merry christmas @ burger records 6.19.11

merry christmas played burger records today. they are my favorite indie rock band around right now. aaron kovacs the drummer for summer vacation was drumming for them, and they sounded really good. 'teenage jackie' sounded great as did their new song 'my personal experience'. they ended with 'new york and the picturebook to remember her by'. their set was really short but damn i love this band. i'm still singing "it's your heart/it's your heart and it's breaking mine".

gnarmageddon fest 2011 at the glasshouse 6.18.11

the first band i saw was resist and exist. they were an anarchist punk band from l.a. i think, and had the only female members of the day. musically they were okay.

jfa played next. it was cool to see them, but i don't know i guess i just didn't care too much. there best song was the charlie brown penuts gang theme song.

sabertooth zombie was my favorite set of the night. but then some girl stepped on the bouncers head before she stage dived, and before he could react her boyfriend did the same thing, and i felt really bad for the bouncer. it was funny though.

ill repute was another old punk band that i wasn't familiar with, and didn't really do much for me.

doa on the other hand rocked. i've never listened to them but joey shithead is a great frontman. he rocks the rock n roll high kick like no one i've ever seen.

agent orange was cool. blood stains rocked. el dorado was good. pipe line was sick.

i think next years fest will be better. i think the glasshouse said they're never doing another punk show.

loughton, the lovely bad things, feeding people, black elephant, pangea @ the lovely bad pad 6.17.11

the lovely bad pad is in la mirada, and all of the bands played in this tiny garage. it was really hot during every set so by the end of the show i didn't care too much anymore. it was a party though and everyone was drinking and such in the backyard which was a lot of fun. definitely an ideal place for shows. this was a burger records night, and it showed. a ton of kids came out. there was no touring band or a real headliner, but still a huge turnout. i'm suprised how many kids have responded to this scene.

loughton played their first show on friday. it was a really quick set, 3 songs and a cover. each song was about a minute and a half, but they were really good. my second favorite set of the night besides pangea. they covered bloodstains by agent orange. it rocked

i haven't seen the lovely bad things in a while. they have played some bigger shows since the last time i've seen them and it shows. they've gotten much better. they played new songs and the new songs sounded good. looking forward to see where these guys go. they're putting out a new tape on burger and going on a west coast tour soon. keep on the lookout for that.

this was the first time i saw feeding people, and they were what i expected. the garage lights kept getting turned off and for some reason i liked them more when the lights weren't on.

pangea was the best band of the night. they fucking rock. straight forward pop punk done really well. they were fun, and if their song writing improves they'll be untouchable.

black elephant kind of disappointed me. i really really like their recordings, but they didn't really sound like that live. they have potential, i hope they live up to it. plus it was way too hot in that garage to be dressed in shirts and ties. you don't have to dress up to play music. who are we kidding?

media blitz record release show @ pepz pizza 6.10.11

i went to pepz pizza in la habra last night to celebrate the release of media blitz's new 7" a voice of our own. pepz was pretty awesome, it was a great place for a punk show. pizza, beer, galaga, and music: what more could one ask for? plus the show was free to boot. the shrills played first. they were pretty fun lo-fi surfy garagey i don't know. they sounded like audacity and a lot of other bands around right now, but they were fun nonetheless. they had three guitar players, i'm not sure if that was completely necessary, but they got surprisingly rowdy. i hung out outside for the next two bands, i just didn't really care. i'm not sure who played, and i'm not sure if i really missed anything. media blitz played a really fun set. they played 18 songs. jason said it was the longest set they've ever played. by the end he looked tired. they played new songs from the 7", and they sounded great. i really liked "drown me" and "don't slow down". kids were stagediving off the arcade games. it was pretty funny. they ended with a cover of "fight for your right" which was awesome. there was cake, balloons, and party hats. it was definitely a celebration, and the attendees got down.

archers of loaf @ the troubador 6.3.11

i went to ameoba last night with riley and sold all my cd's back. got $122 so i was really stoked. then we drove down santa monica to the troubador only to spend 30 minutes looking for parking. eventually, we wound up parking behind this flower shop. their only sign said, "no parking: violators will be washed and waxed at owners expense." rad! we headed to pavillions to grab some beer. drank it behind this restaurant and walked inside the venue right when they were walking down the stairs onto the stage. they opened with 'step into the light', and it kind of went from there. the bass player was having more fun than anyone, it was great. i was surprised how tight they were. they sounded fucking perfect. 'harnessed in slums' was a highlight for me. i really liked 'dead red eyes' where bachman played the keyboard. we were definitely the youngest two people in the crowd. it was strange. everyone was 35 - 40 years old and still cooler than me. they all had i-phones and such it was strange. a lot of them looked like they raided rivers cuomo's closet. i would have liked everyone to be 17 - 22 years old crowd surfing and such, but what can you do. they played two encores it was the coolest. an hour and a half set. it'll be hard for another show to beat that for me. definitely the best thing i've seen all year.

ceremony, iron lung, extortion, punch @ 924 gilman 5.28.11

i went to the pyramid brewery and missed negative standards. i got to gilman right when punch was starting. this is my second time seeing them. last time the lead singer, megan, had a broken leg and her stage presence was still good, but last night they killed it. i really like this band a lot. toast played guitar for them, but not for ceremony. extortion played next. i fucking hated their frontman. if their bass player had been their frontman i would have liked them a lot more. iron lung was a two piece hardcore band. the drummer did most of the singing, it was cool, but by that time the show was running way too late, and i didn't want to be there anymore. that changed when ceremony came on. it was all worth it. they opened with 'sick' and went right into 'he-god-has favored our undertakings'. i still like singing "i've got a lot of problems, i'm a fucked up kid" with a room full of people. nothing really beats that. the ended with 'doldrums'. it was a great set. this was my last show at gilman while living in berkeley. i'm pretty bumbed. i'll be back soon though.

the dwarves acoustic @ rasputin's berkeley 5.27.11

the dwarves played an acoustic set at rasputin's in berkeley yesterday. they were pretty funny. they played in the upstairs part of the store, so everyone tried to squeeze on to that balcony to watch them. it was really hard to see anything, but i could hear perfectly. they were promoting their new album the dwarves are born again. i really liked the songs, "everbody's girl" and "salt lake city". if they were playing a set with other bands i liked i would go see them again. it'd be nice to see them play electric. anyways . . . cool band, free set, good time.

ty segall, thee oh sees, off! @ 924 gilman 4.22.11

this was the most crowded i've ever seen gilman. i walked in right when ty segall was about to start playing. i had only seen him once before, but it was one of my favorite sets last year. he absolutely killed it last night. i'm not sure how much i could really get into his recorded material, but seeing him live is awesome. he represents everything cool and fun about rock n roll.this was my first time seeing thee oh sees. the drummer was wearing a mayyors shirt, which was pretty awesome. thee oh sees were a lot of fun. people were crowd surfing the whole set, and stage diving off the drummers kick drum, and dancing on stage. it was a really good time. the lead singer switched between a 6 string and a 12 string almost every other song. and their bass player played bass on just a regular 6 string guitar, but through a bass amp. i would definitely see them again.
until last night i thought that seeing 7 seconds play gilman for the first time in 23 years was going to be the coolest thing i saw during my time in berkeley. but watching keith morris bring it with off! was absolutely incredible. before they started playing someone screamed out FUCK HENRY ROLLINS. and keith yelled back,

"what did henry ever do to deserve a fuck you? henry rollins is my friend. most of us wouldn't be here if henry rollins hadn't gotten in a van and toured all over the country. i went on tour with henry and he was nothing but a stand up straight a guy." it was pretty cool.

keith talks a lot between songs, but i could listen to him talk all night. musically they are really really good. i was impressed. i hope i get to see them again. after their set, they played an encore of their first four songs. it was really funny. i'm officially a sold off! fan - a fan for life! a piece of history took place last night, a piece of punk history. and i'm glad to have been there.

del the funky homosapien @ rasputin's berkeley 4.19.11

del the funky homosapien did a short five song instore at rasputin's in berkeley yesterday. it was cool he was up in the top balcony and had a dj, and a hypeman. he was supporting golden era his new triple album. he did mostly new songs but threw in like two old ones too. i would see him again. it was pretty good. there were a lot of people there.

the dodos @ u.c. berkeley 4.16.11

this years cal day ended with a performance of the dodos on the steps of doe library looking out over memorial glade. cal day itself has booths all over campus offering incoming freshman information about a variety of different things. the school is completely crowded with prospective students and their parents. last year the cold war kids played, and it was pretty phenomenal. this year the dodos played, and it was kind of blah. it's hard to top the cold war kids though. it was a really sunny day, so it was nice to just kind of hang out and listen to them as background music, but i would have preferred a band worth watching. this is the second time i've seen the dodos now, and i get why people like them. they're catchy. but that's not enough for me. they're also pretty boring. i'm assuming that superb, the student organization that picked this band, picked them because overall their music is descent, people like them, and it wouldn't be offensive to new students or parents listening. but fuck that. i wish fucked up played on the steps of doe library. i wish the aquabats were fighting monsters on the steps of doe library. i wish gwar played. i wish semen was shooting out of big inflatable cocks all over prospective students and parents. that's what i wish.

heart sounds, fake boys, off with their heads @ 924 gilman 4.15.11

i caught the tail end of heartsounds' set. they played on the floor, which was cool. i'm not too familiar with their songs, but they come off really good. dual male/female vocals. two guitars, bass, drums heavy influenced pop punk songs. pretty geared towards early high school warped tour crowd. there were a lot of people there for them, and gilman kind of empty-ed out after their set. beside the first show i went to at gilman to see creatures, this was the smallest crowd i've ever seen at a show there. fake boys played next. pop punk trio. musically they were pretty fucking great, but i just couldn't get into the singers voice. they definitely deserve another chance from me though, because they really were very good. the lead singer played second guitar for owth and the drummer stayed too. off with their heads was fucking great. i liked the new record that came out last year. they played songs off of that. but they also played some hits. i could fist pump to them live for a really long time. they are a great band, and i hope they keep putting out albums. their set was too short, i wanted more. i left singing 'i am you' the whole walk home.

infantree and titus andronicus @ the new parish 4.13.11

the new parish is kind of blah. i don't really like how people can stand on three sides of the stage. i guess that's my only complaint. that and it looks like a las vegas sleazy night club on the inside.

infantree played first. they have potential. four piece rock n' roll with acoustic guitar. all three guitar players sing. musically they were really good. it just wasn't for me. not a lot of stage presence. kind of boring. but they could play their instruments. and their songs were good. just not for me.

titus andronicus fucking killed it though. the best indie rock/punk rock band around. seeing them in a small club is way different than seeing them on a big stage at a festival. i prefer the club. they're everything good about music. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A LOSER. if you don't know, now you know sucka.

matsuri, and calculator at the yellow room 3.12.11

the yellow room has become my favorite place for shows in the bay area. this was my first time seeing both matsuri and calculator. matsuri had three guitar players which gave them the coolest sound. a lot of the parts were really instrumental. they had two singers. i really liked it. they had really cool group vocals. everyone in the band was enjoying themselves, which made it a lot of fun. i would definitely see them again.

calculator was awesome. the lead singer was crowd surfing the whole set. so were other people. everyone seemed to know the words, and everyone was dancing and singing along for their whole set. people had smiles on the whole time it was great. musically they were great. the group vocals really do it for me. memorial was my favorite song of the set.

mothercountry motherfucker, acid fast, and big kids @ the yellow room 3.4.11

this was the second time i went to a show at the yellow room. this show was a lot more crowded. the batteries in my camera were dead so no pictures sorry.

mothercountry motherfucker was really good rock n' roll, but for some reason they had the craziest intro. this dude with really long dread locks wearing a marijuana neckless and a gold dollar sign neckless in a green dress started lighting incense, sparklers, candles and began smoking weed. the smell was overwhelming, and i got super light headed. then he gave everyone an index card with a word on it and everyone started reading their words. it was super strange. there was also an overhead projector along with sound clips. the band themselves were wearing white worksuits and face masks. it was really strange, but really awesome. the music reminded me of hot snakes or rockets from the crypt.

acid fast was jason and jacob from big kids' new band. they had really good guy girl vocals. it reminded me of the kind of band you would have play your high school graduation party in a low budget 1990's film. they were perfect. i would definitely listen to them all the time if they had a record out. it was their first show.

big kids were great. they played new songs which sounded really good. people were crowd surfing in the room which is way too small of a room for that. but other than that they sounded great. one of my favorite bands for sure.

disengage, free spirit, wolves and thieves, nails and ceremony @ the new oakland metro 2.26.11

the new oakland metro is a pretty big space. there were a lot of kids at this show, but not enough to even come close to filling up the place. because of this there was that giant awkward horseshoe for a circle pit that no one really danced in.

disengage played first. i thought there front man was pretty awful. he kept throwing first pumps off tempo with the drums which made me think he had no rhythm. but then he switched with their bass player who i thought was a better frontman. not much else to say about this band. kind of boring straight edge hardcore from philly.

free spirit were a little better than disengage but still didn't really do anything for me. both bands talked too much in between songs. i don't like being preached to. both bands also had to many 'guests' do vocals for multiple songs. i thought that took away from there performance. free spirit are from boston.

i got a wolves and thieves demo at an asian man records birthday party at the oakland coliseum about a year and a half ago. i probably listened to it once. they kind of reminded me of afi. my friend said the lead singer reminded him of fred durst. a fight broke out in the middle of their set. that's what kind of band this is.

nails was brutal as always. they played mostly songs off of unsilent death. the crowd came up closer for them filling that awkward gap. i really enjoyed them.

ceremony is still one of my favorite live bands. the venue was just a little awkward, so this definitely wasn't my favorite set from them, but it was great nonetheless. they played the hits. this was toasts' last show with the band.

ordstro, koalacaust, duke nukem forever, big kids @ the serra bowl 2.4.11

last night i took the bart to colma with a few friends, and drank the whole way there. we showed up early and walked to the in and out, which i haven't had in a while. got a double double, then walked back to the bowling alley and continued drinking. the serra bowl is one of the coolest places i've been to to see a show in a while. not a mention a show i was really stoked on. ran into some friends. ramez from calculator was their and barry and matt from joyce manor drove up for the weekend to hang out with the dnf kids. it was rad to see those dudes.

ordstro played first. i had never seen them before, and i wasn't familiar with any of their music, but i've been seeing their name on a bunch of flyers lately. i'm really glad we got their early. they are a powerviolence band. they rocked. their lead singer played saxophone on a song. their set was only like 10 minutes though. super short.
koalacaust played next and the more familiar i become with their songs the more i like them. this was definitely the most that i've enjoyed them. i thought they played great. they opened with indian summer. they played the new songs off the upcoming big kids split thats coming out on mountain man records. great set. i'm sorry the picture sucks.
duke nukem forever was a lot of fun. this was my first dnf show, and it was great. kids went off for them, and there were a lot of kids who seemed to know almost every word to a lot of their songs. i was impressed. i really enjoyed their set. i would see them again.
before big kids started jason said, "man if i was in high school, and i came to this show i would think that this was the coolest thing i'd ever been to," and with that they played a pretty perfect set full of new and old songs. i'm in love with this band. i think romantic comedy dude is the best song they've written. i love it. all in all it was a pretty perfect night.

back work and coastlines @ the santa rita house 1.11.11

there was a house show in berkeley tonight at this place called the santa rita house. back work played first. it was just instrumental guitar and drums. they sounded just like a jam band. i think they said this was their first show. they didn't really do anything for me.

this was the second time i saw coastlines. i liked them a lot more this time. they have this really awesome rock opera thing going on with live painting and lights. it's pretty epic stuff. they played as a six piece tonight. the only bummer was that i couldn't really hear the trumpet, but the lead guitar sounded way better tonight then it did the first time i saw them. they've been on tour for two weeks now, and you could tell they seemed well practiced. maggie, their keyboard player has stolen the show for me both times. i've never really seen anyone play rock n roll piano as good as she does. she's untouchable. check these guys out they're great.

summer vacation, media blitz, joyce manor @ the unity church 1.07.11

this was my first time at the unity church in long beach. it was right across the street from roscoes so of course we went. i'm not sure what the name of the first band i saw was, but they sounded like the descendents singing about killing cops and surfing. they smashed a guitar on the ground: pretty punk? haha.

summer vacation was as good as ever. one of the best bands that southern california has to offer.'annual' is my jam. i love that song. mark played with his back to the crowd the entire set. i love his style. they're the best.media blitz played a new song which was great, along with a cro mags cover. jason's mouth was bleeding for most of the set. the crowd was pretty rowdy. the shirt came off like usual, but 'get the fuck out' was the most convincing i've seen them play it. they're getting better and better live every time i see them.

i'd like to note that the bill for this show didn't fit at all, but i liked the bands i went for and so i was extremely happy.with that in mind, people went ape shit for joyce manor. this was the first time i've seen them since may, and they were fun as fuck. the new songs sounded great. 'derailed' and '21st dead rats' were only a few of the new jams we got to hear. i really love the new songs. singing 'five beer plan' was honestly my favorite part of the night though. i wish this song could be re-written a million different ways so that every song i could sing along to like this one. another great show, another night in a row.

tiny lungs, summer vacation, koalacaust, big kids algernon cadwallader, and joyce manor @ the cabin 1.6.10

okay first of all i would like to say that i know these pictures kind of suck, but i'm not a photographer. i have a little point and click and so what you see is what you get.

with that, i had been looking forward to this show for a very long time. it exceeded all of my expectations. a lot of people came out for this.

tiny lungs played first and they rocked. this was the first time i saw them. i guess they had a different drummer, but they sounded great. justin's vocals are my favorite.

summer vacation jammed. the room was super packed at this point. a lot of people knew all the words to most of their songs which was really cool. they sounded great. i like them as a four piece a lot more.


i missed makers, but i heard they were good. i came in the house as koalacaust was playing 'mirrors.' they played a good mix of old and new songs. their cover of the pixies 'debaser' sounded awesome. people were crowd surfing by this point in the show. their set was a lot of fun; pretty rowdy.

the drummer for algernon cadwallader was filling in for big kids' drummer. they sounded great, but lacked the second vocals that their regular drummer usually sings. it was a great set though, one of the best i've seen them play. they played the hits. i feel like i have a new favorite song by them every time i see them. 3,000 hi-fives was my favorite tonight.
algernon cadwallader was my favorite of the night. people really went off for them. there were people crowd surfing the entire set. i really wish they were a local band. i would love to see them on a regular basis. if more bands sounded like this the world would be better off. great night. great show.

joyce manor played last. my ride had work the next morning and he wanted to go, so i didn't get to catch their set. luckily i got to see joyce manor the next night. you can read that review here.

your heart breaks, dave end, pablo das, & kimya dawson @ 924 gilman st. 12/19/10

i returned to 924 gilman st. a second night in a row. on sundays, gilman has matinee shows that start at 5 which is really nice because they're over by 10. i was just going to go for kimya's set, but i wasn't really doing anything, and figured i might as well see some of the opening bands, and i'm glad i did because this was not simply a series of people performing a set of their own songs. no it was infact a show where everyone played on everyone else's songs and people danced on stage and wore costumes and entertained. it was perfect.

i showed up in the middle of your heart breaks set. all the fold out chairs were set up, and the couches were closer to the stage, and people were sitting on the floor. i think the best way to describe the show is by calling it a queercore show. your heart break played acoustic/electric songs with a loop pedal, and a drum machine. clyde took also took us to outer space and back. it was really great. i recommend checking out their music. of course kimya and others were brought up on stage to help sing and dance. it was really nice. the show felt like a real community of friends that i wanted to be apart of. i wish more shows were like this.

dave end played second. he came up in a dress he made. this picture doesn't do it justice at all, but it was really awesome. he performed f.a.g.g.o.t. the musical, which was funny and sad and honest and great all at the same time. dave is a true performer and entertainer. he played acoustic guitar, accordion, and keyboard with a drumtrack. his set was really great, and he too had everyone come up for different songs.
pablo das played acoustic guitar and a little ukulele. when he played guitar it was usually really fast folk/punk stuff. i really liked his songs. the were really honest. they were about his mom dying. him coming out of the closet, and writing letters to his brother, sister and father letting them no. they were about never talking to his father again after he found out. they were about drinking, and being sober for seven years. pablo thanked us for listening and told us that playing these songs is really healing for him. 'big mama' aka kimya was requested to come on stage and sing a song with him that was really good.
kimya dawson played some songs i recognized and some songs i didn't. she had people up on stage for almost every other song. the highlight of the night for me was when she played a song called walk like thunder and aesop rock came up and rapped over it. it was the coolest thing ever. kimya said they are going to record an album together, which i'm sure will be amazing. one of the songs that she brought pablo up for was about gobbling farts, which was pretty funny. then pablo ended the show with his rendition of 'all that jazz.' everyone stood in all of gilman stood up and started and dancing and singing to 'all that jazz,' it was pretty awesome. then kimya said the show over and that she wanted everyone to get into a big circle and hold and hands and sing. at this point i had been there for about five hours, and decided it was a good time to leave, but i had a blast. it was a really really perfect show. i loved everything about it.