The 2012 Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival takes place June 28-30, 2012 at Gabe's in Iowa City, IA. This live music event features 25 garage/rock-n-roll bands over three nights. A three-night pass can be had for the paltry sum of $25. Tickets will also be available for individual shows for $10. Doors open at 5pm each night, with music beginning at 6pm. Ticketing information and links to bands can be found at www.firecracker500festival.com and www.icgabes.com . Please email Joe Derderian at Fuzzbudget Booking ( walknthdog@gmail.com ) or Doug Roberson at Gabe's ( bscepter@mchsi.com ) with questions or interview requests.

A BRIEF HISTORY!

Started in 1997 by Doug Roberson, talent buyer for Iowa City's original Gabe's Oasis (R.I.P.) since 1986, over 300 people turned out for the original one-night affair, which featured headliner Southern Culture On the Skids (Chapel Hill, NC), as well as regional and local stalwarts The Exotics (Milwaukee, WI), The Delstars (Des Moines, IA), and The Bent Scepters (IC).

The 1998 Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival hosted US garage rock legends The Fleshtones (Queens, NY), with support from Los Straitjackets (Nashville, TN), The Swingin' Neckbreakers (Trenton, NJ), Subsonics (Atlanta, GA), The Bent Scepters , and The Delstars , among others. As an added bonus, St. Louis’ “live” music machine Beatle Bob was brought in to MC the night’s festivities.

In 1999, The Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival was expanded to four nights , and included Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys (Anaheim, CA), New Duncan Imperials (Chicago, IL), Bob Log III (Tucson, AZ), The Horrors (Cedar Rapids, IA), Trolley (Milwaukee, WI), The Bent Scepters , The Delstars , and, headlining the final night to a sellout crowd, ex- Pixies frontman, Frank Black (Boston, MA).

Then, in 2000, things just didn’t get on track. For many sordid reasons, the Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival lay dormant. Until…

Sometime in 2004 (or was it 2005? No one really remembers anymore), Joe Derderian, Roberson’s friend and fellow garage rock aficionado, began nagging him to bring back the Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival. In 2010, idle musings between the two became more insistent, and ‘Robe’, realized his compatriot was serious. Or maybe he just tired of the nagging. Either way, the result was the same! A proposition was put forth, a plan hatched, a scheme schemed, and complementary powers of know-who, booking, experience, and organization came together! In 2011, the Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival once again rose to prominence in the Iowa City, IA music scene! Continuing this successful rise from the grave, the 2012 Firecracker 500 Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever!

THE AMAZING 2012 LINEUP!

IC’s The Boxknifes [sic] once again kick off this year’s three-night Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival on Thursday June 28th with their raunchy, primal, fuzz-driven rock, and The ILLS follow suit with their sick, snotty punk! The Hexbreakers take control with a decidedly 60's garage flair, and Cop Bar deftly wrestle it away with their own brand of punk-metal law enforcement! Next, the guitar-driven, angular punk skronk of Dead In Bed will have you headed to the ether, Apache Dropout (Bloomington, IN) bring their primitive, lysergic boogie, and IC's Supersonic Piss throw down with heady intensity! But it's all just to rev up for the dark, reverb-drench of HotChaCha (Cleveland, OH)... a nd that’s just the beginning, folks!

The night of Friday June 29th sees the heavy, solid-rockin' Slut River kick things off, setting the stage for the slop-n-pop of
The Dads (Omaha, NE)! William Stull (Memphis, TN) joins the onslaught, with more take-no-prisoners rock-n-roll, followed by the nasty punk-n-roll of The ViGNETTES (Memphis, TN)! The driven, high-octane 60's garage-style of Outer Minds (Chicago, IL) will grab you so gently, and then the gothic haunt of HenryEtta won't let you go! Bongrider warps the subsonic 'Sabbath spectrum to expand your mind, paving the way for the hard, gasoline-soaked, gritty blues of IC’s legendary Liberty Leg , and the hypnotic, goth noise of TV Ghost (Lafayette, IN)! This is certain to be a night to remember!

Opening Saturday June 30th is the hard-rockin', female-led, punk-pop sensation, Lipstick Homicide ! The syrupy, sincere, and flat-out remarkable bubblegum of Midwest Beat (Madison, WI) follows, prepping for the organ and Television-infused psych of Outer Spacist (Columbus, OH)! Locals-via-Memphis, We Shave , are next, cohesively layering organs, synths, and drum machines, and the must-be-seen-to-be-believed The Hussy (Madison, WI) will follow! Then.. it's the long-rumored return of IC’s golden, garage rock gods, The Bent Scepters ! Featuring local legend (and IC-area talent buyer for 26 years running) Doug Roberson on guitar, and his brother Dan on vocals! Don’t miss this increasingly-rare appearance! Nightmare Boyzzz (Muscle Shoals, AL), while relatively unknown in the Midwest, are guaranteed to get your mojo workin' or shred your feet tryin'! Saturday's headliner, the truly legendary Jack Oblivian (Memphis, TN) provides the biggest fireworks of the night, and- we suspect- the first sellout of an individual Firecracker 500 Festival night! Be sure to get your tickets early!

You can believe it- The 2012 Firecracker 500 Garage Rock-N-Roll Festival is one blowout you do not want to miss!