Photos & Words By: Mat Stokes
Like most, Fat Wreck has been monumental in shaping my musical tastes. It was very refreshing to see that after 25 years, they are still producing bands to get excited about. Bad Cop/Bad Cop & toyGuitar are easily two of the strongest bands to join the roster in the last few years. The way they were able to get the crowd moving at 2 in the afternoon should be proof enough, but it helps that they have very strong material and command of the stage to back it up. In college, it was the worst that the Flatliners rarely came to the states. Since moving to Chicago in 2008, I have lost track of how many times I’ve caught their sets and I couldn’t be happier about that. While it would be nice to hear Fred’s Got Slacks again, I understand that it wouldn’t fit as well among how much better their songs have become since then. I am also so in love with how Masked Intruder has managed to make their joke still funny and one of the most entertaining bands out there. Given how many times I’ve seen them, there aren’t much in the way of surprises in their sets, but it doesn’t matter because the crowd adores these lovable goons and makes every show special. This was my first time checking out a Swingin’ Utters live show and I have to say, I am kicking myself. Very few front people have the energy and presence on stage that Johnny Bonnel does and I am sorry I missed out for this long. Due to a prior engagement, I wasn’t able to stick around for Strung Out, Lagwagon, or NOFX. I’m bummed, but Strung Out was never my favorite and the first Lagwagon record to really stick was last year’s Hang. If I had to go out on a limb, I’d say NOFX’s set was drunken, crude, and “offensive”. I’ve seen it, I’ve laughed, and I’ll gladly see it again, so I didn’t feel bad for missing it. Cheers to 25 years of getting wrecked and to many more.
