Oh....man, how this kills me. I love Masters of the Hemisphere with a rather slavish passion, and have never seen them live. Athens, Georgia's premiere boy band played their Last Show Ever on November 23, 2002, at the 40 Watt. A little while later they played another show. And now they're getting back together again to play with Je Suis France for a couple shows in April and May.

You have no idea how much this is killing me.

UPDATE: Sean Rawls has updated the Masters of the Hemisphere website with a note to assure everyone that they are NOT getting back together permanently, only for these shows. He also provides an update on the current projects for all the band members. Check it out.

Also, as the comments in this blogpost indicate, Darren from mastersofthehemisphere.com has posted other rare Masters MP3s at his blog A Bunch of Beatniks Riding a Rocket. In particular check out his compilation Recycling the Throwaways and his EP of rare Masters of the Hemisphere tracks, Terminal. Thanks for letting us know, Darren!

Masters of the Hemisphere Reunion Shows

4/28 Underlying Themes - Lexington, KY With Je Suis France, The Wee Turtles, Bugs Eat Books, Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and Triple Velcro

4/29 40 Watt - Athens, GA TWILIGHT DELIRIUM (aka BACHELOR ZAP) With Je Suis France, The Wee Turtles, Bugs Eat Books, Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and Triple Velcro

5/6 Melting Pot - San Francisco, CABRAHFEST (aka BIRTHDAY ZAP) With Je Suis France and Lil' Flip Scoldjah

But in related news, a few months ago the Masters of the Hemisphere homepage was updated with quite a lot of rare MP3s. You can make a very nice B-sides album out of it. But don't miss these, which are not on the site, but which I will host for celebratory purposes:

Kermit's Bells (unreleased)

Elevator Action (unreleased)

Red Green Stables (unreleased)

Minute Map (from the Japanese I Am Not a Freemdoom)

Coat of Arms (alternate version)

Better Things (demo)

She Plays Guitar (demo)

Gorgar's Room (demo)

Rules of Life (demo)