PunkSlammed

Supreme Pro Wrestling action

On January 7th The Nickel Slots had the opportunity to play at Supreme Pro Wrestling’s (SPW) PunkSlam wrestling event. Allow me to explain SPW. It is the Sacramento area’s independent wrestling promotion organization. They will actually be celebrating their 12th anniversary April 22nd with an action-packed ticket. If you have never been to an SPW event, GO TO ONE!!!!! They are fun, the action is right in your face, and very affordable.

Anyway, back to PunkSlam. So if you were a kid back in the ’80s you more than likely at some point saw Hulk Hogan walk up to the ring with Survivor’s “Eye Of the Tiger” cranked up through the arena speakers. As soon as you would hear that muted guitar with the accents you new who was coming down to kick some butt with 24″ pythons. The point is that wrestling and rock ‘n’ roll have been together for a long time. So even though it seemed a little strange when we told our fans that we were playing at a wrestling event, to us it made perfect sense.

The night started with a a couple of wrestling matches, and then The Moans took the stage. This was the first time I had seen The Moans, and if you are a fan of old-school punk rock (The Ramones) you should catch one of their shows too. The guitar player is none other than my multi-talented (drummer, guitar player, singer) friend Danny Secretion. To me, Danny is the ultimate punk rock guitar player. Every strum he takes, every chord he fingers causes the most painful expression on his face. To me this is what a punk rock guitar player is supposed to look like. It hurts so bad but the show must go on!!!! Anyway… Their set was great and I look forward to playing another show with them soon.

After The Moans were done, a couple more matches happened and then we did our 30-minute set. One
thing I haven’t gotten used to yet are lights, and my God, did this venue have lights! As soon as we went into “120 Days” I thought I was under attack because of all the flashing. Within a bit my eyes adjusted and everything was going to be OK. In addition to the lights, that night was being video recorded for a reality show, so as I was playing I had a camera in my face the whole time. A little intimidating at first, but I just tried to imagine them not there. Just like with all shows, our set seemed to go by fast, and then it was time for some more wrestling.

After a couple more matches, The Infamous Swanks took the stage with their incredible style of
rockabilly. This was the first time I saw The Infamous Swanks and I have to say I was hooked. They have got the rockabilly down!!!! They have great stage presence and lots of audience participation. I’m very happy to say that I will get to see them again when we share the bill at the Concert in the Park on May 18th.

For me, the highlight of this show was getting there early for load-in and watching the wrestlers practice their moves. It is pretty amazing to watch them flip and land flat on their backs, get thrown six feet in the air and land on their face, and then get up like nothing happened. My question is “How do they make it so no one gets hurt?”

Chris