There are two things that this Caballero is good at: procrastination and partying. So it was on short notice that my fellow Caballero Jenna Fox and I made our way out to Fullerton, California to catch Wiretap Records’ inaugural Attention Fest! After a montage-worthy run from work to the airport, to a car rental place, across southern California’s freeway system and to our hotel, we finally arrived at Day 1 of Attention Fest at the Slidebar. Due to our commute we missed Divided Heaven and the mighty Pity Party. We arrived near the end of Bristol to Memory’s set. We were pretty bummed that we missed the first few bands, but the energy was already electric and we were still in early enough for the drink specials and we knew we were in for a goodnight.
The first full set we caught was World’s Greatest Dad. The band was new to me and the self-described “emotive indie rock band” is fronted by Maddie (I don’t have a last name for you) and was on tour from Atlanta, Georgia. Their sound was tight and present; something I greatly admire in contemporary 20-something “emotive” bands. If you’re looking for a shoegaze band that you can comfortably stand motionless for, their show is not for you. Maddie sings with a fervor and energy that you’d expect for someone spilling their guts, and the energy from the musicianship and band themselves is infectious to say the least. Luckily, the sound at the Slidebar was quality enough to captures Maddie’s vocals and the music’s dynamics, a trait that would be necessary for the next act; Get Married.
If you follow Punks in Vegas, you may already be familiar with the high regard many Caballeros have for the band as a whole. Hailing from the mecca that is the Bay Area, Get Married is comprised of incredibly talented musicians that have moonlighted in bands like Pity Party and Tiny Stills. Their sets are consistently energetic, and if you haven’t heard of them, they’re reminiscent of golden era doo wop/rock n’ roll with a punk attitude and energy. With Get Married packing in the crowd we were now ready for the last band of the night; Spanish Love Songs.
SLS played a packed set to an adoring audience. In a few instances, it seemed like the band disregarded their singing duties, allowing instead for the audience to take over. This made for an enchanting set to end the night with.
We woke up the next day with the pinch in our heads that results from too much socializing with social people. Thankfully, we were saved by our friend Tanya of Failing Up, who got us breakfast, coffee and morning hangs. After another nap and some time by the pool we regrouped in time to catch Sad Girlz Club. I’ve only recently become familiar with their music, catching them at Evel Pie in Vegas a few weeks before this show. Their recent release shows the band growing into their sound really well, but the new songs they’ve been playing live is a game changer. Definitely keep an eye out for their upcoming release.
Unfortunately, we hadn’t planned dinner well, and though we managed to squeeze it in quickly, we missed WolvesX4’s acoustic set. We made it back in time to catch Lucky Eejits, though. I’d heard about them for a while, but it was my first time catching them live. The band had a solid, late 90s era skate punk sound, and I was enamored with the bassist. He just had that east coast, big beard, working class punk aesthetic I love.
The next set of cuties to take the stage was Problem Daughter. To be clear, I have a positive bias towards these fellas. I’ve been a buddy and fan for the past few years, and their recent release this year was quickly added to my Spotify rotation. I highly recommend taking “Modern Stigmata” for a whirl. Their live shows don’t disappoint either, with bassist and vocalist Regan shining under the spotlight.
We were reaching the second half of the night and after some 4 sets worth of drink specials and sing-along punk, we were thoroughly warmed up. Odd Robot was the next act to take the stage. I’d seen them at the previous Wiretap showcase, and while the band was enjoyable, they hadn’t really stuck with me up to this point. Their recent split with Tiny Stills on Wiretap, though, has really captured my ear. Their vocalist is vaguely reminiscent of The Smoking Popes, and I’m digging that tone. I was definitely in the minority during their set, because they were a Wiretap crowd favorite.
The next act was the Last Gang, who I’ve been following for a while. They are a dyed-in-the-wool ‘77 style punk band. Unfortunately, less familiar to this audience, the crowd had died down a bit but their performance did not. You could tell some fans came out just to catch them, and with the recent addition of second guitarist Ken to their live shows, their live sound is now more robust. It also gives lead singer Brenna a chance to take center stage and fully commit to her role as frontwoman of the band, bringing the show to the audience. Their set ended with a stage crowding sing-a-long that I have to believe sold every one at that show on them.
Beers were running low, nicotine fixes needed to be satisfied, and some of us just needed to use the restroom. When we got back Decent Criminal had already taken the stage and were well into their first or second song. Decent Criminal has a really dirty brand of garage punk, with a heavy dose of poppy sing-alongs. Overall, one of my favorite bands of the night, they had a few of us pogoing most of their set.
We had reached the end of the night, it was pretty late and some of the audience had begun to head home. That didn’t deter Dead Bars from tearing into their set. They kept the energy going with their anthemic punk rock power ballads, a fact they’re not ashamed to embrace. A point pushed home by their cover of “God Gave Rock n Roll to You” by Kiss. The first time I saw them though, I was sold by their anti-punk trope anthems like “Pink Drink” and “No Tattoos.” A room full of sweaty people with five hours of bar time under their belt, made for a pretty unifying ending to our evening
-Dany Panda
Photos by Dany Panda and Jenna Fox
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