BUZZCOCKS, KICKING ARSE FOR 40 YEARS, SHOW NO SIGNS OF STOPPING AT THE OBSERVATORY
The young and old punk rockers of Orange County came out to The Observatory this past weekend to celebrate end enjoy forty years of Buzzcocks music. The Buzzcocks rolled out an amazing performance playing some of their iconic punk anthems such as “What do I Get”, “Ever Fallen in Love”, and “Orgasm Addict” — along with some of their newer songs.
The young and old punk rockers of Orange County came out to The Observatory this past weekend to celebrate end enjoy forty years of Buzzcocks music. The Buzzcocks rolled out an amazing performance playing some of their iconic punk anthems such as “What do I Get”, “Ever Fallen in Love”, and “Orgasm Addict” — along with some of their newer songs. Pete Shelley’s signature voice along with Steve Diggle’s unstoppable guitar energy had the young punks moving. The pit never seemed to stop moving as waves of punk rock ferocity boiled in and out of the circle. While the young mashed and floated, many of the older punks stood and watched from the edge. Needless to say, the salt and peppered dudes didn’t totally stray from the madness ensuing in the pit. A few of them joined in, reveling in nostalgia, and showed the young how it’s done.
Before Buzzcocks took us through a memorial evening of music, the night kicked off with Philly rock ‘n’ rollers, The Residuels. I think the band shocked the crowd a bit. Their first song started off at medium tempo; the crowd watched, there was some chatter in the background, and then guitarist/vocalist, Justin Pittney laid it all out there and let the emotion flow strong with a scream into the chorus. Suddenly, the crowd was engaged and it did not take long for the pit to start making its circle of rage. I may be getting old, but some of the people in the pit were doing some very strange moves. There were a couple of guys that were just bobbing there entire upper torso back-and-fourth with either their hands in their pockets, or holding their hands behind their back? What the fuck is that all about, it looked a bit ridiculous. Regardless, The Residuels kept things tight and moving with their heavy dose of rock ‘n’ roll.
Check out photos of Buzzcocks with The Residels at the Observatory below!
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Written for GrimyGoods.com, June 2, 2016
X ROCK THE ROXY AT NIGHT ONE OF 4-DAY BANGER, FANS OF ALL WALKS CUT LOOSE
X rocked the Roxy on Thursday with their first of four X-mas shows at the Hollywood venue. Mike Watt and the Secondmen opened with a set list fit more for a co-headliner than an opening act. After over an hour of Watt’s driving bass and high energy songs, the crowd was warmed up and ready for X.
X rocked the Roxy on Thursday with their first of four X-mas shows at the Hollywood venue. Mike Watt and the Secondmen opened with a set list fit more for a co-headliner than an opening act. After over an hour of Watt’s driving bass and high energy songs, the crowd was warmed up and ready for X.
‘Tis the season for X to mount a west coast tour. As John Doe explained, “This is our 44th annual X-mas tour.” Exene Cervenka quickly squashed this notion with a laugh, “No it isn’t.” (X was formed in 1977.) The banter continued as Doe offered with a grin, “Well, we’re not doing any Christmas songs.” “Well, now I kinda want to,” Cervenka replied.
While they didn’t end up playing any Christmas tunes, the tone for the show was set by the two singers’ exchange. The audience was treated to a spirited performance of X classics, and the band was clearly having a good time playing them. Before, during, and between songs, the band members could be seen sharing a quick laugh or smile.
Speaking of smiling, guitarist Billy Zoom returned to the band after a several month hiatus due to his cancer treatment. The band’s official website dubbed his return an “Xmas miracle,” and the audience was clearly delighted to see him onstage again. Zoom was a bit thinner and understandably appeared a little fatigued, but he played flawlessly and rarely could be seen without the grin on his face that X fans have come to know so well.
As the band played into the night, the audience that watched, sang, and danced along featured an interesting group of people. There was a one-woman-dance-party sporting a Courtney Love style black baby doll dress with white collar that weaved through the crowd, passing a young guy wearing a 1980’s era jean jacket with buttons of bands pinned all over the front of it. Behind him was a businessman that had come from the office, stripped off his tie and blazer, and was singing all the words to every song the band played. A lady standing next to me had flown in from Colorado with tickets for all four nights. The fifty year old guy next to her was enjoying the show and had admitted earlier that his wife wouldn’t be happy that he was going to be out two nights in a row (he was going to the Together Pangea show at the Echoplex the following evening).
This crowd, unified in their love for X, danced as DJ Bonebreak pounded the drums through “Motel Room in my Bed.” They bobbed as Zoom’s guitar riffs drove “Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not.” And they sang loudly as Cervenka and Doe belted out “Los Angeles.” Eventually, all good things must end, and as the show drew to a close, I overheard several people say that they were going to buy tickets to see another night of X at the Roxy. It appears that maybe some people figured out a way to make the good times last a little longer.
Words: Jon Bostick
Photography: Wes Marsala
Written for GrimyGoods.com, December 5, 2015
PENNYWISE, BAD RELIGION, NOFX AND MORE PUNK BANDS WEATHER THE HEAT AT IT’S NOT DEAD FEST
Punk’s not dead! That is a true statement because there were about 22,000 of them standing, walking, moshing, and surfing crowds in the sweltering, heat this past Saturday at San Manuel Amphitheater for It’s Not Dead Fest.
Punk’s not dead! That is a true statement because there were about 22,000 of them standing, walking, moshing, and surfing crowds in the sweltering, heat this past Saturday at San Manuel Amphitheater for It’s Not Dead Fest.
I had planned on getting to the festival a little later, once the heat died down a bit, but since I was quite excited for the show and I ended up getting to the venue at about noon, smack in the middle of the dead heat. I got my press pass and they said I had to wait in this insanely long line to get in. It took about forty-five minutes to finally get into the venue. As we all waited in line, I was looking at people and also monitoring myself, beads of sweat were developing on everyone’s head and people’s faces looked as if they were melting. Shit, it was fucking hot. If it was 100 in my home of Los Angeles, it was 120 hear in the armpit of California (San Bernardino).
It was a show that brought older punk, ska and newer bands together in the same place. The festival’s headliners were Pennywise, Bad Religion, NOFX and The Descendents. Also on the bill were Lagwagon, The Vandals, TSOL, Anti-Flag, Swingin’ Utters, CJ Ramone, Agent Orange, Fishbone and The Adolescents and many many others. It was pretty much a 90s Southern California punk gumbo.
Each stage had a constant cloud of dust hovering over the crowd as fans ran in circles creating massive pits. At one point during Bad Religion’s set, Greg Graffin jokingly said “can you guys refrain from slam dancing for a while?” but as you know, you tell a punk to not do something, the more likely they are to do it, and they did.
From what I can recall, there was only one unfortunate hiccup that occurred. After Bad Religion played, Pennywise was set to close out the show. The stage was set up on a turntable and the turntable stopped working. Thankfully, by the amazing efforts of the stage crew they were able tear down both the Bad Religion and Pennywise equipment and reset Pennywise’s equipment in about fifteen minutes or so. It was pretty remarkable and super professional. The stage crew were fucking rock stars that night. Unfortunately, Pennywise did not have a ton of time to do a proper soundcheck and during their first song you could barely hear Jim Lindberg. His mic levels were way too low. He then grabbed, bassist, Randy Bradbury’s mic and did what he needed to do. At the end of the song, the crew gave Lindberg another mic, and it was almost like a cartoon, the mic cord was broken, Bradbury grabbed the end, and they all looked at each other in amazement of how silly the scenario was. After all the technology fails, everything was good and the band went on and played hard as always.
I really have to give it up to the fans at It’s Not Dead Fest because they muscled through a horrific day of dry heat and tons of dust. But if you’re a real punk, you won’t let that shit stop you.
Naturally, people were getting their drinking on at It’s Not Dead Fest. Maybe a little too much considering the heat. One guy came out of the pit and then puked in three different spots in front of me. Then I saw another guy come out of the pit nearly passed out, and then laid in that other guys vomit. He then went on to dump a rock star energy drink all over his face. It was pretty comical to say the least. Medics came to check him out and he was all good. Just a little exhausted and intoxicated. It’s like we tell all those Coachella kids, If you’re gonna drink hard in triple digit heat, be sure to hydrate with plenty of water. Don’t be “that guy” or “that girl” — shit’s amateur.
Despite the face-melting heat, It’s Not Dead Fest was a great event. If the festival comes back around next year, I would hope it’s during a much more cool month. I am sure the organizers wanted to do this in October to maybe have some cooler weather, but the gods were against them and slammed a heat wave down on us. But all in all, it pretty much went off without a hitch.
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Written for GrimyGoods.com, October 13, 2015
TITUS ANDRONICUS AND SPIDER BAGS AT THE ROXY: A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
Last Saturday the curtain raised at The Roxy in West Hollywood and there stood Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus strumming his guitar to a slow rhythm, wearing a Titus Andronicus logo-ed shirt that consisted of an anarchy symbol. He spoke to the crowd and wanted everyone to have a good time and not ruin anyone else’s time by getting violent in a mosh pit, he said: “punk is about having an autonomous space for all to have a good time, keep it respectful and peaceful.”
Last Saturday the curtain raised at The Roxy in West Hollywood and there stood Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus strumming his guitar to a slow rhythm, wearing a Titus Andronicus logo-ed shirt that consisted of an anarchy symbol. He spoke to the crowd and wanted everyone to have a good time and not ruin anyone else’s time by getting violent in a mosh pit, he said: “punk is about having an autonomous space for all to have a good time, keep it respectful and peaceful.” He went on with a slow song and then at the end, he came back on the mic and said, “Hopefully you will find this both satisfying and intriguing, let’s fuckin’ rock” and then came the hard stuff that continued all through he night,
The crowd was pretty amped, and consisted mostly of younger people in their mid 20s. Fans respected Stickles’ wishes and did not get too crazy. It did, however, erupt into a pit a couple times but it was brief. The crowd mostly stood, and proudly sang every word with the band. I did at one time see probably the best crowd surf I have ever seen, well maybe it wasn’t exactly a surf: this guy was being held up in the air by multiple people and they held him quite steady in one place for quite a good amount of time. Is was more of a crowd levitation rather than a surf. I think that was able to happen because people were not crashing into one another in a pit. Definitely a different type of punk show than what I am used to seeing.
The band played fucking great, and Patrick Stickles has some amazing energy on stage. His robust beard and wild hair definitely added to his powerful presence. Titus Andronicus ended the show with Weezer’s “Say it Ain’t So,” which was pretty awesome.
Spider Bags took the stage before Titus Andronicus. These Chapel Hill spitfires perfectly primed the energy for the evening. Frontman Dan McGee is a ferocious musician. He put everything he had into his vocals and guitar playing. The guy was literally dripping sweat all over the stage. With a captivating energy, Spider Bags could have equally been the headliner of the show. Members of Titus Andronicus also joined them to do a song together.
Two solid acts, one epic night. Check out the photos below of Titus Andronicus with Spider Bags below.
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Written for GrimyGoods.com, September 29, 2015
BODIES FLY THROUGH THE AIR AT LOS CRUDOS’ UKRAINIAN CULTURE CENTER SHOW; ALICE BAG MAKES GUEST APPEARANCE
I went into last night’s Los Crudos show at the Ukrainian Culture Center knowing what to expect. I knew that if I placed myself at the front of the pit that I would most likely get kicked in the head numerous times; however, I didn’t fucking care. I knew that there would be some pretty bad ass moments to capture and indeed there were. I would say that this article is more for the fans of Los Crudos, Blazing Eye, Ausencia and Strangers.
I went into last night’s Los Crudos show at the Ukrainian Culture Center knowing what to expect. I knew that if I placed myself at the front of the pit that I would most likely get kicked in the head numerous times; however, I didn’t fucking care. I knew that there would be some pretty bad ass moments to capture and indeed there were. I would say that this article is more for the fans of Los Crudos, Blazing Eye, Ausencia and Strangers. Man these people never let up once Blazing Eyebegan their performance. The pit was circling large and bodies were flying overhead. It was incredible.
Needless to say, the action really started when the headlining act came on: Los Crudos. Not only was the pit going off with bodies surfing the crowd, but fans rushed the stage and superman-ed over the crowd creating a constant motion of stage dives. It was a truly remarkable site. It was total anarchy, but at the same time, as weird as it may sound, it was respectful. Not one fight broke out. And the awesome thing was, I don’t even think there was security present. Everyone seemed to managed themselves fine, lifting their brothers up if they fell. If only this could be the metaphor for how life and society should be.
Los Crudos put on a very positive show. Frontman Martin Sorrondeguy came out before the show started wanting to calm people down a bit and start the show off with a positive message. He introduced Los Angeles Chicana-Punk Icon Alice Bag who then read a poem from her book “Violence Girl”. The iconic woman kicked off there reading with a scream. After she finished the poem Sorrondeguy came back out and the rage was let loose.
Between songs he had some positive words and messages to say, the one that stuck out to me most was his discussion about women’s rights and defending the woman instead of abusing the woman. I think his message worked at least for this show. There were plenty of women there and very small women who were probably some of the toughest girls I have ever seen. They got just as crazy as most of the guys and not a single one got hurt, at least not to my knowledge.
Blazing Eye got the party started. Lead singer, Austin Delgadillo was a maniac on stage. For an opening act they held back no punches. He knew what it was to put on a punk show and get the crowd moving and involved. I’ve never seen or heard of them before, but I will definitely be down to check them out again for sure.
Opening the show was Strangers and Ausencia. Ausencia half way through their set wanted to send a message, especially to Donald Trump and I figure that I may as well help them spread their message since I do have access to a publication that does have a healthy viewership and that message was: “Fuck You! Fuck you Donald Trump for saying that the Mexican people are nothing but drug dealers and rapist and that there are just a few good ones.” I’ll second the words of Ausencia (and so does our editor).
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Written for GrimyGoods.com, June 25, 2015
MISFITS GIVE NEW AND OLD FANS AT THE OBSERVATORY A MOST MEMORABLE “STATIC AGE”
It was a high-energy show last Thursday at The Observatory. Misfits have been scheduled to play three days and play three classic albums in their entirety. Thursday night was Static Age. It was an all ages show and I would say that it was cool to see all ages actually there. There were some very young teens to people in their 40s and 50s, but there were probably more teens there which was awesome to see that this music still gets to the younger crowd when today, the market is completely saturated with a lot of bad pop/safe music.
It was a high-energy show last Thursday at The Observatory. Misfits have been scheduled to play three days and play three classic albums in their entirety. Thursday night was Static Age. It was an all ages show and I would say that it was cool to see all ages actually there. There were some very young teens to people in their 40s and 50s, but there were probably more teens there which was awesome to see that this music still gets to the younger crowd when today, the market is completely saturated with a lot of bad pop/safe music.
There was definitely a lot of youth there and it seemed as though there were some first time show-goers there. At least first time in what could potentially turn into a massive pit. I heard one kid behind me say that he was worried about getting crushed up against the barricade, while his friend soothed him and just told him to brace himself by putting his knee into the barricade so that he did not get squished. I found the moment sweet, yet comical.
The crew was setting up and then the only remaining original member of the band, Jerry Only, was helping the crew set up microphones. He had the iconic devil lock hair and he took the time to shake a couple hands of his fans and ask how they were doing. He seemed very gracious which was nice. Then showtime was about to begin and the smile from his face was gone, and it became focused and intense. Misfits kicked off the show with the first song off the album Static Age. The pit erupted and kept going until the last song was played. Of course when he played songs such as “Last Caress,” “Bullet,” and “138” the crowd got a little more crazy. Jerry and the rest of the Misfits put on one hell of a show that did not let up until the last note was played.
Getting the evening started was a group of female rockers called She Demons. They were pretty fun and played hard. They did a couple hard-rock versions of some classic bubble-gum oldies such as The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and The Crystals’ “He’s a Rebel.” She Demons put on a very entertaining show that got the crowd nicely primed for the Misfits.
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Written for GrimyGoods.com, June 23, 2015
