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Our friends and neighbors over in “BloNo” are putting on the 7th Annual Midwest Punk Fest this May. Covering two days with 24 bands (including Springfield’s own fudgy-core pioneers Diaper Rash and perennial teen idols The Timmy’s); this is set to be another great weekend Fest!!!

CONFIRMED BANDS: Subject to Change

FRIDAY:
THE BISTRO – Downtown Bloomington
7PM – Diaper Rash
7:45PM – Up N at ‘Em
8:30PM – Bookmobile
9:15PM – Ska’s The Limit
10PM – The Linden Method
11PM – Soy City Stranglers…
12AM – As The Crow Flies
1AM – The Timmys

SATURDAY:
THE BISTRO – Downtown Bloomington
12PM – Beer Wave
12:45PM – Cactus Kid
1:30PM – TBA
2:15PM – Must Build Jacuzzi
3PM – The Kreutzer Sonata
3:45PM – Unamused Dave
4:30PM – The MisFetts

FIREHOUSE PIZZA AND PUB – Uptown Normal
6PM – Back Alley Riot
6:45PM – The Run Around
7:30PM – Kobanes Official
8:15PM – Nard Voris
9:15PM – Dirty Rotten Revenge
10:15PM – Killshakes
11:15PM – Roberta Sparrow
12:15AM – The Slow Death
1AM – TBA

*Shows at The Bistro are All Ages with parent or legal guardian.
**Shows at the Firehouse are All Ages.

Stay up to date with all things Midwest Punk Fest by joining the Facebook event here.

With Kevin Bradford’s recent announcement that he will be leaving Black Sheep later this spring to pursue a career in professional basketball, a lot of questions have been raised about our venue’s future. Many of you are wondering who will be stepping up as the new owner of Black Sheep- and it is looking like either Brandon Carnes or Brian Galecki are likely candidates. The two have decided to take things to the foosball court to decide who the real owner of The Black Sheep Cafe will be after Kevin steps down- and there can only be one. Brian and Brandon are currently both undefeated on the foosball table which usually sits inside Dumb Records. The two have decided to hold the ultimate match tonight on the stage of Black Sheep. They are also welcoming any other challengers to compete for the Black Sheep throne.

The big match to determine the next owner of Black Sheep will be tonight on the stage at 8:00 pm. Admission is free to the public.

Many of you have been wondering what will come next for Black Sheep owner Kevin Bradford, who announced last month that he will be stepping down from Black Sheep later this spring. Kevin has been saying that there are big things that lie ahead for him, and it has finally been revealed that Kevin plans to pursue a career in professional basketball, something he has always dreamed of doing. From a recent interview with NPR:

Sports has always been a true passion of mine. My love for sports has always been at the core of Black Sheep from the very start. Now I plan on taking my love for sports one step further- I will be leaving Black Sheep to join the NBA and pursue a career in professional basketball. I will continue to try and show my support for Southtown and Black Sheep while out on the court.

This might come as a pretty big twist to a lot of you- but Kevin will not be going far! Kevin will be back to visit during the off-season, something which he has promised will be easy to do with his new 14-passenger plane. Kevin would also like to thank his new sponsors- Dumb Records and Diet Coke™.

Today we are bringing you a stream of the brand new 10-track self-titled release of Springfield “grosscore” punk band, Panzys. The album was recorded earlier this year in South Town Studio by Brandon Carnes. Stream the songs on the player embedded below. You can look out for a physical release soon. Enjoy!

Panzys also released Half Dark Heart last year. They also do not currently have any shows lined up at Black Sheep, but keep an eye out!

This week is another week at Southtown Springfield record store, Dumb Records (1107 South Grand East). This week you can find a few new and used LPs on our shelves. The countdown is also continuing for Record Store Day happening on Saturday, April 18th, which is coming up fast. Let’s take a look at Dumb Records’s operating hours for the week before we get into the new arrivals:

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: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

New LPs
Panda Bear – Meets The Grim Reaper
St. Vincent – St. Vincent

Used LPs
Bob Dylan – Street Legal
Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
Cat Stevens – Buddha And The Chocolate Box
Cat Stevens – Greatest Hits
Elvis – That’s The Way It Is
Head East – Live!
Jackson Browne – For Everyman
Jouney – Infinity
Ken Hensley – Eager To Please
Neil Young – Decade
Olivia Newton-John – Have You Never Been Mellow
Shaun Cassidy – Born Late
T. Rex – Electric Warrior
Van Morrison – Veedon Fleece
(Various) – The Best Of The Dukes Of Dixieland
(Various) – The Rock Album

Springfield music blog Some Things Can’t Be Ignored are at it again!!! This time they dig deep into the early 90s archives (1993 or 1994) to bring us “Tag! You’re It!” by Springfield power trio The Treez. From Some Things Can’t Be Ignored:

The Treez were a three piece band featuring Phil Seabrook on Bass and Vocals, Howard Freitag on Guitar, and Johnny Blazis (RIP) on Drums.  These fellas played ALL OVER Springfield and surrounding areas during the early 1990’s and had a sound that (in my opinion) perfectly envelops Springfield rock during this time.

You can head over to Some Things Can’t Be Ignored to read the full article and stream or download the full demo. Also stream the demo from The Treez below.

Looks like there are some pretty great things cooking up in Southtown for Record Store Day 2015, which will be happening this year on Saturday, April 18th! This year Dumb Records is an official Record Store Day store, and you can check out our official page on the Record Store Day site right here! This means that Dumb Records will be getting in a number of exclusive titles and releases for this special day. We can not say at this point what any of them are going to be, but you can look at this (very long) list of exclusive titles on the RSD website (which we won’t be getting close to all of). In addition to the RSD releases, everything non-RSD in the store (including new and used items) will be 10% off.

On top of all of that fun stuff, there will also be a four-band show happening inside Black Sheep at 3:00 pm to go along with Record Store Day. For that we have the long-awaited return of Central Illinois pop punkers, Horrible Things. Stream some of their music below. We also have three-piece Springfield/Bloomington/Champaign emo project Wir Können. We also have Slam Dinner and a newer Bloomington/Normal band called Unhappy Gilmore. Admission for the show is $5.

Find a facebook event for that whole she-bang right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a look at everything coming up in Southtown in the coming months.