It’s becoming increasingly rare to see a touring band ignite a crowd with genuine energy – and even rarer when multiple bands on the same bill manage to do it. But on Saturday night at The DLC, the triple touring lineup of Pat and The Pissers (Indianapolis), Lip Critic (NYC), and MSPAINT (Hattiesburg, MS) unleashed a whole plethora of it. Each band brought such relentless energy that no one in the Quarters bar-cade backroom could stay still. The lineup fused street punk, skate punk, and post-punk with hardcore and synthesizers (let’s call it “hard-synth”) – creating a buzzing atmosphere all night.
Pat and The Pissers were the perfect lead-in to establish the tone that the touring trio of bands would carry throughout the evening. Front person Alex Beckman utilized The DLC’s low ceilings and low stage to get in the faces of those in the front row, barking lyrics with such ferocity that it felt more like a confrontation than a performance. With a blend of Midwestern attitude and punk spirit, they primed the crowd in attendance for what was yet to come. Whether crawling across the stage or locking eyes with those in the crowd, Pat and The Pissers played a set that was a call to arms that set a ruthless standard for the night’s energy. The stage was now set for Lip Critic to throw gasoline on the fire.
Lip Critic entered the stage making jokes about getting a hemorrhoid from playing Street Fighter. From the first note of the first song, they exploded with energy and the chaos didn’t let up for 30 minutes. The dual drummers Danny Eberle and Ilan Natte set the groundwork for the pace, while Bret Kaser on synth-bass kept it going. Front person Connor Kleitz used the space on the stage and in the venue to divvy out their uncontainable energy, even forcibly dragging a well-dressed bystander onto the stage for part of a song. Every person in the room was moving, absorbing the energy from the band and giving it right back. After their set, the bathroom line was full of guys fawning over how amazing Lip Critic’s set was and how amazing the lineup is, another telltale sign that a show was truly impressionable on a crowd. Which leads us to the night’s headliner, MSPAINT.
MSPAINT kept up with the crowd’s rising energy, and while they had a more cool demeanor, there was nothing subdued about their performance. Their front person DeeDee delivered hard-hitting vocals with gripping intensity, commanding the room with each verse while the band backed them with a mix of post-hardcore rhythms and synths. Sporting a haircut resembling a WWE wrestler, DeeDee paced up and down the stage and the crowd responded, leaning into MSPAINT’s momentum. By the time their set wrapped up, the walls of The DLC felt like they had absorbed the most sweat, noise, and exhilaration that the venue has seen in a while.
Watch the full sets from Lip Critic and MSPAINT below:
& check out the screen-cap photo gallery below:
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