Rictus Grin News

shows, parties DOOMSDAY!

2005-10-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Trying hard to get bands onboard for Doomsday! Right now I have tons of interest, but no money yet to get the ball rolling. Plenty of people have heard of it and many people want to get involved! Can't wait to see how this unfolds. If you know any bands who may be interested in getting involved send them my way at rictusgrinforever@yahoo.com

We're also getting ready for the band room Halloween party at the band room on Friday Oct. 28. Anyone cool is invited. Need directions? Call us at 262-629-5678 or email us. Either way will work.

Also, on Oct. 30th we're playing the big Nailwounds all ages costume show. Jansen Park is always a fun place to play.

Last but certainly not least--we have another benefit concert for Aaron Buchanan. It'll be at Vnuk's bar on Nov. 12. Hope all the bar age people can come out for this! It should be a great show!

Obituary and soo many other shows!

2005-09-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Opening for Obituary was such a phenomonal experience. We had great crowd support and the people who came out to cheer us on made the show so much fun. We had a decent backstage room that we shared with Lupara and our room was right next to Dead to Fall. We got free soda, beer, water and plenty of room to hang out and tune our guitars, and just hang out. The best part happened when we got done playing and we got to see Napalm Death and Obituary take the stage and to realize that we shared that stage with them. It was really inspiring and amazing to think that we're actually getting somewhere musically when we are playing with the musicians that have so heavily influenced us! After the show the singer and drummer from Obituary came out and signed the bus and they were some of the nicest guys we've ever met.

Next we have the Day to Play show on Saturday in Fond du Lac at the Do It All Sports Arena--Should be an amazing show--almost a circus of activities and fun! Then we're opening for Cephalic Carnage at Bucketworks in Milwaukee this coming Thursday--we'll be taking the bus and hopefully some people will come with us and help to make this show fun! Then we have the BIG ROAD TRIP to Iron River--easily a 10 hour drive full of drunken bus trip fun followed by camping, bands, tattoo artists, free food and beer etc!!! :)

We miss you guys--it seems like it's been a while since we've seen some of you and hope we get to hang out with some of you for these upcoming shows :) Keep it BRUTAL!

House of Blues, Obituary, A Day to Play

2005-09-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

The visit to the House of Blues was amazing. They treated us like royalty and we recommend that any band given a chance to play there should snatch up the opportunity! When we arrived they had staff right there to help us load our equipment into the building, then they showed us to our very own backstage room! We got a fridge full of beer, soda, tea and water! We lounged around on big comfy couches and watched cable tv., and admired the numerous fantastic paintings and pieces of art that adorned the place. We even had our own bathroom complete with a shower!

We were able to wander anywhere in the building, including the gold-painted balconies that encircle the room opposite the stage. When it was our turn to sound check they were meticulous making sure we were completely happy with our sound on stage. After sound check we were welcomed back to our backstage room where they offered us each the choice of a dinner from their delicious Southern style menu. We gladly ate and got on stage to play shortly after. They even gave our merch. person a choice spot to sell our stuff. After we played we got done playing we got a chance to hang out as long as we wanted in our backstage area or anywhere in the building. For the most part, the view from the balcony was the most fantastic and each sectioned off area had cushioned seats, big draped curtains, and candles lighting the rooms. Watching Therion from up there was amazing!

Tonight we get a chance to open for Obituary, Napalm Death and Dead to Fall. It'll be an amazing show getting a chance to play for these amazing bands and we'll be back at the Rave where we feel very much at home. The fans there make every show amazing and the venue works hard to make sure we feel welcome there too!

Finally, this Saturday we'll be playing at A Day To Play at the Do It All Sports Arena in Fond du Lac WI. It's going to be big and we've all worked hard to make this show a success. Especially the people who put it together--the guys from the band Straightline and Jeff from our band. Plus Ria who has been burning compilation CD's day in and day out. There will be tattoo artists, extreme sports teams, paintball, food, beer for 21+. It'll be an amazing show!!! Hope to see you all there :)

Aaron's passing, and then the shows must go on.

2005-09-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Aaron, our former drummer in 2000-2002 just passed away in a tragic 5 car accident. Since then we've been to so many touching and meaningful arrangements for him. The candle-light vigil was a tribute to Aaron's life as all of his friends and family gathered solemnly on the side of the road holding candles as they dripped wax all over the place and we cried quietly and hugged in shocked sorrow.

At the wake it was all too real. There he was and it just wasn't right to see him there like that, but everyone made it so special bringing tons of pictures for people to look at all pinned up on boards. We brought a picture slideshow and some video footage we had of Aaron that we played and we all talked and remembered the good times. It was a big reunion of people...some we hadn't seen in quite a while, but all of us were touched deeply by our time with Aaron. The small ceremony that night brought us all to tears when some of the guys from both L.O.W., Nervebreaker and Seize the Day played a song they wrote especially in memory of Aaron. Then during the ceremony the funeral home also played some of Aaron's favorite songs through the PA--including Cemetary Gates...It really hit us when we heard that song and we sat with tears in our eyes.

The funeral was quiet and final, standing there quietly around the gravesite knowing it was truly the end. Now we have to get back to our daily lives and do our best to keep Aaron in our memories and thoughts and keep touch with all the people we reconnected with who make our lives worth living.

We have shows coming up. Lots of shows and more added every day. An important show that Reese is setting up is the Benefit concert for Aaron's family to remember Aaron and help his family with the final expenses. It will be held on October 8 in the Port Washington area. Please make sure to check for details on our shows page for that one...we want to bring as many people to that one as possible!!!

One of the new exciting shows we just got is at The House of Blues opening for a big and well-known opera metal act called Therion. It'll be next Wednesday night in Chicago and we're very excited to be included in this lineup. Please keep checking back to our shows page for these and other shows!

2005-08-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

Everything has been chaotic lately and it'll be nice to have August off. We just got done doing tons of shows this past month. We traveled up to Wausau for Aunt Koko's Farm Fest where we met From Alice to Ocean and many other great and talented bands.

In Iowa we got to meet and hang out with the band Sinkhole and Abstraction for the Iowa Thrashfest--these people were starved for metal and all of the band brought it hard! The place we played was soo rural though that they had pictures on their walls of the building surrounded by miles and miles of corn! Still, they were pure metal through and through!

We did a couple of shows in Steven's Point--one at The Mission Coffee House which is always a blast--such a cool environment--with people drinking on the streets and cool art on the walls inside. Then we went to Sandi's house where we had a 1/2 hour vomit contest!!! I've never seen such vomitous devestation!

Then there was the MHL Productions Summer Onslaught show with Gorgasm, SMB, Repeated Trauma etc. All of the bands were impressive and the show went smoothly--even though 1/2 of the town up there had no power because of a wicked storm! The afterparty at Sandi's that night was complete with a 'naked guy' and girls getting all crazy whipping the guys in a hot S & M style and us hanging out with Gorgasm and hearing their crazy stories from the road!

Just recently we played in Allenton and that show was so cool because the fans there were so die hard that they didn't even take a break to piss--they were smashing into each other the whole time! Rosey did a great job planning that one out and he even helped lug equipment in and out of the place. Now we officially have a new venue right down the road from out house!

Finally, we traveled to Portage where we got to meet up again with From Alice to Ocean and we met Cicada and F5. It was a rough crowd, but we fit right in once again puking in true and putrid fashion! After August we'll be back on the road and hopefully have more tales to tell!

CD Release, Gopher One and ICELAND!!!

2005-05-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

We're coming up on our big CD release party in just a few days and it's getting pretty exciting. We can hardly wait to let people see and hear the new music. It should be a cool time--especially with the great bands that are playing, and the big party afterwards!!

After the CD release we head out to Port Washington to play a birthday party at the Gopher One bar. It's a small place and we hang out there sometimes with our friends from Fade and Carbellion. It should be a good time because it'll be our last show before we leave for Iceland.

We're getting our bags packed and readying ourselves for our trip to Iceland. Arni has been assuring us that we'll have a place to stay and a couple of cool shows--maybe even an autograph signing. How cool would that be? Here, let me sign those hot titties:)

Party, Motorhead, Babies, and Iceland

2005-03-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

The parties lately have been getting pretty crazy. Lots of topless chicks and grinding to heavy tunes. What more could a musician ask for?

This coming Sunday we will be playing at The Rave. It's a preshow party for Motorhead and COC! We still have tickets and will beat any price out there just to get people to the show--we'll even give people a ride out there if they want to come (if you don't mind possibly sitting on our van floor--we might not take the bus).

This June we're planning a trip to Iceland to play a few shows. The guys with Radio Reykjavik are being really cool and helping us out A LOT--Especially Arnie, Bjarki and their booking guy. We're getting stickers, shirts and CD's before then and we'll probably be having a going away party for that!

Best wishes to Alicia and Kevin--soon they will have a new addition to the family (any minute now) and we're all waiting for the news--also excited to hear news about Cydney and how she's coming along! Soon we will be able to party with them all again!! :)

Trip to Point, Doomsday 2005 & Bob and Brian

2005-01-17T15:05:00.000-08:00

The trip to Point was fucking awesome. Everyone we brought along with us got really trashed and we got to check out Dumah for the first time and party again with Chainsnap. A HUGE THANK YOU to Sandi for giving us drunk fucks a place to crash. Also thanks to Chainsnap for a cool show. We'll get you back!

Doomsday is coming really fast and we have tickets for $10. Just get a hold of us and we'll get you the tickets--we'll bring them to your house if you want! Otherwise they cost $13 at the door! It will be a HUGE show so don't miss out!!!

This morning on Bob and Brian (Lazer 103) they mentioned our bus. One of their guys was skiing and they saw our bus the next morning all dull black with all of us clothed in black emerging from the icy confines of the bus. It was cool as hell!

Satyricon & Other Babblings

2004-12-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready for the Satyricon show on Sunday December 12 and we're really looking forward to seeing 3 Inches of Blood again. Those guys are really cool to hang out with--real down to earth. We've been listening to Satyricon on the bus to and from shows and it's been cool to listen to. It's easy to see why they have so many fans!

In other news we may have some big tour dates to announce for all of you! We don't want to spread the word about this tour until we know for sure but it'll be big if it goes as expected. Also we're preparing for some big parties at the band room--

December 10 is Becky's graduation party
December 17 is Becky's birthday/Lingerie/PJ party!

Bring cool people and have some beers with us!

Metal Church, Satyricon & Doomsday

2004-11-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

Now that we had the chance to hang out with Metal Church and 3 Inches of Blood I can hardly wait to play with Satyricon and 3 Inches of Blood at the Rave on December 12. It should be really cool to share the stage with those bands even if it did cost $500. Let me know if you want tickets--we're selling them for $10.

About Doomsday--we still have slots available for bands on all of the stages. If you are at all interested in helping in any way please le me know and I'll get you the info, or go to http://www.geocities.com/milwaukeedday

Lots of things upcoming for Rictus Grin. Make sure to check out our shows page so you can make it out and get drunk with us.

Recording, Ministry, Showcase in Minneapolis

2004-10-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

We just got done recording a demo album "Living the Dream" at JTW Studios. Joel Wanasek did the recording and it came out sounding huge, heavy and we got exactly what we were looking for in a recording.

Joel is knowledgable about sound and really knows the programs he uses to record, he's open to suggestion, our appointments and deadlines were met with reliability, and his studio is in a pro setting! Not only that, but he's one bad ass mother f*cker. (Bad Ass taken directly from his rules of metal--see the guestbook) This is the first time we were able to really communicate and work our sound into a recording.

If you want to contact Joel to see about recording with him his email is joel@joelwanasek.com

Ministry was a great show. We walked around and saw as many local openers as we could and all of them were very unique and interesting to watch. When it was our turn up to bat the other locals were really supportive especially Dark Shift! Those guys are a so awesome they took the show!

This weekend we're traveling to Minneapolis to showcase for some record labels at the Extreme Ultra Lounge. We have our promo stuff and we're ready to do some damage!

Doomsday, Metal Church and other party info

2004-09-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

We're currently setting up Doomsday 2005. We're having 30 bands at the Rave and the response has been overwhelming! If you know any bands interested email us at rictusgrinforever@yahoo.com We are still in the process of getting the word out about the show.

We just got asked to play with Metal Church at Vnuks with 3 Inches of Blood and Spiral Trance. That show will be November 6. That will be some old school fun!

We'll be partying SOMEWHERE on Halloween weekend--maybe at a show/party and maybe at our band room. Don't miss out!!!

Trip to pseudo Bloodbash 2004

2004-09-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

We spent the night stumbling across fields amongst throngs of crazy party people. Music pummeled the stillness of night into oblivion. Spending the night in a half daze of beer induced chaos we hung out with Whiskey Rebellion, Snooky, Onset Oblivion, Fade, Carbon Parlor and soo many kick ass bands the whole day and night was full of entertainment and fun. We took the party bus and people hung out on there all day and night in the heat and cold just to party Rictus style.

Upcoming shows?

October 2--Timmy G's--Dark Shift, Rictus Grin, Onus, Hollow Complex--FREE--8pm--21+

October 12--The Rave--Ministry, Thrill Kill Kult, Hanzel and Gretyl, Rictus Grin etc.--Tickets $20 from us--more at door!