Yes Virginia, There is Metal in Connecticut: One Virginia Dude’s Ode to Nightbitch and the CT Metal Scene

Editor’s Note: Virginia-by-way-of-Connecticut metalhead Mike Wilcox, a.k.a. “Vest Bro” to Alternative Control readers, recently began writing for a well-respected music blog.  Imagine his surprise and delight to see a band from his ol’ home state on the the review list: Nightbitch.  Mike’s editor decided not to run the short piece he wrote because there was… Continue reading Yes Virginia, There is Metal in Connecticut: One Virginia Dude’s Ode to Nightbitch and the CT Metal Scene

Burning In The Summer Heat: A Preview of the 2015 CT Summer Punk Fest

By Matt Mullarkey It’s that time of the year again in New England. Days where the temps hover between the 80s and 90s, the humidity sticks to your skin like napalm, and your electric bill is through the roof from cranking the AC day and night. So what better way to spend one of those… Continue reading Burning In The Summer Heat: A Preview of the 2015 CT Summer Punk Fest

Three Days in a Row of Shows You Need to Know About: Cherry Fest, Cherry Fest, and Eyehategod

  “Man, there are never any good shows in Connecticut!”  Uh… We here at Alternative Control respectfully disagree.  In fact, there’s already a warning out from the Department of Heavy Metal Awareness for some major activity mid-month…. 7/12 — Cherry Fest, Day One at Cherry Street Station in Wallingford The second annual local band extravaganza… Continue reading Three Days in a Row of Shows You Need to Know About: Cherry Fest, Cherry Fest, and Eyehategod

Six Degrees of the Dead: An Interview with Eyes of the Dead for Their Ten-Year Anniversary

  As they have been a staple in the scene for, well, ten years, everyone who’s involved in the loose network we call Connecticut Metal has some connection to Eyes of the Dead.  Mine probably doesn’t involve as much alcohol as other people’s – Jill, who co-founded this blog with me, went to high school… Continue reading Six Degrees of the Dead: An Interview with Eyes of the Dead for Their Ten-Year Anniversary

Chords for a Cure: Connecticut Musicians Band Together to Fight Cancer

When Ronnie James Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009, his wife Wendy said to the press, “After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans.” But one day we all will meet a foe we cannot defeat.  Dio… Continue reading Chords for a Cure: Connecticut Musicians Band Together to Fight Cancer

Summer Metal Update 2013

Another summer is upon us, and with it more great local and national shows.  On the first day of June, Cherry Street Station in Wallingford kicks things off with Drunk Dan’s Summer Shit Show.  The Decibel Magazine Tour is rolling into Toad’s Place on 6/4, featuring Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Immolation, and Magrudergrind.  Your favorite… Continue reading Summer Metal Update 2013

The Gold-Coasters Hit the Road: Cherry Street Station and Cook’s Café

Down here in Stamford, there are metal shows… But the audience is the band members’ twelve friends and the beers all cost six dollars.  Okay, five for a PBR. To find a really brutal metal show in Connecticut, though – the kind where there’s a hundred people and some dude is fisting a blow-up sheep… Continue reading The Gold-Coasters Hit the Road: Cherry Street Station and Cook’s Café