Not one, but two O.P.D. patrol cars
showed up to take turns circling the venue while keeping a
watchful eye on M.D.C. as they unloaded
their tour van. Gesturing to the cop/klansman logo on
Ron's baseball cap, I wryly suggested "I don't think they
like your hat." Shrugging "Truth hurts," he opened his
jacket to reveal "DEAD COPS" printed in bold white letters
across the front of his black t-shirt before deadpanning
"What about this? Better?" How he's managed to avoid being
sent back to the pen is anyone's guess.
I had
seen the
DekOiZ before when they
were opening for the UK Subs on that band's last North
American tour and, although they weren't the worst example
of nor. Cal. "pins 'n skins" street-core (ie. Resilience,
Pressure Point, Monster Squad, etc.) I had ever witnessed,
I didn't think they were all that great. This particular
performance, regrettably, was no exception. Lead singer
Konrad paced the stage growling "Bad Mutha Fucker," "All
The Same," "No Honor No Pride," and "Butcher Boy" from
A Decoy Life convincingly enough but the songs
themselves were just one terrace-style hooligan chant
after another set to middling hardcore punk with a
"running" psychobilly-tinged bassline here and there. None
of which was very impressive. The audience, judging by
it's overall lacklustre response, seemed to enjoy them
only slightly more than I did. Except for a few heads
nodding upfront, a few toes tapping on the sidelines, and
a couple skins pushing each other around during their
so-so cover of "White Riot" by The Clash everyone else
headed for the bar or walked outside for a smoke.
This
gig was advertised as
Trouble Maker's first
with it's "surprise new lineup" that turned out to be a
powerhouse combination showcasing ex-Retching Red
emigrates Joe "Fucko" (also in Strychnine) and "Crash"
Diaz (also in 2nd Class Citizens) on lead guitar and
drums, and Oppressed Logic's "Whore-Hey" on rhythm guitar.
Following a quick sound check, 6'5" 250+ lbs. vocalist
Garrett Garitano (onetime
guitarist for early 80's skinhead gang Lockjaw) bellowed
himself hoarse over his bandmates' caustic renderings of
"Unemployed," "Self Destruct," "Dirty Cop," "Bad
Attitude," and "Rough House" off the Fist Impression
CD. Their West Coast take on bruising oldschool NYHC
sounding like a ferocious mix of Fear meets Agnostic Front
with Whore-Hey's PC-baiting jokes (e.g. "How's a woman
like a condom? Both spend more time in your wallet than on
your dick!") made even more facetious thanks to Fucko's
guitar impressions of a sorry trumpet's "wah-wah-WAAAHHH!"
after each punch-line. As an encore they brought the house
down by covering G.G. Allin & The Scumfucs' "Bite It You
Scum" as Garrett threw his mic into the crowd for us to
finish the last chorus, grabbed a staple-gun he'd used to
put up setlists and went berserk driving one after another
into his arms and chest.
Ever
since vocalist Dave Dictor reformed
M.D.C. with it's original Texas lineup of
"Ex-Con Ron" (aka. Ron Posner) (guitar), Mikey Donaldson
(founding member of Austin HC malcontents The Offenders
and SF alt-blues rockers Sister Double Happiness) (bass),
and "Alschvitz" (aka. Al Schultz) (drums) I've tried to
catch every show they've played in the Bay Area. And I
haven't been let down yet. Furiously pounding away at
breakneck speed, their set focused solely on the first
self-titled LP - an early 80's hardcore punk/thrash
landmark of anarcho-leftist politicizing and sardonic
blackhumor on par with Dead Kennedys' In God We Trust,
Inc. and Crass's Feeding Of The 5,000,
Multi-Death Corporations and Millions Of Dead
Children EPs, Hey Cop, If I Had A Face Like Yours,
and new songs from Magnus Dominus Corpus
("Destroying The Planet," "Poser Punk," "Founding
Fathers," "Sick Of It," "Let's Kill All The Cops," etc.).
Ironically enough, considering it's salient anti-violence
message, security had to break up a fight in the pit
during "Beat Somebody Up" with Dave sternly warning us
"Okay, here's how we do things: You wanna push each other
around? Fine. BUT NO FIGHTING! If that happens again we
stop playing and we're outta here." Aside from that, and
being loose to the point of falling apart once or twice
into a chaotic mess, they were great.
Unlike
most punks my age I've never been what you would call a
fan of late 70's British pop/garage-punk stalwarts
The Vibrators. Sure,
their early records have their moments, but I can name a
lot of other groups from that era with the same
lightheartedly loopy aesthetic who were considerably
better than they ever were - The Buzzcocks for example.
Now a three-piece, founding members "Knox" (aka. Ian
Carnochan) (vocals/guitar) and Eddie (drums) looked
hopelessly washed up as they slogged lethargically through
Pure Mania, V2, a smattering of
Guilty and Alaska 127, tracks from 2002's
Energize ("X-Files," "So Far Down," "3/4
Angelina," "New Brain," "Rock The Kids," etc.), and a
cover of the Flaming Groovies' "Shake Some Action" with
newcomer punk-a-billy bassist Pete's (formerly of Finnish
glam rockers No Direction) tough as nails stage presence
and knockout basslines being the only half-way decent
things worth mentioning. Even my friend
Rach, a Vibrators
fan unlike myself for as long as I've known her, was
disappointed. Asking me "What happened to these
guys?" The rest of the audience, however, cheering,
pogoing and shouting requests, didn't seem to care in the
least or even notice how bad they were. Especially a
conspicuous grindcore crusty wearing rhinestone studded
novelty sunglasses who, for some reason, was squealing for
them upfront like a pre-teen girl at a Backstreet Boys
concert.
