Warehouse Punk, Orion 224 Fest, UrLocalRaveBae, and A Lot of Chaos!
It’s Sunday morning, my clock reads 11:18am, and I am very hungover…
But I mean that in the best way possible…
Okay, I know I tell myself that everytime I wake up hungover… But I promise, this time is different!!!
I mean come on, WHAT A WEEKEND IT WAS! If you happen to be reading this right now, I just want to say THANK YOU!!! From the bottom of my heart: thank you, thank you, thank you! Give yourself a pat on the back, send me a for a beer, or something of the sorts!!!
The love and support that I have been receiving from everyone in regards to the blog has meant the entire world to me. The fact that anyone would even give a hoot about any of this in the slightest is still mind-blowing. Truly… the messages of encouragement I’ve received and the conversations I’ve had at the shows this weekend have been just freakin’ incredible!!!
I’M SO STOKED!!!
And I’m glad y’all are too. 😊
However, the real work really starts now… After speaking about the blog this weekend, I realized one thing: It’s a HUGE responsibility. I mean, of course I was scared shitless to even release the darn thing, but the thought of having to stay consistent, creative, and content with all of it was daunting to say the least.
But any fear of creating this was instantly washed away by the fact that I am just so excited to keep this thing going and growing. This weekend further made me realize how much of an honor it is to even be out here documenting this scene.. in all it’s badassery.
Plus, let us also not forget the primary mission of this blog… To have a good mf’n time!
As long as we are livin’ and lovin’ it all the same, we are good to go my friends.
So with that being said… Let’s check out the past weekend’s festivities!
Thursday (3/16/23): FUCK MONEY/Deaf Club
I was grabbing some congratulatory margs after work…
…to celebrate the release of the blog and what not. I had been planning the release of it to happen on this day for quite some time, despite only telling a few folks. This was mainly because:
1.) I had been sitting on the actual live site for about a month and a half at this point, but ended up pushing it back because my soft top had been slashed the day before I was originally gonna drop it and I just was in a pretty low-energy state overall…
2.) Because there were some incredible shows lined up for the weekend.
However, I wasn’t really planning on hitting any shows on Thursday. Why? I don’t know, I am not the best planner of days. But in the midst of securing a comfy buzz, I get a call from my homie Travis, who told me about a show happening out in Downtown that night. The band playing was a band he’s been pretty stoked about for quite awhile from out of Austin. I was feeling pretty damn good and festive, the show was in 20 minutes, and the venue was only 8 minutes away… So I happily obliged.
The thing about falling head over heels for photography, or anything as a matter of fact, is that you feel so weird and lost when you are away from it. Ya know? Like not having your skateboard when you see a cool spot or not having your instrument when a jam is going down; I get real bored whenever I am out and about without my camera. So I casually almost had a panic attack whenever I realized I had left my camera back at my parents house the weekend prior and wasn’t planning on grabbing it ’til the morning.. Again, not the best planner of days.
Thankfully down the street at my apartment, lying there unused and enshrined in plenty of spilt Mango White Claw, was my first camera. I stopped using it because yeah, I kept spilling beer on it, fell on it while riding my skateboard, and was pretty sure I just fried it out from shooting about 30,000 pictures on it in the span of three months… Fortunately enough, it still worked! The battery was dead as fuck though, so in my 8 minute Uber ride to the venue, I was able to charge it up to like 5%. Game on.
Thank god I came out to this show, because it was freakin’ sick and it seemed like the ol’ trusty (and sticky) camera worked a charm! The bands playing were Austin-based punk band, FUCK MONEY, with Cali-based punk band, Deaf Club. They had been touring around a little bit and were about to hit a whole round of SXSW shows later that weekend. The energy illuminating the whole place was legendary and was just what you needed from a Thursday night punk show.
The venue was out in the warehouse district in some free space, which I freakin’ love.
Apparently, a venue in town screwed these dudes out of a venue last minute… On some, “sell X amount of your own tickets and maybe we will give you a venue to play at,” bullshit.
*Note to venues: GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND DON’T PULL THE RUG OUT FROM A BAND THAT’S ON TOUR AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE.*
What? They didn’t meet your quota? Get the f*ck outta here with that bullshit.
However, I think the new setting was a perfect spot for these guys and the vibe was incredible… And the music? *chefs kiss. So go check out there music and give them a follow!
Friday (3/17/23): Orion224STIVAL + Bonus Rave
Another Prime East show and Orion is putting it together? Let’s f’n go…
There’s no doubt how highly anticipated this show was. Especially given how much Orion 224 and co. have been KILLING it in the Houston music scene as of lately. Dropping high end music videos, performing energetic and engaging live shows, and just being all around great dudes. It’s infectious and I’m seriously so stoked that they have been flourishing on the scene. Let’s also not forget how STACKED this lineup was, both band and vendor wise! It was a recipe for a good time, and I was all for it.
It’s shows like this where I feel like I can just throw up my camera, press the lil’ button, and let the bands do all the work; they just have that great of vibes.
And although I’ve only been to Prime East twice, it has truly become one of my favorite venues. It’s basically just a property inside the NE loop, but boy does it feel like alchemy whenever attending a show there. The people, the bands, the vibes; all of it feels good. Goes to show that you don’t need all this pizzaz to throw a kick ass party. You just need a pest free space with some killer bands, kick ass vendors, maybe a 24 pack of Modelos, and the people will come!
Speaking of the stacked lineup, it was truly stacked with some Houston favs. Starting out the show were Vortxz and EL, who I sadly missed since I was stuck at work late… *Also, my dumbass though St. Patrick’s Day was a national holiday, but it ain’t… (though it should be).*
Thank goodness I was able to rush there and make there just in time for Pinkie Promise. These gals RULE and I am so glad I have been able to catch them at more shows recently. Whether they are playing or just rocking out to other bands on the scene, they are such a badass lil gang to hang with. Following them were Houston thrash band The Poserz, in all their mind melting glory. You think I’m overreacting on that mind melting statement? Go check out their Spotify yourself (Nose Drugs is freakin’ sick)!
Next up were the almighty Dante’s Room. These homies have been on the fast track of becoming Houston’s funnest band. I mean, did you catch one of those house parties last year? LEGENDARY. And every show that has followed has been right up there with ’em. Love those mf’ers.
Closing out the night were both Dwnkill and Orion 224. While these bands are sonically on different ends of the spectrum, their ability to continuously and effortlessly play together side by side in one of the most cohesive ways is something that I believe is a trademark of the Houston music scene right now: the good vibes are of top priority; and then we will worry about the music genres later. I f*ckin’ love that, friends. Seeing a hip-hop, psych-rock, and then a punk band at a single show is becoming the norm more often… and we are all here for it. 🙂
Again, great time! Shout out to Shelby and Orion for putting it on. Shout out to The Prime East, to the bands, and all the vendors!!!
Later That Night: Bonus rave with Barely Average and LaSpooky
Now I don’t consider myself much of a ‘Rave Bae’…
… no wait, I definitely do.
After Orion224stival, I was buzzin’. My party meter was glowing, and I wasn’t ready to call it a night in the slightest. Thankfully, my good friends Jonathan and Steph happened to be DJing at new spot that had opened up right outside EADO. Seemed like a perfect way to cap off a Friday night… and welcome a Saturday morning.
The result was yet another hell of a good time! Steph, who goes by the name LaSpooky and Jon, with the newly formed tech-house group Barely Average, both KILLED IT. Funky beats, groovin’ melodies, and beepboop sounds that make your feetsies taptap.
I like that shit… Lots! Most importantly, I love that my friends were making it happen!!! And that’s another thing you will see me often take advantage of on this blog: Hyping up my friends.
Because at the end of the day, I believe my friends do a lot of my friends do cool stuff. And well… I think that’s cool 🙂
So thank you Steph and Jon for the invite (and the healthy doses of Don Julio 70 and Clase Azul)! Make sure to check out Xpace Houston if you are down with getting down to some sweet-sweet house music.
Saturday (3/17/23): A Lot of Chaos!
I usually don’t sleep around very often…
…so you can imagine my confusion when I woke up beside an uneaten Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit from Whataburger. How did you get here?! Who let you in? Have we met before??? It seems the Sunday Scaries had hit me a day early. Good thing my microwave made that walk of shame down to my belly a bit more bearable.
Saturday’s might be for the boys, if you’re a kook.
Me? I was excited to hit up the punk show… and what better place to see a punk show than in an abandoned lot?!
Curated by Adult Superstition; we were in for yet another stacked lineup. Playing again from last night’s lineup were Dwnkill and The Poserz, with a whole lot of high energy support provided by Good Guys, Adult Superstition, and Houston’s favorite skate punk band; The Halfpipes.
Unfortunately, I had blown out my flash the night before like an idiot and I didn’t realize until it was far too late. PMA though, friends!
I thought, “how hard could it be to shoot a night show in an abandoned lot without a flash?” Apparently, it’s pretty gosh darn difficult. So while the photos don’t reflect everything from the night, take my word for it: it was a badass time!!! The boys over at Adult Superstition always know how to put on a wonderful show and I was just happy to be out enjoying some great punk rock.
Obviously, I had a real good weekend!
Most importantly, I had the best of times talking with friends, while making new ones.
I can’t emphasize the true lifeblood of these shows: the people. There are some beautiful individuals in the scene. The energy they bring to shows and the creativity they bring to the art of the scene is abundant. Don’t believe me? Then you need to chat it up with some more people at the next show, buddy!
But yeah… This weekend solidified a lot of stuff for me personally and I REALLY can’t thank everyone enough for the support!!!
Overall though, it solidified one thing: this scene is truly the place to f*ckin’ be.
Thank you for reading, friends! I hope you kick a bunch of ass this week and have a good time doing so! Make sure to stay tuned for more. 🍻
See y’all around. 🙂
#AlwaysHappyHour