Last Saturday (June 13), marked the return of the Guam Musician Initiative’s Weekend Warriors concert series.

I wanted to get our rock shows out of Skinner’s Plaza and into new venues and with the birth of GMI last summer, it was time for something new for the music scene. We had a venue, we had bands (plenty of them itching to perform), and all we needed was a name.

Weekend Warriors was a term used by my high school band teacher, the term was shared amongst many musicians who have regular day jobs, but rock out on the weekends - the name has stuck with me since and has become synonymous with GMI and with any show on the local rock/punk/metal scene.

We also wanted to create a series of shows that would bring together established bands with the newest up and coming bands - many of whom never had played a show before. Either they had played small functions for friends or at school fundraisers. We also wanted to allow the bands a place to let their music and ideas roam free - there’s total artistic freedom for these musicians at Weekend Warriors; many other gigs they’ve performed at.. Battle of the Bands, school fundraisers, Rock N Bowls, ColdStone Nights - they’ve all limited what the bands can or cannot do - no screaming or hard music, no moshing, no vulgarities or obscenities. These hindrances don’t allow musicians to perform to their full potential and we want to see bands going all out… we wanted to create a place for bands to have an unadulterated, no limits, high energy, hi-gain, hi-fi experience.

Armed with a name, a laser printer, a multitude of bands, and new and old fans waiting to attend a show - Weekend Warriors grew quick. It grew a little to fast in fact, crowd sizes jumped from a few dozen kids to close to 200! Our equipment could no longer sustain our audiences sizes, and Weekend Warriors and other GMI events were put on a break that lasted about 6 months.

Now this Summer, we’ve got an awesome new sound system, newer bands, and more kids waiting to experience a live underground concert.

Last Saturday was Weekend Warriors V - the fifth installment of the series.
A great turnout for the first show of summer - about 160 total attendees throughout the night.
6 bands performed, two of them new to the scene, the others have an established reputation amongst the music scene. All was well, and it was a lot of fun. Here’s some pics below!
Weekend Warriors VI will be held next Saturday, June 27th. More bands, more fun, and more artistic expression floating through the University of Guam’s silent Saturday night corridors.