Surprises Abound
Just because I’m heading to Punk Rock Bowling the next day doesn’t mean I’m going to miss some awesome music the night before. It does mean this goes up after though. The night was full of surprises catching bands like the Fighting 48th and Ese for the first time, while bands I already love with We Me Be Wasted and Western Settings.
Opening up was a band I didn’t know was comprised of so many awesome musicians from our scene, the Fighting 48th. This includes Jimmy from the Tribulators, Roy from Broloaf, and Ren from the Dark Hearts. You might call them an Arizona local’s all-star band. I didn’t have a clue going in that was this band. Heck, they managed to incorporate Ren’s drumming and singing skills in a couple places too. It was a fantastic set to open up.
We Might Be Wasted followed, and have been mentioned plenty on here. Returning on second guitar was Dan, who didn’t make it for their last set. I’m going to say he missed it to spare his eyes, as the speedo did not make a return this night. He does add another animated and full of character element to their set. Donny still found a way to do something different, hanging off the left side of the stage for a song. Once again, a good set from We Might Be Wasted.
Then there was the other surprise of my night, Ese. These guys are kind of like if there was a punk version of Motorhead. They play loud and fast, with the bass sounding more guitar-like. Ese had a great energy, and excellent personality up there. Jokes and humor were abounding between the songs. I didn’t know who they were before the show, but that was an impressive set of music.
When speaking of surprises, Western Setting comes to mind because they were my biggest surprise and unknown when I saw them back at the Rebel Riot. They bring liveliness to that stage. Their sound is fantastic, and the lyrics engaging. Honestly I was going to be upset if I missed them because of a need of sleep for traveling to Punk Rock Bowling. I highly recommend Western Settings, and one of my favorite bands I’ve discovered in the past year.
