Images: Boba Fett Youth, Tomorrows Gone, Good Grief November 6, 2015 at the Womb Room

Partway through Boba Fett Youth’s Nov. 6 reunion gig, guitarist Nate Robards asked the packed living room one simple (sarcastic) question: “This might sound weird, but who wants to hear an old one?”

We really, really did, Nate. So thank you for asking.

Friday night saw the clock tick back to the 1990s, with the Vegas punk rock legends reuniting along with hardcore band Tomorrows Gone (who many know as the precursor to Faded Grey) at the cozy living room of the Womb Room as a precursor to the larger 90s Punk Rock Reunion gig happening at Backstage Bar the next day.

One of my favorite Tomorrows Gone lyrics is “this music will survive.” On this night, the line proved to be prophetic for both bands, with Boba Fett Youth’s “Crush Kill Destroy,” “The Day Punk Rock Ran Out of Things To Say” and “This 150lb Vegetarian Is Gonna Kick Your Ass” and Tomorrows Gone’s “In Silence,” “Without a Face” and “Three Thirty Three” eliciting the biggest reaction from the crowd made up of older fans, family members and people like me who just missed seeing either band play live during their original runs.

For Boba Fett Youth, their legend of wild live shows proved to be true, as they thrashed around the tight quarters into happy fans, never content to stand still for even a second. I can see why that kind of performance would endear them so well. Well, that and the comedy stylings of frontman Andrew Kiraly, who is a much better writer than me so I need to step up my game on this one. Kiraly explained that vinyl is “steampunk Spotify,” that even though they play a show on a ten year schedule they make it sound like it’s really been 20, and that the crowd was nicer than what you’d expect from Washington DC, where Ian Mackaye scolds anyone for acting too rowdy.

Kiraly also claimed the band considered reforming under the name of new Star Wars character Kylo Ren – which brings me to the part of the review where I hope to get hits from people searching for “The Force Awakens” spoilers (please, take this moment to subscribe to our YouTube channel, Star Wars fans!).

I saw Tomorrows Gone on their last reunion gig, but I’m much more familiar with vocalist Lance Wells and guitarist Shay Mehrdad from their time in Faded Grey. It might sound corny, but I consider myself very lucky to have been at the right age and in the right city to discover Faded Grey’s music, and by proxy Tomorrows Gone. They really helped expand my tastes and get me into the local scene.

We were treated to “Human Separation,” the first song that vocalist Lance Wells and drummer Fred Abercrombie ever wrote, and a faithful cover of Dag Nasty’s “Can I Say,” which got at least one fan belting out the lyrics into Wells’ microphone. The band sounded just as good as they did on that last reunion show, and it was particularly fun to watch guitarist Jeff Dean gesticulate wildly in the tiny space allotted to him.

Wells also commented on how this show could essentially be taking place at any time, anywhere, and a lot of that is thanks to openers Good Grief.

Good Grief opened the gig as well as hosted it, and it was fitting, considering the band members’ long lineage of Vegas bands past (December’s End, Jesus Fuck the Sun, This Virus Makes Us Human, etc.). Musically, the band is more poppy than the rest of the night’s lineup, taking cues from Mean Jeans, Ramones, and even a little Pinhead Gunpowder on a track that I believe is called “Eat Shit.”

In the end, as Lance Wells once sang, “nothing lasts forever.” And while the sentiment of that song is certainly true, it was nice to relive the past with these guys – even for just one weekend.

Note: Check out music, photos and commentary from Tomorrows Gone and from Boba Fett Youth in our Vegas Archive series and purchase Tomorrows Gone’s retrospective album ‘This Music Will Survive’ from Underground Communique Records.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Aaron Mattern | https://www.flickr.com/photos/akmofoto/