Punk Rock Karaoke - Girls Rock! Benefit

 June 20th was my first time attending a Punk Rock Karoake event, and it was a benefit for the very awesome/important Girls Rock! Pittsburgh which teaches young girls to play musick, write zines, and other cool stuff. When I got to Howlers, after a weird encounter in the street where a guy accused me of having a bomb(?!), the place was pretty empty. After the band set up, everyone was too nervous to go first, but one guy signed up with me right after him. I sang "Rock 'n' Roll" by the Velvet Underground after his version of Agent Orange's "Bloodstains", which ended up being the most sung song of the night. The crowd gathered as the night went on, and it was a really great time.

The band was awesome; they were very straightforward and to the point, but definitely skilled. Sometimes the bass player, who was almost 70, would switch to an upright bass which was kind of interesting and gave them a psychobilly vibe. One of the guitarists seemed to have some guitar trouble at times, but it was sort of amusing. Maggie Negrete did a great version of "Damaged Goods" and Ian Semasko did a few songs, the first time I've heard him sing. Sometimes figuring out the order that we were going in got confusing, like when a guy left and never came back which left his listing for "Real Wild Child" by Joan Jett unclaimed for quite a while.

Later I sang "Personality Crisis" with Racheal Green and "Judy is a Punk" with Harrison and Grace. When I sang "Sonic Reducer" I wrapped the mic cord around my neck and accidentally knocked sheets from the lyric book all over the floor, and for "I Wanna Be Your Dog" I took of my shirt and beat myself with the mic. They repeated one of the verses to the song which ended up totally throwing me off. I had planned to sing "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Rock 'n' Roll" for a few days so I actually brought some props, white gloves and sunglasses respectively, but didn't end up using either of them. At the end the Lopez sang the Vaselines' "Son of a Gun" together which was really cute.

Here's the complete list of the songs I sang in order:
The Velvet Underground - Rock 'n' Roll
The New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
The Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer
The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
The Ramones - Judy Is a Punk