Author Archives: AltCtrl

Shows: 5/23-6/29… And Beyond!

Posted by on May 18, 2013 15 comments

Listings are at Alternative Control’s discretion and may not reflect set order.  We do not attempt to list all shows at all venues, but we do try to include the good metal shows.  (And sometimes other shows that look cool.)  See something we missed? Want your shows listed? Leave a comment or contact us.

Local Metal and More

5/23

  • Sadplant, Pickpocket, and Big Mark T and the Double Barrels at Cherry Street Station in Wallingford
  • Michelle Riganese, Malcolm Tent, and Brute Force at Two Boots in Bridgeport Read more »

Return of the 17-Year Cicadas!

Posted by on May 15, 2013 No comments

Cicadas mating: if you only get laid once every seventeen years, you gotta make it count! Photo by L. Elliott.

From the Peabody Museum, via The Mercurial

An extraordinary natural phenomenon is about to take place. This year the 17-year cicada will emerge from colonies in undisturbed forested regions in south-central Connecticut. Expect to see and hear these fascinating creatures starting at the end of May and throughout the month of June. Read more »

The Legend of the Lord

Posted by on April 16, 2013 No comments

By Anthony Quinn Carpanzano

Edited by Heather Elizabeth Clegg and Matthew Foran

In 1983, metal made its way into our Stamford neighborhoods. That is my recollection of it at least. Cousins Tony Truglio and Frank Cortese, two original members of Liege Lord, lived on my street at the time. The guys were knee deep into this New Wave of British Heavy Metal, comprised of bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Motorhead.  The cousins met bassist Matthew Vinci, who was also swept away by this aggressive movement that was casting a spell on us all. They went on to form a band called Deceiver with Andy Michaud on vocals. The four of them played in local Battle of The Bands, performing covers of groups they loved.  Read more »

A Visit to the Salton Sea

Posted by on April 14, 2013 2 comments

Salton Sea Beach, California

By Fugawi

Originally published in The Mercurial.

I made a decision to go to Salton Sea in the middle of July last summer. Located 110 miles northeast of San Diego, California and 70 miles north of Mexicali, Mexico, Salton Sea is way out in the Sonoran Desert, 226 feet below sea level, where the average daily temperature is upwards of 110 degrees. The decision was made to go in summer because it was pretty much the only time my best friend could fly down to Los Angeles to meet me for a week of adventure in the deserts of Southern California. Thankfully the best friend has a keen sense of adventure. We both had some reservations about the heat, and “the smell” – Salton Sea has a fish die-off that sometimes runs to 12,000-plus a day! The stench in the summer can be much less than pleasant. What could be so special about this place that it can drag me out into such ugly weather, even if it is a “dry heat,” you ask? Read more »

The Spaceland Ballroom Completes Rodgers’ Hamden Music Trifecta

Posted by on April 6, 2013 No comments

Steve Rodgers outside his newest venue in Hamden, Connecticut. Photo by Marilyn Catasus.

 

By Laurie Lawless

Originally published in The Mercurial.

Moving away from making music to providing an outlet for it was a crucial turning point in Steve Rodgers’s life. It was 2003 when he decided to open The Space, an all ages concert venue, in an old, beat down 1960s industrial park in Hamden, Connecticut. Now, almost a decade later, The Spaceland Ballroom is set to open this Friday – Rodger’s third music venue in the same industrial park. Read more »

The “Art” of Constructing A Punk Rock Vest

Posted by on April 4, 2013 No comments

by Matt Mullarkey

I was recently asked by Alternative Control to write a piece on constructing a punk rock vest. I was a bit taken aback, considering I never really gave it much thought, I simply just made them for myself over the years according to my mood or whatever (altered?) state of mind I was in. However, here’s a brief simple run down of what you will need in order to make one for yourself. Read more »

Love the One You’re (Eating) With: a Review of ‘Poor Man’s Feast’

Posted by on April 2, 2013 No comments

By Amanda Bloom

Originally published in The Mercurial.

Elissa Altman’s first book, Poor Man’s Feast, reads like a good, hearty meal – by the time the last page is turned, you feel as though you know Altman intimately, that you’ve sat at her table countless times, filling up with fine food and colorful stories.  Feast, part memoir and part cookbook, begins in the 1980s with Altman working at the upscale grocery Dean & DeLuca in SoHo, a neighborhood where, as Altman writes, “there was money everywhere, and there was food, and art, and drugs.”  Notables such as David Lynch, Isabella Rosellini, and Kyle McLachlan were regulars, along with Richard, a terrier with a hankering for candied violets. Read more »