Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, The HorrorPops, The Briefs & Pistol Grip

To be fair, allow me to disclose to the reader a little secret: I was reasonably well determined to not like this show before I even walked through the Vets Hall doors. I had not heard a single band on the bill prior, nor have I been particularly impressed with much of what I’ve witnessed in the punk scene of recent years. I expected little kids, pissed off and arrogant musicians and an overwhelming atmosphere of ignorance and tension. It’s a credit to everyone involved with the show that I ended up enjoying myself the entire night through.
Pistol Grip opened the bill, playing some pretty accessible street punk, riding high on the pop-y side. The bassist sported an Unseen shirt, the drummer promoting the Misfits. Pistol Grip themselves sounded as if each of these bands copulated and left behind a slightly (being generous here) less creative baby. Overall a good time, but their inability to move around on stage left the hall devoid of an energy that their frequent “whoa-ohh” vocals weren’t quite enough to bring about alone.
Next up were The Briefs, the surprise highlight of the night. Punk with an emphasis on the rock, you couldn’t help but enjoy a band that was enjoying themselves as much as The Briefs were. Bleached blonde hair and white sunglasses all around, with the kind of continuous bopping that makes it appear each musician is wrestling his own guitar into submission. It worked.
Third in line and straight from Denmark were the only psychobilly rockers on the “Punks vs. Psychos” tour. The HorrorPops stood alone to fight for the psycho side, and held their ground…for a while. While a female singer, an upright bass and go-go dancers in matching black and white stripes are refreshing changes from the stagnant norms of punk rock, the songs seemed to last for too long and in the end all sounded pretty much the same — straight up non-descript psyobilly. An exception to this was the Pops’ proud production of a “ska” song (which seemed to bring more boos than cheers from the psycho-punk fans), which started as some form of ska, but eventually sounded like the songs immediately preceding and following.
At last the Bastards took the stage with Lars Frederiksen standing front and center. A fan of Rancid for many years, I was not expecting much from Lars in this venture, for reasons I still don’t understand. This proved to be a silly prediction as they pummeled through a hearty set of punk, ranging from country-rock roots to Motorhead inspired hardcore to the plain, simple, and passionate punk rock I should have expected from Lars in the first place. All musicians played well and were full of life and energy, transferring those same feelings to the crowd, who ran in circles on command and jumped atop each other, fists in the air tightly clenched around their freshly removed T-shirts. The participation was encouraged by the frontman, allowing fans to sing in his mic and rock to their heart’s content. The well behaved audience, diverse in age as well as factions of the subculture of punk, all seemed to leave with the lifted spirits, broad smiles and sincere feelings of a unified musical movement every underground show should promote. Hats off to the Bastards for fruitfully providing a victorious soundtrack.

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