Punk Rock Bowling, Day Three
Melissa Fossum FLAG
FLAG, D.R.I., The Subhumans, and The Casualties
Monday, May 27, 2013
Last night featured what was perhaps the most highly anticipated show of the entire festival -- FLAG. Two reunited versions of Black Flag currently exist, and the lineup with original members Keith Morris, Dez Cadena, Chuck Dukowski, and Bill Stevenson, with the addition of Stephen Egerton on guitar, performed at Punk Rock Bowling.
Punk Rock Bowling, Day Two (view the full slideshow)
Melissa Fossum Bad Religion
Bad Religion, Turbonegro, Lagwagon, and Bouncing Souls
Sunday, May 26
The second day of Punk Rock Bowling was full of some of the biggest names in punk, representing the past and present members of Epitaph and Fat Wreck Records like a meeting of mafia families.
The bowling tournament ended just in time for Bouncing Souls, which was ideal for the punk-loving crowd. The other demographic was easy to spot -- Turbonegro fans.
Devo, The Damned
Photos by Melissa Fossum
Punk Rock Bowling, Las Vegas (View the full slideshow.)
May 25, 2013
The Punk Rock Bowling Music Festival had a strong start, though some bands like Swingin' Utters (who bowled today as "Swingin' Gutters") had to rush to the festival after the bowling tournament ended around 6 p.m. This was problematic for people like me, who grabbed a bite to eat between the bowling tournament at Sam's Town and the festival at Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.
A couple of years ago, I described Punk Rock Bowling as having a lineup reminiscent of the glory days of Warped Tour. This is my first year at Punk Rock Bowling, and I must say out of all of the other festivals I've been to, the best way to describe it is, in fact, as a less sucky version of Warped Tour.
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Melissa Fossum The Lawrence Arms
The Lawrence Arms
Las Vegas Country Saloon
Friday, May 24
While I'm thrilled at the opportunity to see Devo and FLAG live (at Punk Rock Bowling), The Lawrence Arms are the main reason I'm in Las Vegas right now. The gritty Chicago punk band hasn't performed in Phoenix since a Chaser's show in 2009, around the time Buttsweat and Tears was released. The band has been fairly inactive since then, playing a festival here and there (including Chicago's Riot Fest this year, which features Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan's former band, The Broadways, as well as The Lawrence Arms.)
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Phoenix has a long tradition of punk bars that serve up cheap beer and fast, aggressive (sometimes sloppy) punk rock. Some great venues have closed over the past few years, and while we dearly miss Jugheads and Rogue West, punk bars continue to thrive in the Valley of the Sun. Most are situated in unassuming suburban strip malls, but these locations continue to host some of the best local and national acts the genre has to offer. 
Melissa Fossum Angry Samoans at Hollywood Alley
See also:
-Top 10 Hard Rock Venues in Phoenix
-10 Best Country Bars in Metro Phoenix
Yep, you read that headline correctly. Punk legends Black Flag are making their way to Club Red on Thursday, July 11. It isn't the classic lineup, though, and some fans may be disappointed by the lack of Keith Morris, Dez Cadena, Robo, and/or Henry Rollins. Greg Ginn, the band's only continuous member heads the current lineup, which features Ron Reyes, who sang in the Jealous Again era between Morris and Rollins, on vocals. 
Bev Davies Black Flag
Editor's Note: It's not every day that a band capable of filling arenas headlines a gig at the (comparatively) intimate Marquee Theatre. But that's exactly what's going down tonight, when the Bieber-bashing, ¡Uno-¡Dos!-¡Tre! -releasing Green Day heads to Tempe for a sold-out show. Critical consensus can be pretty mixed when it comes to Billie Joe and Co. Some are quick to dismiss the band, but Elano Pizzicarola of L.A. Weekly's West Coast Sound has a compelling argument: Green Day didn't sell out; you just got old. Stand by for our full review of the show and an accompanying slideshow tomorrow.
By Elano Pizzicarola
One of the most mainstream punk bands since the new millennium, Green Day has faced criticism for selling out ever since releasing 2004's American Idiot -- some would say as far back as after the release of 1994's Dookie.
Fuck that. They didn't sell out. In fact, songs on American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown resonate just as deeply as those on Dookie.
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The story of Orpheus and Eurydice, a myth originally told by the ancient Greeks but best-preserved in Western culture through the Roman poet Ovid, generally is interpreted as a cautionary tale about the perils of living in the past. Orpheus, a famous Greek bard, loses his wife to a snake bite, goes into the underworld, persuades Hades with the gnarliest of jams to let him bring her back to the land of the living, and gets his wish under the condition that he doesn't look back. He does look back and loses it all.
While the story is rooted in the idea of a romantic relationship, it's easy to look at its musical implications. Orpheus himself comes off like a brooding Mediterranean Bon Iver figure consumed by his obsession with a lost love. You can also see the analogues between Orpheus and musicians who try to recapture certain points in their careers. But the most relevant aspect of the Orpheus myth to the landscape of contemporary music is the near-futility the listener has in experiencing the past in the present.
What brings Orpheus to mind is the recent announcement of two reformed Black Flag lineups, one under the Black Flag moniker featuring founder and trademark holder Greg Ginn and Jealous Again-era vocalist Ron Reyes, and the other simply under the name "FLAG," fronted by Nervous Breakdown-era vocalist Keith Morris. Both are scheduled for various summer festival appearances.
See also:
-Keith Morris of OFF! On That Time The Band Got Arrested For Taking Used Cooking Oil in Phoenix
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Post-hardcore rockers The Used have been put through the wringer more than a couple times during the 12 years they've spent together as a band. It's hard to imagine that even before the time spent addicted to drugs, label shifts, and the on-stage injuries, the members had already experienced homelessness, poverty, and bullying. 
Frank Maddocks The Used
H2O and Terror are in the midst of a co-headlining tour that made its way to The Underground last night, until H2O canceled the show a few hours before doors opened. We reached out to Mantooth and Bridge Nine records to find out why H2O canceled but have yet to receive an answer. Mantooth graciously offered full refunds to anyone who planned to just see H2O, and fans got $2 back on every presale.
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