Images: Jeff Rosenstock, Upset, Rayner May 18, 2016 at 11th Street Records

11^th Street Records offers such an intimate, DIY atmosphere that it was no surprise that the fairly new venue was chosen as the site for Jeff Rosenstock’s Las Vegas stop. The fact that the show nearly sold out was no surprise either—Jeff may not be the most well known artist, but the fans he does have are devoted in a way that, after this show, I’d call almost cultish.

The local support for the night, Rayner, was an interesting choice to me, as Upset and Jeff Rosenstock are more indie/emo pop punk, and Rayner is more 90s pop punk, but no complaints here. I was stoked that one of my favorite local bands would be opening for one of my favorite artists. The room was already fairly packed by the time they began their set. They seemed a bit muted, most likely due to 11^th Street Records’ performance space being smaller than the other venues I’ve seen them in, but the guys’ energy was fantastic as always, unabashedly showcasing the fact that they all genuinely love what they’re doing. I was psyched to finally hear them play my favorite song, “Second Son,” from their debut album. It was obvious there were other Rayner fans in the crowd, as people danced and sang along. If this is just the first set, I thought to myself, the rest of the night is going to be killer.

Truthfully, I hadn’t heard of Upset until I found out that they were touring with Jeff Rosenstock. But oh my god, am I in love. It was so refreshing to see a band made up entirely of women, and badass punk women at that. They kicked off with “Glass Ceiling,” one of my favorite tracks off of their new album ’76, and just kept the energy coming throughout the rest of their set. Frontwoman Ali Koehler’s, uh, bristly personality definitely made the crowd uncomfortable, with quips like “I didn’t drive 8 hours to play to a room of people texting on their phones.” Honestly, though, I appreciated it. After all, I couldn’t really blame her for vocalizing what so many musicians wish to call out audiences for. Her comments made it sound as if there was no Upset support in the crowd, but I definitely noticed a subtle influx of female audience members during their set. As “social justice warrior” as it sounds, representation really does matter, especially to young women in the punk scene. Social commentary aside, Upset’s songs are universally relatable. They played “Away,” also off of their new album, and a line from the chorus gets me every time: “And all I wish and all I want is for you to need me.” Man or woman or non-binary, we’ve all felt that.

Now, I’ve seen music videos and heard that Jeff Rosenstock puts on rowdy shows, but I was still shocked at how instantaneous the crowd’s reaction was when his band began playing “You in Weird Cities.” Songs that I’d played on rainy mornings, lonely drives, alone in bed—people (including myself) were jumping around to and yelling along with. The juxtaposition between listening to Jeff Rosenstock songs alone versus at a show is ridiculous, but in the best possible way. I was already fangirling from the moment I found out that Jeff Rosenstock was playing Las Vegas, and that excitement only increased when I saw that Kevin Higuchi (of the Asian-American ska band The Chinkees, and who I’d seen play drums for the Bruce Lee Band back in September) would be drumming. It’s totally rad to see that musicians you love are actually bros offstage as well as on. Jeff himself, in an homage to dad fashion, was wearing a pair of cutoff jorts, or jean shorts (no matter what a friend of mine says, jorts are NOT coming back. Sorry Jeff).

Ironically (or maybe not, considering the song’s subject matter), “Nausea” got the crowd especially riled up. Jeff brought out a harmonica for “Beers Again Alone,” to which the crowd reacted pretty enthusiastically considering many of them were barely 21, or even 18. As with Rayner, the absolute love of music that the band members had was palpable in the air. During the last song of the set, “Darkness Records,” Jeff passed his guitar into the eagerly grasping hands of the audience and messed around with the effects pedals. Jeff Rosenstock is a man who adores playing music if I ever saw one. As absolutely cliché as it sounds, it was definitely a night to remember.

-Julien Boulton

Photos by Margaret Schmitt | http://margaretschmitt.wix.com/margaretschmitt