Pennywise and Teenage Bottlerocket
"Detroit
Couldn't rock itself out of a paper bag"
So states the opening line of Teenage Bottlerocket's song, Bigger Than Kiss, a song meant more to disparage classic rock band Kiss rather than insult one of the greatest rock & roll cities of all time. The lyrical slap in the face was all the Detroit crowd needed as they responded to the slight by erupting into a fist-pumping mosh pit to prove they could, indeed, rock themselves out of a paper bag.
Teenage Bottlerocket refuses to take themselves too seriously and aren’t afraid to throw a bit of antagonistic fun into their show. Who else would have the balls to start off their set by playing I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas over the loudspeaker or make mocking jabs at the cities of Detroit and Lansing to packed room full of Michigan punks ready for violence?
Don’t let their sense of humor fool you. While they may come across as pop punk, jokesters, they're stone cold serious when it comes to performing. Keeping banter to a minimum they tore through their set with nearly non-stop bursts of downstrokes and drumbeats that would've made The Ramones proud.
Standouts included the songs Skate or Die, Don't Want to Go and new song off their upcoming album Tales From Wyoming called They Call Me Steve, an ode to the main character in the videogame Minecraft. They ended their set with Headbanger but not before playing On My Own which included a surprise medley of Van Halen's Panama, The Ramones' Blitzkrieg Bop and bit of Rush's Spirit of Radio thrown in for good measure
Anthemic. That's the word that embodies the music and sound of punk rock heavy hitters, Pennywise. After a 15 year hiatus, the SoCal band finally made their return to St. Andrews Hall, and despite the lengthy absence, proved they hadn't lost a step. They kept the crowd full of die-hard punk fans moving and singing along from start to finish. Exploding out of the gates with Fight Till You Die, they kept barrage going with Rules, Same Old Story and later went on to pay homage to punk rock legends Bad Religion by covering Do What You Want and Minor Threat by Minor Threat including guest vocal duties by hometown boy Jay from The Suicide Machines. Every ounce of energy the band gave, the crowd returned in kind. The set ended with a cover of Stand By Me made famous by Ben E. King and then the epic whoa-tastic sing along, Bro Hymn.