Images: A Wilhelm Scream, Get Dead, TheCore., Fredward June 15, 2014 at Backstage Bar & Billiards

It can be near impossible to get people out to a show on a Sunday night. You throw in the fact that June 15 was Father’s Day and the night of the Game of Thrones finale and I wouldn’t be surprised to see downwards of 6 kids coming out. But A Wilhelm Scream, a band who hasn’t made it out to Vegas since a legendary outdoor performance at East Side Joe’s in 2009, are something special – and garner more than the usual punk rock crowd. These melodic punk rockers have a backbone of metal influenced riffs, uncompromising stage presence and harmonies that would make any pop group blush, and that all comes with a cultish fanbase. Massive gusts of wind and a late start time were only the most minor of inconveniences, unable to hold back a diverse set of fans – I saw shirts ranging from classic bands like Suicidal Tendencies, newer punk rockers like Direct Hit! and even Warped Tour groups like Sleeping With Sirens – eager to see the band live once more.

The night kicked off a little later than expected with locals Fredward. Even if you hadn’t heard them before – a quick look at their shirts, adorned with bands like Quicksand and Metz, let you know that at least these dudes have good taste in music. Thankfully, they play great too. These guys have been around in various bands for a while and they play with such confidence, something that can be hard to exude when you’re the first of four bands and know that a good portion of the crowd isn’t really familiar with your music. As for the music, they remind me a lot of early, post punk era Hot Water Music. It’s kind of funny that Hot Water Music have become this legendary band with throngs of imitators – but that so many only go for their later, more rock influenced sound. Throaty vocals and crunchy riffs result in a sound I love and Fredward does a great job with it.

Next up were friends of PIV TheCore., who brought with them their new roommates at The Artistic Armory. I haven’t seen them live since they opened for The Ataris earlier this year. I said that was the best set I’ve ever seen the local punk rockers put on, and while I don’t think they topped it this night, they came pretty close. I don’t know if it’s the new practice space at the Armory or what – but the band played with a lot more energy than I’m used to seeing. Vocalist Brock Frabbiele has gone from a one-jump-at-best kind of guy to a regular Air Jordan, and the rest of the guys matched the energy with constant flails across the newly raised Backstage Bar stage. The Armory crew, who took a party bus to the show, got a rather sizeable pit going during songs like “Scene Kid Sacrilege” and “Punk Inc,” though their pleas for the band’s cover of Bouncing Soul’s “True Believers” went unanswered. It was nice to see so much energy from the crowd, though a few of the pit goers seemed to have a little trouble holding their alcohol, resulting in some errant elbows angering those outside the pit trying to watch the show.

A Wilhelm Scream has a rotating cast of bands opening up for them on this tour and while I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get Direct Hit! or Red City Radio on this stop, I did find myself pretty impressed with Get Dead. I was introduced to the punk rockers at the Vegas stop of the Fat Wreck tour late last year and while I thought they did a good job at the Hard Rock, they really came to life on the smaller bar stage, which makes sense, since the band excels at bar punk anthems. The band actually seemed a little less inebriated this time, giving the group more focus and just an overall tighter sound. They’ve already gained something of a small fanbase out here, with at least a dozen people vying for a spot up front to sing along with Sam King. Despite taking a pretty nasty fall on a puddle of alcohol during “Look Mom,” King kept feeding off the crowd’s energy, ending the band’s set in the pit, which once again was more alive than any pit I’ve seen at a 21+ show this year (one crust punk kid even did a double backflip). I really liked that the band had this genuine sense of pleasure in getting to play the show, giving thanks to the bartenders, sound guy and venue, as well as doling out thanks to Fredward and TheCore. multiple times for setting the tone for the night.

As it edged closer and closer to midnight, the band of the evening finally took to the stage and everyone at Backstage Bar, about as full and sweaty as I’ve ever seen it, squeezed their way up front for some epic sing alongs. The last time I saw AWS was in 2006 when they opened for Lagwagon and Lawrence Arms at Jillian’s. Ruinier was the new album and 23 year old me was completely focused on singing every word. This time I found myself completely mesmerized by guitarists Trevor Reilly and Mike Supina. The fact that these dudes shred is not news to even the most casual AWS fan but watching them do it up close, with such confidence and ease, if really something awesome to see. I even partook in the wiggling fingers gesture along with my other front stage compadres to show just how awesome it was.

After a wardrobe malfunction (Pereira’s camo shorts tore and had to be replaced by a borrowed pair of jeans) – the band took the time to talk about how much they’d love to play Punk Rock Bowling. Hopefully those words reach PRB founders Shawn and Mark Stern, as AWS’s brand of melodic punk and hardcore would easily win over the usual attendees of the outdoor festival and would also be a perfect fit for a club show right back in Backstage Bar.

Getting to shout the words to songs like “When I Was Alive: Walden III,” “The Horse” and “Anchor End” with frontman Nuno Pereira is the kind of stuff I live for, and it was too much fun getting to do so in a room filled with friends. The band played my two favorites from their latest album on No Idea Records Partycrasher – “Boat Builders” and “The Last Laugh” – and I loved hearing classics like “Famous Friends and Fashion Drunks” mixed in there. The only thing that could have made it better would be if they had played the entire Diver 7 inch, but I feel greedy even bringing that up with a setlist so stacked with jams.

At the end of the show, Pereira gave a shout out to the band’s Massachusetts brethren House of Pain, as HOP member DJ Lethal owns the bar the band was playing in. He talked about how cool it is to come all the way across the country, play in a bar owned by a MA native and get to see so many Vegas AWS fans going off for every song. They seemed genuinely shocked by the great reaction to their set, and after a few minutes of chanting “A WILHELM SCREAM” they agreed to come out and give us one more song – “The Rip” from the band’s Mute Print album. It’s one of my favorite AWS songs so I was thrilled to get to sing along one more time. Hopefully the great reaction to the band carries over to more Vegas dates in the future, because I don’t want to wait that many years to see these guys again.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Aaron Mattern | https://www.flickr.com/photos/akmofoto/

A Wilhelm Scream setlist:
Born A Wise Man
Die While We’re Young
Me vs. Morrissey in the Pretentiousness Contest (The Ladder Match)
I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz
5 to 9
Number One
The Kids Can Eat a Bag of Dicks
Get Mad, You Son of a Bitch!
Boat Builders
The Soft Sell
These Dead Streets
When I Was Alive: Walden III
The Last Laugh
Anchor End
The Horse
Gut Sick Companion
The King Is Dead
Famous Friends and Fashion Drunks
The Rip