Opening Bands: The Erection Kids, Melded
Band Links: link

It’s been almost ten years since the last time I saw The Queers. It was my first or second year of College and I saw the band at Sea Seas in Moosic, PA. The place usually drew decent crowds for bigger bands but apparently no one knew the Queers showed up that night and there was about 15 people in the crowd. But then again, everyone just went to hardcore shows that Sea Seas. But I felt bad for the band since no one was there so I tried to show as much support as I could. Thankfully Wilkes-Barre’s scene is a little better and kids do actually show up on a school/work night.

I got to the club late and didn’t see the opening band play but I was really just there for the Queers. I never been to Cafe Metropolis but it reminded me a lot of Sea Seas. I was reminiscing with my college buddy about Sea Seas and how I used to sit on top of the speakers and watch all the bands and dancing. Those were the days!The second band were called The Erection Kids and they actually weren’t that bad. They actually should have went on before the Queers because they got the crowd into the show, and the pop punk band played a great cover of the Descendents’ “Bikeage”. After The Erection Kids, was some band called Melded. They told the crowd up front that they weren’t punk so that was brave of them. But Melded weren’t awful or anything, they just slowed things down and didn’t really fit the bill. I liked a few of their more upbeat stuff but overall I was started to get bored and wanting to see the headliner.

I grabbed a spot near the front, stood on a chair and took pictures of the Queers as they took the tiny stage. I bought a new lens, specifically for concert photography because it was great for low lighting. Though, the lighting at Cafe Metropolis was way too dark so my pictures still came out crappier than usual. Plus the lens wasn’t a zoom lens so I had to move around the crowd to get some pictures. I hate doing that because I know i’m irritating everyone around me. But anyway, The Queers just had a new album come out on Asian Man Records and I think it’s their best one since “Don’t Back Down.” Asian Man Records has also been re-releasing a lot of their older stuff. I was hoping they would play some new stuff tonight but that wasn’t the case. The Queers played a lot of older material, and breezed by all the songs as well. It actually felt like Melded played longer than the Queers, but maybe it just felt that way because Melded seemed like they would never got off.

The Queers opened up with “No Tit” and it got the crowd moving. There was a pit or two that kept opening up around where I was standing so I had to peak at the corner of my eye to see if anyone was coming. I’m not too familiar with the Queers stuff before ’96, but I think the band played a lot of their material from before that time. I think I remember them playing “Goodbye California,” “I Met Her at The Rat,” “Burger King Queen” and “Ben Weasel.” Though I could be completely wrong, which has happened in the past. The Queers ended up doing one or two songs from Screeching Weasel and the Ramones as well. They played “Cindy is on Methadone” and “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.” I think they also played “Teenage Freakshow,” but it could have been “Teenage Bonehead?” As you can tell, I was more worried about taking pictures instead of remembering every track the band played. I was kind of disappointed that the band didn’t play any new songs, not even “Houston We Have a Problem” or “I Don’t Get It.” Another song I wish they played off the new album was “Girl about Town.” Oh well, maybe this tour was more about the re-issues than their new album? The band has finished their set relevantly early it seemed. They maybe played for 35-40 minutes, and only came back for a quick encore to play “This Place Sucks.” Overall, the Queers played a good set but it was sadly too short. I think they played a lot of songs but of course, most of them are under two minutes. If you haven’t had a chance to see the band live yet, do so because they are a lot of fun!

Bottom Line: The Queers were good but their set was too short and they didn’t play any new songs.
Favorite Songs: No tit, Punk Rock Girls, Cindy Is on Methadone, Sheena is a Punk Rocker
Overall Rating: