Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
I’d forgotten what a great venue The Whisky is. Big stage but small room with decent sound and a balcony means that pretty much every spot is good. So it’s cool the once proud venue (I saw the Ramones, Sonic Youth, Descendents, Scratch Acid, SNFU, Guns ‘n’ Roses, and so many other awesome shows there in the ’80s and ’90s, but before that the likes of The Doors, Love, and Jimi Hendrix would play there) is booking some of its most loved bands to celebrate its 50th anniversary. With a storied headliner like X on the marquee, I don’t know why anyone would feel the need to hire tatted up go-go dancers to entertain us, though.
First up was The Crowd. Who knew that one of the earliest and best HB punk bands was opening? I had no idea but as soon as they started off their set with “Living in Madrid” (off the essential Beach Blvd. compilation) it all came back. Geography and perhaps a last-second booking meant the five-piece was cut to four but the band had no problems going for the gusto. Great set, and yes they played “Modern Machine.”
X is one of my favorite bands, and I’ve seen them a lot since their New World Tour stop at Magic Mountain. Over the last few years, I’ve seen them more than ever and it seems like they keep getting darker, from the extra combative vocals to the dueling axes. I was trying to figure out if Exene was struggling since she was nursing a plastic cup for the first few songs and rested on the stairs during the drum solo of “Hungry Wolf,” but she powered through the set as otherworldly and awesomely as always. John Doe did most of the rocking and the talking, saying that if it were a few years ago the band would invite everyone over for a house party. Later on, Exene said that she thinks of Johnny Rivers, and not X, when she thinks of the Whisky. (Of course, Billy Zoom just smiled.) Cool to have people talking about excellent shows at the Whisky (and playing them) instead of lame pay-to-play shows, and I hope it stays that way after the 50th anniversary run is over.
I’d forgotten what a great venue The Whisky is. Big stage but small room with decent sound and a balcony means that pretty much every spot is good. So it’s cool the once proud venue (I saw the Ramones, Sonic Youth, Descendents, Scratch Acid, SNFU, Guns ‘n’ Roses, and so many other awesome shows there in the ’80s and ’90s, but before that the likes of The Doors, Love, and Jimi Hendrix would play there) is booking some of its most loved bands to celebrate its 50th anniversary. With a storied headliner like X on the marquee, I don’t know why anyone would feel the need to hire tatted up go-go dancers to entertain us, though.
First up was The Crowd. Who knew that one of the earliest and best HB punk bands was opening? I had no idea but as soon as they started off their set with “Living in Madrid” (off the essential Beach Blvd. compilation) it all came back. Geography and perhaps a last-second booking meant the five-piece was cut to four but the band had no problems going for the gusto. Great set, and yes they played “Modern Machine.”
X is one of my favorite bands, and I’ve seen them a lot since their New World Tour stop at Magic Mountain. Over the last few years, I’ve seen them more than ever and it seems like they keep getting darker, from the extra combative vocals to the dueling axes. I was trying to figure out if Exene was struggling since she was nursing a plastic cup for the first few songs and rested on the stairs during the drum solo of “Hungry Wolf,” but she powered through the set as otherworldly and awesomely as always. John Doe did most of the rocking and the talking, saying that if it were a few years ago the band would invite everyone over for a house party. Later on, Exene said that she thinks of Johnny Rivers, and not X, when she thinks of the Whisky. (Of course, Billy Zoom just smiled.) Cool to have people talking about excellent shows at the Whisky (and playing them) instead of lame pay-to-play shows, and I hope it stays that way after the 50th anniversary run is over.
Before starting his set, Keith Morris explained why OFF! wanted to have its eponymous LP release show at the Whisky. Even though the Sunset Strip landmark is now a cheesy venue that seems more concerned with selling drinks to poseurs and T-shirts to tourists than rad shows, it is a symbol of L.A.’s matchless musical history from psychedelic rock like the Doors and Love to first-generation punks the Germs and X to more recent metal shows that even I saw like Guns ‘n’ Roses and Michael Monroe (not to mention touring bands like SNFU, Scream, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, NOFX, and Green Day, as well as the first Descendents reunion shows…). Add to that OFF!
Openers Spider Fever seemed to soak up some of the venue’s psychedelic past with the elevated stage and high-end light system actually adding some unintentional-yet-not-inappropriate flair to their tweaked take on garage rock ‘n’ roll. I saw OFF! drummer Mario Rubalcaba front the band with his upside-down guitar and no-nonsense singing before playing with Hot Snakes not long ago, but this show seemed even tighter and actually more fun. After seeing the band a few times, it almost seems like the meeting point of many of Mario’s bands: the balls-out rock of RFTC, psychedelic aspects of Earthless, rawness of Clikatat Ikatowi, and energy of OFF! I was stoked to pick up the band’s amazing full-length LP, and you should get it, too.
Descendents at GV30
Before Goldenvoice promoted mega shows at Coachella, Staples, and Nokia, I knew the promoter’s name from flyers that I’d pick up at Zed Records, which also sold tickets to their shows at like Fender’s, Bogart’s, and the Palladium. Goldenvoice was the first promoter to book punk shows at “real” venues, giving chances to California bands that were treated like threats by the mainstream (Black Flag, Dead Kennedys) as well as touring bands that only got played by Rodney on the Roq (Damned, 999). My dorm rooms were decorated with those flyers, as well as posters for shows like PiL, Siouxsie, and the Jesus & Mary Chain, which also had the logo. This weekend, Goldenvoice honcho Gary Tovar booked three nights at the Santa Monica Civic (scene of early shows by The Clash and The Jam, not to mention Urgh! A Music War) to celebrate 30 years of business but also the roots of L.A. punk.