Bad Copy

Last weekend, some of the best people I’ve ever met finally put their band to rest with an entire room full of some of their closest friends. Some of those close friends also shared the stage with them and fucking killed it! Ash Williams brought Toxins, Se Vende, and Heartless Folk along for their farewell show. They wanted to play with bands they’d known for a long time, and bands they loved and respected.

If you’ve been to any Punk or Metal shows in the San Diego scene — or maybe even somewhere that has karaoke — chances are you’ve run into either Patrick (bass/vocals) or Uriel (drums/comic relief) from Ash Williams. If you have run into them, chances are you guys became instant friends and you couldn’t get enough of their infectious laughter and charm. I first met Pat and Uriel in 2018 or so through — you guessed it — music. I was playing in a band called Corre Diablo, and our guitarist had introduced me to them. Not long after, we were at the batting cages totally crushing it and definitely not making fools of ourselves. I think we even got beers and did karaoke afterwards.

Although I don’t think our bands ever actually played together, I got to know the lovely people in Ash Williams through shooting shows. They were one of the first bands I ever got to shoot, and I don’t think I would’ve shot as many shows in San Diego as I did if it weren’t for them. I learned a lot from shooting their shows, and they gave me some of my favorite photos that I’ve taken.

A couple of months ago, Uriel had asked me if I’d be down to shoot Ash Williams’ farewell show. I didn’t even need to think about it and obviously said “Fuck yeah!” They tried to do the whole farewell thing a couple of years ago, but there was some cold or something going around, so it got postponed.

There’s a lot of things I could say about Ash Williams and the incredibly talented people that made it into what it is/was. They truly were one of my favorite bands in San Diego. Although the local scene will still go on without them, it’ll definitely be less fun. I can’t express how thankful I am to them for letting me come out from the desert to be a part of such a fun and important show. It was the perfect ending to their long and fun stint as a band, and I can’t wait to see what they all do next.