Remember those bands that first made you fall in love with music? You idolized their musical prowess, their ability to stay true to the scene and perhaps their luck with the opposite sex. Can you still picture yourself, sitting in your bedroom, playing along with one of their albums and imagining yourself on stage with that band?
The members of local band Last Action Zeros can help you live out that fantasy Wednesday at the Mason Jar when Punk Rock Karaoke invades the valley.
Punk Rock Karaoke is a slathering of punk rock greats who get together on stage to play classic punk songs. The twist: there is no vocalist. The band looks to the crowd for their leads.
Audience members have the opportunity to jump on stage and belt out Iggy Pop's "Search and destroy," Buzzcocks' "What do I get?" and numerous other songs. (A list of songs with lyrics is available on the tour's web site.)
For the most part, Punk Rock Karaoke has a rotating line-up of various punk rock legends including members of Devo, Ladwagon, The Ramones, L7 and Black Flag. There are a few faces that are always expected however: Eric Melvin (NOFX), Greg Hetson (Bad Religion, Circle Jerks), Derek O'Brien (Social Distortion, D.I., Agent Orange) and Steve Soto (Agent Orange, Adolescents).
Last Action Zeros bassist, Greg Calabrese, says that he suffers from what he refers to as "BPS: Bass Player Syndrome."
"I'm always the last one to know anything," he explains. "I found out about the Punk Rock Karaoke show from some girl on IM."
The Rancid-influenced band has the honor of opening for Punk Rock Karaoke; a task recently taken on by hipster favorites, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
This show will not be like every other time the band has opened for a major act. This time, Last Action Zeros will be playing for members of the bands that helped mold their own musical personalities.
"Hell yeah, we're excited about the show!" says Bryan Sandell, Last Action Zeros guitarist. "I want to meet Greg Hetson. Bad Religion is one of my favorites and helped introduce me to punk rock."
"It's going to be so good to be able to meet those guys," vocalist Mike Crews adds. "If they were here with their bands, they wouldn't be playing at a place like the Mason Jar where it's small enough to meet the band. It shows us that they care about their fans and want to meet them."
Last Action Zeros have another reason to be excited about this show. After a short hiatus to record their first full-length album, the band is returning to the stage with a handful of new songs.
Punk Rock Karaoke with Last Action Zeros and No Gimmick at the Mason Jar, 2303 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4. $10. All ages. 602.954.0455, www.punkrockkaraoke.com.
"We're going to have an all new set," Sandell says, as if he were a proud new father. "Well, maybe we'll keep one or two in the can."
"Morgan might wear his G-string, too," Crews says as the whole band laughs. "That would be new and exciting."
The band will be teasing crowds with the new tunes until roughly mid-March, when they plan to release the as-yet-untitled full-length album.
Last Action Zeros are going to be sharing a stage with a hodgepodge of famous rockers, but the question remains: will they be brave enough to sing karaoke with the group?
Crews pipes up with a definitive yes, however Sandell says he would rather sit, drink and watch from afar.
"Why wouldn't you want to get up there?" Crews asks. "You get to be the star of a band for a hot second."
Calabrese explains why some people do not participate in karaoke, even punk rock karaoke: "I don't even know the words to our songs!"
Reach the reporter at chelsea.ide@asu.edu.
