Show Review & Gallery: Punk-O-Rama! featuring Zero Boys, Negative Approach, Criminal Kids, Off With Their Heads and more – Chicago (09.01.2023

Liar’s Club rocked in September 2023 with hard and fast punk rock on the first two days of the month. Headliners for Friday and Saturday were Negative Approach and Zero Boys respectively. With strong support by a combination of local and out-of-town bands such as Criminal Kids, Off With Their Heads, Fast Eddy, Bad Sons, Shitizen, Man-Eaters, and Fighting For Scraps, the sold-out weekend was a blast to cover.

Night 1

Negative Approach closed out the first night of Punk-O-Rama with a hard-driving set. One of the Motor City Hardcore pioneers, the group still delivers Detroit sound and fury four decades on from its founding. That signifies a lot.

When it comes to Off With Their Heads, on this particular weekend, drummer Kyle Manning’s hair was not the only thing shorter than in the past. Ryan Young informed the crowd they had a 15-minute set. Young, Manning, and Zack Gontard managed to crank out the entire track listing from the band’s very first record in that time. Actually faster than that, as from start to finish the clock time was roughly 12.5 minutes long. Doing the short thing the right way.

Man-Eaters, out of Chicago, chewed up the stage with a wild performance. Microphone and cord-swinging around like a lasso until it made contact with the floor or stage, breaking off the top of said microphone. That pretty much represents how the band’s set went.

Chicago’s Fighting For Scraps always provides its fans an intense performance. Members of the Windy City Southside punk scene, the band is well-versed in why they have the solid following they have. Another sturdy set from Fighting For Scraps.

Night 2

Zero Boys closed out the weekend with a set that demonstrated that while civilization may be dying the band is not. The Indianapolis quartet’s powerful performance left the crowd sated.

Criminal Kids are rarely, if never less than fully, fun to watch and listen to. It was a smoking performance, literally and figuratively.

Fast Eddy sped through a rip-roaring set. The zooming pace never wavered and it was a blast to behold.

Bad Sons make for good punks, resulting in rambunctious performances. The energy level was high, and the low stage allowed for an amazing connection with the attendees. Of course, the low stage also makes for many bruises to the photographers and attendees at the front during crowded shows. But those are the types of bruises I’m ok with getting, as long as my gear and my glasses remain intact.