Punk in the Park 2022: Day One

Punk in the Park came back for year two at Oak Canyon Park, a grassy, tucked away venue in the hills of Orange County. Day One was as wild a ride as any sold-out punk festival, with free beer tasting all morning and surging pits late into the night. It felt great coming out to […]

Dropkick Murphys reminds LA their music is timeless

My dad, Shane, and I go to a lot of shows and work together as a team to do reviews here at Top Shelf Music. We have seen some of the biggest performers in the world and countless new bands in dimly lit clubs that barely fit 50 people. Some shows are fun, some shows […]

An evening of metal with Jinjer, P.O.D. & more in St. Louis

On November 9th, The Pageant in St. Louis was the site of a metal-filled evening, teeming with exceedingly loud music and even louder messages when Ukrainian metalcore band Jinjer played alongside fellow countrymen and label mates, Space of Variations. In addition to the lineup was Des Moines-based Vended, who furiously killed their time onstage, and […]

Collie Buddz shows the Midwest how to have a good time

It’s not every day you get to go to a Collie Buddz concert. It’s even less often that you get to go to a Shwayze and Collie Buddz show, but when it happens, believe me, it’s a night like no other. On November 11th, the two artists came to St. Louis and performed a fantastic […]

Puscifer plays out of this world show in Nashville

Formed in 1995, Puscifer began as just another idea in the imagination of Maynard James Keenan. While the founder of Tool and A Perfect Circle is predominantly known for those projects, there is something strange and amazing about his side project known as Puscifer. It wasn’t until 2009 that the band formally began playing shows, […]

Sammy Johnson wows fans in Sacramento, California

“Sammy! Sammy! Sammy!” The completely packed house at Ace of Spades in Sacramento, CA chanted, as they eagerly awaited Sammy Johnson to take the stage. It was one day short of a year since Sammy played last year at Goldfield Roseville and Sacramento was ready to hear his intoxicating voice once again! Looking around the […]

The Mysterines send fans ‘Reeling’ at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville

It’s been nearly eight years since the inception of what would now be one of the hottest rock bands in the world, The Mysterines. Formed during their formative teenage years, Lia Metcalfe, George Favager, and Callum Thompson stumbled upon that perfect mixture of musical ingredients that so many seem to strive for, yet rarely attain. […]

HIRIE energizes Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, FL

After three weeks on the road, HIRIE finally came stomping the stage at St. Petersburg’s famed venue, Jannus Live, as part of their Mood Swing Tour. Ballyhoo! and Surfer Girl were also along for the ride. All three bands filled the night with tones that reverberated against the surrounding buildings and absorbed into the lively […]

Black Lips gets rowdy at The Lodge Room, Los Angeles

Loud, raucous, supersonic. I’ve been dying to see a show at The Lodge Room for years. Its a fantastic venue inside an old Masonic lodge from the 1920s that’s been converted into a live performance powerhouse in Los Angeles, with all the necessary modern niceties you’d expect — all the chic, stylized charm that you […]

We Were Promised Jetpacks brings thunder and lightning to Baltimore

We were promised jetpacks… and also vibes. That is definitely what we received at the Baltimore show. The indie rock band, We Were Promised Jetpacks hails from Edinburgh, Scotland, where Adam, Darren, and Sean grew up together, forming a band in their high school years. Rocking out since the 00s, We Were Promised Jetpacks has […]

Stromae returns for a deep performance in LA

Stromae (born Paul Van Haver) is a Belgian artist who first became popular in early 2010s. He gained huge international success quickly and in 2014, he was the first French-singing artist to sell out Madison Square Garden. After releasing two albums, he was called one of the most unique artists in recent history and soon […]

Upsahl ends her first headlining tour in LA

Upsahl’s first ever headlining tour (coincidentally called ‘This is my First Headline Tour’) sadly came to an end in the heart of the sunset strip at Los Angeles’ legendary venue, The Roxy. The show featured an opener who needs no introduction — King Mala. For those of you who don’t know, King Mala is an alt […]

Cole Swindell sells out Warner Theatre in Erie, PA

People with their flannel shirts, baseball hats and cowboy/cowgirl boots lined State Street in downtown Erie, PA on October 20th, 2022 for the Back Down to the Bar Tour which featured Cole Swindell and special guests Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe. They played at the newly renovated Warner Theatre to a SOLD OUT show. People […]

Bob Weir & Wolf Bros astound in Los Angeles

My eyes were barely open as I stretched to reach my phone. Bad habits develop when your phone and your alarm are one in the same — bad habits like spending 30 minutes scrolling through Instagram before even getting out of bed in the morning. I didn’t make it to Instagram that morning, though. Instead, […]

Tim McGraw shows Ventura, CA a good time

On October 14th, Boots and Brews in Ventura was proud to host country legend Tim McGraw with special guest Michael Ray. Michael Ray started the evening off serenading the crowd with hit after hit; he’s one of the next big stars, so keep an eye out for him. After his set, I was very fortunate […]