Pajama Jam 2011; Jam in your jammies May 13th!

The Pajama Jam Flyer!

      Get ready to sport your favorite (appropriate) nightwear and listen to some of the best local bands! Pajama Jam, which was originally set to be at The Palace in Freeport, will now be held on May 13th at Apple River Middle School in Apple River from 5:30PM to 11PM, just 50 minutes northwest of Freeport. There will be performances from Disgust For Your Kind, An Hero, Still The Sky, Witness The Burning, In The Year of The Plague, and A Journey To Fall! The show costs $5($4 with pajamas).

      Event planner, TJ Davis, lead singer of An Hero, and Travis Lou Bauscher, guitarist for Still The Sky, were thinking of show ideas and it was originally set to be a regular show, but during school, TJ received a text from Travis with the idea.

      For a few weeks, the event did not have a venue, and there was a scramble to find a new venue. TJ Davis explains the situation, “Well, we hit some trouble when the owner of The Palace called me and

told me that they had accidentally scheduled 2 shows for the same night. since the other one was more solid ours got the boot. Travis and I had been looking everywhere and nobody returned our calls. One of the members in my band told me that one of his friends owned the school in Apple River and told me to ask her. I called her up and she talked to her dad and he said the show was a go. That's how we ended up with it (at the school).”

      TJ has previous event experience, having planned the show, Headbanging For Hunger. The show forwarded all profits and donations to the food pantry in Lena, IL. The show raised lots of many and over 100 people attended.

      “Travis has a very creative mind and you never know what he will come up with next,” says TJ when asked about future themed shows that were mentioned on his Facebook, including a toga themed show. “I'm not entirely certain how the theme ideas started, they just sort of happened. Pajama Jam will be our first themed show.”

      It's important to mention that Pajama Jam will not have refreshments available at the show, so bring a water bottle or two! Keep the drugs and alcohol far away from the show or you may be escorted out without a refund! Also, encourage attending bands to bring merch if you're interested in buying some goodies! Make sure to let TJ and Travis know you're going to be there by RSVP-ing to the show on the Facebook event page! Again, the show will be on May 13th at Apple River Middle School, 50 minutes northwest of Freeport, IL.

      “I would like to thank Kirk Wedig, from I the Creator, for helping make the amazing flier!” ~ TJ Davis

~joeEFFINGmayo

Joemayo91@gmail.com

P.S. The event has one available slot for a band, if interested, shoot them a wall post on the Event Page!

In The Year of The Plague

In The Year of The Plague
Photo:  Anna Maria Photography

      What happens when you take the deathcore genre, give it heavy hardcore tendencies and top it off with just a hint of black metal? Something that 4 out of 5 dentist would describe as brutal, unhealthy and possibly contagious. You also get In The Year of The Plague, a band that formed in February over a year ago. 

      "Zac Glawe (Guitar) met Cory Gantenbein (Drums) through a friend. Zac brought both Cory and Greg Larson (Bass) back to his place and we all basically agreed that he was what we were looking for." Says Andrew Owens (Guitar),"In October, we replaced our original vocalist with Jake Yattone (Vocals)." Both Andrew and Preston Blythe (vocals) were in previous projects with Zac and Greg.

      When it comes to lyrics, In The Year of The Plague knows no limits. According to Andrew, the two vocalists write a great deal of the lyrics, sometimes asking the rest of the band for help. Some previous topics include standing up for oneself, never giving up and even a song that really has no meaning beyond what you hear. "Pretty much whatever they want the song to be about."

In The Year of The Plague @ The House Cafe
Photo: Anna Maria Photography

      Apart from their unique take on deathcore, what seperates the band from other bands in the genre? "Watching videos of deathcore shows, you see bands being rather stagnant. The kids in the crowd stand and text. We're not like that. We all love what we're doing and put everything we have into our shows. We're all moving, every second of the set. Most, if not all, of the crowd is moving and everyone has a good time." says Andrew confidently. "Everyone of us is sore for a few days after and we can't stop talking about how much fun it was. That's what sets us apart, definitely."

      When the band started playing shows for the first time, Andrew Owens was 'out' of the band. "Well, I live in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, so I'm 2 hours away from the rest of the band." Says Andrew."They played some shows without me while they were looking for a new guitarist. (The Band) eventually decided that they didn't want anybody else for the spot." He rejoined the line-up last June. When asked about his first show after rejoining the group, Andrew jokes,."It wasn't our best show."

      Since his return, Andrew says the band has played between 20-25 shows. The have 2 independently recorded demos. Both of which were recorded several months apart and sound very different. "They're both very different in so many ways because our sound is always growing and developing."

      Download In The Year of The Plague's most recent demo for free here. They have merch up on Facebook or you can buy one at a show. In The Year of The Plague will be playing at The Lodge on the 23rd with Rooks, MICAWBER, and other great bands. Also, you can find the band at Feckbawlz Fest next month!