Images: Off With Their Heads (acoustic), Brendan Kelly, Steve Soto, No Red Alice May 26, 2017 at the Beauty Bar (Punk Rock Bowling)

Punk Rock Bowling always has at least one acoustic show, and PRB regulars Off With Their Heads were a natural fit to headline this year’s, as they’re out promoting their album of stripped down takes of OWTH classics, Won’t Be Missed. The packed bar was eager to sing along to “Jackie Lee,” “Stolen Away” and “Clear the Air,” which sounded no less powerful in their minimalist interpretations.

Frontman Ryan Young was in a particularly jovial mood, joking with bandmate John Polydoros about his choice to sit down during the set and claiming in his classic self-deprecating way that the decision to play acoustic this time around was to allow the band to do “less work.”

In direct support was Brendan Kelly, frontman for bands such as The Falcon and The Lawrence Arms (and popular Twitter account admin). Kelly had plenty of fans singing along up front for the mix of Arms songs, with highlights including “Like a Record Player” and “The Ramblin’ Boys of Pleasure.” Kelly, who always impresses me with his ability to seamlessly switch between his gritty punk voice and his softer folk tone, kept things fairly loose, joking with the crowd about being at the least punk punk rock bowling show and taking a few requests, including “Dance of the Doomed” from his Wandering Birds project and a cover of Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle.”

Steve Soto, best known for his work in the Adolescents, was celebrating his 17th year playing PRB (the festival itself is celebrating 19 years). Like Kelly, Soto was all smiles and spent a good portion of the set joking with fans, primarily about how even though he feels like he’s too old to go to jail, the Beauty Bar crowd would help him form a pretty kickass prison gang. There was a somber but sweet tonal shift toward the end of Soto’s set, as he dedicated a song to the memory of Mike “Gabby” Gaborno, the frontman for Soto’s perennial PRB favorites Manic Hispanic.

Locals No Red Alice kicked off the night, with frontman Sal Giordano switching back from electric bass to acoustic guitar for the occasion. Playing as a duo with guitarist Chris Bitonti, the band was a natural fit to open, with Sal’s self-deprecating humor setting the tone for the jokey nature of the rest of the night’s sets. The guys sounded great on songs like “St. Josephine” and “Marry Me,” playing with a tremendous amount of passion as the bar quickly started to fill up for the night’s festivities.

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