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Big Neck Records Celebrates 10 Years

The Pain in the Big Neck Festival gets underway this weekend in Buffalo, NY thrown by the now Reston, VA-based label Big Neck Records. Celebrating its 10 year anniversary, the label has stood as a launching pad for a number of now-legendary bands, including the formidable Baseball Furies, The Blowtops, Lost Sounds, and the Tyrades. Forming in the sonically abundant bend of the late 90s, Big Neck honed the hurricane of blistering and bellicose bands from, not only Buffalo, but for others like the beloved Blacks from Sweden. Now here we are, a decade has slipped by, and if your record collection doesn't hold at least hold a handful of the label's 30-plus releases, well then, you must be living under a rock. And the tune train has hardly slowed down over that time, as Big Neck has some new records in the barrel, including the long-awaited (and sadly, the final LP) by the Baseball Furies titled, Throw Them to the Lions, plus Tom Potter's Chrome Spiders debut single, and a debut full length from the Sworn Liars.

Getting underway tonight at the Mohawk Place, the two day event is packed full of must-see acts. Tonight kicks off with an appearance from Minus 9, another project from Flying Bomb's Andy Claydon, who also headed the excellent MHz. Playing brutal, fist-throwing hardcore, Minus 9 should set the night off to a neck-twisting pace. Then, hold on tight to those rock'n'roll nads of yours because the rest of the night is cocked to blast your ass into outer space with sets by DC's Electricutions, Ex-Humans from New York whose Ex-Humans have a debut 7" on Full Breach is still available, and the throng of angular angst, Terrible Twos, hailing from the city known for producing such soul crushing salvos, Detroit.

As A/V Murder plays the last supporting slot, you'll notice that Jim McCann (a.k.a Jim Eyecan, Jimmy Hollywood, Jimmy Ordinary, Mr. Celebrity X, etc..) will be a busy mofo this weekend, playing three sets in total over the span of the festival. The jolly, booze-slinging, back-slapping quipster should be out in full force, as it's sort of a teary homecoming for him, not only because Buffalo was were he, along with the rest of the Baseball Furies, made their bones, but also because of McCann's personal involvement with the Big Neck label over the years. After that, The Blowtops, the band whose debut single got the label going back in 1999, will headline the show.

Saturday, a new local act, Fatal Figures, featuring most of the Blowtops, along with Dave Anchovies from the Plates, open the show and promise to deliver with their spewing and ravenous knub-skullcore tunes. After a performance by Pittsburgh's Burndowns, the Homostupids hit the stage to rip your face apart with their full-throttle, throat-wrenching punk. Tom Potter's Chrome Spiders are in the next slot, then Baltimore's Hollywood, and in between the Baseball Furies two sets are Red Red Red. But everyone knows the big treat for the weekend is the dou-set performance of Baseball Furies. Their first set will be with their current drummer, Matt Billiams, who's been playing with them since the band transplanted to Chicago in 2001, and will feature their newer material, including stuff off of Throw Them to the Lions, which is the first recording to feature Billiams behind the skins. The second set will feature their original drummer, Dapper, and will they be performing the classic late 90s Dapper-era tunes that got a lot of us all worked up so much around the turn of the century. Needless to say, this will be a memorable show for Buffalo, and hopefully the Mohawk will still be standing come Sunday morning.