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<p>SCRANTON&#8212;</p><p>Chris James and CJ Krukowski have seen a lot of local bands come and go - and they&#8217;ve been part of most of them.</p><p>&#8220;I kind of bagged it for awhile. I was driving trucks (and) that was it,&#8221; James said. &#8220;Then these guys&#8217; lead singer left and a friend put the two of us together and said we were a good fit. We sat at Perkins in 2012 and hashed it out.&#8221;</p><p>That moment in Perkins produced Threatpoint, a Scranton-based groove metal band that counts The Doors, Blondie, Megadeth and Devo among its influences.</p><p>&#8220;I grew up with stuff like the Eagles, BeeGees. I have a mix of everything,&#8221; James said. &#8220;Then I got into Iron Maiden when I was 8 year -old. My cousins were older (and) I remember listening to the album and thinking, &#8216;This is awesome.&#8217; I guess I was just born twisted.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;My dad listened to a lot of &#8217;80s new wave stuff like Devo and Talking Heads,&#8221; Krukowski added. &#8220;I love that stuff. I like to listen to a lot of it to get away from (metal).&#8221;</p><p>James, Krukowski and the other members of Threatpoint all carry their influences into the writing process, which the band approaches the traditional way - they meet together and construct songs as a democracy. The bands plans to enter the studio in October to record their third full-length, but before that they&#8217;re heading on their first West Coast tour.</p><p>Threatpoint&#8217;s tour will take it to Oklahoma, Texas, Idaho and various other stops before the band hits the West Coast and does it all again on the way home. The band will headline a tour kickoff show at The V Spot in Scranton on Aug. 29, where it will play with diverse openers and debut a couple firsts.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re playing with a band called Blue Coal,&#8221; Krukowski said.</p><p>&#8220;They sound like Eddie and the Cruisers,&#8221; James added. &#8220;They&#8217;re unique. The show (also) has an &#8217;80s cover band called Threat Level. Then there&#8217;s us (and) we&#8217;re going to have a new stage show (and) a new bassist, Matt Van Fleet.&#8221;</p><p>Van Fleet was the friend who got James and Krukowski together in the first place and the two refer to bringing him into the fold as the band coming full-circle. Other than a couple firsts and a few eclectic openers, James and Krukowski promise an energetic live show that may even feature a few metal-tinged covers of classic rock tunes like Heart&#8217;s &#8220;Barracuda.&#8221;</p><p>Threatpoint is kicking off its West Coast tour on Aug. 29, but the band is thinking even bigger - it&#8217;s making plans to visit England, Scotland and Ireland, and finalizing dates at home for Oct. 30 (a special Halloween show with fellow Scranton metal act Curse of Sorrow), and its first Thanksgiving Eve show.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scranton-based groove metal band Threatpoint is playing a kickoff show for their west coast tour on Aug. 29 at The V Spot in Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Threatpoint1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scranton-based groove metal band Threatpoint is playing a kickoff show for their west coast tour on Aug. 29 at The V Spot in Scranton. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO:</strong></p><p><strong>Where:</strong> The V Spot in Scranton</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Saturday, Aug. 29, 9:30 p.m.</p><p><strong>Ticket price:</strong> $5</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Scranton’s Threatpoint plays last hometown show before heading west