Tale of two crowds

Room 21, FBS
Bubba’s Bowling Club
Saturday, March 26

This week’s PRN was fairly small, two bands and only 20 or 25 people in the audience, but neither band let that bother them. There had been two other bands scheduled who didn’t make it, which often means the whole show is cancelled, the remaining bands deciding to wait until they can play for a bigger crowd. These two went ahead, though, and managed to play a great show.

The first band, Room 21, was local horror pop-punk that seemed to want to be the Misfits but got stuck with Sum 41 instead. They played covers of both. They have improved quite a bit since I saw them almost five months ago, and although the singing felt a little off a few times, they really have been working hard. Their audience was the part that interested me the most, though. There was a separation that was obvious as soon as you walked in the door. On the right side of the floor was Room 21’s audience: a bit younger than usual, maybe, with sloppy painted faces and longer hair. They seemed to all be best friends, or at least know each other. The rest of the audience had their own camaraderie, too, especially when there were so few people, but this was a completely different group. Here’s the leather, the green or blue or pink hair, the mohawks, the pants so tight that, well, they don’t hide anything. These are the kids who came from as far north as Lafayette and maybe farther south than Southport for the Ohio streetpunk band FBS.

FBS started with a great cover of “Watch Your Back” by Cocksparrer, then launched into their own original songs, which were just as good. The drummer later explained to me that they usually start with a cover because then it’s easier for the audience to identify with the band and their music — and it worked. Although the movement was somewhat limited, people were still obviously getting into them. In this case, they finished with a few covers as well, ones that might have been a little unexpected: “Ace of Spaces” by Motorhead and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” Their songs were as varied as the covers, so there was never a chance to get bored, although nobody would have, and, overall, I can’t wait for them to come back.