Screeching Weasel, The Queers, and The Billy Bats

Screeching Weasel is a pop-punk band from the Chicago area. They have had a large amount of members over the years, often changing lineups between albums, with the only constant being front man, guitarist, and songwriter Ben Weasel. Because of their lineup instability, you never know what lineup of the band you might see during any given show, although the lineups have gotten more consistent in the past few years. Live, Screeching Weasel delivers a typical performance you’d expect from a punk band. Songs are played quickly, sometimes faster than their album version, with little improvisation and few major differences in lyrics and song structures from their respective studio versions. Weasel is known for his alternatively acerbic and humorous stage banter, and, as is typical in a punk show, there is a fair amount of typical audience participation in the form of finger-pointing, circle pitting, stage diving, and light-hearted heckling. The audience tends to be slightly older, as the band’s height of popularity came in the 90’s, but some younger fans attend, as quite a few younger bands cite Screeching Weasel as a major influence on their sound. Fans of energetic, well-written pop punk should definitely not pass up the chance to see Screeching Weasel, as their passion and drive have not diminished with age.

As a fan of punk rock, I'm always down to have a good time when it comes to concerts. However, few concerts provide the perfect blend of fun and punk that a performance by The Queers does.

The Queers' music, like a lot of punk rock, is truly just about having a good old wild time. When I saw them in Detroit, the audience around me certainly understood this, as well, joyously and riotously revelling when the band announced songs like "I Didn't Puke," "Brush Your Teeth," and "I Want C**t." When the latter was announced, one of the more inebriated members of the crowd to my left shouted, "Who doesn't?!" much to the enjoyment of the other members of the crowd around us. I, myself, laughed out loud because that's absolutely the type of fun-loving environment I'd expect at a wild concert such as The Queers.

"This Place Sucks," the last song in their set, felt especially appropriate to me, seeing as the song was being played as the final one in a set being performed in Detroit, Michigan. However, none of the audience members were offended, which didn't surprise me; after all, they are fans of The Queers. Instead, the cheering and clapping was extra uproarious, with members whistling and jumping up and down in appreciation.