I Got The Black Lung Pa - Brought To You By ROCKSTAR ENERGY™

IT'S NOT DEAD FEST (10/10/15 @ San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino CA)

I saw a lot of bitching from the "Tru Punx" on all the social media about why this whole It's Not Dead Fest thing is bullshit. It's too corporate man, there are too many sponsors, the beer is too expensive, the service fee's for the tickets are insane, it's ran by that shit stain Kevin Lyman. It's not that I disagree with all of that, it's just I don't fucking give a fuck. I got to see The Bouncing Souls AND The Descendents in one day. On one stage. Plus a TON of other rad bands for only $40. Yes, I got sunburned by the shitty San Bernardino sun, and yes I spent $15 on water (I didn't know about the FREE refill station until later) and yes I sweated off about 10 pounds of water weight only to consume 15 pounds of dirt. Eat a dick you boring too cool punks. 

Like most Saturdays I woke up hung over from the night before. This time was different though, because it was time to head north to the unwashed butt-hole of California, San Bernardino, to go watch pretty much every punk band from the 90's play. We assembled our crew (Kaylin, Jess, Jen, Cherisse and Myself) and began our journey north to the wasteland. We all agreed pregaming in the parking lot was key, so we hit a Bevmo for some adult beverages and ice. Jen just so happened to be a bartender back in New York, so we went with Rum and Orange Soda to make "Creamsicles" which was a good call. After parking and drinking the entire bottle of Rum between all of us, Cherisse peed on a couple of us and we started the journey to get inside. 

First of all, it was like a mile and a half hike to get to the front gate. In the fucking gross hot sun. Not even exaggerating when I say a couple of us had to take a break in the shade of some nearby trees to avoid possible heat stroke. Maybe the Rum was a bad choice? Haha. Nah. Eventually we made it to the front gate where I was horrified to learn I left my fucking ticket in the car. Thankfully, we live in the future and I was able to bring it up on my severely cracked phone, and avoided another trek through hell. 

We missed a handful of bands to avoid the $16 craft beer prices, but walked in just in time to catch CJ Ramone, who Cherisse was pumped to see. I knew nothing about him besides he signed to Fat last year, so I stuck around and watched a few songs and was impressed. But it was time to run to the main stage to see some Strung Out. This is where I noticed the sound wasn't that great, and unless you got decently close to the stage, everything sounded muted and weird. Strung Out powered through their standard set of new and old songs and I felt like I was in high school again. Then the stage spun around and Reel Big Fish were waiting on the other side like some kind of ska horror movie, horns blaring. Not wearing enough checkers, I ran away to go try to find some of my friends I knew where there. Unfortunately, the place was huge and cell phone service was garbage and I never was able to find Damon (Sorry dude!). I did find the Rockstar Energy™ tent though, where they were giving away free cans of disgusting flavored Rockstars™ like Orange Whip. I drank about 6 of them. Eventually I headed out to go watch The Briggs, but I ran into Kaylin who was headed for Anti-Flag, and followed her to avoid being that creepy dude watching a band all alone. I'm not a huge Anti-Flag fan, but they were shouting some awesome  stuff at the crowd between songs, the kind of stuff that should be a no brainer and obvious, but since the human race is full of shit bag idiots we have to remind people to be fucking decent to each other. Anyway, they are actually really good live and I, again, was impressed. We dipped to go see The Interrupters, a thing I wasn't exactly super stoked on, until I saw Tim Armstrong literally scuttle across the side stage. A few songs went by before Kaylin wanted to go check out Less Then Jake, but I was convinced Tim would play that stupid fucking "Family" song with them, so I stayed. Eventually, they covered Operation Ivy's "Sound System" and lo and behold Tim Timebomb came on out to mumble along and spin his guitar, which immediately led into "Family."

Dis Es Mah Fahly

I left after that and headed back to the main stage to see The Bouncing Souls. I have only seen them once, and for them to even be on the west coast is a treat, so I refused to miss them. Unfortunately there was sound problems for the first few songs, and people past like the 3rd row couldn't hear anything. And I missed "Manthem." Dicks. Eventually they got it all worked out The Souls cranked out a decent set including "Sing Along Forever" and "True Believers." I B-lined back to one of the smaller stages to catch Devils Brigade and my second Tim Armstrong sighting, as he and Matt Freeman sang, I think "Radio" together. Tim's slurs and Matt's cookie monster yell were a match made in heaven. 

Rahdeo Rahdeo Rahdeo

I knew I'd be seeing Swingin' Utters soon at The Hideout in San Diego, so I opted to go watch Lagwagon, since I owe this entire thing to them. I was a little dissapointed in their standard set they played, seemed to not vary much from the last few times I've seen them. This is the point I noticed how much dirt I had been breathing in this entire time. The mosh pits were kicking up a ton of dirt, and I was actually struggling to breathe, to the point where I asked Kaylin if she wanted to move back like 20 or 30 feet. Also, we were both just covered in dirt, my former white Bad Cop/Bad Cop shirt was now a nice beige color. This is also where things got a little fucked up. They decided it was a good idea to spin a wheel for the last 4 bands that played (NoFX, Pennywise, Descendents, and Bad Religion) to see who played next. But they started spinning it 2 bands before Lagwagon. So when Lagwagon spun it, Bad Religion came up, and they thought they played next then. So we jammed over to catch some of The Adolescents. Well, they kept asking why everyone was there when The Descendents were a few stages over playing. After they said that about 3 times, I was decided to make sure it was in fact Bad Religion playing. Whelp, it wasn't. The Descendents were about halfway through their set. Lucky me, I made it in time for "All-O-Gistics." Yay. NoFX played next and spent half their set talking shit about the whole fest and Kevin Lyman. Fat Mike was mad the dude from TSOL wore a night gown, forcing Mike to wear a "leather mini skirt" or a "gay mans kilt." When Bad Religion played, I had to go sit down and eat some over priced disgusting pizza so I didn't die. It was getting pretty late at this point and like most of the people there, I'm old. Pennywise played last and delayed the end by like 20 minutes because they broke the stage with the mass amount of people they had standing behind them. We watched about 5 or 6 songs before we bailed to go the fuck home. Long day over. (Thanks again Cherisse for getting us all home safe!)

I will say the one thing I was disappointed in was the bands didn't take this opportunity to maybe play some of their older songs they don't play anymore. Every band seemed to kind of just play a standard boring set, which I get, but come on. This was like, the 90's show to end all 90's shows. 

Off With Their Heads - Spraynard - Lee Corey Oswald - Bainbridge (10/11/15 @ Soda Bar, San Diego CA)

I'll keep this section short since we are already in TL;DR territory. We showed up late and missed Bainbridge, but they are from here so I guarantee I'll see them again. 

Lee Corey Oswald

"Watch them on the TV. Doesn't the bass player look like the girl from The Ring all grown up?"

"They are good. They're SUPER good."

"Wait... that's how they ended?"

-Ricky Schmidt

Spraynard

I was super tired and honestly over it and wanted to just see OWTH and go home. So, on this night, not into it. 

Off With Their Heads

OWTH rules. They are one of my favorite bands. The sad, depressing lyrics of Ryan Young strike a chord with me, I get it. I really do. So they get on stage and power through their hour long set. That's another thing I like, besides the "Let's fucking do this" at the beginning, they barely stopped playing. A good amount of their set were coming off Home and Hospitals, which I am more then alright with (Hospitals might be my favorite album of theirs). There were a strange amount of bro's there, and one of them kept jumping on the stage and knocking the mic into Ryan's face. About the 3rd time it happened, you could see he was pissed and the 4th time, straight up kicked the dude in the stomach. Good for him, because fuck that guy. The bro's also kept up a healthy mosh pit for the entire set, something I think is a dumb idea in a little crowded bar, especially one with a pole right in the middle. Anyway, during the last song, "Clear the Air," Ryan put down his guitar and jumps into the crowd and sings the whole song from out there. It was cool to see, and a great way to end the set. Another fantastic job, well done OWTH. 

This next songs about wanting to die

And that ends another great weekend. Normally, I'd state what I'm doing next here, but I noticed I rarely stick to my plans so fuck it. All this shit is coming up though, so I might be at any one of these:

10/14 - Joey Cape, Walt Hamburger, Brian Whalstrom @ Brick by Brick

10/16 - Timeshares - Signals Midwest - Western Settings @ Tower Bar

10/23 - Sic Waiting - Caskitt - Bainbridge (Told You) @ Til-Two Club

10/23 - Frank Turner - Skinny Lister - Beans on Toast @ House of Blues

 Get out there and support your local scene you fucking jerk:)

The One Where the Garbage Person is Garbage

OK, so I totally meant to write about Awesome Fest, but honestly, I took way too long. The Garbage person lives up to his name! All you need to know is booze, friends, Caskitt, fruit ninja, booze, Beeween, kendra, Kendra, KENDRA! burrito, friends, The Stupid Daikini, Fools Rush, booze, friends, booze, Don's house, booze, Civil War Rust, Western Settings, Dead to Me, Chuck Ragan bed time stories. Basically it ruled and if you weren't there you missed out on the best weekend of the year you stupid idiot.

Jennie - Stacey - Davey - Daren - Melissa (9/24/15 @ Downtown Pomona, CA)

A few months ago Marty Ploy gathered some local musicians and had them all meet up in Thomas Plaza in Pomona and play some acoustic music on the street. I heard about it, but for some reason that escapes me now, didn't make it. Apparently it went well because he did it again this time with Jennie Cotterill and Stacey Dee of Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Davey Quinn of Tiltwheel, Daren Gratton of The Haddonfields, and Melissa Zavislak of The Stupid Daikini.

My friend Kaylin and I raced up to Pomona after we both got off work and made it just in time for the 7pm start time. Problem was, we didn't see anyone around. I checked and double checked my maps to make sure we were in the right place when I saw Marty sitting by himself on some benches. We wondered over and he told us that "these things never start on time and people will show up eventually." And eventually they did! There were about 6 or 7 of us when they decided to start and Melissa began belting out songs, but eventually the plaza filled out with friends and passer by's. Anyway, Melissa's singing voice fucking slays, and her songs are all really good and catchy. I can not recommend enough getting into The Stupid Daikini. She also dedicated GFY to me again. In case you were wondering, it's a song about how she wishes this person dies in the most fucked up way imaginable. Sweet! Between every performer, we had about 15 minutes to cruise to the bar and grab a drink and get back. The second person to play was Daren Gratton of The Haddonfields out of St. Louis. I had never heard them before, and was pleasantly surprised that he was fucking awesome (The next day, I looked up The Haddonfields and they are tight. New fan.) We spent a little extra time in the bar on accident and missed Davey (always miss one!) but made it back for Stacey Dee to start. She played 4 songs, one of which was from her old band The Angry Amputees. This was her first time playing after coming back from some personal stuff, and it was most excellent. Glad to have her back in the scene. We skipped the drinks and waited for Jennie to play last. Just like her Bad Cop/Bad Cop sister, she killed it, playing some new songs she wrote and an old song that didn't make it for Bad Cop. She also played a song about going on a date in space, which mass appealed to my inner nerd. After a few songs Stacey joined her and they played some acoustic Bad Cop songs and everything was right in the world.

DIY or DIE

Get Dead - Clowns - Western Settings (9/25/15 @ The Tower Bar, San Diego CA)

After working all day Friday, I made it home only to immediately pass out. I woke up at 8pm in a panic and jumped in my car and cruised down to The Tower Bar thinking I was going to be late. Apparently I can't remember about fucking punk time, where everything starts late and never goes on time. Duh. So I make it down to see Get Dead and Clowns in the parking lot playing dice and almost no one inside the bar but Will and a few randoms. An hour after I show up, the show starts and Western Settings takes the stage ripping through their set playing old and new songs. They rule, and you should watch them play basically. At some point during the set, Ricky calls out the dudes from Clowns for being Australian and how they have to do some shoeies during their set (P.S, A shoey is when you take off your shoe, pour a beer into it, and drink it. AUSTRALIANS!) and one of the guys immediatly rips off his shoe, pours his tall can of PBR into it, and pours it down Ricky's throat. It was... a thing that happened. Clowns were up next and were totally not what I was expecting. The played a high energy metal infused kind of punk, and the singer went wild. He chided the crowd about not moving much, ran full speed straight at some huge dude, and just jumped on him, finishing the song while the dude spun him in circles. I don't know why foreign bands have so much damn energy when they play, but us Americans need to take note. Shit's tight. You might notice that Get Dead is crossed out up there and that is because....

Wait for it...

The Coathangers - Birth Defects - Flames of Durga - Shady Francos (9/25/15 @ Casbah, San Diego CA)

About halfway through Clowns I split to the Casbah to go check out The Coathangers. I just found out about this band a few weeks ago and found out they were playing on this night. I missed Get Dead and Against Me! in Santa Ana I wanted to see them play so bad. And they did not disappoint. I showed up right as they went on, and they played for about an hour and a half of their garage rock inspired musical madness. At several different points, they all just up and switched instruments and still sounded amazing. All their voices are amazing, but there was something that stood out about the drummer's raspy lower pitched voice. Maybe it just resonated the most with the bearded whiskey swilling punk that lives in my heart. These are very talented women, and are a MUST SEE if they are playing anywhere near you.

Everything is blue like that one dumb song

Murderland - Get Dead - Clowns - Bad Cop/Bad Cop - Hands Like Bricks - Flamingo Nosebleed (9/26/15 @ The Redwood, Los Angeles CA)

The reason I wasn't that sad I missed Get Dead in San Diego is I knew I was going up to LA the next night for the same show. My plan was to take the train up and stay the night at my friend Keri's new apartment, but while I was waiting in line to buy my train ticket, I was looking around at all the other weird annoying train people and realized, I have a fucking car, fuck this. And what do you know? It looks like Mormos smiled on me this day because there wasn't any traffic at all! Weird. So I made it to The Redwood in an hour and a half and was able to catch the first band, Flamingo Nosebleed. My expectations are usually really low for opening bands with kind of dumb names, but these guys were pretty fucking good. Minus the drunk asshole filming their entire set on his phone with the flash on. Hands Like Bricks played next and were also pretty fucking good. I realized when they were playing I somehow have never actually watched them play. I think it was a Western Settings situation, where I always kind of say, "eh, they play all the time, I'll watch them next time."  I don't know, all I know is that I was wrong, like almost always. Bad Cop/Bad Cop was third to play, and it was good to see them back in action, still killing it and not missing a beat. They played through a lot of songs off their two Fat releases, Boss Lady and Not Sorry, including my personal favorite song of theirs I'm Alright. Get Dead was next. One of the speakers in the front broke, so when they started no one past the mid bar speakers could really hear anything except drums and guitar. Eventually, I moved to the audible zone and enjoyed them play through a bunch of songs off Bad News and a few that will be on their album they are currently recording. I did run back to the front for the song The Process, with lyrics like "where do I go when the whiskey's gone?" how could I not? Murderland played last, but honestly, I was tired and had a long drive back home so I left. Eh, they play all the time, I'll watch them next time....

That was a rad weekend. I had to bring it back to earth Sunday as I just painted my stupid bathroom (Grey, not Purple UNFORTUNATELY). Also, I've been sick as fuck the last few days, totally got home from work yesterday at 4:30 and slept until I had to go to work today at 6am. Killing it. 

Kenny Bojarski's birthday show is this Friday the 2nd at Pierview pub in Oceanside with The Dirty Work, Dead on the Wire, and Chamber Sixx playing. You, dear reader, should come and buy that dude a drink. 

And I think that is all I'm doing until the crazy It's Not Dead Fest on the 10th.

Party.

The Garbage Man Cometh: Part 1 - Riot Fest

“How much longer are you going to do this punk rock thing?”

That was a question I got from my mom a few years ago when I told her I was going to the 3 day party known as Awesome Fest in San Diego. This year I asked myself the same question. How much longer do I have in me to go to a show on a Tuesday until 2 a.m. then go to work at 6 a.m.? How many more out of state fests and concerts do I have left in me? When do you go from person in the scene, to old creepy drunk dude? I can feel it taking a toll on my body and mind.

Friday, August 28^th 2015 I turned 30 years old. Everyone says that 30 is A) the best years of your life and B) pretty much the last birthday you’ll give shit about until 40. Since that is the case, my plan was to go big this year. I originally was trying to plan a house show, but the hood I live in pretty much made that option impossible. Luckily, as I started scrambling for a plan B, The Flatliners announced they were playing a show at the Soda Bar on my birthday. Perfect. Then there was the announcement that Success, Elway, and The mother fucking Lawrence Arms were playing a Riot Fest after show in Denver. I quickly did the math and found out that for a mere $250 I could attend that show and the actual Saturday Riot Fest. I got even luckier as my lovely sister stepped up and footed that bill as my birthday present. Best. Sister. Ever.

Seriously, the best

The plan is in motion, time to party.

Every year my friends Dave and Emily host my birthday party at their bar, The Pourhouse in Oceanside, but since I was going to head out of town this year, I wasn’t going to be able to make it. I felt bad, they have put up with my drunken ass for at least the past 6 years, so I decided to head in on Thursday evening after having dinner with my friends Brendan and Julie and staying up and doing the midnight celebration thing. The thing about that is, I had to work the next morning at 6. I was fine until midnight, but the next thing I know my sister is bursting into my room screaming at me “weren’t you supposed to be at work 4 hours ago?” Why yes, yes I was. I immediately jumped up and still kind of drunk got dressed and ran out of the house. The thing is, I didn’t have my keys. Being the detective I am, I called my buddy Jess who was at the bar the night before and she told me, “Kaylin took your keys so you wouldn’t drive home.”  I mean, I didn’t even drive to the bar, but good looking out. So instead of going to work, Jess came and took me to get a burrito.

Later that night, I met up with some more friends, Kenny, Rich, Matt and Ricky, and we headed down to the Soda Bar to catch The Flatliners, Spanish Love Songs, Western Settings, and The Sheds. Unfortunately, we were preoccupied with getting pizza and a few pregame drinks and missed The Sheds, but eventually we made it and as soon as I walked into Soda Bar I was handed 2 whiskey drinks, and double fisting like the village drunk, watched Western Settings kill it again playing songs off their full length Yes It Is and a few off their upcoming EP Old Pain, which sounded amazing. Spanish Love Songs was next, and honestly reminded of The Menzingers light, which I normally would have liked but at the time wasn’t in the mood for, so I went out to smoke a cigarette, and on my way out had a shot of whiskey literally poured down my throat by my buddy Jay. Outside, I was smoking a cigarette with Kaylin, when Chris Cresswell just so happened to walk by. I told him it was my birthday and if, as a present, he could play He Was A Jazzman for me that would be awesome, but like all Canadians, he very politely declined saying “they haven’t played that song in forever and didn’t want to ruin my birthday trying.” Fair enough. I was drunk and The Flatliners went on and played for well over an hour covering all their albums from Destroy to Create to their most recently released b-side album Division of Spoils. They skipped the traditionally lame encore as it was a billion degrees inside, and we were all desperately in need of air that wasn’t damp with sweat. After the show Matt Caskitt was kind enough to let me stay at his place in San Diego instead of heading all the way back to North County AND offered to drive me to the airport. What a sweetheart! But first we stopped by Ricky Schmidt’s house for a post show drink, where he force fed me shots of whiskey until I was ready take a nap.

Saturday morning I hopped on a plane to Denver, and immediately after landing was taken straight to Riot Fest by my friend Jackie. I had a few hours to kill before the first band I wanted to see play, so I wandered around a little, watched some of the bands Meat Wave, Less Than Jake, Gwar and The Vandals, stopped by the For The Love Of Punk booth, and just kind of familiarized myself with where everything was. Eventually it was time to head inside to the Radicals stage to watch Direct Hit! I finally got to meet fellow FtLP contributor Damon, who had a nice cold can of a premixed Moscow Mule waiting for me (It was really good surprisingly) and I had a hug for him. I also got to meet FtLP founder, Johnny Wilson. Direct Hit! ripped through their disappointingly short set time, playing mostly songs off their new/old record More of the Same (Satanic Singles: 2010-2014) claiming they were fucking sick of playing Brainless God for the past 2 years. At some point Devon Kay regaled us with a tale of a cursed toy horse, which he immediately tossed into the crowd, and was caught by a young kid who was then pulled up on stage and danced around and then stage dove away. Go youths! Also there was a huge roided out buff dude trying to start a shitty mosh pit (i.e. just pushing unsuspecting people watching the band) who eventually got kicked out by security. His buddy in the crowd told me “oh, he’s just on meth no big deal” And then immediately offered me some, which I turned down. Sorry bro, my teeth are shitty enough without fucking meth. After Direct Hit! I ran off to go get some food, and was internally torn between getting a giant turkey leg or garlic fries. Eventually, I was convinced to get the fires and have more money for booze. Duh. Some people just get this whole life thing. I wandered around a bit more, checking out Thrice and Eagles of Death Metal, before heading back in to watch Pears literally play one of the best sets I have ever seen. Zach Quinn owned that stage, tromping around looking like a man possessed (the front stage lights were cast upon him like when you would hold a flashlight to tell a scary story). Even Nick Woods and Devon Kay were on the side stage enjoying them, air drumming and singing along. I also got to meet Ross and Savvi, which it is always awesome to be able to put faces to names. The last band I really wanted to check out played right before we had to leave, Alkaline Trio. I don’t know if it was being so far away, them playing what seemed like a lot of newer stuff, or Matt Skiba being sober, but I was bored. They did play a few songs that I knew and loved, but overall I was unimpressed and excited to leave and get to the Marquis Theatre.

 Direct Hit!

PEARS

The tickets said the show at the Marquis started at 10, but it turns out that was a bold face lie. Success went on at 10:45, so I had enough time to order a few whiskey dranks and take a mean shit (I’m not a porta-potty guy for number 2’s). Eventually, Success hit the stage and I downed my drink and ran up front. This was somehow the first time I was seeing them play. It seemed like every time I was out of town, they were playing in San Diego. They fucking sound great live though, and I was stoked to hear I’ll be able to catch them again in San Diego on the 2nd with Millencolin. Elway played next. I watched a few songs, but the length of the day started to catch up to me. I went outside to get some fresh air and smoke a cigarette, how Canadian ironic of me I know, and ended up chatting with Rev and buying a Success shirt. I really wanted to buy their album Radio Recovery on vinyl, but since my cheap ass flew Frontier, there was no way I would have been able to fit it in my tiny backpack. After Elway finished and the crowd dissipated a little, I walked right up to the very front of the stage and stood there to wait. I came all the way from California to see The Lawrence Arms and I’d be damned if I was going to stand back to watch them. Sorry short people behind me, this is one of the very few times I just didn’t give a shit. Then they came out and started in on Recovering the Opposable Thumb and I realized my mistake. You see I’m roughly 6 feet tall, and the front of the stage ended right at my knees. My knees suck. So I had this giant of a man leaning on me, pushing my knees directly into the stage and it was fucking terrible. But I stuck it out because I’m stubborn and my man crush for Brendan Kelly. Eventually I noticed Ross and Savvi, who I met earlier, and she motioned for me to hop the stage and run over to the side area, where I saw Toby from Red Scare and Matt Skiba sitting, so I obviously immediately did. The Lawrence Arms played through a set mostly consisting of songs off Oh! Calcutta and Metropole, and occasionally dipping into the Cocktails and Dreams and The Greatest Story Ever Told. Eventually, during 100 Resolutions, Brittany Strummer grabbed me by the arm and we ran up on stage and sang along. This was probably the most fun I have ever had at a show ever. Completely exhausted, I went back to Jackie’s and immediately passed the fuck out on her purple couch.

Success

The Lawrence Arms

Sunday around 10 or 11 we headed back out to grab some food. I didn’t have a ticket to Riot Fest that day, and Jackie did, so I just had her leave me at the food place so I could explore Denver. I had 8 hours to kill before Rancid played at the Summit Music Hall 3 miles away. My first decision was to go get tattooed. I had been wanting to get a bindle (a hobo suitcase basically) tattoo that said “Ramble On” ever since my last road trip to Seattle, when driving through Oregon at 4 a.m. the song Ramblin’ Revisted by Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds came on my iPod, and the lines “this here bindle is all I have, to show for the rambling I did in my past” stuck out to me. So I did because I’m an adult and i make adult decisions. Next I met up with my friends sister and had lunch and a few drinks with her and her family (Congrats on the baby girl Kim and Jesse!). After they left I had about 4 hours left, so I started wandering in the general direction of the venue, stopping at every bar and brewery I came across, meeting some interesting people along the way. At one pub, the bartender was from Madison, Wisconsin and was friends with Masked Intruder. At about the 2 hour/1.5 miles left mark I ran into this group of youths who stopped and asked if they could ask me a question, and then this one dude got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him and handed me a bouquet of flowers he clearly ripped out of some planter. Now, walking down the street half drunk looking like I do, an sweaty angry piece of shit garbage person, I’m sure I shocked them more when I answered “which one of you fuckers is ordained, lets do this.” None of them were. Eventually I made it the venue, met up with everyone, and went in to catch the last few songs of 7 Seconds. Rancid took the stage, and the very packed crowd lost their shit. I needed to get a good picture of Tim Armstrong for inside joke reasons, and being mostly drunk, decided it was a good idea to go behind the barricade on the side of the stage to get it. I was immediately grabbed by the tiniest security guard I have ever seen, and as he slowly pushed me to the exit, tore off my wristband and kicked me out the back. That was about 2 songs into their set. I smoked a cigarette, and walked right back in the front with my same ticket, just in time for them to start playing Ruby Soho. Rancid played for what seemed like forever (At least 3 tall cans worth of songs), and they only got better as I got even drunker. Eventually it got to the point where we were all dancing and  singing along to every song. For a self proclaimed “not that big of a fan,” I sure know a lot of their songs.

New Baby Tattoo

And just like that, my 4 day party weekend was over. I hung around Jackie’s place most of Monday, reading Bukowski, until it was time to fly home and rejoin reality. 

Going big for my 30th birthday was probably the best decision I ever made. I had more fun then I thought was possible with old and new friends, got to see a ton of awesome music, and was just able to shut off my stupid fucking brain and leave all the anxiety and uncertainty and shitty problems at home and have some pure, unadulterated fun. After this year the answer to the question “how much longer are you going to do this punk rock thing” became clear, as long as their is air in my lungs and a shitty band to see. 

Check back in later for part 2 in which I continue to abuse my body and have an awesome time at Awesome Fest. Lol. :)

The One where Tom Selleck doesn't have a Mustache

Pears - Caskitt - Bainbridge - Old News (8/18/15 @ Tower Bar, San Diego CA)

I decided before this show in the interest of professionalism I should get a camera that doesn't start with a lower case i and end in a 5S. I mean, the best reviews have pictures, and I've always been one to follow the crowd, not stray away from. Luckily for me, my forever friend Brendan had one lying around that he never uses and was generous enough to lend to me until I either: a) buy my own, or 2) get sick and tired of doing all this and just quit only to fade away like my name was Marty McFly and I just prevented my parents from fucking for the first time because I got my past mom all horned up with my purple Calvin Klein underwear and now she wants to bang it out with me instead. One of these is more likely to happen then the other. Hint: I'm a poor person.

Anywho, my friend Julie, who happens to also be Brendan's girlfriend, wanted to go to this show because she did an awesome interview with Matt Caskitt the other day and wanted to see them play again, PLUS she volunteered to drive to North Park. Seriously if you ever see these 2 around, give them a hug and buy them a booze. You can't miss them, they both have visible halo's hovering above their heads. We rounded out our crew with everybody's buddy Rich and trekked south for the show.

Lazy eyed white bitch and friends (photo by Saint Brendan)

Old News

Rich's roommate Ricky is in this band and they are pretty rad. Last time I saw them they covered Dillinger 4 and Kid Dynamite which automatically makes them awesome in my very shitty book. I left the camera in the car when we first went in because I saw Paul Silver there with his camera and immediately got intimidated, mostly because I had 15 minutes to dick around my new toy and had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and if there is one thing I hate, it's looking like a fool. So we walked in and watched about 2 songs before I realized I was standing directly beneath an air conditioner vent that was apparently set to "Arctic Circle", and this was the perfect opportunity to practice taking pictures idiot. So I ran to the car and grabbed the camera, but on my way back I ran into Madeline, who is an editor and fellow team mate at For the Love of Punk, and we ended up talking for the rest of the set. My bad Ricky, I'll watch you guys next time promise. 

Bainbridge

Bainbridge is a relatively new band featuring Ziggy (Breaker Breaker One Niner, Ziggy's Love Chicken, booking 99% of the shows in San Diego) Tim (From Scars), and 2 other dudes who I'm not sure who they are or if they play in other bands but they probably do and now I look like a dick. Tight. To further me being a dick, I was distracted by my camera instead of paying full attention to them, freaking out because I couldn't figure out why the god damn shutter speed kept changing. From the couple songs I did actually listen too, they sounded good. They are one I will put on the list to check out at Awesome Fest in the coming weeks. The bummer part is I didn't even get any good pictures, they were all blurry as shit. Fucking amateur.

Much profesional

Caskitt

I've written about Caskitt a million times, but honestly, still not sick of them. They are that good. Funny thing is I ran into drunk Devito during their set and he somehow grabbed me in a "buddy headlock" and dragged me over to Jesse's microphone to scream along to Life on Ridgeview Drive as I'm hunched over like Igor about to get rammed in the ass by one of those dildo fucking machines. It was rad. Thank god Ricky from Western Settings taught me how to sing backup vocals last week. They also played Midwest Summer Nights which always makes me happy. And hey, I took a few pictures that weren't total garbage! So win-win.

I said not total garbage, that doesn't mean good.

Pears

I was excited to see Pears because this was the first time I was seeing them since they clicked with me and I realized I did, in fact, enjoy them. It makes seeing a band that much better when you actually like what you hear. They played with the same intensity they seem to always play with, with shirtless singer Zach looking like he got possessed by the demon spirit of a punk rock Freddie Mercury. What I'm saying is they put on a good show. At one point during a breakdown, he crawled through the crowd, where he sat at the bar for a minute, then sauntered back to the stage to finish screaming out the end of the song. They ended their set on the song Grimespree, which I personally think is their best song, and the perfect way to end a show and an album. Immediately after the set I went to their merch booth and bought a shirt and a vinyl copy of their album (Probably the last opportunity to get the Ryan Young Anxious and Angry version before it's re-released by Fat Wreck Chords, for you vinyl nerds). Pears will be playing at Riot Fest and then going on tour with Lagwagon after that, and I am very very curious to see how their live show translates to the bigger crowds and venues. 

Hint: Probably well

Things I learned: "photographing" shows is "hard." I say "Photographing" and "Hard" because, I mean, it was my first time even picking up a camera that cost more than $70 let alone trying to figure out how to work that camera while simetaneously paying attention to the bands that I'm there to see. If I can get over feeling like a fucking nerd with a camera around my neck and practice, I'm sure it will be a lot easier.

Also, apparently I need to edit my photos because thats a thing. I was asked several times what I use for picture editing, and my response was always a slacked jaw shocked, "Huh? Edit?" 

Also part 2, I would like to figure out how to add a gallery of pictures at the end of my blog, because I think that would be way cooler and give me that extra "hoorah" into looking less like I have no idea what I'm doing. 

Let's see, I'm going to try and make it out for one of the Breaker Breaker One Niner shows coming up (either San Diego or Riot Fest), Masked Intruder plays next Tuesday (the only reason I want to go is to finally see The Blackjackits), The Flatliners play ON MY FUCKING BIRTHDAY next Friday the 28th (come, buy me whiskey), going to Denver the next day for a little Riot Fest action, then the week after that is the mega party known as Awesome Fest. I am pumped, my liver, not so much. 

See you at a show.

I Had Fun, I'm Not Having Fun.

City Mouse - The Focke-Wolves - The Newports - Never Pass Go (8/6/15 @ Til-Two Club, San Diego CA)

The title refers to me today at work, not this show. 

There are a lot of really really good weeknight shows coming up, so I decided to use this show on a Thursday as a trial run to see how the rest of August is going to go. Sorry work, hopefully you weren't expecting August to be a very productive month. But tight shit is happening and I have my priorities. Shows before bro's or whatever. 

Before I get into the show, I have to rant about one thing. Skip ahead if you are not into ranting. So before the show, but after stopping at Home Depot to buy Red Bulls and break a $100, Rich, Devito, and I got burritos from Vallarta's. It being a Thursday, I was feeling adventurous and decided to forgo my typical Mexican food restaurant order of a California Burrito and branch out into unknown territory. They had a chicken teriyaki burrito and for some reason that seemed like a good idea. I get my burrito, carefully extract it from its proper paper home, and marvel at the size of it. I gently take it into my hands and raise it to mouth and take a huge bite. What was the first thing I get a mouth full of? FUCKING BELL PEPPERS. God damn it all to fucking hell, I swear to Jesus or who the fuck ever this is why I have trust issues and refuse to try new things. Now don't get me wrong, it was a decent burrito after i picked out every single red AND fucking green pepper in that thing, but the damage had been done. Bell peppers are the devil's fruit, and taint anything they touch with their hideous flavor. Plus after all the picking at my burrito it eventually just fucking fell apart, and I ended up eating the chicken chunks with a fork like a fucking amateur. It probably would have been really good though, and I won't hold it against the place because I probably should have known the veg that won't be named probably would be hiding within that tortilla prison waiting to spring on its unsuspecting victim. I will eat there again though. Fuck Bell Peppers.

OK, good. Got that out of my system. 

On to the show we went! Honestly 4 bands played (and some guy acoustic) but I was really only there to finally see City Mouse and support my friend Jesse's band The Newports. I did watch snippets of the other bands, but I wasn't really impressed enough to stand there and watch them when 15 feet away was a bar with whiskey. 

The Newports

The Newports are a brand spanking new 5 piece band from L.A. This was officially their second real show ever, but lucky for me I saw them play in a garage a month or so back so I kind of had an idea of what I was in for. Now, I'm going to be brutally honest, because whats the point if your not? They are a new band and it shows. Musically, they fucking shred. I honestly am really looking forward to getting whatever they record down the line. Buuuut, they need to work on their stage presence. It definitely didn't help that the guitar player broke a string during the first song. They did warn the crowd, "We are a brand new band. We don't have CD's, we don't have shirts, and we don't have jokes." There was one point for like half of the last song they played where I went, OK, this is better. The singer grabbed the mic off the microphone stand and she started moving around the stage, the bass player was headbanging, Alex was drumming, and Jesse and the other guitar player looked they were having a lot of fun. It was rad. So yeah, they sound fucking great, and I'm sure once the nervousness wears off, they will fucking kill it. 

No Jokes, No Masters

City Mouse

City Mouse is one of those bands that I have been hearing about forever, but for whatever reason I just never went out of my way to check out. Apparently I'm crazy apathetic and lazy or something. My exposure to them before tonight was always seeing their shirts at shows (The Danzig logo with Mickey Mouse ears) and one song off The Thing That Ate Larry Livermore comp. The fucked up thing is I really really like that song too. As penance for being an idiot, I bought a bunch of their merch before I even saw them play and before I blew all my money on alcohol. Forgive me pop punk father, for I have sinned. They fucking ruled. So good in fact, it kind of makes you feel stupid. Like, god damn it, I could have been into this band this entire time, but instead I'm sitting here with my finger in my ass trying real hard to like boring ass Nothington. First thing I did this morning when I got to work was use the download code that came in the 7" I bought, and then get the rest of their music. Definitely looking forward to catching them again at Fest if not sooner. 

Oh, and Davey Tiltwheel was filling in on bass. 

To bring this story full circle, I was at the bar and Rich and Devito bought drinks off the fancy menu, and myself being a jump off a bridge with your friends kind of guy, bought one as well and was for the second time in one evening disappointed with trying new things. This time it was some kind of tequila tasting alcohol that ended up just tasting like pure unwashed butt hole. Always California, Always Whiskey. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take a nap in my car.

This is your land... AMERICA!

Yeah Buddy Fest 5: Sic Waiting - D-Cent Jerks - Great Apes - All Eyes West - Fools Rush - Caskitt - The Bertos - Divided Heaven - Rebels and Traitors - Castoff (8/1/15 @ Tower Bar, San Deigo CA)

I have been in a show lull as of late. I've been to a few things since my last post, but nothing that made me want to bust out the old proverbial pen and paper. But there is a TON of stuff coming up that I'm going to, so I guess it's time to shake off that rust. When I saw the line up for Yeah Buddy Fest this year and saw that Great Apes and Fools Rush were playing, I knew right away I'd be at that show. I mean, yeah, I would probably be there anyway because it was a Saturday show in San Diego, but that's not the point.

Kenny and I hit the road after he got off work and missed the first two bands (Castoff and Rebels & Traitors). What we didn't miss was Ziggy Love's Chicken Tacos. We showed up and were immediately handed 3 tacos each which I covered in Avocado Ranch sauce. That stuff was fucking delicious. We had to convince ourselves to not just straight up steal the bottle. I realized it was a really good thing Ziggy was there feeding everyone too, because I was about to be sitting around drinking for a solid 6 hours, and that could have easily turned into a nightmare. So thank you Ziggy for the food that helped me not dive head first into traffic while trying to light a cigarette later in the night. 

Divided Heaven

First band I actually ended up watching was L.A.'s Divided Heaven playing with a full band. I saw him play with Jared twice in one night last year, and I downloaded all their music, but honestly, I just can't get into it. I tried again, and sat there and watched the entire set, but I'm still indifferent. Sorry, I tried. 

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 1

Better Whenever

The Bertos

Hey! A band with Davey Tiltwheel in it, no way! This is the second time I have seen The Bertos and still know almost nothing about them except Davey and that guy that works at Luigi's is in the band. I like them though. Still can't find any of their music to put on my iPod though.

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 3

My picture taking skills are fucking siiiiiick

Caskitt

The Tower Bar started to fill up with people by the time Caskitt started playing and I lost my good spot near the front when I was outside smoking. No biggie, Tower Bar isn't that huge and I could easily hear them from my seat at the bar. Also, I had to sit down because I'm old and standing that long hurts my back. They did play the friends theme again! So that's fun. 

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 5

I'll be there for you...in the back. Because I can't get closer.

Fools Rush

Fools Rush was the band I was mostly there to see. I saw them play at The Ken Club before, but since then, I have bought their music and became a fan. They absolutely did not disappoint. I fucking can't stand when people say this, but they play with a lot of energy. Each bearded member of the band looks like they are having a ton of fun and its noticeable. I love it. This is another band I will refuse to miss when they play near me. 

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 7

Plus they all have beards and are from Portland, so that's cool.

All Eyes West

This band is from Chicago and I didn't watch them play. I was outside smoking and talking to people. There always has to be one band to skip to catch my breath. People who did watch them seemed divided. I heard from "they are fucking awesome!" to "Good thing you stayed out here." Whatever, I needed a break. 

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 7 (Boooooooo)

Great Apes

Great Apes was the other band I was stoked to see. Pretty much the same exact story of Fools Rush. The thing that is different about these guys is they explain before every song what it is about. Which is kind of cool, but got a little old after every single song. Unfortunately a guitar string broke before they could finish their set, and since things where running a little behind, they said fuck it, see you next time.

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 8

They were probably about to play my favorite song too

D-Cent Jerks

This ska band hails from Puerto Rico and blew the roof off the fucking place. Seriously, I have never seen the lethargic punk crowd move so damn much. A kind of mosh pit even started! At the Tower Bar! Crazy. Some lady tried to grab my hand and make me dance with her, but I'm not about that life, so I politely declined by screaming "Lady, let go of my fucking hand I'm trying to drink whiskey and watch Ska." She then attacked Kenny much to Rich and my own amusement. These guys were crazy good live, I couldn't even get a decent picture! Go see them if you have a chance, you won't be disappointed. 

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 9

Sic Waiting

I was honestly too tired to watch Jared and friends play. So I sat at the bar again and evened out my drink count to 10.

Whiskey Drinks Consumed: 10!!! USA! USA! USA!

 

And that was it. We said our goodbyes and bounced because Kenny had to work at 6 am the next day and it was nearing 1 am.

Again, thank god for those delicious Tacos. 

Things that are coming up: Pears, Mercy Music, Pretty Little Ponies!!!, The Flatliners (on my birthday!), Riot Fest Denver, The Lawrence Arms, Awesome Fest, The Fest, It's Not Dead Fest, Get Dead, Success. Shit is getting real in the coming months, so go out there and support your local music scene dummy. 

The One Where Kevin Eats an Entire Pound of Cheese

Guttermouth - Bad Cop/Bad Cop - The Bombpops - Decent Criminal (6/20/15 @ Alex's Bar, Long Beach CA)

One of my favorite bands, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, had a record release/tour kickoff show this past Saturday. They just released their first full length album Not Sorry last week, and it is seriously so fucking good. As a matter of fact do yourself a favor, don't even read the rest of this, go buy the album now, listen to it, and come back.

Thursday night, I was tasked with the odd favor of going out and buying 2 white lab coats for the people doing the Fat Wrecked documentary and bring them to this show. I'm still not entirely 100% sure what they were for, I think it had something to do with taking pictures, but it paid for my ticket to get into the show and got me a beer, but most importantly, I got to lend a hand to what I feel like is going to be a fucking awesome documentary about the best record label in the punk scene. 

Saturday morning I went up to L.A. early to hang out with my friend Jackie. It was her last weekend in California before she moves to Colorado, so one last hang sesh was in order. The plan was to hike to the Hollywood sign which would have been rad, but home girl was super hungover, so instead I got to be the lucky participant in packing up her kitchen shit and carrying heavy garbage furniture to the trash can. My suggestion to just throw it off the balcony apparently wasn't a legitimate option. 

Around 6 we headed out to Pasadena to a "house show" to see our friend Jesse's band The Newports play their first show. I say "house show" because it was in the garage of these apartments, and they were the only band playing. They had jungle juice though. Shit was dangerous, didn't even taste like it had alcohol in it, but I was assured that "yes, there is a metric shit ton of rum in there." Anyways, The Newports were pretty rad. It being the first time they have ever played in front of people, there was some stuff to work out, but I look forward to seeing them play some more.

After they were done we headed to Long Beach for a proper show. Decent Criminal started things off and were pretty damn good. Good enough that I listened to their bandcamp today and am stoked to see them when this tour rolls through San Diego. The Bombpops played next, and honestly sounded better then I've ever heard them. I guess they still had some European magic in them or something. Even the Guttermouth fan's were into them, starting up mosh pits during a couple of songs. 

Finally it was time for Bad Cop. These ladies have their shit together and are one of the best bands you will see play live. It's pretty obvious why when Fat Mike saw them play, he immediately signed them to Fat. This being a record release show, they mostly played songs off their new album Not Sorry, including my favorite song off the album I'm Alright (I'm a sucker for good bass lines and songs that are different, and that Reggae thing happening in that song is awesome). Again, the Guttermouth crowd was into them, starting up mosh pits and spilling full beers all over me. One guy slipped on the spilled beer and hit his head pretty fucking hard on the floor, and after wobbly leaning on my buddy Rich for a minute to regain composure, got swooped up by security because I think they thought he was drunk and not possibly concussed. Anyway, go see Bad Cop play if you have a chance, and if you don't buy their albums. You will not be sorry.

Also, They are on Spotify, unlike that harpy Taylor Swift*

We left before Guttermouth played. I have a standing order not to watch them after the Rookies debacle in Oceanside last year. I wrote about it in an earlier post and won't get into it again, but lets just say the strike continues!

That concludes another successful trip to Los Angeles. I'm serious though, go see Bad Cop play. I'm for sure going to 2 more shows on this tour (San Diego and VLHS) and I'm debating whether or not its a good idea to go to Mexico on a Wednesday night as well. We'll see. Also, go to the Punk Rock Food Drive this Saturday the 27th. It's for a good cause and there are some cool bands playing. DO IT. Support your local music.

*Taylor swift is not actually a harpy. If anything she is an actual angel.