Velvet Teen live at the Mystic Theatre,
with support from Sabertooth Zombie, OVVN & Lord Mountain

Doors 7:30pm // Show 8:30pm // 21+ // $14 Advance & $16 Day of Show

THE VELVET TEEN

Since the band's inception in late 1999, The Velvet Teen have traveled the world and challenged the very concept of genre with their eclectic and at times schizophrenic appeal. From the early EPs, which showed prowess in the pop realm, to the dynamic indie jangle of Out of the Fierce Parade, to the romantic strings and quietly political lyrics of Elysium, to the sexually charged whip-it beats of Cum Laude, The Velvet Teen truly have a talent for seducing the masses into a cult-like state, before promptly leaving the faithless with nothing but a Kool-Aid after-taste. The believers, however, will vouch that the experience is well worth the trouble.

The band officially made its debut during a brief Icelandic tour, finding founding member Judah Nagler accompanied by electronic arrangements programmed on a portable sequencer. After returning home, Nagler teamed up with former bandmate Logan Whitehurst, and together they recorded the first EP under the moniker. Joshua Staples soon joined the group, and the trio recorded a wealth of material while touring North America, Canada and Japan until late 2004, when Logan was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died from the disease in 2006. Casey Deitz filled in during Logan’s absence and later joined the group to help extend the band’s reach to Europe and record Cum Laude.

SABERTOOTH ZOMBIE

Hailing from Santa Rosa and surrounding towns in the North Bay, Sabertooth Zombie's roots go deep in that area's hardcore punk scene. Peers include Trash Talk, Ceremony, and Creative Adult; the Tooth has toured the US and Europe with these bands and more.

With Sabertooth Zombie, hardcore punk evolves into something new: a noisy, driving, hard-rockin' wall of sound, where the band members' love of classic rock, stoner jams, and outlaw country gets a chance to shine. In describing itself, the band drops names like Merle Haggard and Pink Floyd, alongside other influences like whiskey, beer, the great outdoors, and American literature. This is a band wherein the highbrow and lowbrow collide _ atop dirt-rock barn-burning and caveman bashing, frontman Cody Sullivan spits electrifying lines of poetry, such as these from Human Performance IV's closer, "Crazy Endings":

"We slept outside all summer long / Moon aware and vastly waxing / Eating up the southern yokes / Talking about anything attractive / That was when the mountains had more and the sea had less / Now we put deep thinkers in the deep end and program the television... / A mega ton hazing from the idiot A-bomb."

Yet make no mistake: while Sabertooth Zombie might be all about guitar solos and Jack Kerouac, taking inspiration from anywhere but the hardcore scene, one look at its live carnival reveals the band's true colors: they still make the kids stage dive like maniacs.

OVVN

OVVN (rhymes with “bone”) is a detuned, discordant three-piece post-punk band from the San Francisco Bay Area, originally formed in 2014.

After self-releasing a series of EPs, touring and noisily carving out a niche as a bridge between thriving North and East Bay punk communities, OVVN are teaming with San Francisco-based label Don’t Look Down Records to release their twelve-inch vinyl debut “I Love Myself And Want To Live” In June 2016.

“I Love Myself…” is the capture of OVVN’s power and potential writ into black wax. Guitars squall and writhe in surgical, acrimonious feedback; Bass and drums thrum and pound in devolutionary lockstep. Demonic, pitch-shifted vocals holler anxiety and portend misery; Hooks, riffs and melodies are vivisected and taxidermied in a dark psychedelic grime. Highly recommended for fans of old-guard visionaries such as Shellac, Sonic Youth and Unwound as well as 2010s contemporaries like Protomartyr and Pissed Jeans.

LORD MOUNTAIN

Proto-doom Lord Mountain serves up a classic, confident sound. Weaving influences of Tolkien and Sabbath in equal parts to create an expansive vision. Lord Mountain crafts a world torn asunder and only METAL can reconquer the broken lands. With soaring melodic vocals and tight solos with crushing -plodding drums. Lord Mountain rules on a throne from Santa Rosa, California, but soon they’ll own the world.