Athens punk-rockers Burns Like Fire have a tendency to be noticed in any situation, whether it be dancing on the tables at RPM on Clayton Street — which leads to provocative gestures towards light fixtures — or finishing a show even when singer and guitarist Josh Smith is throwing up due to a potential case of food poisoning.

In the case of the latter, the audience couldn’t have been more surprised.

The members of Burns Like Fire have overcome food poisoning, solicitation and table dancing without missing a beat in their high-energy shows.Photo by: Lily Price

“We get done playing and all I feel is this hand on the back of my shoulder and I turn around and Josh is like ghost pale,” said singer and guitarist Webb Couch. “And he’s like, “we’ve got to go to the last song!”

Pushing through the physical pain — and hoping to get a touch of crowd sympathy — Smith attempted to liven the mood of Sector 7 in Augusta by asking if they had gone through food poisoning before.

Roughly 15 hands went up, but no one thought he was serious.

“We played the last song, but as soon as we finished that [song], he takes his guitar off, sets it on top of the amp and goes straight off the side of the stage and just starts throwing up,” Webb said.

“Even his tattoos were losing color,” said drummer Parker Bradshaw.

If a band’s fame is determined by the amount of tattoos and piercings they have, Burns Like Fire will have surpassed U2 and Coldplay in popularity by the end of March.

With an energetic live set that truly shows off their love for early ’90s punk-rock, as well as their passion and impressive instrumentation, the punk-rockers will be kicking off their first tour with an EP release Saturday at the Caledonia Lounge.

“Every single time we have played, and we’ve played at least 10 to 15 shows already, I have always seen someone actually bobbing their head,” Smith said. “We’ve had moshing, clapping, people jumping on stage with us — it’s to the point where it’s truly awesome.”

Their excitement and energy stems from the fact they are more than simply guys in a band — they are best friends. 

Watching the band laugh and smoke cigarettes from the blue porch of their shared home, a sense of accomplishment already radiates.

With a growing selection of merchandise, their EP set to release on iTunes Saturday, a potential tour in the works with From First to Last, and a show in May with punk hero band The Business, Athens has much to anticipate from these budding rockers.

Or perhaps just their guitarist.

“This old lady gave me seven bucks at a show and I took my pants off,” Couch said between laughs. “Also, my main influence for guitar is John Stamos. And I hope that was recorded!”

Saturday will not be the first time Burns Like Fire have graced the stage of Caledonia.

Their first show was at the popular venue for rock and all things alternative, and fans from their first performance are still coming to shows today.

“The first show that we played [at Caledonia] was last year’s Halloween,” said drummer Parker Bradshaw.  “It was the benefit for Jon Guthrie. We played with Guff and several other tremendous bands. I think their capacity is 180, and we had on a rotating cuff 650 people throughout the night.”

And while Burns Like Fire is looking for a label to hear their fresh approach to songwriting, their message of fun and letting loose means more to them than simply raking in the big bucks.

“We love what we do. Everything from shows, to talking about ourselves …because we love talking about ourselves,” Bradshaw jokingly said. “I would keep doing this even if I was living out of a suitcase. We all would.”

With Karbomb, The Carry-Ons, and Oh! Manhattan

When: 10 p.m Saturday

Where: Caledonia Lounge

Price: $5