title: The Aquabats

text: While the following year would present even more lucrative touring opportunities for The Aquabats, the band's renewed success would also have its drawbacks. In May 2006, it was announced that guitarist Pollock had reluctantly departed the group after 12 years, claiming the band's increased touring activity was conflicting with his business schedule. Pollock was succeeded by former Death by Stereo member Ian Fowles (Eaglebones Falconhawk), though he would continue to contribute guitar tracks to The Aquabats' studio albums and perform with the band as a second guitarist for their southern California concerts and major festival shows. After releasing a limited-print tongue-in-cheek "One Year Anniversary Edition" of "Charge!!", The Aquabats carried out another national tour before announcing a brief hiatus in January 2007 to focus on writing their next album.


title: The Aquabats

text: During this period, Jacobs had been pursuing a career in television production with his creative partner and longtime Aquabats collaborator Scott Schultz, independently filming prospective pilots for family television shows. In 2007, Jacobs and Schultz successfully sold one of their pilots, a preschooler show called "Yo Gabba Gabba!", to Viacoms Nick Jr. channel. As a musically oriented program, "Yo Gabba Gabba!" featured several guest appearances by The Aquabats, appearing onscreen performing both old and new songs and starring in various sketches. The series went on to become an award-winning international sensation, bringing a generous amount of media attention towards both Jacobs and The Aquabats, just enough to persuade "Gabba"s production company Wild Brain to help produce a new pilot again based on the band.


title: The Aquabats

text: Shot on location throughout California in early 2008, The Aquabats' third television pilot, titled "The Aquabats! Super Show!", was a fully realized half-hour episode featuring both live-action and animated storylines starring and featuring original music by the band. The Aquabats spent the remainder of 2008 heavily promoting the "Super Show!" pilot through extensive viral advertising and further touring, including appearances at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International, where the pilot was publicly debuted for fans, high-profile festivals including the Bamboozle Left and Groezrock in April 2009, and opening for Blink-182 on two dates of their 2009 reunion tour.


title: The Aquabats

text: Though The Aquabats continued to be a popular touring draw, the band experienced a tumultuous period of pre-production on their proposed fifth studio album lasting for nearly two years. Though a July 2007 news update announced that preliminary recording had already begun, no new material ever surfaced from these sessions or was ever performed live. As the band resumed touring throughout the United States and Europe, fewer updates were reported on the album's progress until all plans were abruptly ceased in April 2009, when The Aquabats were dropped from Nitro Records due to "trying economic times and a struggling musical landscape", according to Jacobs. With a glum confirmation of "no record company, no record", The Aquabats' future seemed once again shadowed in doubt.


title: The Aquabats

text: Despite the lack of a record label, The Aquabats continued to tour internationally throughout 2010 and 2011, headlining tours of the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as appearing at the 2010 Soundwave festival in Australia — the band's first ever visit to the continent. In August 2010, The Aquabats suddenly announced on their website that they would be independently releasing their next studio album in November of that year. However, following a last-minute distribution deal with Fearless Records, the album's release date was postponed to 2011 to provide for proper marketing and promotion, and an EP containing its first single, "Radio Down!", was released in its place. "Hi-Five Soup!", The Aquabats' fifth full-length album, was released on January 18, 2011, becoming the band's highest-charting album since "The Fury", debuting at number 181 on the "Billboard" 200 and number 5 on Top Heatseekers. In promotion of the album, the band embarked on a 21-city national tour supporting Reel Big Fish, followed by a performance at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.


title: The Aquabats

text: On March 24, 2011, it was formally announced via press release that "The Aquabats! Super Show!" had been acquired as a series by family cable channel The Hub, a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery which launched in 2010 as a replacement for Discovery Kids. Created and produced by Jacobs, Schultz and Jason deVilliers, the series followed the fictionalized adventures of The Aquabats in a deliberately campy style inspired by the 1960s "Batman" TV series, mixing live-action storylines with cartoon shorts, parody commercials and musical interludes featuring new original music and songs written and performed by the band.


title: The Aquabats

text: After spending the majority of 2011 in production, the first season of "The Aquabats! Super Show!" ran for thirteen episodes from March 3, 2012 to June 16, 2012, meeting with a largely positive critical reception and consistently high ratings for the modestly sized channel, eventually earning a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Series, which it ultimately lost to fellow Hub series "". In October 2012, production began on the series' second season, which premiered on June 1, 2013 with a short run of five episodes. The following October, three additional episodes were filmed, though The Hub later explicitly referred to these episodes as "specials" rather than a continuation of season two. These three specials aired from December 21, 2013, to January 14, 2014.


title: The Aquabats

text: In a "Huffington Post" feature on the band prior to the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, Jacobs revealed that The Hub had opted not to renew "The Aquabats! Super Show!" for another season following extensive network rebranding by Hasbro and Discovery, effectively canceling the series. Jacobs admitted he was surprised by this turn of events, noting "Everything we heard was that the show has been a real Cinderella story for the Hub and that it was rating really well with viewers. We just assumed that we'd eventually go back into production or at least get picked up for Season 3", but ultimately concluded "it is what it is" in regard to the network's decision.


title: The Aquabats

text: Since the 2012 premiere of "The Aquabats! Super Show!", The Aquabats largely cut back on extensive touring in order to accommodate their television production schedule, once again limiting their live shows to occasional performances within the Southwestern United States. In April 2013, the band carried out a six-show tour of Europe and the United Kingdom, concluding with an appearance at the Groezrock punk rock festival in Belgium. The following June, The Aquabats were once again featured on the Warped Tour, though only played eight shows in the Southwest region. Despite playing a limited portion of the tour, the band were regularly featured on the second season of Fuses "Warped Roadies", a reality series documenting the road crew of the Warped Tour, where they were most notably the subject of one episode in which they incur the wrath of a stage manager for repeatedly playing over their set times.


title: The Aquabats

text: On March 17, 2014, in celebration of their 20th anniversary as a band, The Aquabats announced the first leg of their "20th Anniversary Tour" for May, their first extensive headlining United States tour in years, covering fifteen shows in nine states on the East Coast. The following July, the band carried out five more dates across California, Washington and Oregon, then announced eleven more dates covering six states across the western half of the country.


title: The Aquabats

text: Following another stretch of relative inactivity for most of 2015 and 2016, The Aquabats announced a 13-date tour of the American Midwest and East Coast in May 2017, supported by Reggie and the Full Effect, C. J. Ramone and Kepi Ghoulie, subsequently followed by a six-date tour of the West Coast in October with Dog Party. Ticket options for these shows included "Super Rad Packages" with bonus exclusive merchandise, most notably a split 7" single of full-length versions of the "Super Show!" songs "Burger Rain" and "Beat Fishin'", The Aquabats' first new studio recordings since 2011's "Hi-Five Soup". In mid-February 2018, The Aquabats played nine dates in the United Kingdom with Army of Freshmen supporting Bowling for Soup on their "Get Happy!" tour.


title: The Aquabats

text: In celebration of the 20th anniversary of 1997's "The Fury of The Aquabats!", the band worked with veteran producer and engineer Cameron Webb on a complete remaster of the album which was independently released on vinyl and CD with bonus material on April 6, 2018. The following day, The Aquabats played two sold-out shows at Los Angeles' Fonda Theater where they performed "The Fury of The Aquabats!" in its entirety, joined by former members Pollock, Terry and Deibert. Notably, Travis Barker appeared during the evening show to play three songs as his Baron von Tito persona, marking the first time Barker had performed with the band since 1998. Three weeks later on April 28, this extended line-up performed as part of Barker and John Feldmann's Back To The Beach ska festival in Huntington State Beach, where Barker again joined the band for three songs.


title: The Aquabats

text: On July 31, 2018, after several weeks of teasing a major band announcement, The Aquabats launched a high-profile Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising a minimum of $1.1 million to help finance an entire return season of "The Aquabats! Super Show!", as well as the production and release of three albums: a new studio album, a "Super Show!" soundtrack and a re-recorded greatest hits compilation. The campaign video featured a slew of celebrity cameos voicing support for the band, though most prominently featured actor and musician Jack Black, who was confirmed by "Billboard" to serve as executive producer for the series' return. Along with the launch of the Kickstarter, The Aquabats began releasing a series of metafictional "Super Show!" "mini-episodes" exclusively to their YouTube channel, depicting the MC Bat Commander's quest to reunite the estranged Aquabats following their show's cancellation.


title: The Aquabats

text: By August 28, mere days before the campaign's end date of September 1, the Kickstarter had only raised $601,629 of the band's desired $1.1 million goal. The funding was voluntarily cancelled and the campaign was significantly restructured, resurrected the same day with a new goal of $100,000 for a new album and continuing production of "Super Show!" "mini-episodes". The $100,000 mark was met within minutes and the project ultimately raised over $600,000, which was stated to be used to independently produce "at least twelve" mini-episodes of "Super Show!", two new Aquabats studio albums, one live album, and two "Super Show!" soundtrack albums.


title: The Aquabats

text: Throughout 2019, The Aquabats worked resolutely to fulfill their Kickstarter-funded projects. In March, the band simultaneously released "", a soundtrack compilation of songs from "Super Show!"s first season, and "The Fury of The Aquabats! Live at The Fonda!", a live recording of a 2018 performance of "The Fury of The Aquabats!", as exclusive digital downloads for Kickstarter backers. In June, preceded by the release of the single "Cobraman Theme!", "The Aquabats! Super Show! Television Soundtrack: Volume One" was given a wide physical release on The Aquabats' self-operated label Gloopy Records, premiering at 165 on the "Billboard" 200 and number one on Top Heatseekers, the band's highest placement on each chart to date. Starting September 28, 2019, "The Aquabats! Super Show!" was officially relaunched as a biweekly YouTube-exclusive web series entitled "The Aquabats! RadVentures!".


title: The Aquabats

text: "Skeleton Inside!", the first single from The Aquabats' sixth studio album, premiered on the band's YouTube channel on October 25, 2019, though did not make mention of an album title or a tentative release date beyond "later this year". The album's official title, "Kooky Spooky...In Stereo", was revealed in February 2020, followed by the album's second single, the couch potato-themed "Pajamazon!", on April 10. Inspired by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which necessitated mass self-quarantining and social distancing, "Pajamazon!" was promoted by a music video primarily made up of self-submitted videos of fans and friends of The Aquabats dancing to the song in their homes, marking The Aquabats' first music video since "Fashion Zombies!" in 2005. While "Kooky Spooky...In Stereo" was originally scheduled for a June 20 release date, manufacturing delays resulting from the coronavirus pandemic as well as political tensions from the ongoing George Floyd protests which began in late May 2020 prompted the band to postpone the album's release; in an uncharacteristically serious public statement, The Aquabats acknowledged that "There will always be time for goofy, rowdy rock...but it doesn't feel right to us to be loud and self-promoting at this moment in time", encouraging open discussion about race and racism and linking to resources from the National Museum of African American History and Culture and confirming a new digital release date of August 21, 2020.


title: The Aquabats

text: Over the course of their career, The Aquabats have experienced several radical evolutions in their sound and musical style.


title: The Aquabats

text: Having originally formed as a part of Orange County's burgeoning third wave ska scene, much of the band's early material was rooted in the genre. Boasting an eight-piece line-up featuring two lead guitarists, a keyboardist and a horn section consisting of two trumpets and a saxophone, The Aquabats' style of ska was primarily driven by brass and guitar, incorporating elements of surf rock and punk rock. Their second album, 1997's "The Fury of The Aquabats!", while still predominantly ska-based, found the band starting to expand their sound into newer territory, featuring more pronounced punk and surf influences and experimentalism, including several instrumentals, pastiches of ragtime and tango music and the utilization of such unconventional instruments as clarinets, electric sitars and even manualism.


title: The Aquabats

text: In 1999, The Aquabats underwent a significant shift in style for their third studio album, "The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!", and its companion piece "Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2", further exploring the multi-genre eclecticism which had been hinted at with "The Fury". A conscious decision by the band to write more diverse material, these albums saw a near-complete forfeit of the brass-driven ska of their previous albums in favor of more guitar and synthesizer-structured songwriting, embracing a punk rock and new wave sound greatly influenced by Devo and Oingo Boingo, two of The Aquabats' biggest inspirations. The band also began widening their genre experimentation to encompass such disparate styles as electronica, synthpop and even hip-hop, elements which persist in their sound to present day.


title: The Aquabats

text: During The Aquabats' career lull in the early 2000s, several of the band's key members departed from the line-up, eventually reducing the former octet down to a mere quintet of vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. This inevitably had a profound impact on The Aquabats' sound, in particular the complete loss of their once characteristic horn section. 2005's "Charge!!", the first release featuring this reduced line-up, marked an abrupt shift from the eclecticism of their previous records, firmly establishing The Aquabats' current rock-based musical style, mixing elements of punk, new wave and ska, a style which has also been described as some publications as "nerd rock" owing to the band's lyrical emphasis on pop culture.


title: The Aquabats

text: In recent years, The Aquabats have introduced an increased presence of keyboards and synthesizers into this style, with critics noting their 2011 album "Hi-Five Soup!" as featuring more noticeable elements of synthpop and electronica.


title: The Aquabats

text: Although the band continues to incorporate occasional elements of ska into their music, The Aquabats have since distanced themselves from their association with the ska genre after having moved away from an overtly ska-based sound in the early 2000s, having since labeled themselves as simply a "rock band" in their official press biographies. In a 2012 interview, singer Christian Jacobs stated "I don't think we ever considered ourselves a ska band. We were just The Aquabats. And some of the songs we happened to play were ska", noting elsewhere, "It was never a deliberate thing [to stop playing ska], but I think it just naturally happened because there's a lot of different styles of music that we play. I've always been into bands like Ween and things like that, that can chameleon-like drift from genre to genre and play whatever music they want...there's no boundaries. If you set yourself up as a punk band, then you pretty much just have to play punk. Or if you're a ska band, you just play ska". Chad Larson, speaking on the same matter, explained "Having the same guitar rhythm for every song gets kind of boring...even on the earlier albums that had ska rhythms we were focusing more on the 'adventure' songs than really 'ska' songs. So as we grew as musicians, we wanted to experiment with different rhythms", adding "we were never really a good ska band anyway".


title: The Aquabats

text: Since the earliest days of the band, The Aquabats have earned a reputation for their theatrical live performances featuring a variety of comedic stunts and antics based around their superhero-themed persona.


title: The Aquabats

text: During the 1990s, when their concerts were at their most elaborately staged, a typical Aquabats performance would often include choreographed fight scenes with costumed villains, the use of numerous props, acrobatic stunts and varying degrees of pyrotechnics, ranging from small fireworks to The MC Bat Commander fire breathing. While many of these elements were eventually phased out of the live shows in the early 2000s, the one consistent staple of every Aquabats concert has remained the band's onstage "battles" with villains and monsters. These villains, typically played by The Aquabats' road crew, will crash the stage at one or two moments in the show and exchange humorous banter with the band before engaging each other in mock combat. These fights have ranged from short, improvised fistfights to fully choreographed stage combat utilizing breakable props, maneuvers such as flying kicks and back flips, and sometimes spreading out into the audience, with The Aquabats ultimately winning most—but not all—encounters. For some performances, in place of a villain, The Aquabats will feature a sketch with one of their "allies": for example, to segue into their song "Magic Chicken", the titular character— a man in a chicken suit— will come onstage to hand out fried chicken to audience members.


title: The Aquabats

text: Audience participation is a common element of The Aquabats' stage shows. Both the band and their onstage characters regularly interact with the crowd, including initiating mass games of beach ball volleyball or spraying them with substances like Silly String and fire extinguishers. Additionally, a few of The Aquabats' enemies are known only to be "defeated" by fans by being pelted with projectiles supplied by the band, usually large quantities of plastic balls. Acknowledging the younger members of their fanbase, The Aquabats often incorporate any children in the venue as part of their shows, inviting them to dance onstage with the band at the end of their sets. With parents' permission, children can also take part in onstage games and activities with the aid of the audience. The most common of these have included "pool floatie races", where two selected children mount inflatable rafts or pool toys and race across the venue via crowd surfing, and assisted stage diving, in which between songs the MC Bat Commander will gently throw children into a waiting audience so they may experience their "first punk rock moment".


title: The Aquabats

text: On the visual end of these performances, keeping in line with their cartoon and pop culture-inspired aesthetic, The Aquabats' stage shows are accompanied by a large video screen backdrop which plays montage clips of various cartoons, movies, TV shows, and stock footage specifically edited to match each song. This screen also plays prerecorded comedy videos starring the band which introduce and close each show, as well as fake commercials for fictional Aquabats-brand products which serve as impromptu "commercial breaks" between songs. These visuals, along with the band's props and costumes, are regularly changed to accommodate special seasonal performances, in particular The Aquabats' annual holiday shows.


title: The Aquabats

text: Perhaps even more so than for their music, The Aquabats are widely recognized for their eccentric superhero identity which adheres to a comprehensive mythology reflected in the band's music, stage shows and promotional material in which the members are in fact a team of musical crimefighters on a quest to save the world.


title: The Aquabats

text: Detailed in their lyrics, liner notes, website and television series, The Aquabats have developed a small but elaborate fictional universe surrounding this mythology, describing the band's fictitious history and outlandish adventures as well as conceiving an extensive roster of enemies and allies, many of whom are the subjects of specific songs and have appeared as part of The Aquabats' stage shows in mock fight scenes or comedic skits. Over the years, this mythology, and in particular the fictional backstory regarding their origins, has continually changed, evolved and occasionally been retconned to explain changes in the band's line-up.


title: The Aquabats

text: The Aquabats' origin story can be separated into two distinct eras. For the first half of their career, the band maintained a consistently canonical backstory established over the course of their first two albums, alleging the band members were actually humanoid bat creatures hailing from a distant tropical island called Aquabania. According to legend, Aquabania had been invaded by the villainous Space Monster "M", forcing the surviving inhabitants to flee into the ocean where they eventually washed ashore in California and were taken in by Professor Monty Corndog, a mad scientist who used "chemicals" to give them superpowers. Donning costumes including such accessories as "radioactive rashguards", "power belts", and "anti-negativity helmets", The Aquabats chose to channel their powers through music in order to "take over the world" by attracting legions of fans to aid them in combating Space Monster "M" and reclaiming their homeland, fighting the numerous villains and monsters who'd attempt to thwart their musical quest along the way.


title: The Aquabats

text: With the heavy line-up changes in the early-to-mid 2000s which left only two of the original members remaining, The Aquabats eventually dropped the Aquabania elements out of their backstory, reestablishing themselves as a group of freelance superheroes of indeterminate origin who travel the countryside, fighting evil and "destroying boredom". This loose framework would later serve as the basis for the band's television series, "The Aquabats! Super Show!", where each member's character was further developed to showcase their own individual powers and personalities, transitioning the Aquabats' mythology from a story arc to a character ensemble. While the series' first season left the band's origins intentionally vague, several episodes of the second season feature each member of The Aquabats recounting the band's history in animated flashback sequences; while one of these sequences recalls the original Aquabania mythos, each member's flashbacks directly contradict one another, leaving it unknown which could be considered officially canonical.


title: The Aquabats

text: Fans of The Aquabats are referred to by the band as Aquacadets or the more casual "Cadets", a title which has held alternately official and unofficial status among their fanbase for most of the band's career.


title: The Aquabats

text: Throughout the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s, The Aquabats operated an official fan club known as The Aquabats Cadet Faction, selling membership packages which typically offered a variety of exclusive merchandise, access to exclusive web content, a subscription to an official newsletter written by members of the band and entrance into occasional semi-private "secret shows" held at smaller venues. Most significantly, enrollment into The Aquabats Cadet Faction granted card-carrying members admission into official fan conventions known as Cadet Summits, where fans could meet and interact with The Aquabats through Q&A panels, games and award shows where fans received trophies in categories including "Cadet of the Year". The Aquabats held five such Cadet Summits throughout Southern California from 1997 to 2006:


title: The Aquabats

text: Following the 2006 Cadet Summit, The Aquabats Cadet Faction lapsed into an extended period of complete inactivity, upon which fans independently carried on unofficial fan club operations through social media, most notably the formation of numerous splinter factions based around certain themes, shared interests or geographic location: while most of these groups were small sub-sections within online fan communities such as Tumblr, some factions like "Piratebats" and "Ninjabats" cultivated a small real-world presence by attending The Aquabats' concerts in accordingly themed costume attire. In 2018, The Aquabats temporarily resurrected The Aquabats Cadet Faction as part of the "Bring Back The Aquabats!" Kickstarter campaign, again issuing personalized ID cards and exclusive merchandise and web content. As of 2020, however, Cadet Faction packages are no longer available, and there are no current plans for a future Cadet Summit.


title: The Aquabats

text: In 2019, independent record label Related Records, who had previously released the officially sanctioned 2014 bootleg of The Aquabats' acoustic performance at the 2002 Cadet Summit, compiled and released "No Singles: A 20 Year Anniversary Tribute to The Aquabats vs. The Floating Eye of Death", a fourteen-track tribute album covering the entirety of the band's 1999 "Floating Eye of Death" album by various underground punk, electronica and experimental musicians.


title: The Aquabats

text: The roots of The Aquabats are usually traced back to GOGO13, a ska band founded by Christian Jacobs' brothers Parker and Tyler while they were living in St. George, Utah in 1993. Following their abrupt disbandment in 1994, several of GOGO13's members moved on to play in The Aquabats' earliest line-ups, during which time the band's performances consisted of several GOGO13 songs, most notably "Idiot Box!", which was later recorded for The Aquabats' first two albums. Parker Jacobs permanently reformed GOGO13 in 2001 and continues to tour with a rotating line-up of musicians which, among others, have included original Aquabats trumpeter Boyd Terry and guitarist Ben "The Brain" Bergeson.


title: The Aquabats

text: From 1993 to 1995, Adam Deibert, Charles Gray, Corey Pollock and Pat "Patbat" McDonald were all members of the Huntington Beach ska band The Goodwin Club, recording only one full-length album before disbanding in April 1995, playing their final show opening for The Aquabats. The Goodwin Club reunited in 2015 with Deibert, Pollock and McDonald returning from the original line-up and continue to sporadically perform throughout Southern California, including as support for The Aquabats and GOGO13. Prior to forming The Aquabats, Christian Jacobs sang in a shoegazing duo called The Moon Men with future Aquabats and "Yo Gabba Gabba!" collaborator Scott Schultz, while Chad Larson was the bass guitarist for the hardcore punk band B.H.R. until their break-up in 1997.


title: The Aquabats

text: In 1997, Parker Jacobs formed The Sandfleas as a side project to perform as openers at The Aquabats' shows, based on the gang of masked villains who had become a staple of The Aquabats' mythology and onstage rogues' gallery. Consisting anonymously of Parker Jacobs on vocals and a rotating line-up of musicians including Christian and Tyler Jacobs, Larson and Pollock, The Sandfleas played deliberately sloppy punk rock songs which were humorously antagonistic and insulting towards their audience, intending to be the musical "bad guy" equivalent to The Aquabats' "good guys". The Sandfleas released an EP entitled "Four Songs Four Jerks" on The Aquabats' Horchata Records label in 1999 before breaking up shortly afterwards.


title: The Aquabats

text: During their time in The Aquabats, Deibert and Gray both joined the Long Beach indie pop band Bikeride in 1999 as bassist and guitarist, respectively, recording on three of the band's studio albums, all of which featured James Briggs guest contributions on saxophone and clarinet. Gray left Bikeride in 2002, though Deibert remained a member until lead singer-songwriter Tony Carbone's death from cancer in 2008. Shortly before Carbone's death, The Aquabats hosted a benefit show for Carbone in Pomona, California, where Deibert joined the band onstage during their encores. From 1999 to 2010, Deibert was also active in the two-man electronic project Digital Unicorn, which he had originally created as a last-minute replacement for an opening band who had dropped off a tour with The Aquabats. Digital Unicorn eventually progressed into a solo endeavor, culminating in the studio album "Theirs Travel Began and Loaded the Dream", which was released on Horchata Records in 2001.


title: The Aquabats

text: After leaving The Aquabats in 1996, Ben Bergeson founded the instrumental surf rock band The Moon Monkeys, playing numerous shows with The Aquabats and GOGO13 before releasing their sole studio EP "So Far, Far Out!" in 1999 on Horchata Records. Corey Pollock, following his own departure from The Aquabats in 2006, joined the Costa Mesa pop punk trio and longtime Aquabats tourmates Supernova in August 2008, playing with them under his Aquabat stage name of "Chainsaw" until their hiatus in January 2010.


title: The Aquabats

text: As professional musicians, current guitarist Ian Fowles and drummer Ricky Falomir have performed and recorded with many bands and musicians of note, though are best known as original members of the punk rock bands Death by Stereo and Assorted Jelly Beans, respectively. In relation to The Aquabats, Fowles was a guest bassist for Hunter Burgans Hunter Revenge and – in costume as EagleBones – Kepi Ghoulies band during both groups' tours with The Aquabats, and in 2014, became an official member of My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Ways solo band after the two had become acquainted working together on "The Aquabats! Super Show!", recording and co-writing on Way's 2014 debut "Hesitant Alien". In June 2015, both Fowles and Falomir made up ex-Ramones bassist C. J. Ramones backing band for an East Coast tour with Japanese band Shonen Knife. Ricky also toured playing drums for LA reggae band The Aggrolites in 2009.


title: The Aquabats

text: The band's original instrumental version of "Sequence Erase!", recorded with Parry Gripp, was used as the title theme for the band's original television pilot, "The Aquabats! In Color!". From 2004 to 2010, this recording was used as the theme song to the main series of "Mega64", a video game-themed comedy series produced by a comedy troupe of the same name. As longtime friends and associates of The Aquabats, the main cast and crew of "Mega64" would later go on to produce interstitial sketches for "The Aquabats! Super Show!" television series.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: The Stone Roses is the debut studio album by English rock band the Stone Roses. It was recorded mostly at Battery Studios in London with producer John Leckie from June 1988 to February 1989 and released in May of that year by Silvertone Records.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: Despite not being an immediate success, the album grew popular alongside the band's high-profile concert performances, which also helped establish them as fixtures of the Madchester and baggy cultural scenes. The record's critical standing also improved significantly in later years, with "The Stone Roses" now considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 11 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000). It has sold over four million copies worldwide.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: Based in Manchester, where the so-called Madchester musical movement was centred, the Stone Roses formed in 1983. Between their formation and the release of their debut album, the band had gone through different names and line-ups, trying out different sounds, and released several singles on several different labels. They recorded their self-titled debut album with John Leckie, a producer who had worked with Pink Floyd on "Meddle". The recording took place primarily at Battery Studios in London, with additional sessions at Konk, Coconut Grove Studios in Stockport, and Rockfield Studios in Wales. Leckie said that the band were "very well rehearsed" and that they "didn't seem to feel any pressure other than that they were a band making their first album and didn't want to lose the opportunity to make it good. So there wasn't any pressure to prove themselves – they knew they were good."


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: According to writers Sean Sennett and Simon Groth, the Stone Roses "virtually invented 'Madchester' and built a template for Brit-pop" with their debut album. The record has been associated with rave culture and dance music, although Angus Batey from "The Quietus" argued that it was a 1960s-inspired jangle pop album featuring little or no influence of dance beats or grooves, with the exception of "Fools Gold". According to AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the rhythm section of bassist Mani and drummer Reni played in a manner that was merely suggestive of dance rhythms, while Ian Brown dispassionately sang lyrics expressing arrogant sentiments such as "I Wanna Be Adored" and "I Am the Resurrection". In the opinion of "Spin" critic Andrew Unterberger, it sounded more like "an exercise in rock classicism", featuring accessible melodies like those of the Beatles and resonant guitars similar to the Byrds, along with "the cheeky (and quintessentially British) humor of the Smiths" and "the self-fulfilling arrogance of the Sex Pistols". The melody for the song "Elizabeth My Dear" was appropriated from the English traditional ballad "Scarborough Fair".


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: As with most Stone Roses releases, the cover displays a work by the band's guitarist John Squire, in this case a Jackson Pollock-influenced piece titled "Bye Bye Badman", which makes reference to the May 1968 riots in Paris. The cover was named by "Q" magazine as one of "The 100 Best Record Covers of All Time." In the accompanying article, Squire said: "Ian [Brown] had met this French man when he was hitching around Europe, this bloke had been in the riots, and he told Ian how lemons had been used as an antidote to tear gas. Then there was the documentary—a great shot at the start of a guy throwing stones at the police. I really liked his attitude." The story was also the inspiration for the lyrics to the song of the same name. The background of the piece is based on the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland; the band had visited the causeway while playing a gig at the University of Ulster in Coleraine.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: "The Stone Roses" was released on 2 May 1989 by Silvertone, a division of Zomba Records created to work with "new rock" acts. While by this time the Madchester scene had already attracted some coverage from music publications, "The Stone Roses" originally received little attention from both consumers and critics in the United Kingdom. Bob Stanley from "Melody Maker" called it "godlike" and said the foundation of the music was John Squire's guitar playing, which he deemed "beautifully flowing, certainly psychedelic, there are elements of Hendrix (especially on 'Shoot You Down') and Marr (check the fade to 'Bye Bye Badman'), but the rest is the lad's own work". In "Q", Peter Kane was less favourable and felt that "The Stone Roses" was a promising album weighed down by "strangely monotone production", while "NME" journalist Jack Barron wrote that it was merely "quite good" while giving it a score of seven on a scale of 10; the latter magazine later ranked it as the second best record of 1989 in their year-end list. In "The Village Voice", US critic Robert Christgau wrote that the group was "overhyped" and no different from the numerous American indie bands, adding "what do they do that the Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield weren't doing better in 1967?" He concluded that "they're surprisingly 'eclectic.' Not all that good at it, but eclectic," despite some moments of good songwriting ("Bye Bye Badman", "I Wanna Be Adored").


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: To support the album, the band played several high-profile gigs, including one on 27 February 1989, at what was regarded as the centre of the associated Madchester and baggy scenes, Manchester's The Haçienda nightclub. Andrew Collins wrote in "NME": "Bollocks to Morrissey at Wolverhampton, to The Sundays at The Falcon, to PWEI at Brixton – I'm already drafting a letter to my grandchildren telling them that I saw The Stone Roses at the Haçienda." The band's debut appearance on "Top of the Pops" in November 1989 helped the album receive more mainstream exposure. The album eventually brought them nationwide success and soon the band, along with fellow Madchester group Happy Mondays, were perceived as one of the key acts of the baggy scene. Their May 1990 Spike Island gig, organised by the band and attended by over 27,000 fans, also holds a formidable reputation. Critics have frequently labelled it the "Woodstock of the baggy generation".


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: "The Stone Roses" has sold over four million copies worldwide, according to the 2006 book covering the album for the 33⅓ music series.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: "The Stone Roses" was acclaimed by critics and musicians in subsequent years, being viewed as an even more important album than when it was first released, as reflected by its high ranking in polls of the greatest albums of all time. Reassessing it for "NME" upon its 1991 re-release, Mary Anne Hobbs deemed "The Stone Roses" "the most fluent crossover album of the last decade", and on its cultural impact, wrote: "Indie-dance was activated, its underground sister the rave scene outed, and Britain went Baggy." "Rolling Stone"s David Fricke later called it "a blast of magnificent arrogance, a fusion of Sixties-pop sparkle and the blown-mind drive of U.K. rave culture", while BBC Music's Chris Jones said it served as a peerless testament to the fusion of rock and dance music inspired by "working class hedonism" at the end of the 1980s. "Mojo" reviewer Pat Gilbert strongly recommended its 1999 reissue to listeners and stated that the album "set the tone for rock music in the '90s", while in "Q", Ian Gittins wrote that with the album's "mercurial, timeless anthems", the band became "spokesmen for their generation". Bernadette McNulty of "The Daily Telegraph" believed the 2009 reissue polished the band's bold mix of discordant psychedelic sounds and clever dance beats, but that its legacy as a fabled debut album was enhanced more by the darker, masculine music that followed in Manchester during the 1990s. Zeth Lundy of "The Boston Phoenix" said it "has been deified by such dubious tastemakers as the "NME" and Oasis's Noel Gallagher — and the rest of us really like it too". "PopMatters" critic Jennifer Makowsky argued that "the psychedelic, drug-powered pop songs on the album earned the band a well-earned place in alternative music history."


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: However, American music journalist Jim DeRogatis felt "The Stone Roses" had been highly overrated by critics, pointing to a "lame retread disco beat" and "oh-so-dated chiming guitars", while Neil Kulkarni from "The Quietus" said its first three songs were enjoyable but preceded a "right barrel-load of shite afterwards". In an article on overhyped records for "The Guardian", Peter Robinson said that "The Stone Roses" was "an average rock album – lyrically pedestrian and with a sonic policy swerving from the play-safe to the over-indulgent". "Guardian" journalist Penny Anderson criticised the length of certain tracks and noted that the record "doesn't half drag on", while Fiona Sturges of "The Independent" found Brown's singing and the band's lyrics to be remarkably poor, and objected to the editors of "NME" voting "The Stone Roses" the best British album of all time. After the record was voted the second-best ever in a UK public poll, Channel 4 broadcast a presentation of the results in which three of the presenters—musician Bob Geldof, critic Paul Gambaccini, and artist Justine Frischmann—were critical of the album's inclusion in the top 100 and attributed it to the generation of listeners who voted rather than the record's quality. Geldof claimed that the no. 2 placing was "ridiculous", and asserted that the band are "just an OK group."


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: According to Acclaimed Music, "The Stone Roses" is the 67th most ranked record on critics' all-time lists. In 1997, it was named the second greatest album of all time in a "Music of the Millennium" poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, "The Guardian" and Classic FM. In 1998, "Q" magazine readers placed it at number 4, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 29 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever." In 2004, the album was voted the best British album of all time in "The Observer"s poll of 100 musicians and critics. In 2006, "Q" placed the album at number 5 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". In 2008, it was named the fifth "greatest British album ever" by a "Q" magazine/HMV poll.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: In 2000, it received the "greatest album ever" award at the NME Premier Awards show, and in 2006, the album topped the magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums Ever" list. In 2005, "Spin" magazine ranked it 78 on its list of the "100 greatest albums of the past twenty years." In the same year, when revising their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" for book format, "Rolling Stone" included it as one of eight new entries, placing it at number 497; in the 2012 revised list, they placed the album at number 498, saying that the album "single-handedly launched Nineties Brit pop", and in the 2020 update of the list the album's rank climbed to number 319. In 2006, "Time" named it one of "The All-"TIME" 100 Albums". In 2003, "Pitchfork" named it the 39th best album of the 1980s. In 2012, "Slant Magazine" listed the album at number 28 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s". The album was also included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". It was voted number 11 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000).


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: In 2006, "British Hit Singles & Albums" and "NME" organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and "The Stone Roses" was placed at number seven on the list. In 2010, "The Stone Roses" won the "Mojo" Classic Album award. Upon announcing the award, "Mojo" noted how the band "managed to sum up an era and to create a piece of work that also transcends the time in which it was made." In 2013 The Flaming Lips and friends honoured the record with "The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down… What a Sound", a reworking of the entire album. In 2014, the staff of "PopMatters" included the album on their list of "12 Essential Alternative Rock Albums from the 1980s".


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: In 2020, it came third in the BBC Radio 2 "Ultimate 80's Album" poll, beating albums such as "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns N' Roses and "Purple Rain" by Prince. The listeners poll, which had "tens of thousands of votes", had a list of 50 albums to choose from that were selected by a panel of music experts. The shortlist was based on sales from each year of the decade, alongside a selection of albums that have endured the test of time.


title: The Stone Roses (album)

text: In 1999, on the 10th anniversary of its release, a two-disc special edition re-release of "The Stone Roses" reached number nine on the UK Albums Chart. In 2007, a remastered version was released by Silvertone as a Carbon Neutral Entertainment CD (with tips about Energy Saving). In 2009, the remastered 20th anniversary edition was released in several formats: the standard 11-track album (with the bonus track "Fools Gold") on CD and 12" vinyl LP (the LP version includes a bonus one-sided 7" single featuring the unreleased demo track "Pearl Bastard"); a deluxe edition 2CD/1DVD set, featuring the album on disc one, a 15-track collection of unreleased demos titled "The Lost Demos" on disc two, and a DVD featuring a 1989 live performance titled "Live in Blackpool"; and a 3CD/3LP/1DVD collector's edition box set, which features:


title: Francis Ford Coppola filmography

text: Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and film composer whose career spans more than fifty years. Coppola has directed twenty-two feature films to date.


title: Francis Ford Coppola filmography

text: His films "The Godfather", "The Godfather Part II", and "Apocalypse Now" are often cited among the greatest films ever made.


title: Francis Ford Coppola filmography

text: Throughout his career, Coppola has repeatedly cast certain actors for his film projects. Singer-songwriter Tom Waits has appeared in six of his films, Robert Duvall has appeared in five, and Laurence Fishburne, James Caan, Diane Lane, Frederic Forrest and Glenn Withrow have all appeared in four.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Anand Tiwari (born 29 May 1983) is an Indian actor, producer, writer and director known for his work in Hindi films. He has appeared in films like "Kites" (2010), "Udaan" (2010), "Aisha" (2010), and "Go Goa Gone" (2013). As a stage actor, he is best known for Rage Productions' "One on One" (2010).


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari is the co-founder of the production company Still and Still Media Collective under which he has produced his feature-length directorial debut "Love per Square Foot" (2018) and his hit series "Bandish Bandits". For the latter, he was nominated for a Filmfare OTT Awards for Best Original Story.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari grew up in a family of doctors, in Matunga, Mumbai. He started acting in small roles in Marathi theatre in the local Ganpati and Navratri festivals. He frequented Shivaji Mandir in Dadar to watch plays, and also started attending summer acting workshops at his school. Subsequently, he completed his bachelor's in mass media, with a major in advertising, from the University of Mumbai in 2004.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari started his career in 2008 by acting in television commercials for brands like Citibank, Jet Airways, Tanishq, Tata ACE and DISH TV. He then transitioned into theatre in Mumbai, working in plays like "Dreams of Taleem" directed by Sunil Shanbag and Rage Theatre's "One On One" (2010).


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari made his acting debut in Bollywood by playing small roles in several films including "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), "The President Is Coming" (2009), "Udaan" (2010) and "Kites" (2010). He then appeared in supporting roles in the ensemble romantic comedy-drama "Aisha" (2010) directed by Rajshree Ojha and "Go Goa Gone" (2013), a zombie action comedy film directed by Raj and D.K. He has also appeared in the Hollywood film "Fair Game" (2010), which starred Naomi Watts and was an official entry at the Cannes Film Festival.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari worked as assistant director for Anurag Basu's film "Barfi!" (2012) He has also worked as assistant co-ordinator and director with Cogito TV and Cyclops Films and Video.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari made his directorial debut with the 2018 film "Love Per Square Foot". Produced by Ronnie Screwvala, under his newly established banner RSVP Movies; the film stars Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar in the lead roles. Tiwari who wrote the script in 2010, along with Sumeet Vyas, was originally set to make into a dark film but later decided to turn it into a romantic comedy. Originally scheduled for a theatrical release, Anand Tiwari eventually sent the film's final cut to the executives of Netflix India, who approved to release the film online. Thus it became the first Indian film to be released directly on a streaming platform. The film was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival, held in China in April 2019.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: In 2020, Tiwari created, produced and directed the web series "Bandish Bandits" along with Amritpal Singh Bindra. The series feature debutants Ritwik Bhowmik as Radhe Rathod, a Hindustani Classical musician and Shreya Chaudhary as Tamanna Sharma, a pop singer, who hail from different worlds of music. Exploring the debate of music being a discipline versus a means of liberation. "Bandish Bandits" released on 4 August 2020, through Amazon Prime Video. It received positive response from critics and audiences, praising the performances of the cast, writing and direction, songs and background score. It was listed by critics as one of the best Indian television shows of 2020. The series was nominated for seven Filmfare OTT Awards including Best Original Story for Tiwari.


title: Anand Tiwari

text: Tiwari is also filming for his second collaboration with Kaushal on an yet untitled film featuring Tripti Dimri which he will also produce.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: Downhill is a 2020 American black comedy-drama film directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, who also co-wrote the script with Jesse Armstrong. The film is a remake of "Force Majeure" (2014) by Swedish director Ruben Östlund. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell as a married couple going through a rough patch after a near-death encounter during a family ski outing.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: "Downhill" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020, and was theatrically released on February 14, 2020, by Searchlight Pictures, the first feature film to be released under the studio's new name following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $9 million worldwide.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: After believing they are about to be killed by an avalanche during a family ski vacation in Ischgl, Austria, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: It was announced in November 2018 that an English-language remake of the Swedish film "Force Majeure" would be directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, who both co-wrote the script with Jesse Armstrong. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell were cast to star. Miranda Otto, Zoë Chao and Zach Woods also joined the cast, in December. Kristofer Hivju appears in the film, the only original cast member from "Force Majeure" to be involved.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: "Downhill" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020. The film was released on February 14, 2020, replacing Fox's "The King's Man", which had been scheduled for that date.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: "Downhill" was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on May 19, 2020 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Downhill" was released alongside "Sonic the Hedgehog", "The Photograph" and "Fantasy Island", and was projected to gross around $4 million from 2,275 theaters in its four-day opening weekend. It made $2.6 million on its first day and $5.2 million over the four days, finishing tenth.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 37% based on 211 reviews, with an average of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fittingly named for a remake whose charms are dwarfed by its superior source material, "Downhill" is frequently -- and frustratingly -- less than the sum of its talented parts." On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an average 1 out of 5 stars, with 26% of people saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Downhill (2020 film)

text: On "RogerEbert.com", Nick Allen gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying, "It's yet another instance in which it's hard to not think about what could have been, especially since the original did it so much better."


title: Talitha Bateman

text: Talitha Eliana Bateman (; born September 4, 2001) is an American actress. After making her acting debut in a 2013 episode of the sitcom "The Middle", she has starred in the independent drama film "So B. It" (2016), the science fiction film "The 5th Wave" (2016), the supernatural horror film "" (2017), the disaster film "Geostorm" (2017), the romantic comedy film "Love, Simon" (2018), and the horror film "Countdown" (2019).


title: Talitha Bateman

text: Bateman was born in Turlock, California. She followed her elder sister to Los Angeles to start auditioning for roles. She has never taken acting classes. She is home schooled.


title: Talitha Bateman

text: Bateman's first screen appearance was on television, in a small role during a 2013 episode of the ABC sitcom "The Middle". She appeared in the pilot episodes of "Maker Shack Agency" and "Mamma Dallas", neither of which went to series. In 2015, Bateman appeared in three episodes of The CW's comedy-drama series "Hart of Dixie", playing the recurring role of Scarlett Kincaid during the fourth season.


title: Talitha Bateman

text: On film, Bateman played Kayla in the science fiction horror film "The Hive", which premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2014. She played Teacup in the science fiction film "The 5th Wave" and Nicole in the comedy film "Nine Lives", both of which were released in 2016.


title: Talitha Bateman

text: Bateman played the lead character of Heidi DeMuth in the independent drama film "So B. It", which was produced in 2015 and was picked up for release in 2017. Also that year, she played the title role of Janice / Annabelle Higgins in the supernatural horror prequel film "" and as Hannah Lawson in the science fiction disaster film "Geostorm".


title: Talitha Bateman

text: In 2018, she starred as Nora Spier in the romantic comedy film "Love, Simon", alongside Jennifer Garner, who she also co-starred with in "Nine Lives". In 2019, she appeared in the supernatural horror film "Countdown" (2019), starring alongside Elizabeth Lail and Jordan Calloway


title: Neville Brand

text: Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and "films noir", and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his performance in "Riot in Cell Block 11" (1954).


title: Neville Brand

text: During World War II, Brand served in the 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division in the U.S. Army, in the European theatre. He received multiple meritorious citations for his service, including the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.


title: Neville Brand

text: Neville Brand was born in Griswold, Iowa, one of seven children of Leo Thomas Brand and the former Helen Louise Davis. His father had worked as an electrician and bridge-building ironworker in Detroit. Neville was raised in Kewanee, Illinois, where he attended high school. After his schooling he helped support the family, employed as a soda jerk, waiter, and shoe salesman in Kewanee.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand entered the Illinois Army National Guard on October 23, 1939, as a private in Company F, 129th Infantry Regiment. He was enlisted in the United States Army as Corporal Neville L. Brand, infantryman on March 5, 1941.


title: Neville Brand

text: He trained at Fort Carson and served in World War II, seeing action with B company, 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division (Thunderbolt Division) in the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central European campaigns. Brand, a sergeant and platoon leader, was wounded in action along the Weser River on April 7, 1945. He was shot in the upper right arm and nearly bled to death.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration for valor in the U.S. military, for gallantry in combat. His other awards and decorations were the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three Battle Stars, one Overseas Service Bar, one Service Stripe and the Combat Infantryman Badge. In a 1966 interview Brand explained the Silver Star, stating that withering fire from German machine guns in a hunting lodge kept him and his unit pinned down. "I must have flipped my lid," he said. "I decided to go into that lodge." He was discharged in October 1945.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was sometimes cited in media reports as the 4th most-decorated American serviceman of the war, but this was incorrect and repeatedly denied by Brand himself.


title: Neville Brand

text: After his discharge, Brand worked on a 1946 Army Signal Corps film with Charlton Heston and next settled in Greenwich Village and enrolled at the American Theatre Wing, working off-Broadway, including Jean-Paul Sartre's "The Victors". He also attended the Geller Drama School in Los Angeles on the G.I. Bill.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand had an uncredited bit in "Battleground" (1949) and "Port of New York" (1949). His first credited part was in "D.O.A." (1950) as a henchman named Chester. His hulking physique, rough-hewn, craggy-faced looks and gravelly voice led to his largely playing gangsters, Western outlaws and various screen "heavies", cops and other tough-guy roles throughout his career.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was uncredited in "My Foolish Heart" (1949), "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1950) (both starring Dana Andrews), and curiously "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" where he plays a significant early role as James Cagney's fellow chain gang inmate, (1950) but had a good role on TV in "The Bigelow Theatre".


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand's parts slowly grew bigger: "Halls of Montezuma" (1951), "Only the Valiant" (1951), "The Mob" (1951), and "Red Mountain" (1951).


title: Neville Brand

text: On TV he did a short, "Benjy" (1951), and episodes of "The Unexpected" and "Your Favorite Story". He was in "Kansas City Confidential" (1952), "The Turning Point" (1952), and, notably, "Stalag 17" (1953).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was now much in demand as a support actor, appearing in "The Charge at Feather River" (1953), "The Man from the Alamo" (1953), and "Gun Fury" (1953).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand moved up to leading roles with "Man Crazy" (1953) and then "Riot in Cell Block 11" (1954). The latter role, as the leader of a prison uprising, earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actor at the 8th British Academy Film Awards, but he lost to Marlon Brando for "On the Waterfront". Brand was down the cast list for "The Lone Gun" (1954) but had the lead in "Return from the Sea" (1954).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand had a supporting role in "The Prodigal" (1955) and "The Return of Jack Slade" and guest roles in "Appointment with Adventure", "Screen Directors Playhouse", "Studio One in Hollywood", "Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre", "Chevron Hall of Stars", "Schlitz Playhouse", "General Electric Theater", "The United States Steel Hour", and "Stage 7".


title: Neville Brand

text: He had lead roles in "Bobby Ware Is Missing" (1955) and "Fury at Gunsight Pass" (1956) and supported in "Raw Edge" (1956), and "Mohawk" (1956).


title: Neville Brand

text: He had the distinction of being the first actor to portray outlaw Butch Cassidy, in the film "The Three Outlaws" opposite Alan Hale Jr. as the Sundance Kid. Though not the big-budget romp that the later Paul Newman–Robert Redford film was, both Brand's Cassidy and Hale's Kid were played as likable outlaws, a rare change from Brand's typecasting as a murderous psycho. He followed it with "Gun Brothers" (1956).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand became well known as a villain when he killed the character played by Elvis Presley in his debut film "Love Me Tender" (1956). He was in "The Way to the Gold" (1957), "The Lonely Man" (1957), "The Tin Star" (1957), "Cry Terror!" (1958), and "Badman's Country" (1958).


title: Neville Brand

text: He often had better roles on such TV shows as "Climax!", "Playhouse 90", "Target" and notably an adaptation of "All the King's Men" for "Kraft Theatre", directed by Sidney Lumet, playing Willie Stark, for which he earned a Sylvania Award in 1958.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was also a guest star on "The Texan", "Pursuit", Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, and "The Dupont Show of the Month" (doing "Body and Soul" with Ben Gazzara).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand twice portrayed Al Capone on the television series "The Untouchables," in the pilot and in the double episode "The Big Train", as well as often glimpses in flashback throughout the series.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was in "Five Gates to Hell" (1959), "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1960), "The Last Sunset" (1961), and "The George Raft Story" (1961), reprising his role as Al Capone in the latter.


title: Neville Brand

text: He guest-starred on "Straightaway", "Cain's Hundred", "Death Valley Days", "The Joey Bishop Show", "Naked City", "The DuPont Show of the Week", "Ben Casey", "Rawhide", "The Lieutenant", "Theatre of Stars", "Arrest and Trial", "Destry", "Wagon Train", "Suspense", "Combat!", "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza" and "The Virginian".


title: Neville Brand

text: He also portrayed a prison guard of "Birdman of Alcatraz", was second billed in "Hero's Island" (1962) and had a key role in "That Darn Cat!" (1965).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand co-starred with George Takei in "The Encounter," a 1964 episode of the "Twilight Zone", as a World War II veteran. CBS considered the episode's theme of US-Japanese hatred "too disturbing" to include when the series was syndicated. "The Encounter" was not seen after its initial airing until it was released on video in 1992 as part of the "Treasures of the Twilight Zone" collection.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand played a heartwarming character who was brain damaged and misunderstood in an episode of the television series "Daniel Boone". He guest-starred on "Tarzan".


title: Neville Brand

text: He was in "The Desperados" (1969) and played U.S. Navy Lieutenant Kaminsky, ignored as he tried to warn his commander of the opening skirmish in "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970).


title: Neville Brand

text: In the 1970s Brand could be seen in "Westward the Wagon" (1971), "Lock, Stock and Barrel" (1971), "The Chicago Teddy Bears", "", and "The Smith Family". He played Hoss Cartwright's (Dan Blocker) Swedish uncle Gunnar Borgstrom on "Bonanza" in the episode "The Last Viking".


title: Neville Brand

text: He was in "Longstreet", "Alias Smith and Jones", "Adventures of Nick Carter", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", "Two for the Money" (1972), "No Place to Run" (1972), "The Police Connection" (1972), "This Is a Hijack" (1973), "Cahill, U.S. Marshal" (1973) with John Wayne, "Scalawag" (1973), "The Magician", "The Deadly Trackers" (1973) with Richard Harris, "Killdozer" (1974), "Death Stalk" (1975), "Police Story", "Police Woman", "Barbary Coast", "Kojak", "Mobile One", "McCloud", "Psychic Killer" (1975), "Island of Adventure", "The Quest", and "Captains and the Kings".


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was top billed in "Eaten Alive" (1976) directed by Tobe Hooper. He was in "Fire!" (1977), "The Mouse and His Child" (1977), "Baretta", "Captains Courageous", "Man from Atlantis", "Quincy M.E.", "The Seekers" and "Hi-Riders" (1978). He had a key part in "Five Days from Home" (1978) directed by George Peppard, and in "Angels' Brigade" (1979).


title: Neville Brand

text: In 1980, Brand appeared as Major Marvin Groper in "The Ninth Configuration", written and directed by "The Exorcist" author William Peter Blatty.


title: Neville Brand

text: His final roles included "Fantasy Island", "Without Warning" (1980), "Harper Valley P.T.A.", and "The Return" (1982). He was top billed in his last film, "Evils of the Night" (1985).


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand was an insatiable reader who amassed a collection of 30,000 books over the years, one of the largest private libraries in Los Angeles. Most of his collection were destroyed in a 1978 fire at his Malibu home.


title: Neville Brand

text: His wartime service caused him post-traumatic stress disorder that led to bouts of alcoholism. In 1975, he said in an interview that his addiction had cost him most of his fortune.


title: Neville Brand

text: Brand died from emphysema at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, California, on April 16, 1992, at age 71. After a private funeral service he was cremated, and his remains were interred in a niche of the Morning Glory Room at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.


title: Shantae

text: Shantae is a series of platform games developed by WayForward. The eponymous heroine of the series, a half-genie, was created by Erin Bozon, while the games were created from this character by her husband Matt Bozon. The series consists of five games: "Shantae" (2002), "" (2010), "Shantae and the Pirate's Curse" (2014), "" (2016) and "Shantae and the Seven Sirens" (2019).


title: Shantae

text: Set in the fictional world of Sequin Land, the series follows Shantae, a half-genie who serves as the guardian of her hometown, Scuttle Town, and more generally Sequin Land as a whole, protecting it from various threats, which generally involve to some extent her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots. The setting displays oriental-inspired aesthetics with fantasy, dark fantasy and steampunk elements. All games involve collecting new powers and items, which vary from game to game, to strengthen Shantae and unlock access to new areas.


title: Shantae

text: Although released to strong reviews, the first game was a financial disappointment. Its poor sales are generally attributed to its late release on the Game Boy Color, which at the time had been succeeded by the Game Boy Advance. The series resurfaced in 2010 with "Risky's Revenge", and has since enjoyed more commercial success and a growth in popularity. The series has been met with strong critical reception, and is considered the flagship series of WayForward. By 2020, the series had sold more than three million copies.


title: Shantae

text: The character of Shantae was created by Erin Bell, the wife of Matt Bozon, the game's creator. In 1994, during their engagement, Erin got a flash of inspiration while coming back from her camp counsellor days, and created the character, naming her "Shantae" after one of the campers, as well as developing her dancing abilities. Matt later asked her what she would come up with if she was to create a video game character, and she introduced him to Shantae. Matt liked the idea and fleshed out the mythology and cast of the game. Erin imagined that the character could summon or charm animals by belly-dancing. This would later become the basis for the transformation dances. Matt has provided two contradictory stories about how the idea for the hair whip came to be: in one, he said he was inspired by the nine-foot-long hair of his wife, while in the other he claims that Erin's original sketches already featured Shantae using her hair as a weapon.


title: Shantae

text: Matt Bozon has stated that his main influences for the game series are "Castlevania", "Aladdin", "Mega Man", "The Legend of Zelda" and anime, mostly "Ranma ½" which he claims as a heavy influence, and others like "", Hayao Miyazaki's films, and "Pokémon", as well as 80s cartoons like "DuckTales" or "The Transformers", while Erin Bozon's main influence was "I Dream of Jeannie". The signature catchphrase from the franchise, "Ret-2-Go", was created by a friend of them who kept using it when they were working on animation clean up for the Warner Bros. animated film "The Iron Giant", and the expression made its way into the script as an inside joke. Matt also elaborated a bit on the development of Sky's character, who was initially named "Twitch" and had a different appearance. She was altered later on in development, and the original Twitch character served as the basis for a similarly-named character and her friend in "Shantae and the Pirate's Curse".


title: Shantae

text: When asked about whether the "Shantae" series was conceived as pushing feminist values because of its strong female cast, Matt Bozon acknowledged that he liked to portray the Shantae world as having the girls "run the show" and not be defined solely by their appearances. While he admitted that most female characters had a deliberately sexy design to them, and the male characters often displayed a variety of weaknesses, he also said that he just liked depicting Shantae's world this way "for no precise reason", and that it was certainly possible that strong male characters could appear later in the franchise's future.


title: Shantae

text: Shantae is a half-genie, the daughter of a human father and genie mother. She is described as having few magical abilities, including being capable to whip her hair as a weapon, but has a strong sense of right and wrong and is a skilled dancer.


title: Shantae

text: Mimic is a member of the Relic Hunters, a society of treasure hunters who unearth and study ancient artifacts. Although not related to her by blood, he is Shantae's adoptive uncle, as he raised her after her parents' disappearance.


title: Shantae

text: Sky is Shantae's friend, a war bird trainer and the daughter of a Relic Hunter herself. Never seen without her pet war bird Wrench, she is described as being in a hurry to grow up. Sky appears as a playable character in "Half-Genie Hero"s "Friends to the End" mode.


title: Shantae

text: Bolo is Shantae's friend and sparring partner. He is described as being rather slow and very easily attracted to girls, though he seeks to prove himself as capable of being a hero. Bolo appears as a playable character in "Half-Genie Hero"s "Friends to the End" mode.


title: Shantae

text: Rottytops is a sentient zombie girl who is described as being mischievous and constantly looking for trouble for fun. After her first encounter with Shantae in the first game, although her behavior toward her remains ambiguous, in-game dialogue in "Shantae and the Pirate's Curse" reveals that she holds Shantae in great esteem and wants to be her friend. She has two brothers named Abner Cadaver and Poe. Rottytops appears as a playable character in "Half-Genie Hero"s "Friends to the End" mode.


title: Shantae

text: Risky Boots the lady-pirate is Shantae's evil nemesis and the series' primary antagonist. She constantly seeks to conquer Sequin Land or take revenge on Shantae for ruining her schemes. Risky is aided by her pirate crew, made up of tiny humanoid creatures called Tinkerbats. "Shantae and the Pirate's Curse" reveals that she was once second-in-command to a very dangerous being named the Pirate Master, and was corrupted by dark magic while serving him. Risky aids Shantae against the Pirate Master in "Pirate's Curse" and appears as a playable character in "Half-Genie Hero"s "Pirate Queen's Quest" mode.


title: Shantae

text: The first game in the series, "Shantae", was released for the Game Boy Color in 2002, and was met with generally positive responses. However, according to director Matt Bozon, the game sold poorly, due in part to releasing after the Game Boy Advance. However, the game has since gained significant recognition, with some reviewers considering it one of the best games released for the Game Boy Color.


title: Shantae

text: The game was re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on July 18, 2013, with a Nintendo Switch re-release releasing later on April 22, 2021, with a special Game Boy Advance-enhanced mode, featuring a bonus Tinkerbat transformation and save states, multiple display options, control improvements, and a mini art gallery.


title: Shantae

text: The second game in the series, "Shantae: Risky's Revenge", was released for the Nintendo DSi via the system's DSiWare service in 2010, and was later ported to iOS in 2011. The game received positive reviews, being awarded the Best Visuals and Best DS Game awards for 2010 from IGN.


title: Shantae

text: An enhanced port, titled "Shantae: Risky's Revenge – Director's Cut", was released for Microsoft Windows on June 14, 2014, PlayStation 4 on June 23, 2015, Wii U on March 24, 2016, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on October 15, 2020, and Google Stadia on February 23, 2021.


title: Shantae

text: The third game in the series, "Shantae and the Pirate's Curse", was released for Nintendo 3DS on October 23, 2014, and for Wii U on December 25, 2014, both via the Nintendo eShop. The game received critical acclaim, and was featured in the best sellers list on the 3DS eShop soon after release. The game was later ported to Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.


title: Shantae

text: The fourth game in the series, "Shantae: Half-Genie Hero", was crowdfunded via a Kickstarter campaign in 2013. The game was released digitally and physically on December 20, 2016 for Wii U, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and digitally on Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. It was also released on Nintendo Switch on June 8, 2017, and Google Stadia on February 23, 2021.


title: Shantae

text: The fifth game in the series, "Shantae and the Seven Sirens" was announced in March 2019 and released for Apple Arcade in September 2019. Ports for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released on May 28, 2020.


title: Shantae

text: Some characters from the series have made crossover appearances in other games: Shantae and Bolo appear as playable characters in the Apple Watch game "Watch Quest". A Shantae-themed microgame, "Shantae NAB!", was created by Matt Bozon in "WarioWare D.I.Y." and distributed by Nintendo as one of its "Big Name Games" entries. Risky Boots was meant to be featured in "Hyper Light Drifter" by Heart Machine, as part of a mutual support action between the Kickstarter funding campaigns for that game and "Half-Genie Hero", but this was absent from the final game. Shantae appeared as a guest character in "Mutant Mudds Super Challenge" and in "Runbow" and "Blaster Master Zero" as a downloadable guest character. Both Shantae and Risky Boots appear in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" as spirits, with Shantae later becoming available as a Mii Brawler costume via downloadable content alongside the "Neo Burning Town" music track from "Shantae: Half-Genie Hero" on June 29, 2021. Shantae was planned to be featured as a playable supporting character in the crowdfunded game "Indivisible", but was later canceled.


title: Shantae

text: Plans for a sequel to "Shantae" started soon after its release. In the early 2000s, WayForward exprimented with protoyping a 3D "Shantae" game for the GameCube, but these plans were set aside in favor of focusing on a handheld sequel.


title: Shantae

text: "Shantae Advance", also known as "Shantae 2: Risky Revolution", was a sequel that was in development for the Game Boy Advance, but was canceled after not being picked up by a publisher. A demo of the first world was developed, and while not released to the public, WayForward streamed a full playthrough of it on October 3, 2013, as part of a promotion for the crowdfunding of "Half-Genie Hero".


title: Shantae

text: "Shantae Advance" was planned to consist of eight chapters of gameplay split over seven towns, six islands, and six labyrinths; this was estimated to take about twenty hours to play through. In addition to the regular gameplay, six minigames and a multiplayer battle mode were planned. Four of the labyrinths were supposed to be based on the four seasons; the first labyrinth, which was featured in the demo, was based on autumn, and its hub room was filled with falling autumn leaves. The story of "Shantae Advance" involved Risky having her Tinkerbats digging under Sequin Land, and putting a pillar in the middle, allowing the land to be rotated. This could be used in the gameplay to rotate the world, lining up the foreground with objects in the background, thus giving the player access to new areas.


title: Shantae

text: New gameplay elements for "Shantae Advance" included the ability to move between the foreground and background, swimming, flying in 3D on the back of Sky's bird Wrench, and some new forms for Shantae to transform into; these included a new version of the spider, a crab, and a mermaid. Many of these features were ultimately implemented into later titles; background movement, swimming, and the mermaid transformation were introduced in "Risky's Revenge", while flying on Wrench and all three transformations were used in "Half-Genie Hero". As with the original game, "Shantae Advance" was developed by Matt Bozon on his own time.


title: Shantae

text: Another attempt at a "Shantae" sequel was "Shantae: Risky Waters", a game planned for the Nintendo DS with experimental gameplay taking advantage of the double screen function of the console. Plans were scrapped after WayForward failed to find a publisher as well.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Bruce Howard Kulick (born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union with John Corabi from 19972002 and Blackjack from 19791980.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick has also released several solo albums, in addition to session work with various artists. He is the younger brother of guitarist Bob Kulick.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick was born in Brooklyn, New York City and lived in Queens for a time, graduating from Newtown High School. He is Jewish and also went to Hebrew school.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick's brother, session guitarist/producer Bob Kulick, was influential in his music career. Bob's performance credits include W.A.S.P., Meat Loaf's touring band, and Kiss.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Bruce's first band KKB, was formed in 1974. Its other members were his childhood friends Mike Katz and Guy Bois (the other K and B of KKB, respectively) and Kulick likened its sound to that of Cream. Kulick found the master tape from those sessions in 2008 and issued it via limited edition CD, available during his appearances at Kiss expos and via his website. In an interview from 2008, Kulick also discussed his lifelong love of "Star Wars" and its historical similarities to Kiss.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: In 1977, following the release of Meat Loaf's first album "Bat Out of Hell", Kulick played rhythm guitar/lead guitar on tour with Meat Loaf's band alongside his brother Bob on lead guitar/rhythm guitar. The success of the year-long tour took the Kulick brothers around the world. In addition to the success of the tour, many famous television appearances were done, such as "Saturday Night Live" and "The Old Grey Whistle Test".


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick was a member of the band Blackjack, with Michael Bolton, during the band's short existence from 1979 to 1980. He also played on several Bolton solo albums. (Bolton later co-wrote the Kiss song "Forever", from "Hot in the Shade").


title: Bruce Kulick

text: "Stay", a Blackjack song co-written by Kulick and Bolton, was sampled by rapper Jay-Z for the song "A Dream" off his 2002 album "" which reached #1 on the Billboard charts.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick joined the Long Island-based band the Good Rats in 1981, and is on their album, "Great American Music".


title: Bruce Kulick

text: In 1983, Bruce was asked to join Michael Bolton as his guitarist for his debut album release tour, after Bolton anglicizing his family name from Bolotin.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick joined the rock band Kiss in September 1984 as the lead guitarist, replacing Mark St. John, who left the band after being diagnosed with reactive arthritis. Kulick never wore onstage makeup, since the band had stopped wearing it in 1983. Kulick and St. John are the only two members of Kiss never to have worn makeup in the band. He stayed with Kiss until 1996.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick played on five Kiss studio albums: "Asylum" (1985), "Crazy Nights" (1987), "Hot in the Shade" (1989), "Revenge" (1992) and "" (1997); he also appeared on "Alive III" and "MTV Unplugged". The song "I Walk Alone", from "", is the only Kiss track to feature Kulick as lead vocalist. To this day, Kulick is featured on more than twenty Kiss releases.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: When the original members of the band regrouped, starting in 1995 with the "MTV Unplugged" special that carried over into re-adopting their make-up and costuming for the Alive/Worldwide Tour in 1996, Kulick and Eric Singer were paid weekly during the tour; while "sidelined" from Kiss, both were allowed to do other projects so long as Simmons and Stanley okayed them. Kulick officially left Kiss in December 1996. When Ace Frehley again left Kiss (in 2002, after the Kiss Farewell Tour), Kulick was not asked to rejoin, as Simmons and Stanley thought that Tommy Thayer (former Black 'n Blue guitarist and Kiss tour manager) could capture/copy Frehley's persona better than Kulick; however, Kulick continued to work with Kiss after his departure, contributing work to the "Psycho Circus" album. Kulick joined the band on Kiss Kruise 2021 and played on 2 songs, Tears Are Falling and Heaven's on Fire.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Soon after leaving Kiss, Kulick formed the band Union with John Corabi, Brent Fitz, and Jamie Hunting in 1996. Corabi and Kulick wrote what would become the first album, the self-titled "Union", which was released in 1998. They proceeded with a nationwide acoustic tour to promote the album, featuring just Corabi and Kulick (both on guitar). Soon the full band went on a world tour headlining small venues in support of the album. Their second album 1999's "Live in the Galaxy", was a live recording with two acoustic tracks recorded in a mobile studio. The third Union album was "The Blue Room" (2000).


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick is the lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, with whom he has been playing since 2000. Kulick had originally met Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer when Brewer was performing with Bob Seger during the 1983 tour with Michael Bolton.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick has released three solo albums: "Audiodog" in 2001, "Transformer" in 2003, and most recently "BK3", which was released on February 2, 2010.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick earned a writing credit on the song "Never Let Me Down" on the 2004 Kanye West album, "The College Dropout".


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick has also appeared on all album releases by Eric Singer's solo project ESP (Eric Singer Project): "Lost and Spaced" (1998), "ESP" (1999), and "Eric Singer Project: Live in Tokyo" (2006). Kulick also appeared on the DVD "Eric Singer Project: Live at the Marquee" (2006), which was filmed live in Australia.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick appears on the Lordi March 2006 album "The Arockalypse", playing lead guitar on the song "It Snows in Hell".


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Kulick cut a guest guitar solo for the track "The Edge of the Razor" (featured on the album "Emotional Coma") by Swedish metal group Lion's Share.


title: Bruce Kulick

text: Bruce is currently married to Lisa Lane Kulick. They met in 2008, and were married in 2014. They often perform together at events and online. They have no children.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 Esports (G2) is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in "League of Legends", "Valorant", "", "Hearthstone", "Rocket League", "Rainbow Six Siege", and "iRacing". The organization was founded in Spain on 24 February 2014 as Gamers2 by former "League of Legends" pro Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago and investor Jens Hilgers. The organization rebranded as G2 Esports on 15 October 2015.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2's "League of Legends" team competes in the "League of Legends" European Championship (LEC), the highest level of competitive "League of Legends" in Europe. The team has won nine domestic titles in Europe, the most of any organization, and became the only Western team to win the Mid-Season Invitational in 2019. The organization's "Rainbow Six Siege" team competes in the European League (EUL), the highest level of competitive "Rainbow Six Siege" in Europe. The team won the Six Major Paris 2018, European Pro League Season 8, the Pro League Season 8 Finals, DreamHack Winter 2018, Six Invitational 2019, and placed second at the Six Major Raleigh 2019 and European Pro League Season 11.


title: G2 Esports

text: Carlos Rodríguez resigned as CEO of G2 on 23 September 2022, amidst controversy surrounding his acquaintanceship with Andrew Tate, known for his misogynistic commentary on social media. He had previously been suspended from his position after a clip of him partying with both Andrew and Tristan Tate went viral. Commentators later suspected this incident to be the reason for G2 being denied a spot in the upcoming season of the Valorant Champions Tour. Carlos Rodriguez was later suspended from Riot-sanctioned competition until November 13, 2022, having to follow a sensitivity and executive training before being allowed back to the LEC.


title: G2 Esports

text: Gamers2 had made a start for "League of Legends" in 2014 with an initial roster of Top laner Jesper "Jwaow" Strandgren, jungler Sebastián "Morden" Esteban Fernández, AD carry Soler "Yuuki60" Florent, and support Hugo "Dioud" Padioleau.


title: G2 Esports

text: The team participated in the Spring Expansion Tournament, beating Reason Gaming in the seeding game and Team Strix in Round 1. G2 were knocked out of the tournament in Round 2 after being beaten by n!faculty.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 Esports has also a sister team in Spain competing in the EU Challenger Series, called G2 Vodafone, in representation of their sponsor Vodafone. They qualified for the 2016 EU Challenger Series Summer Split Qualifiers, but failed to qualify for the EU CS. They also won the Spanish 2016 Final Cup Spring Split.


title: G2 Esports

text: The team finished 1st in the Challenger Series season. They then took 2nd in the playoffs, thereby qualifying for the 2016 Spring EU LCS. Gamers2 qualified for the LCS by defeating SK Gaming 3–2.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 finished the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split regular season in 1st place. In the playoffs, they defeated Fnatic before winning the 2016 EU LCS in Rotterdam after beating Origen. This also meant that they had qualified for the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational tournament in Shanghai. G2 would represent Europe at the competition against 5 other teams. However, in the weeks before the tournament, the team took an infamous vacation and came to the tournament unprepared. Because of this, they lost 8 of their 10 games, their only two wins against the lowest ranked seed there. This also cost the EU LCS league its 1st seed for the 2016 World Championship later that year. This meant that the 1st seed for Europe of the 2016 Summer EU LCS would be at a disadvantage in the tournament.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 performed well in 2018 and got much further at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship than expected for a team considered an underdog, making it all the way to the Semifinals match. G2 lost to eventual world champion Invictus Gaming in the semis. Something the G2 team of 2018 was known for was unconventional picks in the bot lane; their AD carry Hjarnan was a rare Heimerdinger player.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 retooled their team for the 2019 season, releasing their bottom lane duo of Hjarnan and Wadid, and signing Mikyx as a new support and aquaring Caps as their new midlaner from their regional rival Fnatic. Since the team now had two midlaners, Perkz was sent to the bottom lane to roleswap to AD carry. G2 became the first team to be crowned LEC champions after they won its inaugural split post namechange from EU LCS on 14 April 2019, in a 3–0 sweep against Origen.


title: G2 Esports

text: After sweeping Team Liquid from North America 3–0 in the grand final of the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, G2 became the first European team to win a Riot-sponsored international tournament since Fnatic won the Season 1 World Championship. They finished first in the 2019 LEC Summer Split regular season and later defeated Fnatic 3–2 in the finals to secure their sixth domestic title.


title: G2 Esports

text: At the 2019 "League of Legends" World Championship, G2 finished runner-up, losing to Chinese team FunPlus Phoenix in the grand finals.


title: G2 Esports

text: In the 2020 LEC Spring Split, Perkz and Caps role-swapped for the split after Perkz expressed a desire to play mid lane again. G2 came first in the regular season, but lost their first playoff match against MAD Lions, resulting in a drop to the loser's bracket. From there, the team won the three remaining matches and ultimately won the split, claiming their seventh title and tying the record belonging to Fnatic. In Summer, G2 made it to the LEC playoffs; they lost to Fnatic 3–2 in the winner's bracket finals, but defeated Rogue in the loser's bracket finals and then defeated Fnatic in the Grand Finals rematch 3–0 to win the split. At the 2020 League of Legends World Championship, G2 made it to the semifinals, but were eliminated by eventual champion Damwon Gaming and finished in 3rd/4th place.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 revamped its roster for the 2021 LEC season, notably with trading longtime team captain Perkz to Cloud9 and acquiring Martin "Rekkles" Larson from Fnatic. While G2 finished at the top of the standings after the regular season of the 2021 Spring Split with a 14–4 record, they failed to win in the playoffs, first losing to MAD Lions, and then being eliminated by Rogue in the lower bracket. The team finished in second place in the regular season of the 2021 Summer Split, but lost to MAD Lions in the playoffs once again and were sent to the loser's bracket. There, they faced Rekkles's old team and long-time LEC rival Fnatic, and were defeated, eliminated G2 from contention. As a result, G2 failed to earn one of the LEC's three slots at Worlds, and 2021 marked the first year G2 failed to qualify for Worlds since joining the EU LCS in 2016.


title: G2 Esports

text: For the 2022 LEC season, G2 released Grabbz, Rekkles, Wunder, and Mikyx. Dylan Falco and BrokenBlade were acquired from the disbanding Schalke 04 Esports as the new head coach and top laner. Flakked and Targamas were acquired and promoted from non-LEC European leagues for the bottom lane. G2 finished fourth place in the Spring Split regular season with an 11-7 record and lost to Fnatic in their initial upper bracket playoff match. However, they went on to win out in the lower bracket, defeating Vitality, Misfits, Fnatic (in a rematch), and Rogue in 3-0 matches. This qualified them as the LEC representative at the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational. There, G2 initially performed strongly, sweeping ORDER and Evil Geniuses in the group stage, and getting a strong 4-0 start in the "rumble" stage. Including the LEC playoffs, G2 had gone on a 24 game winning streak. The streak was broken with a loss to PSG Talon, however, and G2 finished the rumble stage 5-5. Their record qualified them for the semifinals, but G2 was defeated by the LCK representative T1 in a decisive 3-0 sweep. Following the elimination from the World Championship, Jankos revealed to be parting ways with the G2 Esports organisation, ending a 5 year partnership with the team.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 Esports acquired the roster of Team Kinguin on 11 September 2015. G2 finished 3rd–4th at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 20 January 2016, G2 Esports announced that FaZe Clan had acquired their international Counter-Strike roster. G2 announced a new French-speaking roster on 1 February 2016 which consisted of Titan's former roster. On 9 April, shortly after placing 9–12th at the , G2 announced Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro would be replacing Kévin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans. G2 placed 2nd at the ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals on 16 May 2016 after losing 2–3 to Luminosity Gaming in the grand finals. G2 Esports won the Esports Championship Series Season 1 after beating Luminosity in the finals on 26 June 2016.


title: G2 Esports

text: With effect from 3 February 2017, 3 players from Team EnVyUs joined G2 Esports. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire and Nathan "NBK" Schmitt thus forming the "French Super Team". The players they replaced were Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom, who joined Team EnVyUs, Cédric "RpK" Guipouy, who also joined Team EnVyUs and Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux who became the head coach of G2 Esports.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 4 June 2018, Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux and Kevin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans replaced apEX and NBK- in the lineup. The latter two would go on to be acquired by Team Vitality on 8 October 2018.


title: G2 Esports

text: In November 2018, Audric "JaCkz" Jug and Lucas "Lucky" Chastang joined G2 while SmithZz and Ex6TenZ moved to the bench.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 30 September 2019, G2 acquired Nemanja "nexa" Isaković and Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač from CR4ZY replacing Lucky and Richard "shox" Papillon in the lineup.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 28 October 2020, G2 signed Nikola "NiKo" Kovac from FaZe Clan for an undisclosed fee. This move reunited NiKo with his cousin, huNter. G2 later released JaCkz, stating they did not want to pursue a six-man roster.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 5 March 2021, G2 benched kennyS, and brought back JaCkz into the active roster following a series of underwhelming results.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 7 November 2021, G2 made their first appearance as Major finalists at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, where G2 would finish second place to Natus Vincere.


title: G2 Esports

text: Following a dominant Natus Vincere during the latter half of 2021, many tier 1 teams adjusted their rosters for 2022. On 3 January 2022, G2 acquired 16-year old prodigy AWPer Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov from Natus Vincere Junior.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 23 January 2022, G2 announced their completed new roster. Long-time IGL nexa was swapped for Finnish IGL Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen from OG Esports. AmaNEK was benched and m0NESY replaced him as their primary AWPer. Former Team Vitality coach Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam joined as their head coach.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 revamped their roster again on 16 August. G2 signed Australian player Justin "jks" Savage from Complexity Gaming. Aleksib was benched and in his place Danish IGL Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen was signed from Copenhagen Flames.


title: G2 Esports

text: For the first time since signing a team all the way back in 2015, G2 failed to make a major going 1-3 and being eliminated from the RMR by Gamerlegion


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 announced the departure of XQTZZZ as he decided to step down; it was also announced that their analyst Swani would step in as interim coach.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 also announced that after 6 years they parted ways with their team manager Niak on November 1st.It was also announced on the same day that Serbian manager Petar "peca" Marković took the role of team manager.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 announced on November 15th that KennyS has departed the roster after 6 years with the organization.This marks the first time that the CS:GO division since 2016 hasn't had a French member.


title: G2 Esports

text: On the 18th of December,G2,after 5 years without a tier 1 LAN trophy,won the Blast Premier World Finals 2022,with Monesy being the MVP.


title: G2 Esports

text: Brandon "Lachinio" Lachin and Ted "0verZer0" Keil left the team, and Dillon "Rizzo" Rizzo and Jacob "JKnaps" Knapman were picked up on 22 February 2017.


title: G2 Esports

text: The team finished 7th–8th at the RLCS World Championship Season 5, despite being the No. 1 seed from North America, and then finished 9th–10th in Season 6 as the No.2 seed from North America.


title: G2 Esports

text: On 7 January 2019, the team dropped long-standing captain Cameron "Kronovi" Bills, and picked up Reed "Chicago" Wilen from Evil Geniuses. Kronovi went on to join Rogue. G2 then finished 2nd at the RLCS World Championship Season 7 with Chicago.


title: G2 Esports

text: G2 missed out on RLCS Season 8 Finals after a 2–5 finish and a fight through Promotion Playoffs to retain their spot for the following season. After finishing second ahead of playoffs in RLCS Season 9, G2 faced NRG in the semifinals of the NA Regional Championship, winning 4–3 in a close Game 7 to put them through to the grand finals to face Spacestation Gaming. They would go on to sweep Spacestation, crowning them the RLCS Season 9 North American Champions.


title: G2 Esports

text: Throughout RLCS X, G2 saw subsequent quarterfinal exits in playoffs in Regional Event #1 and Regional Event #2. The streak ended in Regional Event #3 when G2 were able to rematch and defeat The Peeps in the quarterfinals, before falling to Team Envy in semifinals. Due to consistent placements throughout RLCS X: The Grid, G2 were awarded the Wildcard slot at the RLCS Season X – Fall: North American Major where they would go on to finish 3rd–4th.