Teenage Bottle Rocket was formed by twin brothers Ray (vocals/guitar) and Brandon (drums) Carlisle. As far as I know they’re the only band, let alone punk band from Laramie, Wyoming to earn national notoriety. Around since 2001, this punk quartet lives up to its name as this band’s pure punk blasts with the power of a rocket launch.
Before the band came out, some dude in a skull mask came on stage waving a red sign with a skull and crossbones on it. This lasted for about one minute (if that) before TBR his the stage with a rocket launch of raw, hard edged punk rock. This is a band that churns out songs that are melodic, yet raw and powerful. They play punk the way punk should sound. I was jostled about in all directions — backward, forward and jerked from side to side so many times I was surprised my internal organs weren’t rearranged. When it was all over, Skull Dude returned to the stage this time holding a red sign stating the words Thank You while the band left the stage. Teenage Bottle Rocket also consist of Kody Templeman – vocals and guitar and Miguel Chen on bass.
Preceding TBR were legendary punks from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, The Queers. Singer/guitarist, Joe Queer has a voice that sounds like he swallows mounds of sugar but spits out nails. This punk rock trio also plays songs which are fast, loud and surprisingly melodic. They even covered The Ramones’ Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, in which a guest vocalist (whose name I didn’t catch) took over on lead vocals. Surprisingly the moshing was tame for The Queers’ set. Other than someone (or someones) frequently trying to mountain climb up the back of my legs, I was relatively unscathed. The Queers were formed in 1981 and currently consist of Joe Queer (aka Joe King), Dangerous Dave – bass, backing vocals, Chris Fields (aka Chip Fracture/Chris Cougar Concentration Camp) – bass, backing vocals, and Lurch Nobody – drums, backing vocals.
Prior to The Queers was The Copyrights, a pop punk band from Carbondale, Illinois made up of the very charismatic Brett Hunter (vocals, guitar) Jeff Funburg (vocals, guitar), Adam Fletcher (vocals, bass), and Luke McNeill (drums). Their music sounded like Blink 182 but edgier — sort of like drinking soda pop laced with shrapnel.
Some of their songs were edgy and raw while others were edgy yet poppy. The former ignited a fair bit of moshers and I knew I was in for a wild ride.
Unfortunately I got there late and missed the set by Seattle band Smoke Jumper. I saw SJ a year ago opening for Swinging Utters and remember being impressed with their hard and fast playing. Hopefully I’ll have another opportunity to see them again soon.
El Corazon gets my vote for consistently booking great acts and also gets my vote for friendliest staff.
