Girl at the Rock Shows

I don’t know what it was, but by Friday night, I felt drained. I honestly debated just staying in and staying curled up in a ball on my bed, but in my infinite wisdom, I had invited a friend to join me at the show, meaning she was going to hold me accountable and make me go to this show. Although I was dragging, I was optimistic and, after picking her up, we took the ten-minute journey to 56 Brewing. I have spent plenty of time having delicious drinks at this local brewery, but I’d never gone to see a show here. I had honestly never even entered the barrel room portion of the room, so I was a bit surprised by the sheer size of it. It wasn’t ginormous, but it was the perfect size for this show. With wooden barrels as the backdrop for the stage and plenty of lighting all around the room, my “dragging” quickly turned into excitement and anticipation.

Kicking things off was local band Dead on Board. I had never heard of this band before, but I instantly recognized the vocalist/saxophonist as Tim Kingstrom (formerly of Space Monkey Mafia and a kid who seems to play with more bands than I can even think of here and there). It instantly made sense why Tim had asked if I was going to this show when I bumped into him earlier this week at the Bad Time Records show. This was Dead on Board’s first-ever show and, from what Tim told me, a happy little accident that brought it all together the way it did. I won’t bore you with the story, but I was just so thankful that I got to see Dead on Board kick off what is sure to be an explosive stint in the local scene. Their sound was ska and punk. Sometimes it was ska, sometimes it was just punk, and other times the line blurred. One constant, beyond the talent behind this band, was the political nature of their words. Knowing Tim, this was no surprise, and I just loved how this opening set kicked the night off with a resounding feeling of community and love.

Following Dead on Board was a quick set from Lost Island Society. There was a time when I was seeing this band every couple of months and then, in the blink of an eye, it stopped. The last time I saw them was all the way back in March of 2024. It didn’t feel like it had been that long because, as soon as they started playing, their sound felt so familiar, but the faces behind this band had clearly changed. Even so, Lost Island Society’s more classic ska sound was absolutely perfect, and their songs, both new and old, hit me perfectly. Lost Island Society’s set was all about fun and ended with an exclamation point: a cover of Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” The crowd had already been dancing their way through Lost Island Society’s set, but this final song got everyone laughing and seemed to shift the dancing to a new extreme.

The sound change between Dead on Board and Lost Island Society was definitely there, but it was subtle compared to the switch that happened between Lost Island Society and Linus, the next and final local band to take the stage. I’ve loved Linus for years but haven’t had the chance to catch them too many times outside of festivals where I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off and where I only linger for a song or two, so I was excited to give this band the time and attention they deserved finally. They started their set by complaining about the new Taco Bell app. That’s when I knew exactly why I have felt so connected to this band over the years. My love for Taco Bell matched theirs, and my frustration with the new app was clearly shared. After a brief complaint session, the band jumped into their classic pop-punk sound. Linus is very much The Ataris meets Blink-182. It’s perfect for nostalgia seekers like me, but also for people who may think they aren’t a fan of the genre, because they perform every song with so much heart and fun. Although it was all smiles throughout the set, the band took some time to show different sides of their art, most notably when they dedicated a song to fallen friends and friendship in general, really putting mental health in the spotlight. They weren’t the first band to do this, and I loved that mental health was at the forefront throughout the night because, ultimately, music is therapy and Friday night’s show was the best kind of therapy.

What happened next still leaves me lost for words the morning after. I had never heard of Hans Gruber and The Die Hards before this show, but within seconds of their set, I found myself turning to my friend and mouthing the word, “WOW!” while doing the “head exploding” gesture with my hands. Hans Gruber and The Die Hards were chaos personified. From trombone to sax to more traditional instruments, nothing about this band made sense musically to me, but it all worked so well together. There was punk, grindcore, ska, classic rock, thrash, metal, noise —there was everything, and it all came together to create a perfect cacophony of sounds. I was truly lost in their world. I had my camera and kept on snapping photos, but I wasn’t watching through the viewfinder. I was watching the people around me. Everyone was smiling, and everyone was moving. There was a conga line at one point that went out of the barrel room and into the taproom. At one point, the band threw out a bunch of sock puppets, and the audience created a sock puppet pit led by the band. People were skanking, people moshing, slam dancing, two-stepping- much like their sound; there was a little bit of everything, and it created an addictive energy in the room that I never wanted to end. My week may have been a bit rough, and I may have been a bit drained by the time I was at this show, but Hans Gruber and The Die Hards brought me back to life in a way that I always want bands to do but rarely get to experience. When this band comes back to town, I will be dropping everything to see them perform. I urge you to do the same.

Closing out Friday night’s show was the one and only Doom Scroll. I had been stoked to see this folk punk band again because the last time I got to see them was all the way back in 2023, but I’ll be honest, Hans Gruber and The Die Hards had already won the night for me. Don’t get me wrong, Doom Scroll sounded great. Their folk punk sound was on point, and they did a great job ushering me back into this genre that I love but, for some reason, don’t spend much time with. Their sound was light compared to what had just happened, but there was a depth as deep as the ocean behind what they were doing. With the washboard catching my eye for most of their set, this band had fun on stage while making sure their music was presented flawlessly. It’s almost like they knew that trying to follow an act like Hans Gruber and The Die Hards was next to impossible, so they just got up on the stage and were themselves. Although it was hard to keep my attention until the end because all I wanted to do was go home and dig a bit deeper into Hans Gruber and The Die Hard’s set, I did thoroughly enjoy the fact that Doom Scroll brought me back down to earth ever so slightly before I was dumped back into the real world after the show.

Ska, pop-punk, chaos, and folk punk. Friday night’s show at 56 Brewing had a little bit of everything and seemed a bit random to an outsider, but if you were watching the crowd, it wasn’t hard to see the similarities between all of these bands and all of the sounds. This was a night for community. A night for people to be who they are. For people to do whatever the hell they wanted without any judgment, and it was perfect.

Line Up:

Dead on Board

Lost Island Society

Linus

Hans Gruber and The Die Hards

Doom Scroll

Venue: 56 Brewing

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 28

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 13 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $1.76

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Sock Puppets

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Celebrity Sightings – Members of Couch Potato Massacre

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Dead on Board – 0

Lost Island Society – 3

Linus – 3

Hans Gruber and The Die Hards – 0

Doom Scrool – 1

Show on Deck – Finick / Lone Rock Bride / Woodzen / Sylvia Dieken

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