Images: Happy Campers, Battle Born, At It Again February 8, 2014 at the Hard Rock Cafe

The Happy Campers may hold the record for the longest running punk band in Las Vegas and if you don’t believe me, check out the recent career retrospective Campers frontman Isaac Irvine wrote for PIV. The band recently put out their 6th release Dancing With Demons and to celebrate this momentous occasion, they put on a release show at the Hard Rock Cafe on Paradise.

The small dining room floor was filled with friends and numerous musicians I spotted from other bands in town who came to give their support.  The Campers were in top form, and unsurprisingly dominated the majority of the setlist with songs from the new album like leading track “Model American,” “It’s All on Me” and “Bleeding Me Dry.”  Older albums were also given a fair amount of time with  “Puppet Show” and “Lost My Self” among the highlights.  The Happy Campers haven’t been as active in recent years, but hopefully having a new album out has reinvigorated their interest.

Opening the show were locals At It Again and Battle Born.  It was my first time seeing At It Again, who are a mid 90s inspired pop-punk band.  The songs were tight and I was completely entertained by the facial expressions made by drummer Joe Mascolino throughout their entire set.

I was excited to see Battle Born again, having last seen them in 2012 opening for the Dead Kennedys.  I remember being  impressed at that outing, though I didn’t really remember much about it.  My high expectations for this show were met by their fast, technical songs with amazing harmonies.  I wish they played more often because I would really love to see more of them. They have a unique sound that I could see catching on nationally if only the guys were able to get a little more exposure.

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