Santa Barbara’s sOhO celebrates 25 years with The Dirty Knobs

Well, rock n roll’s best kept secret is out! Within the last couple months, The Dirty Knobs have released their first original single “Wreckless Abandon” — the title track to their debut album set to be released March 20th — and announced a national tour that sold out in literal minutes. People are finally catching […]

Annual Dimebash All-Star jam rocks Observatory OC

Dimebash, an annual tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell (guitarist of Pantera), rocked The Observatory Theater in Santa Ana on January 16th, 2020. Dimebash is where metalheads come together to remember Dimebag Darrell and his brother Vinnie Paul, all in the name of charity. The tickets were only $33 for four straight hours of all […]

Aboard MEGACRUISE 2019: Day Four

Bueños dias — Ensenada, Mexico! I actually never even left the boat. I debated going ashore, but there was so much going onboard that I wasn’t about to miss it. Day Four on Megadeth’s MEGACRUISE had a photo experience with Testament, Lamb of God (we all missed the LOG photo experience, we’ll get to that later), […]

Julian Marley interviews days ahead of 62nd GRAMMYs

GRAMMY-nominated reggae legend Julian Marley sits down with Top Shelf Music journalist Kristy Rose, days ahead of the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles. Up for ‘Best Reggae Album’ for his fourth full-length album As I Am, Julian Marley shares his feelings on his first nomination from the Academy, what’s to come for 2020, how […]

Night Two with Trey Anastasio Band at The Wiltern, Los Angeles

The Trey Anastasio Band, led by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, took the stage at the beautiful Wiltern in Los Angeles on the night of Saturday, January 17th for their second show of a two-night run. As always, Trey brought the thunder as his collective brought the lightening, while a happy crowd stayed starry-eyed all night […]

Tool rocks San Diego after 13-year hiatus

Friday, January 10th at the Viejas Arena was a night to remember. As the stage dimmed to begin the evening, Author & Punisher appeared onstage. The local San Diegan artist, Tristan Shone, shook the entire venue with heavy, industrial sounds blaring from his custom-engineered machines. Distorted and aggressive, the sounds that came from this unique […]

Blue Oyster Cult reaps San Luis Obispo

On January 15th, I had to opportunity to witness one of the best rock-and-roll bands to ever come out of the 70s at one of my hometown venues — the Fremont Theater here in San Luis Obispo, California. I remember as a kid growing up with 70s rock-and-roll due to having older parents, so once […]

BeachLife returns to Redondo May 2020

Year Two of festivals usually capitalize on where the inaugural year went right and work out the few kinks Year One went disastrously wrong. It’s a learning curve that could make or break a fest, considering music festivals are a dime a dozen these days. Some festivals, however, know how to do it right from […]

Cali Roots 2020 completes lineup with final artist announcement

California Roots Music & Arts Festival continues to impress fans with each additional lineup drop. Through the years, Cali Roots has played it safe, with artists they knew would sell to the fans who have been dedicated supporters from the beginning. It would seem that the festival decided to take a new approach to the […]

Stick Figure sells out San Diego’s Belly Up Tavern, twice

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is always a time warp, filled with general hibernation from the holidays all-around. Yet, despite the odds of staying in, one reggae-rock-alt band managed to sell out a San Diego venue, not once, but TWICE. That’s right, Stick Figure — a band on top of the music scene […]

Return to the rabbit hole March 2020 at 10th Annual Beyond Wonderland

Just as the holiday season comes to a close, Insomniac Events has kept the party alive by announcing their stacked lineup for Beyond Wonderland Festival, a storybook tale of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Journey down the rabbit hole this upcoming March 20th & 21st, with big EDM artists alongside up-and-coming head-turners for two whole days […]

Sublime With Rome at House of Blues Anaheim

On December 27th, Sublime With Rome headlined a sold out show at the House of Blues Anaheim, directly supported by Tyrone’s Jacket. Walking around the packed House of Blues Anaheim before the show, you could feel the anticipation in the air. Everyone was excited to party hard at the pre-New Year’s show. Sublime came out […]

Coachella 2020 is here!

The moment all mainstream music lovers have all been waiting for is here — Coachella 2020 has been revealed! That magical unveiling always warrants your money well-spent if you secured your passes from festival’s pre-sale, prompting others who haven’t splurged for a ticket yet into a panic for when whatever’s leftover goes public. You never […]

Megadeth’s MEGACRUISE 2019: Day Three

There was lots happening Day Three aboard Megadeth’s metal MEGACRUISE, starting with ‘Among the Brewing’ with Charlie Benante of Anthrax… yes — Charlie has coffee, too! ‘Sip and Paint’ with comedian Don Jamieson and Megadeth’s Dirk Verbeuren was also going on, as well as ‘Mega Clinic’ with Megadeth member Kiko Loureiro, Q & A’s, ‘Vic’s Garage’ […]

Illenium lights up Sacramento

Another amazing experience at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento! As I walked into the arena, I saw many fans dressed for an EDM concert. There were girls in fishnet cosplay and guys wearing white t-shirts with lights. There were many fans lined up at the merchandise tables before the show began. Everyone was so […]