Maren Parusel trouble in the East Coast.

Reading updates on Owl & Bear or NBC Sounddiego Blog is awesome when it is about the locals on tour.  A tour diary more or less of the ins and outs of what is going on with the band as they travel city to city.  However, when you read a story such as that of Maren Parusel, it breaks my little heart to read that there are people out there targeting touring bands when their van is left unattended.

A few years back I had a few friends have their studio broken into.  A slew of benefit shows began.  Equipment that is irreplaceable or has some kind of significance to the band.  (Their "baby") A few weeks later another tour van disappeared.  Another studio broken into. So on and so fourth.  What do you do when you are in another part of the country and your van gets broken into.  Do as Maren does.. Keep on trucking and don't give up!

Between the early morning of 3am and 7am on W87th street not to far from Central Park, the white ford E250 was broken into.  Taking guitars, merch box, cash box with money inside, food and clothes and almost all the belongings left in the van.  Below is a laundry list of the items with a  description followed by pictures.  If anyone can help out and keep an eye for these items that would be great. Tragic as it seems, if any one wants to donate to the cause of helping Maren out here is where you can lend your donations:

Donations can be made to: Chase Bank
Account Name: Maren Parusel
Account Number: 444 201 2871
4078 Adams Ave., San Diego, CA
619-280-8872



Items gone missing:

1. Custom built bass guitar, in shape of Fender Precision Bass. Red w/ white pickguard.
Black hardshell case with some damage on corners,

2. 1984 Fender Japanese Stratocaster, white w/ white pickguard, lace sensor pickups.
Brown guitar shaped case w/ "Gorilla Coffee" sticker on case. Also "Fragile" sticker.

3. Fender "Telecaster/Esquire". 80's Japanese Fernandes Telecaster body, brown/black sunburst w/ black pickguard. Fender Esquire neck.
Black "Kases" case. Hardshell with soft surround and zipper, rectangular shape. 2 cables in the pocket.

4. Epiphone Casino, Hollow body. TV Yellow.
Black guitar shaped hard case w/ stencil "Maren Parusel"

5. BOSS Pedal board w/ 5 pedals.
-Boss Chromatic Tuner
-Boss Chorus
-Maxon OD-808 Overdrive
-Ibanez Tubescreamer
-Boss Tremolo
-Boss Digital Delay

6. Yamaha Keyboard. Black 88 Keys, weighted.

7. Alesis Micron synth. In violin case with stencil "Maren Parusel"

8. DW-9000 Kick Pedal, in hard-shell DW case, with stencil "GOLD"

9. 1 Rack-Tom. Porkpie 12", Sparkly Red with stencil "GOLD"



Other items:

-Black Cashbox w/ approx $1,100

-Garmin GPS w/ stand and cable.

-HP Laptop computer, black.

-Camping bag full of clothing and personal items.

-Black chest w/ band's merchandise

-Black windbreaker type jacket

-black and red "Trader Joe's" food bag. 

A Place to Bury a Band!

Another Thursday night and here I am back at the world famous Casbah. This time to check out All The Saints, Darker My Love, and A place to Bury Strangers. From what I keep hearing A Place to Bury Strangers is going to bring it! Well they brought it alright. However, It wasn't what I expected.

Normally my Thursday nights are based upon my best friend working that night or not. If he is then im there hanging out with him. I have been hearing about All the Saints and Darker My Love as bands to check out. A Place to Bury Strangers not so much. Which is totally okay.

When arriving at the Casbah, All The Saints had already finished their set. I was a little disappointed; however, a motorcycle ride to Oceanside was needed that day. Yes I do ride motorcycles. And NO it doesn't make me hardcore. It puts me at ease kinda of like a quick meditation. ANYWAYS, back to the review of the show!

The All The Saints, the band I missed; are a psychedelic rock band from the mid-south. Does that make sense? The Southern Part of the Midwest. Very garage like with experimental waa waa's unto their beat. I bet they were good live.

DARKER MY LOVE. Now that was the band that brought it! Their rocking good melodic tunes kept me moving and grooving the entire set. The adorable 5 piece band from LA, California. Their music is like a cross between 80's synth-rock with a class of garage. Just imagine, BRMC, The Pretty Things, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre in a pinata. When busted open Darker My Love was the sweet treats inside. What a sweet sweet treat I would have to say.

After Darker My Love, I was ready for the next rocking surprise. Well, it was indeed a surprise when I realized holy shit your band is BBOORRIINGGGG.... Snooze alert right here! Their look was really laid back and rockn roll. I guess they were way way to laid back. Their sound was very much like Suicide a band from New York, not a big fan. In the middle of their set they began with the fog machine. Really? At the Casbah. It was great for photo ops. But a fog machine? This made it a little more sleepy for me, I went to the back bar and hung out. I would rather watch The Return of the Mummy 3 than watch A Place to Bury Strangers. Epic Fail on their part.

Other than that It was a great show. Recap: Bands to check out All The Saints and Darker My Love.

Motor City Fever.

If a time machine really existed. The dial would be set to 1969. The destination would be Detroit, Michigan. Being a Rockn Roll mercenary, having the Motor City fever is natural. So many great bands came from Michigan at that time. MC5, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and The Dogs. Detroit was the main city to be living in for the great Rockn Roll.

On Saturday The Dogs came down to Bar Pink and play one of the greatest sets known to this rocker. From the moment they hit the stage, the transport began to Motor City. Let a small history lesson begin on Detroit.


Detroit Michigan was transformed into "Motor City" by Henry Ford. It was the melting pot for white trade union's to control the minority under the motor vehicle industry. Years of rich cultural adding allows the mix of traditional music from several cultural backgrounds. First bringing major blues singer and jazz quartets.

Over the years the genres of music that comes out of Detroit have always been great. Gospel, Pop, RnB. Motown. Of course not to forget Rockn Roll. Enough on the history lesson on Motor City.

The Dogs, forming in 1969 with Loren Molinare on Vocals and Guitar, Mary Kay on Bass on Vocals, and Ron Wood on Drums. Leaving their home time, The Dogs migrated towards Los Angeles. Their first single John Rockn Roll Sinclare was release in mid '76. With the whole country being at war, rockn roll anarchy was needed. Bands such as The Dogs had perfect RAW energy for what was to come next in our history. In '78 Slash Your Face was released. Making it into Spin Magazine's most influential punk rock songs of our time. Over the years, The Dogs opened for acts such as The Ramones, MC5, and Television.



The Dogs performed at Bar Pink July 25. From the moment the first note was strummed on Loren's guitar the transformation to Motor City was in full effect. They opened the show with Sleeze City. The energy was strong with this band. Front of the stage like always; was my rockn roll partner in crime and I. Dancing and shaking what they had while playing other songs such as Fed Up, Motor City Fever and Slash Your Face. All classic that will never go out of style. They closed their set with Dog in The Cat.


The whole show was full of raw undefinable energy. Loren, jumping in front of people going with the post modern punk sounds coming from the monitors. The bass was like a thunder and drums like a hurricane. An storm of rockn roll all over this small venue. Great crowds, great music, and an great venue equals a great night of rockn roll!

Check out the The Dogs @ http://thedogs1970.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thedetroitdogs

Playing drums with The Dogs is Tony Matteucci.