Images: Last Call, Henrietta, Choir Vandals and more September 20, 2015 at Stoked On! Printing

Part-way through Last Call’s September 20 show at Stoked On! Printing, frontman Austin Jeffers announced that the band, now elder statesmen of the local pop punk scene – had realized that their days as a full-time band are in the past. They’re not breaking up, but there’s no world tour on the horizon, you know?

Of course, that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to their fans – this is only the band’s third show in as many years. But this wasn’t a show for sadness.

Instead, the band wanted to celebrate the newer talent our city has produced, and on this night, we were given two opportunities to do that.

Safely were up first, playing to a crowd still modest in size despite the show starting a bit behind schedule. Fans of Jimmy Eat World and Jets to Brazil, take note. This band has that same rock-meets-emo style and I loved the dual vocals provided by frontmen Jonas Vece and Rob Kemerson.

Alaska were up next and played with the manic energy that comes from being two weeks away from releasing your new album (as such, they seemed to have the biggest crowd watching them). The new songs have a Brand New-esq feel, a sort of sing/scream thing that reminds me a lot of “Gasoline.” There’s a nice, atmospheric quality in there as well.

Music fans who were spread out next to Star Wars posters (original trilogy only, of course) in Stoked On’s office corridor nodded in approval, giving the event a very laid back vibe.

Then, it was time for the touring bands.

It was great seeing the guys from Choir Vandals back in Vegas. This band is extremely underrated in the modern emo scene, with strong lyrics and great riffs. They’re basically Seahaven if Seahaven listened to more rock n roll and less Starbucks mixes. As such, they’re one of the few bands in the scene I could see getting along just as fine on a toyGuitar tour as on a Saves the Day jaunt.

Henrietta was their tourmate this time around, and the band possessed the same rock/emo vibe as Safely, with thoughts of Copeland and The Beautiful Mistake bouncing in my head as I closed my eyes and listened. I was impressed by just how assured they were, with frontman Manny Urdaneta’s confident vocals creating an anthemic feel that echoed through the tight quarters in which they were playing.

Intermission:

Arizona pop/rock band Never Let This Go found themselves in Vegas without a show due to miscommunication, so they dropped by to play a few acoustic jams between Choir Vandals and Henrietta’s set, belting out the songs with tons of passion despite not being their usual crowd.

Ahh… intermission.

Last Call finally took the stage closer to midnight than I’d like on a Sunday night, but the wait was worth it when the title track to Stay on the Outside incited the first big singalong of the night. The group of friends that encircled frontman Austin Jeffers kept it up through “Nothing, Ever,” “Dog Years” and “Small Town Blues,” where drummer Adam Blasco’s extended drum solo particularly nice in the print shop’s orange hallway.

They didn’t play “Braid,” so my year of waiting to make a joke about how they should write a song about “Shovel Knight” next will go unused (“Hey nerds, why don’t you write a song about ‘Shovel Knight?”). Instead, I’ll mention that I enjoyed both of the new songs they played, especially the Latterman-style loud verse/louder chorus of “Tappy Tap Tappy,” likely named after the Narrowed-esq finger tapping by Jeffers.

Their set went by fast, with Jeffers announcing at its close that they would end things with their two most popular songs – “Bones” and “Glassell St.” Fans were more than ready to shout “Fuck that band” with the guys after a year of not shouting “Fuck that band” with the guys, but Jeffers had one more thing to say.

The crowd was mesmerized as the singer explained how a guilt over not standing up for a transgender student in high school taught him that in order to make the world a better place, we need to be better people. We all make mistakes and that sucks, but we need to learn from them, learn from other and never stop striving to be better.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

With all Last Call has done, there is no better sentiment to represent the band. And if the younger Vegas bands we’re now celebrating take any lesson from the Last Call story, it should be to learn from your mistakes and never stop trying.

“Trees don’t grow straight, they branch out in a million different ways.” – Last Call

-Emily Matview

Photos by Hunter Wallace | https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter_wallace/