DRUG CHURCH, WHITE REAPER, SPY AND DEATH LENS BLOW UP AREA15 in Las Vegas

Apr 7
3 min read

Hardcore punk hit Area15 like a meteor this month witha co-headlining tour with Drug Church and White Reaper, and support from Spy and Death Lens blowing up the small WALL venue inside the entertainment compound, turning the room into a rotating mass of bands, flailing body parts and perpetual chaos. The show was set for the larger Portal Room, but was moved to The Wall, a decision that halfway through the show hindsight showed it may have been a bit optimistic in the GRAND scheme of things... but it made for a solid soft landing base for the stage diving and body surfing. The room was beyond PACKED.

Death Lens set the tone from the first power hit from "Monolith", from their upcoming new album What's Left Now (Epitaph Records), a volatile start that kept on kicking with a short but beast of a set. The SoCal punk quartet packs a wallop, with Bryan Torres, Jhon Reyes, Tony Rangel and Ernie Guitierrez now the lineup, and together created community in their chaos - they bring the room together in a wild ruckus of melody and mosh. Fun stuff. The new album comes out later this month - check out more HERE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpNiC4ywP30

SPY raged out of nowhere like a tornado to the stage, vocalist Peter (one name, like the Cher of hardcore lol) all hair and headbanging, and shit started flying - bodies mostly, these guys bring an insane energy and non-stop motion. This is bay area hardcore, and the SPY version is fast, loud, angry and a little mean. They have several EP/albums out, most recent Seen Enough (EP, 2025) but live they really take it to next level -SPY is a band to see on the stage. Listen to SPY HERE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QbqLYuDumw

Drug Church turned the whole room upside down, and right about this time we all began to realize things may be a bit out of control. Starting with "The Bitters", from 2024's PRUDE (Pure Noise Records), the pit turned into a blur of bodies, running behind stage and diving off the front into the crowd throughout the set. Good thing it was packed, the bodies had a soft landing and got carried on high, about time I saw someone dive from the speakers I knew this was a serious hooha.

Patrick Kindlon has been a driving force behind Drug Church's hardcore social satire flair, and the band has been consistently evolving, with most recent Prude grappling with the issues of an also evolving society... and punching it in the face. We got a good bit of the new album in the set, and also new single "Pynch", but the crowd surfing finale was a resounding roar with "Weed Pin" before the crowd had a break to count their teeth and rest cracked ribs before White Reaper closed out the night. Keep up with the band and music HERE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7HUsxslEdY

White Reaper had a tough act to follow, but they gave the room a cool down with their melodic driven garage pop punk vibe, giving everyone a fun follow up from the super aggressive Drug Church set. With "Blink" they pushed the crowd back into power mode, and the crowd got a second wind.

White Reaper had a lineup change in 2024, losing the founding brothers and rythym section, but stayed strong and resilient, with a new album in 2025, Only Slightly Empty (Blue Grape Music) . Now with Tony Esposito, guitarist Hunter Thompson and keyboardist Ryan Hater, the band has been downsized to a trio, still bringing it and putting out new music, with single "Honestly" out now. More on White Reaper and new music HERE.