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Dead Hour Noise on the main stage
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Supercorrupter on the arcade stage
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Divorce Horse on the outdoor stage
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Hardcore punk music pours into the street from an open door ornamented with a faux amputated forearm. Inside, a vendor with what looks like a blood-stained beard sells band merchandise as fans mosh to the Murder Junkies’ live thrashy tempos. Welcome to Buzzbin on a Friday night.
New owners Chris and Julia Bentley are keeping the nearly decade-old venue’s edgy approach and core fan following. The Bentleys met while playing together in the band Phase — Chris as lead guitarist and Julia as backup vocalist — and they are committed to staying true to the venue’s roots as a staple of the local rock scene.
“We pride ourselves on all original acts and plan on keeping that as our niche, along with being a stop for touring bands,” says Julia, who hails from a family of musicians.
That is natural for Chris, who helped turn the business into a music venue. Buzzbin started out in 2010 as a record and art store and home to a music magazine of the same name. But Chris, who was a graphic designer for the publication and a guitarist and vocalist for the Most Beautiful Losers, saw its potential for shows and invited bands he knew to play there.
Buzzbin has since become a thriving venue, with music from rockers regularly reverberating from the club that Julia describes as “out of the box.” Add into the mix Buzzbin’s arcade of 22 dinging pinball machines, pool table and other games along with art events, and you’ve got a Canton classic with an unconventional slant.
While noisy DIY rock ‘n’ roll and punk are Buzzbin’s bread and butter, you might find the occasional blues, hip-hop or alt country acts here.
“It’s definitely home for the misfits that don’t fit in to your typical bar that has live acts,” says Julia. “We like weird. We like different. We like original — and we’ll give anybody a chance.”
Julia casually rattles off band names Sparrowmilk, Supercorrupter and Stillborn Prodigy as if they were as well-known as Metallica. Those bands are among her many personal favorites set to play at the Doomed and Stoned music festival coming to Buzzbin July 26 and 27. With a lineup of 33 heavy metal bands, the fest is by no means mainstream — but then again, neither is Buzzbin.
