It was a headbanger’s dream at the Hardcore Battle of the Bands on Friday, Sept. 25, as a new generation of local rock and heavy metal groups duked it out at Warehouse 505, who was also an organizer of the event along with X Studio, Vault Studio and Bloom Records. Warehouse 505 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Albuquerque’s youth of all walks of life through arts, music, education and career readiness, according to the group’s website.
The event was put on to showcase young metal bands and give them a place to perform and share their original music in a space among their peers. The groups that performed were Everything We Never Were, Naegleria, Metal Intentions, Electrocuted, Gutter Kittenz, Famine and In Panic.
Trinity Ayers is a freelance photographer for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at photo@dailylobo.com and on X @DailyLobo
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PHOTO STORY: Local celebration held to signal Hispanic Heritage Month
October 5Kicking off the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, the annual OSVC Hispanic Heritage Celebration was held on Sept. 19 at the Open Space Visitor Center to commemorate and showcase art, traditions, music and cultures of the Hispanic community throughout the afternoon. Activities included face painting, a rock climbing wall and vendors to support while visitors enjoyed the diverse array of entertainment. The first performance featured Ballet Folklórico Fiesta Mexicana, performing a traditional Mexican folk dance known as baile folklórico. The second performance was a Spanish ballroom flamenco dance, an expressive ballroom song and dance originating from southern Spain. The next showcase featured Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art combining dynamic movement, acrobatic skills and music, used originally to train in a way that can be disguised as a dance. The final group to perform was Felix Y Los Gatos, a group who primarily plays blues music, and often tours around New Mexico. Trinity Ayers is a freelance photographer for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at photo@dailylobo.com and on X @DailyLobo
PHOTO STORY: 'Purge Palantir' rally calls on state leaders to refuse campaign contributions
September 17Around 60 protesters gathered outside Sen. Martin Heinrich’s Albuquerque office on Sept. 10, calling on the senator to return campaign contributions linked to Palantir Technologies and refuse future contributions connected to the company. The demonstration was organized as part of the “Purge Palantir from Gaza to New Mexico” campaign. According to the campaign’s analysis of Federal Election Commission data, Heinrich has received $31,300 in contributions from Palantir executives and the company’s political action committee. The analysis includes contributions recorded between 2006 and May 6, 2026. Organizers are demanding that Heinrich return those contributions and sign a pledge refusing future money from Palantir executives, PACs and others connected with the company. The campaign has also directed its demands toward other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández, Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez. Speakers criticized Palantir’s work with both the Israeli government and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of the speakers was Jonathan Juárez, a community organizer and former UNM student who left the university in 2021 to pursue political activism. Palantir, a data-analysis and artificial intelligence company, announced in January 2024 that it had entered a “strategic partnership” with the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Palantir said the agreement would supply its technology to support Israel’s war effort. Federal spending records show that ICE awarded Palantir a contract worth approximately $86.3 million in May 2026 for technology supporting The agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and its case-management system. The Sept. 10 demonstration lasted for more than an hour outside the WaFd Bank building near 3rd Street and Copper Avenue. Protesters carried signs and used props, including a skeleton and a mock-up of an Israel Defense Forces soldier, while speakers addressed the crowd. Other demonstrators encouraged passersby to vote in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Security personnel remained near the building’s entrances as the protest drew attention from pedestrians passing through downtown Albuquerque. George Slad is a freelance photographer for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at photo@dailylobo.com or on X @SladGeorge
