AWOLNATION joins 2016 Fuzz Fest with Weezer and Panic! at the Disco in Scranton on June 26
From a press release:
Electronic rock band AWOLNATION has been added to the already stellar lineup of local radio station Fuzz 92.1’s Fuzz Fest at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Sunday, June 26, which features Weezer, Panic! at the Disco, and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness.
Now through Sunday, tickets in the 200 section are on sale for $19.21 – and a lawn four-pack is only $60 (plus parking and fees) – at this link.
AWOLNATION began as the nom de guerre of artist Aaron Bruno. After working out of the Red Bull Studio in Los Angeles in 2009, he signed to Red Bull Records for his debut album, “Megalithic Symphony,” which spawned such hits as “Sail” and “Not Your Fault.”
Like Peter Finch’s newsman Howard Beale in the movie “Network,” Bruno is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore. Broke and with his world crumbling around him, he launched a NATION.
And indeed, what can a poor boy do… except make some of his toughest, hardest, most passionate music ever, slamming it with the most up-to-date hip-hop and electronic dance beats in a genre-blending mash-up that defines AWOLNATION. It’s not just music, but a crusade designed to fight all that’s fake, commercialized, compromised, and debased in popular culture.
“I think very much like a kid in terms of fantasy and magic,” says Bruno. “I get rhythms, beats, colors and patterns from the transcendence of the ocean. I’m influenced by both its beauty and its absolute terror.”
Like in “Burn It Down,” off AWOLNATION’s debut album, a sped-up blitz that goes from the yelps of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis through the punk of Black Flag, The Clash, and Rage Against the Machine to the most modern techno-dance acts like Justice, Simian Mobile Disco, and Boyz Noize, not preaching destruction, but cleansing past sins to make way for future hope. There’s a whole lot of shaking going on in AWOLNATION.
“If I’m going down in flames, it’ll be my way,” Bruno emphasizes. “Why do it if you’re not going to do it all out? I wanted to do a song that was faster than I was comfortable doing, with a ferocious drum fill like some dude fell over his kit and landed on the one. I’ve always loved heavy music. … People seem to get turned on by aggressive passion. It’s like channeling a hardcore breakdown with synthesizers instead of guitars.”
Some say AWOL is the name he’d rap under while battling his friends free-style, a reference to the way he’d slip out of parties without saying goodbye (“I never liked the pressure of explaining why I’m leaving”), while Oakland Raiders fans contend that NATION comes from a devotion to the era of Bo Jackson and Howie Long. No one really knows the origin, but together they form a commitment to getting rid of life’s wreckage and building a trend based on honesty, commitment and, well, aggressive passion.
“It’s not a political statement,” Bruno insists. “My definition is to escape a situation you can’t handle. A way for all of us to get our aggression out, cry a little bit, or even laugh.”
Weezer and Panic! at the Disco announced their 40+ city co-headlining tour in January in support of their respective new albums, “Weezer” and “Death of a Bachelor.”
Weezer’s self-titled 10th studio album (referred to as “The White Album”) will be released on Friday, April 1 via Weezer/Crush Music. Produced by the band and Jake Sinclair, “The White Album” follows 2014’s critically praised “Everything Will Be Alright in the End” and continues that record’s celebrated return to musical form.
The first new song available from “The White Album” (which also features last year’s awesome “Do You Wanna Get High?” and current fast-approaching Top 10 Alternative Radio single “Thank God for Girls”) is a sun-bleached sing-along called “King of the World.” On this tour, fans can expect lots of new material from “The White Album,” as well as the much-loved anthems for which Weezer are known, like “Buddy Holly,” “Beverly Hills,” “Pork and Beans,” and more.
“Death of a Bachelor” is Panic! at the Disco’s fifth studio album that was released in January on Fueled by Ramen/DCD2 Records. The record’s first single, “Hallelujah,” has since accumulated more than 20 million streams on Spotify and over 11 million plays on YouTube, while the current single, “Victorious,” launched at No. 1 overall on iTunes, iTunes Alternative Songs, and on Billboard and Twitter’s Trending 140 charts just hours after its release while also accumulating over 24 million plays.
Musically, the album is a powerhouse full of boisterous anthems with huge choruses, slick production, and compelling samples. In frontman Brendon Urie’s words, the album sounds like Frank Sinatra taught DJs to write rock ‘n’ roll. The new record is the follow-up album to “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!,” which made a Top 2 debut on the SoundScan/Billboard 200 upon its 2013 release. Currently, the band is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their debut double-platinum album “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.”
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness’ eponymous album has produced the smash single “Cecilia and the Satellite,” garnering over 12 million Spotify plays and becoming a Top 5 hit across both alternative and AAA radio, a Top 10 hit on Hot AC, and climbing on pop radio. “Cecilia and the Satellite” has found great commercial success, having been featured on MTV’s “Real World” and the TV promo for Warner Bros. Pictures’ film “Pan.” He has also performed the single on “Conan” and on “Today.”
Aside from his professional successes, McMahon is a survivor of leukemia and the founder of the Dear Jack Foundation, which advocates for and supports initiatives that benefit young adults diagnosed with cancer.
See photos from last year’s Fuzz Fest here.
