Decent Criminal - The Perpetual Quarter Tank Tour at The Dive Bar in Las Vegas on 3/20/2022

Las Vegas, NV - On Sunday, March 20th, 2022, Decent Criminal played their last stop on their over 2 month tour spanning the whole of the United States. The tour, titled “The Perpetual Quarter Tank Tour” is just the beginning for the band as they are taking a very short break before heading back out on the road in Germany and the UK in April and are going to be playing more shows later this year as well.

I spoke with lead singer Tristan Martinez after the show, and he said that they already have something like 50 shows in the books for this year, and they don’t plan on stopping now.

The Santa Rosa, California based band has been playing, recording and touring for almost a full decade now, and they also have a new album coming out later this year which should a heavy contender for best album of the year in any rock category by any publication, including ours.

Their show consisted of a lot of their hits from their first three albums including some of my favorites, “Creep,” “Reap,” “Deviant” and “Still” as well as two new songs “Summer Trip” (the first single of the new album) and a track that hasn’t been released yet called “Driving.”  

There was rocking, there was sweat, and there was exhaustion all laid out on the line as the guys pumped out song after song to the audience. 

For me, it was a great show in an intimate setting that I have a feeling won’t be the norm for these guys in the near future as I see nothing by upward mobility on the horizons for them.

Every aspect of their music is put together to make you move in some way whether it is a bit of a dance riff, a surf riff, a moshing grunge or punk riff, or just a headbanging smashing of some drums, you will get your feet and head moving in some way.

If you have never heard of Decent Criminal before, well, it’s time to remedy that as their second album Bloom actually landed at #45 on our all time greatest rock albums (ever!). They are, in my opinion, the best active band in Northern California and possibly all of the West Coast…actually, yeah, I would be willing to say that just because these guys are that damn good (sorry to all my West Coast friends in bands - not meant to put anyone else down).

I first heard of Decent Criminal when I had Angelo Celli from the punk band Bracket on the Powered By Rock Podcast (Season 1, Episode 2), and I asked him if he had any bands that he really liked, and he mentioned them and Mercy Music (as well as The Last Gang), because both those two bands were among his favorites and had played with Bracket as well.

And speaking of Mercy Music, they played in support of Decent Criminal on this show as well, and if you saw our last review of one of their shows, you know that they absolutely deliver every time out. 

I believe they just SLIGHTLY tweaked their set list to change their last two songs on this performance, but with a louder sound system and bigger stage than the previous show, they absolutely sounded like a sonic boom while blasting through 30 minutes of their best songs.

Another Las Vegas based band called The Quitters also supported Decent Criminal on this show. They are a punk band who has been around since 2004.

I got the chance to meet the band and speak with them a bit before their set, and they are a very humble and happy group of guys who say their name is now more of an “ironic” sentiment since they have been going for 18 years despite the band’s name suggesting they would have broken up by now.

I was really impressed with their sound and their tightness as from what I could gather, this was the first show they had played in quite some time. They are definitely a highlight in the Vegas rock scene.

Lambs to Lions was the opening act, and I will say that their musicianship was really damn impressive. The bassist and drummer constantly had me thinking, “Damn, that’s a good ass lick/beat!” And the guitarist was pretty damn phenomenal in his own right. I didn’t catch their names, and I don’t see much about the band online except for their music and social media pages.

They aren’t exactly my overall cup of tea with it being a bit more hardcore/screamo style, but I can always respect great craftsmanship when I see it.