Gas Leak, Punxsutawney, Vs. Self
NoFun, 5.10.25
First band up was Gas Leak, my friend's band. Last time I saw them play was their first show in December 2024, which I wrote about. Believe it or not, they got on this insane bill because the opener, Senior Living, pulled out early, and thus an open spot showed itself on the bill, which Gas Leak had taken on.
In the past 6 months, the Gas Leak had really polished their sound up immensely, with Joe (the lead) having practiced a ton in the time between these shows (next time he rehearses I gotta ask him if I can tag along to watch lol). They put on a great show, and did this fun little performance where Joe ripped his fake blood-soaked shirt off revealing the college station I frequented. After a Nirvana cover, the set was over. A nice palette-preparer(?) for the rest of the show.
Next up was Punxsutawney, who was touring with Vs. Self. Like Vs. Self, they were also from Los Angeles.
Everything about this band I loved, even more so than Vs. Self. They played this flavor of post-rock I haven't seen in so long, a flavor I thought would never make a comeback, but here it is. Nice, slow, rhythmic tones, cascaded on a backdrop of echoing sounds and reverberations by the 2nd guitarist's pedal. Arpeggios all the time. You could objectively call them slowcore, but for my self-centered sake, I'm happily whispering under my breath, "man, post-rock is so back."
And, to top it all off, Vs. Self played last.
Their set made me consider this the most intense show I have ever been to in my whole life. Admittedly I am not an insane fan of Vs. Self, just very familiar with and fond of their music. I guess I didn't fit in. They played all the classic Vs. Self tunes, leave everything, ti esrever, and of course yesterday by the beatles. Very cool that I can say I saw them live. WOoOoOooo
Canon EOS 5D Mk. I