A Parent's Perspective "DESTROY BOYS” Show Review

Jul 21, 2023

Starting off in 2015, the Sacramento California punk rock quartet Destroy Boys have been making quite the name for themselves having been nominated for in the 25th Sacramento Area Music Awards in the categories "New Artist", "Punk/post-punk" and "Teen" in 2017, having legendary drummer Abe Cunningham of Deftones play in the band for a short stint in 2018 and most recently have wrapped up a giant leg on blink-182's world tour with Tom Delonge back in the band as well as play at this year's 2023 Coachella.

Amidst all of this Destroy Boys have found time to curate their own headlining tour along with their opening gigs and festivals which they've dubbed "Going On Tour Forever - Like Seriously A Really Long Time With Really Cool Bands". I managed to catch the punk rockers on a headlining show in my hometown of Pittsburgh along with opening acts Jigsaw Youth and The Gully Boys.

JULY 16th, 2023 PITTSBURGH, PA: DESTROY BOYS, JIGSAW YOUTH and THE GULLY BOYS rolled into Pittsburgh, PA at the Preserving Underground venue, just outside of Pittsburgh PA. When my 10-year-old daughter, who's a massive Destroy Boys fan, and was a surprise for her birthday arrived at the venue, the line was already around the corner and down the block by the time I showed up to what was advertised on social media as a NEARLY SOLD-OUT event. This was the first time that I'd ever been to Preserving Underground which is this amazing renovated (used to be a church) with an upstairs and downstairs stage, bar, cafeteria, and best of all a full-fledged record shop with everything you've ever heard of on wax as well as everything you didn't even know existed as well as CD's, cassettes, shirts and more.

JIGSAW YOUTH took the stage first, the 3 piece punk rock band ripped through about a half-hour set first catching the entire crowd's attention by emerging from backstage to none other than The Beastie Boys "Sabotage" blasting over the PA system. The punk rock trio ripped through tracks SKIN and DEEPER from their latest 2023 EP "The War Inside Me" as well opening with Smother, playing my favorite track No Excuses before closing out with Are You Who You Wanna Be?". I find myself falling for the opening band at every show I go to, and this one is no exception, Jigsaw Youth is both mine and my daughter's new favorite band. They are amazing live.

During intermission, fans were greeted to early 2000's pop-punk songs over the PA system while they made their way to merch booths, restrooms, the record store, and the concession stand.

Punk quartet THE GULLY BOYS was up next, opening up with the track Optimist one of their latest singles out.

The band was full of energy with each member having their own moments taking to the mic. It was almost like having four lead singers in the band, including the drummer. Each member has their own unique yet angelic voice which brings a lot of dynamic and depth to each track especially when it comes to harmonies. My favorite track by far of the night had to be Neopet Graveyard as well as the cover of Hole's "Violet", the band really nailed it while also making it their own thing.

During intermission, more pop-punk bangers played over the PA system accompanied by 90s and early 2000's classic hits while fans flocked to their usual precessions during intermission..

The lights dimmed and the Destroy Boys took their place. The punk rock quartet came out swinging with the opening track "Drink" followed by some crowd work which honestly I don't know how anyone could ramp the crowd up more, but they did. Circle pits and even crowd surfing erupted almost immediately during track Vixen and continued all the way through tracks American River and Locker Room Bully.

Fan favorite and my daughter's favorite track Muzzle was up next to which guitarist Violet Mayugba asked for help from the audience and went on to say how their energy wasn't there because they pulled their arm from the night before to which the crowd immediately obliged singing along to every word, which in suite followed by the track "Shadow" whom everyone in the building burst into a giant sing-a-long. Destroy Boys finished their set off with fan favorite track Fences before thanking fans and running offstage. Lead singer/guitarist Alexia Roditis emerged alone from backstage after a short intermission to give an amazing acoustic rendition of their single Piedmont before being greeted by the rest of the band on stage and finishing out with mine, as well as my daughter's all-time favorite song "I Threw Glass at My Friend's Eyes and Now I'm On Probation" to which Violet said before playing "Did you guys really think we were going to leave and not play it?!".

Destroy Boys stands for everything good in the punk rock scene right now. Not only are their songs catchy and amazing but their activism in the music community is far beyond what most have done. Their kindness and genuine love for being in a band shows too as shown at the end of the night when my daughter was presented with a setlist from the band to which she burst into tears of joy. I can't say enough good things about Destroy Boys and can't wait to see what they'll do next.

DESTROY BOYS are now on tour now with GULLY BOYS and JIGSAW YOUTH!

- You can check out tour dates, photo gallery, and more below!