DEVO, The Damned, The Weirdos, Swingin Utters, The Briggs, CH3, Revilers, Tartar Control, The Dirty Panties
Memorial Day weekend brought about the return of Punk Rock Bowling, the long-running music festival put on by BYO Records founders Mark and Shawn Stern. The festival has expanded over the years from a single show at the Huntridge or House of Blues to a full on Lollapalooza-sized festival for fans of punk and its various subgenres.
The beginning of day one was slightly hampered by issues with the lines. For members of the press and fans who purchased VIP tickets, we weren’t let in until after the first band, local punks The Dirty Panties, had already finished their opening set. I was really bummed to miss my chance to support the locals on the big stage and I can only imagine their disappointment at having to play while people were still waiting at an unmanned line to get in to see them.
So the first band I saw was Tartar Control, which was a great way to kick things off. The band features two human members dressed and acting as Mormon missionaries, along with their homemade drum machine robot. They alternate between hilariously friendly “gee willikers” style stage banter, cartwheels in the pit and frantic hardcore songs with titles like “Jesus is Love,” “Sodomy Basket,” “Smoking Crack” and “Peach Cobbler Party.” The band is hysterical live and as an added bonus, they tossed out one of the best pieces of promo merch I’ve ever seen at a show – a switchblade-esque pocket toothbrush with their band name on it. TC was funny and charismatic and got an early nod for top tier act on the bill.
For me, the bands I was most looking forward to seeing this day were DEVO, The Damned and Swingin’ Utters. The Utters took the stage with newer cut “The Librarians are Hiding Something,” a track that we debuted in acoustic form last year. It doesn’t have the nostalgia factor that many of their other songs have but it’s easily one of my favorites of theirs. I was hoping for an appearance from former bassist Spike Slawson, as he was in town for the Me First club show, and his energy was always a highlight for me in the past. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen, but that’s alright because new bassist Miles Peck played great. We did get the return of guitarist/backing vocalist Jack Dalrymple, who missed the last Vegas show at the Bunkhouse. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pine for a One Man Army or early Dead To Me song with Jack up there but with so many good songs in the Utters catalog, it’s understandable that they didn’t go there.
The Damned was an early punk band I got into, grabbing one of their records from Columbia House after hearing The Offspring cover “Smash It Up” on the Batman Forever soundtrack (thanks Joel Schumacher!). I’ve been dying to see them for years and I’m glad to say that they did not dissapoint. They kicked things off with the classic “Love Song” and ended with “Smash it Up,” the latter seeing someone make the epic crowd surf jump from the PRB stage into the crowd of punks fist pumping and singing along with vocalist Dave Vanian. I would’ve loved to hear my personal favorite “Wait for the Blackout” but with a set filled with “Machine Gun Etiquette,” “Born to Kill” and “Ignite” I don’t have much room to complain. During the middle of their set they poked some fun at fellow Brits The Beatles before tearing into a gritty, fun cover of the Fab Four’s “Help.”
The look of the stage took a 180 between The Damned and headliners DEVO. While The Damned played in near darkness, DEVO came out backed by a huge LCD screen switching between clips of their various music videos. The text “Don’t Shoot” flickered on the screen as they launched into the song of the same name and the fans in their “Whip It” styled hats started dancing and singing along. I was surprised to see that they actually snuck the commercially-successful “Whip It” in the middle of their set rather than saving it for the end, since for a lot of people it’s their only exposure to DEVO,. But with fans screaming all the lyrics and crying out “We’re All DEVO” at the top of their lungs, it was clear these weren’t just casual fans waiting for the hit.
DEVO’s entire set felt like one big party until Booji Boy came out just before finale “Beautiful World” for an awkward rant about Jodi Arias, but creepiness aside, it was a triumphant, celebratory ending to a fantastically fun and exhausting first day of the festival.
-Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/
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