Wed, May 28, 2014

Best Performance: Against Me! Taking the stage with an arsenal that included a reshuffled lineup and new album Transgender Dysphoria Blues—maybe the band’s best record to-date—Laura Jane Grace and her Gainesville ensemble have never sounded better to my ears.

Best Emerging Act: Masked Intruder Performing tongue-in-cheek pop songs about armed robbery, kidnapping and assault (all in the name of love, of course) this young Midwest band won over hard-hearted punk fans with its fun shtick.

Craziest Pit: Judge Fans took full advantage of a rare opportunity to catch the NYC straight-edge pioneers, rushing the stage, flipping into the crowd, grabbing the mic and knocking over musicians.

Best Showman: The Adicts’ Monkey A graduate of the Rip Taylor school of pageantry, this British glam-punk joker loves to cover his crowd in glitter, streamers, playing cards, beach balls, confetti and anything else he can shoot off the stage.

Best Fan Moment: The Dwarves During the Bay Area vets’ “I Will Deny,” an audience member stormed the main stage, stole Blag Dahlia’s mic and performed the song in its entirety.

Biggest Temper Tantrum: John Cougar Concentration Camp JCCC struggled through part of one song before an argument onstage led to a smashed drum set and an abandoned performance.

Best Band Name: Cerebral Ballzy Simple, funny and offensive—the punk-rock trifecta.

Biggest Surprise: Cock Sparrer One night after headlining the main festival stage, the British Oi! originals ambushed fans by performing an unannounced set to a jam-packed crowd inside Backstage Bar & Billiards.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2014/may/28/best-punk-rock-bowling-PRB-2014/#/0

Tue, May 27, 2014

I arrived at the closing day of the 16th annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival with Good Riddance’s scream-heavy hardcore filling the stage and an intense heat oppressing the crowd, which was still filing in, if at a slower pace than in previous days.

If you were wondering if Keith Morris is still angry, he is, maybe more than ever. His latest band Off! took the stage at 6 p.m. and seared through tracks off recently released album Wasted Years. Hard as they try to capture their live energy on record, it still doesn’t do them justice, and Morris looks and sounds healthier than in past years.

Leftover Crack performed a mostly uneventful set of anti-everything crust punk. I think I may have set my mayhem expectations too high for the NYC crew, which has been banned from nearly everywhere.

The highlight performance of this year’s festival once again came from Laura Jane Grace and Against Me! This year’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues—which tackles gender roles and society’s definitions of them—might be the band’s best album to date, and it translates solidly to live performance. Songs like “True Trans Soul Rebel,” “Unconditional Love,” “Drinking With the Jocks” and the album’s closing powerhouse, “Black Me Out,” burn with true emotion, and Laura’s voice sounds strong as ever. Against Me! has also seen its lineup change recently, with Atom Willard (Rocket From the Crypt) joining up to play drums. His forceful style is simple but tasteful and has taken AM’s songs to an improved level. Favorites like “Don’t Lose Touch,” “I Was a Teenage Anarchist,” “Sink, Florida, Sink” and “New Wave” have never sounded so good.

The festival’s closer was NOFX, no stranger to the Punk Rock Bowling main stage. Frontman/bassist Fat Mike has performed all 16 years, and the Fat Wreck Chords team has twice been the overall champion of the PRB bowling tourney. The band is still hilarious onstage, with Fat Mike’s antics paired with El Hefe’s one-liners. “Bob,” “Linoleum” and “Don’t Call Me White” can still get a pit frenzied, and NOFX also debuted a Punk Rock Bowling theme song, “Who’s Gonna Be the First to OD at PRB.” Fat Mike also provided a moment of seriousness in tribute to fallen friend Tony Sly, covering “Shortest Pier” with the preface, “It’s not a Punk Rock Bowling without Tony.” The same could be said for NOFX.

With another amazing, exhausting experience in the books, it’s clear Punk Rock Bowling is ready to take it’s next evolutionary step forward. The Stern brothers have grown the event wisely and carefully—from its bowling-alley roots to its big move Downtown—and I can’t wait for whatever comes next.

Mon, May 26, 2014

I arrived at Punk Rock Bowling’s festival grounds Sunday just in time for the first drums of Masked Intruders to slam. The emerging Madison, Wisconsin-based band is a ton of fun, with members wearing different “intruder” colors and snow masks, speaking in thick Chicago accents and singing tongue-in-cheek pop songs about armed robbery, burglary and assault. That shtick, combined with catchy ’50s-style melodies, sped up and backed by distorted guitars, has been a winning combination for Masked Intruders, who recently rereleased their eponymous debut on Fat Wreck Chords. The follow-up comes out Tuesday.

Next on the main stage was legendary Canadian skate-punk outfit SNFU, with frontman Mr. Chi Pig looking as if the band pulled a toothless bum off Fremont Street and asked him to rant into a mic for 40 minutes. In a rare live appearance, the band performed metal-infused speed-punk sprints like “Better than Eddie Vedder” and “Painful Reminder” and thanked PRB’s organizing Stern brothers for inviting them to play, as the sun inched behind the Downtown Grand.

Perennial attendees The Dwarves followed, bringing their famously offensive anthems to the stage. The now-Bay Area-based veterans leave nothing to the imagination, with guitarist He Who Shall Not Be Named performing practically nude. Often overshadowed by The Dwarves’ seemingly juvenile and crass antics are some truly brilliant pop songs, like “Everybody’s Girl”, “How It’s Done” and “There Better Be Women.” During fan favorite “I Will Deny,” singer Blag Dahlia gave an audience member at shot at lead vocals.

The only Brits booked on the main stage Sunday were glam-punk pioneers The Adicts, who always produce a spectacle, complete with costumes, makeup, glitter and gnarly guitar solos. Plus, you can play a great drinking game with all the stuff thrown into the crowd during an Adicts’ performance: an umbrella filled with confetti, a stuffed monkey, a giant blow-up rose, disco beach balls, enough streamers to black-out the Fremont Street Experience …

Next up: 1990s favorites Face to Face, who have come back full force after a multiyear hiatus, releasing two albums, an EP and a split (with Rise Against) since 2011. Their speedy, hook-loaded melodies helped inspire the pop-punk craze of the late ’90s and early 2000s, and they appropriately closed their set with “Disconnected,” a cut deserving of inclusion on any greatest punk hits compilation.

There’s no logo in punk as duplicated, reimagined or highly visible as the Descendents’ cartoon Milo. Versions of the caricatured frontman were everywhere—on patches, T-shirts, skateboards, tattoos and tote bags—as excitement for the infrequently performing headliners ran high as the headliners. And the proponents of perpetual adolescence delivered, opening with “Everything Sux” and then rattling off other classics like “When I Get Old,” “Nothing With You,” and “Suburban Home,” all examples of their reluctance to develop. Frontman Milo Aukerman’s voice strained as he shouted “I’m the One” and “Coffee Mug” to a hysterical crowd that soaking up every moment.

Heading to club shows, I first stopped at Beauty Bar to see local ruffians The People’s Whiskey. I noticed we were joined in the crowd by Blag Dahlia, there to see his Dwarves bandmate Chris Fields perform with The John Cougar Concentration Camp. Unfortunately, J.C.C.C. made it only most of the way through its opening song before a disagreement onstage led to a smashed drum set and an early conclusion. I caught a few songs from Denver-based Reno Divorce—Southern-infused rockabilly jams, like a sped up Social Distortion—before heading to Backstage Bar & Billiards for a show with unannounced special guests.

At Triple B, elbow room and breathing space were at a premium as the stagehand cut the ties and revealed … Cock Sparrer’s banner. Saturday’s main-stage headliners were now performing to a tiny audience, a rare opportunity to see the band in an intimate setting. “Last night we played the festival stage, and that was great, but this is what Cock Sparrer is all about,” frontman Colin McFaull announced. “This is all we ever wanted.” The set was mostly a re-shuffling of the previous night’s song order, but it was a great way to end another PRB leg nonetheless.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2014/may/26/punk-rock-bowling-adicts-descendents-surprise/#/0

Sun, May 25, 2014

Doors for Punk Rock Bowling’s first full day of activities opened at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and while the festival is in roughly the same space as in 2012 and ’13 (Seventh and Stewart) the setup has been reshuffled, orienting toward the Gold Spike, rather than the El Cortez.

Fans were still piling into the grounds when Devil’s Brigade took the stage at 5:25 to perform its messy outlaw punk. The band is the psychobilly side project of Rancid members Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, though only Freeman performed live. In its first show in Vegas, the power-trio burned through Americana-inspired jams as the pit filled with diehards eager to begin the moshing and a light mist cooled the crowd.

This year’s lineup is being billed as a veritable British invasion by festival organizers. The first of many UK bands I saw was Peter and the Test Tube Babies. Among that group’s hilariously vulgar drink-along songs are “Up Yer Bum,” “Rotting in the Fart Sack” and “Never Made It to the Bog on Time”— a “bog,” we were told (and Google confirmed) being British slang for toilet. It’s offensive if you let it be, but the guys were a ton of fun; vocalist Peter Bywaters couldn’t hide his giant smile throughout the performance.

That set was followed by another UK outfit, The Angelic Upstarts, skinhead punks playing working-class anthems of unity and empowerment. I explored the festival grounds as I listened, wandering through the vendor area, scoring some cheap merch and visiting local imprint Squidhat Records’ booth. With NYC ska-reggae rockers The Slackers now jamming onstage, I headed into the expanded food truck alley for a bite. Their soul-based rocksteady grooves set the perfect background for my buttery lobster roll, even as I swore one of these days I’d try that raw food vendor.

Next up: yet another British import, The Anti-Nowhere League. With the growl that’s inspired a hundred imitators, frontman Animal and the rest of the League kicked off an hour-long set with three favorites, “We’re the League,” “I Hate People” and “Let’s Break the Law”—street-fighting jams that got the overflowing pit frothing. The iconic biker punks set the stage for headliner Cock Sparrer as rain began to fall on the festival crowd.

Four years before The Clash got together, three year before the Sex Pistols were formed and two years before the Ramones stepped foot on CBGB’s stage, Cock Sparrer was born. Celebrating 42 years, they are truly the Oi! Originals, and their lasting power comes with good reason. Less “Let’s destroy everything!” than “Let’s get pissed and see what gets destroyed!”, Cock Sparrer plays anthemic, even danceable punk jams like “Riot Squad,” “We’re Coming Back,” “I Got Your Number” and my personal favorite, “Because You’re Young”—tunes that capture the essence of youthful punk rock, even with band members nearing 70 years old.

Singer Colin McFaull guaranteed the crowd, “We will go on as long as you guys keep showing up,” and I consider this statement a metaphor for the punk movement in general. Conceived almost fundamentally as a temporary agitation to mainstream culture, punk has continually evolved as a genre and lifestyle, and every year Punk Rock Bowling reminds me that this music continues to connect with young people.

Cock Sparrer was definitely Saturday’s highlight, performing for an exuberant crowd eager to dance, sing and sway arm-in-arm to the music. The bar has been set high for Sunday and Monday.

With the main festivities closed for the night, I strolled down to Fremont East to attend my club shows of choice. I popped my head into Beauty Bar to chill out to some of the ska and reggae tunes and recover a little. I caught Xavier & Jackie backed by Thee Hurricane—funky beats, great voices and a groove-worthy change of pace. Replenished, I arrived at LVCS as H2O was taking the stage. H2O wins the award for Best Pit so far. Fans flipped from the stage, grabbed the mic and bumped into musicians—a definite throwback to the late-’90s Warped Tours that turned me on to punk in the first place.

High expectations surrounded Judge’s headlining performance. Having recently reunited for their first shows since breaking up in 1991, the extremely influential NYC hardcore band, known for its militant straight-edge conduct and intense pits, was formed by two members of Youth of Today.

Sadly, Judge didn’t live up to the hype. Lead singer Mike “Judge” Ferraro was completely drowned out by insanely loud and sloppy guitar noise and muddled basslines. Effort was present, but I couldn’t help but think, “Did these guys take 23 years off or something?” It was a disappointing end to a great night, thought that couldn’t dampen my spirits for days two and three.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2014/may/25/punk-rock-bowling-cock-sparrer-anti-nowhere-judge/#/0

Sat, May 24, 2014

Fremont East’s gutters were once again overflowing with punks last night in anticipation of the 16th annual Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival. This year’s fest is completely sold out—all three days and every club show—and Downtown is swarming with attendees stumbling, spilling, hugging, shouting Oi! and preparing for the crazy weekend ahead.

Friday night marked the first evening of club shows before the main festival ground opens at 3 p.m. on Saturday. I decided to start my festival off by going local and seeing Illicitor at the Beauty Bar. Rising from the ashes of one of my very favorite bands in the city, Holding Onto Sound, Illicitor is a straightforward punk power-trio. Though the band features two members from HOTS—Zabi Naqshband on bass and vocals and Bob Gates on guitar and vocals—Illicitor sounds slightly less melodic, with gruffer shout/sung vocals, but it’s definitely in the H.O.T.S. vein and it was great to see those guys play live again. Though no pit was formed, the crowd, which was still piling in throughout the set, clearly warmed to the locals.

With Illicitor wrapping up at just after 11 p.m., I sprinted to LVCS to catch the last two songs from Radkey, a St. Louis-based three-piece band of brothers and one of the most exciting acts currently emerging in the genre. Deep vocals, lots of “whoa whoa”’s and spirited teenage angst made Radkey a perfect fit to open for Naked Raygun. Recklessly stomping and thrashing on the stage, they are well-suited to carry the torch for future punk generations.

The next performer, C.J. Ramone, is a sometimes divisive character for purist punks. C.J. replaced the beloved Dee Dee Ramone on bass and backing vocals in the legendary Ramones from 1989-’96. Christopher Joseph Ward still performs as C.J. Ramone, and his sets are comprised of a combination of his solo work, Ramones favorites like “Judy Is a Punk” and “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” and famous Ramones covers like “California Sun” and “Do You Wanna Dance.” As a giant Ramones fan (who isn’t?), it’s great to see the Ramones songs performed live, but it comes with reservations. C.J., who wasn’t an original member or a songwriter, seemed to address those doubts when he said, “I’m the last man standing, so I can play whatever the f*ck I want.”

The night’s headliner—and one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend—was seminal Chicago act Naked Raygun. Jeff Pezzati and crew have been reunited since 2006, playing monthly shows and cashing in on some of the street cred they earned when punk was relegated to basements and dives. Pezzati is slow moving, quiet and deliberate while pacing the stage with mic in hand, but his voice sounds good as ever on favorites like “Soldier’s Requiem” and “Treason.” Naked Raygun’s trademark simple, single-note leads paired with Pezzati’s sometimes spoken-word melodies were a treat, and a perfect way to close Night 1—especially knowing there’s so much more to come.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2014/may/24/punk-rock-bowling-report-friday-nights-kickoff/#/0