Sparta @ Concord Music Hall

1) Sparta are an alternative rock band which formed in El Paso, Texas in 2001. The band originally consisted of Jim Ward (vocals), Paul Hinojos (guitar) and Tony Hajjar (drums), all former members of At the Drive-In. After a brief stint with Erick Sanger (Schatzi, theStart), the three of them recruited Matt Miller, an El Paso native and then-bassist of Belknap to become the band's permanent bassist. Sparta got a deal with Dreamworks in 2001 and released their debut EP Austere in early 2002. They released their debut full-length album Wiretap Scars on August 13, 2002. The album is mostly influenced by their previous work with At the Drive-In, which is a contrast from The Mars Volta, formed by the other two ex-members of ATD-I, which departs entirely from post-hardcore and instead focuses on progressive rock or psychedelic rock. This album is also a lot cleaner and more accessible than At the Drive-In's experimentation. On May 25, 2003, Ward's cousin Jeremy, the sound manipulator for The Mars Volta, died of a heroin overdose. Hinojos would leave Sparta in 2005 to join TMV as their secondary guitarist and filling in Jeremy Ward's position as sound manipulator. He was replaced by Keeley Davis (Engine Down, Denali). Sparta's second full-length album Porcelain was released July 13, 2004 and peaked at #60 on the Billboard 200. The first single released from the album was "Breaking the Broken," for which a music video was recorded that received much airplay. In January 2006, they announced that they had signed a deal with Hollywood Records, which will release their third album Threes on October 24, 2006. The album peaked at #83 on the Billboard 200. It's the first album with guitarist Keeley Davis and its debut single was "Taking Back Control." In June 2008, Ward stated that Sparta is on hiatus and without a label; he would focus instead on his alternative country band, Sleepercar, which released its debut album West Texas on April 22, 2008. Three years later, on August 3, 2011, Ward stated that Sparta was back in action and would play their first show in November in El Paso. That comeback would be short, as in January 2012, At The Drive-In reunited for a series of shows, splitting up once again at the end of the year. In January 2016, At The Drive-In reunited for the second time. However, days before the tour start in March 2016, it was announced that Ward had been replaced in the band by his former Sparta bandmate Keeley Davis. Sparta would come back for a second time in 2017, with a line-up consisting of Ward, Miller, Gabriel Gonzalez and Cully Symington (Beach Slang, Cursive). They would release their fourth album, Trust the River, on April 10, 2020 on Dine Alone Records. There is another band with the sane name: 2. Sparta were a NWOBHM band from Mansfield. They formed in 1980, and released two singles, plus participated on a five way split album before they split up. Hades Records released a compilation on vinyl in 2006. This compilation contained all their previously released songs, plus a few more.

The Bollweevils were a punk band from Chicago which was active during the 1990s. The members consisted of Daryl Wilson on vocals, Bob Skwerski on bass, Ken Fitzner on guitar, and Brian Czarnik (who played simultaneously in Oblivion) on drums replaced later by Brett Friesen (who played simultaneously in Houseboy). They formed during the Naked Raygun era which was where the band members met and also who they eventually opened for. The group released a number of albums on Dr. Strange Records, though their first, minor releases was on Underdog Records. In the summer of 1993, the band went on a cross-country road tour with the Smoking Popes. Ultimately, the Bollweevils dissipated when Daryl completed medical school and became a doctor. Ken Fitzner (aka Ken Weevil) started a new band The Feds. The Bollweevils reunited for one show in late 2003 for WLUW, the college radio station at Loyola University Chicago, and then again on November 3 and played a show at Double Door and November 5, 2006 for Riot Fest at the Congress Theater, which Naked Raygun headlined. The group says it will play another show if they can get 1000 friends on their MySpace account . In 2007, the group posted on their official website: "The Bollweevils reunion at Riot Fest 2006 wasn’t a one-off deal and we're all super stoked to say that we’re a band again". Ken Weevil is the creator of Fitzner's Law which is a rule of thumb created by Ken Fitzner, guitarist of the Chicago punk rock band The Bollweevils. The law reads as follows: Any song that contains the words "Hey" or "Go" is automatically good! Discography Albums Stick Your Neck Out! (released 1994 on Dr. Strange Records) History of the Bollweevils, Part I (released 1995 on Dr. Strange Records) - compilation of pre-Stick Your Neck Out releases Heavyweight (released 1995 on Dr. Strange Records) Weevillive (released 1996 on Dr. Strange Records) - live album History of the Bollweevils, Part II (released 1999 on Dr. Strange Records) - compilation of post-Stick Your Neck Out releases Minor releases A Deadly Duo (Bollweevils/The Freeze split, released 1996 on Dr. Strange Records) Plan 7" From Outer Space! (Bollweevils/Sleepasaurus split, released 1997 on Motherbox Records) Doc Hopper / Bollweevils split (released 1997)