Appalachian Terror Unit / Modern Pets / P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. / Elements Of Now @ Yayo Taco

By Karl Bakla

Appalachian Terror Unit (Huntington, West Virginia)/ Modern Pets (Germany)/ P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. (Portland, OR) / Elements Of Now / and I believe some other band, dunno I was drunk @ Yayos Tacos

Some dude from Malaysia & I started pre partying for this show around 2pm, & we couldn’t drink them fast enough, but by 6pm we were royally drunk & out of beer, so we hit up P.T.’s Pub’s Happy Hour on our way to the show. For the record, I fucking hate P.T.’s Pub.  When my family first moved to Las Vegas my mom had a job interview at a P.T.’s pub. My mom told me that during the interview, the bar manager kept looking at her cleavage, gross! It’s my mom telling me weird shit like this as a child that has steered me down the path of Alcoholism.  By the time we arrived at the show some band was playing, one of the members had face make-up. I quickly bought a bucket of beer & went outside. I don’t know who this band was or if they were good, but I have no interest in a band that wears make-up or costumes.

At this point things got a bit blurry, & I missed most of E.O.N.’s set because I was being a drunken asshole, which was a shame since they had members from all of my favorite 90’s Las Vegas punk bands (Leap Frog Society, Boba Fett Youth, Catapult…etc.) I vowed to not do the same thing, during the next band’s set.   I bought myself another bucket of beer & waited inside for the Modern Pets to start playing. I was starting to feel bloated & sweaty. What did I do to myself? I felt really fucked up. For now on, no more 7 hour pre Punk show drinking sessions.  After having some time to ponder Life & difficult questions such as, “If I was going to vote for President based on sexual ability, who would I vote for? They both have their strengths, Mitt Romney the mature lover that knows just the right places to touch & the right time to touch them, or Obama? Obama is younger & might make some mistakes, but it could be hot to teach him. He would also have the stamina to go all night, & when we awake, do it all over again”. All thoughts of a Presidential love affair quickly faded when the Modern Pets started to play. They sounded pretty damn good & had that ‘77 sound that folks seemed to enjoy.  I watched a few songs then went back outside, for some fresh air & more beer. At my old age, I can’t handle punk rock shows with more than one band. It’s not like I have something better to do, because I don’t. I don’t even have a job.

Next up were P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S., I remember seeing them play, but I remember it without any sound, weird!  Bethany said they were good. I’ll take her word for it, since she started drinking at 5pm. I was ready to go home at this point & just lie to people and say that Appalachian Terror Unit were awesome, but sadly I wasn’t driving.

“Fuck”, I thought to myself, I if I could get home early, I could catch the Channel 3 news with Jim Snider.

I first became aware of A.T.U. several years ago, but just passed on them because I thought they were just another shitty band on Profane Existence, that would sound like Doom, but luckily for me issue 349 of Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll just happened to have an Interview with them. I was very impressed with their political views & enjoyed the way they answered their questions.  I thought to myself while reading the Interview, “I want to check this band out”.  Well, holy shit, on the last page of the Interview they had their tour dates printed & they just happened to be playing Las Vegas. When Appalachian Terror Unit finally started to play, I bought one last bucket of beers, & began to suck them down. Sure the crowd thinned out considerably by this point, but it didn’t keep the people that were there from rocking out. This was my first time hearing A.T.U. and I was already impressed, sure their sound wasn’t breaking too much ground, but I think their strength is that they do the Crust/Hardcore/Punk sound much better than others playing this style. There was a small pit going, but it didn’t appear to be very menacing. I stood at the edge drunkenly pumping my fist to songs I had no idea what the lyrics were. Luckily, the show was eventually over &  it was time to go, or so I thought. Everyone wanted to go to the Stakeout for a Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak & more beer. I don’t really remember much about the Stakeout, but my Cousin told me that someone in the bathroom offered him cocaine if he sucked their cock. I asked him if he did it, he said “No”. I asked him, “Why not?” He told me, “I don’t know!” We could have used that coke right around the time the Modern Pets were playing.