Welsh rock group, The Joy Formidable, crushes it at The Roxy

An otherwise regular and boring Tuesday night was pleasantly disrupted by a powerful, entertaining, and heavy hitting performance from Welsh rock band, CUFFED UP. The night kicked off at the world famous establishment The Roxy on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. The band took us through their hits from 2021 album, Asymmetry, with fun banter […]

The Buckleys reinvent country music in Music City

Thursday night Nashville’s Winners, hosted their annual Whiskey Jam, featuring up and coming artists from all over the place. This included Australian hippy-country trio, The Buckleys, who started their careers busking and performing at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Splitting their time between home and Music City, this band of siblings is committed to bringing […]

Maxwell brings generations of fans together in Baltimore

Crowds of people walked towards the doors of The Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. Daughters, mothers, fathers and grandparents all smiled while they got their food and found their seats. Multiple generations came together for one reason, to witness Maxwell’s beautiful voice and sensational music. However, first up was Alex Isley. She walked the stage with […]

Rayne Johnson gets Erie, PA pumped up for Trace Adkins

The snow was blowing and temps were falling. But that didn’t stop people from piling in the historic Warner Theater, in downtown Erie, PA. Legendary country star Trace Adkins was performing  live with special guest, Rayne Johnson. The highly anticipated show kicked off with Johnson performing some of his most notable songs. Johnson is an […]

Jessie Baylin serves Nashville with a taste of New Jersey

Tuesday, November 15, The Basement East hosted Jessie Baylin and Airpark. The New Jersey native left home when she was 18 to discover herself in Los Angeles, only to quickly figure out that music was her calling. Inspired by artists such as Billie Holiday, Barbara Streisand, and Ella Fitzgerald, Jessie Baylin mixes folk, rock, and […]

Fans beg Matt Maeson for encore in San Diego

Matt Maeson brought his Never Had to Leave Tour to the Observatory North Park in San Diego, California for an insane sold-out performance. The eager crowd packed the venue early in anticipation of hearing new songs from his most recent album of the same name for the very first time live, as well as old […]

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 […]