The two shows ties for the best show I saw this year were polar opposites, yet share the same quality that made them stand out: I was legitimately surprised.
First, let's talk about Cock Sparrer. You love Cock Sparrer, I love Cock Sparrer. A completely known quantity.
Cock Sparrer played their "last" LA shows (yeah, sure) at the Palladium in November. But I wasn't about to drive to LA to see them. Even if the Palladium is one of those bucket list venues I haven't been to. I didn't even drive downtown San Diego to see Stiff Little Fingers. I've seen legendary bands play the Casbah numerous times. I figured this would be one of those, so I'd pass. BUT. Dillinger Four was opening. My favorite band (well, besides Hickey). The band whose live shows are an intense dopamine hit for this teetotaler. I had to go. So I bought a ticket for the Saturday night show, then ended up screwing up my travel plans so bad I said fuck it, and bought another ticket for Sunday.
Home Front, who are excellent, opened both shows as well. This is from Sunday:
Dillinger Four, the reason I made this trip, was as awesome duh. I even ran into Paddy in the lobby (I was the guy in the Spazz shirt, Paddy). From Saturday:
And now the surprising part. Cock Sparrer. I know all the songs, but never have seen them live. They are in their late 60's and 70's now, so there was a decent chance this could have a little embarrassing. Nope. I had no idea this shit, in 2025, ran so deep. Selling out two nights at the Palladium should have been an indicator. I have read about how group singing has all these physiological and psychological effects, and I have experienced them at live shows, but this was something else. Old people, young people, children. A 90 minute sing along. What was supposed to be a nice chaser after seeing my favorite band turned out to be something I still think about all the time.
Now, the opposite experience.
Work took me to St. Louis in September. I didn't know what to do to kill my nights, so I turned to Copilot, asked for things to do. It mentioned that Bouncing Souls, H2O and Smoking Popes were playing, so obviously I did that. But what else, Copilot. Dig deeper. Give me some dive bar shit. So it suggested a band, Cardiel, at a tiny venue called the Sinkhole. Alright, let's do it.
I take a Lyft to the venue. It's cash only. I have no cash. It's in a not great area of town. There are no ATMs nearby. I don't know what to do. I considered bailing on the whole endeavor. I ask the woman at the door if maybe I can buy some merch from one of the bands who take Venmo, overpay them and get the door fee in cash back? She says to just Venmo her personally. I Venmo her double the door fee in gratitude. I am far too reliant on tech and it's sad.
There were maybe 20 people there including the bands and staff. The local bands who opened, My Favorite Aviator and WeedTüth, were pretty darn good. But Cardiel, holy shit. For this Venezuelan - Mexican skate-fuzz-sludge-hardcore duo went from a band I had never heard of to one I am obsessed with immediately. Huge smile on my face from beginning to in (I didn't have my external mic for this show). Huge win for AI? This was exactly what I was looking for.
I'll post some clips from the other shows I saw this year before 2026.
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