MUSIC NEWS - A TRILLION LIVES - ABALIENATION TRIBUTE BAND

 Abalienation helped to open doors for "All Original" bands in this area at a time that local clubs would not book all original bands. They became a staple for the southern tier music scene at its height and they definitely earned this honor.  Make sure you go check this band out! The following Bio was submitted to me by the band A Trillion Lives for your reading pleasure! LOVE THIS!!!!

“A Trillion Lives” Pays Tribute To Legendary Local Punk Band Abalienation

“I was probably 16 years old the first time I saw Abalienation; I think at Charlie’s City Bagels on the Avenue in Endicott. They were a complete assault on the senses. Super fast, super loud. It was awesome.” So says Bijoy Datta, one of four longtime local musicians who have come together to form “A Trillion Lives” for this Friday’s one-night-only tribute to legendary Binghamton punk band Abalienation.

If you’re not familiar with Abalienation, they were the godfathers of the Binghamton punk and hardcore music scene, dominating from the late 1980s through 1998. They combined a blistering attack of punk, metal and hardcore influenced by The Exploited, Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. The band toured the country several times playing with national acts like Fear, Sick of it All, Overkill and White Zombie. They released several tapes (remember those!) as well as the popular local CD, Puke The Truth (which includes the song “A Trillion Lives” from which the tribute band took their name).

Abalienation was founded in 1988 by unmistakable 6’5” twin brothers Mark and Mike Dickinson on guitar and vocals, respectively, with “Big Jim” Hofecker on bass and Louie Short on drums (later incarnations of the band included “Big Jeff”, Matt “Martian” and others on drums).

Mark is still active in the local scene, now better known as Marquis de Blood, frontman/guitarist for horror punk outfit Others. Mike moved to Toronto a decade ago to handle vocals for Murder Squad. Big Jim still lives locally and works as a television producer and director. Louie, Jeff, Matt and the other drummers have scattered locally and in other areas.

A Trillion Lives will feature four musicians who themselves have been well known in the Binghamton scene over the last decade plus. Datta will step away from the drums and guitar that he’s played in bands like Swath, All Immune, a Satellite Crash and …Stick… to don the bass guitar. Kevin Kober, who played bass in Dance-A-Tron, Swath, All Immune, a Satellite Crash and The Martians, will handle vocal duties. After spending the last decade working on the road crews of major national acts like Green Day and Dashboard Confessional, Mike Escott will be on guitar. Many people will remember Mike’s band, 607, and the “A.R.C.” (Airport Road Crew) as a centerpiece of the mid-1990s Binghamton scene. Steve Askew of Dance-A-Tron and All Immune will round out the lineup on drums.

“We’ve been practicing for three solid months and have about 25 songs down note-for-note. Abalienation was such a big influence on us; we’re going to pay tribute to them the right way,” added Datta.

“People have told us they’re coming from Albany, from Pittsburgh, from all over to come back for this. Everybody loved Abalienation. It’s going to be like a punk rock reunion,” joked Kober.

The show will start at 10 PM on Friday, March 25, at Fitzie’s Irish Pub, 9 Main Street, Binghamton. Also on the bill will be Mark Dickinson’s current band, Others, as well as Dance-A-Tron and the debut of Serpentine 27.

For more information, you can search “Abalienation Tribute Band” on Facebook.

For those who still want even more Abalienation, Mark reports that a boxed set called featuring a DVD, two CDs and a t-shirt is in the works. Appropriately enough, it’s slated to be called “You Know It’s A Good Show If You Go Home Bleeding”.

OK... I just HAD to add this for you!!! =)