American FangsAaaaaah, the mini music festival is always a blast. This one was a sweet little festival put on by Afro-Punk and it included four fun and different bands. Here is a brief history on the Afro-Punk scene:
“When Matthew Morgan and James Spooner joined forces in 2002, their focus was giving a voice to thousands of multi-cultural kids fiercely identifying with a lifestyle path-less-traveled. Morgan, a visionary with 15 years in the music industry, instinctively understood that the indie rock/punk/hardcore scene had powerful appeal beyond the predictable Caucasian audience; the passion evident in writer-director Spooners hours of riveting hand-shot footage was the indisputable proof. 
The result: 2003s Afro-Punk, the seminal cult classic film spotlighting Black Punks in America.
Afro-Punk became a touchstone of a cultural movement strongly reminiscent of the early days of Hip-Hop. Alternative urban kids across the nation (and across the globe) who felt like outsiders discovered they were actually the core of a boldly innovative, fast-growing community. The online members have been the driving force behind the exploding Afro-Punk (AP) culture, creating an authentic virtual home in www.afropunk.com, and nurturing the music’s best and brightest via expansion of the Liberation Sessions, a live performance series hosted by Spooner.
As the AP movement continued to gain momentum and influence, everyone began to notice. The Liberation Sessions went front-and-center at CMJ and SXSW, press coverage ranged from Pitchfork, URB, Vibe, and Nylon to The New York Times, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, and The Los Angeles Times.
In 2005, the very first annual Afro-Punk Festival debuted to wildly enthusiastic crowds at the iconic Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Co-curated by Morgan and Spooner, the festival celebrated and unified the cultural cornerstones of Afro-Punk: music, film, skate, and most importantly, the fiercely independent and influential individuals that are the lifeblood of the AP community.” -www.afropunk.com
The first band to perform was a rock-punk quintet from Houston, TX named American Fangs. They were: Gus on vocals, Kirkland on guitar, kow on the bass and Mitch on drums. They didn’t bring anything new to the table for this style of music but they had plenty of energy and were sure as hell happy to be playing. They injected the crowd with a lot of sweat, pounding drums, vein popping vocals and guitar rocking.
Earl GreyhoundUp next was the 1970s styled, hard rocking and soulful trio, Earl Greyhound, from Brooklyn, NY. They are: Matt Whyte on guitar & vocals, Kamara Thomas on bass & voice and Big Ricc Sheridan on drums. They rocked the crowd with some sizzling guitar, a mad barrage of drums, tasty feedback and a wickedly grooving bass. Seriously, Kamara on the bass was so slinky, sexy and feeling it. Damn, the whole band came out playing hard and each song just kept building. The last two cuts were serious ragers. They also performed a new cut from an upcoming new album. The crowd really dug these cats and they showed it. I would of loved to of seen them for another hour or more to see what they could do. It seemed like they were just heating up, but there was more music to come.
Before Saul Williams took the stage, his right hand man, CX KiDTRONiK and the evenings MC took the stage and blasted the crowd with high energized, punked out beats, screams, and a wave of noisy electronics. It was totally in your face.
After the mayhem settled down (and about to begin again) Saul Williams and crew (Tchaka Diallo, Activator, Rough Francis and CX KiDTRONiK) got on stage for the final act of the evening: “The Niggy Tardust Experience.” Saul immediately starting spewing forth abstract poetry and then he and his band kicked into a wicked juxtaposed groove.
CX KiDTRONiKSaul’s unique cosmic mix of poetry, MAD, MAD high octane scattered electronics, by CX KiDTRONiK, painted a wild image of music for the enthusiastic crowd. Acid punk, rock, poetry, rap, psychedelic injections were all layered with nutty breakbeats and Saul’s vocals. The music was raw, intense, sweaty and dynamic. Song after song energized the listener and filled the brain with a montage of melt your mind lyrics. When the band left the stage the crowd raged to bring them back and once they did come back we got a whole bunch of extra tunes.
All in all it was a wonderful night of grooves that started at 8:30 and ended at around 12:30. There was plenty of music and a tasty assortment of bands. The Afro-Punk Festival should be around for a long time. I’m looking forward to more. Check out the few shows that are left on this tour. By Elektra Pastiche
Saul Williams biography:
Welcome to SaulWilliams.com, the digital component of me,
Saul Williams.
Who I am and what I do seems to vary by mod, mood, and mode of expression. I write. I act. I perform. Most of the labels that are projected onto me are seldom how I would choose to refer to myself. Yet, regardless of how much I might dodge classification, the one label that I tote freely is that of being an artist. And it is the art of self expression that has heightened my experience on this planet and fueled my understanding of love, compassion, and humanity.
Poet.
I write poetry because it is the clearest and most direct expression of how I think. I take pride in being called a poet mostly because it feels like an ordination. I did not grow up thinking of myself as a poet, so it is an honor to be considered one. So far, I've wriiten four books that fall under the category of poetry. For me, they chronicle my growth as an artist, friend, lover, father, son, and individual. My goal has never truly been to become an amazing poet, rather I have worked at becoming more expressive, thoughtful, and harmoniously balanced, and courageous enough to live my life as a poem. My writings simply chronicle my journey and vision. They are the residue of the work that I'm doing on myself.
Music.
I write music because I have found that I cannot relie on other artists, or the music industry to provide the release that I need from a days work, a night out, to inspire a mood, a movement, or simply explore the unsaid in ways that are important to me. I've sought to become self sufficient. In music I think of myself as an explorer participating in the construction of the soundscape of the new world that is being hatched out of our dreams, hope and visions of peace and harmony... that don't necesarily mean my shit is soft though...
Performance.
Saul Williams
Performance.
Acting, my first love as an artist, has allowed me insight into the nature of humanity. The many roles I have played, especially in theatre, exposed me to aspects of my own character before I even lived through enough experience to discover traits within myself. Through acting, I found an excuse to study everything from my own breathing habits, to the beats within a passage or poem, to the unexplored regions of my imagination. It taught me how to observe the distinction between someone who walks and leads with their head or chin versus someone who leads with their gut or groin. It grounded me in my voice and on stage and has helped me develop as a thinker and person
Through it all I would say that performance is my favorite medium as an artist. Yet, I have become very particular about the material I perform, thus, I create. Most of my training as an artist is in the field of acting which makes sense considering that all the other stuff often just feels like a role I'm playing.
Here are some credentials and schools I've attended:
HB Studios, NYC
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Morehouse College, ATL, GA. BA in Philosophy and Drama
NYU/Tisch School of the Arts, NYC. MFA Acting
These are some awards I've won:
Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival (Slam)
Camera D'Or at Cannes Film Festival (Slam)
Nuyorican Grand Slam Champion
Blah. Blah. Blah...
Anyway, thanks for being here."
-Saul
Monday, March 8,2010 
The night started off with the east coast quartet A Storm of Light at the always exciting Independent over on Divisadero Street. They performed doomey, atmospheric, and metal soundscapes with background female gothic style vocals and a mauling rhythm section. Behind them on the Independents movie screen they had visuals playing throughout. Harvestman, also know as Steve Von Till from Neurosis, followed with his one man show melding together vocals, electronics, and his guitar. He created ambient-metal-rock textures and folk like tunes that incorporated layered guitar groves that he manipulated and at other times had his deep talking style of singing. It was hauntingly gentle and spacey at one moment, soulful and almost bluesy another, and then loud and heavy for brief moments. 
Scott "Wino" WeinrichI have caught the legendary Scott "Wino" Weinrich in Spirit Caravan, Dale Crover a couple of times in the Melvins, and Al Cisneros in the original Om line-up as well as with their new drummer from the Grails, another great live band (check here for their tour dates). Though, I have never had the privilege of seeing Neurosis so this was my first time witnessing Scott Kelly and the before mentioned Steve Von Till.
Al CisnerosSick jam after sick jam just kept viscously pounding my senses and at times put me into a wonderful trance. Throughout the gig I could feel the vibrations shake my rib cage and rattle my skull. The legendary Wino injected stinging guitar madness into the air or filled my senses with a trippy psychedelic groove and then all of a sudden I would get my head bashed in by thunderous almost jazzy style bass playing from Al. Scott growled away on vocals and filled the club with atmospheric guitar craziness while the entire time Dale mangled his drum kit, just pounding, and pounding and POUNDING away! It was like a thunderous jet plane smacking into a bullet train!
SHRINEBUILDER
Dale Crover third from left with Melvins
Scott Kelly third from left with NeurosisSHRINEBUILDER TOUR DATES:
2010 North American Tour Poster by David V. D'Andrea 
