Next Generation of Pedro Punks Set 7th Street Ablaze at First Thursday

By Rosie Knight, Columnist

Since they relocated to 7th Street, Steady Beat Records have been at the heart of the expansion of San Pedro’s First Thursday Art Walk. As the crowds began to wander through the warm dusk air on Feb. 5, an ever growing group began to form outside Steady Beat for a lineup of local bands that was opened by the newly-formed local screamo outfit Never Say Bye. 

It was the band’s very first gig and it was clear that their friends and supporters had shown up in force, with the group starting their set early in order to sate the hundred-person strong crowd. Fronted by Addison Christian Sousa on vocals and guitar alongside lead screamer-in-chief Leilani Garcia, the band is completed by groovy bassist and riff master Nikolas Macias, and energetic heart of the band and bundle of joy, drummer Jose Isaac Melgar Calderon. 

Their shoegaze-y, at times almost ambient sound, is perfectly juxtaposed with Garcia’s raw screaming that never gives you the expected melodic break, instead pushing into something that sounds new and urgent. A furious and talented generation raised on lo-fi beats and social media as much as they were by clear influences like Pennywise and Sleater Kinney. 

Sousa leads the band with a clear heart and passionate voice, encouraging the audience to follow their dreams and was, along with his band mates, clearly moved by the passionate welcome to Pedro’s legendary punk scene. As the crowd began to dance and vibe, it became pretty clear this was going to be the sort of show that people will lie about being at in the years to come, if Never Say Bye makes the most of the clear potential and momentum they’ve built. 

Vibrant, noisy and full of grit, the group soon drew an even larger crowd, at its largest around 200 people spilling over the sidewalks and in both directions down the streets. Vendors, shopowners and passers by were equally as drawn to the brutal vocalizations and grungey riffs and it didn’t take long for a respectful but dynamic circle pit to open up in front of the store. 

Over an extended 25-minute set, Never Say Bye cemented the night as Pedro punk legend, with multiple encores and a dogpile for their very first mixtapes. It was the kind of free show that reminds you why you love punk, live shows, music and San Pedro itself. As corporate forces try to sand off the edges of what makes our home special, it was a night that fueled exactly why they’ll never win. This is the kind of place where a group of 20-year-olds can stop traffic with nothing but loud, angry music and their neighbors of all ages will be the ones cheering them on. 

Pedro is a town steeped in punk history and legend and if Never Say Bye are anything to go by, that tradition is still going strong on the sidewalk mosh pits of Pedro’s First Thursday Art Walk.