Do not miss Rocket From The Tombs

Submitted by Norm Roulet on July 9, 2006 - 1:55am.
2006/07/26 - 8:00pm
2006/07/26 - 11:30pm

While looking for song of the day Lyrics from Cleveland's greatest, Pere Ubu, I stumbled across the following amazing news on Ubu Projex - the cyber avant garage of Pere Ubu...

RFTT Returns!
After a successful writing session in Cleveland at the end of April Rocket From the Tombs will be playing shows in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Hoboken, Boston, New Haven and Northampton MA at the end of July, and then Nashville & Atlanta at the beginning of Sept. The band is as before: David Thomas, Richard Lloyd, Cheetah Chrome, Craig Bell and Steve Mehlman.

I saw the 2003 first post-modern tour of TFTT and it was the best. I won't bother gushing on my own about this one - trust me or read more below and at the links and then get tickets to this show at the Beachland Ballroom ASAP as it will sell out... and I'll cover this one.

[rftt.jpg]
RFTT 2003: Richard Lloyd, Craig Bell, David Thomas, Steve Mehlman and Cheetah Chrome.

Rocket From The Tombs existed for less than a year, played fewer than a dozen shows and was probably never seen by more than a few hundred people but it has over the decades since 1975, due to a frenetic trafficking in bootlegs, acquired an international status out of all proportion to its popularity.

When the band split in the summer of 1975, David Thomas and Peter Laughner went on to form Pere Ubu, taking along rock classics such as "Final Solution," "Life Stinks," and "30 Seconds Over Tokyo." Cheetah Chrome and John Madansky formed the Dead Boys, taking "Sonic Reducer," "Ain't It Fun," "Down In Flames," and several others.

In February 2003, for the first time in 27 years, the band played together at the Disastodrome Festival at UCLA, Los Angeles CA. Richard Lloyd from Television stepped in to complete the original two guitar attack. "An explosive, revelatory set," reported the Los Angeles Times.

In June 2003 Rocket toured 6 cities to huge acclaim.

David Fricke, editor of Rolling Stone, wrote, "No on else in American rock, underground or over, in 1974 and '75, was writing and playing songs this hard and graphic about being f**ked over and fighting mad. No one else is doing it now."

Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Rocket From the Tombs is not just the great lost proto-punk band of the '70s. It's one of the best bands of the 21st Century too."

[podem.jpg]

A cd of original source demo tapes and live material, The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs (Smog Veil Records) was released in 2002.

The Wire said, "Blazing amazing trails, they deserve to be celebrated, not consigned to a historical footnote."

"Les Inrockuptibles said, "A record of great historical importance, envisaging the Punk-Rock revolution..... Furious songs full of tension and of a surprising modernity that deserve being regarded alongside the best songs of the MC5, Patti Smith, The Stooges or VU on the list of the seminal non-mainstream rock bands."

Billboard said, "It's flabbergasting stuff"

The Village Voice said, "The darkest, most desperately unforgiving sound."

In the wake of such effusive press a second US tour, Rocket Redux 2, was organized for November-December 2003 and an album of live in the studio versions of the set called Rocket Redux was released on Smog Veil Records on Feb 24 2004, in the USA, and on Glitterhouse in Europe and on Bomba, Jan 25 2004, in Japan. David Thomas explains:

"After the success of the June tour we decided to finish off the country with a western swing. After every show of the first tour we were asked for cds of the current band doing the songs. We decided to record the current set of material with the new band for sales as a concert merchandise only item. Richard Lloyd engineered, produced and mixed the new recordings at his studio over a couple lost weekends. Along the way we got excited about the outcome and decided to release it commercially."

Always a volatile union of incompatible individuals RFTT finished the Redux 2 Tour determined to never play together again. Already committed to a headline appearance at the Punk Kongress in Germany Sep 25 2004, though, it got together one more time and re-discovered its enthusiasm for each other. Other projects intervened but in 2006 they got together in Cleveland for a writing session - which went surprisingly well.

Ballroom
Wednesday
July 26th

 9 PM $15
 Rocket From the Tombs
David Thomas (Pere Ubu)/ Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) / Richard Lloyd (Television)/ Steve Mehlman (Roué) / Craig Bell
opening: This Moment In Black History

up
Location
Beachland Ballroom
15711 Waterloo Road
Cleveland, OH
See map: Yahoo! Maps , Google Maps , MapQuest
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Ultimate NEO Excellence: Rocket From The Tombs
Submitted by Norm Roulet on July 25, 2006 - 5:27pm.

Okay supporters of all things great and cool in NEO - time to step out!

Cleveland son and eternal Cleveland supporter, global avant-garage superstar David Thomas - of Rocket From The Tombs and Pere Ubu and all things Ubu Projex - brings the mind-blowing Rocket From The Tombs back to Cleveland - for the first show of their 2006 national tour - at the transformational Beachland Ballroom - and any of you that love art, music, culture and cool stuff in general must attend... check-out thins line-up: David Thomas (RFTT, Pere Ubu), on vocals, Cheetah Chrome, (RFTT, The Dead Boys) on guitar and vocals, Richard Lloyd (Television) on guitar, Craig Bell (RFTT, Saucers) on bass and vocals, Steve Mehlman (Pere Ubu) on drums.

David Fricke, an editor at Rolling Stone magazine, once wrote, "No on else
in American rock, underground or over, in 1974 and '75, was writing and
playing songs this hard and graphic about being f**ked over and fighting
mad. No one else is doing it now."
Don't be thinking "1974/5... this is a revival." Hell no - this is a front-line bleeding edge always-experimental sonic blast - always NEO-loyal Thomas brought RFTT to the Beachland three years ago and it brought the house down and got raves from all - do not miss this chance to see the latest from RFTT... from Ubu Projex to you... before David morphs back into Pere Ubu for release of a much anticipated new disk Why I Hate Women and tour for that, this fall (hopefully bringing Pere Ubu back to Cleveland along the way.... let's pack the RFTT show to make sure they come back soon.

Show your support and have your appreciation for Cleveland-born genius and all music greatly expanded. Much more to post on this as the show nears and passes - for now, I just want to make sure you are planning to join us - this is the ultimate NEO Excellence experience - at the Beachland Ballroom - 15711 Waterloo Road - See map: Yahoo! Maps , Google Maps , MapQuest - opening This Moment in Black History - only $15 dollars - BE REAL!


Hello Cleveland!

Just a reminder that your native sons, ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS, are coming
home to kick off their summer tour:
Wed., 7/26
at Beachland Ballroom
in Cleveland, OH
9:00pm - This Moment in Black History
10:00pm - RFTT

**

Press Release:

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS TOUR IN NINE U.S. MARKETS
BEGINNING WITH HOMETOWN SHOW 7/26/06
AT THE BEACHLAND BALLROOM IN CLEVELAND, OH

Chicago, IL, Tues., June 6, 2006 ­ Seminal punk rock legends Rocket From The
Tombs return for another round of U.S. tour dates to promote their two Smog
Veil Records releases: Rocket Redux (2004) and their classic retrospective
release, The Day The Earth Met Rocket From The Tombs (2002). The tour will
kick off on July 26, 2006.

After a successful writing session in Cleveland this past April, the band
will hit the road and play in seven U.S. tour markets. The line-up
continues to be David Thomas (RFTT, Pere Ubu), on vocals, Cheetah Chrome
(RFTT, The Dead Boys) on guitar and vocals, Richard Lloyd (Television) on
guitar, Craig Bell (RFTT, Saucers) on bass and vocals, Steve Mehlman (Pere
Ubu) on drums.

Rocket From The Tombs debuted at the Viking Saloon, a rock club in downtown
Cleveland, on the June 16th, 1974. David Thomas had previously acquired a
measure of local celebrity writing for Cleveland's Scene magazine under
various aliases. The most prominent of these, the wonderfully named Crocus
Behemoth, evolved into a full-fledged alter ego to front the new band. With
a mound of wild hair, Behemoth earned himself a reputation as a crazed,
completely unpredictable stage performer. Their first set consisted of
nearly the entire Kick Out The Jams album, plus an early version of "What
Love Is."

Founding members Laughner and Behemoth eventually morphed into Pere Ubu
whilst Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz went on to form The Dead Boys.

Songs like "Life Stinks" and "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (both later recorded by
Pere Ubu) are indicative of the anomie, and restlessness felt by Cleveland's
pre-punk punks. But its tracks like "Final Solution" and "Sonic Reducer"
that shine as two of the most important anthems to come out of punk's first
wave.

David Fricke, an editor at Rolling Stone magazine, once wrote, "No on else
in American rock, underground or over, in 1974 and '75, was writing and
playing songs this hard and graphic about being f**ked over and fighting
mad. No one else is doing it now." While Greg Kot from the Chicago Tribune
wrote, "Rocket From the Tombs is not just the great lost proto-punk band of
the '70s. It's one of the best bands of the 21st Century too." And the
Cleveland Scene wrote "After years of anonymity, Rocket From The Tombs has
come to represent the match strike for the entire worldwide punk explosion."

Visit Rocket From The Tombs online at http://www.ubuprojex.net/rftt.html and
the label at www.smogveil.com for more information and tour updates.

Smog Veil is an independent record label based in Chicago, IL (founded in
Cleveland, OH). The label¹s three priority releases for this year are Thor,
Devastation of Musculation, on July 25, 2006; Unknown Instructors (with Mike
Watt of Minutemen, fIREHOSE) on August 29, 2006 and Pere Ubu (with David
Thomas and Steve Mehlman) on September 19, 2006. Additional releases out
on Smog Veil Records include David Thomas and two pale boys, Amps II Eleven,
Rubber City Rebels and New Christs (featuring Rob Younger of Radio Birdman).

Rocket From The Tombs Tour Itinerary (all dates may be subject to change):
Wed., 7/26 at Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
Thurs., 7/27 at Club Café in Pittsburgh, PA
Fri., 7/28 at Café Nine in New Haven, CT
Sat., 7/29 at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY
Sun., 7/30 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ
Mon., 7/31 at TT The Bear's in Cambridge, MA
Tue., 8/1 at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA
Fri., 9/1 at Mercy Lounge in Nashville, TN
Sat., 9/2 at Drive Invasion at Starlight Six Drive In in Atlanta, GA

Disrupt IT

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