Screeching Weasel and Hayley and the Crushers Bring Punk Spirit Back to Detroit
Last night St. Andrew’s Hall became a time capsule of punk. The Screeching Weasel tore through Detroit with a set that was fast, loud, and unapologetically bratty exactly what fans came for. Ben Weasel and crew wasted no time getting to the hits opening with a burst of energy. The crowd was rowdy in the best way possible, shouting every lyric and slamming into each other like it was 1996 again. Bridging decades of punk attitude with the same edge that’s made the band legendary.
Hayley and the Crushers kicked off the night with a colorful, surf-tinged punch that couldn’t have contrasted better with the headliners. Their upbeat energy and glitter punk style had the early crowd dancing and moshing, blending catchy melodies songs that fit perfectly on a Screeching Weasel bill. Half way through their set, they dropped a cover of the Ramones “Teenage Lobotomy” a nod to the roots of everything that makes punk so enduring. It was raw and fun the kind of tribute that hit just right for the diehards packed into the hall.
More than three decades in Screeching Weasel’s influence still hangs heavy over every basement band and DIY stage in punk. Seeing them rip through their catalog at St. Andrew’s was a reminder of how many bands borrowed their blueprint the sneer, the speed, the simplicity that somehow still hits hard today.