American Dream
By My Wife's an Angel
What Could I Say?
By Origin of Speech
One of a Kind Prize Cow
By Virtua dx
Super Guit☆r
By Virtua dx
Hikari
By Kenmujo
Pappy
By Kenmujo
Floe
By DIALS DIALS DIALS
Augmented
By DIALS DIALS DIALS
Control
By Jaguardini
Humanity
By Jaguardini
Pick Me, Choose Me
By Her Majesty
Folsom
By Unmarked Pavement
Speed Racer
By Unmarked Pavement
NEW - 06/06/26
Night two. Bestie was driving me and our other friend this time. We literally got there at 4:45, and doors where supposted to START at 5. The line was already down the damn block. According to instagram people had been lining up since like 1, so we never had a chance. We didn't get in till like 6:20, but compared to other people we were lucky. It wasn't a bad wait tho, just painfully hot. We played charades lol.Once we got in the first set came on immediatly. It was someone I'd seen twice before Gull. I'm a Gull fan. His stuff is super spacey, and he plays guitar/drums/keyboard/sings all at once. I stayed for a couple songs, but since I'd seen the set like a month ago I went upstairs to order food. We all got a pizza and the life changing sweet potato fries again. Soooooo good.
We should've eaten faster cause when we went down again the second set was almost done. The band was Uncle Bengine and the Restraining Orders. I caught the last three songs and I was into it. Getting very appalachian in the pit. This was around the time my shoe fell apart. I got these free Demonias at a swap meet and needed to take them out on the town. So the whole platform fell off. I danced around to Uncle Bengine while a foot taller on one side, but my knee was not happy. Thankfully I had my hair in pigtails, so I just undid them and used to hairties to hold my heel on. Worked surprisingly well lol.
Next up was Buck Gooter. Just amazing name. When the set started the vocalist held this chainmail mask over his head to dance and scream with. He was dressed in leather and chains covered in jinglebells. The other band members played keyboard and keytar while dressed in wizard cloaks. They def had an experimental angle. The music was veryyyy noise/random scream focused. The vocalist kept taking random metal bits like cymbals and car parts (?) out of duffel bags to shake around/throw on the floor. My favorite was a fencing mask covered in more jingle bells. He walked into the crowd and just thrashed his head around in it while a prerecorded song played. In the middle of the set, they explained that the band started in the early 2000's with the lead and one other guy. The second guy sadly passed on and the lead promised to keep the band going no matter what. He said it was a way to keep his friend alive through music. The chainmail mask from the beggining represented his friend, and the prerecorded bits where songs he made before passing. It was really sweet. They ended the set differently with a slow fade out. It felt really meaningful knowing the story behind the band.
We chugged more water and scrolled on pinterest between sets before going back downstairs. Second to last was another band I've seen recently Shagwuf. I loved there set a couple weeks ago, and somehow the second time around was better. All three of us where dancing and jumping and swaying. Shagwuf has such range. They can do sweet folk they can do hardcore breakdowns they can do disco. I started trying to mosh at this point but my fucked shoe gave out within 5 seconds lol. The lead ended with speech about how much everyone loved this venue, like everyone before. The owner taking pictures in the crowd and I could see him smiling so wide. I'm glad he seemed not too miserable on the last night of his baby.
My two friends at this point were exhausted. They listened to some of the final band's songs and decided it wasn't their thing. They left to get ice cream and said to meet them when I was done lol. At the same time another one of my friends finally got in after waiting for 3 hours.
More people were in the basement than for any other set. The band was Illiterate Light. They were by far the most popular band playing tonight. The second they started playing people went off. Someone was almost always climbing on the ceiling or crowdsurfing. The whole floor was moshin whether you liked it or not. The music was typical indie dude rock, but I really enjoyed it. They used the stage lights more minimalistically which made the whole thing feel organic. IDK how to describe it well. There was lots of intensity and love in a stripped back way. I decided I couldn't resist the pit anymore and got in. I jostled to the very front of the stage without losing my shoe and omggggg. The crowd was like one organism all trying to get closer to the band. I was headbanging with my forehead three inches from the stage floor. I decided I wanted to crowdsurf too, so climbed up on a speaker and fell in. I got pretty far, but did lose my heel. I had to go crawl around for it with my phone flashlight lol. Right after that my ice cream friends texted if the set was over yet. It wasn't, but they'd been waiting awhile and I know what it's like to be super tired and trapped at a show. I hobbled out and we drove home to the lovely tones of LMFAO. Bye Bye bar :(
NEW - 06/05/26
So another very popular venue in my town is closing. So so sad. I know the scene will go on, but it's a big loss. This place was a real bar, not an illegal warehouse type place too. I guess the economy is bad. I moshed for the first time in my life in this bar basement. I'm happy I got the chance to say goodbye though. This night was the last hardcore night, and tommorrow was the last last night.Me and bestie showed up at 4:50. The flyer said the line started at 5, but it was already snaking down the street when we showed up. We didn't know if the kitchen was open since it was closing, but there was no food allowed inside, so we were eating dried mangoes in my car. Once we were in line tho it started moving, so we didn't have to sweat in the heat for too long.
Inside we still had over an hour until the sets started, so we got some wings and sweet potato fries to share. This shit was so good omg. Life changing sweet potato fries like why are the closing. It felt like a mukbang we were like animals. After that we headed to the basement.
The crowd skewed a bit older than at sketchier venues. I think a large age range is a sign of a healthy scene. Some lady even brought her baby in giant noise cancelling headphones. The baby literaly fell asleep during the sets and didn't cry once. I told the mom her kid was gonna grow up to be the coolest person ever lol. Another guy brought his kids too and they kept forming baby mosh pits amongst themselves. Very heartwarming.
Anyways the first set was the group we were most excited for, Tan and Handsome. They had this amazing shirt at the merch table that had snoopy holding a gun on it. Their set was so good too. Very melodic hardcore. The lead had amazing energy as well. Everyone was excited to start cause the moshing began immediatly. I was worried about the ratio of big burly men to me in the pit but the music was so good I had to join. Someone punched me crazy hard in the stomach and I lost my phone but it wasn't too violent. I even got my bestie to join in. She's more discerning about the music she moshes too than I am lol. We got a good amount of punches in on each other tho.
Between the sets we went upstairs to get air. Someone had laid out a bunch of photos the owner had taken of shows over the years. They were free and I found some of one of my favorite local artists Kenmujo. It was really bittersweet seeing all the smilling people over the years tho. We went back inside to chug water and secure our good spot.
Next up was Ugabuga. This was a little softer than Tan and Handsome, but still so good. The vocals were so pretty and the instruments were so evil. I spent basically this whole set moshing. I was one of like 6 girls in the pit it was war. There was the common 3 guys trying to actually kill each other aswell. They kept emptying out the middle cause they would be wrestling on the floor. There was some interesting stuff like everyone running around in a circle tho. At the end they played Dragula which was such a good scream along.
Afterward we were chugging water again and started talking to this person who was in the pit with me. They had the craziest two-step and great pink hair. Turns out they used to ride the same bus as me in highschool lol. It was nice to see them tho. The crowd was very nice and complementative tonight. I think everyone was sad, but it was good for chatting with strangers.
The third set was Crab Action. These guys started the set with one of the leads saying his 1 week overdue pregnant wife was at the show, and that if she gave birth the baby would get to be on-stage. Then he started talking about the history of the venue. Apparently it had been a popular show bar before its current ownership. He credited the original bar with being one of the first hardcore show places in our town. When the original bar had to close, the owner of this bar had a whole business plan set up by the next day to take it over. He got the lease and kept the bar open for over ten years then. For the love of art and music. I was honestly very moved by this speech. The speaker just spoke with so much love.
The set itself was intense. The music was more pop-punk-esque, but the crowd was losing it. Before it got too out of control the lead stopped and read the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost. After that he jumped in the crowd. People were doing pull-up contests on the ceilling beams (They'd been doing this all night but they started counting the pull-ups now). The singer called everyone ne'er-do-well and rapscallions while we moshed around him lol. People were fighting so hard even the big dudes fell over. I got punched in the head a couple times, but the guy who did it checked on me and said sorry which I appreciated. I had to stop to help find some guys glasses too. Somehow they weren't broken.
Me and bestie went outside to cool off. We were both covered in our own and other peoples sweat. Someone had parked a motorcycle with a real deer skull on it outside which I appreciated. I bought a t-shirt from the bar cause I was so moved by the speech.
I won't say what the next set was cause I feel bad that I didn't like it too much. It was just kinda generic very growly metal to me. I prefer metal with less deep vocals, and I had been moshing for like 4 hours. We listened to the set till almost the end, then decided to head out. We were both so tired, I had to wake up at 6, and we were coming back again tommorrow. on the ride home my friend performed some beautiful La Dispute songs he'd memorized.
05/31/26
This was less of a show and more of a social hour, but I feel like it still goes here. This is a monthly goth night I've been going to since last summer. The people who go to are the same group that goes to shows. Sometimes they have live music, but usually it's just socializing + goth DJ + gay charity. There's usually a little extra event too, like once they projected Nosferatu on the wall. Tonight's pull was a swap meet. It was mainly clothes, but there was media and other stuff too. I brought clothes and some old stuffed animals. They were all from exs. It felt wrong keeping them lol. Me and my friend got so much good stuff it felt illegal. I got a pair of Demonia Creepers FOR FREE. I felt kinda greedy but the girl who brought them told me she was happy someone could wear them. My friends got a bunch of stuff too like fancy dresses and heels and earrings. It was nice to see people taking my old stuff too. I love community.Honestly most of the night we just stalked the clothes tables and danced in between. Me and my friend have an ongoing thing about trying to do the charleston, so I was trying to do the charleston. Wasn't pretty but we were having so much fun. They even played Blue Monday which is one of my favorite songs ever. We got to talk to a bunch of people we only see at shows too. Got into a lovely discussion about Twin Peaks and the new Backrooms movie. At the end of the night my friend had me hold her phone to show me this new dance routine she's been practiciing lol. Then we drove home and blasted Vengaboys. Lots of screaming.
05/23/26
First show of the summer with bestieeee. We had already been hanging out most of the day thrifting/loitering together lol. She came back over to my house to eat dinner, and then we headed out. This show was technically for the. birthday of a prominent organizer/cool person in the scene. A bunch of people came, and it was so nice seeing people I hadn't seen since last summer. One of my friends was back from taking a break for awhile, and two of my other buddies invited me tubing this friday lol.But the music. The first band was Wed Better. This was their debut so they have no presence online. It's awful cause the main singer is sooooo talented. She was in this other band called Barbecued Babies that was around for awhile, but disbanded without a trace. I'm glad she's performing again cause she has just these perfect female punk vocals. Their set was the opener, so quiet short, but I liked thier songs. They had one about killing the president. Oh also we had seen the drummer at the Goodwill bins earlier that day and given her our cart lol. Small town, we ended up talking later.
After catching up with people outside the next set started. This was Shagwuf. AMAZING!!! It was like a beautiful mix of folk and punk and just beautiful melodies. The band had amazing chemistry to. They all gave each other solo parts and then each one stole the show, especially the drummer. People started moshing during this set even though this was like not moshing music. But I joined in ofc. It was a great pit cause I was quiet pummeled but not concussed. I did drop my phone and crush the plastic cup I was holding tho. Phone survived intact so it was worth it. My friend said she was too entranced by the drummer to mosh. She did buy a CD at the end.
Final band we saw was Bangzz. I really liked the personality of the vocalist, she liked to talk between songs, and was very joyful. The music was okay, but not really my thing. We'd moved to the upper level of this venue, so we were watching everyone lose it from above. It fely very serene. There was one more guy left, but we both weren't feeling Bangzz and had to work in the morning.
05/09/26
This show was at a real venue, one of my favs. It's like a cidery, and I never have to park illegally to go :D. None of my usual friends could come, so I went with this girl I'm talking to. We were hanging out at her house for awhile and got distacted though, so we missed most of the first set lol. I got to hold her pet snake (baby ball python) tho. The end of the first set did sound great tho. It was Goth Christmas. I've seen them playing in town before, so hopefully they'll be back and I'll be on time.Next up was Sage is Alive. Amazing, they were so good. The guitar was screaming, the vocalist was agonized. It was their first show in town and I really hope they come back. People kept trying to mosh, but this guy kept stopping everyone. Maybe it's not allowed at the venue anymore? IDK but I'm a Sage is alive fan now.
Final set was Heavyside. Should now mention my priest (well my mom's priest) was at this show. Like the whole thing, just standing in the back head-bopping. He said hi to me after the first set and was like "Didn't expect to see you here". Okay man, didn't expect to see YOU here either. But anyways, at one time he was the youth pastor to the lead vocalist of the band, so the lead invited him to come. I thought it was sweet lol. He DID NOT acknowledge it the next day when I had to go to church tho. It's not even a strict denomination like you can like a little heavy-metal. Uh anyways the band was good. They had very nice pop-punk type vocals. I found them a little forgetable, but my friend reallyyyy loved them. The show actually ended on time which has got to be a first. My friend and I gossiped in the parking lot for awhile after :).
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05/02/26
Finally back in town from college! I've been back like 3 days so I had to go to a show. Me and my friends settled on this venue that was well known in community. It's basically a giant fancy house. I'd never gotten to go cause they had a crazy show in October that got shut down by the cops, and IDK if they've hosted since. We HAD TO seize the opportunity.I picked up my friend A and got to the house, which was actually a shockingly beautiful shockingly big house. It felt illegal to be in my ratty show clothes parking in this giga suburb. We got in and paid. It was a benefits show for a free-breakfast program and we talked to the organizers for a bit. The Party for Socialism and Liberation were there as well, and we played "socialism jeopardy" to learn stuff and earn stickers. Clearly we were early, so we just started wandering around. The whole house was spotless and open to the public. There were 3 floors, two decks, sooooo much plush carpet and wallpaper, and at least 5 chandeliers. There was even a bidet. I need to know who owns this place.
Our other friends showed up closer to the music starting, so we caught up, wandered around again, then headed down to the first set. Band number one was Bantam Draper. There stuff was pretty heavy. Great screaming from the vocalist. A lot of people were holding drinks, so no one was moshing, but me and a few other girls got one started at the end. The band actually said they always wanted people to mosh at this one point in the song, and we'd made there night by doing so ♡. There was this older woman who was dancing so hard and also in the pit with us the whole night. I wish I could've talked to her. She's kinda the dream.
The people we'd moshed with introduced themselves afterward, then offered us all mini Fireballs. I couldn't take one cause I'm the DD, but my friends did, and we all cheersed. We then went out to one of the decks to chat/smoke. You would see our area so beautifully from their backyard. Beautiful beautiful mountians and farms. Lushness forever. We all caught up and laughed and talked to strangers too. My friend A had met a nice girl who shared a 4loko with her lol.
The next set I'd seen before. His name is Gull. I love this guy. He wears a headlamp/mic thing on his head and plays a drum set with his hands while playing the guitar/keyboard simultaneously. His stuff sounds like a Star Trek themed volcano rave. Everyone was swaying and hypnotized.
After this set we all wandered upstairs for a bit. We ran into this guy named X, who shook our hands and said he was trying to meet everyone at the party. He was sloshed and very nice. His friends showed up, and we got into a long conversation with all of them. One of them was a part of Her Majesty, a band I like from the area. A song of their's is actually on this page lol. After X wandered away (after telling us "God bless you" 10 times) we wandered back downstairs and to the basement for the final set. We passed people watching like seafood boil mukbangs and random streamer clips on a giant projector/
The final set was The Joint Chiefs. Sadly they don't seem to have any presence online. There set was calmer rock, which was nice for the last nand of the night. A band member made a great speech about the brekfast program, and how all we have is each other in this current political hellworld. Everyone in the room cheered for change. Me and my friends were sleeeeeeppppy. We all sat on the stair for awhile listening to them play, before heading upstairs to say goodbye. We all parted ways, and I drove my friend A home.
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04/25/26
Omg it's been nearly two months. Never get a degree. But anyways finally went to a show again, and this time it was a music festival! Music festival is a loose term cause it was just bands back-to-back in the same venue (Some guys basement). There were vendors though, and food, so I'd say it counts. It started at 12, so me and my friend met up and I drove us to the house. So much driving today. The parking in this part of town is hell, so I was illegally parked by someones house. They had a bunch of abandoned cars out front, so I hope I just blended in. The house was kinda sparsely populated when we arrived, probably cause no one wants to mosh at 12. Well I did but no one else. We caught the end of the first set tho. Very atmospheric and a great opener. The band was Goodwilly. They mentioned that one of the bandmembers worked at Gamestop, and Gamestop wouldn't let them off for the event, so they quit their job. Then everyone shouted "Fuck Gamestop".Next up was Symptomatic. They had great stage presence. Lots of screaming and popular covers. The best part was the main's parents were in the crowd. Like they were at least 50 holding red solo cups and screaming along to Paramore. Me and my friend went to talk to them afterward. They're all so so sweet.
It started raining around this time. The actual shows were inside, but lots of people were outside drinking and such. Everyone just huddled under the porch. There was an all day DJ there, so it was a nice place to be. Some brave people went and sat in the grass under a table and played cards. My friend and I perused the vendors, my friend got a watch from a girl who was all about watches. She had a watch bikini and everything. There were glitter tattoos and art, but we mostly just listened to the DJ.
The final set before my friend left was Henry Burroughs. I really liked them. The vocalist had a very genuine energy about him. IDK how to put it he just seemed kind. They played a lot of originals and kept mentioning they had a CD out soon. I'll def be listening. They did an amazinggggg cover of purple rain in the middle. At one point the guy who was doing techincal sound stuff yelled out something to the band to be silly. I don't remember what it was, but the vocalist yelled back at the crowd. "_____'S MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD." Near the end there was a crowd sing along. I hope we didn't dissapoint the band cause a lot of people just didn't participate :(
After them I drove my friend back to her car. It was bittersweet. She's graduating and I'm not yet, so I won't get to see her as often. And she was recovering from an illness so I appreciated her coming with me at all.
We parted ways and then I went of for an hour to go on a date lol. I won't write about that here cause I don't know the girl very well and don't know if she'd want to be featured on my Neocities blog lol. But we got lunch and then I took her back to the festival with me. By the grace of god no one took my parking spot.
It was way busier when we got back. The show room was packed, and we caught the end of Good Dropouts. I liked them a lot. They played some crowd pleasers for sure. Everlong had everyone screaming. The crowd itself was less dancy and more sway-y now. I think cause everyone was holding drinks. Inside of moshing when stuff got good everyone just jumped, put their hands up, or got their phone light out. Soon we were back to loitering. The room where the shows are must be super soundproofed cause we actually missed most of the next set cause we didn't realize it started lol. It was a band I've seen before, Glass Lung. They're all metal all the time. I like their vocalist a lot. I kept hoping people would start dancing more, but everyone was too busy holding red solo cups :( Still the people in front of me were playing patty-cake to beat for the whole set which was beautiful. Another guy was doing like interprative hand gestures to the lyrics?
The final set I saw was No Fly List. They were easily my favorite of the day. The lead singers voice was so so beautiful and emotional. I wish I taped the whole thing honestly. They played originals and covers too. They did Teenagers and No Surprises which everyone loveddddd. The no surprises cover was so good. Like better than the original. I need this singer to be world famous her agony was palpable. Anyways I was so dehyrdated I was dizzy and everyone had drank all the water, so me and my date left. Once I got home I discovered No Fly List has no music online at all. HEARTBROKEN.
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02/28/26
Back in my home town for spring break (it's weirdly early this year idk) so I went to a show with my bestie. We met at my house before to eat biscuits and get ready, then we went to pick up my bestie's friend. I'd never met her, but she was super cool :) Hopefully we can go to shows together again.No one knew when the show started. One poster said 7:00, another said 7:30, and another said 8:00. Shows always have some confusing timing lol. Once my friends went to a show on time, but no one was there. The checked the bands instagram story and they were drunk in a field.
We showed up at 7:00 and messed around till it started at 8:30. We found plenty to do in the meantime. The streets were super busy with frat-goers and people waiting outside of bars. The weather was pleasant for the first time in ages, so I guess everyone was out.
My younger brother came to this show to sell these spoon rings he makes. They're realllllly nice and I think he made good money :) We bothered him for a bit before checking out the other merch tables. We got to talking with the closing act. Her name is Shartchan and I'm kinda obsessed with her. She was sooooo nice and my friends bought some kandi off of her. My friend had tried to see her before, but the show'd been shut down by the cops before she could play :( Thankfully she gave our town another chance lol.
She brings a ballpit to every show, so we three went to go play in it. Every show should have a ballpit. It was very calming, and we got some other strangers to join us. A nice girl from Nebraska with fuzzy boots and some people my friends know from classes all came and sat with us. Luckily we were some of the first people to sit in it, cause by the end of the night I'm sure it was gross.
The first set kept going on, playing a few chords while someone filmed, and getting off the stage. IDK really what that was about. Guess their instagram story needed fuel. They finally actually started while we were in the ballpit, and we could feel the vibrations through the wall. We eventually actually went in and watched. The band was BIG fan of their guitar. They made a great opening set. The crowd wasn't the most receptive, but I think that's just how college students are. I never come to shows while schools in session, and the vibe was way different than when it's just townies. Not bad at all, just more like a party than a show. They finished up and we headed outside. We all love HorsegiirL, so we started skipping and running around the building singing her song Little White Pony. So fun lol. We were all out of breath and came back in to chug water.
The next set came on, and I really liked them. Just very solid shoegaze. The band was Flowers for the Dead. The crowd was too busy talking and doing drunk people stuff during the set, which I think bothered the band. Near the end they said, "This is going to be our last song, so feel free to dance... or movee around... or do something other than talk." D: Well the crowd did do that, cause everyone started moshing. Their song was kinda slow and sad, so not ideal mosing music, but the people made do. I had fun with it. Like moshing in slow motion lol. But I didn't get smacked in the head so yay!!!!
Now the set everyone was waiting for was on. Shartchan. I could tell most people were there for her. Lots of Kandi and more rave-esque outfits. Also a lot of people in cat costumes, but that's pretty normal tbh.
The set started and omg. Actually amazing actually life changing. The set was so silly and so much fun. There was a lot of older internet noises thrown in. Like she had the "bruh", "21", ect as buttons on her DJ board and would just throw them in. I promise it worked so well. The crowd was losing it. People (also me) got on the stage to dance with Shartchan. Me and my friends danced and screamed so much my voice and bosy was wreaked by the end. Songs that were included include the Adventure Time theme song, the "Making Bacon Pancakes" song also from adventure time Boy U Nasty, Join us for a Bite, Peggy by Ceechynaa, and so many more. I've never seen a crowd lose it like they did when Adventure Time came on. There was a lethal looking mosh pit that kept going the whole set, and everyone was screaming. A guy with glowing gloves did tricks that looked like he was casting spells. He even let other people try them on. People kept attempting to crowdsurf, but there weren't enough people. They'd spend a few seconds in the air before going down. We stayed till almost the end of the set. Our trio was all tired and sore lol. We walked back to the car in a daze and made our way home. I was trying to show them Peggy, but all we could find was a remix of it with 365 lol. Honestly pretty good.
At home I showered cause I was covered in other peoples sweat lol. I took so many pictures of this one. Look at our ballpit :)
02/21/26
Finally got to go to another show!!!! And it was the venue near my college again, The same one I went to on 09/14/25, which was nice. Truthfully I didn't stay long, only for one set, cause I had slept poorly the night before and wanted to conk out. (If anyone reading this by chance has a good recommendation for a PRN sleeping pill plz tell me lol, I am somehow immune to Hydroxyzine and Tradezone)The price you pay for this venue is horrible parking. You drop your car at an elementary school then walk down a dark hill past a scary daycare to get to the house. My friend (the one I went with last time) told me to meet them at the show cause they were picking up someone. I made it down the hill in the dark but I was freaked lol. The show was starting 30 minutes late as always, so I just waited for my friend to get there. It's alwasy good people watching at shows. There was a nice girl who was a friend of the band. She wore a crocheted jester hat she made herself that I might copy. It was sooo cute and had bells that I know sound crazy when moshing. My friend and her buddy got there right bfore the music started. They'd parked at the wrong school D:
But anyways, the set was lovely. It was by Simplest Form. I really liked the main vocalist. He had a raw and emotional voice which is my fav. Very pro-voice cracks. I felt so calm in the crowd. Live music is so soothing to me. If I was rich I'd just keep a band on standby so I'd never feel bad.
The crowd was light tonight. The whole show was for a local band guy's birthday, so their was a sweetness to the whole event. This venue is great at that. Making everything feel homey and community-like. The band did some originals and some covers. Big fan of them playing "Head in the Ceiling Fan". That'll be the second time I've heard a band cover it live.
There was no moshing, which was fine. I didn't feel like getting all sweaty anyways. A guy in front of me did take of his shirt anyways though. He had his whole back tattooed with Mary and Angels and Cherubs. I was obvi a fan.
The set ended and I headed back to my car. It was a short night but I was happy to see the one band and support the venue. Only one good pic, but you can see the hill and the daycare here.
01/10/26
It was winter break, and I hadn't been to any shows all month. I live in a college town, so when all the students disapear, so does the music. The couple shows thatwere happening I had missed, and I was leaving the next day. I wanted to go to at least one show before I went back to college.Also, this show was a benefits show for the Starbucks union in my area, so I wanted to go and support them. I love unions. Me and my BFF were paying at the door when all the sudden by little brother, who was also going to the show calls me. He was trying to tell me to wait and not go in yet because the guy playing was "The worst music he's ever heard." I thought he sounded fine lol.
I had to pee in the scary bathroom the venue had, but that's kind of a right of passage anyways. The venue we went to was one that every plays at in my town. I love it cause you see some really experimental stuff. It's maybe an old rock climbing gym? There's a rock wall, so who knows.
Me and BFF went around to all these little booths set up inside. There were lots of organizers, and I signed up for many mailing lists and took many informative papers. I even got a free Free-Palestine pin. The DIY-scene is a great place to remind you that there are people who care about the same issues you do. That you're not overdramatic or over-serious or anything. We got to talk to the Starbucks workers too. Great people :)
The guy playing had changed, and now someone very acoustic was on. The venue was really busy, especially for it being only townie. Me and BFF went outside and skipped in a circle linking arms. My glasses kept falling of though, so we calmed down.
We always feel so whimsical when we're at shows. Since we don't smoke either, there is less for us to do when outside the venue. We kept talking, seeing peoples outfits and such. Someone had a curly white tail on, which was fun. The age range for this show was great too. I like to see older people in the scene. They always dance in ways I've never seen before.
We went back when we heard the next guy start. He was wearing a mouthpiece. thing and a headlamp, so I knew it was going to be great. His name was Gull, and I loved him. Go check out his Insta he's a visionary.
His vocals reminded me of NIN. Like the kinda breathy angry singing. And he had the juiciest synths. I could chew on them. He had a keyboard, a drum set, and a bunch of peddles. The drums were played with his hands, no sticks, and he would play the keyboard at the same time. It's amazing to me that people with this kind of talent are happy to play for a room full of drunk people in all black with no stage for barely any money. Saints among us.
His set had great visuals too. Sometimes shows here have this beautiful psycodelic visuals in the background that play other footage on top of the technicolor. This guy has Godzilla in the background, with lots of red and yellow oil-spilling together.
We left after his set cause I had to wake up early and drive back to college, but I was happy to leave on a good note. Me and BFF complained about the 2025 Tumblr year in review on the way home. Perfect night. And here's some pics!!!
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07/05/2025
This was a show I went to with a group of my friends. We'd all known each other in High School, but lost contact. We ran into each other at a show a couple weeks before this, and have been show buddies ever since. I'm so happy to have reconnected with these guys after High School and never would've if not for the scene :)So this show was a rave. Me and my BFF had seen like ten minutes of the main act before (we left early lol) and they were pretty good. My brother also knew the sister of a guy in the main act lol. Everyone knows someone's someone when everything is local.
The venue was just a guys basement. We walked past some guys drinking beer/smoking on the porch into some guys in the kitchen also drinking beer. They directed us to the basement. It was an unfinished concrete walls type of place. Beside the stairs there was a giant painting of an unsettling face. Kinda looked like the Aphex Twin guy but with shorter hair lol. We were on time, so early, and nothing had really started yet. We claimed our place next to a water boiler.
Once the music started it was great. The strobes started up, the fog machine turned on, and the basement filled up. The sets were all amazing. It was perfect dancing music, and the sets were electronic so there was no gaps. Everyone just kept dancing till the performer switched to the next one. I honestly can't remember many specific of the night because I was so absorbed in the music. It was so loud, and the crowd was so into it, everything became purely sensory. Like everything was so much you could only exist and not think about existing. Basically I was thrashing about with my eyes closed and when I opened them getting blinded by strobe. Amazing night.
My friends were also having lots of fun. We danced with each other as much as we could, but our spot by the boiler was small. It was getting late, and the friend who has driven us was sitting down cause she was sleepy. We waited for the set we were on to close up, and headed home. Car time before/after a show with friends is always as good as the show itself to me, so I wasn't sad to go.
When I got home I was literally disgusting. The summer heat and the crowd and mainly the dancing had me drenched in sweat. I was so tired though I just crawled into bed and passed out lol. BAD IDEA, cause I woke up at 5 am and felt so gross I couldn't go back to sleep. I ended up showering then and just staying awake cause I had to go work a double at my waitressing job lol. Def worth it. And as always pics. Say hello to Mr. Stair Painting.
09/14/25
This was while I was at college and going through show withdrawl. The town I study in has a much much smaller scene than my hometown. On a good night at home you can hop around to 3 shows in one night. At college, there might be one show a month, MAYBE. It's sad, but the shows that do happen are treasured.I had never been to this show house before, and I was also bringing one of my good friends to a show for the first time. She had always been interested in the scene, but lived somewhere with actually no shows, so it was a big night of firsts. We met up at her dorm before we left. We where messsing around and taking dumb photos, and I was trying to make sure she had all the essentials. I always take ear plugs, water, and a small crossbody to shows. Once we suited up we were ready.
The drive to the show was short but very rural. When we got there we were told that it was best to park at a nearby elementary school parking lot. We didn't really have a choice lol. The parking lot was mostly empty, but on a giant hill. We had to walk down the hill, past this scary ass daycare center, and across a field to get back to the show house. We were laughing the whole time.
When we got there we saw a couple other ppl from our school which was fun. The venue was a small house basement. I could touch the ceiling, and I'm 5'2. The crowd was nice and welcoming though. I could see a really good range of ages, which is always a good sign. There was even an older metalhead guy with his little son. I'll get to him later, but he had giant noise cancelling headphones on. Adorable.
The music started and the set was GOOD. We heard Magus the Giant first. So so so good. The guitars were amazing and you could feel every cord in the small room. A tiny tv hung next to the stage area (no real stage) and showed the band so people in the back could see them too. Lots of lights and fog as is typical as well.
The real highlight was the moshing though. You could tell these are people who are dying to mosh. Everyone was getting in on it as soon as ANY vocals started. I don't know if it's the size of the venue, or if the crowd was just really respectful, but this moshing was perfect. As said before, I'm short. I get pummeled at most mosh pits. I love it, but usually some college dude gets too excited, rams me in the head, and I have to take a break. Say what you will about how intense mosh pits should be, but I prefer it when everyone (not just big dudes) can mosh all night without risking a concussion. This pit had that vibe, and I was so sore at the end of the night I had to take an advil, which is the perfect amount of injured.
The music and exhaustion and vibe and lights were all coming together to make me feel like I was somewhere sacred. Sometimes the music is so good you have to start getting religious. I was swaying back and forth in a trance by the end of the set.
Speaking of that little kid, people had formed a small circle and were letting him "mosh" with them. Basically everyone gently pushed him around the circle. He was having the time of his life, and his dad thanked everyone after. I really mean everyone too, cause pretty much everyone there joined the circle at some point.
Magus the Giant ended, and me and my friend went outside to breathe a debrief. She was having so much fun, and said she wanted to go to more shows, which made me so happy. We went back in as the music for the second band started. I can't remember their name anymore, but I did like them. Great vocals, don't know how that guy could talk after.
We saw I think 2 more artists that night, all hardcore and talented. We kept moshing for hours and talking to the kids from our school. Some fun interactions I had was trying to help a goth girl find her nose ring that flew out, putting my glasses in their vent so they wouldn't break, and talking to a guy from west virginia about the scene there. It's smaller, but very intense, apparently. Me and my friend left a little before the very end. We were worn out and sweaty and needed to shower. You know the show was good when other peoples sweat is covering you too.
We walked back past that scary daycare, across the field, and actually crawled up the hill back to her car. We listened to NIN on the way back and stopped at 7-11 to get some snacks. We both kept yelling cause we were so hyped up. I was so tenderized I was just shaking for no reason. We parted ways after hanging out in her car for a bit. I was happy I got to go with her :)
I went home, showered, raved to my dear roomate, and fell asleep sore.
My pics aren't very good from this night, but you can see the low ceiling lol.
05/23/25
Writing this entry in great sadness, as the venue that I saw this show at is closing down. Apparently it's an illegal gathering place cause it's zoned for storage, and the fire marshall is mad at us cause it's a massive fire hazard. I mean fair, but I'm still sad about it. At least I got to experience this place before it's end though. I'm grateful for that, so here's one of those nights.This was right after I finished my first year of college. I was anxious to get back to the shows, so the first flyer I saw I went to. It was a minimialistic flyer with no real descriptions of the bands. I didn't and don't really care about the genre. If it's live I'm having fun. I roped 2 of my friends into going with me. For one of them, it was her first show at this venue, and she wasn't big into the scene anyways. This'll be relevant later lol. My newbie friend was kind and picked me and my other friend up, and off we went.
When we arrived the venue was sparsely populated. That's to be expected when schools out, as I'm in a college town, and the students are half our population. A band was already on once we got there. It was some sort of electronica that was generated through math equations. The artist was explaining her process, and it went way over my head. She made sure to tell us it WAS NOT AI, which I appreciated. It was something to do with a computer program being given different variables and then randomly generating notes and then making beats or something. It was very beautiful and unique. I wish we would've seen her whole set. The artist was Pathagas if anyone wants to chech her our.
We only caught the tail end of that set, so we went outside while the next act was setting up. We were all messing around outside and for some reason galloping in circles and spinning around with our arms linked. The in between times are just as fun as the music cause you get to see the people who come in fun outfits and generally be silly :) There was also a guy grilling hotdogs that you could buy for like 2 bucks, but we'd already eaten.
The next set started, and this is when the night got memorable. I had an idea that this was an experimental music night and this set confirmed it. The set was MAYBE Elka Bong and Irman I say maybe because there might've been someone else playing with them, and also because this is one of the only link I can find of these artists.This is Elka Bongs bandcamp which I found too. I couldn't find any links to Irman elsewhere though :(.I can't even find the show poster up on instagram anymore, I had to scroll through an abandoned group chat to find it lol.
The actual set started with a man on cello. He started off playing well but erratically. There was another guy on violin, and someone else on an electronic synth thing. They both joined into the noise, and it was very effective. Everytime you caught a semblace of rhythm it disapeared into the mess. It made me feel anxious, which I suppose was the point. The cello guy started to put sticks into the strings of his cello. Like wild sticks from trees. He was hitting and pulling these which made the whole instrument sound pained. He kept playing while putting more and more sticks in, and the feeling of anxiety grew. The guy on the synth was making some crazy droning noises, and the guy on violin was pretty much just hitting it and also putting sticks in its strings. The set progressed when the cellist put some sort of vibrating small metal ball, like smaller than a marble, inside his cello. This made even more distressing noise. At some point in this the guy with the violin abandons the sticks and starts playing the violin with a pine. Like just scratching the strings with a pinecone. The surrealness of what was happening, the music itself, even the venue and how it was half empty made all this feel like a dream. The set made me feel hopeless and trapped, not in an unenjoyable way though. I was def engaged in the art. The sets peak was when the cellist dropped one of the vibrating metal balls on the ground and started talking. He said something along the lines of, "Oh no. The little ball. Is lost. The metal ball. Doesn't know were to go. Oh no." I've described this to other people and they've thought it was corny, but in the moment, with all the noise, this was genuinely moving. It's something you had to be there to feel I guess. The set ended shortly after that, and we went back outside.
My newbie friend was acting traumatized. Me and my other friend were also slightly in shock, but we agreed we enjoyed the show. I think poor newbie was put off the whole event though lol.
We stayed for one more act which was experimental jazz. This was a more traditional band, and I liked their stuff. It was very experimental, but after the last show everything else seemed normal. We left a little after this set as my newbie friend wanted to dip.
I understand the show wasn't for everyone but I really enjoyed it. Seeing some just insane stuff is a perk of the DIY-Scene, not a con. I think it's great to have these experiences that only you and the 20 other people in that building can have. I'm happy to have gone, and I'd go again. This venue shutting down saddens me so much because of shows like this. They would literally let anyone play. I hope my area can find another venue like it, without the fire hazards, so we can keep having experiemental shows that might not be popular enough to book the more proffesional venues. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far. I know this one is longgggggggg I just wanted to capture the night. And as always photographic evidence. This one def needs it lol.
06/15/24
It was a dry-hot end of summer show. The venue was a cidery, but mostly the parking lot of the cidery. The flyer advertised synths, which my bestie was excited for. He lovesssss electronica. He loves most music really. It's a gift. I hadn't been to any other shows since the music festival that got me into DIY. Me and my friend had been looking, but we didn't really know how to find them yet lol. (Follow every emo person on instagram, follow who they follow, and then check everyones' stories)We showed up early, but there was already a nice crowd. This cidery is popular. It would be busy on any nice summer night. The first guy was amazing. It was Origin of Speech. I'm so sad because they don't seem to be active, and their music is only avaible through bandcamp. I'll buy it soon and upload it here. They're an amazing group. The synths were deep and slow and I felt removed by them. The main musician wore a hat with an embroidered eyeball, and I remember I wanted to talk to him and thank him for such an amazing set. A guy infront of us had taken of his shoes and was dancing like he was casting wizard spells.
Between sets me and my friend enjoyed the weather. Their was chalk out, so adults and kids were drawing on the hard top. I weirdly saw my 6th grade english teacher who hated my guts. I said hi, and she did too, but I could still feel the animosity lol. At some point a blow up alien had been added to the crowd, and people were playing with it too. The next set was good. More upbeat and danceable. A guy in a pink shirt was dancing so hard his whole shirt was soaked. He did like cartwheels spinkicks flips and everything. Even when the music honestly did not justify all that. I respected him so much. After the set we got to talking. He was really sweet ontop of being a good dancer. Apparently he was trying to keep the mood high.
After these 2 sets, the music moved indoors. The next group was not super synthy. I remember their name cause it was Dog Turd. The guy was producing and selling a hot sauce of the same name at the merch tables if I remember correctly. It was a folk set basically. I liked it, but can't remember much. The alien had been brought inside to dance around some more.
I left soon after, but I wish I'd stayed. An artist I still really like, Jaguardini, would've been on next. Shame :( But it was a fun fun fun night. Hope you like the pictures!
I'd define the DIY-scene as independant artists, show houses, organizers, end ect. coming together to play live music for the community.
I have been going to DIY shows since highschool, and the creativity and community I have seen here is unmatched. Seeing people come together to create and love and celebrate these independant artists has genuinely given me hope for humanity. And the music is really good. Basically I love DIY-music because I feel DIY-music loves me.
This page aims to catalogue all the shows I have ever been too. The backlog might take awhile, but I want to remember them all. I won't list all the musicians I've heard because I don't always remember their names or stay for the whole show. I'll mention and link the bands that really stood out to me though.
Please enjoy the music player on this page as well! The songs are all of people I have heard live. I bought the music from Bandcamp for every artist I could, and I'll link their personal websites throughout my posts. Please check them out, you won't regret it.
