The Venetia Fair

Mixing post-hardcore aggression with highly theatrical glam-influenced rock, the Venetia Fair offer a unique hybrid with a thematic bent. Formed in 2006 by lead singer Benny Santoro and guitarist Charles King in their hometown of Marblehead, Massachusetts, the band went through various lineup shifts before settling down in 2009 with the additions of bassist Samuel Parsons, keyboardist Joseph Occhiuti, and drummer Chris Constantino. Their debut, an ambitious two-part conceptual album called The Circus, was released in the summer of 2009 on Boston indie Red Blue Records. The band spent the following two years touring hard, and just prior to the release of their 2011 EP The Pits, bassist Samuel Parsons was replaced by former Kiss Kiss member Mike Abiuso, who briefly filled in on bass before taking over the guitar role from King, who became the new bassist. After a stint on the Warped Tour, the Venetia Fair announced they were leaving Red Blue Records in 2012 and would be funding their next LP via Kickstarter. In late 2012, they successfully raised the funds to self-release their first sophomore album, Every Sick, Disgusting Thought We've Got in Our Brain, which arrived in March 2013. One of the pledge rewards from their crowd-funding campaign was that fans could request a song for the band to record a cover version of. This resulted in the EP …Basically Just Does Karaoke, which they released in December of 2013. In March of 2015, Constantino was replaced on drums by Austin Ferrante of the band Analog Heart. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi