punks in vegas!

So I survived my second Punk Rock Bowling and lived to blog the tale!

For anyone not privy to Punk Rock Bowling, it's basically a Las Vegas punk rock convention dedicated to bowling, bands, and lots of booze. It's basically one weekend out of the year where everyone you'd be friends with if you lived in the same place heads out to Vegas to tear shit up. I like to think of it as punk rock Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.

It's a place where if you're single you can get laid every night (the ratio being far in favor for the single ladies) as long as you don't mind seeing the person with someone else the very next day. It's a place where coupled folk like myself can have just as much sex (with far less chance of disease & "oh fuck" pregnancies) and remember how you first fell in love at a punk show and are happy to still be going to them 10 years later. It's a place where if you're a sexless loner in your hometown because you don't fit in, you could probably still get laid by another loner just like you. It's a place where the line between celebrity and fan becomes blurred  and you can play poker with Fat Mike, ride an elevator with Milo, or sit next to Joey Cape at dinner. It's a place with a sense of community though where if you lose your friends you don't even worry cause you know you'll meet new ones as soon as you head to the bar for your next drink. It's a place where if you lose a bet to your friend you can pop in the lobby pagoda and get their name tattooed on your ass with the whole hotel watches. It's a place where all the concerns and responsibilties of the real world go away for a couple days and you can still be the 16 year old punk rock chick you'll always be at heart (but with more money & legal drinking). It's basically amazing and I wish it lasted longer.

While it's fresh in my Vegas fogged mind, I thought it'd be fun to highlight the weekend. This way when I'm older and can't remember how much fun I had, I can re-live it and my daughter can use it against me when she's older and ready to make her own pilgrimage to sin city. I can't promise to recount all the details, but
I'll sure try my damndest.

Day One:

We hit the road on Friday morning and arrived at Sams Town about 5 o'clock (perfect right?!?). We checked in, iced the beers we picked up at the gas station, and headed down to the atrium bar for some fun. It didn't take long to meet up with lasts years PRB friends and meet some new ones. Somehow we managed to force ourselves to grab some dinner before splitting up some the the tables, some the bar (again), and one the tattoo stand.  Later that evening we hopped the shuttle to club show where all I remember actually seeing was Chip Hanna. I know the Cobra Skulls, Swinging Utters, and Cadillac Tramps also played but I was three shakes to the wind at that point and busy meeting my tattoo twins (well, technically quadruplets). Skiba himself supposedly inked the right two... RAD!

Somehow after all of this we arrived safely to our room next door to Talli a.k.a. "She's Nubs", and hit the (clean) sheets... Sorry I can't resist a good pun & since The Descendents headlined so I just had to go there...

Day Two:

We awoke hungover and ready to bowl! After getting there early to grab shoes that fit, a ball I could actually carry, and a couple bloody mary's me and my fellow Smooch Butchers were ready. Our shirts turned out great, we had super nice bowling neighbors ( Team AA Bowl Shit), and punk music began to flood the lanes. I can't tell you what we scored but I can say I bowled better then last year and we still didn't rank. We of course celebrated our lack of accomplishment meeating a bunch of Fat Wreck Chords icons and drinking more. After said drinks we decided to commemorate the event with some PRB ink where I got a bloody cleaver in tribute to my beloved bowling team, The Smooch Butchers!

(my new & improved thigh)

We spent the rest of the day at the atrium bar where I stayed until I could no longer handle any drunken drama or conversations. I went back to room early and alone but content with my new souvenir ink and a fun day behind me.

Day Three (The BIG One):

Sunday morning I awoke feeling good. We hashed out the previous nights drama, grabbed some much needed food, and rounded up the troops for what would become one of the most epic days of my life. We headed to the music fest early, staked some prime bleacher real estate, then hit up the merch stands for a Paper Doll dress for Little Sass and some much needed hoodies as it was freezing out. 

The first band was Larry And His Flask, a band dubbed "appalachian punk" and an energetic joy to watch & hear. The seriously rocks & I highly recommend you check them out when their first album hits in June (label unknown) or on this summers Warped Tour.

Those bearded punks were followed by the amazing and vastly underrated American Steel. They were amazing and hence the "vastly underrated" we got to watch them up close and personal. Their set was excellent and their lyrics very therapeutic given the previous days drama (sometimes you just gotta listen to the words and it all comes together). After Steel's set, The Undertones & Black Pacific played. I wasn't too into them which allowed me to get to more sitting time in before the big guns came out. 

Next up was Bouncing Souls which are always entertaining but not at their best that night in my opinion. A highlight was Shawn Sterns birthday shout out and "Quick Check Girl" by his request. Also, they covered The Misfits's "Legacy of Brutality" acoustically with Greg on guitar which was pretty fantastic. 

Then it was time for Me First and The Gimme Gimmes to take stage. They appeared in their trademark baby blue tuxes and ready to go. I was ready to go too! Anyone that has ever seen me see the Gimmes knows I hold nothing back and couldn't even if I tried. They opened with Elton John's "Rocket Man" and from there is was a non-stop singing, jumping, crying, spinning, screaming, dance fest until they left the stage. They were amazing as always. If could could spend the rest of my life with the Gimmes playing in my head I don't think I'd ever have another bad day.

Finally, the moment we had traveled and waited for: the few, the proud, The Descendents! Words cannot even do justice to the set they played. It was 16 years of listening pleasure rolled up into one flawless performance. I'd never seen a crowd so enamored by a band and justly so, they sound ten times better live than on records. I saw people dancing, I saw people crying. I even heard someone got engaged. It was probably the best show I've ever been to and I feel lucky to have seen it. They played just about everything I wanted to hear and even included some unexpected favorites. It was amazing!

Who could ever follow a Descendents show in a club right? Well, Old Man Markley can! I first saw these guys at last years Punk Rock Bowling and they are the happiest little blue grass punk band you ever did see. They do an amazing cover of Screeching Weasel's "Science of Myth" (yeah yeah  Ben hits girls...) which is my favorite song of theirs. I met a few of them after the show and they were as nice as can be.

Then we went back to the hotel, put it all on black, and made back all the money we spent that day!

So that pretty much sums up PRB 2011, leaving is always so sad as I wish I could stay in that world forever like a real life Maddersville. But the fact that it only happens once a year is what makes it so special, until 2012 I await with baited breathe...