Girl at the Rock Shows

This past weekend was a whirlwind, to say the least. Not only was I lost in the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas, I was utterly enamored by the world that is created at Punk Rock Bowling. PRB is one of those festivals that I have been going to for years and have finally started covering for my blog. Every year that I get approved to cover it is an honor, but the true thrill comes from seeing all of the people and bands that come with this festival. I already have coverage from each of the three days, but this is my post about the weekend overall, where I will gush over just how amazing this festival is (and some of the pain points, but those are few and far between).

One of the reasons this festival quickly became my favorite is due to the lack of overlap. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the other festivals I cover throughout the year, but I always feel super overwhelmed having to choose between bands playing at the same time. That’s not a problem at PRB because, with just two stages that alternate throughout the day, you never have to make a choice. If you want to see everyone playing at the festival, you can, and you can still have time to leisurely walk between stages and grab a drink in between. Festivals often claim to be all about the music but then force you to choose between super-deserving bands. Not PRB. When they say it’s about the music, they mean it.

How anyone lives in Las Vegas is beyond me. It is so freaking hot in this town, and, for a Minnesotan ginger– it was absolute hell to be stuck out in the sun for three days in a row. Unfortunately, the heat definitely got the best of me within the first hour of the first day. Although I stuck it out, I was quick to skip the first few bands of each day, if only to avoid being out in Satan’s asshole-styled heat. Okay, I know that’s a brash and inappropriate term to describe the heat, but honestly, I can’t think of a better way to put it. I understand that this is entirely out of the festival’s control and that, at the end of the day, Memorial Day weekend is a lot cooler than a weekend in June or July. However, truly, the heat is one of my least favoriteaspects of this festival.

Let’s talk about one of the main aspects of this festival – the lineup. I love the fact that, although called “Punk Rock” Bowling, this festival has a little bit of everything. There was metal, hardcore, folk, and, yes, punk. The diversity of the lineup keeps each day feeling fresh, and I loved the fact that it made every band stand out and shine, as by the end of the weekend, no two bands sounded or felt the same. In addition to the stylistic differences between the bands, there are the varying “status” levels of the bands. This festival makes every band seem like royalty. Whether it was Social Distortion closing out Monday night or Shitfire, who was one of the first bands I saw at the festival, I feel like it’s a relatively level playing field that keeps music in the forefront rather than egos. Not only does that speak to the talent featured at this festival, but it also speaks to the fans, which brings me to my next point.

I can not even put into words what it’s like to be in the audience at PRB. Being part of an entire mini-ecosystem of like-minded people is truly something that will always leave me speechless, and in this day and age, I think it is more important than ever. I love the fact that, with just two stages that are constantly alternating, every band has a big crowd. Don’t get me wrong, the headliners had the biggest crowd of each day, but even with the heat, there was a giant exodus of people that would shift from stage to stage to catch everyone who was performing, even if they had never heard of the act before. People didn’t care who they were walking to the other stage to see; they just wanted to see music, and something about that made my heart flutter.

The negative to this? You can’t control who comes to this festival. The people at and behind this amazing festival absolutely carry the punk ethos on their sleeves. It’s a festival for anyone and everyone, but not for assholes and bigots. Unfortunately, on my flight back home on Tuesday, I noticed that footage had leaked of someone who had come into the festival wearing a shift referring to Nazism. It broke my heart to know that someone like this thought that they could come into such a safe and welcoming place. In the footage, you see the audience taking things into their own hands. As soon as someone caught onto the imagery on this person’s shirt and realized how hateful it was, the crowd quickly pushed this guy out of the festival grounds. I was not there when this happened. I was on the other side of the grounds at this time, so I don’t know firsthand if there was an assault on this racist piece of crap or not, but I loved the way that the audience took it upon themselves to make sure that the safe space created by PRB was protected at least until security could help usher this human out.

Other than this one incident that I didn’t even know about until after the fact, I feel like this twenty-fifth year of Punk Rock Bowling was a flawless one. I got to see some amazing legends such as Social Distortion, FLAG (aka Black Flag), and Cock Sparrer. I was also introduced to some new-to-me bands that absolutely caught my attention, such as Shitfire, Upchuck, and Bar Stool Preachers. I think that’s a sentiment that is shared by everyone who attended this festival. You came for some favorites and left with some new obsessions– the way a festival should end. Punk Rock Bowling honestly reminds you that festivals are about the music, nothing else.

Actually, please hold on that thought. I just now realized I haven’t even brought up the “Bowling” aspect of Punk Rock Bowling and, truthfully, that’s because I know nothing about that side of the festival. That being said, I know I had a lot of friends ask if there is actually bowling at this festival. There is, but I can’t speak on what that’s like or anything like that. Maybe next year is the year that I finally dive into that side of the festival and go check out the bowling competition that takes place but, truthfully, just keeping up with the festival proper and the after shows (that I didn’t go to this year just because, again, this was already a massive festival to cover) was more than enough for a full and overwhelming (but perfect) weekend.

I’m exhausted and absolutely dreading going to work on Wednesday (and am debating taking the day off to continue my recovery process), but I’m incredibly happy and honored to have been at this festival. I didn’t only leave more of my wallet in Las Vegas than I had planned on (thanks to the “investments” I was making, I left a part of my heart out there, and I hope to be back next year to pick it back up.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend but feel free to go through the three previous reviews to see full coverage of all of the bands I caught along with more photos!