There were surprises for everyone Wednesday night as the Suicide Machines, Ensign, Bigwig and Very Metal played at a rented room in the Des Moines Botanical Center.

A wedding reception had been occurring in the next room, and the bands had to change their playing order to accommodate, but they pulled through for an amazing night of hardcore, punk and ska.

The Suicide Machines delivered to a wild, sold-out crowd a high-energy punk set that included material off all four of its albums.

The Detroit band began with a few of the ska-punk songs off its debut, “Destruction by Definition,” that made it famous. The band pumped the crowd into a frenzy with “DDT” off 1998’s “Battle Hymns,” and proceeded to a mix of ska, pop, hardcore and even reggae.

The short but furious set ended with a plea to fans to stay for the next two bands or the Suicide Machines would beat them up.

“That’s not much of a threat coming from us though,” said singer Jason Navarro.

Ensign ended up starting the show, playing a short set of New Jersey hardcore. The opening slot seemed fitting for the band, as it pumped up the crowd but wasn’t quite up to the level of the rest.

Ensign was followed by the Suicide Machines and then Bigwig, who cracked jokes between its well-known punk songs about girls and skateboarding.

The biggest surprise of the night was St. Louis’ Very Metal. Singer Pat Munster, bassist Chris Sweetlicks, guitarist Big Pat and drummer Barry Metal put on an old-school hardcore show that blew away the other bands. Sometimes they did not even pause between songs; at one point the drummer put two people from the crowd against the back wall to catch him if he passed out.

The absolute speed and energy of the band were supported by equally impressive songs and attitude, making Very Metal the star of the night.