Last Tuesday, November 16th, VersaEmerge rocked it out in the Highline Ballroom on the Vultures Unite Tour. An article was recently published praising Versa’s energy by Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger for NJ.com:

Half of the crowd was berserk. The other half was bewildered.
At times, Sierra Kusterbeck, VersaEmerge’s lead singer, seemed perturbed by some of the listeners at the Highline Ballroom in New York on Tuesday. Why didn’t they get what she was doing?
She shouldn’t have been surprised. Fifty-fifty is a favorable split for an art-rock band. If VersaEmerge keeps to the haunted path it has been traveling lately, it’s going to have to deal with a few blank stares.
Okay, more than a few.

Half of the crowd was berserk. The other half was bewildered.

At times, Sierra Kusterbeck, VersaEmerge’s lead singer, seemed perturbed by some of the listeners at the Highline Ballroom in New York on Tuesday. Why didn’t they get what she was doing?

She shouldn’t have been surprised. Fifty-fifty is a favorable split for an art-rock band. If VersaEmerge keeps to the haunted path it has been traveling lately, it’s going to have to deal with a few blank stares.
Okay, more than a few.

The Floridian four-piece, which brings its Vultures Unite Tour to South Hackensack tonight, may be nearly unrecognizable to those who saw the band open the Bamboozle festival at the Meadowlands last spring. The personnel hasn’t changed: it’s still Kusterbeck, guitarist and programming mastermind Blake Harnage and bassist Devin Ingelido, supplemented by tour drummer Chris Pollock. “Fixed at Zero,” the band’s debut album, was released by influential pop imprint Fueled By Ramen, but you can take those early Paramore comparisons and toss them in the dumpster. The band no longer sounds like anything else on the label’s roster.

Although it retains a large pop-punk following, VersaEmerge isn’t an act meant to be seen in the afternoon sun, anyway. We’re meant to encounter this group in a dark room of a haunted house with creepy pictures on the wall and a candelabra on the mantelpiece. On Tuesday, Kusterbeck sang about psychic destabilization and the supernatural; Harnage triggered eerie samples between songs.

Then there was the light show. Pink Floyd it wasn’t, but it was still ambitious. The crew worked wonders with two large steel tree sculptures adorned with tiny bulbs, four mirror balls and a few colored gels. During “Up There,” a song about a ghost, Kusterbeck was framed by twisting columns of blue and green light. For “Lost Tree,” the band’s epic (which has a riff that sounds quite a bit like “Wurm” by Yes), the musicians were stained blood-red.

Sometimes the band overreached. The sweet-faced Kusterbeck, who bounced around the stage like a tennis ball on a hard court, is too cheery to make a convincing vulture. She also needs to pace herself better — on “Mind Reader,” the toughest song in a repertoire full of tough songs, she ran out of breath on the last chorus. Her exuberance pulls her out of tune from time to time. But she is only 19 and has grown dramatically in six months. Imagine what a year or two will do.

The rest of the article continues about the other bands featured at the show.

North Carolina Vultures! We got you an early holiday present. We will be playing a special headlining show at Elon University on Dec 3. Here are the Details…
Dec 3, 2010
College street Taphouse

Address: 131 West College Ave – Elon, NC 27244

Tickets: $5 under 21, $3 over/All tickets must be purchased at the door.

Doors: 9:00PM

Concert begins: 10:00PM

KIA MOTORS GOES ON TOUR THIS SUMMER WITH 2010 VANS WARPED TOUR®

Kia Motors Continues Relationship with Punk Rock Music Tour
Soul Lounge features autograph sessions, interactive activities and vehicle displays
Concertgoers who show their enthusiasm for Kia Motors may receive Kia VIP wristbands by participating in Kia-related games

IRVINE, Calif., June 24, 2010 – For the third consecutive summer Kia Motors America (KMA) will head out on tour to more than 40 U.S. cities as “Official Vehicle of the 2010 Vans Warped Tour®.” Hosting on-site events and activities during each tour stop inside the interactive Soul Lounge, fans can check out and obtain information on Kia vehicles, including the personalizable Soul, which was named a 2010 “Top Safety Pick,” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS); the performance-inspired Forte Koup, which recently was selected to “Top 10 Cars For 2010” list by PregunteARicardo.com; and the completely redesigned all-new 2011 Sportage compact CUV, launching in the U.S. market this summer.

“Sponsorship of the 2010 Vans Warped Tour is a natural fit for the Kia brand since the tour reaches the influential youth market,” said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing, KMA. “We are delighted to provide concertgoers with interactive elements like a live DJ, exclusive autograph sessions, VIP wristbands and the opportunity to check out Kia’s latest vehicles, while listening to their favorite bands.”

At each tour stop, festival attendees will have the opportunity to visit the Soul Lounge, an interactive tent featuring a live DJ, airbrush tattoo artists, an Express Your Soul “Confessional” and exclusive daily autograph sessions with two of the biggest names on tour, Hey Monday and Christofer Drew of Never Shout Never. The Soul Lounge also will feature acoustic performances by Hey Monday and Christofer Drew of Never Shout Never in select markets.

Festival participants also may earn Kia VIP wristbands for exclusive access to a dedicated VIP riser near the main stage, providing shade and unobstructed views. To receive a VIP wristband, fans are given an opportunity to show their enthusiasm for the Kia Motors brand by participating in a variety of Kia-related games inside the Soul Lounge.

As in previous years, Kia remains the “Presenting Sponsor” of the Kevin Says Stage, a solar-powered stage that provides local bands the opportunity to play their music for 2010 Vans Warped Tour concertgoers. Kia Motors’ interactive tour blog, “The Warped Word of Steve,” provides fans with behind-the-scenes insights, videos and photos as well as answers to fans’ questions throughout the tour. Steve’s blog can be accessed at fuse.tv/kiawarped. KMA also is offering fans the chance to win a brand new Kia Soul in the “A New Way to Roll” sweepstakes. Fans can enter online and view official rules at fuse.tv/newwaytoroll.

“We are happy to have Kia Motors onboard as ‘Official Vehicle of the 2010 Vans Warped Tour,’” said Kevin Lyman, Vans Warped Tour founder and producer. “We have found concertgoers enjoy visiting the Kia tent for its fun interactive activities.”

Kicking off June 25 in Carson, Calif., the 2010 Vans Warped Tour features more than 150 punk rock bands including current chart-toppers and long-running legends. Select tour dates and destinations of the tour include:

6/25 – Carson, Calif.
6/29 – Phoenix
7/3 – Dallas
7/8 – Cleveland
7/25 – Orlando, Fla
7/26 – Atlanta
7/28 – Cincinnati
7/30 – Detroit
8/7 – Salt Lake City
8/8 – Denver
8/10 – San Diego
8/11 – Pomona, Calif.
For more information on the Vans Warped Tour, including a full list of tour dates, visit vanswarpedtour.com.

About Kia Motors America
Kia Motors America (KMA) is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through 700 dealers throughout the United States. For 2009, KMA recorded its 15th consecutive year of increased U.S. market share. Kia Motors subscribes to a philosophy of building high value, high quality, safe and dynamic vehicles. Kia Motors prides itself on producing vehicles that are exciting and enabling and evoke the Kia tagline “The Power to Surprise.”

Kia Motors America is the “Official Automotive Partner of the NBA.” Information about Kia Motors America and its full vehicle line-up is available at its Web site – www.kia.com. For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com.

New photos of VersaEmerge, on the Warped Tour, in Long Island are now available thanks to photographer Sean Berry. The photos are exclusive to Fueled By Ramen. Check out more at our gallery, Lascivious Stares

Fueled by Ramen posted this video a few days ago of the band performing an acoustic version of Stranger in the FBR Studios. This is one of the many amazing songs from their new album Fixed at Zero. Check it out!

The show will be played this Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at the New Daisy Theatre. For more details and ticket information, please see the show information and tickets.

All Ages Afternoon Hosted by Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes

A lot of the events and parties at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Music & Media Conference in Austin, TX are 21+, but Taco Bell is throwing an all-ages afternoon party at the PureVolume House this year. The event will be hosted by Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes and will feature performances by Frank and Derol, Terrible Things, Stereo Skyline, The Downtown Fiction, Every Avenue, VersaEmerge, He is We, NeverShoutNever and The Cab.

RSVP @ www.purevolume.com/thehouse