7 Seconds – TSOL – Angry Samoans – and Stabbed In Back – at The Las Vegas Country Saloon – Las Vegas, NV

For many, Sunday night proved to be a tough call, because several amazing shows happened that night.  MDC, Wanda Jackson, Manic Hispanic, and Me First and The Gimme Gimmes all headlined club shows; However, the Las Vegas Country Saloon hosted a show where three out of four bands are normally headliners. 

As much as I dig the before mentioned bands, there was no way I would miss this line up, 7 Seconds, TSOL and The Angry Samoans. To have these powerhouse Punk heavy hitters all under one roof ensured a kick ass night of music and fun.

Getting to the club shows in time to catch the opener is always a feat at Punk Rock Bowling, because the festival ends so late. Unfortunately, I was not able to catch opener Stabbed In Back, but I did make it just in time for the Angry Samoans. The Angry Samoans are the quintessential Punk Rock band. They can fit at least 30 one minute or less songs into a set, and you can sing along to all of them.

Their songs grab and pull you in with their catchy lyrics, melodic beats, and riffs. Metal Mike and Bill were joined by some younger musicians on stage adding a great energy, as well as sex appeal to their stage performance. They played many fan favorites including "My Old Mans A Fatso", "Steak Knife", "Todd Killings", and "Inside my Brain". Toward the end of the set they threw in covers of Black Flag's "Wasted" and "Nervous Breakdown". As great of original songs that the Angry Samoans have, it seemed silly for them to cover any other Punk band. I, personally, would have rather heard more of their own material during the time they spent playing those two covers(not that my opinion really counts). However they did an amazing job covering them and the crowd seemed to love it!

TSOL came out and nearly everywhere in attendance, cheered and prepared themselves for their set. They opened with the favorite, “World War III”, followed by other hits like “Sounds of Laughter”, “Superficial Love”, and “Dance With Me”. Jack Grisham stated that they only had 45 minutes to play, so they were going to try and play as much as possible, rather than talking throughout most of it. However, Grisham did tell a few little stories during the set, but the crowd seemed to enjoy them rather than become annoyed.

Towards the conclusion of their set, Jack forgot the words to one of the songs, but tried to carry on anyway; he claimed that he suffered so many “blows to the head” in the 80’s, it damaged his memory. Naturally, the ended their set with “Code Blue”.

The crowd definitely thinned out after Angry Samoans and TSOL, but the most dedicated fans stayed for the entire show. 7 Seconds came onto the stage, and luckily, everyone else matched my excitement. They played most of the songs off their influential record, “The Crew”, including “Not Just Boy’s Fun”, “You Lose”, “Aim to Please”, “Red and Black”, and the love song, “Trust”. Kevin Seconds proudly announced their recent signing with Rise Records, and stated that they began to record songs for their upcoming record.

7 Seconds then began to perform a few “never-before-heard” songs that would appear on the record; although the crowd obviously didn’t know the words, they appeared enthusiastic. To appease the “older crowd” and devout fans, they played “Skins, Brains, Guts” off the 1982 EP of the same name.

Once they played, “Young ‘Til I Die” and “Walk Together, Rock Together”, the crowd knew their dynamic set was drawing to an end. However, during “Walk Together, Rock Together”, a man in the front suffered from a head injury from someone who stage dove, and passed out. Kevin Seconds saw this play out, stopped the song, and made sure the man was revived and properly escorted out by security and medical professionals. Although they never finished the song, they ended their set strongly with their hit cover, “99 Red Balloons”.

The show ended around 2:30 in the morning, which was somewhat early for many Punk Rock Bowling attendees. Many continued having fun throughout the night, whether it be at the casino, the bar, or late-night diners, satisfied that they had easily seen one of the best performances at Punk Rock Bowling thus far.

            More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Sarah Kreager-
Big Wheel Contributor

 

 

 

 

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