Pump5
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The best kept secret in music

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"NORTHSHORE CRUEFEST 2004"


NORTHSHORE CRUEFEST 2004
Phantasy Club, Cleveland Ohio
Featuring the Billy Morris Band, KariNations, The Erotics, Crash Kelly, Pump5, and Pretty Suicide.



By David Johns
Posted 8/19/04

THURSDAY, August 12

While residents of the Northeast were waxing nostalgic about the 'Great Blackout of 2003', Crue fans from the U.S. and Canada were making their way to Cleveland, Ohio for the fourth annual NorthShore Cruefest event, benefitting the Skylar Neil Memorial Fund. Last year's event was marred by the unexpected inconvenience of said blackout, trimming the live music from 3 nights to 2, however, those in attendance of NorthShore 2003 would say that the only things marred by the blackout were the ability see who you were talking to and the ability to keep the beer cold! So with notepad in hand, I headed for Cleveland anticipating another weekend of great friends and great music. The overwhelming popularity of last year's lineup prompted Cruefest founder Angi Clark to work her magic and return The Erotics and Pretty Suicide to Cleveland for a 2004 encore. Joining the 2004 lineup was Cleveland's own Billy Morris Band, Crash Kelly from Toronto, Canada, KariNations from Boston, Massachusetts, and Pump5 from Upland, California. Motley Crue cover band Allister Fiend were scheduled to close out the festivities on Saturday evening.

I arrived in Cleveland to an overcast and somewhat chilly day, making me second guess my decision to wear cargo shorts and a t-shirt for the flight up. It was Thursday afternoon, seven hours until the first note was to be played. By pure luck, I managed to catch Angi on her cell phone as she was approaching the airport and hitched a ride to the hotel. Now, anybody who has ever worked with musicians knows that Murphy's Law is the ONLY law in effect, and NorthShore Cruefest was to be no exception. During the drive, Angi informed me that the Lovehammers backed out at the last minute, forcing a lineup change that would ripple throughout the weekend. "No big deal," I said, ".. that leaves more time for the other bands to play." KariNations was set to open the show, but by 8:30 they were nowhere to be found. Angi pre warned Pump5 that their Ohio debut was most likely going to get a violent push forward and the guys responded like pros. As Pump5 finished setting up their stage gear, KariNations appeared and were informed that they were now closing the Thursday show.

I like to do a bit of reconnaissance on the bands performing at Cruefest so that I can give a fair and honest review of their recorded music and live show. A week prior to Cruefest, I downloaded several songs from www.pump5.com and began my research. My first listen to Pump5 was brief as I immediately equated the opening chords of "Super Ordinary" with the likes of the cookie cutter "Punk-Pop" currently flooding the corporation-owned airwaves. They say first impressions are lasting ones and that little cliché rang true for my introduction to Pump5. Man was I wrong....


Pump5 opened Thursday's show with the same song that poisoned my journalistic well just a week earlier. By the time they played "Breaking Down", I had completely reversed field and was scribbling down words like 'attitude' and 'punk your mother can enjoy' in my notepad. One song in particular, "Painted Flowers", is as pop-ballad as a song can get when the person singing it has a 6 inch black mohawk. You get the sense that, in the hands of the right producer, you would easily hear this band on mainstream rock radio, although they really belong on XM radio where the REAL music is. To compound the shame of my writing them off so easily in the beginning, they turned out to be a great bunch of guys as well.


- ElectronicBasement.com


"Pump5 Endorse Switch and Drive"

SWITCHMUSIC.COM, Inc. recently signed Pump5's Steve Barnett and Johnny Fortune. The band is currently touring the U.S. and will be back in the studio soon for their next album. Barnett, (lead vocals, guitar) plays the Wild-IV Switch Guitar and soon will be playing Drive amplifiers as well. "The Wild is wild," he enthused. "I love the feel of the whole guitar. The wicked look and hot pickups are me all the way.

- Music Trades Magazine August 2004


"Pump5 hit number 1 on Aii Radio"

An extraordinary band out of Upland, California, USA rockets to the number one on the top 40 charts in record time!!! 2 weeks ago, we didn't even know who Pump5 was. Last week they ENTERED the charts at number 5, which was an astonishing feat in itself, being new to the show. This week, they overwhelmingly took over the first place spot on our top 40 charts held by Micky Spectrum in Essex, Germany. "This is a brilliant band with incredible songs, that will actually grab you and suck you into it. It's something that everyone could like, and absolutely fantastic to listen to" Helen Finch - Station Manager. We would like to congradulate Pump5 for their outstanding musical talents, and expect to see them in the top 40 charts for a long time to come.
www.aiiradio.net - aiiradio.net


Discography

www.myspace.com/pump5
www.pump5.com
www.purevolume.com/pump5
www.cdbaby.com/pump5
www.indie911.com/pump5
www.bandspace.com/pump5

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

So youre probably thinking..."What the heck does Pump5 mean?" Well, the band was up north, and there was a gas station where lots of people travel through daily, from all over the place. One day, someone either left their dog, or didn't realize that it had gotten out while they were fueling up. This dog was so loyal, it didn't move for months. It stayed by that gas pump day and night for months, and when trying to help it, it would only growl and guard that gas pump where his family left him. Steve finally got it to take food from his hands eventually, but still the loyal dog never moved from his spot next to the gas pump. Eventually, Steve and the guys decided to give it a name. Appropriately, they looked at the gas pump it was laying next to, and yes, it was Pump .5. The dog was called Pump5 from that day on. Needless to say, sometime later, the dog finally got hit by passing traffic. But in remembering the loyalty of this dog, never to leave the place where he last saw his family, the band adopted the name Pump5 in memory of one hell of a cool dog. Pump5 is made from four talented musicians, Steve Barnett, Johnny Fortune, Drew Cates, and Andre Bonter, from Southern California. The group has toured many of the states, gaining more and more fans each time they play. With a solid sound that seems to grab you and suck you into it and spit you out again, Pump5 leaves you craving more. The band is hard working, dedicated, and loyal to their fans. If you haven't seen Pump5 live, then you haven't seen pump5 live.