Ranges Ascensionist Tour Update 3: Syracuse, Columbus, St Louis

Ranges FOAM St Louis
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Apologies for the lack of images. I’ll update this post with photos when I get wifi access.

Tour Day 11: Monday 9 October

Spark Contemporary Art Space, Syracuse, New York

w/ Man Mountain, Against The Giants, Machine Moon, How To Disappear Completely

The drive from Vermont to Syracuse is incredible. I lived in Maine for a few months earlier in the year, and it feels good to be back in beautiful New England. Upstate New York is aglow with autumnal hues. We drove through winding country roads, past glassy ponds, and through misty groves of vibrant deciduous trees. Joey put on Young and Courageous, the Tides of Man record. It seems like the perfect soundtrack for this beautiful drive. Joey and I get watery-eyed. It’s crazy how closely attached we feel to the guys in that band, considering that we’ve only known each other for four days.

I was up into the early hours of the morning hanging out with some of the musicians from dunk! in the Junius hotel room, so wasn’t feeling too crash-hot due to limited sleep.

We arrived in Syracuse and unloaded the gear into the venue – an art gallery similar to the one we played in Minot, although this one was bare.

I asked CJ what he was thinking, going from playing the biggest show of his career to the smallest. He sad he was happy for it because the pressure from dunk had been lifted off his shoulders.

We walked to a nearby pizza joint a few blocks away. It was chaos. We had to order from one place and pay at another. The staff didn’t even seem to know what was going on. I sat down with my laptop to sort through photos I’d taken at dunk!

After pizza we walked back to the venue, and I realised that my wallet was absent from my back pocket where it usually lives. I searched my bag thoroughly, emptied out my pockets and asked the guys if they’d seen it.

After turning my bag inside out a few times, and retracing my steps and searching the pizza joint, I came to the conclusion that my wallet was stolen. I spent the next hour sat in the van ringing banks to cancel my cards and trying to do some damage control for when whoever had my wallet was trying to get access to things with it.

I can’t comment on the bands that night. I was too absorbed in my own little world and took some time out in the van. Not a good day for me.

Tour Day 12: Tuesday 10 October

Spacebar, Columbus, Ohio

w/ Man Mountain, Deprecator

Thankfully I still had my passport on me, and was able to withdraw the rest of the balance from my American bank account. It wasn’t much, but it should last me the rest of my time here if I’m not stupid.

Local band Deprecator played a fun set of thrash metal, with some Slayer thrown in for good measure. It was a refreshing change from the music I’ve listened to over the past few weeks.

The End Of The Ocean live in Ohio, so we met up with some of the band at the show. The bar had ginger beer – my personal favourite – so I bought a round.Then Tara from TEOTO bought a few shots, then I had a few more beers on the band tab. Before I knew it I was buzzing.

Ranges did their usual thang. You’d think that after seeing them play the same stuff for 11 nights I’d be sick of it, but I still love watching them play. I’ve seen them enough now that I’m confident I could step in for Mark on drums if he should go Spinal Tap on us and spontaneously combust or fall off a stage.

Man Mountain were great. I posted a status on twitter: “Man Mountain: 100% bearded, 100% awesome”. I still stand by that drunken statement. It was lots of fun dancing along to their music. They have a foot pedal that sets off flood lights during their heavier passages of music. It’s simple, but adds so much to the experience.

After the show we headed down the street for a few more drinks at the bar Tara works at, and some pizza from a connected pizzeria. I covered my slice in unicorn sauce. I couldn’t tell you what it is, but it tasted amazing.

A homeless guy asked Mike from Man Mountain if he was from ZZ Top, clearly because of his impressive beard. Mike played along completely straight-faced. I just lost it.

Fun times!

Tour Day 13: Wednesday 11 October

Foam, St Louis, Missouri

w/ Man Mountain, Staghorn, CaveofswordS

One thing I adore about this scene is the DIY mentality. Ranges print their own merch and record their own music. Mark built his own snare drum. Jared made coffee cups to go with the deluxe edition of their album.

We met another band in St Louis with a similar mindset: Staghorn. Staghorn also has a printing press, so do their own t-shirts and even screen printed some posters for the show as souvenirs for us. On top of that, they even make their own amps!

Their set revolved around a dystopian comic that the band had written, with the narrative coming through the PA on a back track. I’m a sucker for spoken word samples in post-rock, and I also subscribe completely to dystopian texts, so this was the best of both worlds.

As well as drawing me in to the music, the band looked amazing. Their own custom amps look unlike most I’ve seen. They also had two lights that included salt lamps and spotlights. Allan on guitar had a balaclava/turban wrap around his face and head, adding to the sci-fi imagery. And they had a harmonium – like a piano with bellows – which was new to me, and great to watch.

Man Mountain, as usual, killed it. Those dudes are super talented and I wish them all the success they deserve.

CaveofswordS ended the night with their unique electro/darkwave/synthpop. It was quite the set up, with plenty of synths and modulators and things with buttons that I couldn’t name. The music was fun and depressing at the same time.

After the show most of the people in bands hung around outside. It was our last night with Man Mountain, and sad to see them go. Jacob the drummer and I bonded over an intense love for Into It. Over It. Bryan the guitarist told me about how he got into post-rock by listening to Lowercase Noises, which prompted him to experiment with his own ambient sounds, and later join Man Mountain.

I’m not sure exactly what time we left the venue, but apparently about ten minutes later there was a shootout right outside where we had been, resulting in a police officer being shot!

Words and photos by Joseph James

Ranges Tour Blog: One Day To Go!

Ranges The Asencionist Tour
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I can hardly believe it.

I am about to embark on a tour with a band that will take me across America and back.

The band in question is Montana’s Ranges. Just last week they released their new album, The Ascensionist. In just over a week we will be at the inaugural dunk!USA festival in Burlington, Vermont.

I’ve heard the lads practicing together, but this is the first night I will see them actually perform a set. The Ascensionist is a culmination of everything the band has become, a homage to previous albums, yet fresh in its own right. I see the band at the height of their career to date, both artistically and musically. It’s a privilege to be able to see them at this exciting time.

We’re driving a mini van with trailer in tow. There are six of us: CJ (guitar) is like the dad – he is the voice of reason and will be driving for most of the tour. Joey plays guitar as well. He’s crazy and has a short attention span, but is incredibly likable. Mark is the drummer. He’s the oldest of the group, a veteran of music. His accent is different to the others, being from New York, and he has some great stories. Jared plays bass. He has a master’s degree in ceramics. He’s the one I’ve spent least time with, but no doubt I’ll know him well after spending 2 weeks in a van with him.

Wilson is tagging along too. He’s CJ’s business partner, helping to run their printing company A Thousand Arms. He’s in charge of photography and visual wizardry. He was actually an original member of the band, so it’s nice to have him along.

And then there’s me. I’ll be keeping a tour blog, taking photos, selling t-shirts, driving the van, helping to set up for the shows… in short, I’m the roadie. I’m the youngest, and I’m foreign, so most of jokes are made at my expense (mostly Hobbit references for the time being)

I helped the guys with prep last night. CJ and I combined forces to create a loft in the back of the van – a bunk that we can sleep on with room for storage underneath. We’ve been printing merch like mad as well – for both the tour and dunk!fest.

Tomorrow, the first leg of the tour, will bring us to Minot, North Dakota. I’ve been travelling around America for months now, having left my home in New Zealand in June. But America is a biiiig place, so despite visiting many different cities, I haven’t even scratched the surface. I’m hyped to see more of this amazing country, and meet locals along the way.

Ranges – The Ascensionist Tour and dunk!fest 2017

Ranges - The Ascensionist banner
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This is exciting.

I’ve been running Will Not Fade for just over three years now. I cover a variety of music, but the reality is that I’m mostly known for my post-rock content. I never planned on becoming pigeon-holed like that, but it is what it is, and it has helped me form connections within the international post-rock community.

As some readers may know, I left my hometown of Wellington, New Zealand in June, and have been travelling around the USA since. I met up with Jesse from Glacier in Boston, Matt and Joe from Aviation and the War in Chicago, and now I’m staying with CJ from Ranges in Bozeman, Montana.

I feel that talking about this is on par with discussing interconnections and unity and one love and a bunch of hippy nonsense. Why don’t we all reflect on how we are vessels of creativity? But joking aside – it truly is special that I’ve managed to befriend people from around the world based on a mutual love of music.

CJ reached out to me via Twitter a few years ago asking me to review Ranges latest release. Soon after I offered him the chance to become a contributor to Will Not Fade. I’ve reviewed some of his band’s releases, and offered advice when his company A Thousand Arms released some compilations [Open Language, Hemispheres]. And now I’m staying at his house, attending his album release show, and will be accompanying his band on tour at the end of the month.


The latest Ranges album is The Ascensionist. It’s a progression from the band’s earlier works, with each song referencing a former album.

Here’s the marketing spiel:

Pre-orders for Ranges‘ new album ‘The Ascensionist’ are now available through A Thousand Arms (US) and dunk!records (EU).  This release is split into two variants with A Thousand arms carrying the 180g Milky Clear with Bone A Side/B Side variant and dunk!records carrying the 180g Bone with Orange Crush A Side/B Side variant.  Both variants come in upgraded reverse board gatefold packaging that includes a hand-numbered eight page screen-printed booklet with custom sewn binding.  Cover paper handmade by RANGES using recycled cotton and native plants from the Bridger mountainrange near Bozeman, Montana.  Also included in every vinyl order is an individually stained felt slipmat with a two color water-based screen-print.  Digital download included. 

In true A Thousand Arms style, the guys have gone waaaaay over the top. Most bands record an album, pay someone to mix and master it, and maybe order some tshirts to sell as well.

The Ranges guys:

  • Record in their own studio
  • Print their own merch
  • Screenprint the boxes they use to post said merch in
  • Printed slipmats to go with the vinyl records.
  • Hand made the very paper that they use to make a booklet that comes with each record
  • Teamed up with a local brewery to brew a beer to coincide with the album release
  • Which you can sip from a limited edition Ranges pint glass
  • Or if beer isn’t your thing, than maybe you’d prefer a special batch of coffee beans roasted to go with the album
  • And you could use one of the ceramic mugs that bassist Jared Gabriel threw to drink said coffee from

So if you haven’t concluded for yourself already: these guys are really into attention to detail aspects. They embody a DIY ethos. And their music rules.

I spent yesterday with the Ranges crew at a listening party at Badger Brewing in Bozeman. It was a great time, hanging out with the families and having pizza and beer (The Ascensionist IPA). They sold a lot of merch and albums, and at this rate they may run out of vinyl records before they get to dunk!festival. A nice worry to have.

As I said before, I’ll be tagging along with Ranges on the road during their upcoming tour. I plan on keeping a tour diary, posting photos, and covering the events at dunk!festival in Burlington, Vermont. You can follow our exploits by keeping an eye on the WNF site during October, and you can also subscribe or follow the WNF Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for updates as well.

Ranges The Ascensionist Tour

Ranges links:

Website: https://www.rangesmusic.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rangesmusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rangesmusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rangesmusic/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJg41ELchEChCEtIRKz4NA

A Thousand Arms: http://www.athousandarms.com/

dunk!festival USA: https://www.dunkfestival.be/usa/#line-up-us

dunk!festival USA Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/984163238356840/