Images: Man Overboard, Transit, Forever Came Calling, Knuckle Puck, Twin Cities, Characters June 7, 2014 at the Eagle Aerie Hall

The 105+ degree heat didn’t stop pop punk fans from lining up over an hour before doors opened for the June 7 Vegas stop of The Heart Attack Tour. Everyone already knew the show was going to be packed, as it was the first show I’ve seen at Eagle Hall that sold out in advance. A quick scan of the young crowd squeezing their way in revealed a plethora of “defend pop punk” shirts, a slogan popularized by the night’s headliners, as well as some matching Blink 182 shirts (Man Overboard is named for a Blink song, afterall). One of the year’s most anticipated pop punk shows was about to take place and you could feel that excitement in the air.

Local openers Characters showed off how large the crowd was by turning around and taking a selfie. This had to have been a huge night for the guys, with the venue already packed when they played, meaning they were in front of an even larger crowd than when they opened for the Swellers a few months ago. You could see the excitement in their eyes as they opened with “Cage,” later transitioning into a slower instrumental piece “The Murder of Chase Harris” to break up the set and giving everyone a little time to catch their breath.

Twin Cities is the work of Macario Gutierrez, someone you may recognize as your local sound guy at the Eagle Hall. But instead of being behind the booth, it was his turn to perform. With the help of friends including Nick Strader of Alaska it was Twin Cities’ time to bring their unique brand of ambient, emo-influenced indie rock to the table. As the set continued on, one fan made his appreciation of Nick clear as he chanted his name between songs, giving everyone a good laugh. A new song was played between previously released songs like “Moondance” and “Dear Departed.” Twin Cities were the furthest removed from the Man Overboard-style pop punk scene than any other band of the night but the excited crowd was mostly respectful and bobbed their heads to the beat.

The first touring band of the night was Chicago’s Knuckle Puck. Usually as an opening touring band you have the select few fans that are ahead of the game and already know the words to everything you’ve put out, but tonight was an exception – their crowd was enormous. Maybe it was the few words exchanged between them and Austin Jeffers of local pop punk stalwarts Last Call before their set (Knuckle Puck are self-proclaimed fans of the Vegas pop punk group), or the turn out that got them going, but they powered through their set with such energy that when you went outside afterwards, the desert heat felt cool against your sweat soaked skin. Between each song, frontman Joe Taylor thanked everyone for the great energy they provided, while politely reminding everyone to keep their distance from the drum set as the lack of stage and the rush of fans was causing the vocalist to be slammed into drummer John Siorek’s kit. Taylor told the crowd how it reminded the band of a venue back home, Centennial Lanes, which was nice for them to feel at home while over 1,700 miles away.

California natives and Warped Tour alumni Forever Came Calling are no strangers to Vegas, but this was easily the most crowd involvement I’ve seen at any of their shows, causing me to shoot from the back of the room in order to avoid having kids fall on me. During their last song “Front Porch Sunrise,” Last Call’s Austin Jeffers came out and did vocals as FCC’s frontman Joe Candelaria pulled back and played on. That set the crowd off into bursts of crowd surfing with constant singing, definitely ending their set on a high note.

From the moment “Nothing Lasts Forever” hit the crowd’s ears, until the last note of “Skipping Stone,” Vegas belonged to Transit. I didn’t expect what a treat it would be to hear “Young New England” played as a full band. I wasn’t the biggest fan of their latest release in comparison to their older works, but it definitely grew on me, which makes me curious to hear how the album they’re currently recording will be. They played a nice mix of old and new in “Please Head North,” “All Of Your Heart,” and “So Long So Long.” Transit’s strengths have always been in their unique blend of emo and pop punk – which was on full display on tracks like “Listen & Forgive,” and the crowd was obviously full of fans with the majority of them singing right along. Towards the end of the set, frontman Joe Boynton ended up crowd surfing, and accidentally went through one of the ceiling tiles for a moment making this a set to remember (hope your head is feeling better, Joe!).

5 bands in and the crowd was still bursting with energy, ready to go off as soon as Man Overboard kicked off their set. They had more of a traditional stage setup which worked well at keeping fans back at first, but kids crept forward during the course of the set, causing vocalist/bassist Nik Bruzzese’s younger brother to step in and help with crowd control, doing his best to keep the rabid fans from knocking over Joe Talarico’s drum kit. Their fans were a definite contrast to the older, more male populated crowd of Transit, with throngs of young female fans shouting out all the words to tracks like the perfectly poppy “Dead End Dreams” and “White Lies.” There wasn’t much banter in between songs which is something I’m used to from them, especially from the usually talkative vocalist/guitarist Zac Eisenstein. The band seemed much more subdued than usual, though the crowd more than compensated with their manic energy. They mixed older tracks like “Atlas,” which kinda surprised me, and “L.Y.F.D.L.” with newer cuts “S.A.D. and “Boy Without Batteries” before ending with “Where I Left You.”

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