Asian Man Records Tour 08 @ Cafe Metropolis, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Live Reviews | Jun 24th, 2008

The Queers

Opening Bands: Kepi Ghoulie, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Bomb the Music Industry, Lemuria, The Queers
Date: June 21st 2008
Venue: Cafe Metropolis, Wilkes-Barre, PA

The Asian Man Records tour came to Wilkes-Barre, PA Saturday and I wanted to check it out. I mainly wanted to see the Queers play but I wanted to check out the other bands as well. The other bands on the tour included Kepi Ghoulie from the Groovie Ghoulies, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Bomb The Music Industry and Lemuria.

When I got to the club, most of the kids were out in the parking lot and the show didn’t start yet. I went inside with my friend and my girlfriend and got chairs to sit. I wanted to stand on the chairs to shoot the show; I just didn’t feel like standing up front and worrying about sweaty kids climbing on me for sing-alongs.

Kepi Ghoulie started the show at 8pm and played an acoustic set. I believe he also plays electric as well. I never saw Kepi or the Groovie Ghoulies before but I’ve been a fan of Groovie Ghoulies for a few years. Kepi warmed up the packed crowd with lots of clapping. He didn’t have a drummer so he needed the crowd to clap for him. I recognized one or two songs that he played and those were Groovie Ghoulies songs (“She’s My Vampire Girl” “Chupacabras”). He finished his set with a cover of Billy Bragg’s “A New England” and that sounded great! I’m definitely going to check out his latest CD releases now.

The next band up was Andrew Jackson Jihad and they were clearly a crowd favorite. From what it sounded like, fans drove from far away just to see them. The band consisted of 2 guys playing acoustically. One guy played the upright bass and the other played acoustic guitar. If there is one band they remind me of is Against Me. The singer has a similar singing style but the band has a rawer, folk punk sound than Against Me does. It’s almost like punk rock campfire music. I’m not sure what songs they sang but I’m sure it’s off their records “People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World” and “Only God Can Judge Me.” I originally didn’t really like Andrew Jackson Jihad on CD when I reviewed it but their live show is really great. It’s great because the crowd is singing along and just making the show fun to watch. So I might have to go back to their album and see if I like it this time. The band had a blast playing that show though and said it was the best show to date.

Bomb the Music Industry were up next but I think they should have played second to last. They brought the punk rock & ska punk that the kids wanted to hear. The band featured members of Arrogant Son of Bitches. They got the crowd dancing, crowd surfing, and just got them to go crazy. I never heard of the band before but was impressed with their chaotic live show. Towards the end of their set, the singer/guitarist was crowd surfing the crowd and playing his guitar. I was in a great spot and managed to get 2 awesome photos above. Thankfully I didn’t put my camera away yet and kept it out the entire show.

After Bomb the Music Industry, Buffalo NY’s Lemuria were up next. No offense to the band, but they should have went on second before Andrew Jackson Jihad and Bomb the Music Industry. They had a different style to the other bands. No one was really digging their music that much, and kids wanted to hear them play fast songs. Which wasn’t really their style; it was more of an indie rock/post-punk style. I didn’t mind a few songs but I didn’t like them as much as the other bands. They were a good band, just didn’t really fit the bill I thought.

The last band of the evening was the Queers, the band I was there to see. They ended up playing a lot of the same songs as last year, including a Screeching Weasel cover (“Cindy’s on a Methadone”) and a Ramones cover (“Sheena is a Punk Rocker”). They were still great though and barely stopped to take a breather and talk to the crowd. Joe Queer and the other two guys were just plowing through all the classics like “No Tit,” “Love Love Love,” “Punk Rock Girls” “Monster Zero,” “Kicked Out of the Webelos,” “My Old Man’s a Fatso” and “I Can’t Stop Farting.” The setlist from last year wasn’t that exact but the Queers love to play all those 80s punk songs and barely play anything new when I see them.

Like Ben Weasel & Owen Murphy said on one of their latest podcast on Weasel Radio, Joe King needs to start playing some of the pop songs more. But Joe’s defense is that the kids aren’t there for those songs and want to hear all the 80s stuff. I know I would love to hear all the pop songs, as well as some newer stuff from Munki Brain, Punk Rock Confidential, and Pleasant Screams. Towards the end of their set, Kepi Ghoulie came on stage and performed with the band. They came back with a quick encore and played “Ursala Finally Has Tits” and “This Place Sucks” (again).

The show had an interesting lineup with lots of diverse bands. Asian Man Records has been and continues to be one of the best run DIY record labels ever. Mike Park & co. have done a great job of picking different styles of music to showcase on their label and this tour was a good indicator of that.

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