I Don’t Want To Grow Up

While a bunch of my friends headed north to lakes for Memorial Day weekend, two friends and I hopped on a flight out to sunny Las Vegas. No, we aren’t just here for the gambling (although that is definitely happening, and I’m happy to say I haven’t lost it all already); we are here for Punk Rock Bowling- one of my favorite festivals to attend that I now have the honor of covering. I’ll be honest, we are only through day one, but my body feels like it has been through hell and back, but there’s no wiping this smile off of my face.

I want to give you a bunch of background on this festival as it’s one that I truly adore and hold near and dear to my heart just due to the energy that surrounds it but, I’ll be honest, I’m fighting a nasty case of writer’s block, and the clock is ticking down to the time when my friends wake up and we are ready to take on day number two so, instead of wasting time, let’s just jump into all of the magic that was day one of Punk Rock Bowling 2024.

Here’s the best thing about Punk Rock Bowling- absolutely no overlap with the bands. I mean exactly what I just said and, in the era of Live Nation, I know it’s hard to believe, but, instead of jamming one million bands into just a couple of hours, this festival takes their time, giving everyone a healthy length of a set and making sure that there is only one band playing at a time. This is part of this festival’s charm and why I keep on coming back year after year. There’s no sense of feeling overwhelmed trying to decide what band to see. On top of that, there’s no true hustle or rush. With the way the timing works out, you have plenty of time to shift from one stage to the other while grabbing a drink on your way. It’s the way a music festival should be- with focus on the music while also showing respect for the music. Because of this, I got to see a lot of amazing acts, but I promise not to keep you here all day writing about every single one of them, so here’s just a snapshot of my favorite moments of the day (in no particular order:

999– I’ll be honest: I had never heard of 999 before they were announced as part of this festival, but the more I dug into this band, the more I loved them. This London-based act was formed in 1976, which is crazy on its own, but what really intrigued me about this group was the fact that they still have two original members. I know that shouldn’t be a huge surprise, but I am so used to seeing back from this generation that can’t keep a member for more than a couple of months, so to see a group where two of the members have been doing this for damn near fifty years, yeah, that’s pretty cool. The music of 999 isn’t overly aggressive or anything like that, but I got such a sense of raw energy from their set. 999 was one of the earlier sets of the day, and it definitely got my day started off right.

Descendents- This is a band that really needs no introduction, and if they do, well, prepare to have your mind blown. I have been a huge fan of Descendents for decades, and although Saturday night wasn’t my first time seeing them as they closed out the first day of the festival, it was one of the best-sounding sets I have gotten from the band. On top of that, I felt that the sound choice for their set on Saturday night was perfect. I got to hear all of the hits that I wanted to, along with some older tracks that I don’t think I’ve ever heard the band perform live.

Madball- Although I’ve seen Madball a couple of times now, it hasn’t been recently, so I forgot how much I loved watching vocalist Freddy Cricien go from one of the most intense and aggressive feeling frontmen to one that is genuinely thanking the audience for listening to them and for dancing along. There’s a bit of a Mr. Jekyll & Dr. Hyde thing going on in a slight way that has just always left me amused and captivated, with their set on Saturday being no different.

Teen Mortgage– I have been listening to a lot of Teen Mortgage lately. It was one of those cases where I heard one song that hooked me, and then I went on a deep dive into their other stuff only to spend days on end down a rabbit hole of only listening to Teen Mortgage. Long story short, I was stoked to be catching this band live just after spending literal days on end with them. What made me more stoked was the fact that this duo sounded just like their recordings but with a bit more angst, which is something that I always look for.

Billy Bragg- Full disclosure– Billy Bragg was not on my “most excited to see at the festival this year” list, but within just a couple of songs, I had proclaimed him the winner of the day. Sure, his acoustic solo singer-songwriter music was definitely a bit different than everything else that had happened on either stage throughout the day, but the feeling was the same. It was a feeling of true respect and admiration for everyone in attendance. His set served as a battle cry for the freaks, the geeks, the unwanted and unusual. He reminded us of many things throughout the set, but out of all of the words of wisdom he shared with the packed audience, he said one thing that really hit me and truly made me a fan of this man that I really haven’t spent much time with: “Music can not change the world, but it can give you the power to believe that the world can be changed.” Okay, that’s not a super word-for-word direct quote because, well, I’m at Punk Rock Bowling, and being on my phone constantly taking notes is the last thing I want to do, but it’s close, and it’s a sentiment that will ring through my head for years to come.

I could write a novel for every band that I saw on Saturday, but I know that that would be too much, and the chances of you reading through it all would be slim to none. As I mentioned, these were just some of my favorite moments of the day. That’s not to say that Lagwagon didn’t absolutely kill it or that seeing Gorilla Biscuits breathed life into me at a time when I was fading due to exhaustion, but it’s more that I have to pick what I write about. I’ll take that over having to pick what band to see any day.

All in all, day one of Punk Rock Bowling was great. Sure, there were a couple of hiccups, most notably when the festival ran out of free water right when the sun seemed to be the strongest, but it was a hiccup that was taken care of (albeit not as quickly as it should have for being water) and I’m sure will be made right when I step foot on those grounds again on Sunday. I may already be exhausted, but there’s still money in my bank account and more music to see, so, really, I have nothing to complain about.

Cheers to day two of Punk Rock Bowling, everyone!