Sunday night at the Strutt was a fairly new stream of music for it to handle. The venue has not had very many straight up punk shows, and quite surprisingly, this one was a great success.  Local and loved Ackley Kid started the night of mayhem. This thrash punk quad got the crowd warmed up for four more bands following. Ackley Kid has been playing music in Kalamazoo for about a year now, and have been interactive and crowd pleasing since their first performance in a crammed basement. These boys were fun to watch and humble as ever as they introduced a new song and played some crowd favorites, like “I Don’t Know” and “I’ve Seen it all Before.”

Fisherking from Lansing conquered the stage afterward. You can tell these dudes know what they’re doing, and had a good chunk of the crowd moving around. Fisherking has played in Kalamazoo several times before, and this time was just as good as others I’ve encountered. This three piece has old school hardcore influence infused with new school punk riffs and breaks. Sounds like Gallows, Minor Threat, and something awesome had a kid together. Anyway, they played great, including crowd requests for more after their set list was over.

Natural Disasters, local new school hardcore and progressive punkers, also seemed right at home on stage. (For Kalamazoo punks, stages aren’t something we’re used to. Most of the shows of the genre happen in basements, not venues. ) Shafto, lead singer, that’s always animated and interactive, had a constant smile on his face. With people from out of town and Kalamazoo regulars in the crowd, I’m glad Natural Disasters could expose themselves to some people other than Kzoo natives. Natural Disasters has always been an extremely inclusive group of guys, and I’m sure will continue to enhance the city’s punk scene. Superb.

Randy Thunderbird, another Kalamazoo local, had everyone singing along. With fast riffs and heartfelt words, they always seem to give off good vibes at a show. They had to battle through some technical difficulties, but made it through with some awkward one-liners and swigs of beer.  Randy Thunderbird has been playing music since 2006, and are long time running favorites of many.

Then, headlining the night, Dead to Me from San Fran gave us a fun performance. Unfortunately, because all of the locals were done playing, some people skipped out on this band. Their loss. Dead to Me has a powerful almost surfy thrash sound, with awesome harmonies and meaningful song matter. Yes, they got a little bit preachy, but come on people, punk is about opinion. Give em’ a sec to say their piece, they drove across the whole country for Pete’s sake. Anyway, they had all the moves down: the squat and solo, the raising the fists, the freeze and play, and the aggressive eye contact. They knew how to perform, and I’m glad I got to see it.
One thing that made this show totally rad was that there were so many friends in one place. Not necessarily just mine, but everyone around was lingering and talking and having a good time between bands. People could be energetic and move around, as well as chill in the back. People in the pit were picking others up as they fell, and trying to make sure everyone was safe. It reminded me of Skelletones, quite honestly. So, I vote more punk shows to the Strutt!

P.S. This show was overwhelmed with testosterone- why more women don’t go to punk shows to see skinny men in ridiculously tight pants play rock music I will never know.