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 […]

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, […]

The Interrupters step up for Flogging Molly in Pittsburgh

It’s a surprisingly beautiful day on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, PA. But the night was also a little different… aside from the usual black and gold painted on the city and its people, you could also find a collection of groups in combat boots, huge spiked mohawks and kilts lining up around Pittsburgh’s favorite […]

Slam Dunk Fest set for Leeds & Hatfield for summer 2022

The annual Slam Dunk Festival returns to the United Kingdom this summer! The North installation of the festival takes place on Friday, June 3rd at Temple Newsam in Leeds, followed by the South installation on Saturday, June 4th at Hatfield Park in Hatfield. Slam Dunk is a one-day festival taking place in two different cities […]

Pennywise at OC’s Garden Amp: Weekend 2, Day Three

On March 13th, Pennywise headlined their fifth night — and third night in a row — over a two-week span at southern California’s outdoor Garden Amp. On this fun and final night, they played the album Straight Ahead from front to back — it was straight up phenomenal! Sunday’s show was further supported by punk rock […]

Skanking to Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime in St. Louis

“It seems like people get afraid of a certain music if they can’t pigeonhole it to their satisfaction…good music is good music, and that should be enough for anybody.” Those words were spoken by the immortal sun-soaked, two joint-smoking, forever-shirtless, OG “Badfish” himself, the legendary Bradley Nowell. Bradley helped to start a phenomenon when his […]

Punk in the Park 2021: Day Two

On November 7th, Punk in the Park Day Two was held at the Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, CA. Saturday was headlined by NOFX, who were supported by 13 other great bands! For those that were over 21, there were over 100 different beers to try from all the different regional breweries that were there. The […]

Punk in the Park 2021: Day One

On November 6th, Punk in the Park was held at the Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, CA. Saturday was headlined by Pennywise and included sets from 13 other kickass punk bands! For people that were 21+ with a tasting pass, you were able to enjoy unlimited samples for half the day from some regional breweries […]

Dropkick Murphys & Rancid take over Paso Robles

The Boston to Berkeley Tour, with Rancid and Dropkick Murphys, took a stop in Paso Robles, California at Vina Robles Amphitheater on October 13th, 2021. First up was a band by the name of The Bronx, which I was pretty excited for. A band formed in Los Angeles back in 2002, they came out onstage […]

A night with Kyle Smith at The Boardwalk, Orangevale

On September 24th, fans descended upon The Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA for a night of music, featuring K-Rizz, Eazy Dub, Skunk Funk and headliner Kyle Smith. Fans traveled from all over the greater Sacramento area to catch Kyle Smith’s official CD release party. If you don’t know of Kyle Smith yet, buckle up, because you will hear […]

Being at SoCal Hoedown 2021

For five previous years, SoCal Hoedown has had fantastic lineup, with some of the best punk musicians gathering together to perform for one epic day! Hamapple, a punk band from southern California, kicked off the long-awaited 2021 SoCal Hoedown return. To get the fans psyched up, they started the event at noon with some upbeat, […]

New Found Glory brings Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour to Anaheim

Located alongside Disneyland at Anaheim’s Garden Walk, long-awaited circle pits and crowd-surfers were in full force proving pop punk is, indeed, still alive and well. For two blessed nights, New Found Glory sold out the House of Blues Anaheim with their highly-anticipated Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour. The show was originally co-headlined with Simple Plan […]

Big Spin unveils “I Can Give You Nothing” video

Mexico-based punk rock band Big Spin adds imagery and animation to their “I Can Give You Nothing” single, a song previously released on their self-titled album. With the aid of contemporary dancer and ballerina Paulina del Carmen, Big Spin’s premiere reggae rock-style single comes to colorful life in the new music video above. Despite its […]

WORLD VIDEO PREMIERE: Wanted Noise “More Sunrises”

San Diego surf skate punk collective Wanted Noise premieres the highly-anticipated music video for their slammin’ “More Sunrises” single today only on Top Shelf Music! Waking up on the beach at sunrise from another night of partying, the band does what any other person in that predicament would do — try to get more beer. […]

Audic Empire drops “Johnny Rotten” ska single & video

Ska-reggae-punkers Audic Empire return with new single “Johnny Rotten” and accompanying music video! A formidable creature, Johnny Rotten is (apparently) a “son-of-a-bitch”, from the wrong neighborhood, with the wrong attitude after waking up on the wrong side of the bed. “With a handlebar mustache and some bad tattoos”, Rotten will steal your girl and flip […]