However, we always manage to have a Halloween show one way or another. So far every Halloween show ends up being one of my favorites of the year.

This year, we were lucky to have Tom, singer of Legend Of You, reach out and wanting to be filling involve with the planning process. We thank him for that!

Our line up this year was Trick Blue, My Kind of Fire, Jump For The Sails, Gone By Friday and headlining was Legend Of You.

Our friend, Nick McManus, known for his epic group polaroids, made an appearance and gathered us after Legend Of You’s set! Our group photo ended up in his annual Halloween portfolio on Bedford and Bowery.com. Check it out here.

-Arlene

Interview  

*How did TBQ come about? What happened to the Queens scene that called for such an initiative?

TBQ started in 2003 based on the idea that my friends who were in pop punk/emo bands from Queens would book shows here and get these acts from neighboring Long Island and New Jersey to come through that would blow me away. So I’d start to follow those bands and pay attention to THEIR scene, and suddenly all the labels at the time like Victory, Drive Thru, Vagrant, Fueled by Ramen, etc. were going after them or the bands they were playing with. Or they were getting opportunities to play with Jimmy Eat World and Alkaline Trio at the Wayne Firehouse or the Hicksville VFW. I looked at the friends’ bands I knew and just thought “You know, with a little bit of elbow grease, we could have that too.” So I started booking shows in New Jersey actually with 1/2 the bill being Queens bands, and 1/2 being our NJ friends who made sure there was a crowd. Eventually I was able to get a booking slot at the Red Zone, which did all-ages shows on Saturday afternoons, and my plan was that since a lot of the guys booking RZ were in bands and usually serving their best interest, I was coming into it as a fan — as a dude who loves making mixtapes, reading zines, talking shit on message boards — and thinking maybe it just lacked objectivity. So that’s how it all started. Its most recent incarnation though came to be from the fact I saw a pop punk band about a year ago in Brooklyn that reminded me of the years 1999-2000, when I first really got into this kinda music. I talked to them afterward, found out they were from Queens and said “Man, you guys were EXACTLY the kinda style I would have killed to book back in the day.” And then they turned around, knowing some of my resumes, said “Well… we’d have killed to play those shows dude!” So I did some poking and prodding for the next year or so, studying bands, going to shows more frequently, and then said “You know what… we have to be able to do this again somewhere in Queens.” I had the time and the passion, and brought it back.

*What is your musical history? What made you take up this noble musical cause?

Honestly, just a fan. When I was in the 6th or 7th grade, my older brother brought home this video of guys doing rollerblade tricks and I had delusions of being a pro in-line skater after seeing the movie “Airborne” one too many times. The soundtrack to the tape was all Epitaph bands… Bad Religion, The Offspring, Pennywise… and it just set the tone for what I thought – even then – was the coolest culture in the world. Then Green Day and Offspring became really big of course, and I was with that. And then a friend early in HS made me a NOFX mixtape because we started talking about Kevin Smith movies and Ben Affleck was in this movie “Glory Daze” that had a lot of NOFX songs on the soundtrack, and he had NOFX patches on his book bag. After that, you just meet kids in bands who invite you to see them, and you meet their friends, and see other bands, and become friends, etc. etc. and next thing you know you’re a scenester. But I have absolutely no musical background other than being a fan. I wanted to be a writer most of my life, and I always respected how punk rock meant you could write a song and get it to your audience so fluidly without the more arbitrary revision and publishing hurdles you have with, say, movies or prose. There’s something very organic, raw, and full of passion there. And to this day, I hear the drumming to a good skate punk band, I still think it’s the coolest fucking thing in the world and imagine playing Tony Hawk. I wanna put on Vans and cargo shorts and go get a burrito before going to a show to get in a pit and make an ass of myself skankin all night. Of course, my body and age don’t always agree with me, but feel lucky I haven’t mentally outgrown any of that.

*Have you ever thought about branching out to other boroughs? Why/why not?

In the original TBQ, yes. And I think it was an absolute mistake, but at the time I had dropped out of college and thought this was something I could turn into a career. Since then, I’ve held industry internships and seen enough of what I don’t like in the music scene these days to tell you I only came back for the purpose of doing all-ages shows in Queens. I felt there has to be a kid out there who reminds me of “teenage me” who probably needs shows in his life. Even if it’s just to not go to them, that presence of a scene needs to be there to reject. There are other promoters running other spaces and doing a bang-up job elsewhere. I’m focusing on keeping our cog in the big machine running the smoothest it can. I’m 29-years-old now… this is me giving back, and chaperoning school dances for people who hate school dances.

*How has TBQ been received? How has it made a difference to the youth of Queens so far and the Queens music scene in general?

I think pretty well, though I think there may be some people skeptical about giving us a chance on the basis of we’re not the first people to TRY and “unionize” the Queens local scene. There’s a lot of fly-by-night promoters, usually kids in bands, who will set up one awesome show somewhere and then not do anything ever again because they don’t want to overexpose their own band and won’t do all that work if they don’t benefit. I’ve noticed we’re mostly getting different kids at every show, since we’re trying to market a different “first show experience” to all the different scenes Queens has to offer, so my goal is that by the summer anyone who would even consider coming will have done so at least once. Though we do have a core croup of 6 or so kids from the area who we’re noticing with each show they tack one more person on, so that’s really cool to see. I’m hopeful it adds something for the youth of Queens in that we’re proud to be a drug and alcohol free-space, sponsored by a truly great afterschool program called Windows of Opportunity — who are all about empowering tomorrow’s youth and inspiring change. WOO has actually been collecting a very modest take from the door at these shows and already put it back into the space by replacing its PA speakers and taking the necessary steps to soundproofing the room and even setting up a fully functional booth up in one of the back lofts. Past that they’re looking to set up a makeshift recording studio where new bands, like high school students who don’t have jobs or savings, can produce a demo for free or even get hands-on experience in engineering recording other bands. So WOO and TBQ plan on having a long-lasting relationship with the youth in this borough, when they find us. As for the rest of the Queens music scene, look, even though we use the TBQ name — there was always A scene before we started doing shows. To think otherwise would just be arrogant and disrespectful. But a lot of these space are bars or legitimate venues that are in the business of making money. And nobody would begrudge them for that, but it creates tense situations where a HS band (for example) can’t build a following because the only local shows are 21+ and usually have pre-sales or some sort of draw requirement. Most bands in Queens do not have that kind of following because they’re not that good… yet. And the people who WOULD go see them and have the time to make it to every show are underage. So it creates a catch-22. I feel their needs to be that all-ages “feeder system” for venues like that to know who is worth booking. It’s like a food chain. We’re very happy to serve the role we do.

*Which are some of your favourite venues to book/play/attend in Queens and why?

The Hollis Woods Community Church, which is the only venue we book at now But that’s not the only reason. It’s clean. It’s run by awesome people who are musicians and totally understand the culture and personality types of bands and kids who come to shows, which is refreshing. I’m so used to older people who go “You wanna do what?!” and only agree if they get their rent money, where is this space just takes takes a percentage-based donation and lets us have as many dates as we please. It has risers we assemble into a stage, it has a backstage area for load-in, it has CLEAN mens and womens bathrooms, it has stage lights and potential for a sound booth, it has tables and couches for the bands to sell merch and relax at… I really feel like I’m more in the hospitality business than the music business because whenever a band comes to play for the first time they’re so “moved” by the fact we go out of our way to take care of them and let them play this church basement that, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear was DESIGNED to host punk rock shows one day.

*Please give me your top 5 Queens acts – 5 for up-and comers/all age acts and 5 for old-school/adult established bands that people in Australia may not have heard of – if possible!

I want you to ask me this question again in a year because I’ve always said today’s opener is tomorrow’s headliner…

Up-and-comers:
-Gone by Friday (pop punk in the vein of Blink 182, Face to Face)
-Little Luci (experimental “groove” rock with experimentation in the vein of Frank Zappa)
-Habits (by way of Brooklyn, but friends with all of us. Punk band that’s only been together a year and has yet to have a bad show where they didn’t make at least one new fan… talk about infectious)
-Go Big (by way of Long Island, and has members of a band that used to always play for us way back when. this new band might actually be better and is party-punk with horns, keys, tambourines. Think The Partridge Family meets fun. meets Ben Folds Five)
-Your Boy for Life (“white boy” hip hop served with a dose of wit and sarcasm, maybe even too clever for its own good)

Established:
-Unstoppable Death Machines (noise-punk wizards. they technically only play Brooklyn these days, but Mike and Billy Tucci were the first local band I ever made friends with when they lived in Queens and cut their teeth playing post-hardcore. they paid their dues and more bands today could learn from them)
-Endwell (hardcore band that’s been doing their thing well over a decade. they lost some steam but never gave up.)
-The Unlovables (sugar-coated bubble gum pop punk. absolutely adorable lyrics, massive amounts of energy. they play like one show a year, if that these days, and I’m always there. even if I have to go alone. how the world doesn’t LOVE THE SHIT out of this band has always been beyond me)
-A Moment’s Worth (by way of the Bronx, but they’ve always had members and family tied to Queens. contains 5 members who have all been best friends since grade school!!! you always see a band in photos acting like they’re friends, and then you read these ugly break-up stories and wonder “how could you do or say that to a friend?” and then realize it’s business-first to some people. I’m proud to say AMW has never had that problem and it’s genuine, and it comes through in their music. they’re kinda an emo-punk band I suppose, similar to The Early November and Bayside)
-Patent Pending (by way of Long Island. have been playing for me for over 10 years and are now hitting their stride. they played the Billbard Music Awards last year! not bad for a band that used to play the Red Zone or the Russell Sage Junior High cafeteria. and ethics-wise, they haven’t compromised a damn thing in that decade. I think that’s WHY they’ve become as successful as they have)

*If you could book any band – alive or dead – to play a TBQ show who would it be and why?

My dream concert that I could book has always been a co-headline with Saves the Day and Rilo Kiley, with The Format (singer of fun.’s previous, arguably serious, pop rock band) as support and Day at the Fair as the opener. But none of those are Queens bands and it would have to be at a real big venue.

If we’re talking about a church show… I’d still pick Saves the Day during the “Can’t Slow Down” and “Through Being Cool” er. Look them up on YouTube. That’s a band that grew up playing the small 100-person capacity auditorium of the Princeton Arts Council and various New Brunswick basements. If that band ever wants to “come home” and headline a church show in Queens… I might die. Even if they did decide to only play new stuff and push the latest album, I’d forgive them. (For the record, I like the new stuff. But I just narrowly missed the time I could have seen them at more intimate shows and it’s teased me in second-hand accounts on message boards and in YouTube videos ever since)

Thanks!
-RJP

Parker was putting a lot of work into Parkerfest MMXVII (Don’t Call It a Mania). He was very excited for this Saturday. After we found out the terrible news, we decided, with blessings of his family, the show will go on. The bands and I have come to an agreement that all the money made at this show will go to Parker’s family.

So now more than ever, please come out this Saturday to remember our brother Dick Parker, a man that has impacted our scene in the greatest of ways. RIP Parker 

If you don’t know who they even are, you are seriously missing out. Let me give you some more reasons why you should check them out.

Their new line up includes former Avenged Sevenfold drummer Arin Ilejay and guitarist J.R. Bareis. J.R use to tour with Korn as a guitar tech for Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch and would occasionally fill in for Head in Korn.

Their sophomore album “Power Under Control,” which features their single “Bad Guy,” was released in early August 2016. The record has found its way onto the charts and received plenty of play on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. “Power Under Control” has landed at No. 38 on Billboard’s Independent Albums and at No. 18 in the Hard Rock category. The song “Bad Guy” sits at No. 32 in Mainstream Rock Songs.

Islander has toured with bands such as Korn, Suicide Silence, Papa Roach and P.O.D, just to name a few. If you are a fan of them, more reason to listen to Islander.

It’s been awhile since we had a show! I’m sorry! Shows aren’t always an easy thing to put together but when it’s done, it’s amazing!!

Tonight is our Halloween Comeback show!! We have a couple of surprises for this special show obviously. What to know what they are? Well, you have to show up. We encourage everyone to wear a costume! I know I will.

Our awesome line up for tonight:

So Yesterday

Mike Vivanco 

FLOAT

Only Sibling

Dry Clean Only

As always, this is an all ages show. So, no alcohol or drugs. $8 to get in and say who you’re here to see. Doors open at 6 pm and the show starts at 6:30 pm. The address is 21516 82nd Ave. Queens Village, 11427. See you all tonight.

I’ve been trying to get into different bands and expanding my music taste or at least trying to. I’ve recently come across this band called Paper Route, more specifically their song “Chariots.” The best way I can describe them is that they sound like a mellow version of Paramore. More specifically, I mean Paramore’s latest sound, where they’re more mainstream friendly. Which is funny because Paper Route did open up for Paramore in 2009 when brand new eyes came out.

Paper Route’s single “Chariots” is off their upcoming album Real Emotion, which will be out on September 23, 2016. The really cool thing I found is that the song is that is debuted at E3 as the exclusive trailer track for FIFA 2017. Taking into considering how popular FIFA is in general and that “Chariots” was played at E3, something tells me Paper Route is going to be making a huge noise. Definitely, a band to keep an eye out for.

Find Paper Route:
Website: http://paperrouteonline.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paperroute/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/paperroute
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paperroutemusic/

So if you didn’t know that we had a show this past Saturday then you’re out of luck. This is our last show for the summer. We won’t be back until the fall. Don’t be mad because it’s not so far away. If you’re sad for missing out, don’t worry there are pictures! That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to miss our comeback show.

In the mean time go check out and support all of the bands: Thirsty Silver, Nervous Aggression, Sonder, Enemy of The State and Rhonnie Tsunami!

PS: I know our TBQ banners are usually up but the humidity wasn’t letting that happen.

Jump For The Sails

Canker Blossom (on tour from MD!)

Bending Over Backwards

The Neckbeards (also on tour from MD!)

Times Like These.

Here are some pictures I took.