AFI make their triumphant return on Wednesday, January 27 at the Rainbow Ballroom in Fresno. Tickets go on sale Saturday, November 7, 10am at Vallitix.com, SBI, Retro Rag, Boo Boo & all Vallitix outlets.

Our November calendar is shit-hot. Tons of can't-miss shows with something for everybody. We kicked the month off with MINUS THE BEAR slaying downtown brew last Sunday...and the onlsaught continues this weekend with punk pioneer EXENE CERVENKA of X at Audies 11/6 & Velvet on 11/15. X are a national treasure and we are honored to have Exene grace us with her presence. The sultan of sleaze MICKEY AVALON will be at DTB 11/7 & Velvet Jones on 11/8 boasting bout his member. I really need a dose of THE LAWRENCE ARMS fuel injected sappy punk tunes on 11/9 at DTB. VAMPIRE WEEKEND bite SLO on 11/10 & Bako on 11/12. Glorify drug use with ANDRE NICKATINA on 11/12 at DTB and 11/13 at Velvet. Wallow in the dreamy lo-fi of THE MOUNTAIN GOATS on Friday The 13th at DTB. Witness the debut of STOP BREATHING, which features members of THE MISSING 23RD on 11/13 at Rock City in Camarillo. Nardcore legends ILL REPUTE close out the festivities. The almighty SUICIDAL TENDENCIES wreck havoc 11/14 at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. Definitely a life-affirming week if there ever was one.

Want free tickets, promo goodies, and the envy of all your friends while putting a little scratch in your pouch? We have some street marketing positions open for the Central Valley and Santa Barbara Counties. Fun-loving, hard working, open-minded individuals can inquire at info@numbskullshows.com

All has been quiet on the Ventura County venue front lately since the closures of the beloved Alpine and Kung Fu Corner last year. The punk/hardcore/metal sect have been sorely neglected, not by choice but merely by circumstance. Well fans of aggressive music rejoice...enter Megasound Studios, conveniently located on Main Street in mid-town Ventura, this intimate all purpose rehearsal/recording spot is gonna play host to some hefty shows that will test the limits of human flexibility. First off, we have monster death metal grinders JOB FOR A COWBOY pulverizing the joint on July 7. Then NYC gutter-punk vets THE CASUALTIES take charge on August 29. Buy tix in advance to guarantee execution, err I mean entry.

Our Calendar be poppin' this summer, check out the cornucopia of bomb-ass shows
including poetic Canadian folk-punks THE WEAKERTHANS 7/21 in SLO, the original BONE THUGS N HARMONY at Downtown Brew 7/25, and shoot-first, no questions later hip hop activist IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE at Ventura Theater 8/15.

This weekend Team Numbskull will be partaking in the 2009 Punk Rock Bowling & Poker Tourney in Las Vegas. Now in it's 11th year, movers and shakers in the independent punk community from all over the globe gather in sin city for a weekend of gamblin, bowlin, networkin, and no-holds-barred debauchery. Providing the soundtrack for the weekend's festivities with special intimate performances will be The Dwarves, Circle Jerks, Pennywise, The Casualties, American Steel, Manic Hispanic, The Vandals and countless others. Please send posi vibes, well wishing support, and thoughtful prayers our way so we can rep the 805 well, and more importantly come back alive to bring you more shows.

It saddens me to say that after nearly two decades of shows, the infamous Jerry’s Pizza in Bakersfield will close it’s doors as a live music venue. Jerry's will still operate as a pizza parlor, but sky rocketing expenses and sagging attendance has ended the club facet. The very last Numbskull show will be White Chapel on Tuesday, September 2nd. Come bid fond farewells.

Plagued with unpleasing aesthetics, deafening acoustics, hades-like temperatures, demented management, zero amenities and cockroaches the size of rodents, Jerry’s Pizza still was the pillar of rock and roll for the Central Valley. I love Jerry’s pizza to no end and despite all of the above it’s still one of my favorite venues we have ever run. I loved the element of danger that accompanied each and every show from the downtown bako riff raff and the tweekin pawn shop regulars to the fist first diplomacy of the locals, not exactly ideal conditions for live music but entertaining nonetheless.
My Chemical Romance, AFI, Buckcherry, Fallout Boy, Weezer, Thrice, Murder City Devils, Against Me! and thousands of other bands have graced the stage/floor of Jerry's basement at one time or another. This venue is truly stuff of legend. Thank you Jerry for all the phenomenal memories.


Beloved friend and Producer extraordinaire Jerry Finn passed away this week, falling victim to a brain hemorrhage. Jerry was hands down the producer of our generation, manning the dials for Morrissey, Green Day, Rancid, Jawbreaker, Blink 182, AFI, Tiger Army, Alkaline Trio and countless others. Jerry and I took part in many mischievous escapades growing up as teenage suburban punks during the fetal stages of hardcore. He never let the rigid punker-than-thou rulebook that most teens subscribe to dictate his musical taste. We bonded in our worship for Queen, Kiss, and Cheap Trick, the same way we bowed down to Glenn Danzig and Ian MacKaye. Our punk glam band 21 Guns, only had 2 proper songs and never made it out of the garage but watching Jerry wail on the skins was always a delight, as were his witty puns. His knowledge and passion for music was unrivaled. To say the guy had gifted ears would be a severe understatement. Best of all Jerry was as real as it got in this sometimes superficial world of music business opting to work only with bands he loved and believed in. I remember he turned down an offer from Pearl Jam cause he wasn’t into it. I will always remember Jerry for his keen sense of humor, his open-mind, kindness and colossal talent. Rest in Peace Hucklejerry. You will be sorely missed.