Images: Punk Rock Bowling Day One feat. Rancid, Sick of it All & more May 23, 2015 at Fremont East

Rancid dedicated their 2015 Punk Rock Bowling headlining appearance to producer Jerry Finn, and I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to cap off the first day of the festival.

Finn basically is punk rock for an entire generation, even if they don’t realize it. The man had a hand in producing, mixing and/or engineering records from bands ranging from Green Day, to Ill Repute, to Blink 182, to Pennywise and on May 23, Rancid were playing their Finn-produced masterpiece …and Out Come the Wolves in its entirety.

And because of that, this was the only day of the festival that sold out in advance, and it definitely felt that way. Boy did it. It was impossible to move by the end of the day and bathroom and food truck lines stretched farther than a metalcore kid’s gauged ears (or, farther than I stretched for that metaphor). Mohawks and back patches were in an overabundance by the time the band took the stage a little after 10 p.m., covering every inch of the festival grounds’ blacktop.

Rancid’s huge choruses are made for this kind of setting, and not surprisingly, the album’s singles garnered the biggest singalongs. This included “Time Bomb,” which showcases the band’s love of ska and reggae, and “Roots Radicals” and “Ruby Soho,” which perfectly demonstrate the band’s talents as pop songwriters.

Their encore that included “Radio” and “Fall Back Down” were equally as popular, but I was most excited for “Journey to the End of East Bay.” The tale of the rise and fall of frontman Tim Armstrong and Freeman’s previous band Operation Ivy just never gets old for me. I love the bass intro, I love when the drums kick in, and I love all the voices that come together for that chorus. And hey, it’s the closest we’ll get to Operation Ivy headlining PRB.

But Rancid weren’t the only reason day one sold out. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and their sharp suits brought some class to the day shows and all the rude boys and girls were ready to dance along with the Bosstone himself, Ben Carr. They also brought along Kevin from The Interrupters, for a cover of The Clash’s “Rudy Can’t Fall.”

Hardcore legends Sick of it All had, much to my surprise, brought out a whole lot of punk rock dads. Little future punks were perched high on the shoulders of their Pa and were pumping their tiny fists to “Scratch the Surface” and “Step Down.” And I’ll be using my photos of them as blackmail to get into their cool new crews in 10 years.

Continuing the theme of punk rock kids, during TSOL’s set, frontman Gentleman Jack Grisham, mere minutes after explaining that he’s proud that we as a country have come so far when it comes to gay rights but is ashamed that we still don’t allow people to fuck the dead, brought up a 13 year old and their cousins, for whom this was their first show.

It’s also not surprising that this day show sold out when the undercard featured Anti-Flag, headliners in their own right. Their set was all too short, but did include more insane jumps from Chris 2 and drummer Pat Thetic bringing his kit into the pit. Middle fingers were placed high in the air for “Fuck Police Brutality” and even the most jaded punx couldn’t help but sing along to “Die for the Government.”

Longtime friends of PIV Success, who recently hooked up with Red Scare Industries, has logged more hours on the road than bands twice their age and as such, people actually showed up early to PRB for once! The band had a respectable circle pit going for “Revolution Schmevolution” and an even bigger sing along when they brought of Joey Brigg of The Briggs for a cover of Stiff Little Fingers’ “Alternative Ulster.”

Also appearing on the first day were locals Sounds of Threat, with frontman Jesse Young crawling off the stage and writhing towards the crowd to give the early attendees an up-close look at his awesome crazy eyes, and Sniper 66 and Bombshell Rocks, two bands whose interesting outfits and hair gave the festival a touch of color on an overcast day.

Later: Lightning! A proposal! And Refused are freaking alive!

-Emily Matview