Nearly 100 bands repping punk, ska, hardcore, emo, punk-pop and other branch-offs are playing Big Pre-Fest in Little Ybor, which makes it pretty damn tough to figure out just what you should be seeing beyond the obvious names you already know. Here’s some suggestions, both from CL Staffers and local folks in the know.
CROWBAR: Pittsburgh’s Code Orange Kids features a female lead (Reba Meyers) who roars and vomits lyrics over the band’s low-end-crushed hardcore (Tues., 10:30 p.m.). Sub Pop-repped Obits deliver late ’70s-flavored punk sneer and Dark Wave dissonance in jagged garage-punk instrumentals (Wed., 11:30 p.m.).
NEW WORLD BREWERY: Mikey Erg-fronted Brooklyn-based Pale Angels does raw, raucous indie rock lightly glazed in reverb fuzz and Nirvana-influenced grunginess replete with ragged gritty vocals (Tues., 9:20 p.m.). Caves from Bristol, UK serve up charming punk pop with hard and fast drive and wildly howling vocal harmonies. (Wed., 11 p.m.)
ORPHEUM: The Audacity, from Fullerton, Calif., embrace lo-fi loud garage sounds and churn them out in bursts of good-natured noise imbued with bright melody (Tues., 10:30 p.m.). Beardy Oregon-bred quintet Larry & His Flask stomp and jive on dusty punk-grass, their high-energy ruckus calling on folk, gypsy jazz and other unorthodox punk aesthetics, and crafted with a combination of strings (banjo, electric and acoustic guitars, double bass), horns (trombone, trumpet, baritone), harmonica and drums (Wed., 10:10 p.m.).
THE RITZ YBOR: On the Main Stage, Heartsounds — a San Francisco Epitaph-repped outfit led by Light This City formers Ben Murray and Laura Nichol — offer galloping yet tuneful punk with masculine-feminine vocal harmonies (Tues., 6:20 p.m.), while A Wilhelm Scream rages the hardcore melodic and skate punk realms (Wed., 8:40 p.m.). On the Side Stage, Philly’s Restorations lays down shoegaze-y, guitar-driven post-punk propulsion (Tues., 8:50 p.m.), while Tim Barry croons and wails and thrashes acoustic guitar in his whiskey-kicking folk punk odes. (11:20 p.m., Wed.).
Click here to find out just exactly how Big Pre-Fest in Little Ybor came about.
This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2013.