This Is the Wild West

You didn’t really think Lovefest would miss out on Kublakai and Abadawn on the “Follow The Lights” Tour did you? Luckily it’s only an hour train ride from my new home in Portland to Salem, OR where the tour stopped Saturday night. With a little adventure encouragement from fellow Lovefest ladies I walked across the pedestrian bridge by my apt to Union Station and took the next train heading south. When I got on the train I instantly threw on “The Basics” and “Lights for the Dark Nights." My apologies for the lack of photos and videos but I forgot my cellphone charger and didn't think to bring my camera, although I wish you all could have been there for the dancin’ man. Seriously, I want to look this dude up and make him a “ Kublakai Superfan” t-shirt; homie was going harrrrrd on the dance floor.

Because the train schedule worked out the way it did I missed all but the last two tracks in Abadawn’s set. Aside from Kubi holding it down, I wasn’t paying as close attention to the rest of the show because I hadn’t anticipated writing anything about it. If you missed out on this stop have no fear, Portland, Kubi and Aba are coming through the area on Nov 22nd. If you missed the Oregon shows you can check out Satyricon next Sunday night. If you're living in Cali you have no excuse, the boys are heading your way.

Apparently Camobear decided to take over Oregon for the weekend so Sunday night I was lucky enough to catch the last stop on the “The Smorgasbord Tour.” Pigeon John and Josh Martinez have been calling the road home the past few weeks but luckily for Portland, they found their way to Backspace. This time around I had my phone charged, but I still haven’t figured out how the fucker works so my attempts at video recording failed.


Iame of Sandpeople (and Oldominion AND Clockwerk) opened the show Sunday night. The first time I caught him was at the Knitting Factory in LA when he played with the rest of Sandpeople. It was great to see him rock a whole set and get the crowd hyped.

Eternal Family followed Iame and all I want to know is where these dudes came from. These three guys brought ALL their energy to the Backspace crowd.

Following Eternal Family was another dude I had yet to see. Since living in Portland, Aba had been telling me good things about Pigeon John so when Sunday rolled around and the opportunity to see him live of course I was going to go (as if there was any doubt with Josh Martinez attached to the show).

Speaking of Martinez - maybe it was the rendition of “Eye of the Tiger” or maybe it was when we all got “Drunk and Irish” but I've never had so much fun during a single rapper's set while flying solo at a show. As another artist I have only been able to catch when performing with others, his solo set was the cherry on the top of my weekend.

My boss told me that in order to meet more of "my kind of people" in another new city I “have to go to rap shows.” Whether or not that’s true it’s definitely where I feel most comfortable. Oregon has officially adopted me and in return I will give it nothing but time and respect. To it's artist (and bartenders) I will give them nothing but my hard earned dollars.

Maybe it’s because my hometown and my current home city depended on the great explorers, Lewis and Clark, for their discovery (also the name of my elementary school alma mater) or because my hometown was so close to the border we’re practically Canadian (the home country of Josh Martinez (Where you at Halifax?)) but of all the places I have seen shows I feel that the PacNW is the closest thing to home I have. I'm excited to continue to musically explore this new region of mine.

Stay tuned to the site - there's a lot of great stuff coming up. Until then, or next weekend when Sleep plays in town, check out the rest of Camobear Records.

Follow the lights

Last night Abadawn, Grynch and Kublakai (of the Let Go) kicked off their West Coast "Follow the Lights" tour at Hells Kitchen in Tacoma. Unfortunately I did not make it out this time but I didn't have to catch this performance to assure you that a good time were had by all. I've seen each of these acts enough times to know they do not disappoint. Whether or not Kubi accepted a tattoo as payment for cds I couldn't say... I did however capture Grynch and Kublakai performing a song together back in September at the Light For The Dark Nights ep release show:

Physical copies of Lights for the Dark Nights will be available on this tour as well as a limited Abadawn sampler and copies of SGBM2 and Grynch's Chemistry 1.5. Digital copies are of course available through Kublakai.com, Abaspace, and GetGrynch.com. If they're swinging through your city make sure and check them out... and snag a Kublakai sticker for Georgia while you're there. ;) I'll leave you with a new track from the upcoming Steal Gas Buy Music Volume 3. Have a great weekend kids.

Thats Whats Up -Abadawn & ThirdEye Theory from SGBM3

p.s. Kubi is down to a mere handful of copies of The Basics so consider this your last chance for a physical copy.

*please note the Eugene, Oregon show has been cancelled.

The Countdown Is On

I know a lot of my recent posts have been a bit Midwestcentric so I’m bringing it back to the Town for this one. Most of those familiar with this blog probably have at least a passing familiarity with the Let Go and its members. The Let Go is comprised of solo comedy rapper Type, Myspace beat mogul Captain Midnite, and of course the man of the hour, Kublakai. Next week Kublakai joins the ranks of The Physics, Grynch, Ripynt, and others to release free-p’s via the Internet this year. Kicking off what is already looking to be a blissfully music-heavy month, Kublakai is set to release "Lights for the Dark Nights" on September 1st for free download on his newly launched website http://www.kublakai.com/. Lights was exclusively produced by Slouch with guest spots from both Sol and the Gynch.

Tracklist (as of 1.01am 8/25)

1. Lights

2. New Day

3. Insanity Reigns

4. Appreciation w/ Sol

5. Story to Tell w/ Grynch

6. Beautiful Mind

Light's digital release will be followed by a physical release in October. The physical version will include an intro/outro and a remix of Insanity Reigns as well as an additional song. Last week Kubi and I sat down and chatted it up about the new ep, The Let Go and his Sol t-shirt. If you haven't heard it already definitely go check Appreciation featuring Sol already up on Kublakai's site as well as aboveGround Magazine, the track seriously bangs. I apologize in advance for my shaky hands, interviews make me nervous but I give you another Lovefest Exclusive, The Kubiview:

While the Let Go album has now been retired to collector's item status you can still pick up Kublakai's solo album effort, The Basics both on the road and at cdbaby.com. In addition to his solo grind Kublakai will also be touring with The Let Go in September for the Tie One on Tour with Rudy and the Rhetoric so check the myspace for dates. And if you're in the Twin Cities area Lovefest will be out in force for the 9/16 show at Big V's, don't miss out. (Also never fear Sioux Falls despite our confusion in the video there IS a date at Nutty's North.

Remember, next week, September 1st: kublakai.com. Lights For Dark Nights, FREE download. And because we know seven days is a very long time to wait we've gotten the go ahead from Kubi to give you a Lovefest sneak peak:

Kublakai- New Day (produced by Slouch)

Thanks Kubi, "I can't wait to see what comes next."

(photo credit for the live shot goes to the homie Derek, king of the flash in SoCal)