JJ Mazzucotelli
Punk is a million different things. It’s a music genre, an ethos, and a fashion statement. It’s also a form of release, a way to work out anger and anxiety, either through the making of the music itself or by losing yourself in the mosh pit. Destroy Boys, the Sacramento-based punk band, know this, and their shows prove it with an unparalleled ferocity.
The Holland Project is an all-ages DIY venue in Reno, Nevada, and is the second home to every Alt kid in a 30-mile radius. Destroy Boys have become a yearly staple for the venue, and every year they seem to rise to new heights.
I was able to attend and photograph Destroy Boys’ show at the Holland Project on 2/28 for 25YL. Slate, a rock band from Reno, Nevada opened first, followed by Gymshorts, a punk band from Providence, Rhode Island, who were touring with Destroy Boys.
Slate
Opening band Slate, made up entirely of Reno locals, took to the stage around 7:45, and despite technical difficulties, brought the house down before the show had really even started. Every member of Slate is technically skilled, but front-person Noah Linker’s charisma and on-stage personality pulls you in and leaves you wanting more.
Gymshorts
Gymshorts took to the stage shortly after Slate’s last song. If Slate was technical and precise, Gymshorts were pure energy. Frontwoman Sarah Greenwell’s pure chaos was contagious, and she had the whole venue dancing and laughing along to her comedic lyrics. The band is a wonderful mix of ’80s punk comedy along the lines of the Dead Milkmen and Classic Hardcore sensibilities, pulling their sound from bands like Fugazi and L7. They’re reminiscent of a million different things, and uniquely their own.
Destroy Boys
Finally, around 9:30 Destroy Boys took to the stage, and the house fell down around them. They began with their song “I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eye and Now I’m On Probation,” which has nearly 2.5 million plays on Spotify and had found a second life as popular audio on the social media site Tik Tok. At one point Alexia Roditis, the front person of the band, led a Wall Of Death, which is hard to describe if you’ve never experienced it. Essentially, the crowd split into two groups, and at Alexia’s command the two “walls” charge at each other and form a huge mosh pit. At another point, Vi Mayugba, the lead guitarist of the band, took over on vocals and commanded one of the most passionate mosh pits the venue had seen in its 13 years. The show included two unreleased songs, one of which was tentatively named by the crowd “Fuck It!” and ended with an enthusiastic encore of their song B.F.F.
Gymshorts will begin a US tour with Goodbye Honolulu and Hockey Dad in Early April. Tickets can be found here. Destroy Boys will be touring with Against Me! and Baroness in the first half of May, and then will be touring with the Sad Summer Festival through the summer. Tickets for their upcoming shows can be found here. All three of these bands’ music can be found Spotify and Bandcamp.
All Photos By JJ Mazzucotelli, the full set can be viewed on their website.
