Tag Archives: Bottletree

Local Nonprofits Partner to Fight Hunger

very Juka christmasTis the season when Birmingham shows how generous its citizens can be. One of the most philanthropic cities in the country throughout the year, the holidays may be the city’s most giving season. On Tuesday, there’s another opportunity to help others less fortunate than ourselves: A Very Juka Christmas – Beat the Drum to End Hunger in Birmingham.

John Scalici’s Juka Tribe and the tribal belly dance group Erynias Tribe will perform at Bottletree on December 18 to benefit Magic City Harvest. Admission is $10 at the door plus a non-perishable food item. Tickets can also be purchased via The Bottletree’s website.

A Very Juka Christmas will be an evening of both music and community drumming, with a full-blown community drum jam to wrap up the night. Guests are welcome to bring their own percussion instruments, and drums will be available for those without.

According to their website, Juka Tribe’s sound can be summed up as World Boogie – a “mosaic of Middle Eastern, Brazilian, and West African rhythms.” In addition to Scalici, Cody McIain, poet Sharif Simmons, and bassist Jay Johnson have joined the Tribe. Performances often feature both live and sampled music.

Magic City Harvest was founded 17 years ago as a response to the hunger and homelessness issues in Birmingham. Its mission is to alleviate hunger, malnutrition, and food waste. The group distributes food, educates the public on the affect of poverty, and participates in collaborative efforts to combat hunger in the city. Magic City Harvest distributes 50,000 pounds of food annually to those in need.

Do some good. Have some fun. And get your groove on this holiday at A Very Juka Christmas.

got plans 2.0 | 4.10-4.12

Easter Egg. Svadilfari/FlickrI guess you could call this the Easter edition of got plans; that is if the Terminal did holiday editions of weekly posts, which I don’t think it does. To be honest I almost didn’t write one for this weekend with it being Easter and all.

A part of me figured that the most important thing our beleaguered post-modern generation could do this weekend would be finding our way to a church. Realizing that I wasn’t overburdened with guilt from my transgressions (but rather tormented by the hopes and expectations of the future), I came to my senses and felt that those who read my post might be carrying the same cross. Thus, I decided that like me others need the distraction that comes from a pre-packaged Terminal-approved Birmingham weekend.

The fun starts after the jump… Continue reading

Transmitting a message from We Have Signal

If you missed the October 2nd preview and inaugural episode of APT’s new live music show We Have Signal, you’re in luck. Tonight (10.16) is the first episode to feature never before seen recordings of bands who have played Bottletree.

The show airs two 30 minute segments back to back and so tonight’s first band up will be Chicago melodic princes Pelican at 10 p.m. (which I highly recommend; I could listen to these guys and their seemingly endless number of guitars for hours) and later at 10:30, The Weakerthans (for fans of Ted Leo, Propagandhi and Jets to Brazil).

There are some things the APT crew want you guys to know (after the jump): Continue reading

On a musical note…

A few things for those in town for Birmingham’s many festivities this weekend:

Saturday night flyer

Two of Birmingham’s best local bands will be playing an unofficial “after” after-party at Bottletree just as Sidewalk is letting out and the WordCamp crew is looking for some trouble to get into on Saturday night. Do yourself a favor and check out both of these bands’ respective pages (here and here) before the show.
Here’s a handy map of how to get to Bottletree courtesy of their site.

 

Also, for those who helped me usher in the arrival of Birmingham’s newest radio station Live 100.5 FM, here’s an aside: I HEARD INTERPOL ON THE DRIVE INTO WORK TODAY! Kudos to Davi Rossi and the fine programming he put in order today!

 Through the Sparks flyer art by Shawn Avery.

Dead Confederate lives on at Bottletree

Dead Confederate live photo courtesy of George Atkinson

Dead Confederate performs live / George Atkinson

If you weren’t at Bottletree last night for the Dead Confederate/Wax Fang/Twin Tigers show, you missed one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Any show that starts off with a girl wearing a Guitar Hero-esque haircut playing bass in a band that’s covering The Cure’s “A Forest” and ends with the headlining band playing in shadows reminiscent of  the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video is a mighty fine night indeed!

More photos and glorious details after the jump.

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Party at Bottletree. Music always included.

Gil's Mantera's Party Dream - courtesy of MySpace profileTonight at Bottletree: Gil Mantera’s Party Dream!

Any band that I talk to that makes time to mention their undying love for Failure earns an instant fangirl shriek from yours truly (cover you ears, Ultimate Donny!). I had a very very fun phone conversation a few minutes ago and it’s nice to hear from artists who have a genuine love for performing in Birmingham. Hopefully, we’ll make it worthwhile.

Donny also mentioned that they’re “on tour because we don’t have jobs” and that since their last album release was all the way back in 2006, this “is all about fun and playing good music”.  Finally, fans of Zombi are gonna geek out as well because they’re bringing along Tony Paterra as the Party Dream drummer. This guy toured with ISIS — who always perform to a PACKED HOUSE in Birmingham & probably everywhere else — and played for The 1985 as well.

It’s like my iTunes library formed a band. Ridiculous.

Anyway, they take the stage at 10:30 p.m. tonight and it’s only $8. There are two warm-up local hip-hop acts, so zoom on over to The Bottletree’s event page for more info.

Photo: courtesy of MySpace profile

Weekend Music Workout

If you want to get with the Whitney Weekend Workout, it’s fairly simple. Just go to an inhumanly possible amount of shows around town and try to stay awake. That’s all. Wait! There’s a late night BK chicken sandwich involved sometimes. And lots and lots of PBR.

This weekend? Keep reading and find out…

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Tonight, we have signal!

We Have Signal image - APTV

I will be at Bottletree tonight for the We Have Signal preview.

We’d never miss out on the opportunity to watch a rare union in Birmingham take place: good music and local TV.

There’s a reception — yay for popcorn and drinks — and the screening of the original series begins at 9 p.m. Afterwards, there will be a chance to ask the producers (J. and Matt Whitson) a few questions.

There’s going to be limited seating according to what APTV’s been saying, so get there early if you can. If you can’t make it, don’t worry; the series starts on TV in October.

Image: Alabama Public Television.

Bottletree scores Oxford Collapse

Tonight, Brooklyn-based Oxford Collapse is playing Bottletree! These guys have toured with one of my Top 5 favorite bands, We Are Scientists, so that’s good enough for me. If you — like most intelligent people — aren’t an easily convinced fangirl, then you should listen to a few of their tracks and decide for yourself if you want to join in and show some Birmingham love to these guys.

They are here with Love is Laughter. For those of you that caught the Modest Mouse show in the Ham, you’ll remember these guys as the opening band. Described as “almost funk” and “very psychedelic”, I think I wanna give these guys a chance. Any band prefaced with that should be on my radar.

Details: Doors open at 8 tonight, but if you buy advance tickets before 6 p.m. today, you can save yourself 2 bucks. [$8 adv, $10 at the door] 18+

It’ll be rainy all week, so enjoy everything that this indoor show has to offer. I’ll be making an appearance, so see you guys there!

a (mandatory) dance party

Let’s all be serious here. We love to dance, just not out on the street or, for that matter, anywhere in the general public. Maybe it’s just my gangly white femaleness, but still. ALAS! I think I met someone this week that will change my, err your, mind concerning all things “cuttin’ a rug” related.

Rebecca Davis started ROCK PAPER ROCK, a local booking agency that is responsible for a healthy percentage of Birmingham’s recent lucky streak when it comes to getting good bands (i.e. nationally known) to play our great city. She’s also a local girl who moved away, only to return with more love and affection for our great city. So, who better an ambassador to the indie music scene than her to introduce one of the best ideas I’ve heard about it a while?

KIDS GOT THE DISCO!

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