Heavy distortion commanded the scene of a brutalizing punk rock show at Alex’s Bar Friday night. The Adolescents, a legendary 1980s punk band from Orange County, headlined the performance.
The first band to perform was a Japanese punk band called Friday Knights. It was clear English was not their first language, as the lead singer had some difficulty expressing his feelings of remorse regarding the earthquake tragedy in Japan.
Nevertheless, this trio was raw, powerful and had creative arrangements. They adhered to punk fundamentals that less is often more and simply getting really loud is key. Friday Knights also performed their own speed rendition of the Ramones’ hit single, “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
The second band to perform was a group from Woodland Hills called the “The Grim.” Once this group started playing, enough energy or booze had filled the audience and they finally felt is was an appropriate time to start a mosh pit. Tall cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and Tecate were launched to the ceiling and drenched others with beer. The audience barely noticed they were becoming sticky with beer as they were too focused on the mosh pit and the music.
The third and highly-anticipated group to perform was the late 1970s punk sensation, “The Dickies.” It seemed like an eternity until they started playing but it was well worth the wait once the first bar chord was struck. The Dickies are almost as old as punk rock itself and now in 2011, that’s a pretty significant number. Originating from the San Fernando Vally, this group has not strayed too far from their raw sound and lyrics that reflect a more comical side of punk rock.
It was obvious these punks wouldn’t be singing too much about politics or anarchy, as Leonard Graves Phillips (vocals) danced with a blow up doll and taunted the audience with a giant penis-shaped puppet, which was equipped with two large testicles. The Dickies decided to briefly speak about politics and how ironic it is that people consider President Barrack Obama a saint as he continues to push war efforts harder than ever. After this short political tangent nothing else was said regarding politics.
The Dickies’ legendary founder and lead guitarist, Stan Lee, played harmonious and powerful riffs which could not have sounded much better than his playing did in the group’s glory days. Lee shows no signs of weakness or slowing down. The Dickies brought their set to an end with one of the best known singles, “Gigantor!”
The Adolescents eventually came on stage around 11:30 and ended around 1:30 a.m. The group’s iconic bass player, Steve Soto, expressed his long-lasting love for punk rock music as he had some trouble approaching the stage but showed no difficult of beating the hell out of his bass guitar once the music started. The music was loud and rowdy just like the audience.
By the end of the show there was so much spilt beer on the floor that people were falling flat on their faces and could have cared less.
To find out more about the Adolescents and future shows visit their official website at theadolescents.com.
