Punk rock proves timeless for fans

The gray-haired crowd surfer, leering like a boy who had just discovered his father's Playboy stash, underscored an ever-present reality that was evident throughout the weekend festival: Punk rock is officially middle-aged.

But that doesn't mean it has to act like it.

For four days at various venues downtown, the Punk Rock Bowling festival swarmed the area with lots of heavily tattooed moms and dads who acted more like unruly children, soundtracked by plenty of bands that they listened to in high school.

Among these long-running groups was the Dwarves, whose pie-eyed, lightning bolt of a frontman, Blag Dahlia, lunged atop the outstretched arms of an adoring audience at the Las Vegas Country Saloon on Friday night.

Though Dahlia is in his mid-40s, he tore across the stage (and off it) with the aorta-bursting energy levels of an over-caffeinated teenager.

His band followed suit, firing off two-minute blasts of hooks and hormones like rounds shot from a machine gun.

The Dwarves' set Friday established the tone for the next three days, when punk veterans dominated the festival lineup, which numbered more than 60 acts.

On Sunday, at the festival main stage outdoors near the El Cortez, Kevin Seconds, the 51-year-old frontman for Reno's positive hard-core mainstay 7 Seconds, marveled at the fact that he has been playing gigs for more than three decades.

"You're saying, 'But my father's 32 years old,' " he said with a chuckle at the band's lengthy time line, speaking to the younger fans in attendance. "You know what, though? It's still fun."

Shortly thereafter, the band raced through an adrenaline-infused, shout-along version of Sham 69's "If the Kids are United," playing the song in tribute of the British punks who penned it and who were supposed to play this year's Punk Rock Bowling but had to cancel for family health issues.

"I'm gonna stay young until I die," Seconds bellowed at song's end, attempting to shout down adulthood.

The previous night, an even more wizened act, English pop punk troupe The Adicts , who dress like Droogs from "A Clockwork Orange," proved themselves to be similarly unencumbered by years of activity on the main stage.

Their tunes registered as a series of punk rock lullabies, with choruses as big and bouncy as the beach balls that they tossed into the crowd at set's end.

They were followed by fest regulars NOFX, who opened with "60 Percent," a song that served as their mission statement but that applied to many of those in attendance, bands and fans alike.

"I'm here because old habits die hard," frontman Fat Mike sang on the tune, which started as a moody-sounding waltz before rocketing into a melodic blur. "And seriously, what else am I supposed to do? This isn't my job, my hobby, my habit ... . This is my life."

With concertgoers coming from all across the country to the event, which celebrated its 14th year over the weekend, the festival had the drunken, jovial, come-as-you-are feel of a family gathering.

And true to form, there were reunions (scruffy Seattle garage punks The Briefs played their first show in five years, an equally turbulent and tuneful set on the main stage Saturday), some outliers (ska revivalists The English Beat, whose frontman weathered a hurled water bottle to the face during a Saturday main stage showing) and lots of welcome returns (a roaring, raw-throated Monday main stage performance by Hot Water Music, who also electrified the fest two years ago).

Mostly, though, the weekend was a testament to the enduring power of punk's formative years and the bands who defined them, such as grizzled Brit street punk bulldogs G.B.H.

Snarling through short metallic missives, his black leather jacket lipped up to his clavicle despite the heat, singer Colin Abrahall demonstrated how ageless this sound, this scene can be.

"You're obsolete!" he bellowed during "Unique," ostensibly referring to calendars.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.