All Photos by Sara Rosenthal X Ambassadors brought their high-energy VHS(X) Tour to San Diego last week. The band is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album, VHS, this year with a rerecorded version, and it's bringing all the nostalgia. From the first notes of "Jungle", complete with colorful lights and fog, the party kicked into high gear with singer Sam Harris dancing all over the stage. The energy remained high throughout the set, with Harris even picking up

Memphis May Fire brought their highly anticipated Shapeshifter Tour to The Observatory North Park in San Diego last week, delivering a performance that fans will not soon forget.

Check out our dual SD + LA reviews of Winona Fighter live- plus an interview with their front woman, Coco!

All Photos by Sara Rose Boys Like Girls are back together as a band! It felt like I had been transported back to 2010 while singing along...

Waterparks played an electric show at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on June 13th!

Grayscale in grayscale by Lexy Bouras Last Saturday, a warm San Diego night in North Park was shaken up by the electric liveliness of a band from Pennsylvania- a band none other than Grayscale. Personally (as I tend to put my personal spin on things here at Us For Once), I was hyped. While Grayscale has been jamming out together for the better part of a decade, I had the pleasure of being introduced to their music three short years ago, during their Nella Vita album cycle.

Photo: Lexy Bouras Last Tuesday, tucked away to the side of glimmering Hollywood Blvd, hip and tiny underground music venue (no, literally, you have to go down a flight of stairs and sacrifice cell service in this subterranean club) Madame Siam hosted Breaking Sound LA, a too-coo-for-school showcase of the hottest local rising artists. While acts like Angelo Vivo, Ada, and Grant Kemp rocked the house with their contagious energy and eclectic variety of sound, I would be lyin

Photo: Jace Melnik Orville Peck: The Bronco Tour & the refreshing revival of the rhinestone cowboy. Following the release of his...

In between COVID, artist’s precautionary touring schedules, and life getting in the way, I have not attended a concert in about two...

If you haven’t heard of Belmont by now, we’d have to ask where you’ve been for the past couple of months. After touring with Grayscale on Part 1 of the Nella Vita Tour last year, this Chicago born band has now hit the road with Sleeping With Sirens on the Medicine Tour, which began in early January. With that original pop punk sound that's so hard to find these days paired with an enigmatic stage presence that captures the ears of those who have never even heard of them, it’s

There is nothing like being home for the holidays. And thanks to State Champs, Upstate New York served as home or many people who were far from it. 2019’s Frozen Fest was held in a venue called Upstate Concert Hall in the beloved band’s hometown of Albany, New York. Along with a small stage and concert floor, which created an intimate experience for their fans, the boys also adorned the rest of the venue with many interactive pieces. A game station included ring toss and corn

A/N: The title is long, the title sounds misleading. It’s not. I figured I’d put this story in the “I Bought Tickets…” series despite the fact that- as you can tell by the title, I very much did not buy tickets to this show. Still, I think it fits in perfectly with the theme of the series because this story is all about how music moves people and some how some artists can take you on an undeniably unexpected adventure. I like Blink-182. I really do. I’ve always found

Are you a broke college student? Did you wish you could teleport across the Atlantic to attend “A Complete Diversion” in London last...

Z Berg has a vision that only a woman born and raised in the sometimes glamorous, always sunny Los Angeles, California could possibly...

The first time I saw Hoodie Allen was three years ago. I was in San Diego, standing next to a Heineken stand, in line for Fall Out Boy merch at the Boys Of Zummer tour. “Saw” is a very loose term, because despite being in the same venue, I mostly just heard him rapping in the distance and was able to make out his silhouette. He seemed to get the crowd hyped, but I didn’t think the act was anything special and kind of forgot about him for the next few years. Flash forward

Sometimes you have to listen to fate. Like when you, a Californian, find yourself on twitter selling the Riot Fest ticket you bought for some reason but never really wanted, and are asked by a Chicago local if you’re going to the Fall Out Boy show at Wrigley Field. Maybe you laugh it off and explain that there’s no way; no matter how big of a fan you are, you’re a college student in Orange County, two thousand miles away, and that making a midwest trip on such short noti

If you haven’t noticed by now, concerts are one of our absolute favorite things here at Us For Once. Not simply because they’re fantastic journalistic opportunities, but because there is absolutely nothing that can compare to being packed into a room full of people and listening to what you love. Experiencing the lights, the sounds, the electricity, energy, and sheer power of music firsthand is unlike anything else. Concert rush is addicting, and as cliche as it may sound, it

We usually don’t combine two live music experiences together to write one piece. However, sometimes when you go to two amazing shows in the same city, at the same venue, within 48 hours of each other, you realize certain things point to a double feature. Our unlikely journey started at around 6:30 pm in the general parking lot of Mattress Firm Amphitheatre (formerly Sleep Train Amphitheatre, as I’ll always refer to it in my heart) in San Diego. Crossing the road and pas

...We usually don’t combine two live music experiences together to write one piece. However, sometimes when you go to two amazing shows in the same city, at the same venue, within 48 hours of each other, you realize certain things point to a double feature. Just one day after our experience at Paramore’s After Laughter Summer Tour, we found ourselves right back at Mattress Firm Amphitheater for another show. 30 Seconds To Mars’ Monolith Tour. Although I do enjoy this ba

Adam Lazzara had the whole crowd clapping their hands in unison at that beautiful Philly venue on the Delaware River. "Feels good, doesn't it? You know why it feels good? Because you're doing it together." His words capitalized on one of my favorite thoughts to have at barricade: the hundreds of people behind me were all going through different things in their life right now. But tonight, the artist on stage was here to sing all their worries away. Taking Back Sunda