Concerts Photo Gallery 

Photo Gallery: Escape From the Zoo at Big Surf House

What a time to start getting caught up on photos I have taken. Right now we are show less live, but plenty of online streams by a lot of our favorites. Though while shows were happening and we weren’t being asked to self-quarantine, there was an excellent folk punk show at the house known as Big Surf. In town, we had the Folk Ska Punk band, Escape From the Zoo. Joining them again on this tour would be Marissa, Jesse Sendaja’s sister, solo and this time with additionally with her…

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Concerts 

A Day at the Sidepony Express

A little over a year ago, this festival out of town was brought to my attention. Even though I knew one of the organizers, it was not until I formally met another that it truly sunk in to go. Unfortunately, last year had an overlap of our local Phoenix Ska Punk Bowling and bad combination of not taking Monday off for the longer road trip. However, this year, I took the plunge down to Bisbee and the Sidepony Express Music Festival. Sidepony Express is a festival on its 8th year…

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Concerts 

This Is A Protest Song

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,…

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Concerts 

Super Rad!

There 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…

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Concerts 

A Night of Storytelling

Authenticity 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…

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Concerts 

A Familiar Pair

How often do you see a two band show? I feel like it is rare that any show I attend isn’t a minimum of three. However, that is exactly what happened on Streetlight Manifesto’s latest trip to Phoenix with Kitty Kat Fan Club. Although with bands this good, two is a good number. Our openers were Kitty Kat Fan Club, a familiar group to anyone who went to the last times that Streetlight Manifesto or Koo Koo Kanga Roo came to town. I was in attendance at both, though felt…

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Concerts 

Come For A Pair of Bands, Get a Pair More

There are musicians from the first song you know that you just want to keep listening to after. On a tour last year with Lawrence Arms and Red City Radio, there was a solo musician called Sincere Engineer. She came out with not only catchy and well written verses, but an honest stage presence that played well with the Phoenix crowd. She is one of those musicians that you look forward to catching once you’ve heard her. This time around she brought her full band alongside co-headliners Heart Attack Man,…

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Concerts 

Enthusiasm from Abroad

Perspective is a point of view. With a camera, the lens or lenses you use have the possibility to give you a change on your perspective. For this night, I challenged myself to only use the 85mm lens. When shooting pictures in a festival, like the Bash recently, it is a perfect way to get those closer shots on the big stage. In a smaller venue, such as the Rebel Lounge, it forces me to tackle my shots and angles in different ways and positions. Skinny Lister back in town…

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