As Tall As Lions Calling it Quits

It is with great sadness and surprise that I write that one my favorite bands, As Tall As Lions are calling it quits. The band wrote on their Myspace page:

After eight years of music, friendship, laughter, adventure, bliss, blood, sweat, tears, and everything else that goes along with it, As Tall As Lions are retiring for the foreseeable future. There is no sadness on our side, and we hope there is none on yours. We will be playing a handful of shows across the country to try and give everyone an opportunity to see us one last time.
12/17: Los Angeles - The Troubadour
12/19: Chicago - Lincoln Hall
12/21: New York City - Highline Ballroom

The best band to come from Long Island, formed in 2002 and released three beautiful records through the years, we here at Officially a Yuppie have been covering the band since the release of their sophomore self titled disc which was named one of the best records of 2006 and one of the best records of the decade. Their last record, You Can't Take It With You, which was released last year was named one of the best albums of the year.

My love affair with this band began when I was a music director at my college radio station, WQAQ at Quinnipiac University in 2005. The band was doing an in studio acoustic set and it fell on a day where I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, we were holding our annual Spring Concert which featured The Bouncing Souls, The Loved Ones, Let it Burn and others. While I was running around doing work, one of the DJ's pulled me aside and said to sit in and listen to this band play. It was only singer Daniel Nigro and guitarist Saen Fitzgerald performing, but I was blown away. That night as tired and worn out as I was, I bought their debut, Lafcadio off Amazon and never regretted it since. When I started this site in the fall of 2006, they had just released their sophomore epic and we have been every step of the way since then. This is a sad day for music, as this was one of the most exciting bands to watch and listen to. I wish them all the best of luck on future endeavors and also would like to take the time to reach out and say, please reconsider.

We have covered the band at numerous gigs and I had the honor of interviewing drummer Cliff Sarconia about the making of You Can't Take It With You and singer Daniel Nigro after the success of the record. You can also bet your ass we will be covering their final Highline gig, through hell or high water, we will be there for one last hurrah!

Take a look at our review from Highline in 2007 HERE

Take a look at our review from Bowery Ballroom in 2009 HERE

Take a look at our review from Westbury in 2009 HERE

Read our interview with Cliff HERE

Read our interview with Dan HERE