Friday nights in Downtown Vegas can draw a crowd, and when you have a stacked line-up at Triple B’s and the Fremont Country Club, you better get there early to beat the line. Not only did the legendary Inspectah Deck of the almighty Wu Tang Clan have a show for Wu’s Residency Afterparty next door at FCC, but the Punk Rock triple threat with Teenage Bottlerocket, Authority Zero, and the local boys Mercy Music had the line that wrapped around the corner and into the parking lot for their show at Backstage Bar and Billiards.
TBR brings the annual birthday celebration for their lost brother and founding drummer Brandon Carlisle to stage every year, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with Mesa’s own Authority Zero, who have been tearing up Vegas since the Extreme Thing days, and Vegas’s own Mercy Music that have been exploding into the scene for years.
Mercy Music
If you’ve been around the city for a while, you know Brendan Scholtz and the boys in Mercy Music have been making some headway for a long time. They fit into any bill and their versatility can get any crowd behind them. It’s no wonder why they can go from playing with bands like Senses Fail and Rise Against, then pick up 3 nights with TBR and A0 without having to change a thing in their set or style. Although the white tux Brendan sported was a very nice style touch.
From the beginning of every set Brendan and bassist Jarred show an energy that you couldn’t think would last for more than a couple of songs, but they keep it going all the way through to their closing classic “Fine” that Brendan has been screaming to us for over a decade. They’ll be supporting SoCal Punk legends Strung Out and Ignite in June on a five-leg tour, and when you pair those shows with their perfected 2023 release What You Stand to Lose, it’s only a matter of time before we’re telling friends about how we used to see these national headlining rockstars in dingy venues when we were teenagers.
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Authority Zero
Arizona Punk legends Authority Zero are a Vegas favorite that always make it a point to give us a stop. They’ve been doing this for 30 years and haven’t lost a step, with their Hardcore Punk that blends in a bit of Reggae, to gives us some of the best fist-raising anthems of our time.
Kicking off with the title track from their latest release Ollie Ollie Oxen Free immediately set the tone for a hard-hitting set, and having Brandon Landelius back on guitar really give them the punch in the strings they need in songs like “No Other Place” and “When We Rule the World”.
It wouldn’t be an Authority Zero set without their take on “Mexican Radio” that you can find on every skaters mix CD since its release on Napster in the early 2000s, and of course the hard leaning two-tone hit “One More Minute” took us so far away, but not far from home with a skankin’ style that fits right into their Punk Rock style.
The group can go through changes as much as they want, but as long as singer Jason DeVore keeps his energy and voice around talented musicians like he continues to do time after time, Authority Zero will have no problems living on for another 30 years.
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Teenage Bottlerocket
The Ramone-core outfit from Wyoming that won’t stop! We’ve seen Teenage Bottlerocket after their last release Sick Sesh! at The Dive, but they have more than fit into the new digs at Triple B’s. Their merch booth is still one of the best in the scene, and with signed posters and even TB logo birthday hats there was something for everyone.
From the “Reign in Blood” entrance music like they’re a heavy metal WWE act, all the way through to “Necrocomicon”, TBR shows more than a boppy style that people reduce them to. Kody Templeman’s sci-fi influence he brings from The Lillingtons in songs like “Forbidden Planet” are some of the best the group has put together, but when he gives into the campy style we get in “Headbanger” and “Bigger than KISS” it’s a recipe for something you can only call Teenage Bottlerocket.
Their hit album They Came from the Shadows was sprinkled all over the place with “Fatso Goes Nutzoid” and the jam “Skate or Die” making an appearance. Going back to the title track for Freak Out! and getting into the album’s high flying adventure “Maverick” were perfectly placed in their packed set.
Showing their roots with a Tony Sly cover of “Via Munich” was a good touch to a memorial show for Brandon, and with his legacy of sticks and kicks still being played around the world with Teenage Bottlerocket, he’ll live on forever.
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PHOTO CREDIT: All photos by Stephy Muzio for ZRockR Magazine – All Rights Reserved.