Just before midnight under the dim orange glow of a parking lot in the Tower District, the five members of Santa Barbara-based pop-punk band Yearbooks stood against the brick wall of Strummer’s and reflected on a bucket list accomplishment.
“We’ve always wanted to play Strummer’s,” singer Kevin Lietz said. “It’s kind of like a dream come true to play this venue.”
The frontman added: “down south you have Chain [Reaction] or you have SOMA, and up here the biggest venue is Strummer’s.”
Not more than an hour before, fans swarmed inside the building as Yearbooks and four other bands, local and visiting, each displayed their own brand of pop-punk energy.
Los Angeles natives and headliners In Her Own Words both opened and capped off the night, starting with a three-song acoustic set for VIP ticket holders before doors opened.
Yearbooks played a seven song set, beginning with “Gemini,” and running through tracks from both their 2018 album “Peer Pressure,” and 2015’s “Hanging By a Thread.”
Brothers Kevin and Brett Lietz shared vocal duties on stage, while Brett and Jobany Ruiz played guitar. Miguel Guzman was on bass and Carlos Esparza on drums.
The band said they are finished with a five-song EP, but aren’t sure if they want to extend it to a full album yet. They are hoping for a release date of this year.
Although their first time at Strummer’s, it wasn’t Yearbooks’ first time in Fresno. They just played at Tioga Sequoia Brewing Company on St. Patrick’s Day.
Fresno band Light of Mine was the only local band, and the crowd got up accordingly. The four-piece showed off a style that was more post-hardcore than pop-punk.
Filling in the gaps was Florida quartet Never Loved, who dropped f-bombs throughout their set, cracked jokes and climbed the speakers.
Oh, Weatherly, a polished five member crew hailing from Dallas, were reminiscent of peak pop-punk 2000s bands like Mayday Parade and the All-American Rejects.
In Her Own Words say they only recently started playing in Fresno. They stopped at Full Circle Brewery in November.
“We neglected Fresno for so long and now that we come back, we’re like, why didn’t we come up here sooner,” singer Joey Fleming said.
“Everytime we come back, it gets a little bit better,” said bassist Eric Ruelas.
Although the band’s newest single “Steady Glow” was noticeably absent from the setlist, they debuted another song, “Rosé by the Ocean,” that drops March 29.
“We have a couple more days in California, then we’re home for like a day or two, then we fly to London to meet Stand Atlantic and Shaded for a UK/European run,” percussionist Omar Sultani explained. “On that tour we will be prepared to play ‘Steady Glow.’”
Fleming said fans can expect some acoustic and slow ballads on the new album out April 12, in addition to the high energy tracks the band is known for.
“[It’s] a whole lot of crazy vocals,” he said. “A lot of rise and fall, peaks and valleys.”
“Bangers,” Sultani added.
After the fans filed out of Strummer’s, and the bands began to pile their gear into vans, trailers and trucks, they hugged and joked, adrenaline still running high.
Yearbooks seemed to take it all in.
“It’s just dope to see the following we’ve gotten over the last two years in Fresno,” Leitz said. “We play here once every couple months, I think, and every show gets better every time.”