Riverboat Gamblers remind me of all the best parts of punk rock growing up. The old timers love to lecture about how we missed Sid Vicious, Joe Strummer, and even Ian McKay. But after punk rock was mostly over being angry and political, and before it gave itself over to the
Twilight-looking, melodramatic screamo tendencies of Gerard Way and his morose imitators, there was a brief window when, believe it or not, punk rock was all about fun.
However entertaining it may be to pass the days blaring your speakers while bouncing around your room, the soul of punk music has always been the live show. In their video for "Victory Lap," the first single off
Underneath the Owl, Riverboat Gamblers go back and forth between the ennui of the tour bus and the glorious payoff of the eventual concerts. The too-cool-for-this stoicness which is the downfall of most indie shows is nowhere to be found here.
Mike Wiebe throws himself around the stage while the kids throw themselves around the pit, in high contrast black and white, in streams of sweat and flashes of Converse-clad feet kicking out at odd angles. It's almost enough to make me want to throw on a Bouncing Souls tee and head over to the Warped Tour.
See this and many other videos HERE
For more Riverboat Gamblers goodness, check out
our interview, or get your mosh on when they make a victory lap near your neck of the woods. -
Nina MashurovaRiverboat Gamblers on Tour
Jul 4 - Rubber Gloves - Denton, Texas
Jul 15 - Antones - Austin, Texas
Aug 9 - Eleanor Tinsley Park - Houston, Texas
Aug 15 - Sputnik Halle - Muenster, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Aug 16 - Chez Heinz - Hanover
Aug 17 - Fear & Fury Festival - Essen
Aug 18 - 59:1 - Munich
Aug 19 - Chelsea - Vienna
Aug 20 - Dynamo - Zurich
Aug 21 - Zwolfsehn - Stuttgart
Aug 22 - Highfield Open Air Festival - Erfurt
Aug 23 - Tommyhaus - Berlin
Aug 25 - Molotow - Hamburg
Aug 26 - Melkweg - Amsterdam
Aug 27 - Underground - Cologne
Aug 28 - Reading Festival - Reading
Aug 29 - Freebutt - Brighton
Aug 30 - Leeds Festival - Leeds
Sep 1 - Cafe de le Peche - Paris
Sep 2 - Entrepot - Brugge
Sep 3 - Vera - Groningen
Sep 4 - Into The Great Wide Open Festival - Vlieland
Oct 9 - Congress Theatre (RIOT FEST)- Chicago, Illinois
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Riverboat Gamblers on Myspace
