Line-up

Headliner
Andrew Jackson Jihad Last time in Belfast: First time!

Venue

Black Box

18-22 Hill Street, BT1 2LA, Belfast, UK

www.blackboxbelfast.com/

Capacity: 240

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

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Andrew Jackson Jihad biography

Andrew Jackson Jihad is an American folk-punk and indie-rock band, they formed in 2004 around permanent members Sean Bonnette and Ben Gallaty, and hail from Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.

Originally comprised of acoustic guitarist Sean Bonnette, upright bass player Ben Gallaty, and drummer Justin James, Andrew Jackson Jihad has since undergone a number of personnel changes with Sean and Ben at the core. The band’s debut release arrived in 2005 with the album “Candy Cigarettes & Cap Guns”, which introduced the band’s notable acoustic instrumentation combined with with punk vocal delivery.

After releasing the EP “Issue Problems” and performing as a part of the New Times Music Showcase in 2006, the Andrew Jackson Jihads issued a split release with Ghost Mice in 2007. The band subsequently signed with Asian Man Records who released the Jihad’s sophomore full-length “People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World” in 2007. The album raised the Jihad’s profile further and highlighted the often tongue-in-cheek lyricism covering topics including childhood addiction, poverty, existentialism, and religion.

Following the release of the EPs “Only God Can Judge Me” in 2008 and “Operation Stackola” in 2009, Andrew Jackson Jihad issued their third studio album “Can’t Maintain” in 2009, with a supporting tour of the U.S. and Europe. The Jihad’s fourth full-length “Knife Man” arrived in 2011 and was supported with a full U.S. tour alongside Frank Turner. The band expanded in 2012 with the addition of guitar and keyboard player Preston Bryan and drummer Deacon Batchelor. The live album “Live at the Crescent Ballroom” was released in 2013, and after signing with Side One Dummy Records, the band released the album “Christmas Island” in 2014.

Live reviews

The post-punk revival of the last decade was good for a great many things. Having guitar music as a regular fixture of the charts was pretty godamn wonderful; I think we can all agree. However, if there’s one good thing to come from its retreat back into relative obscurity, it’s the fact that guitar music can once again be thrillingly, defiantly weird. Wasn’t that awesome? When music played on a Fender Stratocaster copy didn’t have to be “relatable” in some way shape or form or overly accessible? Now that we’ve got the number one singles out of our collective system, we can have Parquet Courts go on the Jimmy Fallon show and spend the final minute of their performance having a good old fashioned unplanned feedback soaked guitar jam. Because the music itself is counter culture again, and Parquet Courts make it sound so much more thrilling than it has any right to be. That’s their style in the live arena, on edge, at the risk of collapsing at any moment but always with buckets of energy and passion. No two shows of theirs are identical but they are always completely riveting, not just for the possibility of it all falling apart but for the raucous chemistry that the New York City quartet have in spades. There is no one way that guitar music should be but to see Parquet Courts is to see a very strong argument that it should be loose, raw and utterly unique, just like the band themselves. At this point we all know that indie rock is alive and well, to celebrate that fact and see it at its most uncompromising and untamed, one need look no further than a Parquet Courts show.

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