December 13th was the night ska punks all over Vegas had been anticipating: Be Like Max’s tour comeback show. A grand total of 227 people RSVP’d on the event’s Facebook page. Being a DIY art studio by day/venue by night, the Artistic Armory would never have been able to accommodate all of those people. So at 6 p.m. sharp, people began lining up for their wristbands.
First up was Rayner, a fairly new band including members of Hard Pipe Hitters and Burning Agrestic. If I’m going to be honest, I didn’t even realize who was in the band, so I wasn’t expecting much from the Christmas sweater-clad boys, considering Rayner was first in the line-up. As soon as they started playing though, I was proven so delightfully wrong. Rayner’s sound is a solid mix of garage and hardcore punk, which fit extremely well into the Artistic Armory atmosphere. Keeping with the Christmas giving theme, they passed out stickers and buttons during their set. The energetic front man Dany started a pit, resulting in spilled drinks but no hard feelings.
Next was Eyre (pronounced “Air,” not “ire” like I initially thought). Decidedly pop punk in both looks and sound, they reminded me of Bowling For Soup. For part of the set, the drummer, Sergio Cervantes donned a pretty awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle hoodie. Though it was the bassist, Steven Sabo’sfirst show, the band meshed so well together that it was barely, if at all, noticeable. Eyre ended their set with a song aptly named “Something to Remember Us By.”
Hard Pipe Hitters got the first full circle pit going with their popular hardcore punk. They played songs off of their album Revenge, Rebellion, and What Have You, which was released earlier in 2014. Each song was preceded by a short description, such as “This song is about drinking” (referring to “Drink Until We Die”). All of the songs received a great reaction, but “Chicken and Waffles” was definitely the crowd’s favorite.
Greenland/SoCal pop punkers The Maxies opened for Reel Big Fish here back in October and more recently played The Dive in November, but unfortunately due to my age I wasn’t able to attend either. I’m sure glad I was able to see them at this show. The entire band was wearing a uniform comprised of a white body morph suit, a mask, a white shirt, and red pants and tie. During their set, someone in a polar bear suit came out, which seems to be a signature twist of theirs. A friend of mine described the band afterwards as “really fucking weird, in the best way possible.”
Then came the band I specifically came to see (besides Be Like Max, of course): the A-Ok’s, from Denver. Maybe it’s just me, but the A-Ok’s all look like middle school teachers—the cool ones that let kids eat snacks and have their phones out in class. Granted, I don’t think most middle school teachers play “partycore” music and jam out with a bunch of punks. The A-Ok’s played some songs off of their newest album, Funemployment Benefits, including “Anarchy in the Pre-K.” What really got the crowd going, though, was their rendition of Be Like Max’s “Cut Em Off.” The trombonist even got on top of the speakers while playing, and it’s no wonder the A-Ok’s earned the penultimate spot.
There were quite a few new people in the crowd for Be Like Max, who were pointed out when the band asked, “Is this anybody’s first show?” As usual, everyone was really into their set, either skanking in the circle pit or pressed together up front, and the singer from Rayner took over vocal duties for a bit while BLM frontman Charley Fine joined the pit. Be Like Max played a new song, along with the rarely performed “You Grew Up,” which earned an excited reaction from the die-hard fans. The set was concluded with arguably their most popular song, “Bobby Got a Van.” Unfortunately, this was Gian the saxophone player’s last show with the band – but at least it was a great one to end things on.
The boys are hitting the road again soon, and they’ve got a tour kickoff show here in Las Vegas on Jan. 2. I can’t think of a better way to start the New Year.
-Julien Boulton
Be Like Max photo by Aaron Mattern
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