Why Pinhead Gunpowder should go on a U.S. tour, at least once.
Like the rest of the Lookout Records and East Bay punk fans of the world, I've been crossing my fingers and hoping for a Pinhead Gunpowder tour outside of California for decades. I have been listening to and following Pinhead Gunpowder through magazines and websites since I was a teenager. I have read every single Aaron Cometbus zine and I'm a huge fan of Crimpshrine, Monsula, and of course Green Day, “along with” the entire East Bay punk scene. For those of you who may not know, Pinhead Gunpowder is a four-piece pop-punk band from Berkeley, California. The band got its name from a brand of highly caffeinated tea of the same name. They could be considered a supergroup of band members made up of the various aforementioned bands, and they have been putting out records since the early 90s. The band currently consists of Aaron Cometbus (drums/lyrics), Bill Schneider (bass), Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar/vocals) and Jason White (guitar/vocals).
With millions of fans all over the world, and such a cult following, they could easily set out on a US tour and there would be no shortage of wide-eyed, and crazed pop-punk fans of all ages shouting every single song, line for line right back at them from the front row and throughout the venue.
With the 2024 release of their newest record Unt they have a clear and continued path of poetic ballads packed with the quick-witted punch that you want and expect from the part-time punk band. Promoting the new record would be a fantastic excuse for them to take some time off from other projects and hit the road cross country, just once, just because. While the punk rock ethos of keeping it simple and fun, and keeping it lighthearted is understood and widely respected by their fans, it's also kind of a bummer knowing that a tour may never actually happen.
Wouldn't it be amazing though? What songs would they play? How long would their set be? With so many songs and so many records released since their beginning (Shoot the Moon, Goodbye Ellston Avenue, and the compilation Jump Salty, released by Lookout Records in 1994) they could play for hours and the crowd would never get tired of it.
Maybe we could bug them, but I'm not sure that would work, and it's quite possible you could get the middle finger from a member of one of your favorite bands. Maybe just a simple plea would work. Maybe if we all asked them very, very politely— Hey Pinhead Gunpowder, how about a US tour so we can all enjoy the moment together…please?
Make sure to check out the new record Unt on all streaming platforms, and from what I have seen they are pretty active on social media, wink wink!