The Queers show at the Jackpot was a little light. Light in attendance, light in original material -- just pretty much a lightweight show all around. Now, it's not as if pop-punk is plunging the depths of human experience for lyrical content. There were more than a few songs about girls Friday night.
Still, the Queers were touring with yet another drummer, meaning they're not exactly long on material. Their drummer on this tour is Dusty Watson of Agent Orange, which is cool as fuck, but the Queers were limited to the songs he'd learned. Everyone got to hear the hits: "Ursula Finally Has Tits," "Yeah, Well, Whatever," "Kicked Out of the Webelos," et al. However, their were four covers: "The Kids Are Alright," "Wipeout," "Rock 'n' Roll Radio," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash." For a touring band, with nearly twenty years' worth of back catalog, that's a little much. The kids were down with it, but when a full fifth of a standard-bearer band's set is covers, you can't help but wonder if that's why there were only 40 or 50 kids there on a Friday night, rather than the LHS vs. Free State varsity football game.
On the bright side, it appears that all the openers were accorded as much enthusiasm as the headlining Queers themselves.
KTP certainly had as many kids crammed up front as the Queers did. They were a bit rusty, having recently lost their practice space. Their set sounded energetic enough, however, and they've added a cover of the Replacements' "Bastards of Young" since I saw them last, too. It's goes nicely with KTP's rough-and-ready brand of punk rock. They don't do the "Take it, it's yours" fadeout, unfortunately.
I keep expecting KTP to make the step from playing opening slots to headlining more shows around the area. They've got the sound to make the change from opening punk band to all-around favorites, and it'd be cool to see them switch from playing nothing but punk shows to being recognized as more of a rock act.
One has to be a little surprised that the second band on, Pass-A-Fist, played before the Hemorrhoids. Pass-A-Fist features two Free State High School sophomores, a Lawrence High sophomore, and a home-schooled 13 year-old as frontman. I've seen this band 18 times. Well, not this band specifically, but this kind of band: enthusiastic, vaguely angry, and a blend of pop-punk and hardcore. Call 'em Pass-A-Fist or Mr. Machine or the Ex-Statix, they pop up every year or so, and give me hope that punk rock can still be fun and entertaining.
Then again, the Hemorrhoids are guys my age and still know how to have fun. They've been playing for years, and just put out their first CD (the recently-released Itchin' Fer a Good Time). They're the most Ramones-core band that the area has right now, and it actually makes sense that they played first, since it gave the most distance between them and the Queers, whom they certainly sound a lot like.
It would've been nice to have seen more than a few kids out, but the Queers have been through quite a few times in the past couple of years, and maybe after making the trip to KC to see them play the Record Bar a few times, the idea of seeing them in your hometown isn't as interesting.
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Dusty doesnt even know how to play Agent Orange songs and they suck live now... he is a hack
Dusty is just playing in a tribute band to Agent Orange, the original band from the '80s is the bomb!
I mean, my day job is baking, but I don't know that one. I can do povatica like a Slavic grandmother, however.
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