Images: No Relief, Turn It Around, Life Moves On and more Aug. 6, 2016 (house show)

Just one day after catching Turn It Around at the Warped Tour on their home turf in San Diego, I was back in Vegas to see the band play a cozier setting – a house show with a mix of local and national bands.

Kicking off the show was local singer/songwriter Kat Kalling, who played the night before at the Punks in Vegas 5 Year Birthday show. Kalling’s voice is unreal, wowing the small group of people who showed up early with songs like “Dandelion,” which she dedicated to me (she’s such a doll). While her singing is impressive, probably equally impressive is her ability to banter and tell stories, which put smiles on the crowd’s face.

Things got a little heavier from here on out, as the touring bands went on. Lawton, Oklahoma melodic hardcore band Valleys, Tucson, AZ hardcore band Colonist and West Covina, CA melodic hardcore band Life Moves On left me speechless with their wild live show filled with unbridled energy. The pit kicked up and heads were banging as these bands blasted through song after song. Life Moves On particularly received a strong reaction for what I believe was the first Vegas show. The crowd was in and out of yelling at the singer’s face and the guitarist got so into it that he somehow fell, but kept playing.

San Diego’s finest, Turn It Around, was next and even though it had been less than 24 hours since I last saw them I was as stoked as ever to see them on my turf. They started their set with “Dead Roses,” a Title Fight cover, and ended with “Nothing Graceful”. I’m really proud of these boys on how far they have come; they always put so much into each set they play, and they always play a sick set.

There was one more band, or so we were lead to believe. Vegas hardcore band No Relief, which features current and former members of Go Bold, Color Cast Cinema and Keepsake, were set to wrap up the night and as a fan of the band members’ other work, I was pretty stoked to see what this band was going to be like and honestly, they didn’t disappoint. Frontman Quinlan Braiwick was a particular highlight, recalling memories of seeing letlive. live for the first time. He’s just wild the whole time, jumping off anything stuck to the ground, wrapping the mic around his body and throwing it around, and just generally being entertaining to watch. Seeing as the band is new and has very few songs, the last part of their set saw the singer of Deep End, a local hardcore band featuring members of Keepsake, Guts and Loose Ends, take over vocal duties for an impromptu Deep End set.

-Margaret Schmitt | http://margaretschmitt.wix.com/margaretschmitt