Junk Rock comes to The Sanctuary.
Ace Hardware of Sloppy Seconds - All photos courtesy of Paul Holstein
We knew this was going to be a good one when there was a line down the block before the doors even opened. That was followed by Sloppy Seconds pulling up in their van, and pushing through the crowd to load in their equipment. The show wasn’t technically sold out, but it must have been very close.
The Raging Nathans - All photos courtesy of Paul Holstein
First up was The Raging Nathans from Dayton, OH. I’d heard of them before, as they did a split single with one of my favorite bands, The Dwarves. It was their 2022 LP “Still Splitting Blood” that made the biggest impact, and I was looking forward to hearing the title track. They came to rock and ripped through over a dozen songs for a relatively big opening band crowd. Just before “Still Spitting Blood," a young kid jumped up on stage and they had to have him put his hands over his ears (which already had noise-canceling headphones over them) to announce the song. Great set, I will look forward to seeing them again.
B.A of Sloppy Seconds - All photos courtesy of Paul Holstein
B.A. (singer for Sloppy Seconds) had knee replacement surgery a few years back, and since then they have been playing shows all over. Being one of my favorite bands for decades, I road-tripped several hours in an ice storm to see them the first time I had the chance. That was back in 2019 in their hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Later, I caught them in Detroit in 2021 at The New Dodge Lounge and twice at Punk Rock Bowling in 2023 (both at a pool party and on the main stage). In 2024, I jumped at the chance to see them a fifth time.
I have been a fan of Sloppy Seconds ever since they released their first single “The First Seven Inches” back in 1987. Everything they have released since has been top-notch, even rising to the level of classic. Their first album “Destroyed” on Toxic Shock Records from 1989 is nearly perfect, one of the best punk rock albums ever made.
They opened with one of their older songs “Germany”, and then ripped through a set of their classics that included “Janie Is A Nazi,” “Why Don’t Lesbians Love Me?”, “Mighty Heroes,” “Come Back Traci,” “You Got A Great Body, But Your Record Collection Sucks,” and “Shut Up And Pour Me A Drink.” B.A. was checking out the Sloppy Seconds shirts in the audience and made sure that the person with a “Come Back Traci” shirt got a chance to scream out a line in that song, and the same for my buddy Don for “Shut Up And Pour Me A Drink”. Ace Hardware (lead guitar) did a guitar change mid-way through the set, bringing out his legendary “Froot Loops” guitar, and proceeded to jump into the air and duckwalk across the stage while also singing back-up vocals and laying down impressive leads. At one point their mascot “Al Testicles” was seen moshing in the pit (the part being played by local legend Joey Drinktickets).
One of the things that is so great about a band like Sloppy Seconds, is that not only was this a great show – but they ran their own merch table. While the other bands played, and after the show, they talked to the fans, signed autographs, and Don even bought B.A. a single malt scotch. A Hell of a night already and we still had the Queers to go!
The Queers - All Photos courtesy of Paul Holstein
The Queers have been non-stop touring lately, and I still catch them every time I can. I first saw them at a local bar, The Shelter, back in 1997, and most recently with The Koffin Kats at this same venue earlier this year (at least one member of The Koffin Kats was at this show, and Joe Queer gave a shout out to him.) I can’t think of another band that gives the audience the finger more than The Queers, but that made it easy to get a photo. They played a massive set list with all of the classics, including “Monster Zero," “I Can’t Stop Farting," “You’re Trippin'," “Punk Rock Girl,” and “See You Later, Fuckface.” Hopefully, I can catch them one more time this year, and make it a trifecta.
