PUNKS AND PINS: Annual bowling tournament mixes mohawks, beer, music

It started years ago, on a Tuesday night in Santa Monica, Calif., where a legend was born in Budweiser.

There, a who's who of indie punk bands and label owners got together to celebrate perhaps the greatest sporting activity of all time: bowling -- that rare athletic endeavor that allows for the guzzling of beer and the hurling of heavy objects at stuff simultaneously, without the police getting involved.

It wouldn't be long before the weekly get-together would spawn one of the country's premier sporting events. Think the Olympics, but with way more neck tattoos.

Think the annual Punk Rock Bowling tournament.

"It was just a way to get everyone together," says Mark Stern of the origins of the festivities. The co-founder of indie punk label BYO Records, Stern helped start the event to connect with fellow musicians and industry peers. "It was a way to get everyone in one place. Then when it was over, everyone had such a good time, we said, 'Man, let's take it to Vegas.' "

Now in its 11th year, the tournament began at the Gold Coast in 1998 before briefly moving to the now-shuttered Castaways and eventually landing at Sam's Town.

Initially, there were 27 teams in the competition. Now, the tournament sells out every year with 168 teams and draws well over 1,000 attendees.

Perhaps the best part of the whole thing is the scene at the Sam's Town Bowling Center during the event. Scads of punk notables from bands such as NOFX and Bad Religion will be throwin' rocks next to dudes with mohawks, chicks in combat boots and revellers of all stripes.

Buckets of Pabst get consumed with the rapidity of water being doused on a forest fire, old-school punk is blasted over the PA, while tipsy spectators take it all in on metal bleachers checkered throughout the hall.

"It's a cool vibe in the bowling alley," Stern says. "We have all these squads, so you've got about 225 people bowling at once, but then there's another 450 people there waiting for their squad, hanging out. This year, we've got a cool DJ in the lounge upstairs, so we've got a lot more stuff happening. It's just one big party."

And it wouldn't be a party without plenty of good tunes, which event organizers have covered as well.

Here's a rundown of some of the shows taking place in conjunction with the weekend:

• They're more punk rock than G.G. Allin's blood-spattered Speedo.

The Dwarves long have been the genre's most proudly debauched ambassadors, prone to lots of onstage nudity and bleeding, their live gigs conjuring a vibe that's a cross between a low-rent strip club and a hospital emergency ward.

Antics aside, the Dwarves come with an iron-clad catalog of should-have-been hits that pair swelling, radio-ready melodies with teeth-gnashing 'tude to great effect.

Their most recent disc, 2004's underrated "The Dwarves Must Die," is a breathless, boundless, pants-less orgy of fun and violence that veers from hip-hop to hard-core to near-industrial metal.

No, these dudes aren't dead yet, but they have dug more than a few graves for subtlety, refined sensibilities, good taste, etc.

See the Dwarves, with The Casualties, American Steel, Off With Their Heads and The Ignorant at 8 p.m. today at El Premier Nightclub, 3015 Fremont St. Tickets are $16; call 236-6051.

• They're from the same 'hood as Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, Hermosa Beach, Calif., where punk rock is as thick in the air as the scent of coconut oil.

And for the most part, Pennywise has lived up to its heritage.

The band's melodic, high-velocity, anti-authority punk has served as the backdrop for drunken singalongs and sweaty circle pits for more than two decades now, their tunes coming at you like armor-piercing slugs.

And really, there's no greater climax to any punk show than a rousing, group-shout-along take on the band's signature "Bro Hymn Tribute," a tip of the hat to fallen comrades, which ends Pennywise gigs with hearts in throats and fists in the air.

See Pennywise, with the Circle Jerks and The Darlings, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and with the Vandals and Pulley at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tickets are $21.99 in advance, $25 day of show; call 632-7600.

• Since the early '80s, Jody Foster's Army (JFA) has been manning the front lines of the Southwestern skate punk ranks with bayonet-sharp jams and enough compilation appearances to rival the number of years they've been together.

Hailing from the Phoenix area, this was one of the bands that put the region on the map, musically speaking, and they're still looking for fresh recruits.

Enlist in the JFA, with Guilty By Association, Pressure Point and Hang Em High, at 11 p.m. Saturday at The Bunkhouse, 124 S. 11th St. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show; call 384-4536.

• The idea for the group came from a parole officer, who recruited some dudes from a work release program to make music instead of more arrest warrants.

Hence, Manic Hispanic was born.

A tongue-in-cheek Latino take on sunbaked So. Cal punk rock with a nod to scene forebears like the Descendents and the Circle Jerks (as evidenced by album titles like "Mijo Goes to Jr. College" and "Grupo Sexo," respectively) Manic Hispanic comes with fast and melodic adrenaline bursts delivered with a knowing wink.

This is for all you punks more attuned to the barrio than the beach.

See Manic Hispanic, with CH3, The Bodies and Tiltwheel, at 8 p.m. at El Premier. Tickets are $15.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.