Two years ago, the Arizona based band The Maine was just getting their start. But now, the guys in the band are Warped Tour veterans and are now out on the AP Tour with Colorado recent chart toppers 3OH!3.
After releasing their first album, The Way We Talk in 2007, their second album Can't Stop, Won’t Stop was released last summer. The album is a catchy brand of pop-punk that hearkens early New Found Glory and Blink 182. Songs like “Everything I Ask For” and “Time To Go” show off the harmonies of lead singer John O’Callaghan and provides light and easy going pop hooks.
The band has become a fixture on the touring circuit. After two weeks on the Warped Tour last year, the band toured with Good Charlotte. After that was a tour with We The Kings and lead to this current tour with 3OH!3. After all of that, the band will be on the entire Warped Tour coming up this summer.

Also on the AP Tour are the dance-punk jokesters Family Force 5 and Hit The Lights. This tour has been selling out nearly every venue. The tour stopped off in New Jersey at the Bamboozle Festival this past weekend, before going into the home stretch to the tour’s finale on May 9^th. But Pontiac is one of the last shows on this tour as the Maine plays the Crofoot on May 7^th. And sorry, yes- this show is already sold out. But if you already have tickets, you’re set and will get a little taste of what you will see later this year on the Warped Tour.

The Maine plays on the AP Tour on Thursday, May 7^th. Tickets are SOLD OUT. Additional dates and info are available at www.myspace.com/themaine. And just in case, supposedly you can call the band at (928) 225-2009 and leave a message for the band- just be nice.

With what is becoming one of the hottest club shows in the month of May, California based band A Skylit Drive and local up and comers I See Stars invade the Crofoot in Pontiac.
For a band that was founded only a few years ago (in 2006), the guys in A Skylit Drive have made some noise early. The band released their EP She Watched the Sky in 2007 , before releasing their first full length record Wires & The Concept of Breathing last summer. The album is a frantic mix of hardcore with smatterings of emo and metal thrown into the mix. Lead singer Michael Jagmin shows off his vocal range quite well on tracks like “Eris and Dysnomia” and “Knights of the Round.” For fans of the record, it's easy to even see riffs reminiscent of bands like Coheed and Cambria as well.
But the band has been hard at work on their next album, which is set for release on June 9^th. The album plans to broaden the musical horizons for the band and plans on being their biggest record to date.
Also on the bill is Warren based (Yes! Warren, Michigan) band I See Stars. The band just released their first full length record, 3-D, on Sumerian Records. The album is lead by the single “Save the Cheerleader,” which may be an obvious nod to the show Heroes. The band is getting quite an underground following locally and could grow beyond the tri-county area sometime soon.

The tour runs through May 16^th but will be heading to the Crofoot Ballroom this Tuesday (May 5^th). So, head to Pontiac to check out one of the most energetic hardcore shows you may see all year.
A Skylit Drive and I See Stars play at the Crofoot Ballroom on Tuesday, May 5^th. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Additional dates and info are available at www.myspace.com/askylitdrive and www.myspace.com/iseestars.

The Baltimore based band Ponytail, currently out in support of their 2008 release Ice Cream Spiritual, is a massive hit with the surf rocker fans. The guys in the band were formed by their art school professor for a class project. Things worked out so well that the band decided to continue on with their musical journey. To get an idea of what the music sounds like on Ice Cream Spiritual, imagine what a  souped up version of a 50s surfer-influenced rock band would sound like; sort of like Dick Dale on crack. Songs like “Beg Waves” and “Celebrate the Body Electric” are songs that are fiercely energetic and bouncy. There’s no moping around with these guys as they are starting to wow many in the indie circles and beyond. These songs that even in his most drugged out days that Perry Farrell wished he had written. (Yes, they do have some resemblance to Porno For Pyros’ Good God Urge album.)
One of the more interesting promotions for the band was having the band perform in a Queens Laundromat. Watch the You Tube clips, they're surreal and entertaining at the same time.
The band is touring heavily behind the album and will be out on the road through late May, when the band ends the tour with a hometown Baltimore show. But first, they will hit the Pike Room in Pontiac this Thursday (April 30^th). Make sure to check Ponytail out for a vibrant dose of Californian beach style rock and roll.

Ponytail plays at the Pike Room in Pontiac on Thursday, April 30^th. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Additional dates and info can be found at www.myspace.com/ponytailtunes

In the pop-punk game, there aren’t too many bands that are still around from the earlier in the decade peak and continue to put out consistently catchy material. Sure, Blink 182 reunited this year, but those guys were gone for 5 years and didn’t really seem to be too friendly in the interim. But for L.A. via South Florida based New Found Glory, the band carries on with their recently released Not Without A Fight.

The album, produced by Blink’s Mark Hoppus, deals mostly with the recent divorces of lead singer Jordan Pundik and guitarist Chad Gilbert. Lyrics about life in your 30s and divorce are new topics for any band is this genre, and with Fight, New Found Glory seems a bit more ready to tackle those topics and in turn deliver an album that more fully realized than ever before. The album is lead by the first single “Listen to Your Friends” and “Don’t Let Her Pull You Down.”

Not Without a Fight is the band’s first record since 2006s Coming Home, which the band toured tirelessly for. The band has had some major success this decade, with modern rock radio hits “All Downhill From Here” and the ultra infectious “My Friend’s Over You.” Fight is the band’s first record on old school indie label Epitaph Records, after their contract with Geffen was up, looking forward to the next phase of their career.

Opening up the show are New Jersey emo rockers Bayside, who have a cult following of their own and are gearing up to release a new album later this year. Also rounding out the bill are hardcore acts Shai Hulud and Set Your Goals. The show hits the Royal Oak Theatre this Sunday (April 26^th), and for a good time that showcases the new and the old of the genre.

New Found Glory plays the Royal Oak Theatre on Sunday, April 26^th. Tickets are $17.50 and are available at www.tickets.com. Additional dates and info are available at www.newfoundglory.com.

In late 2006, the Orange County based band Eighteen Visions were on the cusp of breaking big with their self-titled release. But with band tension reaching a high, they soon broke up in 2007 and left lead singer James Hart pondering his next move. After six months, Hart met former Nixons singer (yeah, remember “Sister”) Zac Maloy and started working on material for a new band. The band eventually became Burn Halo and starting to make some noise in the rock world with their self-titled record.

The road to the release of the debut album was not without some issues. The band, originally signed by Warner Music Group, was set to have their album released in late 2008. But the label and the band parted ways, leaving the album in limbo. The band’s management started up their own label, Rawkhead Records, and released the album in late March.

The album is a blend of straight ahead hard rock that varies greatly from Eighteen Visions’ Avenged Sevenfold-ish leaning tracks. Songs like “Save Me” and “Dead End Roads and Lost Highways” are tunes that could fit in any era of hard rock and feel right at home. The band already has a hit rock radio single, with their leadoff track “Dirty Little Girl,” which has reached the upper reaches of that chart.

The band is now starting to tour heavily behind the record. Burn Halo will be in the States through at least the end of May. For now, the band is on the Sno-Core Tour with Saliva and Static X. The show comes to Detroit this Friday (April 24^th) where they will play Harpos. The band is also back in the Detroit area when it opens for Korn and Avenged Sevenfold at DTE Energy Music Theatre on May 15^th. If you’re heading to Columbus for Rock on the Range, you guessed it, they’ll be there too. You will have plenty of chances to check out one of the most talked about new bands in rock music as Burn Halo hits the Detroit area a bunch in the near future.

Burn Halo opens for Saliva and Static-X at Harpo’s on Friday, April 24^th. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional dates can be found at www.myspace.com/burnhalo.

It’s not everyday that a band lists their 10 favorite things of the moment, but for Sacramento based band Trash Talk, they have no problem telling you that Twitter and Del Taco rank in that current Top 10. Even though Del Taco isn’t my idea of fine Mexican cuisine, it's cheap and for any band on the road, it's probably a staple.
Trash Talk is out in support of their upcoming album, East of Eden. But their self-titled release has been out since 2008 and is short and brutal in its approach. Songs like “Dig” and “Well Of Souls” clock in at just over a minute and showcases the straight to the point, hammer down your throat intensity that the band is showcasing.
The band formed in 2005 and have on the road pretty much ever since. As they state in their bio, the band has been on the road for almost 3 years straight and gone through 4 vans in the meantime. But the band’s current tour promises to be their most high profile to date as they play a series of shows with L.A. based punk/metal band The Bronx. The month long trek started in late March and wraps April 29^th. But Detroit gets their shots at these bands as they head to the Magic Stick for a show tonight (April 14^th). Make sure to check out one of the frantic sounding bands that I can remember as Trash Talk delivers a right hook to your senses.
Trash Talk opens for the Bronx at the Magic Stick tonight (April 14^th). Tickets are $12 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional dates and info can be found at www.myspace.com/trashtalkfu.