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Day at the Fair are a pop punk band from Jefferson, New Jersey. They were signed to Rushmore Records.
HistoryEmerging from the remnants of the two now defunct bands Lanemeyer and Humble Beginnings, Day at the Fair started as a half-electric, half-acoustic recording project. Former Drive-Thru Records employee and
During the two and a half year recording process, Chris commuted back and forth between California and New Jersey (a subject matter that later appeared in several songs of his, including the single "Eastern Homes and Western Hearts"), until finally settling for the east coast. A Day at the Fair was now able to go on tour full-time.
On the Canadian Warped Tour, A Day at the Fair caught the attention of the chairman of Springman Records, who signed them right away. Simultaneously, the band dropped the "A" in their name, Mike left and Frank was replaced by Stephen Weir. Their second CD The Prelude EP was released in March 2004.
Joined by Todd Maisano, they became the third band to be signed by Rushmore Records later that year, given Chris' earlier connections with Drive-Thru Records. After contributing a track to the Drive-Thru/Rushmore Christmas compilation Happy Holidays from Drive-Thru Records, the band released their third album The Rocking Chair Years in May 2005.
While on tour with Allister and Fenix*TX in November 2005, Maisano left the band in order to continue his studies of Graphic Design and working towards earning his degree. His replacement, Gary Bender, was announced on January 6, 2006 on the band's MySpace profile.
A month later, the band announced the end of Day at the Fair as they had been known, with member changes and the promise of a new focus on the more melodic side of their music, as demonstrated in tracks such as "Here Lies Our Holiday" (as featured on Happy Holidays from Drive-Thru Records) or "Monday Morning" (from The Rocking Chair Years)
. They soon began writing and recording an acoustic EP.
On February 17, 2006 Day at the Fair announced what Barker describes as "not a break up, not a hiatus, just a big change..." in reference to the departure of Gary Bender, Rob Heiner and Steve Weir.
In March 2006, The new lineup of the band embarked on what would be their last tour, with Kevin Sant'angelo replacing Gary Bender on bass, Mike "Monkey" Cipriano replacing Steve Weir on drums and Heiner rejoining for the last 4 shows of the tour. They dropped off the last 2 weeks of that tour and played their last show at Maxwells in Hoboken,NJ in June 2006.
As of July 2, 2006, the band's website no longer functions, and their purevolume page has a message from Barker stating that the band is, for all intents and purposes, no more. However, he hints at forthcoming projects that are in the works.
Upon recent inspection of the band's Myspace profile, it appears that they have started playing local shows as Day At The Fair again. The reason for this as quoted by Barker is "Not a comeback, But more like a grave you visit to bring flowers." Since the band's "final" shows in Netcong and Hoboken, they have played a few dates every year (in Northern New Jersey, until this year's show in Philadelphia). They have covered Lanemeyer songs and taken requests at these shows as a thank you to long time fans.
One project that was started is Further North. Featuring Chris Barker on vocals and guitar, Steve Jaworski on guitar and vocals, Kevin Sant'Angelo on bass and Mike "monkey" Cipriano on drums. This NJPP supergroup is Jettison and Day at the Fair COMBINED. They have released songs for download on their Myspace page. The band has recently announced they are together full force and will be playing their first official show sometime in December 2009.
Discography- No Lights On Weldon (2003)
- The Prelude EP (2004)
- The Rocking Chair Years (2005)
Members- Chris Barker – vocals, guitar
- Rob Heiner – vocals, guitar
- Todd Maisano – bass
- Steve Weir – drums
Former Members- Andrew Bowman Spratt
- Frank Abbruzzo
- Mike Carrol
- Gary Bender
- Kevin Sant'Angelo
- Mike "monkey" Cipriano
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Bif Naked
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Photo by: eventbuero.com
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