Dead in Marseille, The Remnants, The Last Hope, Nicotones, Straight Laced
Bubba’s Bowling Club
Saturday, Feb. 5

This Saturday, Punk Rock Night had one of their best shows since they opened at Bubba’s Bowling. It was advertised as an oi show — oi being a subgenre of punk — and the first band, Dead in Marseille, didn’t quite fit that description but the rest more than made up for it.

Dead in Marseille played a more typical brand of punk to start off the show, and during their set I noticed Tobin from Flatfoot 56 walking in the door: He told me he came from Chicago to see the next band, The Remnants (also from Chicago). As soon as they started playing, I could see why. My favorite song of theirs is “Nobody Home,” the title track of one of their singles, which talks about wanting to leave town and holds all the energy that one band can handle.

Then The Last Hope came on, a band that I badly underestimated, thinking that they were a local band with the same name. They’re actually from Pittsburgh, and even while they were just setting up, I could tell that they were in a completely different league. They played fast streetpunk and their stage presence was just as good as the music. With six people in the band — a bassist and drummer, three guitarists, and a singer — it seemed a little strange at first but a few notes into the first song and it was obvious they were going to be good. The singer looked like a pissed-off Billy Idol and it was just impossible to not watch him, whether singing or swinging the microphone around. I almost got hit in the face with the mic when I looked away at the wrong moment.

But it would have been worth it.

The Nicotones were next, almost-local from Bloomington, and played catchy punk which quickly had the audience back on their feet. No, they weren’t oi, and not quite streetpunk either, but who cares as long as they can play. They definitely proved that they can. Straight Laced finished up the show, a band from Lexington, Kentucky, who got added at the last moment and wrapped up a great night. As well as their own songs, they covered The Last Resort’s “Violence in our Minds,” which sent people all but running to the stage to sing along, as well as Cock Sparrer’s “Tough Guys.”

At one point the singer, Shadwick, announced that they were going to play another cover and asked if anyone had heard of the Grateful Dead. When someone cheered, he called him a hippie and told him to leave. He later said there’s “no holds barred when Straight Laced comes to town” and that phrase just seemed perfect: no holds barred for the night.