It was a very cold night. The snow was falling down. We had to drive all the way to Syracuse NY which is somewhere between Rochester NY and NYC I believe. The venue was called Funk ‘n Waffles. I did not know what was meant by this. Are there waffles? Are there funk? I was about to find out.
The War Lovers are a street punk duo from Syracuse, NY. The War Lovers are Jamie Pickslide on guitar and vocals and Thao Crash on drums. They have an I don’t give a fuck attitude, with a witty sense of humor. With songs like Beers not Bombs- a political song about how you should drink alcohol instead of dropping bombs on people. Then there’s steal shit from Walmart- hilarious with a great message! And of course SPDS (Syracuse punks drunks & skins) which is amazing to see live, because the entire Syracuse punk scene, and others, get on stage and sing along and know all the lyrics. It is very heartwarming to witness.
They know how to get the crowd moving. Expect the fans to be jumping off the stage, pushing people around, piggy back rides, pogoing and partying! At this show they did a song for a professional wrestling company called Total Fucking Chaos, and believe me it was total fucking chaos. People were breaking shit, children were attacking each other, Only Fans star Gravy Jones and burlesque queen Roslyn Noir were rolling around on stage making out, and everyone was just going absolutely nuts. It was a beautiful site to see.
If these spikey haired, studded out, loud mouth punks ever come to your town I would highly recommend checking them out. Thao will say something snarky to you, and Jamie will tell you jokes and feed you meatballs! They are a fuckin’ rad band and amazing people who do so much to keep the punk scene alive.
There were waffles. Funk ‘n Waffles had a a wide variety of savory and sweet ones which were delicious, and the entertainment was fantastic. I left with more questions than answers. I suppose that’s a good representation of what Syracuse has to offer.
Note: Photos used in this article were obtained directly or indirectly from The War Lovers’ social media. If you are the original photographer or know who it is, please contact us for photo credit.
