The Venetia Fair

The Venetia Fair fuse post-hardcore intensity and flamboyant glam-rock theatrics into a singular sound steeped in conceptual storytelling. Benny Santoro and Charles King launched the group in 2006 within their native Marblehead, Massachusetts, where an extended series of personnel changes preceded the 2009 arrival of bassist Samuel Parsons, keyboardist Joseph Occhiuti, and drummer Chris Constantino. That summer the Boston indie Red Blue Records issued the band’s debut, the ambitious two-part conceptual work titled The Circus. The following two years were consumed by relentless road work, and shortly before the 2011 EP The Pits appeared, Samuel Parsons departed; former Kiss Kiss bassist Mike Abiuso stepped in on bass, then shifted to guitar while Charles King moved to the bass position. Following their Warped Tour run, the band declared their exit from Red Blue Records in 2012 and turned to Kickstarter to finance the next full-length. By the end of that year they had secured enough pledges to self-release their sophomore album, Every Sick, Disgusting Thought We've Got in Our Brain, which surfaced in March 2013. A tier of the crowdfunding campaign allowed supporters to name a song for the band to cover, yielding the December 2013 EP …Basically Just Does Karaoke. In March 2015 Austin Ferrante of Analog Heart succeeded Chris Constantino behind the drum kit.