A Farewell to…

On April 18th and 19th, Piebald will be closing out their 12+ year existence with two final shows at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA.

Highlights of the shows will include:

• Eco-conscious karaoke fashion show
• 15 minute farewell documentary
• Alternative fuel education and action
• Free photo booth
• Raffles, gift bags, and more

Perennial underdogs of the indie rock scene, the Boston and L.A.-based foursome have been fighting the good fight for well over a decade. The founding members of Piebald — Shettel, guitarist/vocalist Aaron Stuart and bassist/vocalist Andrew Bonner — cut their teeth while still in high school in the suburbs of Andover, Massachusetts, debuting with the 1995 EP, Sometimes Friends Fight. The band continued to record several well received releases throughout its fruitful career, including When Life Hands You Lemons (1997), If It Weren't For Venetian Blinds It Would Be Curtains For Us All (1999), The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised (2000), We Are The Only Friends We Have (2002), All Ears, All Eyes, All The Time (2004) and Accidental Gentlemen (2007).

In recent years, Piebald was well known for their green ethics as they flawlessly executed numerous US tours in their bus running on 100% straight vegetable oil (SVO). These tours were accompanied with an alternative energy education campaign with live demonstrations of the vehicle outside of shows and on the website Grease Not Gas (www.greasenotgas.com). To keep these ethics alive and to educate their fans on how they can take action, they are teaming up with Rock ‘n Renew, a non-profit organization that has reached over 300,000 people through educational and grassroots events. Through their in-house carbon offsetting program, True Offsets, Rock ’n Renew will offer fans the chance to offset their travel to the show with the goal of making the entire event carbon-neutral.

These shows will also be supported by Pure Volume and Street Attack. Pure Volume is a highly influential music website connecting thousands of bands with listeners. Fans of alternative and indie genres flock to this site to learn about the up and coming bands of tomorrow. Street Attack is a non-traditional marketing agency that brings promotional expertise and grassroots networking to the table.

“These events will be more than your typical live show. Our goal is to create a unique experience that is equally entertaining as it is educational,” boasts drummer, Luke Garro. This will surely be achieved through the concept of the karaoke fashion show…a 30 minute set of karaoke performances by fans of the band who will be selected pre-show via Youtube audition tapes. These performers will be decked out in featured sustainable/eco-conscious clothing items from labels such as Hurley, Macbeth, Birdhead, and more. The entertainment will also include a 15 minute never-before-seen farewell video showing rare and unreleased footage from the band’s full existence, compiled by life-long friend and pioneer of the Grease Not Gas movement, Mike Parziale.

The anticipation for this event can be seen in its ticket sales. The first of the 2 shows sold out in a few weeks with little more than a bulletin posted on the bands Myspace page. Due to the high demand, the second show was added to give more fans the opportunity to say farewell to the band. For those that miss the action, the entire event and live set will be captured and released as a DVD/live CD. Expect this release in stores next Fall on Boston labels Sidehatch Entertainment/Bampf!.

buy tickets to the show here