Punktastic

Awesome Fest 11 Sunday @ The Office, Bar Pink, Soda Bar, & Space Bar, San Diego

Paul Silver — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 10:17:38 +0000

The final day of Awesome Fest 11 arrived with afternoon shows, once again. Iron Chic filled The Office to capacity, so there was no getting in after seeing Tiltwheel’s set over at Bar Pink.

The Sunday night shows at Awesome Fest are always bittersweet. Some of the best sets happen Sunday night, but also it’s time to say good-bye to many friends for yet another year. Often people who have flown in for the weekend have early flights home and start disappearing throughout the evening. But those who made it through to the end were rewarded with an amazing set from veterans Samiam.

Awesome Fest 11 Saturday @ The Office, Bar Pink, Soda Bar, & Space Bar, San Diego

Paul Silver — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 09:03:05 +0000

The Awesome Fest daytime shows don’t start until mid-afternoon, but you still encounter many a bleary-eyed or hung-over punk wandering in after the first few bands have already played. The daytime shows were held at The Office, as usual, and Bar Pink, a new venue for this fest. Bar Pink is closer to The Office than previous venue U31, and is partly owned by John Reis of Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, and others. Anchoring the Saturday afternoon shows was Bad Cop/Bad Cop.

After an afternoon spent partying with bands and booze, many attendees took a power nap in order to re-energize for the night’s festivities, while others simply grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to Soda Bar and Space Bar. As always, the night started out lightly attended and ended packed. Tonight’s closers were Toys That Kill, but other highlights included Chicago’s Canadian Rifle and Los Angeles’ Dimber.

Awesome Fest 11 Friday Night @ Soda Bar & Space Bar, San Diego

Paul Silver — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 10:31:38 +0000

At long last, the wait was over! Friends from all over the country and the world converged on San Diego for a wild weekend of music, beer, burritos, whiskey, and pizza. The eleventh annual installment of the DIY punk and pop punk festival known as Awesome Fest had its official opening on a Friday night in mid February. Headlining the opening night was Fat Wreck Chords’ Dead To Me. As always, the night shows were split between San Diego’s Soda Bar and the newly rechristened Space Bar down the street, under new ownership.

Caskitt, Jr. Juggernaut, Coyote Bred, Snakes and Crows @ Space Bar, San Diego

Paul Silver — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 10:23:28 +0000

Space Bar is one of San Diego’s newest live music venues – sort of. Sitting near the border of the City Heights and North Park neighborhoods, the spot has changed names and ownership more times than people can count over the past several years. It’s now owned and being run by actual music lovers, so expect big things from this small club. The upgraded sound system got a good workout recently, when local rising stars Caskitt were joined by Los Angeles veterans Jr. Juggernaut, Seattle’s Coyote Bred, and locals Snakes and Crows.