Marie Monday

oh hell yes i hope it's as good as the london gig I went to

__________________

Buckeye Randy

Thanks for the heads up. Tix bought for show at Robbins Theater in Warren.

Drjohnrock

You're quite welcome. I'd better get my tickets for the Cincinnati show the next night before it sells out!

Buckeye Randy

Last night...

Who: Teenage Bottlerocket
Where: Grog Shop (Cleveland Heights, OH)
When: August 29, 2024

Excuse me while I get reflective for a moment. It’s great to watch kids grow and start their own families, it really is. However, I sometimes feel a void as their time demands don’t leave much time for hanging out with good ole Dad. Damn soccer practice.

My oldest son was my punk concert buddy when he was younger but as the number of grandkids increased our time going to concerts proportionately decreased. We’ve had some great times seeing countless shows including; Violent Femmes, Rancid, NY Dolls, The Saints, Dollyrots, Television, The Dictators, Dead Milkmen, Horrorpops, Japandroids, Buzzcocks, The Offspring, Bouncing Souls, DKM, Flogging Molly, Pennywise, Rev Horton Heat and The Supersuckers plus plenty of others not on my memory quick dial. I’m not even going to start listing bands from the three Warped Tours we saw together, we would be here all day as I fumble through my memory banks. My point is, we were going to many shows and now not so much.

Imagine my surprise last month when I received a text from my son, “Wanna see Teenage Bottlerocket”? I quickly said ‘yes’ even though I could only think of a few songs. Do I really need to know more? I learned many years ago that the concert experience is as much about who you go to a show with as it is the performance you see. I did a quick search on Spotify and it turns out I know more songs than I thought plus I now know dozens more as I prep for the show.

Sooo…I rummage through my concert t-shirts because I want to project the right punky vibe to let fellow punks know I’m no dweeb. It’s not the sort of show you would wear a shirt sporting a Journey logo (not that I own one). This pre-gig detail seems important but I only do this after I use the digital coupon for a five minute oil change before a road trip. Priorities can be a tightrope as we grow older! Car is ready and I’m ready (wearing Dead Milkmen t-shirt), time to pick up my son and start the trek to the Grog Shop. BTW, I had to call my son to make sure he wasn’t wearing his Dead Milkmen shirt!

The Grog Shop has a 400 standing room capacity and is located in an artsy district referred to as Coventry Village. The eclectic neighborhood is full of fun shops and eateries in the middle of Cleveland Heights which is 15 minutes from downtown Cleveland. I would not call this a suburb, the only thing that says you aren’t in Cleveland is the name on the police cars.

The sidewalk in front of the club is bustling with a pre-gig gathering of concert goers. A fun collection of rockers enjoying time before the show on a hot and humid evening with temps hovering around 80f. We spend a couple minutes out front enjoying pre-concert aromas then decide to go into the mostly empty club. Seats at the bar, an open table or just mill about before the bands begin. We decided on a table toward the rear, we spend 15 minutes there as the club slowly fills before choosing to stake our ground closer at the stage.

It’s funny how real estate near the stage is acquired and lost as the evening progresses. There are many techniques for bettering your pit position. The easiest is just filling space if somebody goes to the bar or restrooms, it’s a slow steady march. I’m quite proficient at the ‘side and slide’ where you stand sideways and shuffle forward as space becomes available. This requires a quick and disarming smile as incidental body contact can sometimes alarm people. My favorite is the most boring; arrive early and endure the openers. This technique requires minimal coffee and alcohol intake before a show because it’s not always possible to regain lost territory once surrendering to nature’s will. Before the second band we were against the stage.

The opener was a local band, The Vumms. Their brand of music is jangly at times and can lean toward garage rock. Not the worst opener I’ve seen and I would not shy away from seeing them again. Next up, The Last Gang…Wow! It can be fun seeing young bands learning the ropes but I prefer seeing bands like this that are a little more seasoned. Brenna Red’s ’s raspy vocals are out front over music that ranges from reggae to hardcore and all stops in between. Well done!

We are now properly primed for the real reason we are at the Grog Shop on a school night, an evening with Wyoming’s finest, Teenage Bottlerocket. The band has been releasing albums (9 total) since 2003 and ¾ of the current line-up have been together since 2006. If you’re looking for musical comparisons, it starts with Ramones. Wiki makes comparisons with Screeching Weasel and Bouncing Souls which seems like fairly reasonable references. I like the sound because it is fast paced melodies laden with humor and occasionally dips into dumb guy music. The band also has one of the coolest and most iconic logos in all punkdom.

The crowd at the Grog Shop on this Thursday was decent but the place was not overly packed. That suits me fine because when this club is at/over capacity it’s a little uncomfortable. I fully expected this to be an all guy crowd and I was totally wrong! It was mildly surprising that so many females were in attendance but really surprising was the number of teens and pre-teens. Some of the kids were family members of the band and others were there with parents that wanted to show their kids an evening of fun PG rated punk rock.

As the band took the stage, Guitarist/vocalist Ray Carlisle walked the front of the stage passing out guitar picks to anybody that put their hand out. The band manned their instruments and played maybe 10 songs before taking a moment to talk with the crowd.

Between song banter and antics were both informative and entertaining. The band didn’t seem to be patronizing us as they passed out compliments. They name checked many of the area clubs they played over the years and talked about things they liked about Cleveland including visiting the Rock Hall Of Fame.

Antics included Ray Carlisle tossing drumsticks through the ceiling trusses and drummer Darren Chewka attempting to catch them while keeping beat. They were oh for five until finally connecting which was met with cheers. The main vocalist/guitarist is Kody Templemen and his vocals were strong all night. The band is rounded out by bassist Miguel Chen who spent time off stage playing for younger fans. The band presents a great visual with wide stanced posturing and passionate expressions.

A fine evening complete with setlists, guitar picks and a cool t-shirt plus some father/son bonding. Teenage Bottlerocket played a highly entertaining show and I’ll be sure to catch them again anytime I can. Well Done!

Set List

1. In the Basement
2. Don't Want to Go
3. Bigger Than Kiss
4. Freak Out!
5. Stupid Games
6. Nothing Else Matters (When I'm With You)
7. Blood Bath at Burger King
8. Crashing
9. Bottlerocket
10. They Call Me Steve
11. Fatso Goes Nutzoid
12. Ghost Story
13. Radio
14. Strung Out on Stress
15. Commando (Ramones)
16. Why the Big Pause
17. Skate or Die
18. Via Munich
19. Don't Go
20. I Wanna Be a Dog
21. Headbanger
22. On My Own / Blitzkrieg Bop / The Spirit of Radio

Encore

23. Teenwolf
24. Forbidden Planet
25. Call In Sick
26. Be Stag
27. Necrocomicon

Drjohnrock

Got my tix for the Cincinnati show late this afternoon. I hate Ticketmaster with all the fires in hell, so I was going to stop at the venue after work to get physical tix with a much lower service charge. However, the tickets were going fast and I was wary of a sellout, so I bought online. Of course, you have to use your phone and can't print out tickets. And for some damn dumb reason I can't put the tix in the wallet on my iphone. Did I mention that I hate Ticketmaster with all the fires in hell?

Buckeye Randy

Robbins Theater is using the user friendly etix. I’m with you on Ticketmaster, I had to buy tix for Black Crowes with them.

I do like that Ticketmaster has a feature where you look at prices with all fees included. Whatever the reason, a $75 ticket with additional $30 in fees pisses me off while a $105 ticket doesn’t.

JMO1984

I love that you do this. I always listen to the music ahead of time and sometimes I will look up who is opening and play some of their music in the background.

Buckeye Randy

Back in the day I would buy the latest CD by the opener ahead of time if possible. Streaming services make checking out material by bands much easier (and cheaper).

Drjohnrock

Good review. It's great you have a son to attend concerts with. My daughter wouldn't be caught dead nowadays at a concert with her old man, unlike when she was growing up. Here's a cautionary tale from another thread about a concert I didn't take her to but should have:


Yeah, I like Weezer too. And I have a cautionary tale involving Weezer that all music fans with minor children should read. Several years back, I had vouchers for free tickets at certain concerts that I received as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster. One of the shows was a double bill of Weezer and Panic At The Disco in Nashville. My daughter--a teenager at the time but not quite old enough to be repulsed by the idea of attending shows with her dad--said we should travel to Nashville to see the show since I liked Weezer and she liked Panic At The Disco. The tickets were general admission at a huge venue. I declined, since I don't like huge shows in general and didn't really want to travel that far to see a show where we would be far from the stage. Now I wish I had said yes. I missed a chance for some real bonding time with my daughter.

If this story helps anyone with a similar situation with their kid(s), it will have been worth telling it.

Buckeye Randy

I know my story is more of an exception than the rule. I feel very fortunate to have attended shows individually and as a group with Mrs. Buckeye and our three kids plus their spouses.

It was a big deal when we took our kids to their first concert. This is something that was not part of my childhood. Mrs. Buckeye was lucky enough to have parents that took her to shows when she was young. The fact that she saw the Carter Family (June & Johnny Cash) and Elvis is a source of irritation to me when we play the 'dead musician game'. How can I beat those??