ijwthstd

  Surprised to count more than 200, a new record. Doesn't seem like that many, it seemed like a slow year probably because I got so many invites and was skipping most of the shows on my calendar as well as most shows more expensive than free.   Best times would be the Punk Rock Picnic, Make Music Pasadena and Culture Collide due to overwhelming content, otherwise my favorites were CSS & Batwings Catwings or Concrete Blonde & Best Western (the country version of The Hangmen).   All the free summer shows were once again a highlight. Probably the absolute best thing about living in Southern California in the summertime. Almost completely gave up on big arena level shows. The only one I paid full price for was 1 Springsteen show because I scored an excellent lower level seat almost on the stage. Also got really lazy toward the end of the year, decided I don't like to go out on weeknights anymore and if a band is playing after midnight on a weeknight, the...

  Originally posted at the beginning of the year - "No way I top 2010," and I didn't. Still haven't counted but fell short about 30 shows. Metalhead Andrew and probably a lot of people who live DTLA/Echo Park/Silver Lake saw more than me. Surprised it ended up being so many as I was really lazy this year, more often when given the choice, I would just stay home. Regardless of what shows I would plan on seeing, usually anything free or real close would automatically be the priority. Biggest disappointments - missing Help! with special guest vocalist David Yow sometime this spring. Sean Wheeler & Zander Schloss doing at least a dozen 2 set shows downtown over the summer and fall but being way too tired from rockin' all weekend that I am usually out by 9 or 10 on Sundays. Just couldn't force myself to do it too many times. Black Flamingo, Machine Fang and Kill Pills are my favorite bands of 2011!   Best show? All 4 days of Culture Collide with CS...

  I HATE festivals but tix were cheap enough, there were a few bands I wanted to see and it was much more accessible than most festivals are, located at Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown just north of downtown, 30 minutes on the MTA almost door to door. Also took my usual festival preparations of a large breakfast and downing a bottle of Gatorade right before going in to limit rest stops once inside.   I might have went ahead and paid $30 at the ticket window but that line just wasn't moving so I hit the sidewalk, giving myself 10 minutes before finding something else to do with my day and I ended up buying one for $20 and still getting in pretty quick.   The major organizational snafu was pushing back doors from 11:30 to 12:03 but still starting at 12:10. My friend who was among the first 20 in line still didn't catch all of Magic Kids while I caught bleed thru of the 2 main stages stuck in line before getting in for the last ...