Weston {Live at Highline Ballroom}
Weston Highline Ballroom July 6, 2011 Weston was one of those bands that should have been huge. They had the sound of Blink 182, the lyrics of Green Day, and the look of Sugar Ray. Sadly, the band fell apart after taking a more mature direction, and a whole generation of punk rockers missed out [...]
Pennywise at The Starland Ballroom
Pennywise is one of those bands that will never change. They are like the Iron Maiden of the punk rock industry: You know what you’re going to get–be it at their live show or on wax–these guys basically defined the South California hardcore sound and they aren’t about to add keyboards to their line-up or [...]
AFI & Gallows at Starland Ballroom
Words by guest blogger Anthony Ambrose of inTuneMusic View full photolog on Flickr Since forming nearly twenty years ago, AFI has seen a wide variety of lineup, label, and stylistic changes. Beginning in 1991 as a California skate-punk act, the band routinely covered The Misfits and touched on topics such as mohawks. In 2009, AFI [...]
Imelda May at Pianos
Imelda May Pianos September 15, 2009 Click here for full Photolog from the show It’s hard to ignore the dearth of rockabilly bands hitting the Big Apple as part of their tour itinerary. So, when I get an invite to check out an up and coming rockabilly diva at an NYC show, I do not [...]
Green Day at Madison Square Garden
Green Day/Kaiser Chiefs Madison Square Garden July 27, 2009 Click to view more photos from show Thousands of fans packed NYC’s biggest venue for two evenings of stellar punk rock courtesy of a band heralded as this generation’s U2, and judging by the audience reaction at MSG, the band is more than worthy of the [...]
The Mummies at Maxwell’s and SouthPaw
Mummies/Back CC’s June 9, 2009 – (two sets) Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ June 10, 2009 – Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY “So why do you think they played here in 2002?” I turned around and saw my friend Jan laughing, as he brought over Maxwell’s and Telstar Records owner Todd Abramson to ask me this. I climbed drunkenly [...]
The Damned: Live at the Fillmore
The Damned, The BelRays, Electric Frankenstein Fillmore at Irving Plaza May 14, 2009 It’s sad to say, but the number of living legends from the early part of punk history is dwindling rather quickly. With the death of three quarters of The Ramones, Joe Strummer, Arthur “Killer” Kane, and (most recently) Lux Interior, the need [...]
South X Southwest 2009
“You can hate a hammer but it’s a good tool,” said Pat Todd, owner of independent label Rankoutsider Records (and front man for Pat Todd and the Rankoutsiders) when asked about the good and bad of South by Southwest. I had no idea what to expect from SXSW – how would it compare to lame-o [...]
Taste of Chaos Tour at Nokia Theater • 3/4/2009
Taste of Chaos featuring Thursday, Bring Me the Horizon, Four Years Strong, Pierce the Veil Nokia Theater March 4, 2009 Check out the full photolog from the show on Flickr I’m not the biggest fan of package tours under banner names. Sure, I’ve been to everything from Ozzfest to Sno-core, but I always find myself [...]
Street Dogs at Asbury Lanes • 3/14/2009
Street Dogs and Swingin’ Utters Asbury Lanes, New Jersey March 14, 2008 Click here to see more photos from the show When the Dropkick Murphy’s first record “Do or Die” dropped in the mid-‘90s, it was met with a collective “ooh and ah” from punk fans bored of the overproduced Hot Topic crap being bandied [...]
Dropkick Murphys at Roseland • 3/7/2009
Dropkick Murphys, H2O, Civet Roseland Ballroom, New York March 7, 2009 St. Patrick’s Day is here, which means the Dropkick Murphys have to be close by. At least they were—a week ago. This is their second pass through the Big Apple, supporting their phenomenal record, “The Meanest of Times,” and this time, the Dropkicks brought [...]
Detroit Cobras At The Music Mill
Detroit Cobras, Those Young Lions, Little Boots and Drusilla Music Mill, Indianapolis, IN December 5, 2008 “Rock and roll is the best job of all time. You don’t get to call in sick.” – Mike Edison, author of I Have Fun Everywhere I Go Well, you do if you’re the Detroit Cobras, most recently evidenced [...]
International Noise Conspiracy at Webster Hall Studio
International Noise Conspiracy, Walter Schreifels, Young Lords November 11, 2008 Webster Hall Studio, NYC Watching the International Noise Conspiracy take the stage at the newly minted Webster Hall Studio was a bit surreal. On one hand, the band rocked with the same anarchist-leaning, punk-as-fuck steadfastness that has made the former-Refused band members icons in both [...]
The Misfits at The Starland Ballroom
The Misfits, Zombie Mafia, A Midnight Tragedy Starland Ballroom, NJ November 1, 2008 The Misfits hit their home state of New Jersey on Dia De Los Muertos, Saturday night, and treated the fans with a set heavy with hits from every era of The Misfits mythos. I got there in time to catch the last [...]
CMJ08: Gabriel Kahane, Bell and Nat Baldwin at Gothamist House
Gabriel Kahane, Bell and Nat Baldwin Gothamist House/Bell House October 22, 2008 Hidden away between sign shops, warehouses and new construction you’ll find The Bell House, the newest music spot from the owners of Union Hall. For the next few days The Bell House is home to Gothamist House, the popular NYC news blogs addition [...]
Humpers at Rock Bottom and Red 7
Humpers Reunion Gigs 10/3/08 – Red 7, Austin, TX 10/4/08 – Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar, San Antonio, TX Okay, these shows were nowhere near where I live (Bloomington, IN) but since finding out that one of my all time favorite bands, the Humpers, reunited last year I told myself I would go to see ‘em [...]
Rise Against at The Roseland Ballroom
Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Thrice, Gaslight Anthem Roseland Ballroom, NYC October 13, 2008 View Photolog on Flickr It’s been a few years since melodic hardcore giants Rise Against played Manhattan and the hipster saturated island has been starving for some decent rock & roll. Luckily, the Chicago-based quartet brought a healthy dose of adrenaline-charged punk [...]
Motorhead Live at the Stone Pony
Motorhead did not disappoint. The band blazed through most of their greatest hits during an hour and a half outdoor set, highlighted by “Metropolis” and “Ironfist.” The band rocked out to “Rock Out” from their latest effort “Motorizer.” Definitely a catchier number, more on par with their later work. Lemmy stood stoic, singing in his usual eyes to the sky stance, while guitarist Phil Campbell plodded around the stage.
Doomsdayers Daytrippin’ on the East Coast
So I went to Asbury Park last Friday to video tape the Koffin Kats and spend a few dollars on some really cool bowling pins. I was trying to time my arrival at the club to correspond with the Kats set time, but alas, I got there early and was forced to eat some amazing [...]
Koffin Kats in Skate Rat Alley
Caught the Koffin Kats in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut last night playing in this crazy skate park/ asylum on a ramp, some 20 feet in the air. Full review to come.
Bouncing Souls & Sick of it All at Terminal 5
Bouncing Souls, Sick of it All, Grey Area September 19, 2008 Terminal 5 Click to see full SOIA photolog on FLICKR I’ve seen the Bouncing Souls a couple a dozen times since 1994 and it’s always been kind of hit or miss. Some times they rock, and sometimes they just kind of stand there and [...]
Rock-a-Round’s Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival Wrap-up
Rock-a-Round’s Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival Austin, TX 8/28/08 – 8/30/08 Goddamn, what a way to celebrate my first visit to Austin, Texas. A wild weekend indeed, full of record buying, rock and roll, power pop, glam, garage and my pal Cody, headlined by the Boys, who haven’t played the United States in some 25-plus [...]
Rancid at The Irving Plaza
Rancid, Big D and the Kid’s Table Irving Plaza August 15, 2008 Rancid took the stage a week or so ago for a five day stint at New York’s prestigious Irving Plaza (only fools call it the Fillmore). It’s been a few years since Rancid’s last visit to the Big Apple, and this time they [...]
The Masters of Metal at PNC Art Center
Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell, Motorhead, Testament @ PNC Art Center Holmdel, NJ With Ozzfest pretty much hanging it up, there’s not much out there for metal fans in terms of a good rock show. Sure, Motley Crue is lapping up some dough riding the nostalgia train and Poison is milking The Rock of Love, [...]