with BAD OPERATION
Saturday, Mar 29, 2025
Purchase Tickets HERE
Rx Bandits are a band based in Seal Beach, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and The Bamboozle. In the UK they have appeared at Reading/Leeds Festival & Slam Dunk Festival.
Originally known as The Pharmaceutical Bandits, the band began their career by participating in the third wave ska revival of the 1990s. In 1996, they released their first studio album, the self-produced Demo(nstration). In 1997, they released Those Damn Bandits, which featured guest appearances by Jimmy the Robot of the Aquabats and Chris Colonnier of Jeffries Fan Club and The Forces of Evil. Noting the Bandits' potential, a Los Angeles Times review of the album said "Now comes a young, talented ska band, the Pharmaceutical Bandits. It would be OK with me if the Grinch spared them but swiped their ska records and left a shelf of Who, Clash, Bob Marley, Elvis Costello and Neil Young."[1] Matt Embree attended Los Alamitos High School, which was an incubator for other third wave ska bands such as Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, and The Scholars.
Special guests: Belmont + Young Culture
Saturday, Mar 22, 2025 - 6:30 p.m.
Purchase Tickets HERE
This Wild Life is an acoustic rock duo from Long Beach, California consisting of Kevin Jordan on vocals and guitar and Anthony Del Grosso on guitar. Formed in December 2010, This Wild Life began as a pop punk band with former members of the band The Messenger, which disbanded in July 2010. On May 7, 2013, it was announced that they would be recording with Copeland's Aaron Marsh. The change from a full band to an acoustic duo was because there was more attention to their acoustic songs, and Kevin Jordan found acoustic songs easier on his vocals. Although it was a difficult decision, the change opened them up to new opportunities.
La Santa Cecilia exemplifies the modern-day creative hybrid of Latin culture, rock and world music. The group draws inspiration from all over the world, utilizing Pan-American rhythms including cumbia, bossa-nova, rumba, bolero, tango, jazz and klezmer music. Their unique sounds and the experience of their colorful, passionate performances continues to captivate both loyal fans and new listeners. Named after the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia is composed of accordionist and requinto player Jose ‘Pepe’ Carlos, bassist Alex Bendaña, percussionist Miguel ‘Oso’ Ramirez, and vocalist ‘La Marisoul.’With a captivating voice that sings about love, loss, and everyday struggles, the band has become the voice of a new bicultural generation in the United States, fully immersed in modern music, but always close to their Latin American influences and Mexican heritage. La Santa Cecilia’s released their debut album, Noche y Citas in 2011. The album was nominated at the Latin Grammy Awards for the single La Negra. El Valor in 2012 was named one of the best albums of the year by NPR’s Alt Latino. In 2013, Treinta Días was released and went on to win the Grammy for Best Latin Rock Album, Alternative or Urban.
Thursday, Mar 20, 2025
Vibes Event Center, Underground
Doors: 6:00PM | Show: 7:00PM
Purchase tickets HERE
After spending their teens developing a distinctively badass amalgam of punk attitude, old-school metal thunder, and gutter-glam charisma, The Velveteers are using the obsessions of their adolescence to soundtrack the messy emotions of adulthood. The Boulder, Colorado, trio’s second album, A Million Knives, chronicles the volatile truth of being an artist in the music industry while still clinging to the joy they felt when they were just learning their instruments. “When you’re a kid, you just have a natural curiosity,” says singer/guitarist Demi Demitro. “As you grow older, the world makes you jaded. This album is about the hard truth that no matter how hard you protect your heart, it’s just going to be broken.” An even harder truth: Often you’re the one breaking it. Or, as Demi puts it, “Sometimes you realize that you’re the one stabbing yourself in the heart with a million knives.”
Writing and recording and in some cases re-recording A Million Knives was a painful experience for the band, but a necessary one: a process of musical and emotional self-discovery. By acknowledging the travails of that process, they’ve created an album that stretches out into imaginative directions, that offers new thrills and twists. The Velveteers devise new ways to combine crunchy guitars and rumbling drums, so that every song hinges on some wild new ideas: the heavy disco rhythms of “Bound In Leather,” the fluorescent flourishes of “Go Fly Away,” and most impressively the devastating confessionals of “Up Here” and “Fix Me.”
“Demi was writing all these songs about heartbreak,” says drummer Baby Pottersmith. “She was writing about love fading away or being torn apart, and wishing things could still have this magic that you used to feel. In my head, I was comparing it to our band. We were trying to be perfect about every little thing, so we overthought it. That made everything painful. Making this record was like giving birth to knives.”
Demi and Baby have been chasing that creative spark for more than a decade, after forming the band as teenagers—before they could legally drive a touring van. Even then, they felt a strong connection. As Baby recalls, “When I met Demi, she sat down and played a song for me on acoustic guitar. Hearing her sing gave me this magical feeling, like: Wow, I really want to play music with this person for the rest of my life.” They started jamming in Demi’s parents’ garage, writing songs, and playing the occasional all-ages show, all with the bravado of youth. “When we started out, we didn’t know what we were doing,” says Demi. “We were just making music and making art, and we weren’t stressed about it because there was no one there to watch it.”
At one point it looked like their friendship might not survive their teenage years. “I had my first experience with depression when I was 16,” says Baby. “I didn’t know what it was, so I got weird and stopped communicating. I blamed it on the band, and Demi kicked me out. Rightfully so. I’d never experienced being so close to somebody before, so it was terrible not being in a band with her.” It took a bit of growing up to get the band back together, but now their connection is stronger than ever. “We’ve spent every day since then just making art together,” says Demi. “I would definitely say we are creative soulmates. Baby is one of very few people I trust with my songs. So maybe it was destiny that it happened that way.”
Speaking of destiny: While in exile from The Velveteers, Baby played with other bands around Colorado, including one with a multi-instrumentalist named Jonny Figg. Playing with Jonny reminded Baby of playing with Demi—there was that same spark—so when The Velveteers needed a third member, he was at the top of the list. Jonny complements their close friendship rather than disrupts it, and he gives The Velveteers their distinctive two-drumkit attack.
Even in their early days, they developed a process together that allowed both Demi and Baby to define and direct The Velveteers sound. Their songs originate with Demi, the band’s primary songwriter. Baby, meanwhile, has a knack for selecting and sequencing those songs to form a larger statement. Baby is the reason A Million Knives ends with one of Demi’s best and most wounded tunes, “Fix Me.” “A lot of my writing happens in the moment, and sometimes I don’t even know what a song is about until many years later. When I wrote that tune, I felt this enormous release of emotion, but then I completely forgot about it.”
In the days before they flew to Nashville for sessions with producer Dan Auerbach, Baby felt they were missing something crucial. That old demo of “Fix Me” sprang to mind, particularly its sad-hearted lyrics: “The sparkle that once was in my eyes, it has slowly faded away. Does it come as a surprise, or did you see it from miles away?” It’s a tragic question, gesturing toward feelings that can’t be put into words, and Demi sings them like she might be talking to their fans or to her creative soulmate behind the drums.
Even as they worked closely with Auerbach at his Easy Eye Sound Studio (where they tracked Nightmare Daydream just three years and a lifetime ago), The Velveteers were determined to retain the demo quality of these songs: their spontaneity, their urgency, their creative spark, their brutal honesty. “Some of these songs appear on the album almost exactly as Demi first demo’ed them,” says Baby. “We didn’t want to overwork them. We didn’t want to mess them up. The first time we played them together was when we recorded them, because we didn’t want to ruin them by rehearsing all the spontaneity out of them.”
At the same time, they remained open to new ideas and new songs, including one written with both members of The Black Keys. As producer and head of Easy Eye Sound, Auerbach was always at the studio, but Patrick Carney “would show up and have lunch with us all,” says Demi. “We’d joke around, and he’d show us these really strange YouTube videos that had maybe 20 views. One morning he showed up early with an idea for something he wanted to work on with us.” That seed grew into the album’s first single—a catchy, trippy pop song called “Go Fly Away.” “It’s definitely a different-sounding tune for us,” she says. “We don’t usually write songs that sound especially happy, so it’s good to have a song like that in our setlist.”
It might sound happy, but there’s an intense melancholy at the heart of the song. Rather than the kiss-off implied by the title, it’s a deep wish for escape and freedom. “I want to fly away,” Demi declares over sequined synths and snaky drumbeats. And yet, they didn’t fly away: As difficult as it was to find their way forward on A Million Knives, they steeled themselves and soldiered on, using those million knives to carve out a creative safe haven for themselves. “We have this incredible, beautiful thing together that I love so much,” says Demi. “Making this album was not easy, but the one thing that stayed intact the whole time was our love for making music together. We’ve realized that’s never going to go away. We just have to let the songs guide us and have faith in each other.”
MEN I TRUST – Equus North American Tour
Coming to Boeing Center at Tech Port on August 25, 2025
Get ready for an unforgettable night with Men I Trust as they bring their Equus North American Tour to San Antonio on August 25! Known for their hypnotic melodies, lush dream-pop soundscapes, and mesmerizing live performances, the Canadian indie trio—Emma Proulx, Jessy Caron, and Dragos Chiriac—delivers an intimate yet electrifying musical experience.
Doors open at 7:00pm. This event welcomes all ages.
THIS SHOW IS GENERAL ADMISSION FLOOR ONLY
Wilco with specials guests Waxahatchee
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 @ The Espee
Purchase Tickets Here
For 30 years, Wilco has been a pioneering force in independent music. The Chicago rock band has released 13 studio albums and won multiple Grammy Awards. They have founded their own record label, dBpm Records, and renowned Solid Sound festival. The sextet comprised of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone, Nels Cline, and Mikael Jorgensen—continues to be regarded as a live powerhouse, as described by NPR, “To see Wilco on stage is to hear the best of the best.” The band’s newest album, Cousin, was released in 2023, followed by 2024’s Hot Sun Cool Shroud EP.
By Angelina D’Elia
The first annual YARfest took place in Round Rock, Texas, earlier this year, and two of our interns were lucky enough to snag media passes for the event.
Produced by 1214 Entertainment, Y-A-R stands for Young Asians Represent, and their mission is to celebrate a new era of independent Asian artists, highlighting Asian culture and talent in Texas and the United States as a whole.
“In Texas we have a lot of culture communities, but we’re kind of in our own bubble,” said 1214 Entertainment co-founder Echo Yan. “And what is the easiest way for people to talk and get into contact with each other? Through music. In music, there is no language barrier— it breaks the boundary.”
The two-day festival showcased dozens of local ATX artists such as AZXO, Francene Rouelle, Kid Keith, Lava Hong, Maru Haru, promqueen, The Dropouts, Tiger He, and Tyler Kole, along with national and international headliners, including Justin Park, KIRE, the North Star Boys, REI AMI, sunkis, and Tiffany Day.
“I get so excited whenever I see an Asian musician, because I feel like there’s not a lot in mainstream media… I think particularly in entertainment a lot of Asian artists aren’t encouraged to pursue a career in art because it’s not a ‘standard career,’” explained JONAVI, an R&B artist from Dallas, Texas. “But it’s so inspiring to me, and I hope that when people see me doing this they get inspired to pursue it as well.”
Not only did YARfest promote local and Asian musicians, but they took care to support other local AAPI businesses, as well. Featuring a vibrant night market and dozens of local restaurants and businesses, this festival had everything covered, and we would highly recommend checking them out next year for the chance to support local music and experience a thoroughly well-planned music festival.
“It was super impressive for such a new festival,” KRTU intern Matthew Miller reflected, “It was really the quality of a much more established festival like ACL, but with a more intimate crowd. I would definitely love to go again.”
For the full festival review and more artist interviews, check out our video on YouTube!
A special thank you to Trinity University alumni Martin Li, head of PR at 1214, for the incredible opportunity to attend.
By Sabrina Enriquez
Briston Maroney, an indie pop artist, has been making music since 2017. His debut album, however, Sunflower was released in 2021. It was his hit single, “Freakin’ Out On the Interstate,” from his 2018 EP, that vaulted him into the spotlight. Before all of this, however, Briston was a contestant on the popular show American Idol. At only 15, Briston competed on the show, showing off his impressive vocals at such a young age. Since then, Briston has gone on to release two albums that have quintessential indie pop anthems.
Briston performed in San Antonio on October 14th at Stable Hall. Annie DiRusso opened up the show, with a high energy show. Her performance was a perfect beginning for the night. She sang some of her top hits like “Coming Soon,” “Legs,” and “Wet.” She had previously opened up for artists like Declan Mckenna and Sara Kays, so I knew her music would deliver the perfect indie vibe. Her fun and energetic performance helped get the crowd ready for the night. Her music was a great mix of pop, rock, and some folk. As she exited the stage, after plenty of jumping, dancing, and singing, the crowd was energized and ready for Briston.
As Briston stepped onto the stage, a haze of smoke followed him onto the center. The opening chords for his song “Body,” began and the crowd immediately began singing along. Throughout his entire set, the crowd sang along to his heartfelt lyrics. Briston even went on to play a brand new unreleased song, “Real Good Swimmer.” Briston, of course, sang his most popular songs like “Freakin’ Out On the Interstate,” “Small Talk,” “Caroline,” and “June.” Through each song, you could see the love and passion Briston has for his music. When he wasn’t singing he was interacting with the audience, creating a genuine atmosphere. At the end of the show, he even decided to stay and speak with fans. He went around signing merch and taking photos.
At the end of the night, I knew Briston’s music would be on repeat for the rest of the week. His live performance was captivating and he had everyone in the audience mesmerized. His stage presence made each song feel intimate and memorable. Briston’s performance, along with Annie’s, made the night truly unforgettable, leaving the audience buzzing with energy and craving more of their infectious melodies.
