longtime friend to visit another longtime friend in his new digs. He had been through re-hab and was now settled down and starting to get domesticated. We wanted to go visit him, especially me. When I had last saw him we were not on good terms. He was doing a bunch of coke and we weren’t on the same page any longer. Since I had stopped hanging out with him and his boys I was a target, they wanted to kick my ass. Or maybe just more so him, that was the word on the “street” any way.
Eventually he moved and the immediate threat ended without coming to a head. I moved on with life, moved to Denver and kind of forgot about him as I got caught up in the action of city life and my own new adventure. Out of the blue one day the phone rang , I answered and was shocked that it was this dude. We talked for hours, like it was high school again or something and forgot all the bullshit that had happened in more recent years between the two of us. It felt good talking to him and I knew that I had to go see him as soon as possible. And there our plans to visit our comrade in Phoenix transpired.
If memory serves me I think it was the eve before we were to start our drive to Arizona that I got a call from someone telling me that MISERY and EXTINCTION OF MANKIND were playing the next day! What?!! Why am I just learning of this now?! Now I have to cancel my trip to Phoenix! I can’t cancel. This was an important mission, this was about old friendships and life moving forward. But it’s MISERY and EXTINCTION OF MANKIND!…The right thing to do was to go to Phoenix, and we did. We had a blast and relationships were mended and remain strong to this day…But I missed MISERY and EXTINCTION OF MANKIND! FUCK!
Well years and years go by…It seemed like EOM might never come to the US again. Every year I would wait and to see them announced on the Chaos in Tejas lineup to no avail. And then it seemed as if the stars were aligned, they were announced for Maryland Death Fest and upon further investigation I came to understand that it was not an exclusive US date. That had to mean they were playing Chaos in Tejas the next weekend. Didn’t it? No. I waited and waited and then the rumors of no CIT started to surface, for weeks I was biting my nails and trying to get confirmation from friends in Austin. Finally it was announced that there would be no CIT. That was crushing, not only would I miss out on what had become a summer ritual but that meant there was no EXTINCTION OF MANKIND in my immediate future.
We started to look into MDF tickets but it was so much more expensive than CIT, especially the airfare. On top of that were the horror stories of set times being cut short and douche bag bouncers that just didn’t “get it” being…well…douche bags. Things looked grim.
But then like a glimpse of light cutting through the dense darkness of the deepest caverns an announcement was made that there would be an EOM tour! Fuck yes! I knew there wouldn’t be a Denver date but this guy was ready to travel. With excitement I announced to the crew that we needed to pick a city to see EOM in. We weighed the options based on price of travel and accommodations, friends that we could visit, and the possibility of catching more than one show based on their proximity to each other.
When we had narrowed it down to Portland or the Bay Area an alternative to CIT was announced…OC Cruststock! A crust fest in Orange County! This meant we could drive rather than fly, catch a bunch of killer bands and hang with our homies in SMD. Word!
But the good news kept coming…before I knew it my own band (I have no qualms, I am plugging my band right here – ROÄC! [ We have an LP coming out on PE in June!]) had been added to the bill. Through the network of solid friends and dudes in the know we had procured a spot on OC Cruststock. Fuck yes! I missed EOM 15 years ago but I get to share a stage with them in May. That rules!
This is their second year throwing OC Cruststock and they have a hell of a line-up. If Maryland Death Fest is too pricey and Punk Rock Bowling isn’t your thing, set your sites on the land of the beautiful people and get your ass to OC Cruststock!
Here is a link to the FB event – https://www.facebook.com/events/534454713337353/
And here is a link the blog page. This page has ticket ordering info and more detailed info overall – http://cruststock.blog.com/2014/03/19/qu/
With ANTISECT having to cancel their tour it has been said that a headliner for Saturday is still going to be announced. Regardless you still get EOM, ISKRA, AGAINST EMPIRE, ALL SYSTEMS FAIL, APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT, DEATHWISH and more!!!
See you in OC!
The full list of EXTINCTION OF MANKIND’s tour dates:
MAY 2014
16- Seattle, Wa @ Highline Bar
17- Portland, Or @ Slabtown Portland
18- Portland, Or @ Blackwater
19- Eureka, Ca @ The Ink Annex
20- Oakland, Ca @ Eli’S MILE HIGH CLUB
21- Ventrua, Ca @ The Garage
22- Tijuana, Mx @ TJ Art & Rock Cafe
23- Santa Ana, Ca @OC Cruststock
24- Baltimore, Md @ Maryland Deathfest XII
25- Baltimore, Md @ Maryland Deathfest
26- Richmond, Va @ Strange Matter
27- Philadelphia, Pa @ Kung Fu Necktie
28- Boston, Ma @ TBA
29- NYC @ The Acheron
30- Pittsburgh, Pa @ The Shop
31- Chicicago, Il @ Cobra Lounge
See ya’ – JoshMosh
Profane Existence 