A cool thing about these things is I get to bring bands to the forefront of people’s attention. I get to showcase bands I enjoy to see a lot. It creates an exercise in writing too, as I see bands more often trying to put different words into my take for the night. Tonight was a great night to see bands you don’t hear enough about from me that I think are fantastic, along with my usual staples of awesome local punk bands. Right off of the bat, I got…
Read MoreTwenty Years, two decades, those national crowds have been listening and watching both Anti-Flag and Reel Big Fish. That’s two thirds of my life they’ve been in my life, although my listening to either didn’t start until about two years after that listening to Ska Punk on the old Edge 106.3. Turning sixteen with a shiny new driver’s license, I filled that void of a quiet car with the local radio airwaves. This tour, while not an expected combination of headliners, brought me great excitement to watch two favorite bands…
Read MoreWhat do you do when there is a bunch of music in one night? If you’re me, you try to find the best way to hit as much as you love and enjoy it. For tonight, probably one of the best examples of how I earned my nickname, I hit up two separate shows almost simultaneously. In this case, it was an easier example with both 51 West and Yucca Tap Room being walking distance. It was catching a great combination of some awesome folk punk, punk, and rockabilly combined.…
Read MoreChange is inevitable and going to happen whether you want it to or not. Tonight brought forth a change you can see from the pictures with Yucca no longer having the black curtain behind the stage. I think it helps the stage look brighter and better, although based on the more than usual feedback has the audio bouncing around the room. The new look was brought with some of the fastest, loudest punk I’ve seen at the Yucca Tap Room tonight. Opening up was the band Thurston, who I’ve followed…
Read MoreMetaphors are a fun way to open up some piece of writing. I could go into the symbolism of a Phoenix for James or the lineup tonight for Down by Law being from the punkrockacademyfightsong album, their third and arguably most known album. No matter how I introduce it, the night was an awesome mix of punk rock with two more from out of town, Guilty By Associate from Vegas and Undefined from Prescott. Everyone brought the energy for this Tuesday night show. Energy is probably the thing that James…
Read MoreI spoke of never going to a show blind just a couple days ago, meanwhile, tonight I did it. With a invite from my friend Danielle and only watching a link to a Demon in Me song, I went in to see what great offerings there were to be found at 51 West. What started and ended acoustic, turned into a great mix of alternative and acoustic sounds ending on Demon In Me. Up first was a gentleman who goes under the name Midway Heights. While he mentioned that his…
Read MoreMoney, it is usually the enabler to see some of the touring musicians when they come to town. Money would somehow be what kept me from discovering Frank Turner until the release of Tape Deck Heart and not seeing him live for the first time until 2014. I had just discovered the awesome band, Larry and his Flask, at Warped Tour a little prior to the show at Crescent Ballroom so I should have been there in 2012. Though going back to school for a second degree, living off of…
Read MoreIt is rare an illness keeps me out of going to see music. Having a cold didn’t keep me from seeing Beck last year. However, when it includes a triple digit fever the body says different things on how long you’re going to make it on your feet. Getting that behind me was a blessing, and out to see the three bands tonight was one of the best things I’ve done in five days. However, before I even get to the first band of the show, let me first say…
Read MoreTonight was another gathering of good friends for music, though this time it was some we don’t see as often. Some Kind of Nightmare has been awesome enough to be coming to Phoenix to play shows and make a lot of great friends in the process. During this time Molly faced one of the biggest challenges of her life, breast cancer. Not only did she beat it, her and her husband plus bandmate, Chy, kept doing what they love playing and writing music. They are two of the strongest people…
Read MoreThe Aggrolites have a sound that took a little more for me to warm up to a few years ago. They are a ska band with the more traditional, older rocksteady sound. For whatever reason, I initially did not get into them. The first time I took a hard look at their music was when I saw Jesse Wagner play with Vic, from an all-time favorite ska band the Slackers, at a Punk Rock Bowling pool party. The duo was amazing and left me questioning why I hadn’t listened to…
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