#8 - Dirty Laundry Reunion and CD Release Party

It’s been three years since the local punk band, Dirty Laundry, called it quits, and there are tons of music fans in the local scene that hoped the band would return. Unfortunately, Dirty Laundry has no plans to return to the scene, although band members united to celebrate the re-issue of the bands debut release, the 9 1/2 Months EP. This is the EP’s final pressing, and when the last 500 copies are sold, the EP will be gone and Bad Stain has no plans to repress the EP at any point in the future.

The reunion event took place on Saturday, March 25th at Fuel in North Phoenix. The 21 and older venue is primarily a bar, with a small stage for bands to perform if the occasion arises. It was a perfect venue for the event, because Dirty Laundry and the promoter, Laundromat Productions, did little advertising, short of word of mouth, and didn’t even distribute flyers until the weekend prior to the event. They didn’t take out any radio or print ads, and wanted the event to be for close friends in an intimate setting. The small venue was jam packed with fans, making the couple hundred fans seem like a thousand!

Fans of Dirty Laundry know that the band went through several line up changes, and the only original member, Chase Stain, bounced from bass to guitar, and then back to bass. Dirty Laundry performed using their 1995-1997 line up, with Ryan Hamilton on drums, Chase Stain on bass and vocals, and Brandon “B-Hound” Jamison on guitars and vocals.

The skate punk band, ATM opened the show with an energetic 30 minute set, followed by another 30 minute set of horror surf punk by the very talented Flagstaff band, The Route 66 Killers. The Route 66 Killers feature former Dirty Laundry guitarist, Jon “Jones” Woodruff, on guitar, and fans loved the set. After The Route 66 Killers, the pop punk band, Numbers On Napkins took the stage, featuring former Dirty Laundry bassist, Chase Stain. The band unleashed a vulgar and lewd 40 minutes set, that was fast paced and highly energetic. Chase Stain almost set the bar too high while taking stage with Numbers On Napkins, but the crowd still roared with excitement when Dirty Laundry took the stage and started to perform various songs from the bands earlier albums.

It was great seeing Hamilton, Jamison, and Stain share the stage together again for the first time in eight years, and it felt like something special. As I watched Chase Stain play complex bass scale riffs as Ryan Hamilton crashed in with sudden stops in the drum beat, and B-Hound Jamison shreded out metal influenced guitar solo’s, it dawned on me that Dirty Laundry was actually pretty damn talented to write and execute the songs that they released as a bunch of teenagers. As Dirty Laundry completed their set and thanked the crowd, I was happy realizing that I was able to see Dirty Laundry perform one last time.