Images: The Dickies, DI, New Cold War, The Pluralses March 30, 2016 at the House of Blues

With many a free ticket handed out, and specials on tall cans in effect, the House of Blues was sending a clear message that partying can happen on a Wednesday.  The night’s festivities would be headlined by The Dickies, alongside D.I. and locals New Cold War, and The Pluralses.  Duane Peters was originally suppose to be playing, but in a very Duane Peters way, there was a last minute cancellation from the band, because it can’t be easy being in a band with Peters.

The Pluralses opened the show.  This being only my third time seeing the band live, I found myself already knowing the words to their hilarious songs.  My favorite part of seeing The Pluralses is watching the crowd’s reaction to songs like “Whose Dick Do I Gotta Suck to Get a Blowjob Around Here,” and “The Reanimated Corpse of Steve Jobs Raped My Dog”.  With Kurt Kangieser on guitar and vocals, Trent Clausen on bass and vocals, and Michael Francis Lazer Lavin on drums, these guys have a polished and fun set down to the dot.  The audience was small, but they were all visibly into it.

Up next were New Cold War, who have recently been playing the best sets I’ve ever seen them play.  By this time, I was surprised at the amount of people that were gathering.  The crowd was sizeable and New Cold War took advantage of that.  Depending on availability, either Micah Malcolm or Luis Mendez (the two best drummers in town) take over drumming duties.  As of late, however, the band has decided to add both onstage, with Micah on a full kit, and Luis on percussion.  It’s a small addition that has brought new life to the band.  Micah’s aggressively on point drumming gets sprinkled by Luis’ rolling fills to drastically expand the sound of each song.  They ripped into well known favorites like “Growing Down,” “Progeria” as well as an interesting cover of Prince’s, “I Would Die for You.”  Some bass amp difficulties didn’t stop the guys from running around on stage while keeping the audience moving, an audience who was soaking in New Cold War at their best, and enjoying every second of it.

By the time D.I. were ready to hit the stage, the House of Blues was packed with punk rockers, young and old.  Sobriety has given D.I. singer Casey Royer a new perspective on life, and that new perspective is noticeable.  In his late 50’s, Royer still has “it.”  He’s a goddamn punk rock vocalist through and through.  The mosh pits, and even fights, started up as D.I. layed into their set.  Songs like “Guns” and “Johnny’s Got a Problem” kept the crowd moshing throughout, as more people kept showing up.  One problem I was having is getting a nice view of the band as someone from the D.I. crew was taking pictures on stage, literally getting in front of the band several times, blocking the audience’s view.  That didn’t really seem to matter to the crowd as they kept moshing, and calmly de-escalated a fight that could’ve ruined the night.  The vibes were good as D.I. got everyone pumped.

Headliners, The Dickies, were up next.  The band has seen constant lineup changes through their almost 40-year career, with singer Leonard Graves Phillips being the one constant.  The size of the crowd didn’t diminish as they hit the stage.  At first, the band wasn’t big into crowd interaction, which no one seemed to mind because there were constant circle pits.  A few songs in, Leonard said his proper hello to Las Vegas, and back at it they went, ripping into song after song.  They played for almost an hour, and didn’t hold back.  They even brought out a blow-up doll and scuba gear.  With an encore demanded by the fans, the band obliged and came back to play two more songs.  Seeing The Dickies live gets crossed off my bucket list, and if it isn’t yet, it should be on yours.

-Alan Madrigal

Photos by Anthony Constantine | https://www.facebook.com/anthonycphotography