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

Sunday is usually a day where people rest and relax from their busy week, whether it be  from work or school. However, in Vegas on Memorial Day Weekend, everyone was just getting started for the bowling tournament playoffs and Day 2 of the Punk Rock Bowling Music Festival. Headlining the night was one of the most anticipated acts of the entire festival, the Descendents, along with help from Punk Rock Bowling veterans Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and the Bouncing Souls.Bands that also performed for Day 2 were the Undertones, Black Pacific, American Steel, Larry and his Flask, and Johnny Madcap and the Distractions.

Johnny Madcap and the Distractions commenced the day and although not many people were inside the festival grounds yet, many people that were there enjoyed their catchy pop Punk tunes .Within their solid 25 minute set, they performed many songs that some of the audience members seemed to know, including a cover of Oingo Boingo’s “Little Girls”, that sounded extremely similar to the original version. Johnny Madcap and the Distractions woke up the tired and hungover crowd with their energy, and started Day 2 on a good note.

Oregon natives, Larry and his Flask were up next and needless to say, they were fantastic. Although their style of music is hard to place under one specific category, the Flask incorporates country, bluegrass, and Punk rock into their music. Their vibrant and fun set made them one of the most talked-about bands at Punk Rock Bowling. They had heavy interaction with the crowd, even asking them to “get low”, before they had to jump up, scream, and get crazy. Later on that evening, The Flask even set up a small stage by their merch booth and performed a short set for the people who showed up late for the festival. It’s safe to say that Larry and His Flask left their Punk Rock Bowling performances with many more fans than they began with and you’ll be hearing their name more frequently from here on out.

Around 5:25, Fat Wreck Chords band American Steel emerged onto the stage. Like the previous bands, they only played for a short amount of time, but they didn’t fail to captivate the crowd members. As their set went on, the crowd grew larger and everyone     in attendance seemed pleased with their Punk rock music.

The Black Pacific promptly took the stage at 6:10PM. The Black Pacific is a relatively new group and they’re most known for having Jim Lindberg, the former vocalist of Pennywise. The band could actually pass for being Pennywise, due to their hard riffs and melodic Punk style. Lindberg explained that because they’re a new group, they didn’t have too much material so they would be doing a lot of cover songs; bands that they covered include Pegboys and Jawbreaker. During their time, Black Pacific had a ton of energy, and Lindberg appeared to be genuinely happy to be apart of his newest project. They thanked the crowd for their praise and retreated from the stage.

Around 6:55PM, Irish Punk band the Undertones came onto the spotlight for their 45 minute set. At this point, the capacity of the venue was full of eager fans. People were swaying and singing along to classic songs like “Teenage Kick” and “Get Over You”. The Undertones expressed how lucky and thankful they are for being able to be at Punk Rock Bowling and to be celebrating their 35th anniversary as a group. After their performance was over, few people were chatting about how they were one of the best to play at the festival so far, and should have performed with Stiff Little Fingers the night before.

The Bouncing Souls came onto the stage with much gusto, going straight into a strong and vivacious set. Because most of the crowd consisted of Punks, the Souls strayed away from playing newer material and slower songs, which was a refreshing change from the more recent shows they’ve headlined and performed at. They opened up with “Sing Along Forever” and carried on with many hits, including “Private Radio”, “No Rules”, “Lean on Sheena”, “Hopeless Romantic”, “Manthem”, and “Quik Check Girl”, which was requested by PRB organizer and birthday boy Shawn Stern; in honor of the festival, the Souls also played “Punks in Vegas”.

The only slow song that was done was a cover of “Hybrid Moments” by the Misfits, a pleasant surprise to many people in the crowd. Going a little bit over their schedule time, they ended with both “Kate is Great” and “Here We Go” and promptly exited from the stage and their best performance in a while.

Sharply dressed in blue tuxedos, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes came out shortly after the Souls and began to play “Rocket Man”. For the few who don’t know, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes strictly perform and record cover songs of any type of genre; they’re also a “Punk supergroup” due to the fact that they have many prominent Punk figures in the band, including Fat Mike of NOFX and Spike Slawson of Swingin Utters.

The Gimme Gimmes proved to be more talkative than the other groups and joked around with the audience; they even poked fun of the Emergency Arts building across the street, claiming it was “an emergency for artsy people” and from an angle it looked like “Emergency Fart”. When they weren’t talking, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes gave the crowd a fun and energetic set that included “Country Road”, “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”, and the show tunes “Tomorrow” and “Over the Rainbow”. Although they stuck to their 45 minutes, their set seemed shorter than the others, but nonetheless still sweet. As the Gimme Gimmes departed, everyone knew what was finally next: the Descendents.

The fact that at any moment in time, Milo, Bill, Karl, and Stephen, would be joining forces on stage as the Descendents created a sense of anxiety that loomed over the entire crowd. Although the band probably needs no introduction, they’re widely known as “the godfathers of pop Punk”, and have influenced a handful of mainstream bands like Blink-182. Once they actually appeared, roars of applause and screams came from the audience, whether you were getting ready to capture the moment on your camera, to get in the pit, or simply watch the band. Milo came out and gave a disclaimer to the everyone, saying they had just eaten a burger and they have a trash can on the stage just in case they got sick.

They began to play their title song, “Descendents”, followed by “Hope” and “I’m the One”. The passion, intensity, and energy that the Descendents held throughout their set was channeled into the crowd; the pit was small, but was one of the most combative of the entire weekend. Milo was giving signs of his voice giving out, as it had during a recent show in London, yet the vocalist pushed through and gave a stellar performance. The Descendents played many classics such as, “Rotting Out”, “Myage”, “I Like Food”, “No, ALL!”, “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”, “Everything Sux”, “Clean Sheets”, “Silly Girl”, “I’m Not a Loser”, and “I Wanna Be a Bear”; they also played songs that were missing from their Long Beach show’s set, namely “Van” and “All-o-Gistics” (Milo even presented a tablet with all the the “commandments” on it). “Shattered Milo” was also played, surprising many fans who recognized the song from the “I’m the One EP” (it was also released as “Your Face” on the “Still Hungry” live album).

Their hour-and-ten-minute set flew by and before long overwhelmed and stimulated fans were chanting for an encore. The Descendents gave the crowd what they wanted and came back with “Sour Grapes”, “Catalina”, “Kabuki Girl”, and concluded with the appropriate, “Thank You”.

Although one may think that a show as intense and mind-blowing as Day 2 would leave everyone exhausted and weary, the crowd’s enthusiasm only seemed to be amplified. Whether you left the venue to hit up a club show, gamble, drink, or simply go to your room and sleep, everyone felt the bittersweet emotion for the next day- happiness and excitement that bands like Leftover Crack, Agnostic Front, and Cock Sparrer would bring, and sadness that in a matter of 24 hours, Punk Rock Bowling 2011 would be a thing of the past. With the bowling tournament already done, Punks knew they had to focus their attention and embrace the final day of the music festival by going out with a huge bang.

Set Times - Sunday May 29, 2011
9:50 - 11:00  Descendents
8:50 - 9:35    Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
7:50 - 8:35    Bouncing Souls
6:55 - 7:35    Undertones
6:10 - 6:40    Black Pacific
5:25 - 5:55    American Steel
4:40 - 5:10    Larry And His Flask
4:00 - 4:25    Johnny Madcap & The Distractions
Doors 3:30pm


                   More photos of Sunday's music festival show can be seen HERE
 

-Sarah K.-
Big Wheel staff reporter

-Stephanie M.-
Big Wheel Senior staff reporter


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