Teenage Bottlerocket, Sludgeworth and GRPPLNG at The Sanctuary.
Kody Templeman of Teenage Bottlerocket at Sanctuary Detroit 06/26/2026. - All photos by Paul Holstein.
It was a Friday night, so we piled into the car after work to head downtown for Teenage Bottlerocket, with no curfew other than the limits of being 50-something punk rockers. We stopped for sushi on the way but made it in time for all three bands. We weren't sure what to expect from GRPPLNG, but they are local and were hand-picked to support Teenage Bottlerocket, so that was something. GRPPLNG's members include Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns. Nope, that's not another local band; they are professional wrestlers. I haven't seen them wrestle (yet), but I did spin their new record "H's All Around". It's incredibly good melodic / pop punk with a title that may refer to the four songs that all start with the letter "H" or the fact that the songs are about heartache, happenstance, hubris, and hope. They brought in a crowd of their own, as the place was already packed well before the first band hit the stage (which normally doesn't happen). It was a great set to kick off a killer line-up.
Sludgeworth technically reunited in 2022 and put out a few songs in 2024, but "Second Time Around" (released earlier this year) is their first new full-length album in over 35 years. Sludgeworth was started as a side project when Dan Schafer (aka Dan Vapid) and Brian McQuaid (aka Brian Vermin) left Screeching Weasel, and it eventually became their main band. With The Motor City Machine Guns in the first band and ex-Screeching Weasel in the second band, this was starting to feel like a star-studded show. They were great, and the crowd even rallied for some moshing during a couple of the songs.
I feel like I could write a book about Teenage Bottlerocket. They have been one of my favorite bands for many, many years, and I've seen them live countless times. Probably my favorite was a pool party at Punk Rock Bowling a few years back, but they always bring the energy. Their set started with the lights out and the PA playing “Rain In Blood” by Slayer. We could see them taking the stage in the dark, when the lights came on and they jumped right into "Necronomicon." You can count on Ray giving out guitar picks, jumping off of the drum riser, and starting a mosh pit for "Bottlerocket." Kody has his trademark beer slam during "Why the Big Pause?" (this time he slammed TWO) and always does the prolonged pick slide. Miguel pounds his head, makes crazy faces, and pastes that guitar pick to his forehead. They did it all and more, and the set just went on and on (all of the classics and all of the new stuff; this was a 25+ song set). Highlights included “She’s The Shit," “Blood Bath at Burger King," “Stupid Song," “High Speed Yoga," “Skate or Die," “Postmortem Depression," “Bigger Than Kiss," “They Call Me Steve," “Fatso Goes Nutzoid," and "Headbanger." At one point we thought it MUST be coming to an end, but they brought all of the bands to the stage for a photo with the audience and then played FOUR more songs. One of the very best bands to ever do it. The next morning Ray posted on social media that Detroit finally rocked themselves out of that paper bag. That’s high praise and sums up this show perfectly.
