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
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, THE BRONX AND DEAD HEAVENS DELIVER KNOCK-OUT PERFORMANCES AT THE OBSERVATORY
It was a night of pure rock n’ roll at the Observatory in Santa Ana, California last night. Three bands would play, Rocket From The Crypt, Los Angeles punk rockers, The Bronx and Dead Heavens. All three bands brought their own style of rock and each kept the crowd engaged.
It was a night of pure rock n’ roll at the Observatory in Santa Ana, California last night. Three bands would play, Rocket From The Crypt, Los Angeles punk rockers, The Bronx and Dead Heavens. All three bands brought their own style of rock and each kept the crowd engaged.
Rocket From The Crypt was the headliner of the night and they came out at about 10:30 or so in there navy blue floral Elvis-esque jumpsuits and lead singer John Reis (aka Speedo) came out and rambled on a bit explaining and apologizing for their banner being so small, especially in comparison to The Bronx’s banner. He kept going on about how The Bronx’s was so much bigger than their’s. Anyway, they started out with “Dick On A Dog” and that got the crowd going and the moshing ensued.
The Bronx came on before Rocket, and man did they get everyone involved in the show. After the second or third song singer, ferocious front-man, Matt Caughthran jumped off stage and grabbed a male audience member and started pushing people along to get the pit going. He said “I want to see all you pussies moving,” and everyone happily complied. He also put his money where his mouth was and got the pit started himself. He hopped back on stage and fell to the ground and when he got up you saw blood running down his cheek just below his eye. I don’t think he realized he cut himself till much later in the show. His white t-shirt was blood stained all over by the end of their set. This would not be the last time that Caughthran would enter the pit. Towards the end he stood in the center of the pit and sang his heart out while people moshed around him. He then climbed the back barricade and finally did a dive into the crowd where he would then get back on stage. The Bronx were pure untamed energy from start-to-finish; stunning performance.
The opener was Dead Heavens, and all I can say is that they will soon be headlining their own show.s They were pretty fantastic. When they first went on, the place was not packed and people were standing in the back seated areas. Nobody was in the pit except for a couple photographers and maybe about six others. After their first song everyone came down into the pit and people applauded and cheered after each song. It was a real fun night at the Observatory. The spectators really did get their money’s worth for a Saturday evening.
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Originally written for GrimyGoods.com, June 1, 2015
