Tag: punk

Fishbone at the Troubadour-The greatest live band of all time

Danny Baraz December 21, 2014

I’ve been trying to think of the right words to use to describe what I saw last night at The Troubadour. It’s not like it was my first time seeing Fishbone. Far from it. I’ve seen them on every size and kind of stage you can imagine from The Malibu Inn, Coachella, The Hollywood Palladium and dating as far back as Lollapalooza 1993 when they completely stole the show from all the headliners. It was almost humorous to see Dinosaur Jr take the stage after Fishbone finished their set that year. What could J Mascis have possibly done to follow Angelo Moore swimming the length of the festival audience, climbing the highest light tower and diving into that crowd during Subliminal Fascism? To date it is one of my most vivid concert memories. So how could seeing Fishbone at The Troubadour on a Friday night in 2014 compare to the times I’ve seen Fishbone co-headline shows with Primus in the 90’s or anywhere else along this journey of theirs which started as junior high schoolers in 1979? I can safely say that it was as good as any Fishbone show I’ve ever seen. How is that possible? How can 49

Reverend Horton Heat, The Adicts and The Smut Peddlers at The Observatory

Danny Baraz December 13, 2014

Last night I remembered why I used to hate Orange County. The reminder came in the form of an awesome show with a diverse lineup that featured Reverend Horton Heat, The Adicts, The Smut Peddlers and Sean and Zander. It drew the type of crowd one might’ve seen at punk shows in the 80’s and 90’s with all it’s assorted tribes and politics. All the punk rock crews were represented from UNITY skins and SHARP’s and I even had some interactions with an old school dude reppin the L.A.D.S. But this is Orange County afterall and it just wouldn’t be a punk show in the O.C. if there weren’t a huge Nazi Skin contingent present to guard the Mother Land from invading brown people. The fact that The Smut Peddlers were on the bill brought the South Bay Skins even further south than the South Bay to add to the already hearty skinhead stew. But times are different and even with a group of people that would’ve blown like an over heated pressure cooker in a different decade, I witnessed no real violence last night. I got to the Observatory just in time to see Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss

OG’s, Toddlers and Whiskey for The Weirdos and Adolescents at The Observatory

Taylor Wong December 7, 2014

When I got to the Observatory in Santa Ana, the first things I saw were teenagers drinking whiskey from water bottles, old timers drunkenly fighting in the parking lot and babes with mohawks bouncing around. The scene has been set for one of the gnarliest punk shows I’ve seen in a long time. Last night, The Observatory had the ultimate punk line up, The Widows, Channel 3, The Stitches, The Weirdos, and The Adolescents. This was an all ages show, and when I say all ages I mean all ages. There were what i call, with all due respect, “old timers” with canes, blue hair, and driver caps as well as toddlers in patched up denim vests with mohawks. I was loving every moment of it. Out of all the shows I’ve been to, punk shows seem to be the most family oriented and friendly shows, ironically. The only time I almost got knocked out over the course of the show was when I was pulling a girl through the crowd to get up closer and forgot to say sorry to the dick head i accidentally bumped into. The first band up were The Widows. I’ve never heard of them

OFF! transform The Echo from a peaceful, Indie venue into a house of raw aggression

Danny Baraz November 30, 2014

Keith Morris stopped the band from playing. As The Echo went from bedlam to a virtual hush, Morris pointed to the right of the stage and asked, “What was that I heard? I heard someone say, ‘Over the hill’”. He deferred to guitarist and ex Burning Brides front man, Dimitri Coats who exclaimed, “Over the hill like you assholes from the Valley”. What separates veterans punkers like OFF! from everyone else is not only a vast ocean of experience and a belt that has more notches than holes but it’s also an intuitive set of reflexes that cannot be taught. Whether you are a punk, a composer, a visual artist or a chef, you are either born with “it” or you aren’t. At 60 years old, Keith Morris still commands the stage like a grizzled sea captain. He navigates the hurled projectiles and ambitious stage divers like a treacherous ocean whose waters he has crossed on many a voyage. I didn’t know quite what to expect as I entered The Echo early in the evening. I’ve never seen a real circle pit at The Echo. I’ve seen “mosh pits” made up of all ages crowds that were more affectionate than

The Julie Ruin at The Troubadour: Vagina’s and Surprises.

Danny Baraz November 7, 2014

Kathleen Hanna is an icon. She is the nut crushing, vagina wielding, punk singing, ear ringing legend of a once, DIY militant feminism. A militancy that was absolutely necessary in a 90’s era of violent, male dominated, testosterone injected dominance of the American punk scene. Her band, Bikini Kill, not only gave girls a voice in that void of misogynistic obliviousness but insisted on “Girls to the Front!”. On Thursday, November 6th, her band The Julie Ruin headlined night 6 of Red Bull’s 30 Days in L.A. at the Troubadour. The irony of looking at the big, corporate Red Bull logo behind Hanna all night was not lost on me but if Nirvana could start from the Kill Rockstars record label, to Sub Pop and eventually end up on Geffen, then The Julie Ruin could certainly play a gig with Red Bull Sound Select and retain their integrity. Bookings like this give Red Bull’s music division more and more street cred every day. I arrived at The Troubadour just before Red Bull band Bad Girlfriend took the stage. I was in a foul mood. I was fucking exhausted after covering 5 out of 6 of the 30 Red Bull dates

The Damned and T.S.O.L at Irving Plaza Made Halloween in the City Bearable

Danny Baraz November 4, 2014

Halloween. Sorry but it just is not my favorite holiday. Well, not since I was 12. However, Halloween in New York Fucking City at Irving FuckingPlaza, featuring the likes of The Briefs, T.S.O.L. and The Damned was a treat, rather than a trick. (yes, i know -shut the hell up). They all delivered in typical fashion. The Briefs donned friendly Casper sheets to start a tight, fast and loud set from start to finish, which got this somewhat tame Manhattan crowd mobile. By the time TSOL got started, “Banana girl” and “Chicken Suit Dude” were in full swing. Yes, that was the catalog of mosh proof costumes that I witnessed and i think they worked. One gal i met got an elbow to the forehead and it was a good one. She did not enjoy the same insulation as the banana and the chicken and her lack of Halloween spirit ultimately led to her demise. TSOL live is always awesome and never complete without front man, Jack Grisham’s standup comedy action–“People are throwing candy on stage..my mother always tells me not to eat anything like this and i always listen to my mom–she pays my bills..” New drummer Matt Rainwater