It was time for Punk Rock Bowling 14 to come to a close, but not without the best day show of the festival. Hot Water Music, 7 Seconds, Youth of Today and Toys that Kill all on the same bill? It’s pretty much a dream lineup for me. But first I need to talk about the headliners of the night, another band I remember fondly from my early teen years of blasting the latest Punk-O-Rama comp while attempting to skate – Pennywise! ...

The Punk Rock Bowling 14 midway point was upon us and the weather decided to do a little rebelling of its own, replacing the calm breeze of the previous day with oven-baked hotness. The crowd was undeterred, however, as the only day show to sell out boasted British oi! pioneers Cockney Rejects (filling in for a canceled Sham 69), the always fun yet seldom touring Hepcat, and of course headliners Rancid! In what is surely a quest to make me feel old, my favorite band from middle school is celebrating their 20th year together this year and frontman Tim Armstrong used the occasion to wax nostalgia, about both Rancid’s tour history as well as Operation Ivy (whom he said played Vegas in the late 80s at a desert show, something I would have killed to see if only I was out of grade school at the time). ...

Another year, another Punk Rock Bowling, and this year kicked off with a night headlined by semi-Vegas residents NOFX! The Southern California skatepunk legends are no strangers to our city, ringing in the New Year with us at the House of Blues and already announcing a July poolside gig at the Hard Rock. So how would the quartet make this show stand out and reward fans who spent all day baking on the blacktop? By playing the bulk of their classic album Punk in Drublic! The band sounded tighter than ever, a huge 180 from their somewhat sloppy performance at PRB 2010, and it was a real treat to finally hear “The Brews,” my personal favorite from the NOFX catalogue, played live. ...

The final day of Punk Rock Bowling started with bluegrass punks Old Man Markley playing a pool party at the Gold Spike. Over on the blacktop at Fremont East, the music festival was well underway with Stagger and Fall, Reducers SF, Citizen Fish, Manic Hispanic, The Dwarves, Leftover Crack, Agnostic Front, and finally Cock Sparrer, who expressed excitement to be playing their first shows ever in Vegas. ...

Chilly winds and ominous clouds couldn't dull the enthusiasm from the crowd attending the second straight sold-out day of Punk Rock Bowling. ...