May 1 1999 - Next weekend Y.O. will be recording their contributions to a Valley punk comp. They'll also be doing some other recordings, with an outside chance of a new CD being done. In other news, the side project of Dan, Ryan and Andrew, Slumber Party Massacre, jammed last night with new drummer Merle Ward of the Lewinskys.
Apr. 30 1999 - Today is the first Young Offenders show at MRHS in almost a year. Unfortunately, it's in the cafeteria. But a real show is in the works in the area for mid-May. In the meantime, Y.O. jammed on Monday and learned one new song, "Greenwood Girls."
Apr. 23 1999 - Y.O. plays tomorrow at the Pavilion in Halifax. The next show at the Pavilion will be on May 27 with Choke (from Toronto) and X-Large. The band has also been asked to appear on a couple of comps, including an Eric's Trip tribute album. In the meantime, shows are being set up in New Brunswick and Ontario for a prospective tour in early July. Shows tentatively confirmed are in Moncton, NB and St Thomas, ONT.
Apr. 16 1999 - The Children of Paradise, side project of Dan Magnetic and the Egyptian Magician, played their first show tonight. In the meantime the Young Offenders are planning a possible Eastern Canada tour for this summer.
Apr. 9 1999 - Y.O. jammed on Wednesday and learned three new songs: "This One's for the Captain," "I Know How it Feels" and "You Give Mental Illness a Bad Name." The name of "Shower With Me" was changed to "Punk Rock Casualty". A couple of shows in the Valley are in the works; one is almost certain for April 30 at MRHS in Middleton.
Apr. 2 1999 - The Egyptian Magician returned from the hockey tournament in time to play the last half of the set at Punkfest last night. (Brad Radical of the Lewinskys played for the first half, as well as playing the last two shows). It was probably Y.O.'s biggest show ever. The Cape Breton show and the show with Date Rape both went really well. The band played "The Ballad of Nick Verge", "Shower With Me", "Cotton", "Mosh Pit Girl" and "Anthem for an Attitude" all for the first time at the Cape Breton show. The next show was confirmed for Apr. 24th at the Pavilion, with the Lewinskys, the Setbacks, the Stack and Toilet Duck. The Egyptian Magician was recruited into Dan's side project the Children of Paradise with three of the Lewinskys, and that alterna-reggae band plays its first show Apr. 16th at the Pavilion.
Mar. 26 1999 - Brad Radical of the Lewinskys was recruited to play guitar for Y.O.'s next three shows while the Egyptian Magician plays a hockey tournament. The new lineup jammed together for the first time last night and Brad learned enough songs to play a half-hour set. The band plays in Cape Breton tonight, opens for Date Rape in Halifax the day after and plays Punkfest at the Pavilion next Thursday.
Mar. 19 1999 - The date for the Y.O. show at Punkfest is April 1. Other bands playing that night will be Chixdiggit (from Calgary), Useless Solution, By Any Means and ASB. The band jammed Monday morning and learned three new songs: "Anthem for an Attitude", "Shower With Me" and "I Think I'm Going Crazy". The name of "I'm F****d Up On Drugs" was changed to "Cotton." Slumber Party Massacre, a side project of Dan, Ryan and Andrew, jammed for the first time on Sunday night. The Children of Paradise, another one of Dan's side projects, had their first practice with their new lineup on Monday afternoon. That band also includes Adam, Brad and Colin of the Lewinskys; they're looking for a bass player.
Mar. 12 1999 - Young Offenders will be playing Punkfest '99 at the Pavilion sometime in early April. They should also be jamming this weekend. Y.O. should also be appearing on a Thunder Bay-based comp tape in a few months. In other news, Ryan's side project The Middletons are playing the Pavilion tomorrow night.
Mar. 5 1999 - The gig in Cape Breton has been confirmed for March 26th at the Glace Bay Youth Centre. Other bands will be the A-Team, Non Violent, Guilt Trip, Slave 2000 and Latch Key Kids.
Feb. 26 1999 - Y.O. missed the Feb. 20 gig at the Pavilion when Dan's car broke down in Coldbrook on the way there. The show in Cape Breton will probably be on March 26th, while March 27th is the confirmed date for the Pavilion show with Date Rape, the Setbacks and the Lewinskys.
Feb. 19 1999 - Dan Magnetic's long-awaited (ha!) side project the Children of Paradise (aka C.O.P.S.) is beginning to finally take shape and could jam this week. In other news, Dan turns 19 on Thursday.
Feb. 12 1999 - March 27th looks like the probable date of the Pavilion gig with Date Rape. Y.O. practised Sunday and learned another three new songs, "The Ballad of Nick Verge," "I Wanna Piece" and "That Girl." So the band now has at least six new songs that could be on the next album. Expect a few to be on the Feb. 20 set list...Word of mouth has "Drugs" and "Verge" to be the top new originals. More new songs will come later this month, with Dan spending spring break in the Valley.
Feb. 5 1999 - Y.O. weren't allowed to play the Battle of the Bands in Wolfville because they aren't Acadia students. Apparently some Gospel choir won anyway, which indicates the kind of gig it would have been. Y.O. is keeping their name due to lack of a better one, and the fact that most people seem to want them to keep it. A gig with Date Rape at the Pavilion is being planned for March. Y.O. jammed for the first time in a while today and learned two new songs, "I'm F****d Up On Drugs" and "Mosh Pit Girl."
Jan. 29 1999 - Another busy week. The next Pavilion show has been confirmed for Feb. 20th and shows in Wolfville and Cape Breton are in the works. The name situation remains unresolved, and it looks like Young Offenders may remain Young Offenders after all simply because they can't agree on anything else. The band will start jamming the songs for the new CD next week. Tommy Hooligan turns the big 19 on Wednesday, the first Young Offender to reach legal drinking age. Not that it's ever stopped them.
Jan. 22 1999 - A lot has happened in the last week. The Pavilion show on Saturday night was maybe the band's best ever performance. There were virtually no screwups, lots of people came out and Dan even managed to keep his voice the whole night! Things went downhill from there, however. A major blowup between certain band members the next day, combined with a general feeling of discontent that had existed for a while, led to the band's very brief breakup. The crisis blew over, however, and it was eventually decided that the group would stay together, though under a new name (see Name This Band contest on the main page.) Inspired, Dan stayed up all Monday night and wrote almost a whole new album's worth of songs. Expect to hear a few of them at upcoming shows. Meanwhile, the future remains uncertain...check in later for more details.
Jan. 15 1999 - Young Offenders' debut CD "First Offence" was released on December 31 by the Magnetic Record Label...the New Year's Eve Ramones Tribute show at the Pavilion was lots of fun, but stormy weather hurt attendance. The CD's were available there for $10. The show in Kingston on the 9th drew a big crowd and was a lot of fun, though Dan once again lost his voice. The first batch of CD's is already sold out, but it should be back in print tomorrow.
