We are well into festival season, and I will be attending my very first one ever soon. That's right, this 40-something year old punk rock gal prefers small clubs and intimate settings, but I'm venturing from my old, cranky ways and will experience my first festival at the end of this month, Punk Rock Bowling. Go big, or go home, right? (Can I be in bed by 10pm? No? Damn.) So I have been picking friends' brains about what to do, where to stay... the ins and outs and secrets of attending a festival as a punk rock woman. Their advice was so good I didn't want to keep it just for myself. So I am sharing it all with you in hopes that it helps you, or you can add any additional advice that might h
It’s rare I miss the opening bands when I get tickets to any show. I really enjoy listening and discovering bands I might not of otherwise had the opportunity too. This Satanic Surfers show did not disappoint. One of my favourite venues in Vancouver to see shows at is the Rickshaw Theatre. It’s a hidden gem in the downtown east side that’s theatre room/ venue area is on a slight incline, giving awesome views no matter where you stand and how vertically challenged you might be, in 50+ yr old historical china town landmark. A local band, new to me, opened the evening called Blacked Out. Fun group of guys singing songs of growing up in Vancouver, one sporting a Whilhelm Scream shirt, and pla
When you live in Des Moines, Iowa, a small city right on I-80 within 4 hours from 3 bigger cities, and only 5 from Chicago, it’s basically a given that you will travel for shows. And it’s also extra exciting when the shows come to Omaha, making your commute only TWO hours each way! Sadly, even this doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, which meant I’d been counting down and looking forward for months for Drug Church’s (along with Movements, Boston Manor, and Trash Boat) appearance at The Waiting Room in Omaha last Saturday, April 27th. I had the pleasure of discovering this band two years ago at my first time at Punk Rock Bowling in 2017. They were one of the first bands to play, and I reme
A couple of decades into their careers, some of the best punk rock artists seem to find that punk rock alone is not enough anymore. Mike Ness and his country albums. Tim Armstrong’s reggae album. Rise Against is the latest example. Last year they released an album of covers of their own songs played acoustically with a string section and titled “The Ghost Note Symphonies.” This year, they’re taking that approach on a three-city tour and I got to see the opening night in the band’s home town of Chicago April 28. “We’ve never done this before,” said front man Tim McIlrath to the sold-out crowd settled in on the plush seats of the historic Chicago Theatre. He also noted early on that “this is t
A couple of decades into their careers, some of the best punk rock artists seem to find that punk rock alone is not enough anymore. Mike Ness and his country albums. Tim Armstrong’s reggae album. Rise Against is the latest example. Last year they released an album of covers of their own songs played acoustically with a string section and titled “The Ghost Note Symphonies.” This year, they’re taking that approach on a three-city tour and I got to see the opening night in the band’s home town of Chicago. “We’ve never done this before,” said front man Tim McIlrath to the sold-out crowd settled in on the plush seats of the historic Chicago Theatre. He also noted early on that “this is the stille
