Ally Venable

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | 21 & Over | Public On Sale 6/5

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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Texas blues/rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Ally Venable has made her fiery presence known around the world since the release of her debut album at 16. Now, with her fifth solo effort Real Gone! dropping on Ruf Records March 10th, 2023, Venable has come of age. 

 

At 23, Venable is already an important artist in the roots music world. Her name has grown in stature with each new album and high-energy gig. She’s an absolutely ripping guitar player with style and tone for days, a commanding singer, and a songwriter with the power to make blues music that speaks to contemporary fans. The new record, produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi), features guest appearances by Joe Bonamassa and living legend Buddy Guy. 

 

Venable is that rare musician who can take her old-school influences like Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan and create music that brings their spirits to today’s listeners where they live. Together with Isaac Pulido (drums) EJ Bedford (bass), she gives audiences an entertaining show packed with musical muscle and relatable songs about living, growing, and evolving. When asked where her songs emerge from, Ally replied “I try to write about what goes on in my life, or try to write about something I know others can relate to. We all go through things and it’s okay to have feelings about something going on in your life.” 

 

The first single from Real Gone! is “Texas Louisiana,” which is a crackling duet with the one-and-only Buddy Guy. Ally and Buddy are an absolute dream team together, intertwining their guitars and voices into one without either losing any identity or impact. The title track “Real Gone” is a straight-up, body-moving rocker that will also be a single. Venable shouts down the microphone like a star while her guitar snarls and sings. 

 

On the soulful ballad “Next Time I See You,” Ally downshifts her vocals and shows every dynamic degree of her impressive range. Her guitar work here is equally lyrical and emotive, displaying a gift for phrasing that few players ever attain. The grinding slow jam “Blues Is My Best Friend” lays out the ups and downs of the guitar lifestyle in no uncertain terms and features some of Venable’s most intense playing and singing on the entire set. Ally’s deep, cliche-free authenticity is the common thread running through every song on Real Gone!. She speaks her mind without hesitation or apology, turning each track into an honest statement of purpose. 

 

In 2022, Guitar World Magazine named Ally one of the Top 15 ‘Young Guns’ Making the Gibson Les Paul Cool Again and she also received the Road Warrior Award from the Independent Blues Music Awards. She performed as a featured artist on the Experience Hendrix Show in Austin, TX and appeared alongside Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Zack Wilde, Eric Johnson, Dweezil Zappa, and other luminaries. 

 

With 2019’s Texas Honey and 2021’s Heart of Fire, Venable found herself topping the Billboard charts. Early releases No Glass Shoes (2016) and Puppet Show (2018) created her fanbase, charted on radio, and won several East Texas Music Awards. Venable’s acclaimed performances on Ruf Records’ European Blues Caravan tour brought her international recognition. She has toured the U.S. with Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Canada with Colin James.

 

This year, Ally will be opening for Buddy Guy on his farewell tour, rocking Europe again on the Blues Caravan Tour, and doing her own headline shows domestically and abroad. She’s had a rapid rise to fame but gives off the vibe of someone who loves her life and is ok with it all.

The Happy Fits: Under The Shade of Green

Doors 6:30PM | Show 7:30PM | All Ages | Public On Sale 6/1 10AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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The Happy Fits’ third full-length is a massive leap forward for the New Jersey trio, who have already built a serious following with their energetic and electrifying pop-rock style. At once a showcase of rock-solid songcraft and gleeful experimentation, Under the Shade of Green is a deceptively bright opus that also zooms in on the anxieties and catastrophes of daily life while never losing its irresistibly hooky attitude. 
 Under the Shade of Green is the latest chapter in The Happy Fits’ impressive rise, dating back to their bonding in high school in 2012. Cellist Calvin Langman and guitarist Ross Monteith started playing covers together in earnest, and when Langman revealed some original songs he’d been working on, drummer Luke Davis came aboard to join in a creative genesis that would result in the Awfully Apeelin’ EP from 2016. 
 From the punchy “Dance Alone” to the serpentine riffs of “Do Your Worst,” Under the Shade of Green finds The Happy Fits unloading earworm after earworm—even as darkness looms, as suggested by the album’s cover of a pineapple covered in flaming money. “It’s a metaphor for what we are all seeing and not talking about enough,” Langman says, reflecting on the album’s overall arc. If these songs don’t make you feel alive—well, you might just want to check your pulse.

mssv

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | 21 & Over | Public On Sale 5/18

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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No less an authority than Nels Cline, the high priest of art-rock guitarists, has called Knoxville’s Mike Baggetta a “guitar poet.” That poetry, alternately gnarled and flowing, is on fine display in Main Steam Stop Valve, the second album by (and the decompressed namesake of) mssv, an experimental rock trio featuring Baggetta, the legendary punk bassist Mike Watt, and the versatile drummer Stephen Hodges.  

The collaboration began when Watt, of The Minutemen fame, joined Baggetta and seasoned session drummer Jim Keltner to record an improvised jazz-rock album called Wall of Flowers, an eight-track romp from pastoral splendor to urban din and back again. When Keltner declined to tour, they brought in Hodges, whose credits as a player include Mavis Staples, Tom Waits, and David Lynch, not to mention Contemplating the Engine Room with Watt.  

Solidified as mssv—some heretofore unimagined hybrid of a punky power trio and a dreamy experimental rock band—they released Main Steam Stop Valve, which blends industrial vigor and impressionistic languor into a lingering impression of “pressure, combustion, power, and hissing clouds of sonic poetry,” as Premier Guitar said. From the throttled surf guitar of “The Mystery Of” and the glimmering post-rock of “Every Growing Thing” to groovy, songful numbers like “Old Crow,” there’s no telling which way the band will turn at any given moment, a proposition that becomes a promise when they break down and reassemble these songs live, with an instinct for restraint and an openness to anarchy.

 

The Expendables

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | All Ages | Public On Sale 5/19 10AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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The Expendables haven’t proven anything, but in their nearly 25-year career since starting out as a spirited party band in high school performing surf-rock covers for birthdays and family gatherings. A quarter-century later, elementary school buddies Raul Bianchi, Adam Peterson and Geoff Weers, along with bassist Ryan DeMars, who joined in 2000, have forged a unique sound born in the laid-back beach life in their hometown of Santa Cruz, CA. The Expendables’ infectious hybrid of ska, surf-rock, punk, reggae and metal can be heard in their latest streaming track, “Surfman Cometh,” a spaghetti-western meets “Pipeline” twang that could easily form the soundtrack to the latest Quentin Tarantino film. The song is the first release from the group’s new and improved Band Room, their longtime rehearsal space in a 1,100 square foot warehouse and former wine cellar on Coral Street, where Adam Patterson took charge of the final mix to great effect. The band’s previous studio album of original material, 2015’s Sand in the Sky, was followed by The Expendables’ second release featuring acoustic reworkings of past material, Gone Raw, 2019’s follow-up to 2012’s Gone Soft. The Expendables continue woodshedding until they can get back out on the road. Their 2017 Moment EP, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Reggae chart, showed a different musical direction, featuring collaborations with reggae crooner HIRIE, rapper Tech N9ne, Eric Rachmany, and Micah Peuschel.

Florist + Skullcrusher

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | All Ages | Public On Sale 5/10 10AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT FLORIST

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It’s a portrait of who we are as collaborators, as really long term friends and as extended family as well,” leader Emily Sprague says of her band’s new self-titled album. Florist is also the strongest album of the band’s decade-long career, an immersive work that conveys the magic of the earth and of family, and the whole of the band’s heart. It arrives just after the cap of a winding journey. In 2017, shortly after the release of the band’s sophomore record, If Blue Could Be Happiness, Sprague sequestered herself in Los Angeles, thousands of miles away from friends and family, and from the physical void and spiritual crisis left in the wake of her mother’s death. There, she took up surfing and released Emily Alone, which was essentially a solo album released under the Florist moniker. Only after months of self reflection and therapy did Sprague realize that life in a silo is no way to live. That a life directed by fear is not much of a life. “The trauma response to losing my best friend, my mom, was to feel really afraid to get close to anybody ever again,” she says. “It’s sort of cheesy, but I realized that life is better when you share it. The answer isn’t to isolate yourself and be alone.” So she began writing Emily Alone’s companion, the other side of the binary, a record that rings distinctly of Sprague’s tender and poetic spirit, filled with nature and wonder and tears, but without all the loneliness and seclusion. She also adopted a dog, who, she says, “completely changed my life.” “My mind just started exploding with all these thoughts about what it means to live with others, and live with love and care collaboration.” Then, for all of June of 2019, amid a hot and rainy summer, Sprague (guitar, synth, vocals), Jonnie Baker (guitar, synth, sampling, bass, saxophone, vocals), Rick Spataro (bass, piano, synth, vocals) and Felix Walworth (percussion, synth, guitar, vocals) convened in a rented house in the Hudson Valley, to live and work together. It was the first time the quartet recorded that way, and for that long. “In the past we’d meet up for a couple of days, or one day here and there,” Spague recalls. “Living together for a month is a really big part of why the arrangements are the way they are, and also why the instrumentals are such a huge part of the record.” They set up their gear on the screened-in front porch, which looked out onto a canopy of trees, allowing the sounds of nature to play a leading role through out. Then, they experimented. The production and recording of the album directly reflects the organic ways in which the band worked that month, with whispering voices, crickets, rain and birds accenting the aleatoric quality of the instrumentation, each player drawing from the communal energy of the woods and their interpersonal bonds. Poignant, guitar-centric meditation “Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)” carries on Sprague’s concern with love, loss and the natural world. “She’s in the birdsong/She won’t be gone,” she sings of her late mother, proffering a merciful sense of resolve. “Feathers” finds her facing her fears over threads of bowed guitar while “Dandelion” meditates on the beauty of our finite existence, pairing synth and fingerpicking with the spirit of Emily Dickinson. “Sci Fi Silence” occupies a liminal space between soul baring confession and contemplative new age, a swirl of analog synth that culminates in a full-band meditation. “You’re not what I have, but what I love,” the band sings over and again until the words grow into a kind of mantra, a thing that at once pierces and heals. The quartet played through muggy days and breezy nights, and often impromptu. “In between working on songs specifically, somebody would be sitting on the porch playing a little instrumental piece, and somebody else would be in the kitchen making dinner and stop, and go to the porch and pick up a random instrument,” Sprague explains. These creative bursts became the album’s ambient instrumental bridges, like “Variation” and “Jonnie on the Porch,” gentle moments that portray their life together in that particular moment. The bells heard throughout the album are from a collection housed in the rental, the animals were their neighbors. The result is 19 tracks that feel like the culmination of a decade-long journey, their fourth full-length album, but the first deserving of a self-titled designation. “We called it Florist because this is not just my songs with a backing band,” Sprague explains. “It’s a practice. It’s a collaboration. It’s our one life. These are my best friends and the music is the way that it is because of that.” After making the record they always knew they could, together, as one, Sprague could no longer live on the west coast without her band and blood. So, she returned home. Last year, she moved back to The Catskills to be closer to her father and her creative collaborators. She misses surfing, but finds peace in the area’s natural landscapes, and through a strengthening sense of physical reconnection. “A goal is to share the band’s connectedness and relationship, but also how we’re all connected,” she says. With Florist, Emily is no longer alone.

 


ABOUT SKULL CRUSHER

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Helen Ballentine’s spellbinding first full-length album Quiet the Room is the sound of a window opening, a barrier dissolving. Across these fourteen tracks, the outside world seeps in and the inside world crawls out. The result is a stunning and quietly moving work that reflects the journeys we take through the physical and spiritual realms of ourselves in order to show up for the world.

While writing the album in the summer of 2021, Ballentine drew inspiration from her childhood home in Mount Vernon, NY. What she set out to capture on Quiet the Room was not the innocence of childhood, as it is so often portrayed, but the intense complexity of it. Past and present merge Escher-like in this dreamlike space laced with elements of fantasy, magic, and mystery. Musically, this translates into a sound that feels somehow weighty and ephemeral all at once, like a time lapse of copper corroding.

To capture the effortless blend of electronic, ambient, folk, and rock, Ballentine and her collaborator Noah Weinman brought in producer Andrew Sarlo to record at Chicken Shack studio in Upstate New York, close to where Ballentine grew up. “We wanted every song to have that little twinkle, but also a sense of crumbling,” she says. These songs thrum with moments of anxiety that boil over into moments of peace, as on lead single “Whatever Fits Together,” which chugs to a ragged start before the gears catch and ease. On “It’s Like a Secret,” Ballentine struggles to connect and let people in, recognizing that no one can ever fully know our inner worlds and that to understand each other is to cross a barrier and leave a part of ourselves behind. And yet, on closing track “You are my House,” she finds a way to reach out. “You are the walls and floors of my room,” she sings in perfect, hopeful harmony.

As the album cover invites, these are dollhouse songs to which we bend a giant eye, peering into the laminate, luminous world that Ballentine has created. Like a kid constructing a shelter in a patch of sharp brambles, she reminds us that beauty and terror can exist in the same place. The complexities of childhood are so often overlooked, but through these private yet generous songs, she gives new weight to our earliest memories, widening the frame for us—even opening a window.

Miss Olivia & The Interlopers

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | 21 & Over | Public On Sale 4/25 10AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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With their debut E.P. ‘Tiny Tales’, Miss Olivia & The Interlopers showcased a bold sound and a brilliant vision, weaving blues, soul and rock & roll – sounding for all the world like your favorite mixtape from an old friend with a great record collection.

Anchored by the creative core of powerhouse vocalist Olivia Reardon and nuanced bassist David Hostetler, this is a band that leads from the heart but never compromises on craft. Drawing from influences ranging all the way from Erykah Badu, Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, St. Vincent, Lake Street Dive, Durand Jones and a million bands more, Miss Olivia & The Interlopers is a band whose performances are always unique but never less than their collective best, whether performing in a small space as an intimate trio, or as a full, dynamic eclectic rock ensemble.

In a time when many artists struggle with isolation and inspiration, this is a band that always pushes boundaries, rises to creative challenges and never loses sight of their inborn sense of community, collaboration and the pure, untethered joy of playing music for music’s sake.

Emo Nite

Doors & Show 9PM | 21 & Over | Public On Sale 4/7 11AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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$1 from every ticket sold will be donated to Living The Dream Foundation

 

ABOUT THE EVENT

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Emo Nite was started by Morgan Freed and T.J. Petracca in December of 2014. What began as a party at a small dive bar in Echo Park quickly grew into a full-blown phenomenon. The movement took has expanded from the tiny dive bar on LA’s east time, to recurring events thrown by dozens of friends in over 30 cities nationwide. Attracting some of the biggest names in music including Post Malone, Good Charlotte, All Time Low, Demi Lovato and many more, Emo Nite has also expanded to the festival circuit, curating their own full-day festivals as well as booking coveted performance spots on lineups at Coachella, Life is Beautiful, and Firefly. At its core, Emo Nite has always been about the music. Throughout the years, it has become a space where fans of the genre and the entire Emo Nite community have come together to celebrate emo music, both new and old.

Outside of curating one of a kind events, the Emo Nite founders have created successful clothing collaborations with companies like OBEY, Urban Outfitters, PLEASURES, The Hundreds, Rose in Good Faith, Chinatown Market, OWSLA.

Emo Nite has been featured in outlets like MTV, PAPER, Teen Vogue, Consequence of SoundForbesRolling StoneThe New YorkerLA TimesBillboardLA WeeklyTime Out LAAlternative PressFUSEHelloGiggles KERRANG! and talked about on the Grammy’s Red Carpet.

Bob Log III

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | 21 & Over | Public On Sale 4/4 10AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK  | SPOTIFY

Bob Log III is a one man band slide guitar party. A perverse product of the Arizona desert, Bob Log III has been diligently travelling the globe since 1996, showcasing his incomparable talents and developing a devoted following along the way. A whirlwind of dexterous limbs and digits, this super star sonic showman has to be seen to be believed.
Clad in his cannonball man, extra tight jumpsuit and signature motorcycle helmet with telephone/microphone attached, Bob Log III unfailingly sweats up a river while kicking on a kick drum, stomping his homemade foot cymbal and playing slide on an old archtop guitar. His endless pursuit for musical mayhem and a downright party has seen his unique talents utilized for children’s birthday parties, obscure beer barns, mammoth music festivals and everything in between.
Yet, beyond these mesmerizing visuals, lies the true reason for Bob Log’s international cult status and superhero adoration. It is quite simply the guitar playing – finger picked lightning, sliding up and down, stopping when it wants to, then starting again when it feels like it, all in a way that makes people move uncontrollably, smile and reel.
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Excerpts from an unpublished journal – The Adventures of Bob Log III and His Faithful Guitar, by The Guitar

Chapter 39

HELP!
162 shows this year!
30 Countries!
My strings hurt! My nut aches!
My volume knob was broken by a Swedish girl’s butt! I don’t even know where we are right now.
We have been doing this for 12 years!
One man, kicking shit and playing guitar!
He never stops! EVER!
People keep smiling, dancing, sweating, dancing…… I am covered in beer! His suit smells so bad!

QUOTES AND TESTIMONIALS

And now let’s hear some actual words from notable people who know and love, or at least know Bob Log III…

TOM WAITS “And then there’s this guy named Bob Log, you ever heard of him? He’s this little kid — nobody even knows how old he is — wears a motorcycle helmet and he has a microphone inside of it and he puts the glass over the front so you can’t see his face, and plays slide guitar. It’s just the loudest strangest stuff you’ve ever heard. You don’t understand one word he’s saying. I like people who glue macaroni on to a piece of cardboard and paint it gold. That’s what I aspire to basically.”

MILTON BERLE “Hey kid…. DO what thou wilt.”
ROBERT PLANT “Dear Bob, it’s been ages since Sweden.”
POISON IVY (The Cramps) “If you do that again, we are kicking you off the tour.”
HASIL ADKINS “Woooo! Can I have your autograph?”
R.L. BURNSIDE “Sideshow, you hanging in there like a dirty shirt. I want you playing with me tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.” PEACHES “I am NOT from Miami, asshole.”
FRANZ FERDINAND (Nick) “… Can I ride in your car?”
BLOWFLY “Bob Log, you play guitar by yourself, you play drums by yourself, you drive yourself, but I bet you need help to masturbate.”
GARY NUMAN “Hello”
WEEN “Can I have one of your sandwiches?”
SHARON JONES “Bob Log, you can use my dressing room. Wait…let me get you a towel.”
SHONEN KNIFE “Can we sit your knee?”
JIMMY CARL BLACK “Bob Log, I can’t find the hotel.”
MICK COLLINS “What was that???”
CHRISTINA SPENCER (BOSS HOG) “Can I wear your suit? Oh, wait…nevermind.”
SAHARA HOT NIGHTS “We’re not mad! Really! We love Bob Log!” (in a Swedish accent)
T-MODEL FORD “Try playing THAT, mutha fucker! HEY! You sat on my sandwich!”

ITOMO! “Nodo chinko????” RUMORS

Yes, we have all heard the rumors:
He has a monkey paw instead of a hand
Girls like to sit on his knees and bounce while he plays
Occasionally, various people from the crowd jump onstage and put their boob in his drink
He rides in an inflatable dinghy over an ocean of fans
These whispers are all best explained in the following article, which has been translated from its original publication in French, using the Transitron Whizgig 4000-
“Msr. Bob Log appears, and so joy! It is of many nights and one thousand ladies, the guitar defeats us to dance. On the top, a crown. Never has this in time! Maybe not future. Only the now, her glowing hand, can be seen. Thunder of foot escapes the stage, chasing wild tempo with sound animal. We, the entourage, are not free. Arrested! But not of shame. Many times more we ask it. Encore, Captain. Encore!” And so you see, it is all true. All Bob Log asks is that you do the math…and if you do it (correctly), you will find that (with the single exception of Hasil Adkins) Bob Log has out-guitared, out-drummed, out-sweated, out-driven, out-boated, out- bounced, out-custom agented and out-inspired all other one-man bands. Numbers never lie. Bob Log III. MY SHIT IS PERFECT.

Slothrust

Doors 7PM | Show 8PM | All Ages | Public On Sale 4/7 10AM

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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Leah Wellbaum has never been afraid of her own humility or honesty. But she’s never quite examined it the way she has now with Parallel Timeline.

On Slothrust’s latest album, bandleader Leah Wellbaum pushed herself to try and understand her own spirituality on a deeper level, putting a lens on the core wound of the human experience, the idea that we’re alone. With Parallel Timeline, Wellbaum explores the feeling of being trapped inside her own consciousness while simultaneously searching for a meaningful connection to the universe, and all the mysteries it contains.

During the writing process, Wellbaum sought to connect with her inner child – a voice that allows ideas to flow freely and without censorship. Ultimately, it allowed her to find poetic catharsis. The album’s artwork and visuals reflect that ethos as well. For her, inverted colored rainbows and orbs became a gateway to exploring the illusory things we see and experience in everyday life. The iconography of this record explores the space where science and the whimsical intersect, and where the unfamiliar becomes hardly recognizable. She is a strong believer that nothing is quite as it seems, and that a greater reality exists beyond what the human eye can see.

In advance of recording their fifth studio album, Leah, along with drummer Will Gorin, sought to dramatically expand the band’s sonic palette. Slothrust put an emphasis on incorporating new production techniques and processes into the established Slothrust sound, resulting in an extraordinary amount of experimental demo recordings, many elements of which appear themselves on the final record. They leaned into risk-taking — a freedom that comes with having been in a band together for more than 10 years, cultivating new sonic realms for each track. Leah sought to craft unique and calculated guitar parts instead of continuous bursts of wall-to-wall sound, and in turn delivers what will likely be considered a “how-to manual” for guitar playing in the next decade.

“On this record, I wanted to be even more precise with the guitar parts as opposed to creating a guitar palette, because a lot of artists, us included, have made songs that are so chock-full of guitar that distinct parts becomes a blur,” says Wellbaum. “I enjoy making that choice when it’s right but it’s the contrast of those things that I like to lean into. I strive to make the guitar sing like a human voice.”

Educated musicians all with backgrounds in classical, jazz and blues, the band’s newest work once again sees Slothrust leaning into improvisation — something that in the past has lent itself to the infectious energy of their live shows. Parallel Timeline, mixed by industry legend Billy Bush and mastered by Heba Kadry is a masterclass in balancing tenderness with the fierce guitar work Leah has become known for. With a distinct yet unified sound that blends progressive rock, acoustic and pop, Slothrust has never been more confident.

The backbone of the 10-track record is Leah’s spiritual journey and presence as a guitar god. Opener “Cranium” features a blues-tinged guitar solo inspired by Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain” that is so expressive it sings. ““The song addresses absurd ways to love someone or something, and feels very on-theme with things not always being what they appear at first,” says Wellbaum of the track. “It also touches on tenderness being painful, which I think is very true of me as someone who has spent a lot of my life trying to be very tough.”

With catchy grunge-rock jaunt “Once More For The Ocean” and the slow-burning ballad “King Arthur’s Seat,” Leah didn’t have access to an instrument when she wrote them. Instead the lyrics, she felt, were channeled through her as she stared into nature, reflecting the idea of oneness that she was searching for. Inspired by both Scotland and Billy Joel, “King Arthur’s Seat” also “addresses this core human wound that will come up time and time again for all of us, which is the feeling of being alone and separate and not really knowing what to do with that,” Wellbaum says.

With soaring guitar-riffs and Leah’s twinkling harmonies, the ethereal “Waiting” further contemplates the idea of wanting to heal yourself but not knowing how. In the track, connecting with nature – in this case, birds — is a balm. Penned with singer Donna Missal, “The Next Curse” was intended to be a “spell,” but it ended up being a curse. Flanked by thunderous guitars and Leah’s haunting vocals, the blistering rock anthem explores how even among the world’s destruction we still don’t take the time to take care of ourselves: “Earth’s gonna set on fire/But still I wait.” Producer Billy Bush’s influence shines on this track with burly guitars, Leah’s haunting vocals, and a fantastic display of vocal harmony in a feature from Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale. “Billy has that perfect balance of someone who is just easy to be around, totally gets the joke and is available to laugh and chat, but also is incredibly focused,” says Wellbaum. “His ears are magical.”

Slothrust shines particularly within its softer moments on the record. “Strange Astrology” is a stripped-down love song dedicated to Leah’s girlfriend of six years that meditates on astrological compatibility. The hymnal “Courtesy” ties into the record’s overall theme of spirituality and desire to feel connected. “I won’t ask you again if you give it to me/I won’t say it again if you get it the first time,” Leah sings.

While the majority of songs were written pre-pandemic, “A Giant Swallow” was not. The lullaby-like acoustic track unites the record and serves as a roadmap for Slothrust’s previous work, referencing lyrics spanning as early as their first record. Recalling the sweet harmonies of “Courtesy” and “Waiting,” Leah reflects on her search for the unified space. “I’ll return to the ocean/Return to the womb again/Inside of the Mother/Won’t have any questions then,” she sings with a gentle lilt. – Ilana Kaplan

The Basements

Doors 6PM | Show 7PM | All Ages

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 To provide a safer environment for the public and significantly expedite fan entry into our venues, Rialto Theatre & 191 Toole have instituted a clear bag policy as of March 1st, 2022. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues. The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry: Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12in x 6in x 12in One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziplok bag or similar) Small clutch bags, approximately 5in x 7in All bags subject to search. Clear bags are available for sale at the box office.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

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From rehearsing in a basement that could hardly fit a drum set to the big stage of Dusk Music Festival in downtown Tucson’s Jacomé Plaza, the fledgling band, The Basements have experienced their first taste of what it’s like to be rock stars in the spotlight.

The Basements competed against seven other local bands in the 2021 Dusk Battle of the Bands last month hosted at Club Congress. The winner took home $1,000 and a slot on the Dusk main stage

The band is formed by five University of Arizona students who just performed at 2:50 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, on the main stage of the two-day music festival after winning the 2021 Dusk Battle of the Bands.

The Basements’ members Sebastian Driver, Martin Calderon Jr., Dylan Goode, Brandon Pors and Alex Sciortino met through their fraternity, Theta Delta Chi and had only been in a band together since March when they played their first live performance at UA Unplugged.