How’s this for a confession? This reverend does not get the chance to make it out to shows very often since becoming a father. Yet when I got wind that John C Reilly & Friends were playing a church in my adopted home town of Santa Monica, I pulled off a miracle and got myself down to the ‘Sanctuary’ inside the Methodist Church on Hill Street for a night of folk music. The night kicked off with songs from Simone White. Armed with ... Read More

In 2012 I exchanged maxing out my credit card with Ticketmaster and instead maxed it out on diapers. In June I became a first time father which meant my sleepless nights were spent with an infant in my arms instead of next to the PA. Despite the life change I still managed to see some great gigs. 10) Baroness/Meshuggah 05/05/12   Nothing say Cinco De Mayo on the Sunset Strip like the double shot of Baroness and Meshuggah. The House of Blues was sold out ... Read More

Soundgarden 11/26/12: Jimmy Kimmel Live Concert Stage - Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito I am pretty sure it was 8th grade when I discovered Soundgarden and early 9th grade when I picked up Badmotorfinger. Sure Superunknown was solid but nothing ever hit me as hard as the songs on the 1992 classic. Sadly I never had a chance to see Soundgarden the first time around. I was either too young to see shows or unable to get to a far off destination like Oakland to ... Read More

Watch Bob Weir and Phil Lesh Sing The National Anthem Before Game 2 Of The NLCS As a native son of the Bay Area, you know watching Bob and Phil sing the National Anthem before a Giants playoff game is something very special. So you know we have to share this here and cross our fingers Bud Selig does not kick this off of YouTube. We of course also have to point out that Joe Buck’s annoying voice ruins this clip at the ... Read More

Meat Puppets 10/06/12 Track 16 - Santa Monica, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito It was a little over three years ago when I moved from West Hollywood to Santa Monica. Sure the temperature in this part of town is a bit lower but so are the number of quality live performances. So you can imagine my delight when our resident Meat Puppets groupie Jay Porks kicked down the knowledge that his favorite band was coming to town. I had never heard of Track 16 before this ... Read More

Coheed and Cambria w/ Aeges 10/04/12 Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justitio I would be lying if I said I didn’t throw a mini temper tantrum when I was shut out of the Coheed and Cambria Troubadour on-sale because TicketFly assumed I was a scalper. It was after all only one of my all-time favorite bands playing in the best club in Southern California. Yet as it turns out the universe was on my side. I decided to check out the Troubadour ... Read More

Local H w/ Ambassadors 09/24/12 Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito Back in early August I received an e-mail with a download link for the latest Local H record Hallelujah! I’m A Bum. Over the next few weeks the latest concept record from the pride of Illinois has been blasted into my head over and over and over again. In my cubical, sitting in traffic on the 101 and working out in the yard the 17 songs found on the double album ... Read More

Silversun Pickups w/ Atlas Genius & School of Seven Bells 09/13/12 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium - Santa Monica, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito Friends you don’t need me to tell you that we are smack dab in the middle of a baby boom. Perhaps it is because my wife and I just welcomed our first little bundle of joy into the world, but everywhere I look I see pregnant women. The final show I saw before my self-imposed let’s be a Dad instead of a ... Read More

Watch Phish Live From Farm Aid 1998 I remember October 3rd, 1998 like it was yesterday. The night before my car was broken into and my entire collection of Phish studio albums (as well as some Ween, Deftones and Sepultura) were stolen. Now say what you will about Phish studio albums, but my car only had a CD player and I could not listen to live shows via Maxell XLII audio cassettes. Bummed as fuck that entire day I remember watching all of ... Read More

Phish 08/15/12 Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito The thing about Phish is that they always get the last laugh. I won’t lie, despite the fact that the band’s appearance at the Long Beach Arena is the only concert I will see this summer I wasn’t pumped. None of my hardcore Phish friends were able to join me to celebrate my 25th experience with Mike, Trey, Jon and Page, the venue stinks worse than the city of Long Beach does ... Read More

Saltines & Peanut Butter: Life On The Road With Ume When not taking phone calls from Perry Ferrell, Ume has spent the past few weeks tearing up the road with the Toadies and Helmet in support of their 2011 release Phantoms. Hailing from Austin Texas, this power trio has found a way to mix thrash metal riffs with 90’s shoegaze sensibilities. We recently caught up with lead guitarist/front woman Lauren Larson to talk about life on the road for the up and coming ... Read More

Watch Arctic Monkeys Play Live At The 2012 Summer Olympics  So in a couple of hours I am going to go home and watch the Arctic Monkeys rock the Olympics. This is because NBC still thinks it is 1992 and tape delay is cool. It’s not. So fuck NBC enjoy Arctic Monkey’s rocking I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and a cover of The Beatles Come Together live from the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Update: We ... Read More

Nas Stops By The Colbert Report With all due respect to Nas (who rocked David Letterman's late night TV bonanza earlier this week) instead of writing a few lines about his stop by The Colbert Report, I am just going to say fuck you Viacom. Even if I legally wanted to view this program tonight (as I often do) your bullshit battle in the name of greed against DirecTV prevents me from doing so. So fuck you for the first time in the ... Read More

The Offspring Pay Jimmy Kimmel A Visit This is an experiment. I want to see if anyone actually cares about The Offspring in 2012. I assume they have a few loyal fans from way back when, but who are we kidding this band has not had a decent song since Clinton was president (and even those songs have not withheld the test of time). So yeah here is Off Key Dexter, Noodles and some other twats stinking up the Jimmy Kimmel Live outdoor ... Read More

The Top Five Covers Phish Needs To Bust Out This Summer In a few hours, Phish will return to the stage for the first time since the early hours of January 1st 2012. Keyboardist Page McConnell has already shared with Rolling Stone that the band has approximately 200 songs that they could bust out at any time. Never being one to shy away from a cover jam, we have come up with five songs that the boys from Vermont absolutely need to bust ... Read More

Jack White 05/31/12 Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito There I was last night standing in the beer section of the Whole Foods where they shot that viral hit about it getting real in the parking lot when my phone honked with a new text message. The message simply said “Wanna go see Jack White in like an hour?” Should Whole Foods rename their store Whole Paycheck -  Fuck yeah I want to see Jack White in an hour. I quickly finished ... Read More

Toadies w/ USELESS KEYS and Blank Faces 05/19/12 The Roxy - West Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito With thoughts of Tyler in a Paper Dress dancing in my mind, I knew it was going to be a good night when I entered the Roxy as Club Foot by Kasabian played over the sound system. I hit the bar and filled my cargo short pockets with cans of Does Equis before grabbing myself a spot right up against the stage. As soon as I cracked ... Read More

Meshuggah w/ Decapitated and Baroness 05/05/12 House of Blues - West Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito It was not just any Saturday night on the Sunset Strip, it was Cinco de Mayo. America’s version of El Día de la Batalla de Puebla or as alcoholics prefer to call it Amateur Night. You can always tell it is going to be a good night when vomit is flowing down the boulevard long before sun sets upon Sunset. There is a good energy in Los Angeles ... Read More

An Open Letter To Feist and Mastodon Dear Feist & Mastodon, So there I was in the dentist chair this morning getting my face drilled once again (let this be a friendly reminder that not having dental insurance for a decade is no excuse for skipping your bi-annual cleanings) when I had what I would like to believe is a genius idea. To distract you from what is going on inside your mouth, my dentist has this big monitor where her victims patients can ... Read More

Ghost & Mastodon 04/26/12 Gibson Ampitheatre - Universal City, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito Universal Studios Hollywood is always a bizarre place to see a heavy metal show. As you make the long walk from your car to the Gibson Amphitheatre it’s hard not to laugh as metal fans stuff their faces with food court fair as tourists walk past and modern day Madonna songs blast upon the jumbotron. I actually thought it was an odd place for the Heritage Hunter Tour to be stopping ... Read More

Kasabian 04/19/12 Bud Lite Concert Stage at Jimmy Kimmel Live - Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justitio There is a line from the Kasabian song “Days Are Forgotten” that has been running through my head since I awoke this morning. Perhaps this line is here because I heard the band sound check the song no less than six times yesterday; perhaps it is there because of a deeper meaning? Hell, it is possible it is there for both reasons. The line is as follows: “Cos I’m ... Read More

Kasabian w/ The Dear Hunter 04/17/12 The Fonda Theatre - Hollywood, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito Standing along the fence that separates a parking lot from Hollywood Blvd I watched as a tour bus slowly backed up and parked next to an 18 wheeler. With doors for The Fonda Theater not open for another two hours I felt like a teenager again as I watched as each member of the band exited the bus and entered the venue. In a day and age where I ... Read More

Coachella Music and Arts Festival 04/15/12 Empire Polo Fields - Indio, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito For the final day of my first Coachella weekend I arrived to the Empire Polo Fields much later than I had the first two days. I could tell by the time that I was to the Beats Antique tent that the energy had changed. You could see the exhaustion on the collective face of the crowd, sick and tired of having to walk into a cage to get a ... Read More

Coachella Music and Arts Festival 04/14/12 Empire Polo Fields - Indio, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito I had three goals for Coachella on Saturday. See as many acts as possible while getting inebriated enough to enjoy Radiohead after having my Kasabian live cherry popped. All I have to say is Mission Fucking Accomplished. Black Lips One of my top twelve bands to see at Coachella, I made it to the stage about ½ through the Flower Punkers set. I saw no barfing; I saw no guitars being ... Read More

Coachella Music and Arts Festival 04/13/12 Empire Polo Fields - Indio, CA Words/Photos by Reverend Justito There was a reason I have always avoided Coachella and that reason is the sun. Fact is my white ass doesn’t do so well out in the middle of the desert. So it is fitting that my first trip to Coachella felt more like my hometown of San Francisco versus the Palm Desert. Strong winds, sporadic showers and thick fog were a downer for everyone but me. But enough ... Read More

The Top 12 Must See Acts of Coachella 2012 According To Our Shit Talking Loud Mouth Founder Reverend Justito My only trek to Indio for three days of music in the desert was nearly 2 ½ years ago. It featured one band performing 8 sets for 45,000 devoted fans. Truth be told, I am a bit scared of my first Coachella experience. I am not really the violent type, but the right mix of mind altering substances as well as the heat and ... Read More