Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The Sun Is Not Punk

PUNK ROCK BOWLING (5/22/15 - 5/25/15 @ Las Vegas, NV)

Every year when the Punk Rock Bowling lineup gets announced, I sit there and stare at it and realize just how not Punk I really am. This year was no different. Out of the almost 30 bands playing, there were 3 I wanted to see. So I said screw it, skip PRB and save my money for Fest again. Then they announced the club shows and I saw Frank Turner and Laura Jane Grace were playing together. Well maybe I can make it for one night. Then I got asked to sub in for a bowling team. OK, I can swing 2 nights I guess. Oh great, 88 Fingers Louie is playing a free pool party? FINE. I'll give you 2 and a half days.

So Friday afternoon I hoped in my car and traversed the desert to Punk Rock Mecca. I'll spare you the "boring" party details but just know I drank a bunch of beers and whiskey, hung with a ton of buddies, and met some cool new people. As always, the party part ruled.

3 Drunks and a Driver (Bowling)

Saturday morning I woke up in my car in the parking lot of the Plaza. Why did I wake up in my car you ask? Oh, because I tried to sleep in a hotel room with 2 people who have sleep apnea. Anyway, Kenny and I got breakfast, killed a few hours, met up with Mike and his wife and were on our way to the bowling alley. There we met up with our 4th bowler, a dude Jared knew who was filling in for our buddy G (who couldn't make it from New York). This mother fucker, we should have changed our name to 3 Drunks and a Fuck Up. The first game we bowled, not going to lie, I didn't do so well. Bowled a 111, not my best game ever, but it was a warm up. The second game, Homeboy went to go buy beers and a shot and it took so fucking long that by the time he made it back, we were stuck bowling twice in a row and then waiting 20 minutes for the other 7 people to go (It was league rules were you switch lanes between frames). I did better this game, I think I bowled a 147, not bad, not terrible. Then game 3 all hell broke loose. Dude was spilling drinks, talking shit to the other team, it was bad. The good news is I bowled my second Turkey in my life (3 strikes in a row), and ended with a 173. This wasn't the greatest introduction to the bowling part of Punk Rock Bowling, but I still had so much fun. I really hope I can fill in again next year and fully experience bowling with an entire team of awesome people. 

3 out 4 ain't bad

Frank Turner and Laura Jane Grace

When night fell it was time to walk the 37 miles from the Plaza hotel to the Bunkhouse to get my first taste of actual music. We had to navigate through the KC and the Sunshine Band nightmare crowd and get past the flame throwing metal praying mantis, but eventually we made it. When I walked in Bob Log III was still playing and it was not at all close to what I was expecting. He was wearing a Daft Punkesque helmet and just shredding his guitar. It was bizarre and fascinating at the same time. 

Laura Jane Grace and Atom Willard then took the stage and out of pure habit I followed some random people through the crowd to get as close as I could. I actually ended up next to my buddy Rich. Laura played through her set which kind of went almost in order from old to new. Some of the highlights were: Walking is Still Honest, You Look Like I Need A Drink, Cavalier Eternal, How Low, and Black Me Out. She even played the song she covered with Miley Cyrus, Androgynous, and I half expected Miley to come out too, but no dice. The best part of the entire thing though had to be the super excited group of people in front of me who were screaming along to every song, dancing, moshing and just having a great time. After the set, I tapped one on the shoulder and thanked him for having enough fun to make up for bitter old people like me. He looked terrified.

The Queen

Next up was Mr. Frank Turner. I went and grabbed my friend Jessica who just showed up, and again dragged her to get as close as we could. There have been some late nights where we would just sit in my car and listen to Frank Turner and smoke cigarettes, so it was cool to be able to see him play live with her there. And he did not disappoint, playing a long set full of songs to sing along too. At one point Stacy Dee from Bad Cop/Bad Cop came out and they covered NoFX's Lori Meyers, which was awesome. Then about halfway through he played a new song that he said was about his friend who died, and it got me. Hit me right in the feelings, and a few tears may or may not have been shed. When he was done, he immediately called out how stupid doing encores were and just played a few more songs which I appreciated. 

I take the best pictures

88 Finger Louie (Pool Party) 

Sunday morning I again met up with Kenny and crew and we hit the Golden Nugget buffet. Absolutely best terrible idea. I ate one or 2 bites of just about everything and a bowl of mashed potatoes and was good to go for the day. We got to the Plaza pool party in time to catch the tail end of Franks and Deans set. They played a weird mish-mash of original songs that opened and closed with riffs from other bands like NoFX and Alkaline Trio. They also had a scantily clad lady dancing on stage and in the crowd. She almost hit me in the face with a hula hoop at one point. 

Mercy Music played next. I missed them the night before at the Bunkhouse because the set up there was weird, but was glad I caught them this day. Kenny said they shredded and they did. The singer/guitar player made his guitar look like a babies toy, at one point showing off for all the photographers as he casually melted their collective faces off. 

After hanging in the hot ass sun for a few hours, clouds finally formed and 88 Finger Louie took the stage. Kenny noted Joe Principe wasn't playing bass, probably because he was doing Rise Against stuff, and Rise Against only plays on the moon now. They started to play and the crowd was ready to go nuts, but the sound guy didn't have the singers microphone turned on. So they played about half of the song State before that issue got resolved, but once it was on, it was ON. A mosh pit immediately filled with a bunch of pool party people in swim suits and the Mario Bros. Some lady ran in with a brand new expensive looking red slushy drink and immediately spilled it everywhere. It looked like a fucking crime scene. Towards the end of the set it started to rain, which the singer responded with "I thought some of you fuckers were spitting on me. But it was just Jesus spitting on us." The whole thing was awesome. I never even thought I would ever see 88 Fingers Louie play, let alone on a roof top pool, surrounded by a bunch of weirdos.

Not lying, The Mario Bros. Mosh

That was about it. I hung out for a few more hours, but I had to leave at some point because I had stuff to do on Monday. The drive home suuuucked, but in the end, it was all super worth it. There is nothing better then hanging out with your friends in a different state, drinking your asses off and watching awesome bands play. And bowling.

A big thank you to Morgan for giving me a place to stay Saturday, Kenny for hanging out almost non-stop and bowling and letting me stay in your room Friday, Mike for not murdering a certain person, Jared for letting me bowl for him, Jessica for singing along to Frank Turner with me, Kendra for introducing me to Success and bringing Malort even though I never got any, Jesse for curing my heartburn, Jackie for hanging out, and everyone else that I met or hung out with for being awesome. The punk scene is my favorite thing in the entire world and we are all family. See you at the next show.

No comments: