Concerts 

Kill Your TV Says Goodbye… For Now

A favorite local band of mine is coming to an end, for now. Not sure how long the break will be. They aren’t stopping on bad terms, just a member escaping to the cooler confines of Flagstaff for college. Hopefully we will see the Kill Your TV’s return down the road. Though for a possible last show, the PPC Estate was the perfect setting and the Kill Your TV performance was a fantastic transition into their break. One thing to spotlight in here is my visit to the intimate PPC…

Read More
Concerts 

Saying Goodbye To Warped Summers

The last song of a Warped Tour was played on Sunday, in West Palm Beach and with Pennywise performing it. Huge props to Kevin Lyman, who put on the tour for 24 years. He managed to not only maintain a successful tour for over two decades, but evolve it to survive the entire period. It started as a punk dominated festival in its first decade. Then to the vein of a lot of vocal punks, found the blossoming Emo and Hardcore scenes as they were coming up in the 2000’s…

Read More
Concerts 

The Things That Come Together

The stars are aligning more on tours these days. This isn’t the first time writing about it the last year, where a lineup is a mix of bands I’m excited to go see. It wouldn’t matter if separate or together, but it certainly amps up the excitement as one. That amped up excitement was just finding out that Street Dogs, Left Alone, and the Last Gang had announced they would be coming to town together. However, there was one day of show surprise. Thug Riot would make the trek up…

Read More
Concerts 

The Ska Must Go On

Ska has a long lineage of excellent music predating and inspiring sounds that would influence the genres of Reggae and Rocksteady. Most describe it as coming in three waves, the original out of Jamaica in the late 1950’s, the 2 Tone sound out of the U.K. in the 1970’s, and the third wave ska out of the punk scene in the late 1980’s. One of the most iconic bands to put the third wave ska on the map is the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. They were one of the first to…

Read More
Concerts 

The Triple Release

Album release shows are an excellent way to bring out everyone into one place to pick up and celebrate new music. They tend to usually be for a single release, and occasionally for a dual release. However, in this case we had three bands releasing three new albums of their own. This would be a first for my concert going, as Playboy Manbaby, T.O.S.O., and Not Confined had a brand new album this night. On top of those, we had Exxxtra Crispy playing to start the entire thing off. Exxxtra…

Read More
Concerts 

Masters of Melodic Punk

There are lineups you just look at and can tell will be amazing. A couple bands on the bill stand out and above a lot of their respective genre. In the case of this night at the Crescent Ballroom, it was just that. The tour paired the talented musicians of both Red City Radio and Lawrence Arms, alongside the fantastic discovery for me in Sincere Engineer opening it up. Sincere Engineer is the one person, acoustic act of Deanna. From the beginning she was entertained not just by performing these…

Read More
Concerts 

A New Lens of a Variety of Punk

For the near year I have had my camera, I have been shooting with just a 30mm lens. Since my financial situation has remedied itself, I finally invested in a second lens, a 50mm. The Dollyrots show was the perfect way to try it out. All photos from this night were using the new 50mm lens. It certainly is an ongoing learning experience. Although, I think the results of capturing all these excellent bands turned out well. It was a superb night of music from different angles of the punk…

Read More
Concerts 

The Skaters and the Punks

There are conventions popping up for plenty of hobbies and fascinations. The most popularized model is the comic and pop culture convention. Furthermore, it is inspiring fans of other hobbies to organize conventions and gatherings for their favorite hobbies. One of the newer ones to pop up is the Phoenix Skatercon. A convention built around the skater culture, from skills to punk rock. The music brought excellent acts from Since We Were Kids to D.I. However, this whole convention is one that exceeded my expectations. In its third year, this…

Read More
Concerts 

80/20 Vision

You never know how long an endeavor is going to last. If it is something you are passionate about, you hope the rest of your life. It is why you celebrate each moment as the things that matter to you hit significant benchmarks. For 80/20 Records’ founder, Michael Zimmerlich, this year marks ten years of just that. It is ten years of him helping musicians get their music out there. I met him through one of my favorite locals that his label plays host to, Captain Squeegee. Then I kept…

Read More
Concerts 

Moving Music

When I entered Friday, I already knew there was a tussle for where I should go watch music. However, when I got the email back that I could take pictures of Skinny Lister and Will Varley, I knew my starting point. These are two bands I fell in love watching when introduced to me through two separate Frank Turner tours. A week prior finding out our local Cockswain had been added as openers and I knew that show was going to deliver. Of course, Valley Bar shows start pretty early…

Read More