Artists :: The Slackers, Maxeen, Jr. Anti-Sex League
Date :: October 16th 2003
Venue :: The Boston
City :: Las Vegas, NV
Photos ::
The Slackers : 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10
Maxeen : 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08

Well the place was practically a ghost town at the start of the show. At most there were 10 people watching the first band play. The mood of the place was terrible because it’s called “The Boston” and they Yankees had beaten the Red Sox about 15 minutes before the first band took the stage.

I’ve seen Jr. Anti-Sex League a few times before at local shows. I’ve never really liked them. They’re not very good live. I’m not a fan of their music. The speaker set up during their set was fucked up pretty damn bad. For that, I feel bad for them. But their 3 song set lasted for hours. Maybe I was just looking forward to the next two bands; maybe they’re really just that bad. I don’t know for sure. But Jr. Anti-Sex League definitely didn’t impress me very much. My feeling of apathy was shared by the rest of the bar save a few friends they brought along with them.

The sound was fixed and next up was Maxeen. I was stoked. I caught them with Bad Religion and Flogging Molly. They’re an awesome live band. They’re totally not my style, but that doesn’t take away from their live talent. Maxeen plays extremely well together. They have a great, live sound. They have their own sound. It’s hard to explain. Every member of the band honestly seems to enjoy what they do. They got pretty damn sweaty during their set. They were into it.

Apparently the bar picked up on their efforts. The floor began to fill up. They managed to take a bunch of Red Sox fans whose team just gave up the AL championship and get them to stop crying, and pay attention. It was amazing. Heads were bobbing. People were drinking. It was like the game had never taken place. The whole bar was there to see the band at that moment. Nothing else mattered.

Maxeen’s set was around 6 songs long which was a pretty decent length set for a bar show. They got everyone pumped up and ready for the next band. I interviewed all the guys before the show and they’re all really nice great guys. I was glad to see that the crowd turned around for them.

The Slackers were up next. I had never really heard their songs before that night save once or twice. I somehow ended up interviewing them before the show. I wasn’t really prepared for what I saw.

The Slackers are a large band. There are 7 members. They take up a lot of room. Space aside, its rare for a band that size to sound perfect. Not a single member missed a single beat.

The Slackers put out what had to be the best American representation of Island music period. I was dumbfounded. It wasn’t quite reggae, it wasn’t quite ska, but whatever it was it made people dance. It was awesome time.

To my understanding they spanned all of their albums during their sets. No, that’s not a typo. They played for about 40 minutes, had a few drinks with everyone, then played another set. Oh and an encore after that. It was the longest show I’ve ever witnessed. That wasn’t a bad thing either. I wish they kept playing. In total, the band was on stage close to two full hours. It was crazy. They crowd danced and sung along the entire time.

They were energetic, they were heart-felt, they were everything a band should be. There was even a scout from a lounge act at a local casino scoping them out. There’s not a single person there who didn’t have a ball. Anyone who says they hated a single second of it is full of shit.

The band has two front men which really keeps the live show entertaining. You never know where to look. Everyone’s doing something. Everyone on stage seemed to love what they were doing, and the crowd loved them for it. I can honestly say it was the best show I’ve ever seen. I’m not talking just concerts either. That was honestly the best live anything ever. I can’t talk up their live show enough. I can’t wait to check them out again.

- Evan