Excess DB issues statement regarding School of Rock venue

This past May, School of Rock closed its doors suddenly and Excess DB Entertainment moved all of their shows to Teaneck's Mexicali Live.

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Endwell @ School of Rock (photos, review)

Endwell is kicking off their "Spring 2011" tour in less than three weeks.  They played at School Of Rock in South Hackensack, NJ last night to a small crowd making the show

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Folly sold out their reunion show at School of Rock on 4.2.11 (photos, review & videos)

People from near and far, flocked to the sold out show at the School of Rock on Saturday night to see Folly play their 3^rd reunion show. This show is in a string of five total

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Rise Records Tour announced. Playing The Barbary, School of Rock & The Studio.

Memphis May Fire, Decoder, Ten After Two and newly signed Rise Records band That's Outrageous will embark on the first ever Rise Records Tour. The tour will make its way to

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The Dangerous Summer @ School of Rock 3.19.11

After dropping off their last scheduled show at School of Rock, The Dangerous Summer was finally back, bringing along The Scenic, The Graduate and Sparks The Rescue.

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The Scene Aesthetic, He Is We, and Plug In Stereo @ School of Rock 2.23.11

The Love Is All Around Us Tour was an extremely appropriate tour name, because last night School of Rock was filled with nothing but positive vibes. The first on the tour package was Plug In Stereo. It's hard to believe that frontman Trevor Dahl is only seventeen years old. The high school dropout is certainly making a name for himself in today's music scene! His debut full length drops in April.

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Hawthorne Heights announce tour dates. Playing Croc Rock, School of Rock, The Studio and Hangar 84.

Hawthorne Heights have released dates for their upcoming tour with Veara, After Midnight Project and Handguns. The tour will hit up Crocodile Rock on April 5th, The Studio on April 13th, School of Rock on April 14th

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The Dangerous Summer announce tour with Sparks The Rescue. Playing The Studio, Croc Rock and School of Rock.

The Dangerous Summer have announced a U.S. tour with Sparks The Rescue, The Graduate and The Scenic. The tour will kick off at The Studio at Webster Hall on Tuesday March 15th, Crocodile Rock on Thursday March 17th and School of Rock on Saturday March 19th. Tickets for all three shows go on sale tomorrow at 10am. Check out the rest of the tour dates below. The Dangerous Summer is currently recording their second album set to be released later this year. The band is also set to release an acoustic version of their album Reach For The Sun. Recently, drummer Tyler Minsburg announced that he left The Dangerous Summer.

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Folly reunion show at the School of Rock is soldout.

Last week it was announced that Folly will be doing a reunion show at the School of Rock on Saturday April 2nd. Tickets went on sale today and have soldout in record time. No word yet on who will be performing with Folly on their reunion show. There's also no word yet if the band will add a second show due to the overwhelming response. We'll keep you posted on any updates.

The Scene Aesthetic announce U.S. tour with He Is We. Playing School of Rock and The Barbary.

Indie pop duo The Scene Aesthetic have announced tour dates for the Love Is All Around Us tour. Fellow indie duo He Is We will join them along with Carter Hulsey and Plug in Stereo. The tour will hit up School of Rock on Wednesday February 23rd and PA's The Barbary on Sunday February 27th. Tickets for both shows go on sale tomorrow. The rest of the tour dates can be seen below. The Scene Aesthetic released their third album Brother last November. You can pick it up here. He Is We signed with Universal Motown last summer and released their debut album My Forever last November. Make sure to pick it up here.

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Folly reunion show at School of Rock

A couple of weeks ago, rumors went around about a possible reunion of NJ ska-core band Folly later this year. Now it seems the reunion is indeed happening. The band will be performing at the School of Rock on Saturday April 2nd. Tickets will go on sale January 15th. No word on any opening acts for this show. This show will sell out so get yours ASAP. Since the band's breakup in 2008, members went on to form Hoover Flags and punk rock cover band Mix Tape. You can download Folly's last release These Are The Names Of Places We Broke Down In at their purevolume page.

A Rocket To The Moon announce tour with Valencia. Playing Highline Ballroom and School of Rock.

A Rocket To The Moon have announced the "On Your Side" tour which is set to kick off in mid-March. Valencia, Anarbor, Runner Runner and Go Radio will join the band on the tour. The "On Your Side" tour will make its way to Highline Ballroom on Wednesday March 16th and School of Rock on Friday April 22nd. Check out the rest of the tour dates below. Pre-sale tickets will be available on A Rocket To The Moon's website on January 10th. Tickets to the general public will go on sale January 15th. A Rocket To The Moon's latest release was The Rainy Day Sessions EP  which you can pick up here. Valencia released their third album Dancing With A Ghost this past October on I Surrender Records. You can pick that up here.

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The Sleeping (interview, videos, and more)

Interview by: Samantha Saffer

The NJ Underground's very own, Samantha Saffer, was able to interview Joe Zizzo, drummer for The Sleeping and discussed everything from the new album's writing process, touring, and their biggest influences. In addition, Samantha was also able to catch their most recent New Jersey date on December 17th, when the band killed it at The School of Rock. Here's the evidence.

What was the writing process like for your new album?

The writing process for the most part was cool. We wrote most of the record over the span of about 3 months. Like any creative process that involves a bunch of people we had our dry spells, our ups and downs. But trying to write a record in a 12x12 rehearsal space in Long Island when its 100 degrees out is far from inspiring. The sweatbox of a room was the bane of existence for the factory workers below who would yell at us to shut the windows to insulate the sound but in turn would kill the little breeze we had going. We wanted to fucking kill everyone. In attempt to get psyched and inspired we went upstate to the studio we were about to record in & lived there for a week in Woodstock, NY. We rode bikes, built a bbq using an old metal grate over an open fire. Cooked all our food on it. Enjoyed being outside everyday, found a swimming hole & made music. 2 tracks came of that week & we think its easy to pick 'em out amongst the rest. 

What song do you guys love to play live that gets the crowd hyped?

Theres a few choice cuts hahah Dont hold back is one that gets a good reaction, along with the climb. They are both from our 2nd record "questions and answers". You'll be a corpse before your time from the "What it takes" record is crazy fun one to play. & from the newest release "the big deep" id think deafening the uk. Its a strong one & seems to get people excited about whats to come.

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Hellogoodbye announce tour dates. Playing Highline Ballroom and School of Rock.

Hellogoodbye have announced dates for their upcoming tour with Gold Motel and Now, Now Every Children (You, Me and Everyone We Know and Jukebox The Ghost will play seperate legs). The tour will hit up Highline Ballroom on February 9th and School of Rock on February 11th. Check out the rest of the tour dates below. Hellogoodbye are touring in support of their new album entitled Would It Kill You?. This is the band's first album since 2006's Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!. The band left Drive Thru Records earlier this year and formed their own label called Wasted Summer. You can purchase the CD and other Hellogoodbye merch on their online merch store cleverly labeled Hellagoodbuys.

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Sparks The Rescue, You Me and Everyone We Know, Amely @ School of Rock 12.4.10

Sparks The Rescue

By: James McGrath

On Saturday night, the “Christmas Brings Me Down” tour stopped by the abandoned warehouse in South Hackensack we affectionately call the School Of Rock.  The tour was aptly named, as most attendees were in the holiday spirit as the dipping temperatures were trying to drag us all down. The tour features Sparks the Rescue, You Me and Everyone We Know and Amely, but had what was described as “a fucking bonus!” by Ben Liebsch; The Morning of played second to last much to everyone’s delight.

Opening the evening were local bands Nottingham and The Ride Down, from different parts of New Jersey and bringing plenty of classmates with them for support.  Each seemed to be proficient at performing their own material but attempted covers that did not pan out as well as intended.  Nottingham was a few songs into its set list when I arrived to an extremely sped up version of the Beatles’ “All My Loving” while The Ride Down layed down a vocal slaughtering of “Grand Theft Autumn”, originally by Fall Out Boy.  It was apparent that the second band of the evening, The Ride Down from nearby Oradell, NJ had quite a fanbase in the building, but the hooting and hollering got into their heads and obviously distracted them from what they came there to do, play songs.  There was time to squeeze two or three more songs in if the bassist did not do a costume change or if the lead singer did not introduce his band mates.

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Every Time I Die @ School of Rock 12.1.10

More Photos Here

Every Time I Die played a sold out show at South Hackensack's School of Rock this past Wednesday. The metalcore group wrapped up their US run the very next night in Cleveland. The Buffalo quintet are now set to make a trek over to Anchorage, Alaska this coming week to perform two shows in the distant state. Then they will play three holiday home-town shows at Buffalo's Mohawk Place. Every Time I Die are currently supporting their fifth studio album New Junk Aesthetic, which dropped in September of 09' via Epitaph. If you haven't yet, be sure to pick up that release here.

Action Item announce holiday show at the School of Rock

Action Item have announced a holiday show at the School of Rock on Sunday, December 26th. The first 100 people to get tickets online will recieve a limited edition Action Item handmade snowflake signed by the band as well as a meet and greet after the show. Other bands on the bill include Love Automatic, Alex York and Like The Stars. Tickets are going pretty quickly so be sure to get them here. Action Item are currently on tour with Allstar Weekend and Stephen Jerzak. The band released their latest album The Stronger The Love this past August which you can pick up here. Check out coverage of AI's last performance at the School of Rock here.

VersaEmerge, Anarbor, (not The Dangerous Summer) @ School of Rock 11.18.10

VersaEmerge (Photos & write-up by Catherine Powell) 

Anarbor

More Photos Here

It may have been that Harry Potter came out at midnight, or maybe it was because two bands dropped the show the day before, but School of Rock was not as full as expected this past Thursday night. As Conditions was loading out and Anarbor was setting up, a few fans started chanting for The Dangerous Summer, who dropped the tour after the NYC show. Not letting it get to them, Anarbor played a fantastic set, filled with energy and passion. Despite his illness, frontman Slade Echeverria delivered smooth vocals for their ten-song set. Shortly after they finished, curtains were removed to reveal two wooden trees decorated with white lights and VersaEmerge took the stage. Their fans, who call themselves Vultures, screamed in excitement as Versa tour through twelve songs. But the energy from the crowd was absent, and the half-filled room remained still the majority of the set, minus one song where front-woman Sierra Kusterbeck encouraged crowd surfers to fill the stage. The band closed with an old favorite, Clocks, and the Vultures Unite Tour made its way to the next city.

Cartel & Hey Monday @ School of Rock 10.28.10

Cartel (Photo by Samantha Saffer)

Hey Monday (Photo by Samantha Saffer)

Last Thursday night, Cartel and Hey Monday played for an almost-sold-out crowd at The School of Rock in Hackensack, New Jersey. Atlanta natives, Cartel, was recently in the area for a one-off at Ramapo College of New Jersey earlier in October. Supporting the bands were The Ready Set, an electronica act from Indiana and We Are In The Crowd, a power-pop outfit currently signed to Hopeless Records. Additional photos and setlist from Cartel's October 30th show in Connecticut below.

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For The Foxes announce tour with The Bigger Lights and The Scenic

NJ's own For The Foxes have announced a tour supporting The Scenic and The Bigger Lights. The tour will hit up Santos Party House on December 14th, Crocodile Rock on December 15th and School of Rock on December 16th. The pop-rock band from Ocean County recently signed to Hopeless Records. You can download their new single "Where The Heartache Is" on iTunes.