At Richard's on Richards on Saturday, August 18

Saturday night was a good time, if there is such a thing, for contemplating 30-plus years of punk rock. Three decades after the city's first makeshift gig was thrown together at the Japanese Hall, two of the Vancouver scene's original acts–the Dishrags and the Furies–reconvened for a trip down a graffiti-splashed memory lane, back when the genre was still ghettoized, rebellious, and defiant.

Of course, punk has gone through so many permutations since then that you'd be hard-pressed to find the through-line from the Furies (arguably the West Coast's first punk band) to Sum 41. The music exhumed for Saturday night's show was primitive, simple, and grainy–nothing like the formulaic and slick products of today.

"Three generations of punk rock" was how the Furies' singer Chris Arnett described the gathering of 200 or so people at Richard's, most of whom ranged from their early 20s to their 50s. It wasn't quite the all-out party/reunion that was the Pointed Sticks show earlier this year at the same venue, and here's betting that everyone in the crowd knew someone in at least one of the night's bands, which included Seattle's the Bug Nasties and local trio Duvallstar. Still, this sense of intimacy, along with the cake delivered on stage to birthday girl/Duvallstar singer Siobhan Duvall, added to the convivial vibe.

So did the chance to see the long-defunct Dishrags, one of the first all-girl punk bands and a definite influence on musicians like Duvall. No longer the sneering miscreants that Nite Dreems fans remember from their classic "Past Is Past" video, the trio nonetheless tore through its brief set with angry-young-art-student gusto. Lead singer and guitarist Jade Blade was awfully sweet between songs for a former punk, and along with bassist Dale Powers and drummer Scout she ably handled songs like "High Society Snob" and a cover of the Adverts' "One Chord Wonders". Clearly written by people who didn't aspire to knock Heart off the charts, the songs prompted a warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia for an era before "Anarchy in the U.K." ringtones.

If the Dishrags seemed somewhat hesitant, the Furies came on like they had a score to settle. The original group was together less than a year before breaking up, leaving behind a bunch of songs and gigs that inspired bands like D.O.A. and the Subhumans. But with Bughouse 5 drummer Taylor Little bashing away behind original members Arnett (in a "No 2010 Olympics on Stolen Native Land" T-shirt) and bassist John Werner (aka Werner Von Hitler), the Furies were as tight as if they hadn't missed a rehearsal since 1977.

Kicking up a mighty Stooges-like racket, the group looked the part of a hungry, if seasoned, act, with the bald, stocky Werner and the sinewy, sunglasses-wearing Arnett making for a elder-punk-statesmen-like team. The latter, who'd obviously been waiting for this moment, took advantage of the freedom and spirit of the tunes–and of being in an honest-to-God club with a decent PA system–to shamelessly shred solos atop speakers, on the dancefloor, and at the edge of the stage. The songs themselves, including the disturbingly prescient "Suicide Bomber" and the slash-and-burn anthem "No Fun City", were vintage snapshots of the days when group members would spray-paint "Punk killed Elvis–you're next" on Kitsilano and Mount Pleasant liquor stores.

Now, that's punk.