Downtown Des Moines music venue Vaudeville Mews (212 4th Street) will celebrate the birthday of talent booker Ladd Askland with their 6th Annual Asklandaganza. This year's celebration, dubbed "Ganza666", will take place on Friday, January 18. The doors will open at 7 p.m., and the music will start at 8 p.m. There will be a $7 cover charge at the door, and you must be 21 or older to attend. There has been no word yet if Vaudeville Mews will again have their traditional 100-man Black velvet shot.
All four bands that are performing at Ganza666 are Asklandaganza veterans, including perennial headliners The Poison Control Center. The PCC have been the centerpiece of the event since its inception. Over the years, the Ames post pop band has released four albums, a mini-album, six EPs, and six 7-inch singles. The band was recently featured on the 30-song Sonic Harvest compilation album. Check out a performance from The PCC at the first Asklandaganza in the video below.
Mantis Pincers is a Des Moines supergroup of sorts. The band includes members of The Poison Control Center, Wolves in the Attic, The Autumn Project, The Wheelers, Keepers of the Carpet, and Volcano Boys. The Pincers released their self-titled debut EP in 2011.
Des Moines rock and rollers Derek Lambert and the Prairie Fires are a bit of a supergroup themselves. Chris Ford, Dustin Harmsen, Elliot Imes, and Derek Lambert also represent a number of area bands. After playing solo for some time, Lambert joined up with the other members of the band in 2011. In November of that year, they released their debut EP It Shines on Maximum Ames Records. The EP was produced by Patrick Tape Fleming of The Poison Control Center.
Eric Moffitt got his first big break from Askland. Unfortunately at the time, Moffitt had demos but no band to play the show that Askland was offering him. So, Moffitt threw together a few friends, and Wolves in the Attic was born. The members playing with Moffitt have changed over the years, but Wolves in the Attic is still going strong. The band released their debut album, Electronic Hearts, in 2008, and they hope to release another album in February of this year. The band's 90's alt-rock sound has made them Central Iowa favorites and has earned them spots on stages all over the Midwest, including the stages of the 80/35 Music Festival here in Des Moines.
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