Concerts Photo Gallery 

A Rebel Open Mic

It’s been over a year since I last took pictures at a venue of live music. The past year and a couple months have presented drastic changes in the way life has been for all of us. Though now vaccinated and I carry my mask around too, I have been edging my way back into getting out to live music. The past year has created points of anxiety I had not anticipated or have experienced like this before. Heading out to the Rebel Lounge open mic has been helpful in…

Read More
Concerts Photo Gallery 

Photo Gallery: SkaterCon 5

SkaterCon 5 marks the last live music I was able to capture before we all went into self-quarantine mode. For that, I am happy because it stands one of my favorite events in Arizona. It is wonderful that it was able to go off without a hitch once again this year. That is from the professional skaters to the skating competitions to the live music, it is an excellent amalgamation of things coming together for the sole goal of celebrating skating. This year brought music from McRad, 16, Boneless Ones,…

Read More
Concerts 

One For the Bucket List

Bucket lists are things made to keep track of events, activities, or actions we want to achieve in our lives. Sometimes they are ever rotating things in and out and other times remaining pretty stationary in who sits on the top. Since I started doing photography with a DSLR camera, concert photography has created a bucket list of bands I want to photograph. One of those would be Youth Brigade, the Stern brothers who not only have left a mark with BYO Records and Punk Rock Bowling, but on East…

Read More
Concerts 

Putting the Politics In Punk

I’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 More
Concerts 

I Know You Well

Co-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 More
Concerts 

Going In Blind

Most of shows I go to accompanied by the breadth of music I catch tend to never lend to a full surprise. I always know a minimum of one band on a bill. Rarely is it where I haven’t the slightest clue on a show. However, in the case of Touché Amore and tour bill of Jerome’s Dream and Dangers, I went in completely unfamiliar. It was exciting watching bands I had no idea what to expect from beginning to end with a passionate crowd bolstering the energy in the…

Read More
Concerts 

Frantic Fun and Discovery

One of the pleasures of life is pure discovery. Going out to a place you have never been or taking a hiking trail that just caught your eye off the freeway. It brings a pure joy to seeing and experiencing the new things you took the chance to investigate. In the case of the night’s show, it was Retirement Party that was that discovery, coming through with Prince Daddy and the Hyena plus our local Troubled Minds. The guys of Troubled Minds are deservedly popping up more on the shows…

Read More
Concerts 

Twenty Five

I can count on one hand the amount of local bands that I followed in high school that still perform today. Of that handful, there is one that has elevated to an international success and I keep purchasing every release to date. That band is Authority Zero. When I first found them, it was twenty years ago when I got my driver’s license and started finding my taste in music. The first lineup I knew was Jason DeVore, Jeremy Wood, Bill Marcks, and Jim Wilcox. I made every effort to…

Read More
Concerts 

Double the Party, Four Times the Show!

Merriam-Webster defines party as a social gathering. For many, that is how most would define a concert or show. You could literally say we have double the party with both Pity Party and Dog Party on night’s bill. This is probably an obvious joke that has run its course over the time of their tour with Bad Cop/Bad Cop. No matter, it makes for a nice attention getter to talk about their stop in Phoenix with the added awesomeness of our local Venomous Pinks. Opening up was our local women,…

Read More