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

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 do their thang. I love their songs and their sound which I like to call Junkie Folk Music. A few songs into their set, Sean made a point to introduce Zander and referred to him as a National Treasure and I couldn’t agree more. Sean, frontman for the band Throw Rag is no slouch himself. He went off on various rants, mostly about sobriety and started to sound preachy at one point just before playing “Catch me if I fall”.

“If you want to live a life on methadone, that’s up to you but we’re here whenever you’re ready”. I wonder if he was addressing someone in the audience.

It started to feel a bit like an N.A. convention with the Smut Peddlers taking the stage next. I was surprised how many people I talked to on this night came just to see the Smut Peddlers play. They were certainly the band that drew me to the first night of shows with The Rev and The Adicts. That would also explain the presence of all the South Bay Skins. It has been at least 10 years since I’ve seen the Smut Peddlers play and they immediately gained my respect by opening with Playstation Generation, one of my favorite Smut Peddlers songs. John Ransom still commands the stage and the band inspired many a stage diver with very little resistance from The Observatory security team.   Halfway through their set, John Ransom cued one of his friends to come on stage for one of the most awful marriage proposals I’ve ever seen in my life.  After a knee was taken, the question was popped and the bride to be said yes, the groom was so proud of himself and taken by the moment that he almost forgot his new fiancee was even present at all.  Men, don’t propose to your lady at a punk show.  Tonight, Cadillac Tramps replace Smut Peddlers for night 2.

The Adicts could’ve easily headlined this show and all across the venue, people were dressed as Droogs including a couple little kids who couldn’t have been more than 7 years old. Guitarist Pete Dee was milling about the venue before the show and was stoked to take his picture with the young fanatics.  The Adicts are one of the best old punk bands to see live. Monkey still commands the stage and lead vocals with an arsenal of flamboyant outfits, streamers, confetti, glitter and toilet paper that was thrown towards the roof and streamed down from the rafters like some punk rock Xmas tree. They sounded amazing.  The songs were tight and all the vocals were pristine.  The band tore through classics such as “Easy Way Out”, “Chinese Takeaway”, “Viva la Revolucion” and “Bad Boy” before relinquishing the stage to Reverend Horton Heat.

Now it was Martini Time. A hollow body, Psychobilly Freakout massacre took place last night when Jim Heath and Reverend Horton Heat took the stage at The Observatory. I couldn’t imagine having to follow the Adicts as the headliner of a show but a few songs into the set and that stage and venue was theirs. Jim Heath, Jimbo Wallace and Scott Churilla showed just how big a three piece band can sound when you play with the finest musicians. The pin up inspired ladies were out in force and sock hop was live and in motion. It’s so much fun to watch this band play. Even with all the extra curricular activities taking place in the pit, it was hard to divert my eyes from the musicians on stage. It seems like the band has caught a second wind after putting out their latest release, The Rev on Victory Records. While the previous record, Laughin and Cryin with The Reverend Horton Heat was probably a necessary departure from the psychobilly sound that made The Reverend so revered amongst punks and greasers, one album of twangy country was enough. We want to see Jim Heath standing on top of the side of Wallace’s stand up bass until he can’t stand no more. The Reverend Horton Heat puts on one hell of a show.

Words: Danny Baraz

Photos: Taylor Wong