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Off With Their Heads
Vocalists/guitarists Ryan Young and John Polydoros were cheerier than during other recent Vegas stops, making for a looser and more satisfying OWTH experience. The clowning didn’t strip away from the impact of emotionally devastating songs like “Come Find Me” and the rarely played “Old Man.”
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Dwarves
The frequent PRB visitors were almost violently mesmerizing, so much that we almost believed frontman Blag Dahlia’s proclamation that the band “invented punk rock.” The band played all of 1990’s Blood Guts & Pussy, best among the festival’s five full-album performances, and the energy didn’t ebb even after those songs ended, as Dwarves cycled through guest vocalists to help finish the set.
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Flag
It’s a shame guitarist Greg Ginn’s lingering hostility will likely prevent a true Black Flag reunion from ever happening, but a lineup anchored around the heart of the legendary band—bassist Chuck Dukowski and original vocalist Keith Morris—is hardly a poor substitute. Morris has become more comfortable performing BF songs that didn’t originally feature his vocals, and no one’s more animated onstage than the 62-year-old Dukowski.
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Descendents
No complaints here about the best pop-punk band of all-time headlining the festival for the third time in six years. The Descendents’ latest set was memorable even before the added bonus of hearing half a dozen songs off forthcoming album Hypercaffium Spazzinate and an organic four-song encore.
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The Bronx
A question hovers over each edition of Punk Rock Bowling: Which modern acts might be able to headline when the current crop’s no longer available? The Bronx presented the strongest answer from any middle-billed band in years. In its first show of 2016, the hardcore-influenced, LA-based band ignited the highest-energy set of the weekend, which found frontman Matt Caughthran getting thrown around the circle pit during a two-song foray into the crowd.
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Leon Bridges wants to tend to his Texas roots in his next album
Fort Worth-raised Grammy Award winner Leon Bridges performs at the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on April 25.
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Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn lands at Myron’s this week
The award-winning folk, jazz and rock artist Bruce Cockburn is making the rounds behind last year’s acclaimed "O Sun O Moon," his 27th album.
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Singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin revels in her indie residency at the Beverly Theater
Julia Jacklin performs at the Beverly Theater in Downtown Las Vegas on April 18 and 25 and May 2.
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