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Herd Fest 2015: Day 2

Herd Fest 2015 officially kicked into its second gear last Friday night with three loaded showcases littered over Allentown. First off, though, long time local photog, Michael Mulley, opened up his “People That Rock” exhibit over at Sugar City on Niagara St.. The 20 + years in the making gallery featured photos of Henry Rollins, David Bowie, Social Distortion, and more. Later on that night, Nietzsche’s, Duke’s and Hardware were taken over by showcases from Harvest Sum, Deep Thinka Records, and the Cool Dad crew, respectively. Our festival photographer, Candace Camuglia, was once again deep into all of the action. Check out some select shots from the night below, and for a full gallery of Day 2, visit the festival’s facebook page.

Michael Mulley’s “People That Rock”

With night one of Herd Fest 2015 in the books, we next turn out attention to Niagara Street, where Sugar City will host the opening of Michel Mulley’s “People That Rock” exhibit. For the last 25 years, he has been shooting everywhere from festivals to basements, while capturing everyone from Dee Dee Ramone to Social Distortion to Henry Rollins. His massive collection of photos, each with its own great story, will be presented to the public later this evening and open for sale beginning Sunday at 1pm. Mulley, who last year hosted the Steak and Cake showcase at his former College Street Gallery, has since relocated to the Market Arcade building to display his impressive portfolio. The opening exhibit will be one of three special presentations from Sugar City during Herd Fest, the latter two will come on Sunday in the form of a record fair and local music video[...]

Animals As Leaders & Conquering Dystopia at the Town Ballroom (5/21/14)

It’s probably easier to describe the music of Animals As Leaders by citing the myriad of influences that they bring to their sound. That of course is the easy way , which I will absolutely avoid. Led by guitarist Tosin Abasi, this Washington D.C. based trio “noodle like no one has noodled before” (quoted from a guy I met at the show). Backed by Javier Reyes on guitar and drummer Matt Garstka, their all-instrumental set focused mainly on their latest album, Joy of Motion, on Sumerian Records. Animals As Leaders’ jazz influenced metal can veer from completely bombastic to nearly ambient in a split second. Far from contrived, each song flows rather seamlessly from start to finish. Also on the bill were another all instrumental band, the distinctively more metal Conquering Dystopia, a project that features Jeff Loomis (Nevermore) and Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse). Loomis and partner-in-crime Keith Merrow are[...]