Tag Archive for: masquerade

FAILURE PLAYING ATLANTA’S MASQUERADE – HELL ON 5/6

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 4/6/26

Failure, one of the most influential bands of the 90s, recently announced their newest album, Location Lost, out April 24th. To celebrate the album’s release, they are heading on tour and will stop to play at Masquerade – Hell in Atlanta, GA on 5/6.

Location Lost is Failure’s seventh studio album and their fourth since reuniting in 2014 after a 17-year hiatus. One of the most influential bands of the 90s, Failure has inspired many peers and younger stars, including Hayley Williams who is featured on the album. Recorded after the completion of the recent Hulu/Disney+ documentary ‘Every Time You Lose Your Mind,’ Location Lost doesn’t arrive as a victory lap or a nostalgia exercise. Instead, it sounds like a band actively negotiating where — and who — they are now. The album showcases a focused, modern and ever-evolving vision of Failure’s utterly unique sound.

Failure’s promising rise was derailed by drug addiction and record company inertia by the late-90s, but the trio left a profound imprint that transcended their affiliation with the LA alt-rock scene. Directed by the band’s frontman Ken Andrews, the doc has been a decade in the making. The film features interviews with David Dastmalchian, Margaret Cho, Hayley Williams, Jason Schwartzman, Tommy Lee, Maynard James Keenan, Butch Vig and more.

FAILURE TOUR DATES 

Apr 21 Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon (Album Release Show) *SOLD OUT

Apr 25 Las Vegas – Sick New World Festival

May 02 Chicago, IL – SPACE ECHO @ Radius

May 03 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop *SOLD OUT

May 05 Nashville, TN – Basement East 

May 06 Atlanta, GA Masquerade – Hell

May 08 Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville Festival 

May 09 Asheville, NC – Eulogy *SOLD OUT

May 10 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle

May 12 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge *SOLD OUT

May 13 Cambridge, MA – Sinclair   

May 14 Hamden, CT – Space *SOLD OUT

May 15 Washington, DC – Union Stage 

May 16 Harrisburg, PA – Arrow at Archer Music Hall

May 17 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts 

May 19  Detroit, MI – Shelter *SOLD OUT

May 20 Toronto, ON – Opera House

HAYDEN PEDIGO PLAYS ATLANTA’S MASQUERADE ALTAR ON DEC 3RD

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 11/9/25

Texas-born and Oklahoma City-based fingerstyle guitarist Hayden Pedigo released his remarkable and genre-defying new album I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away earlier this year via Mexican Summer, which Pitchfork named as Best New Music. He’s now gearing up for his headline tour and will play Masquerade (Altar) in Atlanta on 12/3.

“warm, patient and uplifting” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Brilliant” – NPR MUSIC

“We’re lucky that Hayden Pedigo stumbled upon the footsteps of John Fahey and followed them into the deep wordless wood.” – GILLIAN WELCH

“Refined compositional craft and well-executed technique” – PREMIER GUITAR

“studious and inventive…an honesty and understanding of self here that feels refreshing, especially amid so much fingerstyle traditionalism.” – PITCHFORK

“The list of human beings who have conjured this much beauty from steel strings and some wood is short, and Pedigo is on it.” – BANDCAMP

“one of the world’s best guitarists” – PASTE

“[Pedigo] redefines the term “renaissance person.”” – STEREOGUM

Texas-born and Oklahoma City-based fingerstyle guitarist Hayden Pedigo announces his remarkable and genre-defying new album I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away, out June 6th via Mexican Summer. Since the release of his 2023 record, The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored, Pedigo earned widespread critical acclaim, performed a stunning NPR Tiny Desk Concert, toured non-stop with the likes of Jenny Lewis, Devendra Banhart and Hiss Golden Messenger, and more. He then decamped on a 20,000-acre ranch at an artist residency in Wyoming to write his new album, which he’d later record in Ojai with Scott Hirsch and name for a “pretty devastating” episode of Little House on the Prairie from 1978. The resulting album, I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away, is the final installment of what Pedigo has dubbed ‘The Motor Trilogy’ – his three latest solo albums, tied together by their vehicular Jonathan Phillips artwork. An innovator of the instrumental genre, challenger of the stereotypical, and son of a truck-stop preacher, Pedigo has crafted an intentionally maximalist, genre-resistant work of warped instrumental Americana on this release, which he calls “a micro-dose psychedelic album…as if somebody had cut up a tab of LSD and put on a Fahey record.” 

Out today is the album opener, “Long Pond Lily.” An outsized and fragrant bloom of intent; a simultaneous echo of Hayden’s previous work and a big, blousy departure. “It’s very heavy and huge” he says of the song, “the low end is rattling on it — it sounds bonkers, and feels like it’s on the verge of going off the rails. It’s so maximalist, so much more energetic than anything I’ve ever written.” Accompanied by a cinematic music video by Matt Muir that manages to make opening a small-town scaregrounds feel like the American Dream, “Long Pond Lily” is out now HERE. 

Tour dates

05/12/25 – Berklee Performance Center – Boston, MA*

05/14/25 – Kings Theatre – Brooklyn, NY*

05/17/25 – Miller Theater – Philadelphia, PA*

05/18/25 – Warner Theatre – Washington, DC*

08/26/2025 – London – Kings Place

08/28/2025 – Manchester – St. Michael’s

08/29/2025 – Larmer Tree Gardens – End of The Road Festival

08/30/2025 – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach

09/01/2025 – Dublin – The Grand Social

09/02/2025 – Belfast – The Deer’s Head

09/04/2025 – Glasgow – Mono

09/05/2025 – Edinburgh – St. Vincent’s Chapel

09/06/2025 – Newcastle – The Lubber Fiend

09/07/2025 – Leeds – The Attic

09/10/2025 – Aarhus – Alter Festival

09/12/2025 – Berlin – Gretchen

09/13/2025 – Bochum – Die Trompete

09/14/2025 – Leffinge – Leffingeleuren Festival

09/16/2025 – Laval – La Guinguette le 11-22

09/17/2025 – Lyon – Le Sonic

09/18/2025 – Milano – ARCI Bellezza

09/19/2025 – Reggio Emilia – Acid Tank

09/21/2025 – Marseille – Le Molotov

09/22/2025 – Barcelona – Sala Upload

09/24/2025 – Lisboa – ZDB

09/25/2025 – Vigo – Radar Estudios

09/26/2025 – San Sebastian – Lugaritz K.E.

09/27/2025 – Bordeaux – Base Sous-Marine de Bordeaux

09/28/2025 – Paris – La Boule Noire

* denotes dates supporting Ichiko Aoba

DIE SPITZ ON TOUR PLAYING PURGATORY AT THE MASQUERADE IN ATLANTA ON SEPTEMBER 20 WITH VIAGRA BOYS

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 8/26/25

Texas four-piece Die Spitz will release their highly anticipated debut album Something to Consume, due Sept 12 via Third Man Records. They will join Viagra Boys for a few support dates ahead of their upcoming headline tour and will be making a stop in Atlanta @ Purgatory at the Masquerade on 9/20

ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM

SOMETHING TO CONSUME

OUT SEPT 12TH VIA THIRD MAN

WATCH VIDEO FOR LEAD SINGLE 

“THROW YOURSELF TO THE SWORD”

ANNOUNCE 2025 TOUR DATES

As postmodern society crumbles, Texas four-piece Die Spitz combine their passion, friendship, identity, and artistry to fight against the inescapable decay that surrounds life on their debut album, Something to Consume, due Sept 12 via Third Man Records. “There’s a political side to it, but addiction and love can also be all-consuming,” Ellie Livingston says. And as the band trade off instruments, swapping songwriting and vocal duties, and generating powerful songwriting in concussive bursts, Die Spitz have created their own little pocket of the world where we can all stand on the edge together.

The Austinites express their ideas through a blend of classic punk, hardcore, metal, alt rock and more. The group has become known for their riotous live shows, where dueling cartwheels, climbing of rafters and solos while crowdsurfing could happen at any moment. “Something to Consume is an album experience for everyone. Whether you’re craving a smack of lively metal or a melancholy wave of grungey violin, there’s a piece of all of us injected. Something to Consume is a call to the multitudes of ways we as humans allow consumption to enrapture our culture as well as ourselves.”

That shapeshifting strength comes into full view on the explosive lead single “Throw Yourself to the Sword”, released today alongside a video by Emily Sanchez. “‘Throw Yourself to the Sword’ is a high-energy ode to what we want young people to feel. There’s a lot of existentialism and despair in other songs on the album that still sheath the same theme, but ‘Throw Yourself to the Sword’ is the raise of optimism. Despite living in a state of mundanity or hopelessness, you can still rise up and fight the unknown, as long as you’re willing to throw yourself to it,” Ellie Livingston explains.

Something to Consume moves with rapturous conviction thanks in part to the deft production hand of Studio 4’s Will Yip (Turnstile, Mannequin Pussy). Though only recently in their 20s, Die Spitz’s impressive musicianship ties them clearly to a long lineage of frustrated people hoping to inspire change. “Some people aren’t interested in being political activists via music, but it weighs on me heavily and I feel misaligned with my calling if I don’t,” Chloe De St. Aubin says. “The four of us are free spirits with multiple interests, and there’s no limit or power dynamic that can derail us.”

Additionally, Die Spitz is announcing a headline tour behind Something to Consume. All dates below.

Die Spitz is Ava Schrobilgen, Chloe De St. Aubin, Ellie Livingston, and Kate Halter.

WATCH THE “THROW YOURSELF TO THE SWORD” VIDEO

UK & EU Tour Dates:

7/10. London, UK: Downstairs at The Dome ^ – SOLD OUT

7/11. Cheltenham, UK: 2k Trees Festival

7/12. Milton Keynes, UK: The Craufurd Arms

7/13. Tielen, BE: Sjock Festival

7/15. Berlin, DE: Cassiopeia # – SOLD OUT

7/16. Hamburg, DE: Molotow *

7/17. Cologne, DE: Blue Shell * – SOLD OUT

7/18. Amsterdam, NL: Paradiso

7/19. Cuxhaven, DE: Deichbrand Festival

^ with MOULD

# with Syff

* with Local Support

North America Tour Dates:

9/20. Atlanta, GA: Shaky Knees Festival

10/5. Denver, CO: Marquis Theatre 

10/7. Boise, ID: The Shredder

10/10. Seattle, WA: Baba Yaga 

10/14. San Francisco, CA: Bottom of the Hill

10/16. Los Angeles, CA: Lodge Room

10/17. San Diego, CA: Soda Bar 

10/24. Austin, TX: Stubb’s 

11/7. Oklahoma City, OK: Resonant Head

11/8. Lawrence, KS: The Bottleneck

11/11. Milwaukee, WI: Cactus Club

11/14. Toronto, ON: Horseshoe Tavern

11/15. Montreal, QC: Bar Le Ritz PDB 

11/22. Nashville, TN: The Blue Room at Third Man Records 

HELMET AT THE MASQUERADE MAY 12

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 5/23/24

We saw Helmet at the Masquerade on 5/12/24. Helmet is an alternative metal and rock band out of New York fronted by guitarist and lead singer, Page Hamilton, boasts some early 90s classic rock albums from 1992’s Meantime to 1994’s Betty. Their sound is creatively unique for the time with melodious metal if that can even be a thing, mixed with grunge notes of the time and very distinct repetitive guitar work called drop D tuning (per wiki).
 
John and I were both huge lovers of the Crow movie soundtrack back when it came out in 1994 and that’s how I discovered Helmet with their song, “Milquetoast” one of the lead tracks! From there we listened to all of album Betty with its repetitive heavily distorted guitar paired with riffs and melodious lyrics. But my heart stays with Meantime and the song “Unsung.” The albums are similar, but I feel Meantime was a little edgier and harder. A recurring MTV staple, I just remember the “Unsung” video looking like it was filmed in a nuclear silo. Fun fact: Beavis and Butthead critiqued the song on the show in 1993 (from wiki). 

Something I found interesting in their wiki was that the New York Times called Helmet, “a band that made important connections between indie-rock and metal.” and that they had a HUGE impact on the nu metal bands of the late 90’s. And even called “smart rock” by the New York Daily News. We agree, their songs and riffs are highly influential, and we think they are one of the most underrated bands of the 90’s in terms of notoriety. They should be rock gods!  
 
Helmet is on tour right now to promote their new album, LEFT, that is now out, and their new track “Holiday” is just what you’d expect from them. Ripping chords blurred with power guitar, fast slow, and grunge reverb. I love it when bands keep their sound, and this new album is just that.