Images: Be Like Max, Survay Says!, One Pin Short, Alaska April 29, 2014 at The Artistic Armory

With The Artistic Armory filled with an eclectic mix of music fans sporting Caravels shirts (I’m looking at you, Nick), Operation Ivy patches on jackets and some DIY threads, Alaska started out a night of ska with a decidedly un-ska sound. The emotional hardcore band was humorously dubbed “ah-lah-ska” for the night and provided a weird start for what most of the fedora-wearing, blazer-sporting crowd was expecting. They covered Green Day’s “American Idiot” for about twenty seconds at the second show in a row, and it made me wish that much more that they became a Green Day cover band. Their last show at the House of Cack was not their best performance, so I was glad to see they bounced back so well.

Unexpectedly to me, Vegas reggae group One Pin Short had a way bigger crowd than Alaska, though it makes sense since it was primarily a ska show. The crowd really got into the set, the highlights of which were “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Meant to Be.” It was the lead singer’s birthday “but it’s not really a big deal guys, I had nothing to do with it” he joked. His birthday show wouldn’t be complete without chugging a Smirnoff Ice before the last song, and although he could definitely feel the drink as he played, the crowd didn’t seem to worry about it, screaming along to every line. At one point I’m pretty sure I saw a trombone absolutely get air guitar shredded on.

As Blairstown, NJ’s Survay Says! set up, some fans approached the lead singer to let him know that they came for them. Admittedly, I hadn’t checked them out before the show, but they blew my expectations away. Although it was not necessarily my personal taste, they put on a really fun set, full of synchronized jumps, gang vocals, and intense skanking from start to finish. Their sound was a mix of pop punk and ska, with some growls in there that were reminiscent of early Four Year Strong. Brothers Henry(vocals/guitar) and Dennis (trombone/vocals) Menzel slowed down the set to talk about how inspiring their late father was to them, and took the time to thank him. They are on tour for 60 days, which seems pretty rough.

Be Like Max took the floor next to close out the night. This was guitarist Max Cook’s final show with the band named after him and everyone made it a point to shout “FUCK MAX FUCK MAX” several times between songs. The celebratory show moved along with even more trombone shredding as the crowd screamed every line. One Pin Short’s lead singer’s celebration went on into the set with a cake getting shoved in his face, and BLM asked for silence mid-set, to crowd surf a girl across the room. I’d never seen a silent crowd surf, and I hope to never again, it was incredibly odd.

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