THERE WERE WIRES / HAVE A NICE LIFE / SINALOA 4.28.2023

May 9

Photos and Words By Adam W Gerhold

I remember years ago seeing Sinaloa, many many times. House shows, DIY spaces and VFW Hall venues, college campuses in NH and MA. They were an staple on my turntable during a very important time in my life. Graduating high school. What do I do now? My friends are dying. I’m angry. You know the story. But the music and the friendship and community were always the glue that kept me and so many other together. Sinaloa. They were amongst the top 5 for my friends and I as we discovered bands like Ampere, Orchid, Jermoes Dream, Saetia, Neil Perry, Das Oath, the list goes on and on and on. This was a special time. It’s a fuzzy, smokey, memory in the back corner of a Denny’s restaurant in Salem, NH, around midnight and 2 in the morning, and there’s a group of us sitting at a round booth, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and eating French fries. Still sweaty and smelly. Ears ringing. New records in the cars. New memories.

And here we are some 20 or so years later. And all the emotions pummel me. It’s beautiful. The whole night. Seeing Sinaloa again after so many years. Seeing There were Wires for the first time, something I thought I missed out on. And seeing Have A Nice Life. What is this? Where are we? The Sinclair? How?

I don’t know. But I’m happy. I’m watching and listening to bands that I idolized, doing what they do best, again. Again. And to a familiar and also new and younger audience. This is punk rock. This is what’s important.

Thank you.

SINALOA