On Thursday September 11 the Blue Grotto hosted a triple bill. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for the final group, Alien Boys. But I did manage to catch locals Minx and SoundCity Hooligans. My apologies to Alien Boys.

The first band to play was Minx. They usually have five musicians, but they were down a man, as their rhythm guitarist was not available. This energetic, hard rocking band consists of Jesse Taylor on lead guitar and vocals, Stelle Bennee on lead vocals, and Natalie Jonasson on bass.

Drums were provided by Jordan Easson. He did an amazing solo near the end of the show. Easson did double duty, as he joined the SoundCity Hooligans for the next set. Songs performed included “Wretched,” “Hand of the Devil,” and Taylor got to rock out on a very cool cover of ZZ Top’s hit “Tush.” Minx is a young band with lots of talent. They certainly are a band to look out for!

Up next were the SoundCity Hooligans. This iconic punk band is always a good draw and quite a few of their fans filled the dance floor decked out in Hooligan merch. It’s nice to hear the audience sing along to the original music, too. The band consists of Bobby Hooligan Hill on guitar and vocals, Santa (Nate) Deucey on guitar and vocals, Dustin Bremner on bass and vocals, and guest Jordan Easson on drums.

Their wonderful old school punk sounds resonated with the audience. Fittingly the Hooligans ended their performance with their song “Friends” as the Grotto was filled with them. It was nice to see a good, happy crowd out on a Thursday night.