2023 is set to be a fantastic year for punk rock fans looking for live events, but will the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival 2023 be one of the most memorable festivals? A look at the details will let us see what it’s all about and whether it’s worth attending.
The Full Details
The event in 2023 will be the 23rd version of this punk festival, and it’ll be held from May 27 to 29 in downtown Las Vegas. As usual, this won’t be a typical punk event, as it combines live music with alternative entertainment such as the famous bowling tournament, food trucks and vendor stalls, and pool parties, among other things.
While this creates a different kind of atmosphere that not every punk fan is looking for, there’s no doubt that this festival’s success over the years shows that there’s a market for this combination of attractions. Mainly an outdoor festival, it will feature two stages where over 40 bands will be playing during the three days, timed so that the performances don’t overlap.
Given the rise of streaming in recent years, it’s no surprise to see that people are already talking about how to live-stream the shows. This look at streaming activity in 2022 shows that it was dominated by huge names like Netflix and Amazon Prime creating big-budget shows such as Stranger Things and Wednesday. Yet, this same technology also brings the best punk festivals and concerts into everyone’s reach. This event will be shown live on the PunkRockBowling website and also on their mobile app that’s available for Android and iOS devices.
What Bands Will Be There?
Shawn Stern is the co-founder of this event, and he pointed out that most people don’t worry too much about the line-up, as they expect to find good music to enjoy there whoever is playing. Having said that, at the time of writing the top names to be confirmed include the Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion, Rancid, and Suicidal Tendencies. The Damned and The Interrupters are also at the top of the bill. Los Angeles group Fishbone will be present, and their Truth and Soul album was described as third-wave ska, so the music will be varied.
In addition to the outdoor stages, there will be live shows held in local club venues in downtown Las Vegas over these three days. No official announcement has been made about these shows yet, although it’s expected that the clubs will be all less than 15 minutes’ walking distance from the stages. It’s worth noting that the club shows have separate ticketing requirements and can’t be accessed using tickets from the main festival.
As for the festival tickets, it’s already been reported that the VIP passes are all sold out and that no more of them will be released for sale. Three-day tickets are currently on sale, but one-day passes will only be put on sale if the festival isn’t fully sold out by the time April comes around. The food & vendors section of the official site mentions small punk-owned businesses that will be selling everything from clothing to music and skateboards.
This isn’t a typical punk concert and its mixture of events might not be to everyone’s taste. However, the variety of banks on the bill and the fact that it can be watched live on a convenient live stream means that it’s sure to appeal to plenty of punk fans.
