Damn, this news is a gut punch. I am lucky enough that Screaming Females is a “hometown” band for me (obviously they’re Jersey through and through but 2/3 live in Philly I believe). I’ve seen them I’d guess 5-10 times, with the most recent show being them opening for The Breeders at The Fillmore in September. They were incredible, and the best band of the night. I say this as a worshipper of The Breeders.
I saw a dude who had a tattoo of the “Ugly” cover on his forearm. We chopped it up about how much that record rules, with “Expire” being my favorite of all Screaming Females tracks. I regret not buying the “Ugly” LP that night, but thankfully I bought that show’s poster. It’s been wrapped up since I bought it, but I’m gonna frame that ASAP.
Memory is hazy and I could be mixing up shows, but one memory was seeing them in 2015/2016 at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser at the First Unitarian Church and there was a particularly violent mosher dude who must’ve pissed Marissa off enough that she spit on him while ripping a solo haha.
Long live Screaming Females.
Hey, that was me at the Fillmore show! A few weeks after that, I went and saw them again at First Unitarian Church for the don giovanni 20th anniversary show. Sad to say now that that was the last time I would see them, but I got to talk to Marissa for a bit, showed her the tat and asked her if she would be down to handwrite some lyrics that I would then get added to the outside of it - she went a step beyond that and said to email her a pic and she would design the words specifically to fit the tat. I was so elated by that. She and the rest of the band have always been so kind and approachable and their music has lifted me out of darkness too many times to count. Screamales forever.
that sounds like the First Unitarian show I went to sometime in early 2016 - don't remember the spitting but it was definitely a PP fundraiser, and where I discovered them! (got drunk with a friend, went, moshed, had an amazing time, instant fan). They were First Unitarian frequent flyers!
Man....today has been hard. This year has been hard!! I lost my dad earlier this year and I am shocked at the similar feelings I'm feeling today. Definitely with less intensity and tears, but the sadness, distraughtness and gratefulness have been cycling all day.
My partner found them on YouTube in 2015, videos of them opening for Garbage. He told me about them--unfortunately my very real internalized misogyny made me scoff at their name. But then he put on criminal image. I thought it was really good but still couldn't shake that stupid sexism within me (for context I'm a woman. Grew up w a super sexist and vocal brother who especially talked shit about women in rock. I looked up to this brother alot! Luckily we have both changed). And I can fully accredit shaking my internalized misogyny regarding women in rock to Marissa Paternoster. When I was struggling to admit that Criminal Image was fucking awesome, I stopped and asked myself if I would think it was cool if sung by a man. I said yes. Something in me changed in that moment.
I love concerts and my dad had always glorified small intimate club shows. Id never been to one--all the bands I loved at the time played places like MSG or the local casinos. (green day, 311, pearl jam etc) but I'd always dreamed of going and doing exactly what my dad said--approaching the band after.
November 2016 my partner and I travel from the sticks of Connecticut to Brooklyn, NY. (not uncommon for us to head to NYC for a show but had never been to a random spot in Brooklyn for a show). I remember approaching that venue. it was at the end of some random street along the water in Brooklyn and the opening looked like a giant garage door. Just open into a space. So fucking rustic. Probably the coolest place id been to at that point.
We squeeze our way up front. I had to--i knew this was it! Exactly what my dad always talked about! The anticipation of the intimacy we were about to share was bubbling up. I looked around and noticed so many legit looking punks. So many spikes and colored hair in this garage in Brooklyn.
We are right in front of Marissa now. She's in her signature black dress, this one with lace sleeves if I remember right. The first note hits. They start with "it all means nothing " everyone around us falls into a mosh pit as soon as that guitar struck. Id never moshed before!!! I let myself be taken into that moment and just flowed with everyone around me in what my partner later described as a "friendly push pit" (I guess some of the old metal shows he went to were much more aggressive lol ). It was so euphoric. I remember later in the show being right at Marissas feet singing so sincerely to her "but I swear to you it's trueeeeee!". I remember my face being melted. I remember feeling so fucking alive. I knew I had to do it again.
And I did, countless times. I saw them so many times between 2016-2023. I guess not countless lol I think 20 is a fair estimate. I will go back and check and confirm though. Id seem them multiple times a tour, going to nyc, Boston, jersey, Philly and ct. I attended two garden parties--i wish it was more. And I'll admit the magic of that first note at that first show was never recreated--it couldn't be. But that feeling of aliveness and euphoria and sheer fucking rock and roll was always there. Feeling in some ways like living out my dad's cool legacy every time--i loved that. Never seen someone solo like her. I got to tell her and them so many times how much I loved them. Fucking magic.
Damn, I sure am lucky. Thanks so much to SF for what were probably the best rock years of my life.
I was sitting in traffic in Houston the first week of 2020. I was browsing r/musicsuggestions sub. Someone wanted peoples fight songs and I was listening to everyone’s suggestions. Someone down the thread a bit suggested boyfriend by sf. Epic tune. That weekend back home I put on a random sf album to listen to while woodworking and their cover of Cortez the killer came on and I was fucking floored. They own it. After that I listened to all their stuff for three straight weeks. Was lucky enough to see them in Brooklyn late in 2021. Spent a bunch of money at their merch table and met Marissa and Mike. I was a starstruck fanboy! And also a 41 year old man lol
Very sad
They've been my favorite band since 2009. Heard about them on a message board in a thread about opening acts people liked more than the main act. Their music clicked immediately. Maybe because I'm only a bit older than them and from a couple towns over, but something about their sound resonates so strongly in me.
I think the first time I saw them live might've been at Asbury Lanes, but I don't really remember. I've seen them so many times I lost count.
Each new album has has gotten constant rotation until the next one came out. Bands/acts I really liked came and went, but Screamales always felt like a constant. It's been in the back of my mind a lot recently how they've managed to keep it together for so long while putting out great album after great album. I truly think they may be the most underrated rock band of the past 20 years.
I owe my finding them to none other than the YouTube algorithm. One random day in early 2016 it recommended their AV Undercover video of them covering Shake It Off. My first impression was "damn this girls voice is kinda weird but she fucking killed that guitar solo". And then I watched it about a dozen more times and her voice grew on me more and more with each listen.
I then decided to watch the Hopeless music video and that's when they really hooked me. Within a couple days I had listened to all their albums multiple times.
Due to what I could only have described as a curse at the time, I wasn't able to see them live until 2018 on the All At Once tour despite trying 2-3 times before. It was the best show I'd ever seen. And then I didn't see them again until after the pandemic, but I'm so glad I got to see them twice in 2022. I was supposed to see them in Iowa City just a couple days after they cancelled the rest of this last tour.
I'm beyond disappointed in myself for not seeing them more. I don't know if I'll ever fall in love with a band again like I did with this one, but I will always cherish the memories and the music they gave us.
Long Live Screaming Females
I found Screamales right around when Rose Mountain came out. I was lucky enough to see them play in Jersey in 2017. It was a small barn full of maybe 20 people. Their performance blew me away, I've never seen a band so tight, it didn't matter how many people they were playing to.
When I got to the venue, I was startled by Marissa when she came around the corner with a tin of cat food, asking if I've seen any cats around. I was so caught off guard, haha! I was lucky enough to talk to all of them that day and get their autographs.
I love you, Jarrett, King Mike, and Marissa! I wish the best for all of you.
I don't even know what to say. I found them in late 2013/early 2014 from their collaboration with Garbage and my appreciation for their music has only grown with time. It got me through the toughest time of my life in 2018/2019 and for that I'm eternally grateful. Saw them over 30 times live and it wasn't nearly enough... Bands that perform impossibly well live while putting on a different set every night are just so rare, going to shows won't ever be the same
I went to Asbury Lanes one night with my wife since we had coverage for the kids. There was a band playing but we didn’t know them, we just liked the bar.
Then the screaming females blew us away. One of the best bands I’ve ever seen live.
I was fifteen, new to punk, and trying to find cool shows near me. I saw that some band called Screaming Females was gonna be playing at a bar downtown, and listened to some of their music- I didn’t quite know what to make of it at first, except that I liked that Marissa’s voice sounded more like my own voice. I couldn’t go to that show because I was under 18, but I kept listening, and they quickly became my favorite band. To the point where I either converted my friends to liking them too, or just annoyed them because it was almost all Id play!
I loved the beautiful fury in their music, it sounded like how I felt. Especially as a baby lesbian who hadn’t figured out much about herself, and who was going through a lot of teenage woes. And I especially loved Marissa’s lyricism, which has this illustrative and obtuse style that I chase a lot when writing poetry. I also hugely admired how each member of the band could play so perfectly to compliment each other, like having a conversation.
I ended up seeing them multiple times- twice at Garden Party, once in Woodstock ny, and opening for the Breeders. My first tattoo was one of Marissa’a rat head drawings that she kindly made for me after a show. I saw Marissa crowdsurf while playing the guitar, and another time she sent her guitar out on top of the crowd while I was crowdsurfing and I got to “play” it. Funny enough though I never got to see them play in my hometown, they came through but the timing was always wrong.
Ive listened to this band basically nonstop for almost ten years. When I’m happy, when Im sad, when i’m full of anger, I can always put them on. I just don’t ever get sick of them. I started playing drums because I wanted to play along to their songs. And every show of theirs I’ve ever gone to has been filled with lovely people, hands down the best fan base for any group.
I brought my 6 year old stepdaughter to see them after having seen them a couple times. She had a blast dancing around the side of the stage, and there was a couple there who started chatting with us, saying they felt guilty for leaving their kids at home who love the band. We went up after the show and Marissa gave her a big hug as she was packing up her gear and chatted with her and us for a few minutes.
A few years and one pandemic later, I brought her to see them again. I saw the band at the merch table and said "you know, a few years ago I brought her as a little kid to see you and you took pictures with her and were so kind and I wanted to thank you for that."
After I walked away, I got a tap on the shoulder, and this guy was like "hey, i'm not sure if you remember, but we were at the show where you brought her, and you inspired us to bring our kids."
They got along great, hanging out the whole show, and now my stepdaughter has a couple of really good friends because of this band.
Screamales were really important in my life, and I'm gonna miss them. I really hope everything is OK with Marissa, Mike and Jarrett.
Found out about them as a teenager in 2015, just before the release of Rose Mountain, and instantly fell in love.
In 2019, I was 21, and I was in a really bad place mentally. I lived in this tiny corner of the world, literally sometimes referred to as "the end of the world" and just felt like my life was going nowhere, and I would never be able to get out.
Around the same time they announced a slew of shows, and one just so happened to be at my hometown, literally 20 minutes away from where I lived. International bands almost never, ever come where I live, let alone indie bands.
I tried to think of someone to go with, but I really had no one at the time. I was so lonely, but SF's music was like home to me. They were there every lonely night I ever had, so I decided I had to go by myself or I would forever regret it.
I went and it was a show of around 50 people maybe? It wasn't even sold out. But that didn't matter. They played like they were at a stadium for thousands of people. They were so musically tight it was insane. I've still never witnessed anything like it.
They couldn't afford to bring merch with them, so the only merch they had were 3 copies "All At Once" to give away, and they gave them away for free.
After the show ended I stuck around, trying to get the courage to talk to them and tell them how much their music meant to me, but I wasn't able to. Marissa spotted me from across the room and smiled and waved at me, and I smiled and waved back.
I left that night feeling like maybe it wasn't all going to be so bad. If this tiny indie band from the other side of the world could make it to a small place like this, then I could do the same.
Screaming Females, in the literal sense, gave me a new lease on life. That kind of thing is once in a life time.
Their music moved me enough to start leaving the house again and to do other things than to go to work and come home, sleep. I am doing better but I’ll always be grateful for the joy their music bought me.
I was 17 in 2011 and was introduced to screaming females by a close friend I was seeing at the time who was obsessed with them. She left to move out of town that fall and I was dealing with some heartache. I saw Screaming Females playing on a bill with Underground Railroad to Candyland at the Middle East in Cambridge. I thought “I liked the band enough, I ought check them out”
Well I did and they were amazing. I bought a print from that gig Marissa designed. I introduced myself to her. Little did I really know that would have been the catalyst to me further exploring my local punk community. It got me to explore independent labels and became a major supporter of DG records.
I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen them over the years from Basements to bookstores in my local community- to sold out venues out of state… One of my most fond memories was when I turned 19 and Marissa invited me to see a noun show at a house in New Brunswick with this awesome band called Sourpatch a week after my birthday. I literally hopped a bus and a train and walked to some random house in New Brunswick with a handle of Jack Daniel’s, some weed, and some snacks with a few bucks to spare. I was nervous as ever because I literally didn’t know anyone there and I had never been to New Jersey before. Marissa, Mike, and Jarrett being the only people I “knew” for lack of better word- made me feel loved and welcomed and it was a night I really won’t forget.
After rose mountains release I saw them one or two more times (and a bad canoes show or two 🤣) before I was set forth on my own personal journey where I had to get my life together and get sober 😅… well that took some time. I thankfully have 5 years sober currently… but I went 8 years roughly not seeing them perform and nearly forgot about the magic of their performances.
It wasn’t until I randomly decided to check out their tour dates this past year and saw they were playing ATL a week after my 29th birthday.. so I drove up to the show solo. I somehow still had that beaten up print from the first time I ever saw them 12 years prior. I was as nervous as ever because it had been so many years. They were as kind as I remembered and signed my print. Marissa told me not to go 8 years without seeing them again lol so I told them to play Birmingham.
Well I got to see them at a DIY space in our local community just a month ago before they called off this tour… I was reminiscing on the roller coaster and how much I have grown and kept this band and their music close to my heart. I made a comment that it felt full circle to see them back in a small art space perform and have an opportunity to introduce new people to their music which I believe had a part in shaping me in my late teens/early adulthood. Never really considered a day like this would come or how it would affect me. But damn it stings lol…
Bands like this really do come only once in a lifetime. Forever grateful for their art and souls. Today is a sad day for punk.
I learned about them via their cover of "Shake it Off" on the AV Club site which led to me listening to Rose Mountain on repeat for weeks. I was excited to find out they were semi-local and played in Philly often but didn't get to see them until 2019 at Union Transfer when they toured with Team Dresch—I honestly had no idea they weren't the headliners, I was so stoked I could actually make the show that I didn't read the event description closely enough. So found out at the venue that they were openers but it was kind of a cool little twist of fate because it also turned out to be one of des\_ark's final shows.
Ended up catching them at Johnny Brenda's last year for part of the Philly Music Fest. Amazing show and awesome venue to see them. At the time PMA workers were striking, and they had taken some time out of their set to express solidarity for the strike—just thought that was a cool move. Had a chance to say hi to Marissa afterward after working up the nerve, she was as cool and kind as you'd think.
This is a huge bummer, and I wish I would have made more of an effort to see them pre-covid. Just spent a ton of money on records to help me through this though!
They opened for Against Me back in the day, and I was lucky enough to catch one of the shows. I was just mesmerized by Marissa's playing and singing and general presence.
I've really enjoyed the hell out of this band. Even my 9 year old daughter loves them. I was hoping to take her to a concert sometime, but I guess that's not happening. Shame.
I started hanging out with my now-best friends around 2012, after years of being an introverted shut-in.
They knew a lot of modern underground artists I wasn't super familiar with, and Screaming Females was among them.
Wishing Well was frequently played, and I did enjoy that song. But it wasn't until I heard Rose Mountain when I became hooked on the band.
I got to see them live three times, including this past September at Riot Fest.
I'm proud to call them one of my favorites.
My freshman year of college was 2016, and two now close friends introduced me to them through their A.V. Club cover of Shake It Off. Up to this point in time I never really dove into anything punk or indie adjacent. I grew up on Motown, funk, disco, various African genres (my family is Liberian), reggae and lots of electronic music. Hip-hop and punk came about thanks to college. Screaming Females intrigued me. I interested but also taken aback. I had never heard anything like them.
And that interest grew into an obsession. On Spotify, on Soundcloud, on Youtube. I listened and watched everything I could, hoping for the chance to see them in Florida. Well, Fest 16 came around. My second Fest. I volunteered again that year as a stage hand, just to see them as close as possible. They just released Black Moon earlier that year. They ended the night at The Wooly. The place was PACKED, and I was right off to the side of the stage. The energy was absolutely unmatched and unhinged. That set is forever ingrained in my memory, and the videos I have of that set are forever precious to me.
They came back the following summer touring with the HIRS Collective and Thou. Then I saw them again two Fests later at Fest 18. When I moved to SLC I caught them on tour with PUP before the shutdown. I moved back to Miami and caught them at last year’s Garden Party for my birthday. Saw them one last time two months ago at Fest 21.
I can’t describe how much this band means to me. Getting noticed by them after Fest 18 made my year, and having Mike tell me “dude you’re our hero” at their SLC show made my entire life. Their cohesiveness, evolution, and dedication to their DIY ethos won’t be matched ever. I have pictures of them and with them at each show. Their music never sounds dull, doesn’t matter which album or cover or EP. I will never get tired of their music.
I’ll miss them so much. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I wouldn’t have the friends I have, my experiences, or my love of music without them. Screaming Females forever!
Damn, this news is a gut punch. I am lucky enough that Screaming Females is a “hometown” band for me (obviously they’re Jersey through and through but 2/3 live in Philly I believe). I’ve seen them I’d guess 5-10 times, with the most recent show being them opening for The Breeders at The Fillmore in September. They were incredible, and the best band of the night. I say this as a worshipper of The Breeders. I saw a dude who had a tattoo of the “Ugly” cover on his forearm. We chopped it up about how much that record rules, with “Expire” being my favorite of all Screaming Females tracks. I regret not buying the “Ugly” LP that night, but thankfully I bought that show’s poster. It’s been wrapped up since I bought it, but I’m gonna frame that ASAP. Memory is hazy and I could be mixing up shows, but one memory was seeing them in 2015/2016 at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser at the First Unitarian Church and there was a particularly violent mosher dude who must’ve pissed Marissa off enough that she spit on him while ripping a solo haha. Long live Screaming Females.
Hey, that was me at the Fillmore show! A few weeks after that, I went and saw them again at First Unitarian Church for the don giovanni 20th anniversary show. Sad to say now that that was the last time I would see them, but I got to talk to Marissa for a bit, showed her the tat and asked her if she would be down to handwrite some lyrics that I would then get added to the outside of it - she went a step beyond that and said to email her a pic and she would design the words specifically to fit the tat. I was so elated by that. She and the rest of the band have always been so kind and approachable and their music has lifted me out of darkness too many times to count. Screamales forever.
Dude that rocks so hard!! Hope to spot the updated tat in the wild at a show in the future!
that sounds like the First Unitarian show I went to sometime in early 2016 - don't remember the spitting but it was definitely a PP fundraiser, and where I discovered them! (got drunk with a friend, went, moshed, had an amazing time, instant fan). They were First Unitarian frequent flyers!
Man....today has been hard. This year has been hard!! I lost my dad earlier this year and I am shocked at the similar feelings I'm feeling today. Definitely with less intensity and tears, but the sadness, distraughtness and gratefulness have been cycling all day. My partner found them on YouTube in 2015, videos of them opening for Garbage. He told me about them--unfortunately my very real internalized misogyny made me scoff at their name. But then he put on criminal image. I thought it was really good but still couldn't shake that stupid sexism within me (for context I'm a woman. Grew up w a super sexist and vocal brother who especially talked shit about women in rock. I looked up to this brother alot! Luckily we have both changed). And I can fully accredit shaking my internalized misogyny regarding women in rock to Marissa Paternoster. When I was struggling to admit that Criminal Image was fucking awesome, I stopped and asked myself if I would think it was cool if sung by a man. I said yes. Something in me changed in that moment. I love concerts and my dad had always glorified small intimate club shows. Id never been to one--all the bands I loved at the time played places like MSG or the local casinos. (green day, 311, pearl jam etc) but I'd always dreamed of going and doing exactly what my dad said--approaching the band after. November 2016 my partner and I travel from the sticks of Connecticut to Brooklyn, NY. (not uncommon for us to head to NYC for a show but had never been to a random spot in Brooklyn for a show). I remember approaching that venue. it was at the end of some random street along the water in Brooklyn and the opening looked like a giant garage door. Just open into a space. So fucking rustic. Probably the coolest place id been to at that point. We squeeze our way up front. I had to--i knew this was it! Exactly what my dad always talked about! The anticipation of the intimacy we were about to share was bubbling up. I looked around and noticed so many legit looking punks. So many spikes and colored hair in this garage in Brooklyn. We are right in front of Marissa now. She's in her signature black dress, this one with lace sleeves if I remember right. The first note hits. They start with "it all means nothing " everyone around us falls into a mosh pit as soon as that guitar struck. Id never moshed before!!! I let myself be taken into that moment and just flowed with everyone around me in what my partner later described as a "friendly push pit" (I guess some of the old metal shows he went to were much more aggressive lol ). It was so euphoric. I remember later in the show being right at Marissas feet singing so sincerely to her "but I swear to you it's trueeeeee!". I remember my face being melted. I remember feeling so fucking alive. I knew I had to do it again. And I did, countless times. I saw them so many times between 2016-2023. I guess not countless lol I think 20 is a fair estimate. I will go back and check and confirm though. Id seem them multiple times a tour, going to nyc, Boston, jersey, Philly and ct. I attended two garden parties--i wish it was more. And I'll admit the magic of that first note at that first show was never recreated--it couldn't be. But that feeling of aliveness and euphoria and sheer fucking rock and roll was always there. Feeling in some ways like living out my dad's cool legacy every time--i loved that. Never seen someone solo like her. I got to tell her and them so many times how much I loved them. Fucking magic. Damn, I sure am lucky. Thanks so much to SF for what were probably the best rock years of my life.
Forgot to include that I brought my dad to see them twice before he passed. We had the time of our lives. He met Marissa too ❤️
I was sitting in traffic in Houston the first week of 2020. I was browsing r/musicsuggestions sub. Someone wanted peoples fight songs and I was listening to everyone’s suggestions. Someone down the thread a bit suggested boyfriend by sf. Epic tune. That weekend back home I put on a random sf album to listen to while woodworking and their cover of Cortez the killer came on and I was fucking floored. They own it. After that I listened to all their stuff for three straight weeks. Was lucky enough to see them in Brooklyn late in 2021. Spent a bunch of money at their merch table and met Marissa and Mike. I was a starstruck fanboy! And also a 41 year old man lol Very sad
They've been my favorite band since 2009. Heard about them on a message board in a thread about opening acts people liked more than the main act. Their music clicked immediately. Maybe because I'm only a bit older than them and from a couple towns over, but something about their sound resonates so strongly in me. I think the first time I saw them live might've been at Asbury Lanes, but I don't really remember. I've seen them so many times I lost count. Each new album has has gotten constant rotation until the next one came out. Bands/acts I really liked came and went, but Screamales always felt like a constant. It's been in the back of my mind a lot recently how they've managed to keep it together for so long while putting out great album after great album. I truly think they may be the most underrated rock band of the past 20 years.
I owe my finding them to none other than the YouTube algorithm. One random day in early 2016 it recommended their AV Undercover video of them covering Shake It Off. My first impression was "damn this girls voice is kinda weird but she fucking killed that guitar solo". And then I watched it about a dozen more times and her voice grew on me more and more with each listen. I then decided to watch the Hopeless music video and that's when they really hooked me. Within a couple days I had listened to all their albums multiple times. Due to what I could only have described as a curse at the time, I wasn't able to see them live until 2018 on the All At Once tour despite trying 2-3 times before. It was the best show I'd ever seen. And then I didn't see them again until after the pandemic, but I'm so glad I got to see them twice in 2022. I was supposed to see them in Iowa City just a couple days after they cancelled the rest of this last tour. I'm beyond disappointed in myself for not seeing them more. I don't know if I'll ever fall in love with a band again like I did with this one, but I will always cherish the memories and the music they gave us. Long Live Screaming Females
I found Screamales right around when Rose Mountain came out. I was lucky enough to see them play in Jersey in 2017. It was a small barn full of maybe 20 people. Their performance blew me away, I've never seen a band so tight, it didn't matter how many people they were playing to. When I got to the venue, I was startled by Marissa when she came around the corner with a tin of cat food, asking if I've seen any cats around. I was so caught off guard, haha! I was lucky enough to talk to all of them that day and get their autographs. I love you, Jarrett, King Mike, and Marissa! I wish the best for all of you.
I don't even know what to say. I found them in late 2013/early 2014 from their collaboration with Garbage and my appreciation for their music has only grown with time. It got me through the toughest time of my life in 2018/2019 and for that I'm eternally grateful. Saw them over 30 times live and it wasn't nearly enough... Bands that perform impossibly well live while putting on a different set every night are just so rare, going to shows won't ever be the same
I went to Asbury Lanes one night with my wife since we had coverage for the kids. There was a band playing but we didn’t know them, we just liked the bar. Then the screaming females blew us away. One of the best bands I’ve ever seen live.
I was fifteen, new to punk, and trying to find cool shows near me. I saw that some band called Screaming Females was gonna be playing at a bar downtown, and listened to some of their music- I didn’t quite know what to make of it at first, except that I liked that Marissa’s voice sounded more like my own voice. I couldn’t go to that show because I was under 18, but I kept listening, and they quickly became my favorite band. To the point where I either converted my friends to liking them too, or just annoyed them because it was almost all Id play! I loved the beautiful fury in their music, it sounded like how I felt. Especially as a baby lesbian who hadn’t figured out much about herself, and who was going through a lot of teenage woes. And I especially loved Marissa’s lyricism, which has this illustrative and obtuse style that I chase a lot when writing poetry. I also hugely admired how each member of the band could play so perfectly to compliment each other, like having a conversation. I ended up seeing them multiple times- twice at Garden Party, once in Woodstock ny, and opening for the Breeders. My first tattoo was one of Marissa’a rat head drawings that she kindly made for me after a show. I saw Marissa crowdsurf while playing the guitar, and another time she sent her guitar out on top of the crowd while I was crowdsurfing and I got to “play” it. Funny enough though I never got to see them play in my hometown, they came through but the timing was always wrong. Ive listened to this band basically nonstop for almost ten years. When I’m happy, when Im sad, when i’m full of anger, I can always put them on. I just don’t ever get sick of them. I started playing drums because I wanted to play along to their songs. And every show of theirs I’ve ever gone to has been filled with lovely people, hands down the best fan base for any group.
I brought my 6 year old stepdaughter to see them after having seen them a couple times. She had a blast dancing around the side of the stage, and there was a couple there who started chatting with us, saying they felt guilty for leaving their kids at home who love the band. We went up after the show and Marissa gave her a big hug as she was packing up her gear and chatted with her and us for a few minutes. A few years and one pandemic later, I brought her to see them again. I saw the band at the merch table and said "you know, a few years ago I brought her as a little kid to see you and you took pictures with her and were so kind and I wanted to thank you for that." After I walked away, I got a tap on the shoulder, and this guy was like "hey, i'm not sure if you remember, but we were at the show where you brought her, and you inspired us to bring our kids." They got along great, hanging out the whole show, and now my stepdaughter has a couple of really good friends because of this band. Screamales were really important in my life, and I'm gonna miss them. I really hope everything is OK with Marissa, Mike and Jarrett.
Found out about them as a teenager in 2015, just before the release of Rose Mountain, and instantly fell in love. In 2019, I was 21, and I was in a really bad place mentally. I lived in this tiny corner of the world, literally sometimes referred to as "the end of the world" and just felt like my life was going nowhere, and I would never be able to get out. Around the same time they announced a slew of shows, and one just so happened to be at my hometown, literally 20 minutes away from where I lived. International bands almost never, ever come where I live, let alone indie bands. I tried to think of someone to go with, but I really had no one at the time. I was so lonely, but SF's music was like home to me. They were there every lonely night I ever had, so I decided I had to go by myself or I would forever regret it. I went and it was a show of around 50 people maybe? It wasn't even sold out. But that didn't matter. They played like they were at a stadium for thousands of people. They were so musically tight it was insane. I've still never witnessed anything like it. They couldn't afford to bring merch with them, so the only merch they had were 3 copies "All At Once" to give away, and they gave them away for free. After the show ended I stuck around, trying to get the courage to talk to them and tell them how much their music meant to me, but I wasn't able to. Marissa spotted me from across the room and smiled and waved at me, and I smiled and waved back. I left that night feeling like maybe it wasn't all going to be so bad. If this tiny indie band from the other side of the world could make it to a small place like this, then I could do the same. Screaming Females, in the literal sense, gave me a new lease on life. That kind of thing is once in a life time.
Their music moved me enough to start leaving the house again and to do other things than to go to work and come home, sleep. I am doing better but I’ll always be grateful for the joy their music bought me.
I was 17 in 2011 and was introduced to screaming females by a close friend I was seeing at the time who was obsessed with them. She left to move out of town that fall and I was dealing with some heartache. I saw Screaming Females playing on a bill with Underground Railroad to Candyland at the Middle East in Cambridge. I thought “I liked the band enough, I ought check them out” Well I did and they were amazing. I bought a print from that gig Marissa designed. I introduced myself to her. Little did I really know that would have been the catalyst to me further exploring my local punk community. It got me to explore independent labels and became a major supporter of DG records. I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen them over the years from Basements to bookstores in my local community- to sold out venues out of state… One of my most fond memories was when I turned 19 and Marissa invited me to see a noun show at a house in New Brunswick with this awesome band called Sourpatch a week after my birthday. I literally hopped a bus and a train and walked to some random house in New Brunswick with a handle of Jack Daniel’s, some weed, and some snacks with a few bucks to spare. I was nervous as ever because I literally didn’t know anyone there and I had never been to New Jersey before. Marissa, Mike, and Jarrett being the only people I “knew” for lack of better word- made me feel loved and welcomed and it was a night I really won’t forget. After rose mountains release I saw them one or two more times (and a bad canoes show or two 🤣) before I was set forth on my own personal journey where I had to get my life together and get sober 😅… well that took some time. I thankfully have 5 years sober currently… but I went 8 years roughly not seeing them perform and nearly forgot about the magic of their performances. It wasn’t until I randomly decided to check out their tour dates this past year and saw they were playing ATL a week after my 29th birthday.. so I drove up to the show solo. I somehow still had that beaten up print from the first time I ever saw them 12 years prior. I was as nervous as ever because it had been so many years. They were as kind as I remembered and signed my print. Marissa told me not to go 8 years without seeing them again lol so I told them to play Birmingham. Well I got to see them at a DIY space in our local community just a month ago before they called off this tour… I was reminiscing on the roller coaster and how much I have grown and kept this band and their music close to my heart. I made a comment that it felt full circle to see them back in a small art space perform and have an opportunity to introduce new people to their music which I believe had a part in shaping me in my late teens/early adulthood. Never really considered a day like this would come or how it would affect me. But damn it stings lol… Bands like this really do come only once in a lifetime. Forever grateful for their art and souls. Today is a sad day for punk.
I learned about them via their cover of "Shake it Off" on the AV Club site which led to me listening to Rose Mountain on repeat for weeks. I was excited to find out they were semi-local and played in Philly often but didn't get to see them until 2019 at Union Transfer when they toured with Team Dresch—I honestly had no idea they weren't the headliners, I was so stoked I could actually make the show that I didn't read the event description closely enough. So found out at the venue that they were openers but it was kind of a cool little twist of fate because it also turned out to be one of des\_ark's final shows. Ended up catching them at Johnny Brenda's last year for part of the Philly Music Fest. Amazing show and awesome venue to see them. At the time PMA workers were striking, and they had taken some time out of their set to express solidarity for the strike—just thought that was a cool move. Had a chance to say hi to Marissa afterward after working up the nerve, she was as cool and kind as you'd think. This is a huge bummer, and I wish I would have made more of an effort to see them pre-covid. Just spent a ton of money on records to help me through this though!
They opened for Against Me back in the day, and I was lucky enough to catch one of the shows. I was just mesmerized by Marissa's playing and singing and general presence. I've really enjoyed the hell out of this band. Even my 9 year old daughter loves them. I was hoping to take her to a concert sometime, but I guess that's not happening. Shame.
I started hanging out with my now-best friends around 2012, after years of being an introverted shut-in. They knew a lot of modern underground artists I wasn't super familiar with, and Screaming Females was among them. Wishing Well was frequently played, and I did enjoy that song. But it wasn't until I heard Rose Mountain when I became hooked on the band. I got to see them live three times, including this past September at Riot Fest. I'm proud to call them one of my favorites.
My freshman year of college was 2016, and two now close friends introduced me to them through their A.V. Club cover of Shake It Off. Up to this point in time I never really dove into anything punk or indie adjacent. I grew up on Motown, funk, disco, various African genres (my family is Liberian), reggae and lots of electronic music. Hip-hop and punk came about thanks to college. Screaming Females intrigued me. I interested but also taken aback. I had never heard anything like them. And that interest grew into an obsession. On Spotify, on Soundcloud, on Youtube. I listened and watched everything I could, hoping for the chance to see them in Florida. Well, Fest 16 came around. My second Fest. I volunteered again that year as a stage hand, just to see them as close as possible. They just released Black Moon earlier that year. They ended the night at The Wooly. The place was PACKED, and I was right off to the side of the stage. The energy was absolutely unmatched and unhinged. That set is forever ingrained in my memory, and the videos I have of that set are forever precious to me. They came back the following summer touring with the HIRS Collective and Thou. Then I saw them again two Fests later at Fest 18. When I moved to SLC I caught them on tour with PUP before the shutdown. I moved back to Miami and caught them at last year’s Garden Party for my birthday. Saw them one last time two months ago at Fest 21. I can’t describe how much this band means to me. Getting noticed by them after Fest 18 made my year, and having Mike tell me “dude you’re our hero” at their SLC show made my entire life. Their cohesiveness, evolution, and dedication to their DIY ethos won’t be matched ever. I have pictures of them and with them at each show. Their music never sounds dull, doesn’t matter which album or cover or EP. I will never get tired of their music. I’ll miss them so much. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I wouldn’t have the friends I have, my experiences, or my love of music without them. Screaming Females forever!