Wir Können Winter Tour Dates

Posted on December 6, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

Springfield emo group Wir Können have announced dates for a winter tour that they will be doing in the beginning of January. Here are those dates:

1/2 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cocoon Room
1/3 – Chicago, IL – ???? help!!!
1/4 – Kalamazoo, MI @ TBA
1/5 – Kent, OH @ Skate Place/425 Gougler Ave
1/6 – Pittsburgh, PA @ ROBOTO
1/7 – Akron, OH @ It’s a Kling Thing! House
1/8 – Bloomington, IN – ???? help!!!!
1/9 – Springfield, IL @ Black Sheep Café

The last date on the tour is at Black Sheep, where the band will be playing their return-from-tour show on January 9th. That show will be with Bad Banshee, Nectar, and Single Player and more info on that can be found right here. Wir Können released a two-song cassette, God It’s Getting Bad back in October.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Dan Vapid & The Cheats, Death & Memphis, Looming, Hospital Job, The Seething Coast

Posted on December 6, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

Tonight there is a pretty rockin’ show happening at Black Sheep that is sure to be a good time. We have the band Dan Vapid & The Cheats coming from Chicago featuring Dan Vapid formerly of Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and more. You can stream some of Dan Vapid & The Cheat’s music below. We also have the band Death & Memphis also coming from the Chicago area, and playing some pop punk music. Tonight also features a solid lineup of Springfield local bands, which includes pop favorites Looming, who say they will be playing their last show of the year tonight. We also have the pop punk band Hospital Job, who we have not seen play at Black Sheep since they played The Fest in Florida this October. Opening things up right at 7:00 is the alternative-rock group The Seething Coast.

The show tonight starts right at 7:00 pm and admission is $7. You can find a facebook event for the show right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page where you can find a list of every show coming up at Black Sheep.

Diaper Rash: “Demo Three”

Posted on December 5, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

It looks like the Springfield hardcore band that has everyone scratching their heads has come out with yet another demo. This is “Demo Three,” and is the third demo Diaper Rash has released with one going up nearly ever single week. You can check out “Demo Three” streaming below or head over to the Diaper Rash bandcamp page where you can download it for free. Earlier last month we posted the first Diaper Rash demo along with a mysterious photo of the band. Can you figure out who might be in the band based on the photo?

We do know that Diaper Rash will be playing their first show on December 13th with Cloud Rat, Disrotted, Teen Freak, and The Wrong at Black Sheep. Come to that show to find out who these babies really are.

Today on Black Sheep Radio: 100th Episode

Posted on December 5, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

Today is a very special on the Black Sheep Radio Show because it is the show’s 100th episode. The Black Sheep Radio Show has been going strong every Friday for nearly two years now. The show has grown a lot since then, and is currently recorded right at Southtown’s very own South Town Studio by Brandon Carnes. Today on the Black Sheep Radio Show we have an all-star lineup of guests including Kevin Bradford (owner of Black Sheep), Mike Tirehaus (King Worm), Brian Galecki (Teen Freak), and Brandon Carnes (everything).

You can listen to the Black Sheep Radio show on 88.3 WQNA fm from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm today. You can also stream the show live online at wqna.org during that same time. Don’t forget to check out our radio page if there are episodes that you may have missed that you want to go back and download.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Webacksoon, Prince Louis V, Beezy Da Paperboy + More

Posted on December 5, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

Did you know that it is already time for the next hip hop show at Black Sheep? That’s right, we have a wild hip hop show happening at Black Sheep tonight, this one being called “Mic Murderers.” It’s going to feature a good lineup of hip hop and rap artists and a few rap battles. On the lineup up for this show we have the group known as “Webacksoon” and you can find some of their music streaming below. We also have Prince Louis V lined up as well as Deezy Da Paperboy. In addition to those acts, there are a few battles lined up. It is looking like those are…

Tello vs. TJ Byrd
Relentless vs. Southside
Cerius Bars vs. Get’Embo

If you enjoyed Black Sheep’s previous battle sets then there is a good chance you will enjoy this. This show is going to be $5 and start at 7:00 pm. Check out our shows page for a look at everything else coming up at Black Sheep, and you can check out 217hiphop.com for all things related to local hip hop.

26th Anniversary of Skank Skates Today

Posted on December 3, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

Today (December 3rd) is an important day in Southtown history because it marks the 26th anniversary of indoor skate park Skank Skates opening its doors to the public. The skate park opened up in 1988 after construction began that fall. Above you can see the first ramp in the park right after it was constructed (some of that ramp remains intact inside of Skanks today)! Today Skank Skates remains the longest running indoor skate park in the country.

Yesterday we released a good batch of photos from Southtown’s past which included a portion of photos of inside of Skank Skates. The dates of the photos ranged from 1988 to 2009, and you can find them all on our Historic Southtown flickr album. Check out a photo of Bruce Williams of NIL8 skating the ramp in the early 2000’s below!

Old Southtown Photos (1988-2009) Recovered

Posted on December 2, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

After a long day of scanning close to 400 photographs to a computer and carefully logging dates and organizing photos, those of us at blacksheepspringfield.com headquarters are happy to bring you a good chunk of Southtown’s past today with a pretty heavy batch of old photos. These photos range in dates from 1988 with the start of the construction on Skank Skates, all the way up until the middle of the Black Sheep-era in 2009. Above you can see some of the construction on some of the ramps inside of Skank Skates in 1992 (other ramps were constructed in 1988). Directly below you can also see a picture of Black Sheep before it was actually Black Sheep as we know it, and it was being used for storage.

Check out all 265 photos that were scanned this weekend on our newly created Historic Southtown flickr album. Also head over to our flickr page for a collection of now close to 4,000 photos and fliers from all different eras of Black Sheep’s and Southtown’s past.

New Arrivals This Week At Dumb Records

Posted on December 2, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

It’s another week at Southtown record store Dumb Records and there are plenty of new arrivals in the store. This week features some goodies from the Washington DC label Dischord Reocrds. Let’s take a look at Dumb Records’s operating hours this week:

Tuesday (today): 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Friday (show): 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday (show): 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

New LPs
Fugazi – End Hits
Fugazi – First Demos LP
Minor Threat – First Two 7”s
Minor Threat – Out of Step
Rites of Spring – Rites of Spring

New 7”s
Extreme Noise Terrier – Supercilious Emulation Apparatus
Fugazi – Furniture + 2
Try The Pie – Won, Drous
Egg Hunt – 7”

New CDs
Gomorrahizer – Pseudo Go Induced Cephalgia

Used CDs
Biter – The Infected EP
Davs N’ Dave – Ward Off The Vultures Demo
Derketa – In Death We Meet
Divided Heaven – A Rival City
Doctor Dinosaur – Godzilla Mash Super Fun Summer Jukebox
Dogbreth – Sickly Bright From Love
Elway – Delusions
Empire Builder – Empire Builder
Fine Art – For The Band
For The Win – For The Win
For The Win – The Black And The Blue
Jack’s Smirking Revenge – Sluttering…
Junior Astronomers – I Had Plans For Us
Kim Champion – Knobby Knees
The Mighty Fine – Bad Timing For Everything
Order/Disorder – Jack’s Smirking Revenge
Paul Blest / Mike the Drive / Carload Of Thieves – Split
Problem Daughter – The First Two Albums
Various – Pocket Cat! Records Compilation Vol. 1
Vigils – Vigils
Wayne Arms – Linda Allé
…Y Los Dos Pistoles – Dirty Feet

New Cassettes
Extreme Noise Terrier – Extreme Noise Terrier

Used Cassettes
Glocca Morra – Ghoul Intentions
Run, Forever – Settling
Young Mountain – A Billion Times Around

January 10th: Dumb Records 1 Year Anniversary Show

Posted on December 1, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

It’s hard to believe it, but Southtown record store Dumb Records is already nearing its one year of existence here in Springfield. The store opened up the weekend of January 10th and 11th this year in 2014. Now on Saturday, January 10th of 2015 we will be hosting a special show for Dumb Records at Black Sheep. Yes, this show is going to be at Black Sheep instead of Dumb Records because we want full rock bands to play and there will be other activities planned for inside of Dumb Records (to be announced later on). For this show we have a pretty good lineup of all local bands. Headlining the whole shebang is Caterpillar Club, the shoegaze-sludge project of Kevin Bradford, owner of Black Sheep. This show will also feature the second performance of the ten-person band lotto jazz fiasco going by the name of “International Mutant Orchestra.” We also have the return of Full Chroma, who’s last time playing at Black Sheep was for Black Sheep Fest 2014 back in July. Then will be the local band and Battle of the Bands champs, The Locals. And kicking things off we have Springfield rock group The Seething Coast.

The show at Black Sheep will start at 6:30 pm and the door price is $5. You can find a facebook event for this one soon. Dumb Records will also be open all day this day, from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm. Right now we can tell you that there will be a 15% off sale on everything in the store, and there will be other surprises announced later on. Check out our shows page if you want to have a peek at other things coming up in Southtown in 2015.

New Band Pages: The Locals

Posted on December 1, 2014 by blacksheepspringfield

With 65 active local Springfield bands on our current bands page, the list is still growing and today we have one more page added and that is for the local band that go by the name The Locals. The Locals were this past year’s winners for the Black Sheep’s annual Battle of the Bands. They won both the judicial voting and the crowd voting, and got some studio time at South Town Studio this fall. You can find out more about The Locals if you head over to their new page, right here.

Don’t forget to check out any of the other 65 current band pages we have on our bands page. Do you play in a Springfield band that has not set up a page with us yet? Shoot us an email at blacksheepspringfield@gmail.com and we will work with you to set one up.