Punk Rock Bowling 2012 – Event recap with photos, videos and commentary

Welcome to the home for coverage of Punk Rock Bowling 2012


Here is your 2012 re-cap

The entire crew took down a ton of coverage
Scroll down on this page to the link of all the 2012 coverage


All this madness started with a bowling tournament so it is only fitting that we acknowledge your 2012 Punk Rock Bowling Champions - Hookers and Blow

We have also created for your ease to get all the photos of Punk Rock Bowling 2012,
just go to www.punkrockbowlingphotos.com

Re-cap of the coverage of the 2011 event below
Punk Rock Bowling 2011 was pretty much off the hook. There is so much coverage that our entire team gathered, video, photos and more.

Editors note: Thank you to the many folks here at Punk Rock Bowling for the positive comments, encouragement and especially the folks that made food runs for our staffers... and YES... the drinks too.... very much appreciated.


(Photo: Winners of the 2011 Punk Rock Bowling Tournament – BC Smokeshop)

Punk Rock Bowling 2011 Music Festival – Fremont Street – Las Vegas, NV – Day 3

Punk Rock Bowling 2011 Music Festival – Fremont Street – Las Vegas, NV – Day 2

Undertones – The Crowd – Sharp Objects – at The Beauty Bar – Las Vegas, NV

Punk Rock Bowling 2011 Music Festival – Fremont Street – Las Vegas, NV – Day 1

Punk Rock Bowling 2011 – Bowling Team Photos

Punk Rock Bowling 2011 – Saturday Morning update

Cadillac Tramps – Swingin Utters – Cobra Skulls – at Club Azul Tequila

Fishbone – Guttermouth – Buck-O-Nine – Scandals – at Country Saloon

Hotel room gig with Hands Like Bricks – Sam’s Town

 

For coverage from Punk Rock Bowling 2010 …. Go HERE

 

 

 

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Punk Rock Bowling 2012 Music Festival – Las Vegas, NV

The last day of the outdoor music festival that has been part of the huge Punk Rock Bowling weekend arrived and the time to wrap the Memorial Day weekend was near. Despite this, a plethora of big bands would bid the weekend goodbye, with Pennywise headlining the entire event. The line-up on the final day consisted of The Bots, Union Hearts, Toys That Kill, Dead Ending, Youth of Today, 7 Seconds, Hot Water Music, GBH, and Pennywise. Across town at The Golden Nugget hotel an exclusive pool party (you can check that out HERE)was being held for the top ranked bowling team with a feature performance by Old Man Markley. For those that came to downtown Las Vegas for the music, they were in for a kick ass finale to the Memorial Day weekend.

Up first were The Bots and this duo provided a pretty intense performance. Mikaiah Lei’s guitar playing was a brilliant combination of Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, mixed with some Hendrix, mixed with some tried and true, honest to goodness three chord helicopter Punk rock style. Lei's vocal style was equally dramatic, varied and gave the songs a depth not usually heard in Punk music. Lei's brother Anaiah’s drumming was outstanding. Loud. Hard. Fast. And clean.

The small crowd seemed to really enjoy the set and I think some were a bit blown away that two young dudes (18 and 15 respectively) from seedy Los Angeles could tear it up like that. All in all, I’d say these guys are on their way up.

Following them was Union Hearts. Less than a year old (as a band), these guys have a real clean sound, reminding me a bit of Rise Against. They are polished enough to be immediately radio-friendly, but with just enough aggression to fit in at any Punk show--and no wonder, since they've already shared the stage with 7 Seconds, and the band is fronted by Hanover Saints frontman Brian Hanover.

San Pedro locals, Toys That Kill, killed it. (And I'm not just saying that because I grew up in Pedro. Well, maybe I am, just a little bit.) After a 6-year hiatus, the guys are back on tour supporting their recently released Fambly 42. The audience was a bit subdued, but I think that was mostly due to the heat (it was really fucking hot), and nothing to do with the band. They put on a great show.

Dead Ending featuring bassist Joe Principe (Rise Against), drummer Derek Grant (Alkaline Trio), guitarist Jeff Dean (The Bomb, Noise By Numbers, All Eyes West), and singer Vic Bondi (Articles of Faith), Dead Ending changed the atmosphere by providing screamy vocals. The drumming was definitely a prominent element to the band's music.

Ray Cappo’s brief stint in the Hare Krishna movement was apparent on Monday afternoon as he took several opportunities to present ‘life questions’ to the crowd and then answer them himself in between songs. No one seemed to mind though, as songs like "Positive Outlook" and "Break Down The Walls" even got the security guys up front to bob their heads a bit, while the punks behind the barricade thrashed about with flailing arms as they kicked up clouds of dirt.

The highlight of the set was when the guys brought Kevin Seconds and Steve Youth (7 Seconds) out to sing "Young 'til I Die".



7 Seconds are true Punk rock pioneers. “You Lose” and “In Your Face” seemed to be crowd favorites, but when they played “If The Kids Are United” as their tribute to Sham 69 (who couldn’t make it to the festival), fists pumped in the air along with the chorus. Even though Youth of Today just covered "Young 'til I Die," it was a real treat to hear 7 Seconds perform their song. They proved that even after 30+ years, a bunch of guys from Reno can bring it.

Hot Water Music proved to be a band that truly enables an amazing live performance. Recently releasing Exister, the band performed a range of songs that were both old and new. The band's performance genuinely offered a different experience that was more profound than their digital recordings.

Speaking of Punk rock pioneers! GBH was hands down the highlight of Monday’s lineup. These crazed cats from Birmingham, England kept bodies flying round in circles and up and over the crowd with their signature fast, slicing, powerful songs. Security definitely earned their paychecks during GBH’s set with the many crowd-surfing-boot-kicking punks that flew over the barricade. With songs like "Sick Boy," "Lycanthropy," "Kids Get Down," and "Give Me Fire," everyone was charged up, including the band. At one point, Colin(vocals) introduced the rest of the band and when he got to Scott Preece on drums, he actually referred to him as “the Susan Boyle of Punk rock drummers” which got a chuckle from few not so hardened punks in the crowd.

It was more than apparent that GBH was there for one purpose… to stir up the masses and wreak as much havoc on Las Vegas as humanly possible, and they did indeed.

Zoli Teglas of Ignite had some huge shoes to fill in replacing Jim Lindberg in Pennywise, however, he and the rest of the band got things churning right from the start and they did not slow down once. Pumping out tracks like “Fuck Authority,” “Every Single Day,” and “Can’t Believe It,” they gave every mohawked, stud wearing, misfit in that crowd exactly what they came for and then some. As evidenced when they played “Bro Hymn," with somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 or 50 people on stage with the band, it got the entire crowd to “Whoa ohhh OH OOhhhhh” along with Zoli. That was pretty freakin’ rad.

With the end of Pennywise's set signifying the end of Punk Rock Bowling weekend, the only thing left to do was browse downtown Las Vegas and pack... or go see Punk Rock Karaoke with Eric Melvin of NOFX. Whatever the choice, the 14th annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival met its official conclusion on Monday night. Until next year! At least you've got pictures of all your friends passed out in hallways to preserve the memories!

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Corrina P.-
Big Wheel Staff Writer

-Anni Thyme-
Big Wheel Staff Writer & Photographer

-Christopher D.-
Big Wheel Contributor

 

 

Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews

 

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Pool Party with Old Man Markely at the Hideaway Pool – at The Golden Nugget – Las Vegas, NV

If the overall Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival weekend was not insane enough, add in a pool party each day and you are faced with another choice to go have a good time at. Most of the pool partys are open to all, except this one was for only the bowlers that made it to the playoffs on Sunday. The private party took place at the upper level pool known as The Hideawy Pool at The Golden Nugget where security was checking names at the door. Many of the people we talked to found that this pool party was a highlightof the weekend since it gave a chance to chill out and have some drinks with friends that many do not see all the time. A band who is all about a good time, Old Man Markley was the backdrop music for the party. During their set many pool goers got out of the pool at went right to the front of the stage, while other opted to just stay in the pool and dance along.

There were certainly many highlights of the event and some of note were, Old Man Markley performing a Screeching Weasel cover of The Science of Myth and later they are joined on stage by Shawn Stern of Youth Brigade for We're In, aka Old Punks Don't Die. Photos of the pool party are below with a link to the gallery and you can also enjoy the video of the event.
Make sure you add Old Man Markley on Facebook to stay up to date: www.facebook.com/oldmanmarkley

   Video of the pool party with Old Man Markley at The Golden Nugget Hideaway pool

            Photos from the pool party with Old Man Markley

To see even MORE photos from the pool party, go to the gallery HERE and check them out.

 

 

More photos of Punk Rock Bowling 2012 can be seen HERE

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Pool Party with Real McKenzies – at The Gold Spike Hotel – Las Vegas, NV

After Saturdays no show at the pool by other artists, The Real Mckenzies came in Sunday afternoon locked, stocked and loaded. Coming off an amazing and well received performance on the main stage in downtown on Saturday, The Real Mckenzies delivered a toned-down acoustic set without lacking their usual energy.

Returning sun bathers got more than anticipated, The Real Mckenzies smashed through two hours of fan favorites and special requests. The Golden Spike pool reached its maximum capacity. However, that meant no worries to the spectators posted up on the adjacent hotel balconies, as it served as some of the best seats in the house.

In true Punk fashion the pool quickly turned into probably the best pit of the day considering the weather and and temperature. Inflatable beach balls and and tubes were in full effect along with jello shots raining down from hotel occupants.
 

While Saturday's pool party seemed like an eternity the day before as we waited for a band that didn't even show up, the pool party on Sunday with The Real McKenzies felt as if it was not long enough. But alas, like everything in life all things must come to an end. Thankfully on this day it ended with tan lines, smiles, and an amazing acoustic set.

 

-Gio Van Damn-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

                     More photos of the pool party can be seen HERE

 

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Chuck Ragan – Tim Barry – Blag Dahlia – and Kevin Seconds – at The Beauty Bar – Las Vegas, NV

One great thing about Punk Rock Music, is that it transcends genres, languages, styles, and even national borders. The Punk Rock Bowling Music Festival is a stellar example of the diversity in which I am speaking. This year's festival provided every different genre of Punk Rock one could imagine.

There was a lil something for everyone, the Skins, The Jocks/Bros, The Straight Edge Hard-Core Kids, Thrashers, OC Punkers, British Punks, Rude-Boys (Matt Skiba brought some Satanic-Emo Punks out of the woodwork). Celtic Punks, and for of course the Folk-Punk enthusiasts.

Sunday night at the Beauty Bar, Kevin Seconds, Blag Dahlia, Tim Barry, and Chuck Ragan gathered together for an All-Star, All Acoustic, Folk-Punk performance.

Kevin Seconds, from the band 7Seconds, opened up the night as the crowd started to trickle in. As always he played a great melodic set. Apparently his solo music is getting pretty popular, and it showed as many people in the audience sang along to his tunes. With as much as this motherfucker tours, people better know his material. He is definitely a Punk Rock hero in his own right.

Blag Dahlia from The Dwarves was up next. His tongue and cheek humor had people rolling. His was  enjoyable on the ears and funny as hell. If your into lude humor, this would be an act you wanna check out. He sang a song about his love for "Anne Frank", a song called "Bitch I Love You", and great little diddy about terrorists in his song "This Jihad".

By the time Tim Barry was set to go on the crowd had thickened immensely and for good reason. Tim Barry who is well known for being the front man for Melodic Hard-Core band Avail. He is also known even better for his solo Americana style music. He is a true, down to earth, amazing singer and song writer. The charismatic nature in his personality rallies the masses and forms something communal. He brought his guitar into the crowd and sang  "Idle Idylist" along with his fans that surrounded him. If his cord wouldn't have kept getting pulled out, I'm positive he would have stayed there through his whole set. During "Avoiding Catatonic Surrender" Chuck Ragan joined him on stage and played a harmonica solo.

Tim got the house revved for Hot Water Music's, Chuck Ragan. He joined the stage with fiddle player Jon Gaunt and upright bass player Joe Ginsberg  in a revival tour style set. Chuck  played for about 45 minutes for a packed house of fans who could follow ever lyric with him in unison. He played many songs off his "Gold Country" and "Covering Ground" albums, including a beautiful song called "Rotterdam" that he wrote and dedicated for his lovely wife Jill.

Sunday night was bitter-sweet. On one hand, I saw the show I was looking forward to the most, and on the other hand, I had the realization that PRB was almost over and I would be going back to my routine life. The thought inspired me to party harder the rest of that night and through to morning than I had all weekend! Thanks to Kevin, Blag, Tim, and Chuck for a great show and the inspiration to party my ass off for the rest of my vacation.

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

-J.Moncrief-

Big Wheel Staff Reporter

       

 

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Punk Rock Bowling 2012 Music Festival – Las Vegas, NV

Once the gate was finally opened, I rushed to the stage to catch American Werewolves. The vocals are gritty but polished and the overall sound of the band and songs reminded me of old school American punk bands (a little bit of Misfits with some Black Flag-ness thrown in for good measure).

I would really like to catch these guys play when it's not an early afternoon show and I'm suffering from lack of coffee.

American Heist, led by the gravely-voiced Tim Blackout, these Houston natives brought some much needed energy to the first part of the festival. Though the crowd was still very sparse (I think most were nursing hangovers at the various hotels), the fans that came out to see these guys were not let down. Evocative of Social D and Hotwater Music, American Heist got the small crowd going.

We tried to find some shade for the Beltones set, but the only patch to be found was against the fence. By this time the crowd was slowly but surely filtering into the festival and there was a bigger audience. While The Beltones put on a great show, the heat was a drag, I am definitely looking forward to catching this band in a venue with air-conditioning.

Next up was Old Man Markley. What can I say? They kick ass! After getting past my awe of the musicianship and the instruments themselves, I was able to connect with songs like "For Better, For Worse", "Guts & Teeth", and "Song Songs" which threw me through emotions of hope, grief, and joy. Then songs like "In A Circle Going Round" and "Party Shack" made me wanna square dance in my steel toes!

During The Street Dogs set, Mike McColgan’s vocals made me so happy I would have let him slam dance on my face whilst he sang his Boston punk heart out. His energy and interaction with the crowd was incredible. He seemed to get more energized as the set went on, almost feeding off the crowd. The song “Free” was a great change of pace to slow things down and give the crowd a chance to raise their beers up and sing along. They also did a couple Dropkick songs, “Do Or Die” and “Never Alone”, which charged the crowd right back up and got bodies crashing into each other again. It also helped that Mike would jump onto the barrier and sing to and with the crowd, along with some judicious doses of crowd-surfing.

It's Hepcat! Undeniably one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend.  I've loved this band for years and was super excited to finally see them live--they did not disappoint! The crowd seemed to appreciate and relish the slowdown and actually took the time during Hepcat’s set to dance with the guy or girl they came with. “I Can’t Wait” and “Dance Wid’ Me” seemed to be particular favorites as people paired up and danced. Some skanked. Some twisted. And others were cheek to cheek. Not something one would expect to see at a ‘Punk Rock’ festival. But then again … it's Hepcat. They’re just fucking awesome.

Cockney Rejects, I think were the most respected crew of the night as just about every other band that played before them made a point to mention the ‘Rejects to rile up the crowd. Well, it worked. And when they finally took the stage you could see the energy in the crowd build back up (having been replenished a bit by the cool down skank-a-thon just pior). “Where The Hell Is Babylon”, “Greatest Cockney Ripoff”, and “Oi Oi Oi” got the pit spinning enough to create the biggest dirt tornado Las Vegas has ever seen. Their stage presence as well as the reactions they got from the crowd were clear indications that these dudes are true Punk Rock veterans who still know how to kick the eardrums right out yer asshole.

   Video overview of RANCID set




Two huge spotlights on lifts sat high above the crowd and lit up the stage for Tim “My guitar is too big for me” Armstrong, Lars and Co. The open air venue quickly shrank to sardine can proportions as Rancid took the stage and from the opening riff of Timmy’s left handed Gretsch guitar the crowd didn’t stop moving and singing along until the band stopped playing.

 

Note the special appearance by Skinhead Rob (Transplants) to sing with the band on “Red Hot Moon”. These guys really know their audience and although they’ve been a huge commercial success, you could tell they’re still deeply rooted in the heart of punk rock and they don’t forget it.

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

-Christopher D.-
Big Wheel Contributor

 

 

Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews

 

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