Concerts 

Therapy For the Speed Bumps

Life likes to challenge your ability to do what you love. The ones you stick with through the hard parts are the things you tend to care for the most. I suppose that is part of the challenge. Life wants to tell you that the only way to survive is paying the bills and doing the job to that end. I ask where the fun in that is. What fun would life be if you were to be part of the status quo? If you only have one life to…

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Concerts 

The Brews and The Punks

Around twenty three years ago, NOFX released their fifth album, “Punk in Drublic.” Flash forward to now and it has become a full-fledged beer sampling, punk rock show. Phoenix was lucky enough to be added to the list of cities hosting the festival. The line ups vary from city to city with NOFX across the board joined by multiple amazing punk bands such as Bad Religion, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Less than Jake, Goldfinger, and more. The Phoenix stop had the line-up of NOFX, Bad Religion, Goldfinger, Authority Zero, and Guttermouth…

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Concerts 

The Enthusiasm of Pessimism

When Bomb the Music Industry started playing, I was too busy graduating from college and becoming a cog in the corporate machine. I fell out of following music outside of a couple bands while I worked for GameStop. After leaving that position, I had to work to find my stress free environment which brought me back to following music in 2011. However, by the time I got to discovering Jeff Rosenstock, it was after Bomb the Music Industry had ceased playing. The closest thing I could do was track down…

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Concerts 

Friends Coming Together

Birthday shows tend to be a more common occurrence as I meet more within our music scene. They bring out the friends and musicians. Some I don’t get the pleasure to see as often as I would like. In the case of tonight, I got to catch someone who I have missed play for a while, someone I had not seen before, and a bunch of regular bands I love to see live. Opening up the night was the birthday girl herself, Cecilia. Playing with her friend on guitar, the…

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Concerts 

The Rockin’ Folk

Music is a therapy. It is something that is a great place to forget your stress. For me, it is how I started this frequenting of shows. The venues are a place of letting the mind escape on the chords of the instruments, the rhythm of the drums, and words of the lyrics. Catching the three bands of this night, Dirty Sunset, Foresteater, and Valley Queen, were another example of that amazing therapy. The night opened up a little more folky with Dirty Sunset. These guys play a bluegrass and…

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Concerts 

Did I Say I like a Rocking Guitar?

The annual Viva PHX music festival has been a place to see the bands that I love playing and catch some new ones. This year that included the guys of Rozwell Kid and their praise of the AT&T moon. Granted, these guys were touring with Jeff Rosenstock and the Menzingers so I would have caught them no matter where they played. However, they jumped high onto my radar once I saw them play at Viva PHX. For the first tour since, they came through with two bands I hadn’t heard…

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Concerts 

The Overlapping Tastes

If you told me there would be a tour with Reverend Horton Heat, Fishbone, and Strung Out on it, I would have given you an askew response. I think highly of all three bands, but together on one stage I wouldn’t imagine. However, it makes complete sense after a little thought. There are a bunch of crossover fans from the three genres of punk, ska, and rockabilly. With that, we got fantastic performances plus a great surprise in the opening Los Kung Fu Monkeys. Entering the show I had a…

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Concerts 

DIY Punk At the Rats Ass

The DIY scene goes hand and hand with the punk scene. Many come in the form of homes turned into venues. A couple DIY spaces are official establishments that cater to a broader range like 924 Gilman and our own local Trunk Space. One of the better ones to pop up was the Rats Ass. The venue since this show has shut down. Although fear not, it has reopened under a new name. Even under the new name, you must “ask a punk” to find the address. I arrived late…

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Concerts 

Punk Pals

Personality is the word I would use to describe the night. This will be repeated throughout below. Personality is the most common trait of every band that played the First or Last album release. A unique acoustic set from Rundown to the hard rockers of Alex Squared. Opening up was Rundown Roommates in a more unplugged form. Elliot and Tyler sat adorned stools on the Yucca stage. They both had acoustic instruments, guitar and bass. Like their full band sets they kept the charm you find in a regular set.…

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Concerts 

A Little Taste of Americana

It has been longer than I like to go between posting shows. At the volume I attend, this thing just piles up. Unfortunately, the day job that has funded this for four years has let me go. The past couple weeks have been applying to jobs and getting used to the additional stresses. I want to say an up front apology for the longer delay. With that though, I’m excited to get back on this. The show I left off with was that of Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold, two…

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