I write When We Were Young Fest 2025 — not tragedies

Stepping onto the Las Vegas Festival Grounds for When We Were Young 2025 felt like every millennial’s early 2000s daydream. Before even getting through the gates, the hype was so real, with the line for the festival merch booth wrapping around the outside entrance; fans were eagerly waiting to snag swag before the day even […]

The Story So Far sends Santa Ana into crowd-surfing frenzy

Santa Ana’s Observatory Festival Grounds was fired up as The Story So Far wrapped up their fall tour, bringing along a stacked lineup featuring Pain of Truth, Origami Angel, and Neck Deep. From hardcore breakdowns to crowd-surfing chaos, the night showed up with the full spectrum of modern pop punk and the crowd definitely matched […]

Coheed and Cambria quakes St. Louis with Taking Back Sunday

If you’ve been keeping up with the shows I have been covering this summer, you know that we have had a string of insanely hot outdoor shows here in St. Louis lately. It’s been a grind shooting shows in 95+ degree heat. I like to think of it as training for the impending heat death […]

Less Than Jake, Fishbone, & friends get Riverside skankin’

By the time the sun dipped behind the historic arches of the Riverside Municipal Auditorium on August 1st, the air was already buzzing with anticipation. Fans decked out in vintage band tees and checkerboard Vans gear swarmed the venue, ready to skank, shout, and sweat through a night of ska-punk glory. The lineup? A dream […]

Pierce The Veil plays through St. Louis downpour

My first show back at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater was one for the books. Storm clouds loomed over the venue as I approached, darkening the sky while I searched for the staff parking lot and made my way to the box office. As I walked, I said a prayer to whichever god controls the weather that […]

Mayday Parade says cheers to 20 years by selling out St. Louis

St. Louis was overflowing with an emo, rock, pop punk mishmash of sound this past Monday night at The Pageant. Mayday Parade came to St. Louis with a sold-out show for their Three Cheers for 20 Years Tour, having just began a week prior. With them, they brought the talents of Like Roses, Grayscale, and Microwave: […]

Bite Me Bambi says go ahead & ‘Eat This’ for V-day dessert

A warm delicious ‘fk you’ with a side of skank sauce? That’s exactly what the doctor ordered with Bite Me Bambi’s new Eat This ablum, a quick and dirty 8-song LP calling out bad boyfriends, haters, gaslighters… the entire human population at large — including “Girls Like You”. High-tempo, fast-action expertly executed ska experiences don’t […]

The Meringues drops salivatory second album ‘Pavlova’s Dog’

Power pop-meets-post punk band The Meringues have officially dropped their salivatory second album, Pavlova’s Dog. Consisting of Amanda Pants and Ted Evans at the core, the eccentric Canadian duo layer raspy, pelting vocals over pop-friendly riffs and melodies provided by Jackson Baird on bass and Alastair Morrison on drums — a contrast vast, complex, yet […]

The Copyrights exorcise ‘New Ghosts’ in 4-song EP & 7″ vinyl

Veteran pop rock quartet The Copyrights have resurfaced with a quick and easy EP entitled New Ghosts. A recount of old flames burnt to ashes, the four-song album expresses how time doesn’t necessarily heal all wounds — it just forms real ugly scars. Relationships are the fabric of our existence, yet simultaneously the undoing of […]

Dashboard Confessional sells out SOMA San Diego

Emo icons Dashboard Confessional brought fellow rockstars BoysLikeGirls and the newly reformed Taylor Acorn to San Diego’s legendary venue SOMA on October 4th — the house was completely packed. The tour comes at the heels of Dashboard’s and BLG’s new single “Watch the Fire”, released just last month. The crowd showed up and out, eager […]

NOFX’s Punk In Drublic final three shows in LA: Friday- Day One

October 4th marked the kickoff of what would be the first of three incredible days of some of the best punk rock bands around, as NOFX’s Final Shows festival took over the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. According to NOFX frontman Fat Mike, the bands playing during this weekend’s farewell celebration are their […]