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July 21, 2007 - Weedsport Speedway - Weedsport , NY

Brand New Sin Shares Stage with Social D, Deftones, Chris Cornell & More

History of The K-Rockathon
A Year-By-Year List of When, Where, & Who

July 28, 1996 Vernon Downs Rev. Horton Heat Gus Verve Pipe Poe Howlin' Maggie Seven Mary Three The Refreshments The Toadies Solution AD The Butthole Surfers	July 13, 1997 Vernon Downs Drain STH Fountains of Wayne Cool For August Cowboy Mouth Naked Better Than Ezra Our Lady Peace Cracker The Goo Goo Dolls	July 12, 1998 Vernon Downs Possum Dixon God Lives Underwater Big Wreck Eve 6 Stabbing Westward Spacehog Our Lady Peace Third Eye Blind Smashmouth	July 11, 1999 Vernon Downs Julia Darling Splendor Train Sponge Marvelous 3 Econoline Crush Shades Apart Dovetail Joint Videodrone The Uninvited Violent Femmes Orgy	July 9, 2000 NY State Fairgrounds (2 Stages) Ultimate Fakebook Wheatus Moist Corporate Avenger The Urge 12 Rods SR-71 Finger 11 Cowboy Mouth Pimpadelic Kottonmouth Kings Earth Crisis Jimmie's Chicken Shack Lit	July 14, 2001 Vernon Downs Pressure 4-5 Drowning Pool Crashpalace Nonpoint Taproot Econoline Crush Adema Cold boyhitscar Crazytown Papa Roach Staind
July 14, 2002 Oswego Speedway (2 Stages) Dogs on Mars Dragpipe Damn Glad Mad at Gravity 3rd Strike Dry Cell Trik Turner Audiovent Abandoned Pools Mushroomhead Earshot Nonpoint Sevendust Filter Puddle of Mudd P.O.D.	August 16, 2003 Vernon Downs Plan 607 Cauterize The Exies Revis Saliva MxPx Cold Evanescence Local H.	July 30, 2004 Weedsport Speedway Caustic Travisy Theory Wettwerks Nonpoint Skindred Sevendust Fuel Cypress Hill Hoobastank	July 16, 2005 Weedsport Speedway Seven Mary Three Cake Shinedown Trapt Tsar Ra boyhitscar Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers & Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society.	July 22, 2006 Weedsport Speedway Seether Shinedown Buckcherry Candlebox Blue October Breaking Benjamin Hurt Evans Blue+ People In Planes Brace +scheduled, but did not play	July 21, 2007 Weedsport Speedway Strata Sick Puppies Brand New Sin Black Lite Burns Drowning Pool Evans Blue Social Distortion The Deftones Chris Cornell

You Know It's Summer When They're Rockin' in Weedsport!

The 12th annual K-Rockathon rolled into Weedsport, NY on July 21, 2007. Since the concert's introduction in 1996, it has grown to be one of Central New York's most anticipated music events each year. I have attended every single one. But this year's show had me really psyched because it featured Social Distortion! I bought my tickets the day they went on sale and counted off the days until the show arrived.
The weather for the 2007 K-Rockathon was perfect. Skies were clear; and temperatures were in the upper 70's. You couldn't have asked for a better day for a music festival.
Dawn and I arrived at the Weedsport Speedway around 10 AM and got busy walking around to all the tailgaters and doing the button thing.
We bumped into many old friends, and met a whole bunch of new people.
There were many people that are there every year that were actually waiting for me to show up. One guy even had two dollars stashed in his pocket that were put there just in case I was there. He got his two buttons and asked about what was up with the site. I gave him the low-down and thanked him. After that we were back to work.
Around noon, we took a short break while waiting for Sven, Jackie and Courtney to arrive. They had parked at Dawn's mother's house and walked over to the show.
We met up with them and they tagged along with Dawn and I for a short time as we continued doing our thing. After about a half hour they grew bored with it and headed inside. The lovely Miss Dawn and I kept on keeping on, selling buttons and passing out flyers for my DECONSTRUCTION party that would be taking place four days after the K-Rockathon.
I missed the first two acts Strata and Sick Puppies because I was still working, but I could hear them pretty well from the parking lot. Not being a big fan of either band, I wasn't too disappointed about not seeing them. I will say that, although they are not my particular cup of tea, from where we were they sounded all right.
We were still in the parking lot when hometown heroes Brand New Sin came out on stage for their first ever appearance at a K-Rockathon. Dawn and I headed inside to catch their set.
Many people in the Syracuse area will agree with me when I say it was about damned time the guys got to play the festival. They have gone places and toured with bands that many other bands would sell their souls to tour with.

Brand New Sin Highlights from 2007 K-Rockathon
Video Shot & edited by Jason Piraino

When rock fans think of Syracuse, New York they often think of Hardcore Punk and the Straightedge movement. Bands like Earth Crisis used Hardcore to promote drug- & alcohol-free living, veganism, and spirituality. Despite Syracuse's reputation as a Punk/Straight-Edge town, not every band has a Straightedge connection.
Brand New Sin (BNS) has nothing at all to do with Straightedge; if anything, these rowdy, long-haired, tattooed, decadent, hell-raising Head Bangers sound like they are rebelling against everything that Syracuse's Straightedge scene stood for. They drink their beer from bottles, eat baked potatoes with their steak, and love wearing their leather jackets.
Heavy, yet consistently melodic, Brand New Sin has been influenced by a variety of metal and hard rock bands, and those influences range from Motörhead, Black Sabbath, and Guns N' Roses to Pantera and Metallica. There are also traces of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Southern Rock in the band's material. Although Brand New Sin has plenty of '70s and '80s influences, the band has enough of a Corrosion of Conformity/Down influence to avoid sounding flat-out retro and be relevant to the current alternative metal scene.
In June of 2002, Now or Never Records released Brand New Sin's self-titled debut album. The album garnered acclaim from such mainstream outlets as Billboard and Guitar One. CMJ New Music Monthly stated: "BRAND NEW SIN is the finest rock act to emerge from the underground in recent memory."
The group went on to earn a devoted legion of fans through relentless touring with a wide array of artists, from Motörhead to Zakk Wilde's Black Label Society and Slayer to Breaking Benjamin and Saliva. They have also performed at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
The band's blue-collar image and tough as nails sound also earned them a place in the Jack Black movie "School of Rock." The band was on set for three days and ended up with a very brief appearance in the film and one of their songs plays during the credits.

In 2004, Brand New Sin signed a worldwide deal with Century Media Records. They released their highly anticipated sophomore effort, titled "Recipe For Disaster". The album "Tequila" was released in 2006.
It's the stunning blend of Joe Altier's captivating roar and melodic overtones mixed with the band's gritty, rock-solid rhythm section of bassist Chuck Kahl and drummer Kevin Dean, and Kenny Dunham and Kris Wiechman's blistering guitar solos and pummeling hooks that help this group appeal to a diverse audience. And from what I could see, the K-Rockathon crowd definitely loved it.
Five minutes before the Syracuse natives took the stage, the crowd began to chant "Brand New Sin!" It was awesome. Brand New Sin came out and tore up the stage, opening with the song Freight Train and followed it with Arrived. The crowd went wild. There was a decent mosh pit and plenty of crowd surfers.

Brand New Sin's fans joined in, singing along to The Loner, which was followed by Black and Blue, Brown Street Betty, and Dead Man Walking.
The band ended their set by dedicating one of their final songs to all the men and women in uniform that risk their lives to protect our freedom and launched into "My World", their biggest hit to date. The crowd sang along and gave them a huge roar of applause.
They band ended with Motormeth off of the newest album, Tequila.
The capacity crowd at the event let out a huge roar for the hometown heroes as they left the stage.
About a half hour after their set ended, BNS came out to the K-Rock tent by the side of the stage and signed autographs for their fans. The line was very long as many of the Central New York fans congratulated the boys on their K-Rockathon appearance.
When I walked up, Joe greeted me with open arms. I congratulated the band on their performance and had them sign a few posters to give away as prizes at DECONSTRUCTION. After the autograph session, I met up with singer Joe Altier and did a short interview.

Brand New Sin Interview with Joe Altier

TATW: What the fuck was it like playing your first K-Rockathon?
Joe: Uh, it's about fucking time that's all I gotta say. It was amazing of course, but it's about fucking time.
TATW: A lot of people in Syracuse and the Central New York area think it's about time too. You guys should have been put on here years ago. I don't want to be bashing K-Rock, but as a local band that has done so much, you guys should have been on there. It's cool that they finally gave you guys the props you deserve.
Joe: As much as we've done and who we've toured with in the states and overseas, it was still kinda bittersweet to not be able to have that hometown show. We've always had respect in our hometown. I love our fans. But like, the higher up respect in being given something like this is like a coronation… like, yeah, you guys have done it.
It's like that for a lot of bands around the country, they've done great, but their hometown seems to be something like that. So, bless this Hell, man. We're happy.
TATW: You guys have done a lot for the scene here. You guys are always doing shows and stuff for people. It's fucking great. So, this is the biggest crowd you guys have ever played in front of?

Joe: Yeah! I mean, we've played in front of three thousand people in front of Stone Sour and Black Label, but not like fucking ten thousand people, ya know…
TATW: It's a big crowd here today and they went nuts when you played. Everybody up front was just going berserk. It was fucking great!
Joe: It was cool. It made it all worthwhile. It got the nervousness and shit out of me. It was really cool.
TATW: Was there any particular moment of the show that was your favorite?
Joe: It was definitely during "My World". I mean, obviously, it's our most known song that's gotten the most play over the years. Everyone was singing that and I could stop and everyone was singing that… right after that we went into "Motormeth" and to have the entire racetrack break out into a mosh pit… I haven't seen that at all today.
TATW: Yeah, that was awesome. So, what is coming up for Brand New Sin in the near future?
Joe: We're gonna do some bigger shows. We're gonna do a Watkins Glen NASCAR race, and the Inner Harbor in Syracuse, and we're playing the Coliseum Stage at the [New York State] Fair. And then, after that, we're going on tour in Canada with Saliva for a couple of weeks. And then, I think, we're gonna spend the fall and winter recording a new record and staying at home getting ready for the next step.
TATW: Cool. Do you have any final words you'd like to say to the fans out there checking this out?
Joe: I love TomAroundTheWorld… dot com!
TATW: Thanks a lot brother!
For more info on Brand New Sin, check out their website at www.BrandNewSin.com or on MySpace.com/BrandNewSin

After my interview, I caught a few minutes of Black Light Burns. I am not that familiar with the band, other than the song Mesopotamia from the 28 Weeks Later movie soundtrack. They turned in a good performance. The band features Wes Borland formerly of Limp Bizkit. I was never a huge Limp Bizkit fan, but this band was really nothing like that. Upon his second exit from the band, Borland looked for his next project to be more musically varied, quirky, and unpredictable. No stranger to oddball side projects (just check out the one-and-only release by Bigdumbface Duke Lion Fights the Terror!!, for the proof), Borland also sought something a bit more permanent, which led to the formation of Black Light Burns. While some of the material had been demoed years earlier, it wasn't until Borland decided that he was going to pull double duty as the band's lead vocalist - and the enlistment of former Nine Inch Nails member Danny Lohner - that the project came to life. With Lohner supplying bass, Joshua Eustis playing keyboards, and studio vet Josh Freese keeping the beat, Black Light Burns recorded what was to become the group's debut full-length, 2007's Cruel Melody (the first release for former Limp Bizkit producer Ross Robinson's new label, I Am: Wolfpack). But with none of the other contributors willing to commit to touring in support of the album, Borland enlisted the aid of a whole new supporting cast for the road - including second guitarist Nick Annis, bassist Sean Fetterman and drummer Marshall Kilpatric, formerly of The Esoteric.

For fans wondering if Borland would truly commit long-term to the band, he has confirmed that a second album was nearly halfway penned right around the release of Cruel Melody.
Up next was Drowning Pool. The Dallas-based heavy metal group was one of the most promising bands of the early 2000s. Their debut album, Sinner, was certified platinum within six weeks of its release while their first single, "Bodies," was one of the most frequently aired videos on MTV by a new band.
They amassed a large fan base with performances at Wrestlemania XVIII and Ozzfest during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Unfortunately, their streak of success was not to last. Shortly after the band's performance at Ozzfest in Indianapolis, IN, on August 3, 2002, vocalist Dave "Stage" Williams was found dead of natural causes on the tour bus.
In January 2004, the band announced the addition of singer Jason "Gong" Jones and the band's sophomore effort, Desensitized, followed several months later. In 2006, Ryan McCombs assumed the vocal duties and a year later they released Full Circle.
Drowning Pool turned in a good set for the K-Rockathon and it got even better when Joe Altier of Brand New Sin came out and joined the band onstage during Bodies. The crowd went wild.
For More info on Drowning Pool check out their site at www.DrowningPool.com or on MySpace.

The next band to perform was Evans Blue, a modern hard rock quintet from Toronto. Evans Blue was supposed to play the 11th K-Rockathon in 2006, but due to a 17-mile traffic back up along the New York State Thruway caused by the show, the band was unable to perform. The band was able to make it to the 12th K-Rockathon, so I guess it was a case of better late than never…
Comprised of vocalist Matisyn, guitarists Parker Lauzon and Vlad Tanaskovic, bassist Joe Pitter, and drummer Darryl Brown, Evans Blue came together around 2003 after its members found each other by chance through a local musician's message board. The group signed with Pocket Recordings in 2005, and their debut, The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume, was released in February 2006. A spring tour, supporting Taproot, followed. During the tour, Brown left unannounced, to be replaced by Davis Howard.
In July 2007 the band's second album, The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends, hit shelves.
The band played an excellent set, as if they were making up for not being at the last K-Rockathon. The crowd really got into them, and I snapped off a lot of photos. After three songs, I watched the band from the crowd.
After Evans Blue, it was time for the mighty Social Distortion!
Everyone that knows me is aware of the fact that my two favorite bands in the entire world are The Sex Pistols and Social Distortion. Formed in 1978, Social Distortion didn't release their first album until 1983. Social Distortion appears in the documentary Another State of Mind, chronicling their 1982 tour with Youth Brigade. One of the longest-lasting L.A. Punk bands, Social Distortion has ridden out numerous personnel and style changes. In its 30-plus year career, singer-songwriter/guitarist Mike Ness has been the band's one constant member. Mike Ness has been on my HeroQuest list since I began the campaign. It has been said by many that Mike Ness is on the track to becoming the next legendary Johnny Cash-type icon, and I couldn't agree more.

As part of my preparations for the K-Rockathon, I did an interview with Mike Ness on July 10th. We talked for a half hour about the band's thirty-year history, new Greatest Hits collection and Ness' personal life. Ness was very open about his past trials and tribulations and it made for an interesting and informative interview. (Click Here For Interview Page, I would have posted it here, but it's soooo long...)

I got right up into the photo pit to get my pictures of Social Distortion, but ended up having to wait because they started late. It appeared that there was some sort of electrical problem, and the stage crew was doing their best to work it out.
Many women in the crowd flashed their breasts and it kept most people amused until the technical difficulties were worked out.
During the wait, I took photos of the crowd and tossed out a bunch of TATW buttons. After about ten-minutes, Social Distortion took the stage and the crowd roared!
Mike Ness was dressed in Black Kat Kustoms shop blues with a bandana around his face, looking like the guitar gangster that he is... He walked onto the stage with a bunch of roses and tossed them out to people in the crowd. As he let go of the last flower, a stagehand gave him his guitar, and the band, consisting of guitarist Jonny Wickersham, drummer Charlie Quintana, and bassist Brent Harding, launched into their set.
Mike kept walking right up in front of me as I photographed the performance, almost as if he wanted me to get great shots. I snapped away on my camera while the band played Road Zombie, Nickels and Dimes, and Highway 101. After those songs, it was time for me to leave the pit and watch the rest of the show.
I watched intently as Mike Ness and the boys blazed through Bad Luck, Mommy's Little Monster, and Sick Boy. It was flawless, and I loved every minute of it. I kept track of all the songs and wrote them down to get an accurate set list.
About midway through the set, Ness took a few moments to reflect on thirty years of history.

with Mike Ness