90's punk rock in all of it's rock glory

If there is one thing that The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware does right, it’s punk shows. They had a heavy-hitting bill roll through there with The Toadies, Local H, and Olive Vox. This is Toadies headlining tour to promote their new album “The Charmer,” released earlier this year. The Toadies had spoken about how many of the songs on this album are based on their struggles with depression, and wanted to highlight that you are not alone. Even having the local Punk Rock Saves Lives chapter from the Delaware and Philly Area, which is committed to giving people mental health resources. The openers, Olive Vox, come to us from Texas. Their sound can be described as “New age Punk”, and boy did it deliver. With low-hanging basses, heavy guitar riffs, punk drums, and loud vocals, Olive Vox certainly delivered punk to the nth degree. They played old singles and new songs that have yet to be released from their EP “Trace It Back”. We got the opportunity to interview with Olive Vox as well, but you’ll have to come back to Bell Music Magazine to see it.

Local H always knows how to bring the house down, especially front man Scott Lucas of the two-piece band. They played many heavy hitters off of their 1996 album “As Good As Dead,” such as “Bound For The Floor” and “High-Fiving MF,” which had the crowd jumping and screaming alongside Local H. As well as their popular cover of “Wolf Like Me” by TV on the Radio. Local H is composed of a drummer and a guitarist who doubles as the vocalist, but it was refreshing to see Scott Lucas bringing out a bassist for a song or two as well as swapping drummers. Toadies is, as their merch stated, “Keeping music evil”. With classic punk riffs, gothic and eerie set designs, and a distortion microphone, it's safe to say they are right on track. They played new songs from their album “The Charmer,” such as the titular track and “I Walk A Line,” and played their heavy hitters as well, such as "Possum Kingdom” and “Tyler” off of their 1994 album “Rubberneck”. They played a killer set and a killer encore set of about 30 minutes. 

They invited Scott Lucas up for their cover of “I Put A Spell On You,” and for their final song of the evening, they invited the drummers from both Olive Vox and Local H on stage. There really is something so special about 90’s era rock, punk, and grunge, mostly because it is so raw. This style of music is known for being very vulnerable and refusing to beat around the bush with how they truly feel. Olive Vox, being closer in age to Gen Z, acknowledged on stage what it was like growing up listening to this style of music, that it can give permission to feel angry, or upset, or grungy, and not be judged but rather find a community of people going through it with you.

- Alexis Baldwin

Photos Courtesy of Emma Moore (For Bell Music Magazine)