Middle-Aged Queers, Jukebox Romantics, But Pyrite @ Otto’s Shrunken Head

by FTA Staff | Sep 15, 2022 | Shows

Middle-Aged Queers at Otto’s Shrunken Head (photo by Kevin McGann)

Middle-Aged Queers hail from the Bay Area and are a band that we here at FTA just recently discovered, and also one that speaks to us on a deep level. If you didn’t know, this blog is run by a middle aged queer, with several middle aged queer contributors. We loved their 2020 album, Too Fag For Love, which made our Bandcamp Friday picks for September, and are beyond excited for their upcoming album Shout At The Hetero (due out 10/31). Channeling the classic Lookout! sound of the 90s and complete with Golden Girls themed “go fuck yourself” t-shirts, this truly is the band of our dreams!

Go Fuck Yourself tee (order via Bandcamp)

They self describe as “Crawling out of the primordial ooze of punk past, Middle-Aged Queers are a quartet of Jurassic Punx barreling down Interstate 580 on a mission to save Rock and Roll with broken limbs and gear held together with duct tape,” and we were delighted that they made a tour stop in NYC to bring their queer rock show to the Big Apple.

They began their set with their singer, Shaun Osburn, sitting on stage with a bubble machine and brought fun and color to the show with Osburn’s pink hair, drummer Niki Pretti’s teal lips, bassist Josh Levine’s yellow shirt, the bubbles reflecting off the camera flash and of course the colorful tiki aesthetic of Otto’s. At one point Osburn said they were too hot and tried to lead a sing along to “it’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes.” The singalong didn’t happen but the pants came off revealing a hot pink satin jock strap which led to Osburn later asking Pretti “how does my asshole look?” after repeated bending down to check the bubble machine. The entire set was loads of fun and there was plenty of interplay between bandmates and crowd alike.

Also on the bill were lovable potty humor “satire core” hardcore punks But, Pyrite who kicked things off and who also just released a brand new album, the hilarious Get It Down. They put on an intense set, with singer Larry Spahn pacing side to side in front of the stage like he was stalking prey. This band is always lots of fun live and made sure to remind everyone to “always wipe your butt and to flush the toilet.”

Hardworking pop punk scene stalwarts, The Jukebox Romantics, closed the show, being tour and label mates (Sell The Heart Records) of MAQ, and bringing their special blend of “fun, heartfelt, sweaty punk rock!” to the evening. They’ve shared some big stages with the likes of Less Than Jake and other punk luminaries and sure Otto’s is small by comparison, but no matter the size of the room, they always give it 110%.

Read more about Middle-Aged Queers here and here and make sure you’re keeping all of these bands on your radar, tell em FTA sent ya!