Since its inception in 1999, the Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival has become less about knocking down pins and more about making big musical strikes, showcasing the best in new and OG hardcore music. 

Following COVID cancellations in 2022, PRB came back more raucous than ever this Memorial Day weekend. The four-day event felt very full circle too, with its usual mix of newer acts in early slots and legends as the sun went down. 

The downtown Las Vegas event has grown with Sin City itself — especially the part of Vegas formerly known as the Old Strip, which is now the locale of choice for other big music fests including Life Is Beautiful and the rock and metal focused Sick New World.

Beyond the outdoor festival grounds, Punk Rock Bowling also felt like a reintroduction to Downtown Vegas. A plethora of punk shows were held at local clubs, while many of the big names playing the festival also made appearances as "tour guides" at the brand new Punk Rock Museum in the Arts District. 

Everyone played their ‘hawks off, but some really made an impression on this writer. Here, GRAMMY.com shouts out the most memorable moments of what has become one of the world's premiere punk events. 

Me First And The Gimme Gimmes Get Meta…And More

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were the first band to ever play PRB back when it took place at local bars like Vegas’ Double Down Saloon — in 2023, they gave and gave. The super-group consisting of members from NOFX, Lagwagon and the Swingin Utters are known for rollicking punk covers of pop hits like Neil Diamond’s "Sweet Caroline" and Elton John’s "Rocket Man" and they served all the biggies during their main stage slot Saturday at PRB.

They also had a "secret show" at the Punk Rock Museum, where current bass player CJ Ramone did a guided tour prior to the set. The most meta part? The band played inside an exhibit — a replica of Pennywise’s garage practice room that was moved piece by piece and rebuilt by bassist and museum co-founder Fletcher Dragge. The Gimme Gimmes popped up at another surprise show at Fremont Country Club too, where they were joined by members of the Damned (also on the festival bill). Highlight track at all three weekend shows: an audacious cover of Paula Abdul’s "Straight Up!" complete with "Oh-oh-oh!" crowd sing-alongs. 

Save Ferris "Come On" Strong

Punk Rock Bowling feels like an immersive experience when you attend the pre-parties during the week and late-night after-bashes. Many of these club shows feature bands on the festival bill in smaller settings, while others feature bands you can’t see anywhere else.  At Thursday’s pre-party inside adjoining nightclubs Backstage Bar & Billiards and Fremont Country Club (FCC), a shining shindig was headlined by Save Ferris.

Singer Monique Powell’s saucy vocals were animated and elevated by the bouncing rhythms of her band, best-known for breaking out of the O.C. ska scene alongside No Doubt with hits like its vibrant cover of Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ "Come On Eileen," and for appearing in the teen classic 10 Things I Hate About You.  Angelo Moore of Fishbone brought his side-project Dr. Madd Vibe to the venue the same evening serving some cool funkadelic-flared jazz stylings. 

Alice Bag Is Nowhere Near Decline 

Women were well represented at the festival this year. Alice Bag (a.k.a. Alicia "Alice" Armendariz), frontperson for L.A. hardcore legends the Bags, might be best known for appearing in Penelope Spheeris’ seminal punk documentary "Decline of the Western Civilization," but she’s maintained a career beyond film as well. Today, Bag is an author, educator and musician. 

Bag and her band played a potent club set on Friday night at Fremont. Incorporating some Spanish songs into the mix and lyrics that deal with everything from sexual assault ("No Means No!") to ageism, the Bag band proved music with a message can still be escapist fun too. 

Lee Ving Bids "Fear-Well" But Still Sounds Badass 

FEAR’s Lee Ving may be older and greyer, but the ferocious frontman is no less imposing onstage, even with reported health problems. The 73-year-old singer (and actor, as seen in Clue and Flashdance) announced just last month that his band will stop touring in the near future due to health issues. 

Ving touted the band’s "Fear-well Tour" and Punk Rock Bowling appearance as significant for this reason and he’s not the kind of guy to pull a Motley Crue retirement fakeout. In any case, Fear’s early outdoor set at PRB Saturday lived up to any hype; while Ving didn't move around very much, he still sounded sprite and spot-on during classics like "The Mouth Don’t Stop (The Trouble with Women is)" and "I Love Living in the City."

The Adolescents Growl For The Grown Ups 

Southern California’s the Adolescents represent how punk has literally grown up, even as it holds on to its figurative youthful aggression. The O.C. punks formed back in 1980 and have gone through countless line-up changes over the years, but they seem unified in their seasoned years — especially after founding member Steve Soto’s death in 2018 (they played with a backdrop brandishing "Soto" in 2019 at PRB). 

Singer Tony Cadena remains one of the most tempestuous frontmen in music, and his growl felt feral as ever at PRB 2023. After all, there’s still plenty to be enraged about in our current world. From the brutal refrains of "Lockdown America" (written in 2018 well before the pandemic) to the familiar sing-a-long friendly choruses of the KROQ hit "Amoeba" and the early classic "Kids of the Black Hole" (about Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness’ punk squat apartment when the scene was new), the Ads showed that they aren’t kids anymore. But neither are their fans — and we all still need a release. 

L7 Top Our Hit List

Though they were the highest billed females on PRB, the thing that’s always made L7 so inspirational is the fact that their gender was and is beside the point. 

After a long hiatus, they got back together in 2015 and have been active ever since, releasing new material and playing diverse shows and festivals. Often lumped in with "grunge" bands due to the era in which they emerged, the band has major punk leanings which they showcased with ease and lots of energy during their main stage set at PRB on Memorial Day and the night before at their intimate and very late night Fremont club show. And both sets solidified "S— List" as one of the best punk anthems of all time. 

Fishbone Bring Boogie Back To Punk Rock 

Punk Rock Bowling regulars Fishbone always brings a refreshingly upbeat, dancey vibe to the festival, and this year was no exception. Since forming in the '80s, the L.A. band have influenced everyone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to No Doubt — and always emanates a joyful and jammy vibe on stage. 

Seeing so many mohawked, patch-covered crust punks boogie to extended and reworked versions of Fishbone's most beloved numbers was quite the delight. Stand-outs at Saturday’s Monster stage show included "Alcoholic,"  "Pressure," "Bonin' in the Boneyard" and their biggest hit as a revelrous closer, "Party at Ground Zero."

The Exploited Explode On Stage 

The Exploited are an essential punk band that many music fans might know of, even if they don’t know their material too well. It’s safe to say the Scottish band’s logos (a skull with a mohawk) are iconic, as the imagery perfectly reflects the darkness and destruction that early punk music sought to convey around the world. 

During their Monday evening PRB set, the band, led by red-mohawked lead singer Wattie Buchan was defiant and debauched on stage… and it was a kick to watch. Meshing old-school street punk with the thrash-focused styles from later in their career, the Exploited kept the circle pit below them at the Monster stage whirling. 

And despite the hate towards politics and religion in their lyrics ( i.e. "F— the System, "F— the USA"), their set ended with a real love fest as dozens and dozens of fans joined on stage for singing, hugging and mugging. 

Rancid Offers Salvation After PRB Barricades Break 

If there was one bummer moment at this year’s Punk Rock Bowling festival, it had to be when the barricades broke about six songs into Rancid’s headlining main stage set on Sunday night. The energy the band was building was pretty much destroyed, and though Lars Frederiksen and Tim Armstrong tried to keep the crowd entertained — even doing a couple acoustic numbers, including a ballad-y take on "Ruby Soho" — the repair break dragged on way too long. 

Surprisingly, the spike-adorned audience did not riot nor fight, but there was yelling and boo-ing when a PRB rep came out on stage to ask for patience. But if anyone could come back from a lull like that, it’s the Northern California-bred punk rockers, whose music and style remains some of the catchiest of the genre, with ska and British rock influences infusing their noisy rants and swift tempos. 

"Roots Radicals" and "Maxwell Murder" warmed up the show nicely until the imposed break and a slew of gems brought things back including "Salvation," "Fall Back Down,"" I Wanna Riot" (again, we’re thankful no one did), and probably their biggest hit, "Time Bomb."  They even played "Soho" again, the right way, and debuted a new song, "Don’t Make Me Do It," from their forthcoming album Tomorrow Never Comes.

Suicidal Tendencies Prove They’re A Musical Institution 

Though Dropkick Murphys did a fine job as the closing night act at Punk Rock Bowling on Memorial Day, they could have (and maybe should have) switched slots with Suicidal Tendencies, who were billed just before them. The Venice Beach outfit consisting of Mike Muir and some new, very young members on drums and bass (including Tye Trujillo, son of former ST/current Metallica bass player Robert Trujillo), came on like gangbusters and never quit for a second, except for when the infamously expressive Muir discussed the band’s journey and controversy over its name. 

The set consisted of a full rendition of ST’s breakout Frontier Records self-titled release (though not in album order), including the still-relevant angsty favorite "Institutionalized" — a song that had the entirety of the festival screaming along with glee and capturing the spectacle on their cell phones. Two bonus tracks from the albums How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today and Lights… Camera… Revolution! rounded out the wonderfully rowdy show that proved Suicidal was always more about life than death. Just like punk rock itself. 

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