There’s something special about long-running bands from your hometown, bands you see on a regular basis from their inception, through their growing pains, and into their maturity as a well-oiled machine. You see their whole lifetime. It starts with those awkward first few shows where they’re still finding their legs. They’re fresh and still a little rough around the edges. There’s a sense of the unexpected that stems in part from the band being a new creative force, but it’s also largely due to the band still being this unstable, uncertain entity. Then they start to figure things out. They put out a record, do a tour or two, and get a better idea of how their band sounds and operates. They gain a little confidence and act with more precision and knowledge. Then they grow into seasoned veterans, the bands that play together like it’s second nature, like they can read each others’ minds. These bands achieve a level of greatness reserved only for the most stubborn, dedicated, and inspired musicians out there. Akimbo has been around for 14 years, which in punk years makes them ancient, wise men. But on August 11th at the Comet Tavern, the band will finally lay down to rest, ending a long run of devastation and brutality, putting a capstone on a life that’s seen them grow from rambunctious infancy into a ferocious but focused adulthood.

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