Local bands have a ball at Mosh Madness

Local bands have a ball at Mosh Madness

I spent the Saturday before starting my last semester of college watching a bunch of out of shape local musicians play basketball in a church gym in Takoma, MD. It was the first ever Mosh Madness, a half-court single elimination tournament organized by Ian Donaldson and Reid Williams of Dorinda. Fourteen bands competed while five bands (three of who also balled) – Flowerbomb, Pretty Bitter, Massie, Pinky Lemon and Spring Silver – played sets during the matches. The event raised over $2,600 for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Flooded in stale lighting, the smell of sweat growing exponentially worse each hour, you could barely hear conversation because the acoustics of the room weren’t prepared to host some of the DMV’s best and loudest. After whining through a semester abroad with no real live music, this was the perfect scene homecoming.
PICKAXE DC talks new EP, youth in the scene and plans for the future 

PICKAXE DC talks new EP, youth in the scene and plans for the future 

PICKAXE is a high energy, female-fronted punk rock band from our very own Washington, D.C. Although their published discography consists of only four songs, all wrapped up neatly in their recently released EP, PROVOCATEUR, each track has its own unique sound and message. It’s the kind of music that pumps up your adrenaline to negate those bruises you’ll inevitably get in the mosh pit. I can confidently say that PICKAXE’s music is best experienced up close, personal, and dressed in a hot dog costume. Seeing is believing; on streaming you get a very clean, packaged version of their songs but witnessing a set live brings together the whole experience. PICKAXE is impressive in that, even through the haze of the room and the writhing mess of the pit, their vocals and instrumentals come through just as clear and polished as they do on the EP.