We are crazy about Wir Können here at blacksheepspringfield.com today. Earlier today we were streaming the band’s newest release God, It’s Getting Bad on our site. Don’t forget to check that out here. This afternoon we are coming to you with a video of the band’s full set from the show at Black Sheep this past Saturday along with Knives, I’m Dead Inside, Sybassian, and Looming. You can check out the video embedded below. Also find a good chunk of photos from the show that night right here on the AJ Francis Photography facebook page.

Check out our vids/pics page to find an archive of all sorts of photos and videos from Black Sheep and other Springfield shows over the years.

We hope all you kids are ready for this final weekend of summer before school starts again next week. It’s going to be a great weekend of shows too- tonight is our second show in a block of four nights in a row with shows. This show features the local dream-wave punk band JAG. See them rock. Then we have a few touring acts. We have Teenage Swoon coming from Texas. Stream some of their music below. Did you know that Teenage Swoon has a release coming up on local Springfield record label Guard Records? On tour with Teenage Swoon and also from Texas is a band called Dahling. Then we have another band from Fargo, North Dakota on a completely separate tour coming through called Baltic To Boardwalk. Topping things off we have a performance by Springfield two-piece, Atlas At His Finest.

The show tonight kicks off at promptly 7:00 pm (there are six bands playing). Bring $5. You can find a facebook event for this one right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a look at what else is coming up at Black Sheep and Dumb Records.

Fall is quickly approaching, and it is time for us to re-boot our roundtable and street team meetings at Black Sheep. A while back we started hosting roundtable meeting to talk about things we can approve upon as a venue. The meetings resulted in a lot of positive changes, including our ceiling getting worked on and a new stage. This Saturday at 2:00 pm inside Dumb Records we will being having another go at our roundtable meetings. We will be talking about Black Sheep and Dumb Records related things and then we will disperse on street team missions. If you are wanting to help us flier and promote for upcoming shows, come out!

Don’t forget that we have an entire get involved page on our site listing off plenty of ways that you can do to help in our community if you are interested.

Here we are today bringing you another brand new page on our site for another brand new Springfield rock group. This one is for the new screamo band called Knives. Knives played their very first show at this year’s Black Sheep Fest and they blew us all away. The band features members of Our Lady, Looming, Asthma, Caterpillar Club, Foxtail, and a few other bands. If you head over to their newly created page (right here) you can read a little more about the band and stream some songs from their recently released EP. Be on the lookout for more Knives shows very soon.

Knives isn’t the only band we have a band page for. You can find the long list of 70-something band pages we have built here on our current bands page. Do you play in a Springfield band that hasn’t yet set up a page with us? We would love to hear from you! Get ahold of us at blacksheepspringfield@gmail.com and we will work with you to set something up.

Lookie lookie Black Sheep Fest is finally upon us and it’ll be happening today! Black Sheep Fest is a celebration of Springfield local music and Black Sheep as an all ages venue since 2005. There are 21 bands playing this year all local to Springfield. Check out the order of the bands that will be playing (starting with the last band first for exciting effect)

OUR LADY – 10:30
SOAP SCUM vs. TABLE DRAMA – 9:40
LOOMING – 9:00
FOXTAIL (reunion) – 8:20
ASTHMA – 7:40pm
WAR MAGIC – 7:10
JAG – 6:40
MOUTHSEX – 6:10
BOON – 5:30
BLIND SOCIAL – 4:50
MEREDOSIA – 4:20
BUILT IN A DAY – 3:50
SWAMP RAT – 3:20
THE OSWALDS – 2:50
KICKSTART – 2:20
AKANAME – 1:50
FULL CHROMA – 1:10
WILT CANDY – 12:50
I’M DEAD INSIDE – 12:30
KNIVES (first show) – 12:10

Some special things to take note of: The Blind Social is the battle of the bands winner so check them out. There will also be a really epic battle set between Soap Scum and Table Drama, so see who the victor is and don’t miss the theatrix. This will also be new hardcore band Knives (featuring the same members of Our Lady as well as Looming) playing at noon and this will be their first show, so don’t miss it!! They’ll be starting the fest off. Also, as you can see- Foxtail is playing a reunion show so this is your one rare chance to see Foxtail live again. There are so many rad things going on at this fest and in Southtown: there will be a donation based junk sale to help benefit the venue as well as people who would rather have other people’s junk rather than their own. Clay’s Popeye’s Barbeque (a few doors down from Dumb Records) will be featuring their new VEGAN options! Go buy their food during the fest, it’s legitimately tasty.

Come out to Black Sheep Fest today, it’ll start at noon for only $5! Don’t forget to stop by Dumb Records too, and overall just keep it real. Here’s some advice for preparing yourself for the fest: in the words of Molli Squires, “just go with it”.

We all know that cover shows are a lot of fun. We had a blast at the Black Sheep Cover Show this past May, and also at the similar one which was held at Bar None soon after. Did you know that Donnie’s Homespun also has a cover show will a killer lineup of local bands coming up this Friday (August 25th)? The cover show happening at downtown venue and pizza restaurant has a little bit of a twist- you won’t know the bands being covered until the show is happening. Right now we only know the local bands participating! Here is that list:

The Timmys
Josh Catalano & The Dirty Thoughts
The Blue G’s
Tom Irwin
Los Injectors
Looming
Blue Ribbon Revival

Sounds like a pretty great lineup of local bands. The seven acts playing will kick off right at 8:30 pm. According to the Donnie’s Homespun calendar and website, this event will be ages 18 plus, and admission is $7. You can find a facebook event for the show right here. If you are interested in checking out more local shows outside of Black Sheep, head over to our Springfield shows page.

Springfield Screamo band I’m Dead Inside has recently recorded 7 songs that will soon be released on cassette via Guard Records. This will be the band’s second release of 2014 after releasing their 3 song demo “Songs Written Before Jumping Out Of A 8 Story Window.” The upcoming EP includes new and updated recordings of the original 3 songs as well as 4 brand new tracks for your listening pleasure. Recordings and mixing was undertaken by Mario Canamela in the basement of Harm House, and the release will be handled by Guard Records. The tape will be available for purchase at Black Sheep Fest 2014 as well as Guard Records store.

This is it! Wow, Battle of the Bands 2014 is upon us folks, and there is going to be so much talent tonight at Black Sheep. Check out all the local acts! We’ll have the pleasure of hearing the viral drool punkers in Panzys, the snazzy jammers in Blind Social, some new and unheard tunes from the band The Locals, the rad punksters in Schnozzberry Jam and the brutal tones of Desecrate the Kingdom. Set times are as follows:

Panzys: 9:30-9:55
Blind Social: 8:55-9:20
The Locals: 8:20-8:45
Schnozzberry Jam: 7:45-8:10
Desecrate The Kingdom: 7:10-7:35

Will there be prizes for the winning bands? Oh yes, there will be indeed! One crowd-voted winner will receive one time slot on BLACK SHEEP FEST 2014 happening July 26th! That will definitely be a cool honor to recieve. Also, one winner voted by a panel of trusted judges will receive a free demo recorded at South Town Studio! Check out our good looking panel of judges pictured below. South Town Studio pumps out some GREAT local music, so whoever wins it will be very lucky! The door is only $5, and the show is at 7:00 pm! Come out to hear the bands and see who wins, your time will be well worth it. Bring your friends!

The Black Sheep Battle of the Bands is happening again this year and it’s coming up fast!  The battle is only two weeks from tomorrow (Saturday, July 12th) and tonight we are here with our finalized lineup of five young bands ready to compete in the battle. This year’s lineup features…

Panzys
Blind Social
The Locals
Schnozzberry Jam
Descrate the Kingdom

That’s it! As you can probably tell some of these bands have played the stage at Black Sheep before, and some are entirely new. This year there will be similar awards to two winning bands. The first prize will go to the crowd-favorite band, and that will be a spot on this year’s Black Sheep Fest happening on Saturday July 26th. The second award goes to a band chosen from a panel of judges, and that will be a free four song demo recorded at our very own South Town Studio. Good luck to all of the bands!

The whole thing is going to start at 7:00 pm and will cost $5 like a regular Black Sheep show. You can find a facebook event for this one right here. Also be sure to check out what else we have coming up at Black Sheep this summer on our shows page.