Win So Many Dynamos' The Loud Wars, "New Bones" 7" and CD Release Show Tickets!

• I don't qualify but I wanted to share my favorite SMD memory. It was the end of a horribly long night following a horribly long day waiting for Ryan's Dad to return from Nebraska with the band after their van accident. Seeing each guy alive and well, although terribly shaken, was a beautiful sight. You don't realize how many risks these musicians take while touring until you almost lose one of your own family members. I couldn't hug Ryan, Aaron, Griffin, or Clayton enough, I was so happy to see them again.

• My favorite SMD memory is finding out that Ryan's mom was my 1st grade teacher in Sun Prairie, WI. Small world :)

• I first saw the group when they played with Maps and Atlases in January two years ago. I have also seen them at nearly every Maps and Atlases show I've been to. They also did a great job with Emperor X...

• my favorite SMD memory was the first time i saw them as "thor axe" before HEALTH. i had no idea they had another project band and they had the best song names, specifically 'the beagle has landed' and 'girth quake'.

• I first saw SMD a couple years back. My friend Mark invited me to the show, then didn't even show up because that's what he does. Say Panther opened, and I thought they were very pleasant. Mind you, I'd never seen SMD or even heard a song by them. So the guys come out and just start destroying the place with synths and all around math rock-ness. I had never heard anything like it before, and I didn't know what to do with it. Although I was just standing still, I realized I was sweating and becoming quite exhausted. The beats and the guys themselves were wearing me out, or so it felt. I left the show not a fan, simply because of how tired I was. Granted, over time I found myself going back to their myspace over and over, listening to them and doing my own spastic little dance moves in my living room. I loved it. Another memory is seeing the bands first "In The Garage" tribute show. I've never been one for cover bands, but this ended up being one of the best shows I saw in 2008. Maybe it was the spot on manner in which they played the songs, maybe it was just finally hearing some "Pinkerton." Regardless, it seems I almost look forward to these shows now as much as actual Dynamos ones.

• hey i just wanted to enter because i need to be introduced to more saint louis music. i love living here.

• A few fantastic moments come to mind: Their first show at Sally T's with Dan Potthast from Mu330 and Slick 57 (and my car battery died since I left the lights on, but I didn't care because I found an amazing band that I got to see at ground zero. How many bands can you say that their 1st show was one of their best shows?), and the absolutely incredible version of "Search Party" that they performed at CMJ at the Cake Shop that erupted into an insane sing-a-long. The memory that I'm going to go with is left-of-center, but was the one showed me that they were exceptional. This is was one of the shows I witnessed during my 5 years in New York: They were posed to play 2nd or 3rd on a 5 band bill at Piano's in the lower east side (which Now It's Overhead was headlining and had Michael Stipe in attendance), but they were running late because their van kept overheating on the Jersey turnpike. As all of the bands went on and off, they finally arrived around the time that now NIO was taking the stage. They had to consult with the venue, but they were going to be allowed to play AFTER the headliners. Well, the venue cleared out after what most thought was the end of the show. The band rushed the stage and set-up quickly, and performed for an almost empty room. Most bands would have been completely discouraged by the circumstance(and the prospect of not getting paid), but they played with the same focus and intensity as if it was filled to capacity. (I'm almost certain that this was the show were Norm's bass drum was slipping and Chad from Emperor X laid over it to keep it secure). Chris Walla was in attendance, and he came all the way downtown for the show after DCFC played a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. I thought this was an outstanding example of the integrity that has become a hallmark of the band.

• My first time seeing SMD was in Austin, outside on a patio in the middle of the afternoon. I had told my friends that I was bound and determined to see them, although it felt strange to travel all that way to see a local band. I had heard so many good things about them, and I had been digging "flashlights". Seemed like they were always playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday night here in STL and I could never get the energy to go out on a "school night" with work the next day. Was leery about seeing them outside, though, since the open air doesn't help contain a band's punch and can make some bands sound lost and wimpy. No worries for SMD. They transported the small group that saw them, and I'm sure that most of them are still fans because of that performance. Sweating under the broken shade of a big old Austin tree. Good times.

• Haha... This article is awesome. I don't think I can play either. I was at the first show at Sally T's. I can't remember if that was the one with Dan Potthast from MU330. I know I was there day 1.

• i'm not allowed to play but i liked them as green day at a new year's eve party a few years ago. and on the last show of a tour that was at cicero's, where all the band was in amazingly grouchy form.

• I've never been able to see SMD live, but my favorite memory was talking with a coworker about local music, and he started talking about this really great local band that sounded really familiar. I went home and dug out "Are We Not Drawn Onward To New Era", returned to work the next day, and showed it to him. He was absolutely stunned that I had a copy of it. I then proceeded to buy "When I Explode" and listened to it nonstop for months. By the time "Flashlights" was released, were were close friends and I had been to two of his concerts. To a certain extent, I owe our friendship to SMD. I just wish I hadn't lost the only copy of "...New Era" I've ever seen.

• Well, let's see. One of my favorite SBW memories was their very last show. Man oh, man. Ha, it's really funny looking back on it. It was at the old Midwest Music Pit out in Wentzville and it was your typical, disgustingly humid and buggy summer nights. I remember being drenched in sweat before SBW even started and then by the end of it having a sprained ankle and watching their trombonist (JD?) lighting his trombone bell on fire for a portion of a song. One of my favorite SMD moments was also years ago at one of the few house show Ryan had, during SMD's early inception. Again a horrid summer night, drenched in sweat and being offered a drink by Mrs. Wasoba and listening to Mr. Wasoba watch the Cardinals game. By the end of that night I believe two keyboards were thrown to the ground and stepped on by 3 out of the 4 members in the band. I have some great pictures documenting this momentous occasion. One of my more current favorite SMD moments, however, has to be either last years RFT showcase or when they last played at The Gargoyle. Despite my massive hatred for The Gargoyle as a venue, SMD killed it as usual and easily had one of their tightest sets yet, unveiling some new material (of course before today's awesome release) and revisiting some older tunes to get down to. Dear SMD, I think you're swell.

• So Many Dynamos opened for Cursive at the Gargoyle last year. It was my first time seeing them and I have enjoyed them ever since. Gimme tickets!!

• My favorite So Many Dynamos memory was seeing them dominate the main stage at the RFT Showcase last year - despite the heat, they brought the thunder. I got to talk to Ryan after the show, and he was really a class act. I'm hoping this year brings HUGE things for them.

• Favorite Memory: So Many Dynamos' spontaneous collision with the Funky Butt Brass Band, The City Museum, May 22, 2008. (Last) year's KDHX Midwest Mayhem festival was a surreal, funhouse-style showcase of St. Louis' musical diversity. Reggae, blues, hip hop, rock, funk, roots, country, zydeco, burlesque, whatever -- it was all on display, spread throughout the City Museum and jam-packed into a festival format that was at times overstimulating (in a good way). At the end of the night, So Many Dynamos tore into an inspired set before a crowded room on the City Museum's lower level. At the same time, The Funky Butt Brass Band mobilized a brass/drum procession on the museum's upper level. The parade made its way downstairs and the horn-wielding revelers ended up right in front of So Many Dynamos, creating a spontaneous, cacophonous musical mash-up that for a few seconds, actually sounded kind of awesome. At a minimum, this was a crowd-thrilling, party-enhancing moment that symbolized what Midwest Mayhem was all about: celebrating the diversity of music in St. Louis.

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