On Saturday, November 21st a band that we are all very excited to have at Otto’s is coming. That band is MINUS THE BEAR! If you have never seen Minus the Bear before please do yourself a favor and come to this show, you won’t regret it! Minus the Bear release Acoustic’s last year and I don’t know about you but I still listen to this record weekly if not daily! Defiantly don’t miss your opportunity to check out Minus the Bear on Saturday, November 21st at Otto’s Nightclub, show starts at 9PM, tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.

Check out this video for ‘Pachuca Sunrise’ from their album ‘Menos El Oso’

On Thursday, August 19th, Allen Shellenberger, drummer for the band lit, lost his lengthy battle with brain cancer at the age of 39. His last show was a tribute benefit for health care in July where he courageously played six songs before relinquishing drum duties to Adrian Young of No Doubt as a friendly gesture to a fellow Orange County band member and friend. Schellenberger and his band mates are responsible for some of the biggest songs in the late nineties that weren’t Nu-metal or boy band pop. Hits like “My Own Worst Enemy” and “Zip-Lock” were staples on alternative-radio and heavy on MTV rotation (They still kind of played music then). They were even joined in video by the star of the smash hit television program VIP, Pamela Anderson, for the song ‘Miserable”. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge their accolades and think about how many times you have heard one of their songs in a preview for a zany bro-comedy about boobs.

Kickstand Productions is happy to announce that Bayside will be playing on Oct. 16th @ Chubby Rain’s House of Tunes in Poplar Grove IL. This will be the first time this Long Island, NY four-piece has graced the “Rain-Stage’ and will be a show not to miss. Hot off their stay on the Hurley Stage at the 2009 Warped Tour, the band is running on all cylinders and ready to amaze. Their newly recorded cover of “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston for the Fearless Records compilation Punk Goes Pop 2 shows that this band continues to evolve and please the ears. We here at Kickstand have decided to give away 2 tickets to the 5th and 10th people that sign up for the ol’ kickstand Twitter feed. Go to http://www.twitter.com/kickstandshows to get on board this thing because we can’t stop, we won’t stop.

The word influential is a moniker given to many bands, but not many are as worthy as the gosh darn Meat Puppets. This 3-piece by way of Phoenix will be playing their brand of uncompromising music on Wednesday, November 11th @ Otto’s Nightclub in the heart of downtown DeKalb. Having started out as a hardcore punk band that eventually grew to a psychedelic approach of alternative-rock that meandered into country, The Meat Puppets have done it all, seen it all, and touched many in their 20 years as a band. The Brothers’ Kirkwood were even an influence on Nirvana and were invited by Kurt Cobain to perform with the band on the taping of MTV’s Unplugged series. This concert included three songs from the Puppets’ catalogue and helped to thrust the band into the national attention of music listeners. This November 11th show @ Otto’s will start at 8 PM with outstanding Chicago rockers Geronimo! to take stage first. For more details check out the show listing on the Kickstand calendar or check us out on twitter at twitter.com/kickstandshows.

Kickstand Productions is proud to bring Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit to the House Cafe on Saturday, September 26th! Isbell started his music career in the famed band The Drive By Truckers, and now as a solo artists he just released his debut “Sirens of the Ditch” earlier this year. Everyone should defiantly come check Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit on Saturday, September 26th. For more details check out the show listing on the Kickstand calendar.

Is it me or can Craig Owens not get enough of Dekalb! Craig Owens, lead singer of Chiodos, will be making a solo appearance on Saturday, September 12th at The House Cafe. Here at Kickstand Productions we are glad to welcome him back, we have had Chiodos play at The House quiet a few times and we can’t wait to have Owens’ solo debut now. Owens will be releasing his debut record on Equal Vision Records later this year, so keep an eye out for that and if you want to be the first to hear some of the new tunes go to yourticketstand.com right now to pre-order your tickets! Or if you feel lucky if you are the 3rd or 9th person to follow Kickstand Productions on Twitter you will win a free ticket (twitter.com/kickstandshows).

What is Captured! By Robots, you say??? Captured! by Robots is a touring musical comedy troupe with only one human member. It is part-concert and part-performance act, made up of three robots, two stuffed apes, three “headless hornsmen” playing backup brass, and their human, “JBOT”. I know this sounds completely strange and unusual, and it is! Check out this video from a previous concert of theirs, this is something that you cannot miss! Captured! By Robots will be playing live at Otto’s Nightclub on Wednesday October 20th w/ The Super 8 Bit Bros, ‘Richardson’ Richardson and Egon’s Unicat!

The Fall of Troy will be making their triumphant return to The House Cafe on Wednesday October 28th! The Fall of Troy will be fresh off a run with Thursday and a new release dubbed “In The Unlikely Event”. Here at Kickstand we are so excited to have these three dudes back, they always bring an amazing live show and never disappoint! We have decided to give away 2 tickets for Fall of Troy right now to the 5th and 10th people who begin to follow us on twitter, go to http://www.twitter.com/kickstandshows!

Tim Kasher of Omaha-stalwarts, Cursive, performs an acoustic set outside Ottos in the DeKalb.

We are pleased to announce that THRICE will be playing at Chubby Rain House Of Tunes in, lovely, Poplar Grove, IL on Tues. Nov. 17th with The Dear Hunter and Polar Bear Club. Tickets go on-sale on Thurs. Aug. 20th at 1pm. However, you can win tickets to the show FOR FREE right now! Fuh realz! Follow us no Twitter right now and the 5th and 10th person to do so will win a free ticket, go to http://twitter.com/kickstandshows!