Gel break up and cancel all upcoming shows

Gel have announced that they are no longer a band due to the “heinous acts” committed by their former guitarist Anthony Webster who they parted ways with in 2024. All of their upcoming shows have been cancelled including their performance at Coachella. The band released a statement on Instagram that reads, ”Hey everyone, friends and fans – Gel is no longer a band, and therefore will not be playing any of our currently scheduled upcoming shows. The reason is pretty simple at its core; the former guitar player, Anthony Webster, has committed such heinous acts in trying to forward himself in his music career that he’s done irreparable damage to the band in the process, and it’s affected us as human beings more than we can even attempt to explain, to the point of being completely unable to do the band anymore. Here are some examples of what he’s done: He’s stolen tens of thousands of dollars from us, and the best part is that he left it all on record for us to eventually find. He spent it on his own rent, personal food orders, and really whatever else he wanted to, because for a long period of time, no one had access to the bank account (or any accounts for that matter) but him, despite numerous attempts to gain access to those things. Oh yeah, he also spent it on a truly unbelievable number of OnlyFans purchases and mysterious CashApp transactions, likely one in the same. He posted nude images of band members on Reddit for the world to see. Yup, just casually, for who knows what purpose. Let that one really sink in. He did that all while still in a band with us too, by the way. Luckily, he’s truly terrible at covering up his tracks, so we have the receipts to prove that one too. He put us in physically dangerous situations numerous times. From talking shit on the band Twitter and getting our van window smashed in with a baseball bat, to regularly driving erratically like psychopath because he was ‘upset’ for again, who knows what reason (oh yeah…he wouldn’t let anyone else drive either by the way, so we just had to deal with it), and throwing things at us because he’s a little fucking baby and can’t handle himself like an adult, it was always the same with him. Absolute misery and inconsideration for anyone and everyone around him (well, except for the people who he wanted to impress and would feign being a nice guy to…LOL). Now, I’m sure a lot of people are thinking, well why didn’t you just stop dealing with it? Why didn’t you just leave? If you’ve ever been in an abusive relationship, emotionally and / or physically, you’ll probably understand this better. It’s like that, but with your life’s work and passion at the forefront as well. It’s not easy to just give something up that you care so much about, especially with pressures from outside organizations, people, etc, that are all counting on you in some way. We wish that this could have all been easier, and we wish that it didn’t have to end this way – we’re fighters though, and we saw it through to the very end, until it simply couldn’t go on anymore. And we’re proud of that. On that note, we’d like to send our most sincere and deepest apologies to anyone who this is affecting on a personal level and beyond. We know so many people were counting on us, including Spiritbox, Volbeat, our good friends in Anxious – we are so sorry that we have to end it this way and we truly hope the best for all of you. Thank you so much to the friends we’ve made over the years, and thank you so much to our fans for always being there for us and showing us how much you care. Take care of each other, and love your friends.” You can see the post in full below.

DS Photos and Show Review: Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends do REM’s “Fables Of The Reconstruction” and more in Boston!

In what has rather selfishly become one of my favorite show-going events of the year lately, Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy and a cast of supremely talented friends brought their touring REM tribute show to Boston’s Royale nightclub. It’s an idea that really took root close to a decade ago, when Shannon and Narducy started enlisting […]

In what has rather selfishly become one of my favorite show-going events of the year lately, Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy and a cast of supremely talented friends brought their touring REM tribute show to Boston’s Royale nightclub. It’s an idea that really took root close to a decade ago, when Shannon and Narducy started enlisting a few friends to do a handful of one-off shows covering albums they considered staples: Modern Lovers and The Smiths and Neil Young records for example. In 2023, they honored the 40th anniversary of Chicago’s Metro and the 40th anniversary of REM’s Murmur, and it went so well they took the act on the road the following year, adding songs from the Georgia legends’ Chronic Town and Reckoning and a few others to round out a full evening’s set.

Thanks to the success of that run last year – and thanks to the 40th anniversary of REM’s Fables Of The Reconstruction happening this year – the band hopped in the van (proverbially, I think) again for a run of dates that brought them to Boston’s Royale nightclub. The venue – which was previously known as The Roxy, which Narducy played back in 1997 with his old band Verbow – is roughly twice as large as the Sinclair, which was the local stop they sold out on the Murmur run. The larger venue brought with it an expanded venue and a band that was firing on all proverbial cylinders.

Shannon and Narducy and friends (on this run, the “and friends” consist of Narducy’s fellow Bob Mould rhythm mate Jon Wurster on drums, Dag Juhlin on lead guitar, Wilco’s John Stirratt on bass, Vijay Tellis-Nayak on keys) wasted no time diving into the evening’s main event, REM’s 1985 album Fables Of The Reconstruction. Fables is a bit of a weirdly-remembered album. Serving as the legendary band’s third studio full-length, it was also a bit of a transitionary album that still held onto some of the “college rock” sound that made them early 80s critical darlings, but started to dip their toes in waters that were a bit more experimental. It’s an album that I think is received much more fondly in hindsight than it was upon its initial release, but then again, I was 6 when it came out, so what do I know…


ANYWAY, as I was saying, Shannon and Narducy and crew wasted no time, diving right into Fables… opener “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” and proceeded to blitz through the entire album in virtuosic fashion. The band sounded razor-sharp. The addition of keys and a second guitar player gave this lineup the ability to stretch out a little and add a few more textures than the four-piece touring machine that REM was able to in the early-mid 80s heyday. This doesn’t change the core feeling of the songs that so many hold so close to their respective parts, just fills and brightens out the sound. Shannon, for his part, channeled a good deal of Michael Stipe’s stage presence without doing a straight impression. Stipe was a one-of-a-kind ball of energy on stage, especially in the earlier years, and Shannon does a good job of mimicking the energy while not simply aping the entire “thing.” As a critically-acclaimed actor, I wonder if Shannon finds it more important to channel the performance of Stipe himself or his poetic words and the characters they told stories of. Someone should interview him about that; Michael, have your people call my people.

It’s an interesting thing, because it feels cheap to call Shannon and Narducy and Friends a cover band, although I suppose to the letter of the law, that’s what they are. Maybe that’s just semantics – although in the case of two of the Herculean set’s songs, they were technically not covering REM songs, but covering songs that REM were known to dip into in their live show in the early years – Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” and Aerosmiths “Toys In The Attic.” But it didn’t FEEL like watching a cover band, like a group of weekend warriors living out their alternative rock glory days by starting a band called like Dirty Deeds or Stone Temple Posers or something, giving dive bar performances that are equal part messy garage band practice and Halloween costume audition. Instead, it feels like a group of monstrously talented musicians giving life to the songs created four decades ago by one of America’s most iconic bands. They genuinely do the songs justice, and the night is a bit of a marathon; the Boston stop found them hitting thirty-three songs on the setlist; I think DC reached thirty-seven. And yes, the project has been given the blessing of Stipe, Buck, Mills and Barry, who’ve been known to pop up on occasion at gigs and join the group for a massive homage to their iconic work. There were no original REM members in the room on this evening BUT Ingrid Schorr was in the building, and astute REM fans will recognize her as the muse behind the Mills-penned “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” which was, on this night, performed in her honor. Also, the stripped-down version of Reckoning’s “So. Central Rain” that Shannon and Narducy played as a duo to kick off the evening’s third set was goose-bump inducing.


Like last year, the multi-talented Dave Hill (Dave, from before…Dave Hill from showbiz, ringleader of the Dangerous Snakes Who Hate Bullshit) kicked off the evening’s festivities in fine fashion. I generally hesitate to review comedy sets in too much detail at the risk of spoiling the bit, but this is also the social media age, and so you probably know the bit already. If you’ve not taken in the Dave Hill live experience in person, it’s equal parts comedy show and blistering guitar performance art. Like a heavy metal late-stage Elvis, Hill barrelled onto the stage in a full one-piece jumpsuit adorned with flames and wolves and snakes and all other sorts of badassery. From there, it was a barrage of tasty riffs – part of Danzig’s “Mother”! A little bit of “Free Bird”! A cursory “Eruption” appearance! – on his sweet Flying V. For a while, he was joined on stage by a bit of a jazz trio (drums and bass and keys) as he regaled the audience with regionally specific pickup lines that would only work in the greater Boston area (shout out to South Station and the abandoned Medfield State psychiatric Hospital) before diving into set-closer “I Was In A Fight.” If you were at last year’s Murmur show, Hill’s set was pretty similar in tone and context, but his individual performance and stage antics make each night a little unique. 


Check out a bunch more pics from the evening below, and stay tuned…word on the street is that Shannon and Narducy and Friends will be out on the road in 2026 to mark the 40th anniversary of Life’s Rich Pageant. (And really, Michael, let’s chat!)

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DS Exclusive: Listen to the Haermorrhoids’ bad ass new EP “Treatment”

German ramonescore powerhouse The Haermorrhoids dropped one of the most bad ass albums of 2023 with At The Earth’s Core, and now they’re back in action with a brand new 7″ coming out this Friday on Mom’s Basement Records. Dying Scene is absolutely thrilled to bring you this exclusive full EP stream for Treatment! Check […]

German ramonescore powerhouse The Haermorrhoids dropped one of the most bad ass albums of 2023 with At The Earth’s Core, and now they’re back in action with a brand new 7″ coming out this Friday on Mom’s Basement Records.

Dying Scene is absolutely thrilled to bring you this exclusive full EP stream for Treatment! Check that shit out below and set a reminder to head over to the Mom’s Basement webstore at noon eastern this Friday to grab this fuckin awesome 7″. It’ll be available on three super limited color variants and is sure to go quick. Don’t sleep on this one!

This premiere is brought to you in part by Punk Rock Radar. If you’d like your band’s music video, song, album or whatever to be premiered by Dying Scene and Punk Rock Radar, go here and follow these instructions. You’ll be on your way to previously unimagined levels of fame and fortune in no time.

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Yellowcard in the studio with Travis Barker

Yellowcard just posted a studio update. They are recording a session with Travis Barker. The band was coy about the purpose of the collaboration, simply stating "stay tuned." We'll keep you updated. You can see a snap of the recording below.

Speedial serve up an eclectic cocktail for our inner ‘Tourist’

<p>There’s an array of exciting new sounds coming out of London these days, but perhaps nothing as eclectic as Speedial. The English quartet whip up a stirring cocktail of melodic post-rock, shoegaze, math rock, jazz fusion, and noise-rock, and those elements come together with wings on atmospheric new single “Tourist.” The track dropped Tuesday (March 18), and while the music lurks with a cool and casual confidence, the lyrics flip the script for what co-vocalist Serena Garrod describes as a […]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://vanyaland.com/2025/03/19/speedial-serve-up-an-eclectic-cocktail-for-our-inner-tourist/">Speedial serve up an eclectic cocktail for our inner ‘Tourist’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://vanyaland.com">Vanyaland</a>.</p>

This Show Is Tonight: Quicksand make us feel young again in Boston

<p>Back in the fall we were bummed to see that the Refused farewell tour itinerary, for whatever reason, did not have a Boston show. Part of the sadness was not being able to send off the Swedish post-hardcore legends’ in proper New England style, but also because it robbed us a chance to once again see Quicksand, who were opening up the entire tour. But fear not, as the New York City post-hardcore crew have sprinkled in their own headline dates […]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://vanyaland.com/2025/03/19/this-show-is-tonight-quicksand-make-us-feel-young-again-in-boston/">This Show Is Tonight: Quicksand make us feel young again in Boston</a> appeared first on <a href="https://vanyaland.com">Vanyaland</a>.</p>

Deerhoof release new single via Craigslist

Deerhoof have released a new single. It's called "Immigrant Songs" and they posted news about it on Craigslist. You can see the Craigslist post right here.

Jesus Lizard add more tour dates

Jesus Lizard have a busy May and June and have added even more shows. They'll be all over USA and Europe and even have some Japanese dates lineup. You can see the band's touring schedule through the fall below.

Datura release new song

Northwest post-punk trio Datura have released a new video for their latest single, "Tired". The song is off their upcoming sophomore full-length album, Songs From A Dark House. That's out April 18th via Sell The Heart Records (U.S.), Engineer Records (U.K.) and Bat-Cave Productions (Poland). The album is the follow up to their debut full-length album, Arcano Chemical/. You can see the video below.

Melvins release "King of Rome" single

Melvins have released a new single. "King of Rome" is off their upcoming album called Thunderball. that's out April 18 via Ipecac. You can hear the new single below.