Outdoor Gigs Go Ballistix

Brainwash Victims/Ballistix/Real Shocks
Grays Skatepark
3600 Grays Ferry Ave.
Philadelphia
April 23, 2026

Yo lowkey, the outdoor gigs have been hitting. There’s a freedom in the experience that’s only comparable in an amply resourced all-ages DIY space, and we all know the issues present as to why we don’t currently have one. More people than I expect at a lot of generator gigs have been routinely pulling up, and, I mean, as long as we can account for the weather with enough time in advance it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Obviously there’s pitfalls with live sound quality and making sure everyone pays but generally a lot of punks are there more for a vibe and a memorable experience than a sonically pristine performance. It’s a good method of anarchism in practice, but remember, gas is fucking $6 a gallon at some places in this country right now. Pay up if you can. Shoutout to Max for putting this one together.

I pulled up about halfway through Real Shocks’ set. The squad has been a recurring player in Philly for a while now, and I don’t know if it’s just that they have crazy work schedules or if they’re a particularly discerning group of people, but they never seem to overdo it with how often they play. It feels good to mention them here again because this time I have a video. Though the horseshoe was huge there was a weird and hilarious trend of people running full speed across the pit and past the furthest edges of the crowd. It definitely made me laugh and I’ll take nearly anything over flailing/spinkicking and the unwarranted surprise nudity of days past. Nevermind the bollocks.

Jersey rockers Ballistix were next and, to be honest, I am just now finding out they aren’t actually from Philly, despite how many flyers I’ve seen them on. Everyone here knows that if you’re an artist from New Jersey playing in Philly you’re basically local, so I’m only mentioning this for other Midbrow readers who might be perusing the happenings of other cities. Anyway, Ballistix was fast and hard-hitting but unfortunately deeply done dirty by the woefully underpowered PA. Their vocalist on recording has a particularly pissed-off tone in his voice that I’m sure sounds pretty sick live. I’ll drop the Bandcamp below.

STARIN' DOWN THE BARREL | BALLISTIX - Bandcamp

Brainwash Victims disproved the need for the “touring band sandwich” method employed to make sure people don’t leave after seeing their favorite locals, which is always a good sign of how well your band is doing. Considering that their first release came out last month and that this seems to be their first tour, they sure played to quite a few people who were hyped as hell to see them. I am terrible with faces and even worse with names in my growing experience, but even I was clear on the fact that there were a bunch of people at this gig that I’d never seen before. Their self-titled cassette is out on the Milwaukee tape label Unlawful Assembly records and it fuckin’ rocks.

Speaking of how terrible I am with faces, I’m watching this fucking band play, and while I can’t hear the vocals at all, there was something about this band, namely its guitarist, that seemed familiar. I hadn’t seen him before, but I felt like I had. It took some digging to figure it out but thanks to the Punk This Week Podcast, I was able to discern that it was indeed Mark fucking Winter on guitar and vocals. Marks previous bands D.L.I.M.C., Coneheads, CC-TV, Big Zit, Ooze (there’s seriously so many) are heavy rotation works when it comes to 2010’s punk and my personal taste but I have basically no connection, that I know of, to the guy so I never really know when he’s doing something new or what it is. I was about to mention the piece I wrote for this here site which mentions D.L.I.M.C. and what is now known as “egg punk,” but I forgot that it never actually came out. You should definitely listen to that, no matter who you are.

DLIMC - November Cassingle

Anyway, Brainwash Victims are pretty sick. I would call it lo-fi d-beat influenced punk, but someone on the Unlawful Assembly Bandcamp said “Discharge played through Minor Threat’s gear,” which I think is funny so let’s go with that. Perfect band to play at a skatepark. The rest of their tour dates are below as is a video I took. I’ll go ahead and drop the podcast link that helped me as well as the Unlawful Assembly Bandcamp link which will help you find a bunch of bands you will probably love if you care about any of this shit. Peace.

S/T CASSETTE | Brainwash Victims - unlawful assembly - Bandcamp