Images: NOFX, Lagwagon, Old Man Markley, Holding Onto Sound December 31, 2011 at the House of Blues (New Year’s Heave)

New Year’s Heave at the House of Blues started off right with Vegas’ very own Holding Onto Sound. Playing many of their newest and most inspired songs, HOTS opened the evening for a mix of locals and dedicated out-of-towners looking to start the party early. It was apparent that many in the crowd had never seen HOTS play before and weren’t sure what to expect, but it only took the first few seconds of crowd favorite “Tommy Boy” for the band to win over the entire audience and get fists in the air. Our hometown heroes did us well.

The bluegrass punks in Old Man Markley are no strangers to Las Vegas (this being their 9^th performance in our city in 2011), and by the time they brought the washboard, banjo, fiddle and further implements of awesome to the front, the room was packed. It’s almost impossible not to love OMM and get wrapped up in their enthusiasm, and popular favorites, such as “For Better, For Worse,” and “Do Me Like You Do” and Screeching Weasel cover “The Science of Myth” spawned spontaneous square dancing and got everyone in the right mood for the party to come.

Then, it happened. The moment I and much of the crowd had been waiting for. Lagwagon quietly walked out, tabbed an intro and exploded with “Kids Don’t Like To Share.” I changed my pants just in time for a set featuring “Violins”, “Island of Shame” and a great little guitar gaff during the drop out in “After You My Friend.” The floor erupted into one of the biggest pits I’ve ever seen at HOB, security frantically scrambling to dodge elbows and catch wayward crowd surfers. You could barely get a breath in between singing “Coffee and Cigarettes,” “Goin’ South,” “Making Friends” and finally, “Bye For Now.” The laid-back sweater and glasses wearing Joey Cape that was spotted walking around the hotel before the show might as well be a completely different person from his Lagwagon frontman alter ego. He was on fire from the moment he walked out, feeding off the crowd’s excitement, showing off his pushup prowess, and covering every inch of the stage. I had insanely high expectations for their set, and every one of those was exceeded. This was definitely the best Lagwagon show I’ve ever seen.

Just as the clock was getting dangerously close to midnight, the stage was taken over by 3 of the ugliest women I’ve ever seen, and a very dapper looking El Hefe. Dressed like 1920’s flappers, NOFX’s Fat Mike, Eric Melvin and Erik “Smelly” Sandin came out to cheers and applause with about 15 minutes left until the New Year. Fat Mike commented that they were strategically playing their more complicated songs first before he got too inebriated to keep up. This strategy obviously worked, because the band played better than I’ve seen them in a very long time. With the midnight countdown displayed on TV screens around the venue, they kicked off 2012 with “It’s My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite.” The next hour was a haze of anthemic punk rock with “Don’t Call Me White,” “The Separation of Church and Skate,” and “Linoleum” spurring massive cheers and sing-alongs.

This show set the bar incredibly high for 2012. It was an excellent night, captured by many, many friends sharing the first party of the year.

-Mike Law

Photos by Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/

and Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens

NOFX setlist:

60%
We Called It America
Leave It Alone
It’s My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite
Murder the Government
Herojuana
Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
Don’t Call Me White
Eat the Meek
Fuck the Kids (Revisited)
Franco Un-American
Mattersville
Linoleum
Arming the Proletariat with Potato Guns
The Malachi Crunch
Perfect Government (Mark Curry cover)
Bob
Dinosaurs Will Die
The Quitter
The Separation of Church and Skate
Radio (Rancid cover)
Straight Edge (Minor Threat cover)

Encore:
Stickin’ in My Eye
Bottles to the Ground
Theme from a NOFX Album