Images: Jeff Rosenstock, Sunroom April 8, 2018 at Evel Pie

DIY spots and punk rock have long shared a time-tested friendship. On the other hand, Jeff Rosenstock and corporate music festivals don’t have that same history, with the self-sufficient icon only recently appearing at larger scale festivals like Pitchfork. That’s why, when the New York-native was slated to play at Noisey’s Emerge Impact + Music Festival at The Linq, a special benefit show for Safe Nest was booked at Evel Pie in downtown the following day – with Jeff and his band’s status as headliner remaining a mystery until the day of the show. This was a great excuse to drink and sing along with your friends for a worthwhile cause.

Sunroom, a band sewn together by veterans of the Vegas music scene, opened up the night, and the new band showed hardly any inclinations that this was their first show. As far as inaugural gigs go, Sunroom couldn’t have asked for a more perfect opportunity to showcase their pop-punk meets college rock sound. Think Built to Spill meets Tim-era Replacements.

Honing the pent up excitement awaiting the release of their debut E.P. Demonstration (due out 4/20), Sunroom displayed a type of cohesiveness learned from years of playing and touring in their other bands (Narrowed. Bogtrotter’s Union, Last Call. The Holy Bright and 1819). They left me eager to hear Demonstration when it drops. Sunroom may have become one of my favorite bands of late.

Jeff Rosenstock has been packing bigger crowds in notable venues across the country with every release since his previous band, Bomb the Music Industry, ended in 2014. The surprise release of his latest album, Post-, on New Year’s Day was quickly followed up with his biggest tour yet. I had the chance to catch him play to a sold-out crowd at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles earlier in the year. Contrastingly, his stops in Vegas have been comprised of house shows, record stores gigs and other tiny venues; making every set even more intimate. This show was no different. A small, crowded room, filled with sweaty like-minded people, screaming at the top of their lungs at Evel Pie.

Rosenstock’s set mainly consisted of material from what I have termed his “holy trinity” (We Cool?, Worry., Post-). Each song featuring a chorus of happy, somewhat drunk, desert rats singing along. Every track was played flawlessly, with an energy summoned by the connection that Jeff has kept alive with his audience, no matter the level of his success. This was one of the best sets I’ve seen Rosenstock play.

-Alan Madrigal

Photos by Christopher Mounts | http://www.christophermounts.com