Images: Frank Turner, Laura Jane Grace with Atom Willard, Bob Log III May 23, 2015 at The Bunkhouse Saloon (Punk Rock Bowling)

It didn’t take Frank Turner long to win over the sunbaked and hungover crowd of punks that braved the light rain to attend his PRB club show on Saturday.

By the time he got to his atheist anthem “Glory Hallelujah,” he had a whole crowd of punks screaming “There is no god. We’re all in this together” at the top of their lungs, likely leaving buskers and drinkers at nearby Fremont Street to question what exactly was going on at that show.

For those uninitiated, the guy who sang “punk is for the kids who never fit in with the rest” was left looking positively out of place in his jeans and t-shirt at a festival that had more dudes that looked like the Shock Top Beer mascot. But then, why is the show so full? Why is everyone belting out these songs at the top of their lungs? Why did Frank throw an inflatable liferaft into the crowd? (okay, that last one is opener Bob Log’s fault).

But you see, Frank Turner is punk without question, just more in the Joe Strummer/Billy Bragg meaning of the word. He has made a huge success of himself with his acoustic guitar and songs, spending years on the road perfecting his craft – and now he was braving a (sometimes crusty) punk rock festival to put those songs to the test.

Thankfully, Frank’s positive attitude quickly carried over into the audience, instantly winning over anyone who wasn’t already a fan. Case in point, when his set got off to a rough start musically due to problems with the monitors restricting his ability to hear himself play, the troubadour laughed it off, singing through a huge grin during classics like “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” and “Long Live the Queen.”  Or when Frank joked that he can’t play “one of those orthodontic harmonica things” and required a stage hand came out to hold it for him, forcing the crowd to hold in giggles while singing along to “Dan’s Song.” He played through it with a laugh, and the crowd laughed along with him.

And if you didn’t know the words to those songs, Frank took care of you with a surprise NOFX cover (I just know that PRB has the largest collection of NOFX experts out there). Badcop/Badcop’s Stacy Dee was enlisted for a rousing, acoustic rendition of the NOFX classic “Lori Meyers,” a song that had the partially passed out punks leaning against the Bunkhouse’s main building mumbling along. But I sang along loudest, and couldn’t stop myself from smiling, when he played one of my favorites, “Reasons Not To Be An Idiot.” Only on this night, “she sits at home and listens to Black Flag,” instead of The Smiths.

Frank later stepped away from the MIC during “Photosynthesis,” but not before teaching us to sing “And I won’t sit down And I won’t shut up And most of all I will not grow up.” When he later sings “Now I’ll play, and you sing / The perfect way for the evening to begin” he’s not kidding.

And if you’re a Frank fan, then you go to the shows for those communal singalongs, and there are few songs out there built better for making you feel like a crowded bar lot is a cozy living room than “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous.” The first track off his breakthrough Love, Ire and Song had everybody standing arm in arm and screaming their hearts out. Because when Frank belts out “Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings, about fire in our bellies and furtive little feelings” you can’t help but believe it for those moments.

Opening the gig and armed with an acoustic of her own was Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!, who brought along Against Me! drummer Atom Willard for some added pep. Grace put on one of the best PRB performances of all time at her surprise gig with Matt Skiba a few years ago and as a full band, they topped my lists of favorite performances from last year’s festival, so I had nothing but high hopes for this gig.

This time, they reached deep into their catalog and pulled out songs I haven’t heard in ages. Set regulars like “Pints of Guinness” and “Sink Florida Sink” were surprisingly absent from the set and we were instead treated to songs like “Cavalier Eternal,” which Grace admitted to not being much of a fan of, and “Tonight We’re Gonna Give It 35%” from The Disco Before the Breakdown.

It was almost more interesting to see the crowd’s reaction. Laura sped all the songs up at that Beauty Bar gig a few years back but here, they were slowed down, so attempts to circle pit ended up being halfhearted and many people, myself included, found themselves tripping over the words, singing them either a little too early or too late.

“Bamboo Bones” (easily the band’s most underrated song) and “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” were given a bouncy makeover, somewhat similar in vibe to the duo’s recent acoustic set with Miley Cyrus (there’s something I never thought I’d type. But hey, those videos came out great!). And while it made it hard to sing along it did make them fun to dance to.

We were treated to a great cover of “Androgynous,” a song written by one of the best bands of all-time – The Replacements (PRB – book the Replacements please!). A less enthusiastic response was given during the duo’s cover of post-punk band Wire, who Grace said we should all be familiar with, being at a punk festival and all.

Even more unfamiliar to likely most of the crowd slowly trickling in as the Rancid gig died down was slide guitar player Bob Log III, a one-man band who seems to shop at the same clothing store as Daft Punk and played between indoor sets by Yotam Ben Horin and Mercy Music. While his music isn’t really my thing, it was incredibly cool to see him wail on the slide guitar while drumming with his feet, and I’ve heard he’s even more impressive when there’s no barrier involved.

-Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/