Beat Alley

I was a witness to a punk rock possession. Denver band BOLDTYPE played the Marquis Theater for the release of their new record Uneasy Days on Friday, April 8th. It was a loud and rambunctious show for the ages…literally, the song 3 Cheers was dedicated to a little two or three year old girl with pigtails and horn-rimmed glasses.

The energy level was consistent with the music for the entire show: high and fast, a contagion that infected everyone. There was a fight, with the bouncer doing more damage than the brawlers; there was beer, lots and lots of beer, more worn than drunk it seemed; there was vomit (what good punk show doesn’t have puke?); there was even a guy in a straw hat and flip flops, stomping around with the rest of them.

BOLDTYPE’s energy is incredible, each member plays off of the other and it comes through in their sound. Manny, the drummer, never slowed from the first bass drum kick to the last symbol crash. Both Jeff and Chris played their guitars with furious precision and Drew managed his bass with finesse and aplomb…ah, who am I kidding? These guys are a polished punk powerhouse, and they simply fucking rock!

I mentioned possession above, and that is exactly how Mike sang their songs. Shaking his head back and forth, bearing clenched teeth and belting out the lyrics to the crowds delight, the music taking him over and manifesting itself in his wild eyes.

BOLDTYPE kicked the show off with three tunes from the new album, Raise the Dead, Make Our Graves and Moving On, all three songs immediately inciting a sing along from the fans in front of the stage.

Dave, the guitarist from Guttermouth, arrived on the stage with an armload of tallboys that he distributed or poured on the guys as they played Distraction, appropriate, no? As the beer and hilarity flowed, former members of BOLDTYPE took the stage and their former positions to play some of the band’s older songs, with the current members taking up microphones to assist with the vocals.

After the new and old members embraced, and a fresh onslaught of jams was launched, the band took a moment to pay tribute to their friend Ben Davis and sing happy birthday to him with the crowd. His birthday, along with the record release, was the driving force for this show.

The song War Brain was followed by two more songs off of Uneasy Days, 3 Cheers and Deep End. The performance of 3 Cheers inspired the crowd to celebrate and get hammered, and not only did they oblige, but the band did as well. At this point the crowd and the band had literally gone off the deep end and a flimsy plastic sled/boogie board appeared for surfing the crowd, but this first attempt was only mounted for a few seconds by an eager fan.

As beer dripped from the stage lighting during Lights Out, the crowd did anything but wind down as the show did. The band left the stage followed by the chant of ‘one more song.’ They returned to their places with Mike’s proclamation “I just puked!”

Bandito was the finale with Mike looking a little worse for wear and continuing to vomit on the stage, even spitting a mouthful away from the crowd between phrases; all the while sounding just as fresh as he did at the start of the show. When the puking was through, the boogie board reappeared, held aloft by the people in front and Mike precariously stood up on it to finish the song.

It was an intimate and classic thrash party. Not only was BOLDTYPE crazed, but the crowd also became possessed by the music, and that is exactly what all in attendance expected. While the band was playing everyone could be part of the mad mayhem and no one left the vomit scented theater unsatisfied.