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 […]

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 […]

Punk in the Park 2022 is coming to Orange County

Attention all punk fanatics — Punk in the Park is almost upon us! This Saturday and Sunday, on November 5th and 6th, the greatest punk music festival on the west coast will take place once again at Oak Canyon Park in the heart of Orange County, California. Brew Ha Ha Productions presents an epic two […]

Shame and Viagra Boys pummel Nashville

A few days ago I saw a question posted on Reddit, asking: “What is a hill you are willing to die on?” This essentially means you have established an opinion or conviction you believe so wholeheartedly that it’s almost unshakeable. At the time, I didn’t really have a good answer, so I just scrolled past […]

Blink-182 reveals massive 2023 tour with Tom Delonge

All hands on deck and batten down the hatches! blink-182 has announced a massive reunion tour WITH Tom DeLonge! DeLonge parted ways with the band twice in recent history: once for four years in 2005; the second time in 2015, which continued indefinitely… until now! Maybe the band is working with Tom on new music… […]

Back to the 70s with Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg in Santa Ana

Okay, okay, okay… out of all the bands that played The Observatory in Santa Ana on September 11th, 2022, only Marky Ramone’s original band, the Ramones, were from the 70s, but c’mon — D.I. was created in 1982! That’s close enough right?! Las Vegas band JERK! opened up the night and really started the show […]

Shooting the sh*t with Sublime tribute band Badfish

I was fully stoked to have a sit-down with Joel Hanks of Badfish — a bassist extraordinaire who shares his story of his band and his brothers. And, when I say ‘brothers’, I mean Scott Begin on drums, Pat Downs on lead vocals and guitar, and Danny on horns.  This is their journey to (40 […]

Flogging Molly drops ‘Anthem’ of the year

The last several years have been incredibly challenging and painful for damn near everyone around the world. COVID changed everything overnight; it stripped away so many dreams and promises, ended careers, financially harmed countless and it took away far too many loved ones. What it could not take away were those things that bind so […]

X Ambassadors hosts benefit for abortion rights in Los Angeles

What seemed to be another regular concert at the iconic Troubadour turned out to be a marvelous night, headlined by X Ambassadors and full of surprise guests — all to support reproductive rights, thanks to the National Network of Abortion Funds foundation. X Ambassadors — along with Rosie, Jensen McRae, Lexi Jayde, corook, Grandson and […]

The Offspring brings real punk rock back to Paso Robles

It was such an amazing night, celebrating a sold-out show with punk legends The Offspring at Vina Robles Amphitheater (one of my favorite local venues). One thing that gets me stoked about going to concerts is knowing that, sometimes, I might not know who the opener is and I get to experience someone new. The […]

Rise Against with The Used & Senses Fail in San Diego

Walking up to Petco Park was like going back 20 years in time… everyone was garbed out in their best emo and punk rock attire, a style ubiquitous throughout the 00s. It made me want to grab a Mickey’s and bounce around town aimlessly like in my high school days. Now, there are fans of […]

Leeds Festival ready to rivet the UK for 2022

Leeds Festival 2022 will take place on Friday the 26th through Sunday the 28th this August at Bramham Park in Leeds. This is one half of the iconic Reading and Leeds Festivals that takes place over the bank holiday weekend. This festival duo is known for having the same lineups and similar festival activities — […]

Streetlight Manifesto brings serious ska to San Diego

Ska punk legends Streetlight Manifesto brought their upbeat, skank-pit inciting, horn-heavy performance to San Diego’s House of Blues on July 13th, with direct support from Elder Brother. Stoked to see these legends again live, it destroyed my soul when I realized that I had torn my knee — like, really messed it up. Didn’t matter, […]