One of the greatest things that we Americans can experience is the magic of a guerrilla punk show — a sudden burst of excitement happening in a place where it’s not supposed to happen. Somehow, that whole thing is even happier when it happens within the environs of a corporate chain restaurant. In 2019, for instance, a certain corner of the internet was captivated by the story of the 17-year-old kid who booked a rowdy punk show at a Denny’s. (Denny’s was pissed, but Green Day donated $2,000 to offset the damages that the kid had to pay for.) And this past weekend, Scowl and Gel, two of the greatest hardcore punk bands in America, played at a Sonic drive-thru in South Jersey.

The Sonic show happened on Saturday night, and it also featured Exhibition, Chemical Fix, and Phantom. Hate5six was on the scene to document everything, and he’s already put the full-set videos up on his Patreon. But plenty of other people also made their own videos of what happened, and it looked like it was fun as hell. Scowl and Gel are worth seeing in any venue, but if people are throwing fireworks and breathing fire in the pit, then that just heightens the whole experience.

In just about any circumstance, you’re not that likely to have a magical experience at a Sonic, unless you feel very strongly about the Sour Patch Kids Slush Float. So let’s all salute whoever made this thing happen. Watch some videos below.

https://twitter.com/catdempz/status/1569007468075749378