Scowl

Starting off the touring acts is the Hattiesburg, Mississippi based band MSPaint. In all sincerity, the four piece band caught me by surprise with their unique fusion of 80's synth pop and punk rock, their sound feels as if it is the lovechild of DEVO and Black Flag. On top of that, the band's presence and on stage persona were reminiscent of that of Sonic Youth: bold, unapologetic, and flat out cool. On top of that, the band responded well with the crowd as the pit was getting consistently larger after each song and their overall enjoyment of the set was becoming more evident as members of the crowd would sing along to their songs. By the end of their set, I remained in shock that a band with this sound existed and needless to say, MSPaint gained a new fan that night.

Shortly after came the Los Angeles based powerhouse band Militarie Gun and with them, the rest of the crowd. Upon arrival to the stage, the band did not hesitate in drawing the crowd closer to the stage and inviting them to get on up and dive. Within the first song, members of the audience were climbing up on stage while others moshed at their heart's content as frontman Ian Shelton delivered each line with immense emotion and dominance. The band played with great precision and joy as they were able to play songs off their well anticipated album "Life Under The Gun." As their set drew to a close, it became evident that the band's chemistry was impeccable as everyone was able to bounce off of each other and deliver the performance of a lifetime.

After watching four mindblowing openers, the main event of the night was ready to make theirlong awaited appearance in the small but legendary venue. I had been an avid fan of punk rock since I was a middle schooler and my first shows consisted of DIY punk in the Dallas/Fort Worth scene, so Scowl inevitably fell into my radar in 2021 upon the release of their album "How Flowers Grow." By this time I was living in Los Angeles and felt like the album helped encapsulate the stress and pressure that comes from moving across the country. Fast forward to this year and I was finally able to catch my first Scowl set at Coachella (definitely a very unorthodox place to watch a punk band) and I immediately knew that this would not be the last time that I would watch this band. Come September and I was finally able to catch another concert and I was incredibly grateful to see Scowl in all their glory once more. Frontwoman Kat Moss is as charismatic as ever and is a mean green scream queen as she sings and screams each song with a poetic grace following her. Guitarists Malachi Greene and Mikey Bifolco play an aggressive game of catch as each riff is thrown with great power yet great precision as they are able to harmonize in a beautifully chaotic manner. Bassist Bailey Lupo is able to shred his bass with grace and drummer Cole Gilbert's drumming was genially executed as he was able to add more voltage to the highly electric atmosphere that was already made.

The crowd reacted to the band with great love too as the mosh pits were larger than ever and like the previous bands, Kat invited the crowd to get up on stage to dive off. This show reminded me of the DIY shows I attended in my teen and early adult years, there was this sense of community despite how aggressive the crowd seemed. Although there's always the risk of getting hurt from stage diving and moshing and from an outsider's perspective it seems redundant due to all the risks involved, anyone in the punk community can say that this is the most free one can feel in their lives as everyone in these spaces can be their authentic selves. Ultimately, that's the space that this show provided and with Scowl's intense but poetic delivery of lyrics and sounds, people of all sorts of backgrounds felt connected by their music and their set. This can best be felt as in the middle of a show when a member of the audience gifted Moss a pair of Taco Bell themed earrings (following the success of the band's feature in a Taco Bell commercial) and there was this sense of genuine appreciation within the interaction. The band would play a powerful setlist that would conclude with "Opening Night" which led to the audience roaring along with Moss the lyrics to the song from beginning to end, thus ending the night on a massive high note as each member put in all their energy onto making a memorable conclusion. However, the crowd would find themselves with a massive surprise as a Taco Bell truck pulled up outside the venue and gave fans free tacos and burritos to make sure that they did not leave with an empty stomach. As I waited in line I was able to converse with Bifolco and Gilbert where I thanked them for the set and shared my Coachella experience. Both musicians thanked me for coming and told me that they hope to see me at a future show and similar to my first time watching them, I know that this would not be the last time I would see the Santa Cruz based punk band Scowl.