Staff Editor on May 10th, 2017

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Brooklyn queer punk quartet Aye Nako’s first show in Los Angeles, where they were joined by longtime buds Potty Mouth, promised to an explosive affair. Aye Nako’s new album “Silver Haze,” which they describe as “sad songs about being queer, trans and black,” is a fierce statement. But neither the serious songs nor the modest crowd Monday night at the Hi Hat put a damper on things. Or, as French Vanilla said when they opened the night, “Are you guys ready to have some fun? If not, leave.”

Aye Nako’s Jade Payne recalled that her band had come a long way “a long way from playing with Potty Mouth in Knoxville years back,” a time when Potty Mouth’s Abby Weems was still in high school and had to leave the show early because she had school the next day. Before Aye Nako played “Gift of Hell,” Payne explained that many of the songs she wrote for the new album are “actually inspired from being here [in California] the past couple of years” and that the songs are “mostly about making it through the mountains and not dying.”

After French Vanilla’s sax-spiked opening set, Sister Mantos, eight members strong, came on to play an energetic set featuring three guitar players two drummers and three singers. Potty Mouth closed the night in strong fashion, to the delight of several crowd members who said they had driven three hours to see them.

Aye Nako setlist: Half Dome, White Noise, Nightcrawler, Nothing Nice, Gift of Hell, Spare Me, Arrow Island, Maybe She’s Bored With It, Particle Mace

Potty Mouth’s setlist: Smash Hit, Creeper Weed, Long Haul, Do It Again, Cherry Picking, 22, Dog Song, The Spins, Twisted

Photos by Jessica Hanley