Eskoria

SLATES is honoured to have had the opportunity to play with a band called ESKORIA. Eskoria is held very dear in the hearts of the Cuban rockers and punkies.

Based out of Santa Clara, Eskoria is one of the original punk rock bands of Cuba. The band is fronted by William Fabian who is regarded as the godfather of the Cuban punk scene.

The show in Santa Clara really set the tone for our tour in Cuba. The energy at the show reminded us of the all ages punk shows of our youth. Eskoria’s performance was incredible. A Cuban slam broke out at the onset of the show and Eskoria delivered a powerful cover of “Anarchy in the UK”.

After SLATES played William Fabian was very emotional and moved by our music. He told us he never thought in his lifetime he would ever get to experience a foreign band playing the real punk in his hometown. He said we had made his dream come true.

He kept repeating to me and James “Fuck you mang! Fuck you mang!” which as his wife explained he thought the F-bomb is a good word and was trying to tell us how awesome our band was.

On our way to the airport, we stopped at the park in Santa Clara to say goodbye to some friends and present William Fabian a copy of the SLATES lp.

Eskoria played a concert in Santa Clara 4 days later. After the concert, William Fabian was killed outside the venue as he tried to stop a fight.

Our hearts go out William Fabian’s family, Eskoria, Santa Clara, and our friends in Cuba.

Tomorrow would have been William Fabian’s birthday.
Tonite…SLATES, Falklands, & Peace Maker are playing in Edmonton.
There is also a concert being held in Santa Clara.
We celebrate the life of William Fabian.
We rock in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Cuba.

Please DOWNLOAD Eskoria’s “Al Fin Por Fin” album here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?inzwzdjczko
(You aren’t going to find this anywhere else)

RIP William Fabian “Fuck Punk!” (Punk as Fuck!)

…We are left confused by what’s been done
One Hundred Fires
Holy Ghosts
Santa Clara lost a son
We never gat the chance to get to know you mang…

Jatibonico, Cuba

On Sunday January 24, 2010 SLATES played a concert in Jatibonico, Cuba.

The venue was an outdoor courtyard area, typical to where we had become accustomed to playing in Cuba. However, this time the largest sugar factory in Latin America was a backdrop to the stage, roaring with industrial noise to compete with:



SLATES handled the situation by doing what we do best…we dimed the solidstate Crate amplifiers we brought down with us and played loud and played from our hearts. Between SLATES & the sugar factory the concert probably had the equivalent decibel level of fighter jets taking off. We gave Jatibonico one hell of a show. They gave us one hell of an audience – holy Cuban slam dance mang!
Here is video footage of the Jatibonico concert in all it’s glory!

Set List:
1. Bankrobber (The Clash)
2. Agua Sucia (Dirty Water)
3. Shut Em Down
4. Setting Sun
5. Boomer Jamz
6. These Things Happen
7. Coffin Shipz
8. Vacant Lot
9. Wasted Light
10. Experimental Jamz
11. Esta Noce (Everyday Is A Holiday)
12. Blitzkrieg Bop (RamoneS)
13. Paranoid (Black Sabbth) – “EH MANG PLAY PARANOID MANG!”
14. Bozon Jamz

EN JOY !

SHOW Friday FEB 26

///SLATES///
THIS FRIDAY Feb 26, 2010

SLATES
Falklands
Eamon McGrath & Peace Maker

@ The Baby Seal Club
10122 81st Ave – Edmonton, AB
(Standalone grey building on the North side of the 81st Ave)

We’re having a night of good times to benefit Solidarity Rock. We will get to see some first bits of photos and video from la adventura. This show is coinciding with a concert held in Santa Clara, Cuba in memory of our friend William Fabian from Eskoria.

http://www.solidarityrock.com/ for additional info

Tattoos by Ollie XXX

Ollie XXX is a tattoo artist based out of Saving Grace Tattoo in Montreal, PQ. Ollie has a very unique neo-traditional style of making a good tattoo.

Back in November Ollie was doing a guest spot at Ink Machine Tattoo in Edmonton. Great opportunity to get a tattoo of the SLATES’ beloved Turbo Jamz shark emblem. Ollie banged out this beauty in an afternoon session …

Check out Ollie’s webpage:
http://goodoldfashiontattoos.com/

And here is a motivational speech brought to you courtesy of our spiritual advisor:

-Eric

Upcoming Shows

Friday Feb 26, 2010

SLATES
Falklands
Peace Maker

@ The Baby Seal Club
10122 81st Ave – Edmonton, AB
(Standalone grey building on the North side of the 81st Ave)

We’re having a night of good times to benefit Solidarity Rock. We will get to see some first bits of photos and video from la adventura. This show is coinciding with a concert held in Santa Clara, Cuba in memory of our William Fabian from Eskoria.

http://www.solidarityrock.com/ for more info

Also…a quick head’s up for the youth

SLATES are very excited to for March 19.
This will be our very first all ager rager.
Details TBA w/ Damages (Vancouver) and Stalwart Sons (Calgary)

*the show is at castle awesome, a local punk house run by some good folks. email castleawesome [at] gmail [dot] com for the address. -js

Maxim Rock

SLATES Rock Solidario Cuba tour included a concert date in La Habana.

We played at this venue called MAXIM ROCK. It was this enormous concrete concert hall complete with a fully-equipped soundsystem and backline, much different than the venues we had played earlier in the tour.

Review of SLATES Maxim Rock concert here:
http://www.maximrock.com/2010/01/26/solidarity-rock/

Maxim Rock stage:

There was an excellent showing of Habana Punkies !

And here is a picture of Eric super-stoked because he got to shred through the amp Sepultura left behind after their recent concert in Havana: