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THE DAYS SKATE & MUSIC FEST
Live at Garden Amp Featuring
September 1, 2025 Review by Kevin Gomez
The launch of The Days Skate & Music Fest in Orange County last weekend was a celebration of the punk and skate scenes, whose cultures naturally overlapped, providing the soundtrack to skateboarding since its inception.
The festival from Mike Vallely took over both rooms at the Garden Amphitheater, and kicking off day one in the Locker Room was the bill’s youngest band, Narcotics Division. Based out of Huntington Beach, they were also one of the rowdiest bands all night, combining hardcore punk with heavy metal influences. Their second song elicited a violent pit, while “Aghora//Break Samsara” brought black metal vibes.
Bloodstains lead singer David Espinoza sings each word with a snarl, grabbing his mic stand and lifting it upside down while singing. “Maniac” and “Suburban Suicide” featured really impressive drumming from Miles Gretsky. A highlight was their cover of Bad Religion’s “We’re Only Gonna Die,” which Espinoza dedicated “to all those cowards in power.”
Urethane from San Diego kicked things off with one of my favorites, “Gravity,” before Tim Fennelly announced they were playing a new song, “Swan Dive.” Later, guitarist Steve Caballero said, “This is a circle pit song; it’s called ‘Carousel.’” I really enjoyed their punk take on Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.”
DFL played “Thought Control” and “Meter Maid,” the latter of which lead singer Tom Davis complained, “Those parking tickets are like $100!” Guitarist Monty Messex took lead vocals on “Lost Cause” and Davis moved nonstop across the entire stage. They closed with their unofficial theme song, the aptly titled “Proud to be DFL.”
Orange County | California
Mike Vallely’s band, Mike V and the Rats, played both days of the festival, in both rooms. Friday night they packed the Locker Room for a rowdy set, leading with “Viewpoint” and “The War.” Vallely said, “Life is too short not to hold a grudge,” leading into “Vendetta.”
Vallely said the reason he created The Days was to celebrate expression and individuality, and where these two intersected. “I never had a plan B,” Vallely said, leading into their cover of Good for You’s “Plan B.” The band was formed in Des Moines, IA, where Vallely now lives, and he said half-jokingly, “We’re probably the only band that flew in for this show.”
Voodoo Glow Skulls took the main stage and immediately went into “Shoot the Moon,” setting up a fiery mosh pit that would last their entire set.
Lead singer Frank Casillas sang through a Mexican luchador mask while Jorge Casillas provided a thumping bassline. Eddie Casillas played a mean guitar riff against the band’s horns for “Delinquent Song.”
The crowd and the pit went nuts for Casillas’ wicked guitar intro to “Insubordination,” a play on “Crazy Train.” The band decided to tap into their Mexican roots for “El Mas Chingón” and “El Coo Coi” and closed with “Los Hombres No LLoran.”
The Locker Room was packed and going wild for Orange County’s Death by Stereo. The hardcore legends opened their set with “I Think About Killing You Everyday.” “No Cuts, No Butts, No Coconuts” featured a sick guitar solo from Eric Walsh, filling in for Dan Palmer.
Lead singer Efrem Schulz introduced the next song saying, “We wrote this song in 2012 but it’s so appropriate right now; it’s called ‘What the Fuck is Going On Around Here?’” Schulz encouraged the crowd to “go really fast and fuck some shit up” for “This Curse of Days.” DBS finished with “Looking Out for #1.”
Night one saw headliners Lagwagon play “Hoss” in its entirety for the album’s 30th anniversary.
After opening with the album’s lead track, “Kids Don’t Like to Share,” they played “Violins” featuring duel guitar solos from Chris Flippin and Chris Rest.
Drummer Dave Raun was having issues with his kit and lead singer Joey Cape took the opportunity to start doing push-ups. Joe Raposo showed some slick basslines for “Move the Car.”
For “Sleep,” Cape invited nine-year-old Logan in a coon-skin cap to sing lead vocals, which he crushed. Flippin explained that “Weak” was about his inability to resist alcohol. Raposo led the crowd in clapping their hands during the breakdown of “Razor Burn” before playing a sick bass riff.
Due to the strict 10 p.m. ordinance curfew, the band was unable to play “Island of Shame” or “Give it Back,” but closed with “May 16.” For his part, Flippin apologized to fans and said he wished they could play more but the curfew would not allow them, but no one was complaining after that killer set.
Mike V and the Rats started Saturday off, this time on the main stage. From his voice, to his stance, to his intensity, it was obvious Henry Rollins was a big influence on Mike Vallely.
“Dehumanized” featured a nice rhythm section from Wade Thompson on bass and his son, Jake on drums. “Never Give Up” featured a brilliant guitar solo from 19-year-old, Joshua Snuffin. The band played “The Days,” which is where the festival gets namesake. Flogging Molly’s Matt Hensley joined the band on keyboards to help them cover Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.”
Southern California’s Spider opened up the Locker Room Saturday evening. Vocalist Hector Martinez swung his mic while they played, “Tripwire,” “Riptide,” and “Tabula Rasa.” Karl Izumi provided excellent guitar riffs for “Perfect Day” and they closed with “Reeperbahn.”
A pit started immediately as Toxic Energy started “Go Away” and kept going for “Test Pattern” and “Good Time.”
Brent Waterworth provided great guitar and backing vocals for The Cars’ “Just What I Needed.” Lead singer Greg Dickson provided the perfect snarling vocals on The Damned’s “Neat Neat Neat.” They finished with “Radiation Burn” and “Ratt Race.”
Billy Rubin provided a more mellow, college-radio punk in contrast to the high-speed skate punk played all weekend. This was a pleasant change as the band played “Won’t You Be My Girl.”
Rubin pointed out people leaving the Locker Room and dedicated the next song to them, “Walking Out on Love.” They did a mellow cover of Buzzcocks’ “You Say You Don’t Love Me.” Matt Hensley joined them on keys for a cover of 999’s “Homicide.”
Power Flex 5 incorporated surf guitar sound into their music. Appropriately enough their lead song was entitled “Surf Beat.” They played the catchy “Let’s Go,” sounding like a punk rock Beach Boys. They played their own cover of “Neat Neat Neat” before closing with “Skate & Destroy.”
Face Facts was one of the hardest bands that played all weekend, and as such actually elicited some hardcore dancing.
Vocalist Sage Jackson said the band hailed from Coachella Valley and only lasted about two songs before shedding his shirt. He worked up quite a sweat, jumping and running across the stage as the rest of the band provided heavy-metal inspired hardcore.
The O.C. legends Adolescents took the main stage by storm and this crowd was here for it, offering perhaps the wildest pits of the festival. After exploding into a frenzy with “No Way,” with Brad Logan shredding on bass, Death by Stereo drummer Mike Cambra provided machine-gun drumming on “Ratcatcher.”
Lead singer Tony Reflex said, “This goes out to Steve Soto (founding bassist, who passed away in 2018). It’s his birthday today. Happy birthday, Steve!” as the image behind the band switched to a black heart with “Soto” written in Adolescents blue and red.
The crowd tore up the place as they played Orange County’s theme song, “Amoeba.” They closed with “Kids of the Black Hole.”
Ignite closed out the Locker Room and fans packed into the sweaty, tiny space, and raged with the Orange County melodic hardcore band. They opened with “Veteran” and “Poverty for All” as fans moshed along wildly.
Lead singer Eli Santana’s long hair flowed as he belted out perfect harmonies on “Know Your History” and “Embrace.” Acknowledging their short set time, bassist Brett Rasmussen said, “We don’t have a lot of time, so we’re just going to power through these songs.” They closed their powerhouse set with “Live for Better Days.”
For their final act, Lagwagon played their “Let’s Talk About Feelings” album in its entirety. They kicked off with “After You My Friend,” later playing “Change Despair” with a sick guitar solo from Rest.
They played “Messengers,” their theme song, “May 16,” and closed out with the final track, “Owen Meaney,” with excellent bass from Raposo.
Flippin gave Cape his guitar while holding the mic for him while Cape sang the intro to “Alien 8” before the rest of the band kicked in. They played “Bubble” and then were joined by Erin Burkett to sing her vocals on “E Dagger.”
They thanked the crowd before closing out an incredible weekend with the aptly titled, “Bye for Now.”
The inaugural Days Skate & Music Fest was a success, so I expect we will see it back in 2026!
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