So this is it, the start of Punk Rock Bowling 2016! Things kick off downtown tonight with club shows galore.
PunksinVegas.com is going to see only sparse updates over the next week as we’re attending the shows, nursing sunburns and getting our content ready, but we’ll be on social media, so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram for up-to-the-minute updates.
Like a punk rock Sacagawea, we wanted to help you navigate through the, at last count, 7.4 million bands playing this weekend. So before we go dark for a bit, team PIV compiled this list of our favorites, displayed here in fabulous alphabetical order.
Don’t see your favorite listed? Let us – and the readers – know who you’re looking forward to in the comments!
Be Like Max on the PRB mainstage, Sunday, May 29 at 4:05 p.m.
Honestly, I think that all of the local bands should be on this list, but I’m especially excited for Las Vegas’ own ska sweethearts Be Like Max to take the stage on Sunday. Be Like Max has been trying to procure a spot at PRB for several years now, and all of their hard work has finally paid off. This is the band that really, truly got me into punk, and involved in the Vegas scene (if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be writing this right now), so there’s a strong sense of secondhand pride. In the past year, they’ve gone on a national tour, released their new record Against All Odds, and provided teenagers with something to do besides complain about how lame their hometown is. Thanks to them, the local all-ages punk scene has flourished. If you’re the type to want to experience a taste of a city’s local scene, and not just come for the headliners, Be Like Max is the band to see.
– Julien Boulton
Buzzcocks on the PRB mainstage, Sunday, May 29 at 8:50 p.m.
Ok, first of all it’s The Buzzcocks you guys, come on. These guys were one of the first bands I heard in punk that were writing love songs, which totally threw me for a loop when I was 15. I remember vividly I had this buddy who had a Pearl Jam tour DVD and The Buzzcocks were opening for them on that tour. I remember thinking, “How in the hell are they the opening band?” and then thinking,” Shit, these guys will never come to Vegas.” Well, this year the Stern Brothers proved 15 year old me wrong. Plus, how cool would it be to hear 3000 people singing at the top of their lungs, “I’m an orgasm addict!”
-Anthony Constantine
Descendents on the PRB mainstage, Sunday, May 29 at 10 p.m.
The Descendents is one of the most important and influential bands to come out of the SoCal hardcore scene, and even those who aren’t fans of the band are familiar with the now-infamous caricature of its undeniably and unabashedly geeky frontman, Milo Aukerman. I’m not mocking Aukerman here: the juxtaposition of a total nerd tearing it up at hardcore shows has an odd sort of charm–but as someone who attends honors courses by day and punk shows by night, perhaps I’m the slightest bit biased. It’s admittedly a little nuts to think that Milo Goes to College, a record I’ve played countless times during my own freshman year of college, was released over 30 years ago, and that the band members are now old enough to have kids my age. Either way, it’ll be a blast to see the now-aged Descendents performing the songs of their youth (anyone else dying to see a bunch of dads play “Parents”?) when they headline on Sunday.
-Jazmin Boulton
Dag Nasty on the PRB mainstage, Monday, May 30 at 7 p.m.
Few punk bands have influenced my generation like Dag Nasty has. Their songs are poppy (i.e. catchy) without sacrificing any power, and the personal lyrics are poignant. In fact, I would guess that Can I Say is a top 3 album for most hardcore kids that have reached middle age.
That being said, the Dag Nasty that is playing PRB is the band in it’s rawest form. This is the original lineup with Shawn Brown from Swiz fame on vocals, and if you need a reference point, be sure to jam the Dag With Shawn LP that was released on Dischord Records in 2010. Also, based on the live footage I’ve seen, you can expect covers from Minor Threat (guitarist Brian Baker’s first band) and the aforementioned Swiz during their set.
And while I’m sure most fans would love to see Dave Smalley and Peter Cortner on vocals at some point as well, every version of Dag has its merit. Those of us that found the hardcore scene in the late ’80s have been waiting for this moment for almost 30 years, and if you told the teenage me that Dag Nasty was going to play Las Vegas in 2016, I would have called you crazy. So much time has passed since I first discovered this band, and yet the values are still here in my heart and in my head.
-Lance Wells
Dillinger Four on the PRB mainstage, Sunday, May 29 at 6:55 p.m.
Dillinger Four is the closest thing we have to a Replacements reincarnation. Not only are they from the same city, share the same amount of debaucherous stories in regards to unpredictable stage antics, but they also have a stellar catalogue of equally messy and catchy songs. If you’re currently broke and in your twenties like I am, then songs like “Doublewhiskeycokenoice” and “Minimum Wage is a Gateway Drug” are anthems to you. The stories are varied and wild, but the list of kick-ass songs are plenty, and make Dillinger Four a can’t miss band this year.
– Alan Madrigal
Grant Hart at Beauty Bar on Sunday, May 29
It’s Grant Hart. From Hüsker Dü. Grant Hart. He wrote ”Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely.” Need I say more? The former hardcore drummer turned singer/songwriter is the latest punk veteran to be drafted as a Chuck Ragan opener and I couldn’t be more excited, even if it means a bit of tricky, Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire style running back and forth between this show and Red City Radio’s set at Backstage Bar. Hart’s sets seemingly feature songs that span his whole career, from Hüsker through Nova Mob and onto his excellent, and far too underrated, solo material. I enjoyed hearing Bob Mould play the classics and can’t wait to hear Hart’s songs live.
-Emily Matview
Night Birds on the PRB mainstage, Sunday, May 29 at 4:40 p.m.
New Jersey’s Night Birds make surfy, straightforward punk rock that odes to bands like The Dead Kennedys, while crafting a sound all their own. I first found out about them when they performed on The Chris Gethard Show. The audience went wild and I was instantly in love with them. Both “Born to Die in Suburbia” and “Mutiny at Muscle Beach” are punk rock masterpieces. If their albums are any indication than we have a lot to look forward to from their Punk Rock Bowling set this year.
-Alan Madrigal
Off With Their Heads on the PRB mainstage, Monday, May 30 at 5:10 p.m.
There’s something to be said for wallowing in self-loathing every once in awhile. Seriously, try it. And might I recommend a band to listen to while doing so? Off With Their Heads is my go-to emotional anger punk. Whether on his Anxious and Angry podcast, or through the songs themselves, frontman Ryan Young is open in his exploration of mental health issues, and it’s really refreshing, helpful and therapeutic to sing along to lyrics like “don’t wanna be like this, anxious and angry or hopeless and upset all the time” from “Nightlife,” with one first in the air and the other around a friend’s shoulder. We’re all in this shit together, and Off With Their Heads’ PRB set will be a beautiful, cathartic, drunken reminder of that.
-Ashleigh Thompson
Red City Radio at Backstage Bar and Billiards on Sunday, May 29
Honestly, Red City Radio was my true “band of the year” for last year’s Punk Rock Bowling, and they didn’t even play an official show. The Oklahoma City punk rockers sound like if the Beach Boys honed their harmonies on barstools instead of surfboards, with a dash of Hot Water Music thrown in for good measure. “When you find yourself in a hole stop digging” is just one of the many lyrics that sounds so right when you have a packed venue singing along.
-Emily Matview
Teenage Bottlerocket at Backstage Bar and Billiards on Sunday, May 29
Teenage Bottlerocket’s Tales From Wyoming made my top 10 albums last year for all the things that are relevant to my interests: Silly Punk Rock, Metallica references, taquerias, and sappy love songs. Their live shows have always been a blast, and despite the tragedy they’ve seen in the last year, they’re continuing on. I’m happy that the last time I saw them at Beauty Bar wasn’t their final Vegas show, and that the upcoming Punk Rock Bowling show is just the next of hopefully many more times to come.
– Aaron Mattern
Many club show tickets are sold out, but you can still purchase tickets to see the main festival at at https://www.punkrockbowling.com/
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