The subhumans were a bit late for me, as I was already getting away from most punk rock by the time that they came around and moving on to other styles, but my lovely wife is/was a fan and there was surprisingly little going on this Halloween night in Las Vegas, so we skipped out on the trick'or'treaters early on and trekked to the opposite end of the county to check them out at Grey Witch.
Even leaving as early as we did, we managed to miss some of the local openers, the Minges, set (starting at 7:30!). We've known singer Jesse for ages (since she met us at a Swamp Gospel gig at the Dive Bar), and know guitarist Joe from Stagnetti's Cock (among others), but this was the first time we got to see this incarnation. We walked in on them covering the Stones' "Star Star", which was a surprise to me as I didn't expect them to have a hip, 70's rock'n'roll edge. But there was plenty of punk rock energy as well, as in their take on Ike'n'Tina's version of "Proud Mary", which they turned into a punk'n'roll tune, along with a cover of "Surfin' Bird" and the Dead Kennedys, among others. The originals tended to have kinda silly/dirty lyrics, but overall, they were plenty'o'fun!
We learned a little bit about 1876 before we went to the show and discovered that they consist of Indigenous people from several different native tribes and the lyrics tend to reflect indigenous struggles/issues. They dressed up for Halloween, including the singer in a fuzzy Axolotl outfit, so we're not sure what they're visual style normally is (although I get the impression that it's pretty much jeans/t-shirts) but they are serious about their messaging and they do mix in some native sounds with their version of hardcore punk. I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of their music was enjoyable to me - more punk than hardcore - although, being considerably younger than me, they do have some rap influences, along with a bit of more hardcore stylings. But there were plenty of melodies'n'vocals and we appreciated their messaging as the singer engaged the audience in-between songs as well as with his lyrics, and dug the extra percussionist with the tribal drum, along with their overall passion'n'power. Not sure that I would buy anything of theirs but they were quite enjoyable in concert.
Naturally, the Subhumans closed the night and, unfortunately, the sound devolved as the night went on and by the time the Subs started, it was just a muddy wash, pretty much wherever you were in the space. The bass was way too loud and causing the PA system to have a rumbling feedback throughout their entire set. The guitar was practically inaudible and the vocals were barely intelligible, especially as all of the mics kept breaking down. The singer, certainly no youngster, was still angry'n'passionate, still political after all these years and still quite animated on stage. Unfortunately, it was pretty much impossible to tell what the band sounded like and for someone like me who was unfamiliar with their songs, and even numbers that Melanie played for me just before we left were pretty much indistinguishable.
Hopefully, Grey Witch will figure out how to get the room sound under control as I hate having to say anything negative about a much-needed new venue on the scene.