Spring Fling in Tularosa, New Mexico, is an annual event that brings the best of the best hard rock bands from southern New Mexico. Each year they feature various bands, the bands that have performed at the Fling have come from all parts of New Mexico, El Paso, Texas, and Arizona. 2024 brought 11 bands and a comedian. Every year there is a headliner, this year was El Paso’s premiere hard rock band Pissing Razors. This Spring Fling was put together by Mad Irishman Productions and Kiva Production.
Roscoe and the Booze Hounds
This band is fun, they are a total family member cover band. They have a wide selection of songs they cover from country, southern rock and multiple generations of rock. Their tag line is “We perform original music that another artist has recorded.”
Wade Schoenherr lead guitarist/vocals, Jess Meziere, Background singer, and James Bradburn, drummer. They call themselves a band of hillbilly degenerates, I call them absolutely awesome musicians that will get you up and dance on the dance floor.
Check them out at the following link:
Mighty Demolitious
A band that performs original work and covers, hardcore rock with bold guitar solos and killer lyrics. These guys are all veterans of the music business and know what they want when they get on stage. Mighty Demolitious has been through a lot of changes, but each change has pushed them to be bigger and better. It is always fun to see how they have grown with each performance.
They have been working for months on recording their first album, which should be released later this year. I feel we are all out for a surprise when it gets released. They are very animated and move around the stage keeping you excited to see what they do next. If you're ever in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and hear that Mighty Demolilious is performing, my recommendation is to stop and hear them.
You can find them at the following links:
Go Axe Alice
Go Axe Alice, now with a name like that I bet you can figure out that their story is just as crazy as Alice in Wonderland. You would be right; every band goes through changes, has obstacles and stumbles along the way. Go Axe Alice recorded their first album with production help of John Moyer from Disturbed. Within months tragedy struck their lead guitarist, and the music writer passed away of a heart attack, Tom Fisher was the heart of the band. A frantic search went out to find a new guitarist. Enter Randy Burns, guitarist and sound engineer. Then they brought in Shawn Ward as the new bassist. You hear them today and you would not know all the heartache, sweat, and tears that had ever happened. In July this year they are going to be heading to the famous Whiskey a Go-Go in LA with two other bands that performed during the Spring Fling, Burning Sunday and Invictus.
This band has overcome so much and still come back stronger. Emily Dequina, lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist, and Scott Edwards, drummer, the original members of the band are so proud to be part of a new era of hard rock music that is growing out of southern New Mexico.
To find Go Axe Alice at these following links:
Flat Blak
These guys are from las Cruces, New Mexico. Their lead vocalist Travis James Manning has multiple bands under his belt and depending on what kind of music you are interested in you will find him singing. Flat Blak is a cover band with a twist, they like to do mash ups of many different songs. They pull this off with such smooth transitions that sometimes you don't ever realize they have switched to another song.
Manning is a talented singer and song writer; he has such command of words. Linking up with Scott Brocato, bassist and Rob Allen, drummer, both superior musicians the band does tributes of the following groups Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, INXS, Black Sabbath, Chicago, The Doors, STP, Sound Garden, ZZ Top.
Find Flat Blak here:
Hector C Experiment
Hector, a master at anything he touches, put this group of musicians together and came to the Fling to jam, this talented group of guys cranked out song after song, many of them were instrumentals with precision blending of sounds. Hector says during the performance “His instrument sings for him.”
This group is new and fresh, and we all hope to hear more from them in the future. There are no words that can explain them, you have to hear them play. Members of the band are Panthera Onca (Hector), Tury Saldana, Sergio Becerra and Kevin Armstrong.
Cruces Cult
Cruces Cult is a hardcore thrash metal band out of Las Cruces, New Mexico. They are the leaders of headbanging, body-slamming riffs that keep you on your feet. This band's first EP was released October 18, 2018, Santa Muerte EP, with songs like “Machines of Meat,” “Relentless,” and “Santa Muerte.”
Let's hope we hear more from Cruces Cult as they embark on a comeback tour this summer, we will keep our eyes open to hear about their next performance as they're one you simply cannot miss out on.
Follow Cruces Cult with this link:
Invictus Unconquerable
Invictus Unconquerable, a punk and metal mix, the band is full of veterans of the music business but have only been together less than a year. From the moment I heard them at their first gig this band had a way of magnetically drawing you in, the pristine music mix was so strong. These are the reasons this band of strong veterans is going to LA in July.
Invictus have set up a new bar for any new band coming up in the future. I cannot wait for them to produce their first album.
In the meantime, you can follow them at this links:
Aggressor
Aggressor, a mountain dirt metal band formed by three brothers, have been together so long they have their own venue to perform in which they built when they were kids. Hardcore metal blares from the speakers as Michael Williams the drummer and vocalist pound out each song with the ease of a Sunday afternoon stroll. Jason Williams the bassist, long hair flying in the air as he picks at his neon green strings, and Shawn Williams the guitarist true and steady, a pure master of the guitar. You can tell these guys have been playing together for years, they have as much energy as their sons have in their own band.
Their first album “Skull Burner” was released in 2000 followed by “Skull Crusher” in 2016. Their third album, “Skull Thrasher,” singles have been slowly released since 2018. They continue to crank out hit songs with ever increasing force. They are the classic true hair band that will live on together holding the heavy metal rock scene together for Southern New Mexico.
Look these guys up at the following links:
Burning Sunday
Burning Sunday, the heart and soul of Spring Fling. If it wasn't for the hard work and dedication of these four guys, this festival would be nothing. For 16 years they have tirelessly put their lives on hold to make this happen. Once again, they have pulled off a great event. I have spoken about these guys in the past so I will not go into a lot of detail. Bart Man lead singer, song writer, organizer, and owner of Mad Irishman Productions does all this for the people of Southern New Mexico. I could write an article all day about him, but he is the first to say none of this work would happen without his team.
They are in the preparation of producing their next album in between a busy schedule this spring but they are saying after July they are taking the time to complete their album before its time for Harvest Fest in the fall.
If you want to know what these guys sound like go to these links:
The Ruin
The Ruin is a band known for their apocalyptic style from Tucson, Arizona. This was the second time we have seen them at one of the festivals in New Mexico. The Ruin used to be Sorrow Ruin, they changed their name because the band had added some members, and some left over time, so it was time for a change.
The band has been together since 2014, donning apocalyptic armor, they would hit the stage playing heavy metal beats. In their transition they have stripped off the armor and taken on a more serious look, the band is still the same, hardcore metal streaming out of the speakers.
Their music can be found here:
Pissing Razors
Pissing Razors an American groove band from El Paso, Texas, celebrating their 30 years as a band. This is the second time I have reviewed this band so I will not bore you with the details. They were once again amazing at Spring Fling, working the crowd as always, connecting instantly as they hit the stage.
I was prepared to do a sit-down video interview with the band, we worked hard to get them all together but as the night went on it was easier to grab a couple to sit down and talk. We met in a little rustic building, sitting at the kitchen table I had a conversation with Geo Gomez, bass player and Joe Rodriguez, vocalist. But due to technical issues the most laidback awesome interview was lost. So, I will recount the things I remember. So much for modern technology and our advancements.
Gomez has been with the band for 28 years; he was a great encyclopedia of information for the band. Rodriquez has been with the band for 10 years. I asked them how the band had changed over the years, Gomez explained that from the beginning until 2014 the band experimented with different styles and toured with some great bands like Pro-Pain, Exodus, Skinlab, Stuck Mojo, Snot. In1997 when they were introduced to Andy Sneap from FAD/Noice Records the band got more serious and developed their current style. They did a European tour and that lined them up to perform with System of the Down, Fear Factory, Static X and from that point it was all going smoothly, and they were being recognized.
I have heard many road trip stories, so I asked them if they had a funny road trip story. While touring in Texas they pulled their RV into a town ready to perform, but they were extremely early, so while going through the town they saw this bar, so they parked the RV and went in to grab a few drinks. When they left to head to the venue they were performing at that night, a car was blocking their RV in, after looking the situation over the guys in the band grabbed each corner of the car and bounced the car out of the way, slowly moving it out of the way. So, they made it to the venue just in time to hit the stage. They are still trying to figure out why the car alarm didn't go off while they were moving the car. These guys are so fun to talk to we could have spent hours talking. I cannot wait to see them again. Thank you to Terri Marquez, Manager of Pissing Razor.
You can find Pissing Razors at the following links:
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