HAMMERD never performs the same show twice. We do not pound out the same group of songs week after week, month after month and expect you to never get bored. We have 140 songs in our repertoire and we always have many more in the works. Every show is a new party. So come out and get HAMMERD!
12/2/2008
OK - I should be flogged (please?) for stuffing a new post in front of our earlier ramble, but I just got done fixing up a few of the pic links - what the hell happened you ask?? I have no damn clue, but it looks as though it has been a while since they actually worked. Link history shows people are still digging through the image archives, so I fixed -most- of 2006. And while I am on the subject - where the hell are all of the recent pictures? Oh - you should be asking me that... Well - we have no idea - no one specific taking pictures at shows and next thing you know, two years go by. So.... for now, if you have pictures, email them to us, burn a CD and bring it to a show - please! And in the future, if you take pics at the show, send them in, too! Pictures of us, pictures of the throngs of fans watching ;)
What the *^&%CK you say? Where the hell have those Hammerd goof-balls been? Well, I can really tell you - not practicing... but when it's as fun as it always is - us playing that is (music...get the minds out of the gutter people....) we find that it just comes natural. Maybe we have been meeting up and practicing drinking beer and watching the extensive video collection of Mr. Drummer, we don't get much time for music! Sometimes you just need a break - right?
We haven't been playing in the bars much, but we think we need to get out there a bit more - like Sherlock's in January? Or better yet, how about a Motley Crue post party again? At Sherlock's? How's that sound? Sounds pretty freakin' good to us...
I need a bathroom break....be right back...
Chris - Is it any wonder why I shouldn't let anyone else update this page? I mean really? Are you shitin' me?... Apparently he is.
And note from Chris have appeared! What the...? Well - I suppose it is back to plotting our take-over of the.... um, I mean practicing....
9/14/2008
Welcome back to HAMMERDlive.com. The band has not been as active publically but continues to persue it's goal of bringing you the best show possible. HAMMERD continues to add to it's already extensive set list and refine the best in 80's hard rock and heavy metal music.The band would like to extend an enormous thank you to all of you for your interest and support. They'll see you all again very soon. Keep a look out.
As summer comes to a close it's time for a season end rap up. HAMMERD played some great new venues and some awesome events this summer. Our time in Put-In-Bay, OH could not have gone better. The venue, it's staff, and the spirit of this island get-away was wonderful. They will be seeing more of HAMMERD next season for sure. A special thanks to Chris Donley and Andy Christensen for making it happen. Another special thanks to John Muroski for making the trip unforgettable.
HAMMERD returned to it's home base of Sherlock's several times to enthusiastic crowds. They were real blow outs. Bottoms up!
Who witnessed the best block party event this summer at Skeeter's? HAMMERD lit up the overwhelming crowd with a set packed with the best 80's hard rock. The band stayed dry while the storm clouds gathered. The M-80's took the stage and immediatly got dumped on. It was apparently their turn this year. It was a great time! Our sincerest thanks to the M-80's for inviting us to take part in the event and thanks to you for sticking around.
A huge HAMMERD thanks to Astro, Mike, Tavon, and everybody else that made our appearence at the A.B.A.T.E rally at Jim-&-I campground in West Springfield, PA so special. Chris said, "I fucking LOVE the Jack!" (As in Jack Daniels). He continued, "I didn't think we could sweat more onstage than we did at the Skeeters block party. But this topped it!". The show went great and started off with Warz taking a ride on the back of Mike's Harley while playing 'Slide It In'. We have the pictures to prove it. No tittie contest this year but Warz still has nitemares from some of the contestants last year. Thanks to Visual Concepts Lighting, the barn never looked better. The Geek Army kicked ass on through the night and rocked the crowd until 3:15 a.m.!! That was about twenty minutes after Chris woke up. (Reference the Jack Daniels comment above.) Warz and Shaner still had to tear down that brilliant light show and got home just after sunrise. Chris was sober by then. And not hungry. Kicked ass! Got HAAAAMMERD! Sick. Hung over. And sober before sunrise? Now that's a HAMMERD experience!
In other news, our very own Christopher Shaner has accepted an invitation to join Atlantic Records recording artists and local rock legends Dirty Looks. Chris will be performing as a guitarist, primarily, and chipping in on backing vocals live with the band on October 5th at the Warner Theatre. Tickets are available through Ticket Master. Dirty Looks has had a busy year, having released two albums already with a third, titled 'California Free Ride', to drop on Oct. 2nd. Chris can be heard singing all of the backing tracks on the title cut as well as several others. Chris said,"It's a thrill to play a part in the legacy of this band that I saw on 'Headbanger's Ball' so many years ago. It's music we love and I am right at home playing. This is a must see show!"
Keep the faith!
Stay tuned.
6/10/2008
Just a note - we are still experiencing the aftermath of yet another hosting move, so the pictures (which, I do agree, are quite old) are not working now. Everything else seems to be O.K. for now! If you are in for a drive and a party, join us on Put-In-Bay for a Tuesday and Wednesday party the only way the Put-In-Bay and Hammerd can offer it up! Also, don't miss Hammerd teaming up with the M-80s for an awesome 80s block party at Skeeter's on French Street on Thursday, June 26th!!!
3/02/2008
WE, HAMMERD WILL BE PLAYING A BENEFIT FOR STROKE VICTIM JOHN HUGHES AT THE
FULTON ATHLETIC CLUB 1309 EAST 9TH STREET ON SATURDAY MARCH 22. IT'S JUST A
$5 COVER. THERE WILL BE FOOD, BEER, GAMES OF CHANCE AND OF COURSE US (HAMMERD).
THE PARTY STARTS AT 12 AND WILL GO ON TILL 6, POSSIBLY LONGER. ALL PROCEEDS
WILL GO TO MEDICAL EXPENSES AND TO HELP OUT THE FAMILY. SO COME AND PARTY WITH
US, IT'S FOR A GOOD CAUSE. SINCERELY JOEY
P.S. Why does Joey write everything in capital letters. It's like he's shouting his enthusiasm at us.
Sincerely,
Chris
2/11/2008
Wow! Speed'eez got HAMMERD! What a great time we had. Thanks to everyone for coming out and spending the night with us. Welcome to all of the new friends and fans in North East! Many thanks to Speed'eez staff and patrons for thier wonderful hospitality. Hope to be seeing you all again really soon.
p.s. Pearl Jam is NOT an 80's band. HAHA! And I'm not sorry for it!
p.s.s. I know, 'Crazy Bitch' isn't legal either. And the ass grinding it created almost wasn't either! Not sorry for that! No, sir! Not sorry.
1/20/2008
HAMMERD will be making their return to the stage on Saturday, February 9th at Spee'eez in North East at the corner of Route's 89 and 20. Don't miss this rare local appearence.
1/4/2008
Another KICK ASS HAMMERD/ French Quarters Eve blowout! Our third annual event was a great one! We had special guests, special requests, the best fuckin' light show ever there (mesmerizing), and a bang up night of great rock n' roll. Oh, and tequila. Lots of Cabo Wabo tequila! Cheers to all for sharing the event with us. We love you all! here's to good times, good friends, good music and good drink! Raise 'em up! Bottoms up! Cheers!
1/1/2008
From all of us to all of you, Happy New Year! Best wishes to all.
12/28/2007
New Year's Eve Party at French Quarter! Come join us as we ring in the new year with a grand rock 'n roll blowout. I guarantee there will not be a better time had anywhere. The party starts early with live music at 9:30. Party favors, noise makers (other than us), champagne toast, munchies and finger food all night , Mike's buffet of good eats, contests, giveaways, stupid human tricks, fun , fun, fun! And did I mention the best in 80's rock all night by the Erie areas #1 party band, HAMMERD. All of this for a mere $5 ! That's five dollars people! Spread the word and bring a friend or hear the stories later and regret sitting at home alone stuffing your face with junk food and touching yourself while watching people on t.v. have the kind of fun you deserve to be having. This is our (yours, mine, Mike's) little party that could, can, and will knock you on your ass. So avoid amateur night downtown and come out and get HAMMERD!
12/26/2007
A very Merry HAMMERD Christmas to all! Hope Santa treated you well!
12/19/2007
Hey! How the hell is everybody?? I know - some of us have been, shall we say -absent- for quite some time... The MySpace is moving, hammerdlive doesn't seem to be what it used to! Hammerd has been taking it easy for a few months - regrouping as it were... we are still here - is everyone out there still looking to get HAMMERD? Shoot us an email - let us know what you want to hear - let us know that you are itching for that 80s fix...that you need it like you need air! We will be back at you here shortly - in fact - New Years Eve at French Quarters - if you haven't had Mike's New Years buffet then you need to come out for that (in addition to the BEST 80s rock you can get!) Basically, I just had to say HI to everyone! See you all at the FQ, bring a friend or eight, wear those nice skimpy 80s outfits (if you are of the female persuasion!) and join us for the best New Years Party!
B
11/24/2007
Turkey day did not disappoint! Neither did our pre-turkey day bash! Fun! Fun! Fun! Welcome home to the many HAMMERD fans in town for the weekend and thanks for including us in your holiday. Cheers!
11/4/2007
Thank you so much to all of you that supported the the cause at the Gabe Bailey benefit on Sat. I hope they do it again next year. It was a wonderful time and probably the best organized benefit I have ever been apart of. Kudos to all. I had a wonderful time and got to re-connect with a bunch of old musician buddies. It was also such a great line-up of bands. Best wishes.
Is everybody ready for Turkey day? Are you at least ready for our annual HAMMERD pre-Turkey day bash at the French Quarters? Wednesday, Nov. 21rst. 9:30! This is one of those special shows we always look forward to. The Quarters is one of our home away from homes and always brings out the most in everyone. Come join us for the best party in town!
10/26/2007
A great time for a good cause! Come join us. Bring friends!
New - 10/22/2007
HAMMERD played Sherlock's again on Sep.19th! This time out we kept the set geared towards classic hard rock. I love Krokus and Accept! We dug in and ripped it up. Fun time. We were joined by part of our Pittsburgh area contingent. Thank you for joining us. Thanks to Quinnie for coming up. Good to see you , nerd! Cheers to our new Boston and D.C. connections. Pleasure to have you with us. Hit us up about that show! Kick Ass! Take care all!
New - 10/08/2007
HAMMERD made it's first trip to Put-in-Bay, OH on Sep.4th to play 'The Boathouse'. This is a stellar venue in an incredible location. The place is first rate, all the way. The people were great and the sound man, Tommy, was a treat to work with. He actually listened and tried to give us what we wanted. Imagine that. We were just a bit short for time but were very up for the show. That went away quickly for Chris with a series of bad equipment problems. It threw him off in a way it never does and made for a very long first set. We regrouped on break and the bar manager, Andy, encouraged us to brush it off and have fun. I guess nobody else picked up on the struggle. Good. We got to it and rolled out the best in 80's hard rock, as well as a whole handful of songs that we have never played together before. The people want what the people want and we aim to give it to them. All in all it was a fun and productive trip. We look forward to making it again several times next year. Thank you to the entire Boathouse crew and especially Chris Donley for giving us the opportunity. I hope we didn't let you down. Cheers!
New - 10/02/2007
Wow!!!! What the fuck was that?! Damn! Gun's N' Roses very own Dizzy Reed hits the stage with HAMMERD by his side as "HORZ" and tore it up! Yeah fuckers!......... Now let's put all of this into context so that we can all have a good understanding of what led to this riotous event. We were asked about possibly playing with Dizzy some two months earlier with almost no details beyond the offer. We agreed to do it and thought it would be a good fit. We got a set list of things Dizzy regularly performs with his other side project band 'Hookers and Blow'. It was a bunch of classic 60's and 70's rock as well as a bunch of Gun's tunes. We got the set list about two and a half weeks before the show and learned about 20 songs. It was pressure. It all came together very quickly but Dizzy did well to put us at ease. We got to hang out before the show and work out some of the quirks to the set. We abandoned that set list a short time into the show. Side note: "Fist of the Vampire" rolled to the chants of "HAMMERD! HAMMERD! LET'S GET HAMMERD!" We took to the stage with a similarly jubilant response. A bunch of chants for GUN'S were heard. NO ONE else was mentioned... The very late start took it's toll a bit. We had started drinking early. Oops! But we had such a great time with Dizzy and the crowd that it made the horribly undersized p.a. system and the ensuing problems seem bearable. We had an absolute blast! I haven't laughed that much in a very long time. Thanks to all that attended and to Steve and Ruth for making it happen. A special shout out to Spider for making the night unforgettable. Cheers! Thanks again.
Reminder - 9/20/2007
HAMMERD will be appearing at the Roadhouse Theatre on Sat. Sep.29th at about 2 a.m. as the backing band for Guns n' Roses very own Dizzy Reed. Dizzy is the longest running member of the band, other than Axl Rose himself! This is an absolutely special one off performance that should not be missed! See you there. Bottoms up!
New - 09/17/2007
Sherlock's ROCKS! Another hot show in a long string of hot shows. And we brought an old school light show too. We were trying to keep the set list on the light side of the era but we couldn't quite keep it there. We have so many songs that you have to sort of steer the set list in one direction or another. That's the dangerous thing about it, you never know who is going to show up. We may be staring down at a list of L.A.Guns and Faster Pussycat and all of you are calling for Judas Priest and Megadeth or vice versa. A couple of guys almost revolted when we played 'Down Boys'. LOL! But you'll have that. We thank you all for coming to rock out and give us shit. Thanks!
Next up? Dizzy Reed at the Roadhouse Theatre! See you there!
Updated! 9/02/2007
Wow ! We hate to repeat ourselves, but we can't believe how time is flying. It's been months and we're just getting around to writing. We have had a bunch of ups and downs, some great shows, and some great fun. Sorry for the delays. We have a ton to catch you up on. We'll try make it up to you. Let's get to it.
Hammerd had the unique opportunity to share the bill with a couple of other local bands on August 10th & 11th at Erie's home of Rock N' Roll, 'Sherlock's'. Friday we split the night with Chrome, who played a whole range of classic and modern rock, and had some great fun with some old friends. Saturday turned out to be an awesome night of music. Our very good friends 'Hammersmith' kicked off the night with a super tight set of outstanding modern heavy rock. We could not have been more happy about how they played and the enthusiastic crowd that greeted us both. We killed the rest of the night and it was all over too soon. Thank You so much for sharing the weekend with us...... Hammersmith has since swapped some members and are retooling their set.
Visual Concepts Lighting, our lighting venture, got very busy from the end of July through August. We provided production for HAMMERD, Chrome, Freudian Slip, 4-Play, Spooner (twice) and Nerds Inc. We ran four shows the weekend of the 18th alone. We think we have raised the bar in Erie for production value. We appreciated the opportunity to bring what we do to the stage for others. We thank you again.
In the middle of all of those light shows, we were also able to participate in the RockErie.com stage event as part of Celebrate Erie. Quick setups are not our specialty, but we were up and running so quick we got ourselves an extra song or two. It was fun as hell and we saw a lot of new faces. We've met so many people as a result of that one short performance. Cheers to RockErie for making it all happen. We saw a handful of acts that we had never gotten to see before due to our busy schedule. It was great.
The French Quarters - August 24-25, 2007 We rolled out the rock at the Quarters for the whole weekend. Friday was a really fun time for the few of us that were there. We packed up early and got to head down to Sherlock's to see the last part of Icarus Witch's set. Saturday was a blast, with the all day event outside spilling inside. It was a packed house of party goers. Great night. Great crowd. One fight.?. He He! And we thank you all!
RockErie Music Awards - August 26th,2007 The Awards show was AWESOME! It was a very well planned and even better executed event. We were not victorious but the feeling of community among 90% of the crowd made it all worth it. The DVD of the night captured it all and we hope it is a good springboard for next year. This year was a great first step. We congratulate all of the winners and nominees and thank all who participated. We would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of you for all of your wonderful support. Thank You!
8/22/2007
HAMMERD will be appearing at the Roadhouse Theatre on Sat. Sep.29th at about 2 a.m. as the backing band for Guns n' Roses very own Dizzy Reed. Dizzy is the longest running member of the band, other than Axl Rose himself! This is an absolutely special one off performance that should not be missed! See you there. Bottoms up!
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We just received word that we are in for a slot on the local stage at 'Celebrate Erie'! Thank you so much and keep spreading the word! Voting does not end for the award until August 19th at midnight!
The Erie Music Awards voting is underway and HAMMERD would like to ask for your support in our quest to gain the TRIBUTE Band title. With your support we may be able to do just that. The push for votes is on! We would like to be acknowledged at the upcoming awards show event. If you could take a few minutes and click on the link above and cast your vote it would be incredibly appreciated! I consider us an underdog in our category and you and everyone else you get to vote for us could help contribute to a big upset and add some attitude to what might otherwise be a boring affair. Join the cause! And thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
HAMMERD!
7/24/2007
Wow! What a month! Two smashing block parties, more new opportunities, a venue closes, and another string of successful shows!
In the media - Did you see us on the news? We've made it on there several times this month. First during the VERY successful, VERY packed Boardwalk Downtown Block Party. Then the VERY wet and wild Peccadillo's Downtown Block Party. We were listed in the newspaper as a nominee in the Erie Music Awards 'Tribute Band' category. And we will soon be listed in the paper again as a performer at Celebrate Erie. This is all thanks to you! Thank You!
Past shows - On June 15th & 16th we played at the Fireside Lounge. We finally brought our proper light show to the Fireside and it looked brilliant! We will get the pictures up soon. Keep checking back. We played a lot of music over those two days and had a lot of fun. We made some new friends and I know we'll see you again soon. Our friends in Leader of men helped to make Sat. quite special and I thank them all for coming out to get HAMMERD and bringing their friends out too. It seems now, at the time of this writing, that that will have been our last appearances at the Fireside. The doors were closed recently. The HAMMERD family would like to wish the best of luck to Kerry and his family.
Jani Lane - Boardwalk Downtown Block Party - June 21rst - I would tell all of you about that night, but there's only , like, three or four of you that weren't there to experience it for yourselves. First off, HOLY SHIT was it fuckin' packed! I don't know how many people were actually there, but the crowd stretched all the way down North Park Row and all the way across Perry Square. Damn!! 'Matty B. and the Dirty Pickles' and 'Trev Zeppelin' rocked the outside stage to start the event and kicked ass! We powered through an hour and a half set of pure 80's hard rock platinum as the sun set and the crowd came alive. The crowd was amazing and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. We made a lot of new friends and a few new fans that night including several members of Jani's band. [The guys were terribly nice and quite easy going. A huge shout out to Mike Fasano (drummer) for being so fuckin' cool.] A special thank you must go out to Dave Freeman and Matt Orton at Boardwalk for organizing it all and including HAMMERD in it. A special thank you to Kelly Donlon for contributing to our opportunity to perform. Happy Birthday to 'Rocket 101'. Thank you to Jani Lane and band. And a special thank you to all of you for making it so special!
Scooter's - July 14th - A solid show and a decent crowd. We were able to load up the lights and bring our spirit to a room that has been good to us. Thanks as always to the staff at Scooter's for making our night easy. And thanks to the friends of HAMMERD for enjoying the night with us.
Pecadillo's Downtown Block Party - July 19th - And GOD said, "Let there be rain!" We were asked to hold off on starting to allow the crowd to fill in. But as I sat there, I looked to the sky and thought, "We're probably going to get rained on anyway. Let's see how much we can get in before we get dumped on." Luckily we were able to trudge on through the weather and the plug was never pulled. Thanks a ton to Raven Sound for sticking it out and doing a great job! Other than the obvious risk of death which might have occurred as a result of the electrified equipment becoming wet or the giant metal shed we were playing in getting hit by lightning, it wasn't that big of a deal. We got a bit wet. We did it all for the fans. Believe it or not, we have played gigs that were easily much worse . Several of you true troopers stood out in the rain as the band played on. That was amazing! You ROCK! We played a few more obscure tunes and then hit ya with the hits. All in all, we played pretty well and had a ton of fun. We'll be talking about this one for a long time.
The M-80's took the stage under clearer skies and put on a great show. I don't know why we haven't done this before but I am almost sure it will not be the last time we share a stage. They cranked out every song that you can remember that defined the early MTV experience. It definitely took me back. They brought the look, the sound, and definitely the guitars! Cheers to the M-80's from HAMMERD for ripping it up!
Cove Niteclub - July 20th - Where? Oh' where has our summer club gone? I think there were more people there at our April appearance. I think we are dying in Geneva. That's tough because we have really enjoyed our relationship there. Good people, good fun.
Sherlock's - July 21rst - What a fucking smash! Great crowd! Great light show! Kicked ass! Thanks to some old and new friends for coming out and kicking ass! Nuf said.
7/10/2007
Well hasn't it been a long time! (This is Warz here) It has been brought to my attention that someone (namely me) has been quite the lazy slacker lately! Everyone always comes to the shows, you all show your support - and I can't even figure out how to get pictures up for the last 12 months! Holy shit! It has been a while. Well, guess what I am working on tonight? The long way of putting up pics, cuz I have absolutely no idea what I ever did with my easy way. Soooooo - within the next 2-3 days, I WILL have 10 shows worth of new (old) pictures up - some of Quinn (wow that dates them), some of Pat (remember Pat?), and some of the rest of our funny mugs. Oh yea - I saw Chris had selected quite a few fan pics to - see if you are in there! Thanks for sticking with us, and see ya rocking at the next show - hey - its this Saturday! COOL! bye
6/13/2007
Hello to the HAMMERD faithful! A big shout out to all of you that came and rocked out at the Cove with us. It was a big ol' bottoms up good time. A special thanks must go out to the wonderful young ladies that put on a show for us that night. WOW! If only I could post the pictures......
If you're lookin' for the fun place to be this weekend it will be at " Fireside Lounge" in Harborcreek. We'll be rockin' out all weekend with two nights of the best in classic 80's hard rock.
5/16/2007
A great big 'Cinco de Mayo' thank you to all of you rock music fans who joined us at the French Quarter and helped me celebrate my birthday. It was a great, fun night! Our best light show. The sound was strong. We were happy. We did a lot of shots and they failed to slow us down. Nice try though. Thanks to Sean Duffy for running sound and lights for us. Thanks again to Mike Fatica for the additional help. It is indispensable. Thanks as always to Mike K. for having us out to the Quarters and for the late night 'Cabo Wabo'.
Hello Scooters! O. K. Who brought the karma? A night of hair raising 80's era hard rock with, as always, way too much fuckin' drama on the side. We cranked out the hits and you shout it out loud! Thanks for sharing the night with us. Thanks to Don and Mary for having us. Thanks to our friends in WHIPLASH for stopping in. If you come out this week I will drag you on stage to play something. And as always, if you like it tell a friend; if you don't, tell an enemy. Either way, we aren't going anywhere!
Sat. we made a special appearance at Doc Holiday's with "4 - Play" and LEADER OF MEN. It was great! People had no idea what was going on or what to make of us. We played a tight set of the best in 80's hard rock that really kicked ass. Thanks for the warm reception. "4 - Play" ripped through some classic hard rock to keep the party rolling before L.O.M. took the stage to pound out some modern classics in the making. Thank you to LEADER OF MEN and Doc's for having us. Hopefully it won't be our last time doing it. Cheers!
Chris
Erie Music Awards nominations. If you are viewing this page you are probably already aware of what is going on at RockErie.com. The process of nominating bands for the Erie Music Awards and a shot at performing during the 'Celebrate Erie' festival has already started. If you enjoy what we do and would like to help us on our way, please show your support and nominate us by clicking on the link on the RockErie homepage. We would like to be nominated in the rock band and cover band categories as well as the individual (vocalist, guitarist, bassist, drummer) categories. There is also a category for favorite overall band/performer. The number of nominations we receive will determine if we make it into the voting stage of the process for the actual EMA. We are just trying to get onto the ballot right now. Then you will be able to vote for us again in the actual contest, but only if we receive enough support from all of you. Are you following that? I hope so. We would truly appreciate your support. Thank you.
HAMMERD
5/1/2007
May is here. Which means we are only two days away from my 28th, o.k., 29th birthday. We will be celebrating Sat. at the French Quarter. Come join us!...
We also have a lot of catching up to do. Going all the way back to St.Patty's day...if you can remember it. If you can, you weren't really there. [Remember when they used to say that about the 1960's. I never got that one as a kid. I mean, if you didn't retain it, maybe it wasn't worth remembering. Right?] St. Patty's day was worth remembering and noting. It was the standard HAMMERD fare. The P.A. melted down 10 min. before we were supposed to start. We had equipment breakdowns. The new lights looked great and we rocked the fuckin' joint! Hell Yeah! Everybody now! "First we drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink! Then we fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight! Hey!" The Irish are such a fiesty bunch. Shananagans! Thank you, as always, for joining us. We will be blowing it up again on May 11th.
Our April 6th Sherlock's appearence will be written into the pages of history as THE BEST HAMMERD show in the modern era. The light show was completely our own; no in house stuff was used at all. We did the most hit packed set list ever. We debuted five new songs. And in spite of an exasperating soundcheck (this is your brain on drugs), we were on fire. If you weren't there, you really missed out. A special thanks to Chris Falk for making us look so good; to Mike Fatica for lending a much needed hand with set up; and to Brian Warzynak for the extra effort in taking the production to the next level. Thanks to John Brutto (Leader of Men) for joining us to celebrate your birthday. And to all of the fans of 80's era hard rock that brought the good vibes to the party.
On April 20th I (Chris) competed in the "Erie Idol" contest finals at 'Junior's Last Laugh'. We were competing for a big screen HD tv, $500, a recording package and some other stuff. It was the same ol' story; I sang my ass off, made it to the final five, and the chick won it. I wasn't perfect, but I brought it and I honestly didn't think anyone would have pitched a big bitch if I had one it. But I didn't even take second. Ouch!
April 28th brought us back to our friends at the Cove. You guys treat us so well and it is always a good time. We packed everything and everyone into one van and hit the road. Our new lights look so much better when they have room to throw. Awesome. Thanks for the shots people. Thanks to Chris Falk for making the drive to work with us. Thanks to Glen Sprague for providing us with the biggest laugh of the night. P.J., you're the best. See you soon!
Erie Music Awards nominations. If you are viewing this page you are probably already aware of what is going on at RockErie.com. The process of nominating bands for the Erie Music Awards and a shot at performing during the 'Celebrate Erie' festival has already started. If you enjoy what we do and would like to help us on our way, please show your support and nominate us by clicking on the link on the RockErie homepage. We would like to be nominated in the rock band and cover band catagories as well as the individual (vocalist, guitarist, bassist, drummer) catagories. There is also a catagory for favorite overall band/performer. The number of nominations we recieve will determine if we make it into the voting stage of the process for the actual EMA. We are just trying to get onto the ballot right now. Then you will be able to vote for us again in the actual contest, but only if we recieve enough support from all of you. Are you following that? I hope so. We would truly appreciate your support. Thank you.
HAMMERD
More to come.
Stay tuned......
3/15/2007
Didn't I just say that you needed to check back more often? Yes I did. Maybe I should. I'm on the verge of more changes and you will be seeing them soon. Stay tuned.
St.Patty's Day!!!!!!!!!!!! Sat. March 17th!!!! Scooters Lounge!!!! Fun, fun, fun!!!! Come join us!!!! We are going to light it up. I assure you. Don't miss it!
2/26/2007
Howdy from HAMMERD headquarters! Wanted to drop you all a line just to keep in touch and tell you we are still alive and kickin'. We did one show this month at the Cove Niteclub in Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH after an extended break . Everyone but me (Chris) was sick and miserable, but the show actually went really well. It was quite a blast. We featured a set list that was completely in alphabetical order until end of the night and the encore. We had a bigger than expected turnout and people came out to party. Cheers to all! the Thanks so much to our Pittsburgh contingent for joining us and ,as always, making it so special. You guys are the best! Rock on OHIO!
We will be making a shorter than usual stop at the 'Fireside' in Harborcreek this Sat.only. Friday night was double booked by the bar and we got the boot. Oh well. I hope to see you on Sat. Stay HAMMERD!
1/30/2007
First post of the new year. Glad you could join us. Check back more often and you will see more new stuff more often now that I will be getting paid for my attention and contributions to this and the many other responsibilities I juggle on the biz side of the band. Cha-ching! I would also like to throw out there that in spite of not seeing my band mates for almost three weeks that we are very much looking forward to getting back on the stage together and back into the playing groove at the Cove Niteclub in Geneva-on -the-Lake, OH on Feb. 9th. Join us.
New Year's Eve was great! The place was packed with revelers in good spirit. We cranked it out and they tore it up. We got to roll out the confetti cannons and party favors in a big way. We were so glad to host all of you and will be seeing you again soon. A huge thanks to Mike K. for the awsome midnight food spread and the entire staff out at the 'Quarters' for making our stay so welcome. Thanks to Mike Fatica for coming out and man-ing the boards for the evening (sorry that you can't keep up with us). An honorable mention needs to go out to Mike and Tina and Quinn and Laura for making the drive from the 'Burgh. Glad you came. Cheers to all!
Jan 5th brought us back to our home base of Sherlock's. Had a lot of shots and a lot of fun. Jan 6th took us to the Cove. The weather was crap but the night was anything but. Many shots with many good friends. Thanks for the support.
The next weekend brought us out to the Fireside Lounge in Harborcreek for the first time since last summer. Fri. kicked ass. My voice felt great and I had my groove on on the guitar. "He's en Fuego!" Sat. we had so many more good friends out and I was trippin on my tongue all over the place. Damn! Have another slice of humble pie? Don't mind if I do. Kerry treats us great andwe will be back in them there parts on March 2nd &3rd. See you there.
P.S. We started to learn some new songs and have a very exciting list of potential adds. We havn't gotten anywhere with them yet, but we are always interested in your suggestions. Don't hesitate to offer them.
12/24/2006
Well, let me start by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
And I guess I don't need to wish you a happy new year because I will be seeing you all at "The French Quarter". Right? French Quarter's New Years Eve Party! Sunday Dec.31 9:00p.m.! I hope you will consider joining us. We had an absolute blast last year and I will guarantee a good time again this year. The party is getting underway at around 9:00p.m. as we roll out a whole bunch of stuff we rarely play and you're not likely to hear again soon, I'm sure. (It will also give us the opportunity to work out the bugs in our troublesome P.A.) The night will be highlighted by giveaways, party favors, contests, complimentary champagne toast, Mike K.'s awesome pork and kraut buffet at midnight, and the best in 80's hard rock and metal with the regions #1 party band,"HAMMERD". If you miss it, you'll hear about it. Admission is a mere $5.00!!!!!!! That's right, five bucks a head gets you the most rockin' new years party this side of Dick Clark droppin' his ball on you! Don't stay home. Treat yourself to a good time with good company; "The French Quarter" and "HAMMERD". Come join us, won't you? Did I mention this will be our first public appearance with returning original drummer Brian Lorei?
Directions:"The French Quarter" 8657 Perry Hwy., Erie, PA 16509. I-90 to State St./Rt.97 exit #27. Turn South and continue approx. 1 mile. Bar is on the left.
Rewind: Let me catch you up on what's been going on. We played the 'Quarters' on Nov. 22. The show was a rough one for us. We were fighting problems all night and didn't have the answers. We tried to power through. Brian's wireless cut out at least twice. He also quite amusingly (to me at least) landed on his butt when the chair he was jumping up on slid out from under him. That's priceless. Oops! I thank you all for attending. I hope to see you again.
Our next show was at Sherlock's on Dec. 1rst. This would also be our last performance with Pat Conti appearing on drums. Pat gave us a new life and a new spirit as well as a few months of his life and a lot of effort to the cause of moving this forward. But in the end we admitted that it wasn't clicking. We were fighting for this to work but it wasn't meant to be. We want to tell you all that we all have the greatest respect for what Pat put out for us and he is still a great friend. Good luck to him and you may see him around again really soon... The show went pretty well and I had a really good time. Cheers to all! Thanks to the friends new and old who joined us. Hello to our new friends that I spoke to as well. See you soon.
We would also like to publicly welcome the return of Brian Lorei! You will recall that Brian ditched us to go play with himself and for Leader of Men for a time before realizing that he missed us and all of our incredible bullshit too much. Or something like that. I will be catching enormous hell for having said all of that you know that right?....... Well we played a private party for our friend Blake on the sixteenth and really rocked it out. The pressure was off and Brian was back. Quinn also played with us on this special occasion and the old spirit was there. I really miss that. It takes a lot more brain power to sing and play you know. I give special thanks to Rachel for inviting us to be a part of it. And a big thanks to all of the many party goers for making it so special. Cheers to all! We had a bang up good time! Wink. Wink.
11/16/2006
If you were at Scooter's on Nov.4th, and you didn't have a good time, check your pulse! We had a great time. Maybe too good of a time. Is that possible? I know we did a lot of shots (thank you all very much! It's been a while. Where have you been?) and I for one rode the perfect buzz all night. We train wrecked on a couple of songs. Can't deny that. But we're fixing that. I blame you people (ref. pile of empty shot glasses). But a great time. There are good vibes oozing from Scooter's. All of our HAMMERD best to Don and Mary. So glad to see many old friends and to make some new ones. Join us when we are back there on St. Patty's Day 2007. That's in the bag. As are we occasionally.
FRENCH QUARTERS! HAMMERD makes it's long overdue return to our second home, The Quarters. We've had some great fuckin' times there and we are gonna raise the roof once again. Let's face it, you only have to stay awake enough on Thurs. to keep yourself from falling asleep in your food. Then you knap until it's time to go to the Erie Otters annual Turkey Day home game. Absolutely love it! See you there! Bring a designated driver.
Bottoms up!
Chris
P. S. There have been some changes in the show dates. The Dec. Cove show was cancelled and a Dec. 1rst show at Sherlock's has been added. Thank you.
Mike Fatica rocks!
10/30/2006
WOW! Another great crowd at Erie's home of Rock n' Roll, Sherlock's! Cheers to all our new friends that dropped by and rocked out! We were glad to meet you and I hope to see you all again very soon. Bring a friend next time.
Well, it sounded great on stage. I would venture to say it might have been our best mix yet. That's good. I finally ventured off stage to check out the front of house mix and thought it was tight. Tight like my pants tight (ladies watch you're hands). Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to Quinn and John for joining us on stage. Thanks to Kelly for surprising me on stage and giving all of us something to watch. Thanks as always to the Sherlock's staff for making our stay a welcome one. Cheers!
We are continuing to try and change things up with the set list and soon things will be taking a big jump forward. Stay tuned. Remember, we never do the same set twice, ever!
Next up, Scooters Lounge Inc. Nov. 4th. We had a great time when last we graced the Scooters stage and we are looking to blow the walls out this time. It should be a blast. Please join us.
We also want you to keep Nov. 22nd in mind. This is the day before Thanksgiving and we will be making our long overdue return to The French Quarters. We have always enjoyed our time at The Quarters and have turned that place back into the hotspot of days past. Don't get too hammered after work and come get HAMMERD at The Quarters. Don't forget that they also have a full kitchen and a lot of great eats to choose from including a ton of wing flavors. So come out and get a bite and stay for the show. You won't be disappointed.
10/10/2006
Sherlock's Fri., Oct. 20th! Join the party! Bring the fun! Bring a friend. Get HAMMERD!
10/02/2006
Scooters rocked. We were as entertaining as ever and I do think it was noticeable that we have definitely jelled more with the current line-up. It isn't easy to swop members (especially drummers) and not miss a beat, pardon the pun. You have to adjust and that has been happening. Pat has been a great addition and I'm glad we have him. Brian W.'s voice is not quite back up to speed yet and (gulp) I miss it. You don't realize what a hole it can leave in your sound when your main harmonizer has surgery on his vocal cords and they remove a growth the size of the tip of your pinkie (he keeps it in a jar in the basement). Creepie! I hope you all had fun. I did. Thanks for joining the party!
Fri. Sep. 29th brought us back home to Sherlock's. If you weren't there, you missed a one of a kind night and performance. It has never happened before and the odds of it happening again are at least 1 in 8. Maybe 1 in 9. Probably 1in 8. Yes. Probably. All of the main past members (the only exception being Sean Duffy) of HAMMERD were in the house and on the stage at one time or another. We created some new never before seen line-up combinations and had a blast doing it. I want to personally thank Gary Kum, John Brutto (Leader of Men), Quinn Lukas (Icarus Witch), and Brian Lorei (interim Leader of Men) for coming out and making it a night to remember. I hope we can all do it again. I would also like to thank resident old fart Glen Sprague (Thirst N' Howl) for joining Quinn, Pat, and myself on some smokin' hot versions of some Ozzy classics. Nobody does them justice like you guys! The night was awesome and we loved seeing so many familiar faces in the crowd. Welcome back. Don't be strangers. Cheers to Billy for making the drive. Let's do it again real soon. A huge shout out to the guy that was tipping us $10's and $20's to keep him rockin'. The rest of you could learn alot from this obviously enlightened individual. We used to insist that that kind of appreciation manifest itself in a shot glass but the results on stage were always mixed. "Had a great time last night. I wonder if we were any good?" Thanks again to all of you.
We will be back home at Sherlock's on Friday, Oct. 20th. This will be our last appearance of the year on State St. so don't miss it.
Check back soon. We are adding new dates as we speak.
Cheers!
P.S. I just remembered that I had completely failed to mention in a previous post about our Aug. 19th Sherlock's show, the guy that set himself on fire. How the Fuck could I have neglected to do that. So it was kind of early in the night when a generous fellow in attendance does show his appreciation to the band with a round of "Firewater". Now I haven't had a shot of this stuff since I was 20 or 21 max. and some girl I was trying to get with insisted on drinking them because she was a complete candy-ass and it is pure candy. So I was already amused by the memory that it conjured. But his intentions were pure and the real reason he bought "Firewater" was to lite it on fire. So he lites it and makes sure he has all of our attention before, you guessed it, he tries to drink it 'en fuego. Note to self: this isn't gonna end pretty. No way. There is just no where for this to go that is good. Tragic mistakes while doing flaming shot; spilling the shot onto your hand (it will continue to burn), raising the shot slowly to your mouth and cautiously tipping it towards your face burning your lips off on the way, and finally, spilling the shot down your chin (it will continue to burn). He put himself out with another drink (I think it was mine because I didn't budge an inch to help) before shaking my hand and continuing to party. I hope he is all right. God Bless you crazy fucks!
9/22/2006
Just in case you missed it, we are playing at Scooters tonight. It didn't appear in the Showcase but we are still appearing.
Performance Note!
Quinn Lukas is NOT back in HAMMERD!
Quinn will not be back in HAMMERD!
Sorry.
Quinn is a brother and when we have the opportunity to hang out, we do. We socialize. He occasionally stops by at practice; and yes, we jam. Quinn will attend shows on occasion, when possible, to support his friends and, yes, we may just jam. This does not mean he is back, just visiting. Sorry if appearances have somehow given the wrong impression. Three cheers for the "Witch"!
Chris out.
9/01/2006
Welcome back everyone! It's been too long. Well a whole afternoon of drinking and socializing was a little too much for some at the "Gettin' It In 2006" event. People started to drift before we ever got a chance to unleash the fury. It had to be at least 100 freakin' degrees on stage! I thought I was gonna crash as we neared the end of our set. In spite of my monitor disappearing on me early in the set and not getting it back until the end, I thought we crushed it! A balls out smash. We learned who could hang that night and who would be hangin' the next day. Thanks to all of you out there who stuck with it 'til the end. Three cheers as well to ErieScene.com , Spooner, Fourplay and Chrome. It was a great event. I pity the fool that missed it.
Fri. August 25th brought forth to the Sherlock's stage the next evolution of HAMMERD. We welcomed our newest member, Pat Conti.
Long time followers of the band might remember Pat as a fixture at the shows shortly after I (Chris) joined. Pat was a great roadie back then because he completely understood what it takes for a band to put on a show and was always ready to do whatever he could to make it as easy as possible to do. You may actually remember Pat having played a show with us at the Doghouse with only a few hours notice on one of the many occasions that Brian Lorei broke himself. Or you may remember him from the Motley Crue post party as the guy who was running around taking care of us before passing out behind Brian W.'s guitar rig. Either way, we are damn glad to have him. He brings a great positive attitude and a really strong work ethic, not to mention a wicked and often twisted scence of humor. We have given him a mic (not sure if that was one of our smarter ideas) so I'm sure you will get to know him well.
The show went pretty well. Schedules kept us from being as prepared as we might have liked, but we rolled pretty damn straight. We definitely should not have done "Sweating Bullets" (LMFAO, train wreck!) but we had downed plenty of liquid courage at that point. Oops! And damn, you asked for it. Hell, you all were demanding it. Yeah, come to think of it, it was your freakin' fault! HAHA! We really do appreciate all of your continued interest and support. We needed it. Thank You. See you again soon. This time bring a friend or two.
See ya,
Chris
8/16/2006
O.K. Everybody know where your supposed to be on Saturday? Yes. The French Quarter, of course, for ErieScene.com's 'Gettin It In 2006' party. Do any of you remember when Mike used to do his big summer bashes every year? It's like that except it's moved inside. We will be playing last at around 10:45 as part of a four band blow out starting at about 6:00 with music from Spooner. They will be followed by Four Play and then Chrome. If you don't already have tickets, they are $7 at the door and don't hesitate to tell them HAMMERD brought you out. I mean that. Tell them. They will be having food, gaming, door prizes and some other stuff to keep you busy. Please come out and join us for this one-of-a-kind event. Come out and get HAMMERD! See you there.
8/13/2006
Quinn wanted me to pass on his and the band's sincere gratitude to the HAMMERD faithful that came out and supported the 'Witch' on Friday. They were blown away and really appreciated it. God bless.
8/8/2006
Everyone going to see Quinnie's new band Icarus Witch on Friday at Sherlock's? You'd better or you'll regret it. They really kick ass and if you love traditional metal, you'll love 'em. Come show your support.
8/6/2006
Hello Ohio! Bottoms up to the revelers at The Cove. You guys (and girls) rock! It's a damn good thing I don't usually drive when we play, although I did the last time we played The Cove. We would probably never make it home, ever. Shots, and more shots, and then more shots. Thanks to all of the rock fans for making it happen. Cheers as always to the staff for making our stay so good and easy. Hey, what ever happened to the left over beer?
"HAMMERD makes a triumphant return to Rumrunners!" Another gorgeous night and another wonderful crowd. Scull?!( That's Danish for 'Let us share a drink.') We had some equipment problems that were starting to make my blood boil but it all turned out well. A special thanks to Chris Falk (our utility man) for putting up with me. I know your used to it but don't think I don't recognize your pain. Sorry. And thanks again. Anyway, I love playing there and we really appreciate your enthusiasm. It was nice to see some old friends and familiar faces as well. Does anyone remember the HAMMERD poster children, Stacy and Jason? Hi there.
See you all again soon!
Chris
7/30/2006
"HAMMERD rocks the Fireside!" Let's face it, we have never played on a smaller stage. We were also not at home without our usual incredible light show. But we showed up and cranked out the good stuff and had a hell of a lot of fun. Owner, Kerry, is an old school metal fan and was ecstatic to have us there. Saturday, we welcomed some special guests to the stage and made a real party of it. I even had one over stimulated fan tip me a dollar. Whoopie! We went into it with some trepidation but it turned out to be a good move for us all.
We also made our second appearance as part of Discover Presque Isle on Saturday. It went well, in spite of all of the equipment we forgot (I didn't have a guitar chord and had to borrow one from the sound man). We did our thing in the sun in leather and make no bones about it. And as soon as we were done, the clouds started to roll in. If you weren't there, Nerds Inc. sounded great and so did Andeavor, which played newer metal. All in all, a wonderful time.
Of course there had to be some drama. Brian W. went home, took a shower, and sat down long enough to fall asleep. He arrived at the Fireside at exactly 9:30, precisely the time we were to begin playing. But of course we could not start without him for he had, in his vehicle, half of the stage gear which, of course, was used to play at the beach. Brrrrriiiilliant! Life in HAMMERD.... Party!
7/25/2006
What an absolute blast! That's the only way we can describe our last show at the Cove. We had a brilliant time that didn't end until about 2:20a.m. What Pete (owner) wants, Pete gets. We played a set loaded with the biggest hits of the hard rockin' 80's and even were able to fill a request or three. [Please be reminded that we are a tribute to the hard rock music from the 1980's. I do not believe that "Godsmack" or "Nazareth" were real radio staples of the era. Note: we do occasionally play " hair of the dog" by special request ( that means you buy us shots) but it is not anything that would appear in the regular set rotation. Thank you.] The entire strip was jumpin' and everybody brought their own great energy to the party. Thanks to the fellas that gifted the band with not one...not two... but three, count 'um, three bottles of hot sauce as tokens of appreciation for our efforts. This was definitely a HAMMERD first and your generosity was most appreciated. A special salute to our new friends from the Harrisburg area that were in town for the weekend and a huge salute to all of our Pittsburgh area friends that popped in to say hi. Thanks for the shot Jim! Sorry I didn't get to talk to you Brian but good luck with the band. We will be doing it all again next weekend on Aug. 4th. Hope you all come join us again. See you there.
What are you doing this weekend? We will be doing a number of shows not far from where you are. We will be appearing Friday and Saturday night at the Fireside Lounge on Clark road in Harborcreek. Follow Buffalo road East through town and it will be the second right after the stop light at Hannon road. Easy right? If you haven't heard, The Fireside is a great little hot spot a little out of the way. It is definitely up close and in your face. It is sure to be fun even if we can't bring the light show. HAHA! See you there.
Have you ever thought to yourself that it would just be great to see us while getting a tan? Have your kids been bugging you to know what it is you do with your weekends and you would like to show them? Well here is your chance. You can check us out as a part of the Discover Presque Isle weekend of events. We will be performing at Beach 8 at 5:00p.m. sharp on Saturday. We will be immediately preceded by Nerds Inc. ( a great band and a great bunch of guys that are a hell of a lot of fun) and we are all looking forward to it. Fun! Sun! HAMMERD! Nuf' said.
Don't forget the 'Gettin' it In 2006' party featuring HAMMERD on Aug. 19th at the French Quarter brought to you courtesy of ErieScene.com. Check it out!
7/10/2006
Welcome back. We have a lot of catching up to do, but let's start with recent news and then rewind......
Hello and thanks to all who joined us down at Rumrunners on June 30th and made it so much fun. Our first show on the deck (or next to it) was great. I loved being outside and next to the water. Brian Lorei took one for the team by suffering through it, playing with a fractured bone in his left hand. Ouch! We also welcomed to the stage, former guitarist and Majik Records recording artist Quinn Lukas. In spite of him telling me earlier in the day that he could not make it, plans changed and he stuck around to play a couple. Thanks to Kelly, Tim, Christina, and Weed for making it happen and to the staff for making it so easy for us. Hope all in attendance had fun. We will be doing it all again soon.
We returned home to Sherlock's on Fri. July 7th. We gave it hell and took this limping thing a big step forward. An immediate thanks must go out to Visual Concepts lighting for crafting a light show worthy of a headliner. It was another visual first for them and us. A lot of time, thought, planning, and preparation goes into making the most of what we have to work with, both in house and what we use to augment the existing setup (i.e. we move everything to make the most logical, effective good use of the in-house system). We will continue to always be the best lit band in the venue. Period... We cranked out the rock and you made us roll. Thanks to all for keeping the mood light and the support you showed us with the current line-up. It was needed and most appreciated. Cheers to all!
Well, hell! Where do I start? So much has gone on in the world of HAMMERD I just know I will leave something out.
Let's tell the story of how we lost this site for a time. You see, the name and home of this site is owned by someone else. We license the right to it. When a communication cluster-fuck occurred, we were left without a license renewal. When it lapsed, the name "HAMMERDLIVE.com" would no longer point you to here. The pages still existed, mind you, but it simply wouldn't direct you to where you wanted to go. Many frantic, urgent e-mails, a lot of nail biting, and a lot more cursing and the site was eventually restored. Happy! This, of course, happened at the very worst time. The last post before the debacle was that Quinnie was out, leading many to believe that we were , in fact, done. We are, in fact, NOT done.
Let's rewind; shall we? Our last round of shows with Quinn went great! Sherlock's (June 2nd) and the French Quarters (June 3rd) were both complete blowouts! Lots of old friends and familiar faces. We were reminded by a former school mate of mine ( I have known her since the 6th or 7th grade) at the French Quarters that it is a very small world. She was sitting with a co-worker of mine of ten years (he works, I watch). Their children took 'tae kwon do' together and her daughter also takes guitar lessons from Quinn. Weird. We also left the bar without getting paid, but we loaded out really efficiently after the show this time. Guess we forgot something. We went back out the next day for dinner and to settle up. For the record, they have really good bar food. About 36 wing flavors and the subs and burgers are huge...... Next was The Cove Niteclub (June 9th). A great spirited crowd and the biggest production to date including the return of the confetti cannons. They are such good sports at The Cove. We made a wreck of the place and it was awesome! Good times. Good friends. Good music. Great environment. Hope to see you all there again on Saturday July 15th...... Our "Finale de Quinnie" took place the next night at Hunter Jack's in Girard. It was all quite bittersweet. I thought we had a great show. It was a great turnout and a great time, but it just seemed to end too early. I wish we could have played and hung out for another hour. A special thanks to all of those who drove in for the occasion and gave Quinn a wonderful sendoff. It made the night very special.
We are going through a transition that has now become longer than I might have hoped and gone deeper than I expected. We have not seen the last of the changes. Yes, Quinn Lukas has moved on to work with "Majik Records" recording artists Icarus Witch. They have, as of this writing, completed two shows with the young Mr. Lukas in the line-up; the first in Buffalo, and the last in NYC. They leave for Germany on Wed., June 13th to play several dates including a slot at the Headbanger's Open Air Festival in Hamburg. I wish them the best of luck with it all. Rock hard! You will get your first shot at seeing them locally at Sherlock's on August. 11th. Guests to be announced... Don't miss it!...... We are still in the market for a player to fill the vacancy in the guitar slot. We have also entertained the idea of pursuing a multi-instrumentalist, as in a guitarist/keyboardist. Oh, and vocals are an absolute must! Drop us an e- mail if you fit the bill, are up to the task, and are ready to work. Include a demo if you are capable. We have had a number of serious inquiries but have stalled on moving on them. If you are reading this and are one of the number that we have talked to, I can only extend my apologies. The fact is that we weren't prepared for Quinn's exit and we were reeling from it. It all seemed to happen rather quickly. We wrestled with what to do; replace him?(a daunting, uncomfortable process); continue as a four piece?(we have more than enough songs to do it but the show might suffer and it would be a giant undertaking for me, Chris, to try to pick up the slack on guitar to cover the stuff we can't do without, i.e., "Round n Round", "Rock You Like a Hurricane",etc. (can you imagine a show without them?)and my chops aren't up to speed); finish out the next round of shows as is and hang it up altogether?(I'm simply not ready to do that yet). On top of the ongoing debate, we still had these obligations to fulfill and not a lot of time to prepare, especially since Brian Lorei was set to go on vacation for two weeks in the time between shows. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY would have been able to fill the slot that quickly under those circumstances. 45 songs. Three weeks. No practice with the full band. Not. No really! NOT! Bullshit walks, here, people! In the end, we practiced exactly once as a four piece on the eve of our first show with this lineup.. To continue, it seems that we may be coming to the end of our run with Brian Lorei (our drummer) as well. He has chosen to step aside. The split is completely amiable. The routine of shows and rehearsals has become a little more work than play for him, it seems, and a change is in order. When it starts to feel more frustrating than fun, it's time to move on. I wouldn't ask him to continue if the thrill is gone. Brian, as with Quinn, may be leaving the band, but not the family (he has no choice, he's related). I wish him peace and Cabo tequila relaxation. Bottoms up!..... I hope this change goes smooth or we're done. Oh No! EEEEECK! Cross your fingers......
See you at the Cove this Saturday!
Shaner out.
7/07/2006
HAMMERD rocks Sherlock's Tonight! Love to see you all come out and get HAMMERD with us!
6/29/2006
Rumrunner's Fri. night. Show time 9:00p.m. Come out. Enjoy the view. Have fun! Get HAMMERD!
P. S. Friday's show did not appear in the around town section of the Showcase, so tell friends. Thanks! See you all then.
6/19/2006
Hey! Have you missed us? We're baaaaack!
Check back again soon for a full recap of recent events! 'Till then, stay HAMMERD!
P. S. It really wasn't my fault. I swear!
Chris
5/23/2006
Hi there! How's everybody doing? I hope I find you well. A big Cheers to all of our Erie friends that joined us at the Cove Niteclub on May 12th. Hope you had a great time. Welcome to all of the new friends we made on this last trip. I hope you will join us back at the Cove again. The strip is open now, so the next show will be better than ever.
Well, a lot has happened since we last spoke. Quinn Lukas will be leaving the band. There is no definite departure date as of this writing but he has accepted the spot of second guitarist in the up-and-coming metal band Icarus Witch. The bands full length debut "Capture the Magic" was released last year and is now being distributed internationally in Asia and Europe. Having caught the act live this past Friday, I can tell you first-hand that they pack a serious knock-out metal punch.
I wish it was another April Fools joke but its not. I will fill you all in soon on our futures as soon as they happen.
Take care. I need a hug.
5/10/2006
Cove Niteclub, Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH, Friday, May 12th! A short trip for a great time. Remember, its 18 and over to get in, 21 and over to drink. So bring out your young friends and family and show them what you have been doing with your weekends. Print out a ticket for free admission from the pics page at http://www.myspace.com/hammerdlive
Rock On!
4/30/2006
Hey! What's up? Awesome shows last week. Loved to see you all there. We unvieled a bunch of new songs last week and there are always more in the works. A HUGE shout out to Buster for running sound at Sherlock's. I had a sore throat all week and was not in great shape. A decent warm-up and the best monitors we've ever had there helped me relax, stay in control, and use my voice properly for a change. We all took note of the change on stage. I wouldn't have survived any other way. A special shout ,as well, goes out to John Brutto for joining us at Hunter Jack's on Sat. and running sound. He as well took great care of us. I can't thank you enough. I'll fill you in on more details very soon.
A quick note about the upcoming week. French Quarter on Sat. We'll be celebrating my birthday as well. Don't miss the fun! See you there.
4/14/2006
I have returned! Just long enough on here to post a few more hundred pictures - well maybe not that many - I have put up many new pics from some of the 'inner crowd' (thanks Jen and Ruth!) plus more from some recent shows - and some not-so-recent shows (remember the Motley Crue post-party??) It is just great to see your face on the Internet - check for yours!
O - btw - thanks to Chris for keeping this notes section going! Sleep on, dude!
Brian
4/10/2006
My friend Michael "Buzz" Fatica wants to see his name on the internet. He has long dreamed of Google-ing his name, Mike "Buzz"Fatica, and finding a hit that actually pertains to him. Mike Fatica can now hopefully scratch this wish off of his list of things to accomplish in his lifetime. I wish, my friend, Mike Fatica, peace and solitude in knowing that his name, Mike Fatica, now appears among the infinite amount of crap in the internet stelisphere. Congratulations Michael "Buzz" Fatica!
On with business... Three cheers to all of you that made the trip to the Cove Niteclub in Geneva, Ohio on Sat.! It was another great time and it is so much cooler to play with a couple of familiar faces in the crowd. I hope it was worth the trip. We will be back at the Cove every month throughout the summer. And in the summer, the strip really turns up the fun. You should all consider making a weekend out of it. We plan to. Thanks go out to P.J. for having us, Adam for taking such good care of us, and to Allen for making it all sound so damn good out front. Can we keep you? Also, a big thanks goes out to all of you that kept us loaded with Jager. I, personally, slept the entire ride home after taking in the sites at the Surf Motel for a time after we loaded up. Thanks again go out to Mike and Tina for playing host to our nutty asses. Nobody performed a "Budweiser" and "Alka Seltzer" trick, so nobody got too crazy, but it was still photo-worthy. Thanks to Brian W. for piloting my butt home. Thanks to my bandmates and Toby for being good soldiers and unloading without me. We actually recorded the entire night and hope to pull bits and pieces of the performance out to add to a promotional demo. Thanks again for the support. You keep on comin' out and we'll keep bringin' the rockin' fun.
Cheers!
Chris
4/07/2006
The Cove Niteclub- Geneva on the Lake, OH. Sat. 4/08/2006. Do you have plans for the weekend yet? No? It's just a short drive west for a good time. I-90 west to Geneva-on-the-Lake exit. Drive straight through town until you hit the strip. Remember, this is an 18 and over venue, 21 to drink. Spread the word.
I know St. Patrick's day was a while ago but we have to talk to you about Scooter's Lounge Inc. I was sooo impressed with what Donnie and Mary have done with the place. It looks great and they have plans to further renovate the bar area. It was an awesome inaugural event and we were completely stoked to be the first to play the room. I don't think they will need it, but we would like to wish them the best of luck. Here's to continued success! Cheers! We had a great time and the staff was very accommodating. I can't tell you how much that is appreciated. I loved the setting. I loved the occasion and I loved the enthusiasm of the revelers. Hello to Wanda. Glad we could save your night. Hope to see you again. Thanks to Roy Hollis Jr. for stopping in. I really do appreciate that. I hope we get to revisit the room there sometime in the future. They booked up very quickly and we could see why. Thanks for having us. Stop in and check it out sometime.
The next stop for the roaming party was Sherlock's on March 24th. I wanted to change things up and do a set loaded with songs from the heavier side of what we do rather than merely peppering the night with them (there is a lot more of the heavier stuff in the works as well). It's also in keeping with our motto of never doing the same show twice. It is always a crap shoot as to whether or not a set geared towards a more specific genre will go over on any given night in any given venue. We lucked out. This night it worked. Example, after playing the third Iron Maiden song in the first of our two sets, I looked at a woman standing up front and asked her to name a band and we would play something by them. She responded,"Uhm... How about play another Maiden song." We did. For those of you that weren't present, you really missed out. We probably won't do that again for a while. We also played Ozzy, Priest, Queensryche, Dio, Krokus, and Accept. The rest of the night was jammed with all of the radio friendly hits that you know and mostly love from the 80's. This was also the debut of our new intelligent lighting setup. They move, they change colors, and they get broken by our lightman Glenn and don't work in the second set. Oops! We are back for more at Sherlock's on April 21rst. See you there.
Dateline: 4/01/2006 It was announced that Quinn Lukas would be leaving the band to pursue his fortunes with his death metal outfit, "Ass-Grinder". I wished Quinn no luck and predicted future credibility issues do to his well documented time in an 80's era rock tribute band. Death metalers look at such things with scorn. They are poor. We are not. Quinn loves it! Yes, he does. We get laid and paid. They do not. We have FUN! They hate life and I wish more of them would take themselves out of it. Remember, cookie-cutter and poseur apply to EVERY genre! Did I mention that I like a lot of that stuff. We are trying to pursuade John Brutto to shave his beard and rejoin us. It was also announced that our rhythm section would be joining LEADER OF MEN, creating one huge incestuous orgy of cross-pollination. I will undoutedly find a new home on Broadway, the only place left for someone with no remaining self- respect. Oley! APRIL FOOLS! Another great, fun night at the Quarters. Shots, shots, shots. Fun, fun, fun! Thanks to all that attended. Thanks also to Ruth Sprague for doing such a great job on the lights. Nice to see a newly shorn Sean Duffy doing sound for us again. I thought it sounded great.
Hope to see you at the Cove.
'till then,
Chris
3/15/2006
Sherlock's Fri.3/24/2006. Be there!
I have now sat down to do this update for the fourth, no fifth time. Finally, a long overdue wrap up of the last months activities. The set list is being updated regularly and I know you won't be disappointed. We've added several more Jackyl tunes, Tesla, Scorpions, and yet another Motley Crue. We've also udated the light show further (I know, I know. How is that possible?) by buying out the remains of "Visual Concepts" lighting. We now have a full compliment of moving lights that can do twenty colors, split colors, various shapes, and pan all over the place. We will also be able to rent out the show to others. I'll keep you posted.
Feb. brought new songs and new stages. First we visited our friends at the Cove Nite Club in Geneva, OH. We were greeted by a small and lively crowd with some old and new friends making the drive. Cheers to Billy, Gina, and the whole Conneaut Lake crew and especially to Rick Nagg for making that happen. Stay in touch. We will be back out there on April 8th. Be advised, that date has been moved up a week from the previous booking. If you missed it, it was one of the funnest shows we have ever done. We got totally unhinged and I don't think we've ever been more entertaining. Thanks to all.
Next up was Hunter Jack's in Girard. Thanks to Steve and the entire staff for making our first time out so pleasant. They honestly could not have been more accommodating. What a wonderful, receptive crowd. Happy B-day to Allen and thanks to Janine for coordinating our involvement. Nice to see so many familiar faces. A shout out to George Merced (Crome) and the crew. Also a shout out to the group of Maiden fans that egged us on near the end of the night. Cheers!
Post Crue Party fuckin' rocked! Unbelievable! You guys are fuckin' AWESOME! We caught it all on video too. I saw old friends, new friends, old high school jammin' buddies, out of town friends, etc.,etc. We brought the biggest production anyone, and I mean anyone, has used at Sherlock's EVER! That stage couldn't get more packed with lights. I hope you enjoyed it. We played for two and a half hours straight, no breaks. None needed. And we played just short of a full nights music. Who else would do that? NOBODY! Reward us dammit! I hope you all had a great time, we sure did. We are very fortunate that we have a venue to play that will accommadate our big show, even if we didn't get to use the confetti cannons again ("Barstool Open" setup would not allow for the extra cleanup time). Thanks for having us. Now a long list of thank you's.... First and foremost, to 'Motley Crue' for bringing their kick-ass show to Erie and bringing us all together. I have seen them a handful of times over the years and it is a great kick to see them doing it BIG and BAD-ASS again. Cheers baby! A special thanks to our sixth member, Glen Sprague, for manning the lights and going to the extra effort to help us pull off the show we wanted to bring to you. To Pat Conti, for chipping in to help things go smoothly and bringing your undeniable energy and crude humor to the mix. To Mike and the Pitts. crew for all of the Avalon Hotel shenanigans. To Vince for the duct tape save. To Patti and Dara, sorry I didn't see either of you earlier. To Mike, for not blowing up the remaining amps. To our new friends from Buffalo, hope we can make that happen soon. And to everyone else for bringing your spirit and enthusiasm to the party. It was great! Cheers, again, to all the party-goers and friends alike. See you again soon.
A word of a different sort. I would like to take a moment to verbally smack several people who chose to take a short cut across the stage while we were playing. I rarely get truely pissed about something stupid like that, but it was so completely, thouroughly ignorant I don't exactly know what to say. You sure as fuck wouldn't do that to any other band, would you? I was insulted. And you didn't even have the slightest fucking bit of courtesy as to wait until we finished a song to fucking do it! Jackass! We were also taping and you succeeded in making that snippet of potential promotional footage useless.
O.K. Show of hands, who came out to the French Quarters the next night? A few of you anyway and we greatly enjoyed seeing you. Everyone (that includes you guys) was hurting a bit after blowing our load on Fri., but we pealed ourselves off of the couch, threw back some 'hair of the dog', and got on with the rock. For those of you that weren't there, and most of you weren't, we had a grand ol' time. We only repeated ourselves twice songwise, according to the setlist anyway, but we so rarely stick to my painstakingly prepared setlists that I'm not really sure. We have so many songs, and we are adding more constantly, that on one of these days we are going to leave a nights music completely up to you to choose. But anyway, anyone who stuck around had to have left with a smile on thier face. We raised the roof and had a damn good time. We did more shots than we should have been able to and we even rolled out some classic 70's rock with Mike K. sharing vocal duties. Thanks to Joe Hazen for lending your voice to 'Balls to the Wall'. It kicked ass! Again I think we made some new friends (the Bon Jovi girls) and we look forward to seeing you again. We played from on top of the tables, fell over from toxicity, and had some inspired nudity. I finished the night with a snowball fight and general ass-whopping of the young and too big for his britches Mr. Quinn Lukas, if that is in fact his real name. Let's all do it again soon.
Shaner, out.
3/06/2006
If you are looking at this site you have experienced this regions most entertaining, enthusiastic, over-the-top, always interactive, tribute to the hard rockin' 80's. If you haven't seen us, you've at least heard of us and we look forward to having you join our roaming party soon. We are dedicated to exceding your expectations of what a bar/party band experience can be. We bring a production value that is non-pareil. And we bring an upbeat, aggressive attitude to the stage to raise the spirit, tickle your scenses, and nourish the carnal soul of rock 'n roll. Hell Yeah! Glad you could join us. Rock On!
Pictures are posted! And they're long overdue. We still have more to add to what already exists under most of the dates due to your submissions to us. Thank you. Special thanks to Jen and Wendy. Check back soon for that and much more.We have taken new promo pics as well and you will be getting to see them soon. One of them is in the center of the collage.
The site is evolving again, so don't think your mind is playing tricks on you if things look different. I have to take a moment to acknowledge and really compliment the contributions of our very own Brian Warzynak. The site you are looking at right now is Brian's doing. He is the technical guru behind it all
nd is why it all comes together. If you took note of the extreme light show at the Motley Crue post show, this is an example of his handiwork. Not only did we bring with us a bigger lighting rig than the in-house setup (exp. they have 22 500 watt PAR 64 lights, we brought 24 600 watt PAR 64 lights), but our modern digital controller was interfaced with their antiquated analog system in order to coordinate colors and such in a way that nobody has ever thought of attempting. Biggest production EVER! He is my partner in crime, the one that makes these ideas happen and I think you all need to know that. And now you do. Thanks.
More coming soon.
Chris
2/06/2006
New dates added! First up, Sat. Feb. 11th at Hunter Jack's (formerly The Barraks) in Girard. Our first time there is sure to be a smash. Thanks to Steve and Janine for bringing us in for the party. This room holds a lot of good memories for me, having played there dozens of times in the past. Come out and help us blow this mother out. Also, if you find the strength to get out of bed Sat. the 18th after Fridays MOTLEY CRUE concert and getting HAMMERD at the Sherlock's post-CRUE party, you can come out to the French Quarter and fall over again. Fuckin' right rockers. Our last show on Jan. 28th kicked ass! That place is just holding some majic for us and is always a fun time. Cheers to all of you that joined in the fun. Check back soon. See you out and about.
1/12/2006
Happy New Year! Hope you had a great one. Wow! New Year's kicked ass! One super-mega-huge shout out to all our friends that celebrated the dawning of the new year in style with us out at "The French Quarter". It was our (the band's and the bar's) sincere hope to throw a great, fun, memorable party for all of our friends and I believe we did a damn good job of it. I was blown away by the turnout and I am so glad we could be a part of your celebration. The drinks flowed, good company was enjoyed, Brian W. was welcomed back to the stage(albeit late, HA-HA!), the band played some old memories, bridges were repaired, champagne was shared, everybody got kissed (somewhere), and fun was had by all. Did everybody get there fill of pork and kraut? Wasn't it awesome?! Thanks again to Mike and the staff for making the whole night great. It couldn't have gone better. I also would like to get some feedback from those of you who won the prize packs of bedroom goodies. Hope you enjoyed yourselves. If anybody has any pictures of themselves enjoying themselves, by all means send them on to us. We will sift through them, save the indecent ones, and post the rest. Sorry we didn't get to mingle more. Know that we always want to. All of our best to you all. Cheers!
We will be returning to the Quarters on Jan. 28th. Love to see you all again.
No Sherlock's show in January. Bev is moving things around and trying some new things. We will be back in February and will be monthly again after that. This would also be a good time to address something a few of you have asked me about, that being 1988's comments on there website. I was informed of their (the band and the bars) changing relationship when we played there in December. They will only be playing two of there scheduled shows in 2006. 80's rock and metal every other week was a little too much and was invariably taking away from the draw of both bands. I have met the guys in 1988 and they were all very nice to me. I wish them all the sex and success they can find. I thank them for making us better. There is no beef between us (from our side), but competition is competition. And for Sherlock's, something had to give. We're locals, we have a much bigger show, and we're cheaper. That's the whole story. Best of luck. See you soon.
Out.
12/28/2005
New Year's Eve Party at French Quarter! Come join us as we ring in the new year with a grand rock 'n roll blowout. I guarantee there will not be a better time had anywhere. The party starts early with live music at 9:00-9:30. We are probably crazy, but have vowed to play almost everything we know and a couple we don't. Party favors, noise makers (other than us), champagne toast, pork and kraut, contests, giveaways, stupid human tricks, fun , fun, fun, and did I mention the best in 80's rock all night by the Erie areas #1 party band, HAMMERD. Spread the word and bring a friend or hear the stories later and regret sitting at home alone stuffing your face with junk food and touching yourself while watching people on t.v. have the kind of fun you deserve to be having. This is our (yours, mine, Mike's) little party that could, can, and will knock you on your ass. So avoid amateur night downtown and come out and get HAMMERD!
Cheers to all of our friends that we saw at SST and Sherlock's this last couple of weeks. SST was a bit disfunctional , but a good, good time on the whole. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. Thanks to "The Donner Party" for joining us. I didn't get an exact head count on how many people you actually scared out of the place because they were waiting for us to play Poison and the like, but I really liked it.
Last weeks Sherlock's show was much better. We enjoyed it alot more than our previous show there (11/18/05), which we all concluded wasn't one we were satisfied with. It was our first full night without Brian W. and we were, kind of, finding our legs. I wanted to do a theme/glam night (i.e. POISON, MOTLEY CRUE, OZZY) and being a four piece gave us the excuse to do so. I am willing to live and die by taking those chances to keep it fresh and different for you and us. You will not see the same show twice with HAMMERD! This show (12/23/05) was much more fluid, animated, and aggressive. We continue to roll out new songs and I hope you enjoyed them. I am solely responsible for the fucked up middle passage of "Enter Sandman". I could explain the series of events that led to the debacle, but it all added up to sucking on my part. Sorry.
Chris
French Quarter 12/31/05! Be there!
12/15/2005
Don't forget State Street Tavern tomorrow! We will be welcoming up "The Donner Party" from Pittsburgh to open the show. These guys are all alcoholic friends and family of Quinn's. They play original stuff and heavy covers (Down, Clutch, Sabbath, Pantera). Come early and check them out.
Rewind: French Quarters, Oct.1, 2005. Quinnie's birthday. Let's face it. The boy can drink. Try as we did, there was no falling down or puking (by Quinn anyway). 'Erb didn't fare so well. That was the biggest production we have taken to the Quarters yet and the most dressed down we have done in a very long time. But a change is always nice. I think we are going to eclipse that for New Year's. The production and the clothes. Several new faces there that night have now become familiar ones at our shows. That is awesome!
Speaking of new faces, if you take pictures of you, your friends, etc. that reflect your exprience, send them to us. Looking at the Pics page, we haven't gotten many pictures of you guys and girls lately.
Take care. Out.
12/08/2005
When last I left you, our next show was to be at the Cove niteclub in Geneva-on-the-Lake 9/30/05. Good time. Pretty good show. We did what we do for about two hours straight. It was great fun. It felt great to do our show in a new venue. Thanks again to Thirty 3 Cell and the Cove. Thirty 3 Cell played first and raised the bar by playing a mix of classic metal, original covers, and originals. Check them out at 33cell.com. We made some new fans and will be playing there regularly in the months to come. (At the time of this writing we have already made our second appearance at the Cove, a short notice show on Dec.2nd. Trying to keep these comments in chronological order). This show was, however, not without its drama. First off, Thirty 3 Cell frontman Joe Brutto twisted his knee something fierce. He was a real trooper and finished the show without interuption. He was in a lot of pain and had to cut out early to go have it looked at. Next up, I ripped my mic right off of the mic stand by stepping on the cord. I've done this several times before, but this time it was catastrophic to the mic. It hit the ground with a good thump and blew the capsule, i.e., dead mic. Oops! Second mic I destroyed in about five weeks. And lastly, I had a pair of my leather pants STOLEN from the changing room. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVEABLE!! The pants of which I speak can be seen on the pics page, second picture April,29th SST, and eighteenth picture, Sherlock's Nov.26th,2004. The pants have a snakeskin print on them. Not only are the pants unique looking (I have never seen another pair in Erie or anywhere else for that matter) but they had been altered to fit better and the nylon liner removed in the process, which made them easily identifiable as uniquely mine. It couldn't have been someone from Erie that made the trip down, could it? Unthinkable. Given the limited number of people in the bar that night and the more limited number of people that gained access to that room, it is astonishing to me that someone could be so completely fucking brainless as to steal something that is in escence one-of-a- kind from a room that only a dozen or so people were ever in, think that suspicions wouldn't be raised, let alone wear them out to Sherlock's a couple of weeks later. All coincidence? Must be. This is your brain on drugs! I obviously failed to judge certain people to be the kind that might make off with my shit. I usually protect my cash, but my pants? PATHETIC! Sorry, that shocker came out of nowhere. Cheap Date? Not for me. I am quite certain that by now my pants have been recycled into something else. Say hi if you see them. Don't fuckin' cry a river about this post either. Take the fuckin' hit! You did it. Live with the shit! Case closed.
Stay tuned.....
12/05/2005
Hey! What's up? I have finally returned from a lengthy hiatus from updating you on the cumings and goings of HAMMERD. Speaking of cumings, one culminated in a baby boy that entered the world on Sun. Congrats again to Brian and Jen.
I must first apologize for my absence. I won't let it happen again. I will be posting my recollections from the all of the past few months shows in the next few days.
First up, a new date has been added for State Street Tavern on Dec. 16th. This will be our final appearance at SST while it is under current management. Come out and help us celebrate how good it has been. We will then be at Sherlock's on Dec. 23rd and will be throwing a great New Years Eve party out at the French Quarters. Hope to see you all there. Avoid amateur night downtown and celebrate with us. We will be having pork and kraut at midnight, giveaways, contests, party favors, etc. Look for more details soon.
12/04/2005
Wonderful news; Brian W. and his wife Jen welcomed a new baby boy into the world today! Congratulations! Hope to see the little bugger soon. More details later as they become available.
11/29/2005
OK - I would have to say I think Chris has hosed up his computer - AGAIN ;) (Hi Chris!) Hope you are in a comfortable chair, cuz I have had a few spare days to organize through several hundred pictures over the last few days, and they are now online! Over 3 months worth of pictures - I still have to get a few fan submissions online, I will let all know when that happens....until then - enjoy! (Hope to see everyone soon - Brian)
11/05/2005
Holy shit! We are getting like those actual 80s bands on tour that update their damn webpage once a year! Well - I hope it never gets to that - we are trying to make a promise to get this thing updated more frequently.
Next show, please whack Chris for screwing up his computer. This is why he has not posted - whats my excuse? Um - (someone please change the subject...)
Just posted! SST is having a major blowout, and Hammerd is joining the fun! Friday Nov. 11 and Saturday Nov. 12th - 7 bands per night! Check out the lineup here Hammerd is on Friday night at midnight playing the hard side of the 80s scene.
10/13/2005
The mad picture post guy has awakened from weeks and months of apparent liquor induced sleep (or something like that) - more old pics up - many new ones left to post -- keep checking back - and have a bit of spare time - cuz baby - there's a shitload of pictures to go through and upload!
9/19/2005
Cheers to another great crowd with us at Sherlock's! You stick around all night and stear the show. Keep the input coming and we'll keep you rockin' 'till they kick us out. And they did. What other band have you seen that will play four hours and only take one short break? Nobody. We do. Period. We are continuing to progress the show and will be taking it to the next level and unveiling the next evolution of the band soon. You're already hearing new songs in the set and we have alot more coming in the near future.
Did everyone have enough to drink? Brian W. sure did. He was f***ing useless at the end of the night. Wrecked! HAAAMMMEEERRRRD! I heard when Joe dropped him off he left him on the back porch. That's cold. But safe.
Don't forget that the Cove Niteclub in Geneva, OH gets HAMMERD on Fri. We will be appearing with Erie's own Thirty 3 Cell. Looking forward to rockin' the Cove. Thanks to Thirty 3 Cell for inviting us and the Cove for having us. I promise it will not be our last there.
Sat. finds us back at the French Quarters. We will be celebrating Quinnie's birthday and will be welcoming a bunch of friends up from the Pittsburgh area for the occasion. Quinn will invariably be falling down many times. So come out and watch the car crash. It should not be missed.
9/12/2005
HOLY SHIT! NEW PICTURES ARE HERE!!! I just posted 4 shows worth of pics and have I think 6 more to go... Enjoy the new ones, I should have more for you Hammerd junkies tomorrow!
9/07/2005
Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. We did. Fri. night bikenights downtown were a huge success this year and I am sure will be a summer staple for years to come. It's great to have so many people milling around on the street and enjoying a beer. Hello again to the many that we hung out and yapped with. Hello to my new friends Lee and Dan who are now the only people that have known what my "MIND THE GAP"shirt was all about without me telling them. It's a London, England tourist shirt. They had lived over there for years and were intrigued when they saw it.
As for the rest of the crap surrounding our appearance/non-appearance Fri. night at SST, my final word is, "It wasn't our choice. We wanted to be playing. We wish it had been handled differently. But what's done is done. Good Luck with that."
Sat. night at Sherlock's was another great time! HAMMERD rolled out a number of new tunes including Queensryche and more Maiden and Priest. Alot more new stuff is being worked on and will be unveiled soon. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag as to what they are right now though. What fun would that be? But I promise you won't be disappointed. Once again we were assured by the staff that we won't ever be the most popular band to play at Sherlock's because we bring too much of a show. Which means that we make a mess and take too long to tear all of our crap down and get it out of the bar. To all those who came out, I hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did. Tell a friend and spread the word, the next time to get HAMMERD is at Sherlock's on Fri. Sep. 16th. See you there.
Pictures dating back to 6-03-05 will be posted within the next couple of days. I promise.
Hammerd in the media: Recently in a column appearing in the Erie Times News, written by Monica Lewis, yours truly was called out for my dedication to my/our wardrobe, regardless of the environment, as well as our willingness to wear eyeliner as part of our stage attire . I say, 'Vanity, hell. Thanks for the shout out and for furthuring our cause. Cheers'.
Also, I saw Chris, owner of Scorcher's, on the news the other day saying that business has been up almost 20% over the summer months. I would like to think that the HAMMERD friends and fans had just a little bit to do with that. Here's to continued success....
See you soon.......
8/30/2005
French Quarters rocked! We tried out a new stage set-up and I think we are going to keep it, minus the rain lights behind Brian L. because he hits them with his drumsticks. I really like the drum riser. Those who were there were treated to two sets of all of the eighties favorites from Poison to Iron Maiden. We rolled out an hour of Kiss and AC/DC for the third set and didn't even get to play all that we know. We have made a habit of stepping out of our mold when we play at the Quarters to change it up and everyone seems to enjoy the surprises. We re-learned a couple of valuable lessons as well. First, don't hand the mic to drunk people, they will forget lyrics or screw them up faster than you can say, "Huh? Oh shit!" Second, don't drink every shot that people buy for you. You become the drunk people that shouldn't have a mic in their face. Guilty as charged. Thanks to all.
We also played our last Scorcher's Bike Night of the season on Sun. It was great. Beautiful weather. Beautiful bikes. Beautiful crowd. Well mostly. HAHA! Thanks again to Chris for having us. And a huge Thank You to Mitzi for making us a part of this biweekly event and for putting up with our crap. Don't feel too sorry for her, she gives it right back. We must issue a very BIG apology to anyone who might have unwittingly and/or unwelcomely been caught in the fallout of the water cannons. The one was pointed a little too low and shot alot farther than we expected. It actually hit Peninsula Drive and I believe hit a bike or two on the way. Sorry again. But what a sight!
8/22/2005
Fri. was great. New and old fiends, rowdyness, nudity, and lots of guys in makeup.
A huge HAMMERD shout out to Cherry Monroe and the many friends, fans, music lovers, and party goers that contributed to the fun at Sherlock's Friday night. To all that were there, you know why they have got a buzz surounding them and were picked up by Rust Records . This is very significant because Rust in an imprint of Universal. Which means money gets spent and records get spun, i.e. bands go places. They put on a great show and have a strong melodic sound. Their CD "The Good, the Bad, and The Beautiful" officially drops on Sep. 13th. They will be back in the area on Sep.12th at Penn State Behrend. Look for 'um. It's great to see somebody taking a very stylized look and approach to the next level. Don't do anything halfway. And a major thank you to Frankie for a show saving vacuum tube for Brians amp which decided to melt down just as we were about to start. Why didn't we have a spare?
We have been haunted by equipment failures recently.
We didn't get to hang out alot with the band, but they were very cool and we share a mutual love of big, made in the U.S.ofA., tits. Yippie! Horray for Boobies. We also didn't get to use the confetti cannons due to the logistics of the Sherlock's outside setup. Next time, I promise. New stage stuff is in the works and lots of new music is getting added. Keep an ear out. The crowd rocked. I love you people. I didn't even have to sing several songs.
French Quarters on Sat. Scorcher's on Sun.(weather permiting) Sat. we are planning a throwback last set. Lots of 70's era KISS andAC/DC. Good? Good.
8/15/2005
WOW! I kick ass! This is Chris and I am taking my first stab at updating the site independent of Brian W.'s hand holding. Last week, after a year of talking about it/begging for the power to do so, he gave me a ten minute run down of exactly what I needed to do in order to put to use the software that has been on my home computer for almost that long. It is actually pretty damn easy. Once I prove that I did this one properly, I will post more. For now, I would like to apoligize to anyone and everyone who showed up at Scorcher's on Sun. looking to get HAMMERD. I put it out there as rain or shine but it should have been weather allowing. The thought being, if the weather is overcast nobody will show, but they would still have to pay us. Far less than our normal rate mind you. LOL. We kill them with the kitchen bill. In the end, we are a bit too much to play inside there. If we could go acoustic it would be different. Scorcher's made the call. And so it goes...... Let's see if this works. Awesome it worked.
Saturday, Quinn and I (Chris) went to Cleveland with former HAMMERD/ Leader of Men guitarist John Brutto for the "Jackie" CD release party at Peabody's. The band sounded great and it was a blast. Note to Jackie: third verse, Welcome to the Jungle, "It gets worse here everyday." Sorry sweetie, had to say it. Once again, a huge thanks goes out to Sam LaPonza and the whole band and crew for including us and making us feel so welcome. If any incriminating photos show up in your e-mail, just know that it was nearing 5A.M. and we were out of control. Please handle with some discretion. Thanks. Your the best. It was all in good fun. Thank You to the security at the Comfort Inn for hanging out and drinking up with us rather than kicking us out.
Note: at present,we will be playing last of three bands on Fri. at Sherlock's. We will be welcoming Rust Records/Universal artist "Cherry Monroe" to the stage. They have a great 'new' melodic rock sound and a great look. Erie Days being downtown should bring lots of people in. Hope to see you there. "Frikin' A" will open the show.
Also, please be patient in waiting for new pictures to be posted. We have had so many submissions from you good people that I literally have hundreds of pictures to look through and pick from. Thanks to all. I hope we can properly credit you.
8/2/2005
Yea. Whatever. If anyone realized it was actually nearly 4:00 AM, you would think I was crazy , or drunk, or just tired beyond all actual realm of consciousness . I just got out of the shower and thought of posting some new stuff and long overdue stuff.
First, how about that Rock Never Stops show tonight! Holy shit! Awesome!! Pre-party and post-party on top of it - Cinderella, Ratt, , Quiet Riot, Firehouse - kick-ass! Awesome sets, awesome show, awesome lights, and damn, I wish we could use pyrotechnics. Hell, we can't even convince anyone to let us use a chainsaw. :-)
First note out: Mr. Warren Demartini (hope I spelled that right - it is quite late) - from what I understand - you may have picked up a pin that was strategically thrown onto the stage during 'Round and Round' that would land you here at this website --- Chris would (and has on many occasions) explain you as the sole reason he started playing guitar - he would be -floored- if you sent him an