It has been a while since I last attended a night of completely folk punk bands. The last time was back in June when Escape from the Zoo played the Trunk Space. Like that night, Bad Times played. Although in that case, it was just Diego. For this night, not only did we get all of Bad Times, but there was a first for me with Harley Poe and a favorite in the Homeless Gospel Choir. Opening up was the new look at Bad Times. Taking away the solo performance,…
Read MoreThere are bands that are just pure joy. That joy can come to an audience through the lyrics they write, the way they perform, or just in how they treat their fans. For me, the Aquabats bring all of those kind of joys. Not only that, they were the second ska band I got into after discovering the genre. The song that first grabbed my attention was the one about school lunch and a celebrated food, “Pizza Day.” I have been attending their performances for the past fifteen years, not…
Read MoreVenues define the personality of a show. How much a venue defines that personality varies from place to place. For some of the midsize to larger, it can create a distant experience. In those spaces, it is up to a band’s performance to engage the crowd more. However, the smaller spaces bring the sense of energy closer to both the fans and the bands. From the moment it was announced that Guttermouth was playing the Yucca Tap Room, I was excited. That is a room that the performance style of…
Read MoreI’ve seen it mentioned that with the current political climate, starting from 2016’s election, it would bring on a new generation of great political punk. However, I’ve always felt that was a misnomer. Punk bands have continued to rail against the political parties and policies. It is part of what is rooted in the beginnings of the genre and continues to permeate the songs from many punk bands to this day. It is scarier that songs from the infancy of the genre stand pretty accurate to modern day politics. That…
Read MoreCo-headlining tours are becoming more frequent with time. It is two large or popular bands coming together, alternating headliner spot each night. These tours are, most of the time, of the same genre and fan bases. Though one outlier comes to mind when Anti-Flag and Reel Big Fish teamed up. However, even in that case it brought a killer show and introduced me to Pkew Pkew Pkew. So when it was announced Face to Face and Lagwagon were doing this thing, I was ecstatic. Of course, even with two known…
Read MoreAuthenticity goes a long way. It is being true to oneself. It is not giving another version of you in front of others. For some people, they have a public version and a private version of themselves. This is the case with musicians, where the lyrics written are not always about oneself. They may be telling a story or creating a persona different from their own. With Frank Turner, he puts himself into his lyrics and is true to who he is during any performance. His latest visit in a…
Read MoreIf you’re lucky, sometimes things come together in a perfect way. Perhaps it is just that right sound with a band out of the gate. Maybe it is getting to see your favorite band reunite in original form. In the case of this night’s show, it was three former U.S. Bombs members coming together once again with a new band, the United X Bombs. Before and after them on this night joined the Venomous Pinks and the Vulturas, out of California, to mark the occasion. The new look Venomous Pinks…
Read MoreSometimes you just got to power through the pain for things you love. That applies to this night’s show in two ways. First, I was two days removed from spraining my knee in the pit at Agent Orange. However, I’d been looking forward to seeing friends in the Bombpops and these three bands together for about two months. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to be there even if I had to wear a compression brace to be able stand for it. Second, it was the Nile Underground. If…
Read MoreThere are bands that when they come to town, it makes for a night to not miss. Perhaps it is because they are your favorite band. Perhaps it is the time passed since they last visited. It might be they put one magical performance every single time. In the case of this pair of bands, it is the latter two. It has been a big gap for The Avengers and Stiff Little Finger’s last visit, as a full band, to Phoenix. Up first were the Bay Area punk rockers, The…
Read MoreThe compilation is a time honored tradition to find new music on the music labels you know. Labels have been doing it for decades now, giving you a sampling of artists and tracks off of their latest release. There were countless labels with each their own, like Punk-O-Rama and Fat Music for Fat People. A time honored tradition these days by many labels that have transitioned to doing comps digitally. In a similar fashion, you can find a few labels putting together a tour package of their latest album releasing…
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