Peter Hook & The Light – at The Music Box and El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

The magnificent Peter Hook and his band known as The Light are currently on their North American tour which had stops in Los Angeles on Wednesday night at the Music Box Theatre and the El Rey on Friday. Both shows turned out to be truly unique in their own distinctive way, but what can be said is that they shared a similar celebratory vibe, a celebration of all things Joy Division. Peter Hook, the ex bassist of both Joy Division and New Order had the responsibility of assembling a band and live show that would musically represent Joy Divisions short yet rich history as a group that changed British rock music forever, he succeeded in doing just that.

Wednesday nights packed Music Box Theatre witnessed a set primarily focused on Closer, Joy Divisions final album. Though instead of opening the night with Atrocity Exhibition (the albums first cut), the band warmed the crowd up with a few classic singles before kicking into Closers opening jam. The night was full of surprises as Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction walked on stage and sang the albums 2nd track Isolation, the crowd welcomed his presence like no other, his voice was a perfect fit.

It would only be a few songs later that the electronica artist known as Moby would hop on stage to sing Colony and Means To An End. Each time a guest singer took the stage it only served to drive the crowd wilder and bring the energy in the venue to unforeseen highs.

As Closer came to an end, Peter and the light had the crowd right where they wanted, directly in their grip craving more somber post-punk anthems. The bands encore consisted of a number of fan favorites and a magical version of Love Will Tear Us Apart Again and Transmission fronted once again by a very energetic Moby. The night ended with a crowd who had not only witnessed a magical concert, but a historical one as well. Thankfully there was another show to satisfy their needs less than 48 hours away.

Friday Nights concert at the El Rey had a much different vibe from the beginning, Celebratory yes, but a bit more in your face as most of the crowd were drinking and dancing courtesy of a DJ before Peter even hit the stage. Peter Hooks influence is unquestionable as other well known musicians were seen in the crowd such as fellow Mancunian Billy Duffy of The Cult and Hunter of AFI. The moody atmosphere created by the intricate lighting system worked perfectly with the haunting chords of Unknown Pleasures and its dark themes. With a familiar set list of songs played in chronological order, the night became a group sing along of track after track with a twist as young and old danced to the very songs that spawned the post-punk genre. One man who may have outdone his previous performance was Moby who now seemed less nervous as he took the stage to sing the tracks Insight and New Dawn Fades. At times he resembled a young Ian Mackaye running around stage screaming ferociously at the top of his lungs. He held nothing back as he filled Ian Curtis’ shoes for the short time being, it was an impressive sight full of emotion. The rest of the band known as The Light played the tightest set one could have hoped for as they rocked each song with the same precision the original band had done 30 years prior. Peter’s son actually shares bass duties with his father, it’s a great combination as so many of those songs are bass driven.

The 4 tracks that nearly blew the roof off the venue were the fan favorite’s Shadow play; She’s lost Control, Warsaw and Love Will Tear Us Apart. Warsaw was perhaps the night’s biggest surprise in the set; it could easily have been the top contender of the night if not for Love Will Tear us Apart’s huge chorus. The sheer intensity of it all could have fueled a freight train as each closing track moved the crowd in ways that resembled a cyclone on the dance floor. Pogo and crowd surfing became the norm towards the end and a way to send a message to the band that Los Angeles holds Joy Divisions legacy very near and dear.

As Peter spoke to the crowd he even poked at how shitty his week had started off as New Order announced they would reunite without him on bass, though the two Los Angeles concerts he had just played had really made his week great and he was glad to have played for us. For that we thank Peter and his great band paying respects and celebrating Joy Division in the best way possible.

Wednesday nights Set:
Incubation - Dead Souls - Auto suggestion - From Safety To Where? - Atrocity Exhibition - Isolation (Perry Farrell) - Passover - Colony (Moby) - Means To An End (Moby) - Heart And Soul - 24 Hours - Eternal - Decades - (Encore) - Atmosphere - These Days - Ice Age - Novelty - Transmission (Moby) - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Friday Nights Set:
No Love Lost -Leaders Of Men - Glass - Digital -Disorder -Day Of The Lords - Candidate - Insight (Moby) -New Dawn Fades -She's Lost Control - Shadowplay - Wilderness -Interzone -I Remember Nothing - Atmosphere - Warsaw - Failures -Transmission (Moby) - Love Will Tear Us Apart

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter


   More photos from the show can be seen HERE




 

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Interview with Agnostic Front

Interview by: Louie B.

Bigwheel met up with Agnostic Front in their dressing room an hour before they were due to take the stage at the Key club in Hollywood. Here’s what went down..

The band is currently on tour in support of your guy’s new album, how are the new songs going over? Is there a stand out single that fans are already going crazy for and singing along to?
Roger - We don’t know yet, this is our 3rd date of the tour, so we really don’t know. We shot 3 videos off this album, it could be any of those 3, That’s Life, A Mi Manera, or My life my way.

Were any of those songs debuted at Punk Rock Bowling a few months back? Or are these songs being played for the first time on this tour?
Roger - Punk Rock Bowling was more of a retro set.
 

How monumental is this album for you as a song writer and front man, it’s your 10th album, was there more pressure coming into this than your previous record?
Roger - No, not really, we just did what we like, and how we feel. We never even knew it was our 10th album, we just did whatever felt right and genuinely true to us, the results are there.

 Was this album recorded in New York City?
Roger - It was recorded in Florida, we went to Florida to record, away from New York, we like to get away.

Over the years the bands style has changed a bit, you guys have also covered different issues with your songs. Were there any issues you touched on with this album that hadn’t been covered previously with AF?
Roger - I don’t really think so, but one of the things that made this album a little different is that it’s an unfortunate fact that Mike’s mom passed away, we covered some of that on the record with the track “More than a Memory”. But other than that we always speak about social and political stuff that happens around us on a day to day basis.

When you guys came back with the record “Another Voice” about seven years ago, your sound was a bit heavier than before, your guitars were tuned down, double pedal drumming was re introduced to the AF sound, you guys were touring opening for Hatebreed..
Mike - We still do!
Roger - We are still tuned down to D, we just felt like we wanted to come down a little bit and feel it out.

I think it’s worked out really good for you guys. As a vocalist, do you find it easier to sing over heavier music?
Roger - For this kind of music, what I’m doing with this, yeah, I mean I like to sing vocally to the bass, and with bass being low I get more of a growl, I like that better.

How did Mike Gallo (bassist) come about joining AF?
Roger - We met on Dateline !
Mike - I was actually in a band called On the Rise, we recorded at the same studio..
Roger - They never rose! It was more like On the Decline!
Mike - I just met them at the studio and like next thing ya know 2 years later I was in the band!
Roger - That’s the truth!!
Mike - That really is the truth!

Were you always a fan of AF while getting into playing music and hardcore punk?
Mike - Absolutely, it’s a dream come true.
Roger - Everybody’s a fan until they’re actually in the band!
Mike - Yeah hahahahah!! It becomes a job, and then ya hate em! (Everyone in the room is laughing hysterically)

The core members of AF have always been you Roger, and Vinnie Stigma. Some say you’re like the ‘Mick and Keith’ of Hardcore punk..
Roger - Yeah we’ve been together for almost 30 years!

That’s longer than most marriages!
Roger - Haha yea tell me about it!
Stigma - Hey me and you think alike! Like a bad marriage we stay together for the kids! (Everyone’s laughing)

Can you describe the band/working chemistry between both you and Vinnie Stigma? How do you guys keep moving forward and continue to write new music after all these years?
Mike - I’d would say it’s gotta be Roger, he’s a fucking workaholic!
Roger - I’m a workaholic! Stigmas’ got all the character for the live shit, I do all the work, all the hard work! Stigmas’ the entertainer!
Stigma - There’s a lot to a band ya know, a lot of the guys in the band; religion, political, social, ego - Ya gotta watch all those things! Ya know were a family.
Roger - This band has always been family based. Even Mike who’s been in the band for 10 years, and Joe..
Stigma - Yeah Mikes been in the band for 10 years now!
Roger - We’re pretty easy going to be honest with you..
Mike - Yeah once we got rid of my brother! Things are a lot easier going.
Roger - The drummer is the newest member of the band, he used to drum for Leeway.
Vinnie - He’s been my friend for 30 years! When we needed a drummer it was a no brainer! He’s our friend too.

The punk rock and hardcore scenes have seen a lot of change of the years, some say these changes have been for the worse, some say they’ve been for the better. AF has obviously been around to see the transformation. Are there things in the scene that you guys feel still need to change?
Mike - It’s hard to say, things are so different now. The internet has changed everything ya know. I think it’s a little too accessible, ya know what I mean? It’s kinda like I feel like things are too easy. Ya used to have to work harder to look for music, and hand out flyers. I used to like that aspect. It works for you, but it can work against you. Oh and record sales, that’s the main thing, I’d like to change that, no musicians can really make a living off sales of their music, you’ve got to tour breaking your ass.
Roger - We used to go out on tour to support our records! In 2011 we go on tour to support our t-shirt sales! There’s no point in records almost.
Vinnie - I’d like to see more clubs opening up, cabaret laws ease around in the cities. More for the artist, more for the musicians, not the artist! But the musician! We need more noise in the scene!

I interviewed Howie Pyro who’s a punk veteran of NYC just a few months back and he mentioned how hard things were becoming in New York when Giuliani came into power, it wasn’t easy to run clubs anymore. On AF’s Riot Riot Upstart album on the track “Police State” you guys shout “Giuliani Fuck You!” Is there still an issue in New York, is it harder for bands to play in the city, especially since CBGB’s closed down?
Roger - The actual city itself is shot for clubs. Everyone has to go away from the city, the clubs are in the suburbs - Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island. The city is hard, probably like what’s going on here in Los Angeles, the price are insane just to even run an event, its just so costly, everything goes up with it, it drives clubs to different areas.
Stigma - Once CB’s closed, that was a death to America. That was Americas club! They say Giuliani is America, FUCK HIM! CBGB’s was there way before that fuck!

AF has been around for years, you’ve toured with tons of bands, legendary bands who are no longer around even. Is there an AF bucket list of bands that you guys want to play with before AF calls it a day?
Stigma - Before we die?!
Mike - We played with Rancid last night for the first time, that was really cool. Rancid fans dig New York hardcore!

Roger, I know that in The Disasters, you cover Cocksparrer’s “England Belongs to me”, though you change the chorus to “New York Belongs to me”.. Was playing with Cocksparrer a huge moment for you and AF as a band? We caught that show in Vegas at Punk Rock Bowling, our minds were blown!
Roger - Absolutely, Cocksparrer is an influential band to Agnostic Front!
Stigma - Yeah! We play with them a lot!
Roger - We played a bunch of times with Cocksparrer, you name it we’ve done it!
Stigma - Cockney Rejects! Anti Nowhere League! UK Subs! They’re all good friends of ours!
Mike - If there was a band we’d want to play with, it’d be Minor Threat and The Ramones! I can’t think of any other bands I’d want to play with!
Roger - We played with Minor Threat! Well before Mike was in the band.
Stigma - I could go for coffee!

So Roger, you got involved a few years back with a clothing line. Dirty Devil Clothing, does that still exist?
Roger - It exists as American Made Kustoms now. I no longer do Dirty Devil. Hopefully we can finish that chapter, this year were supposed to end that agreement, hopefully we can so we can just continue doing AMK. I’m really focusing on that!

 How did you get involved with designing?
Roger - It’s just stuff that I like, stuff that I would like to wear, its based on my life style, hardcore, rock and roll, bikes, cars! That’s an American Made Kustom’s shirt right there! (Points over to Mike)

I’ve heard in the past you’re a motorcycle mechanic as well!
Roger - I can fix motorcycles, cars, I can fix everything!
Stigma - Houses! Plumbing! Electricity! Rogers good like that!
Mike - A Jack of all trades! Masters of None!
Stigma - I’m the master of None!
Roger - Masturbator!

When you’re writing songs at home, is it hard for you to distinguish what you want to keep as a song for AF or The Disasters?
Roger - No no, both bands write two completely different. We all write together for each different bands. It started out that way. There was a bunch of songs I had written that we didn’t do for AF, but that was years ago.

Where do you see the band in the next 5-10 years?
Roger - I don’t know, that’s a hard question! Ya never know what’s around the corner? As long as there’s a demand for AF we’ll be there, whether were playing or in general, well be there. 100 years from now people will still be listening to “Victim in Pain”.
The truth is were still very passionate and keep giving back to the scene.

Any last words for the fans reading out there?
Stigma - Yeah ! If you’re in NYC come out and visit New York Hardcore Tattoo! It’s my tattoo shop !
Mike - Go out and buy our new album “My Life My Way” !!
　
Bigwheel would like to thank Roger, Vinnie Stigma and Mike of Agnostic Front for their time and for being great interview subjects. Catch them across N. America as they continue to tour in support of their 10th album, My Life My Way.

 

 

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Interview with Dave Tejas of The Krum Bums

Interview by: Louie B.

Bigwheel met up with Dave, lead vocalist of Texas Punk’s The Krum Bums at the Black Castle in South Central LA where they had just played the final show of their North American tour with Toxic Holocaust and Holy Grail.

So were doing this interview inside The Krum Bums home on the road, your guys van! How often are The Krum Bums on tour?
Umm we took a little bit of a break to write this last album “Cut The Noose” out on People Like You Records, but we pretty much stay about 9 months outta the year on tour, as much as we can!
 

This tour that you’re on has just wrapped up, it’s you’re guys last night with these bands. How has the tour been and how are kids picking up on “Cut The Noose”?
It’s going fucking really great! Though the thing is; the problem is there aren’t record stores anymore or that many of them, so with punk music I think it’s a little bit more difficult at first for the kids to get the record. It kind of just has to seep in, it’s not like boom a Punk band does a record and you just sell a million copies! It’s a word of mouth, and we’ve got nothing but really good feedback. This tour is a little bit different than we’ve had before. It’s Toxic Holocaust who’s a thrash metal band, Holy Grail who’s a fucking great Heavy Metal band and us the Krum Bums! The great thing about this tour is we’re three different styles of bands ya know.
 

Yeah, three different extreme bands!
Yeah exactly! And so we’ve had kids coming up to us saying “Dude I’ve never listened to Punk rock before, but you guys fucking killed it!!” And I think the main thing is over the last few years, people have been separating more than they did before.
 

Yeah, like invisible walls put up between the scenes.
Exactly, like punks wont listen to metal, metal kids won’t listen to punk. They’ve got something against each other, but this tour really brought a lot of us together, and it was awesome to play for a really different crowd.

Unity in Diversity!
Yeah man, there wasn’t even one night where something negative happened because of the diversity of the bands. This tour was about a bunch of people who agree that we all love rock and roll music. They call us the punkers, we call them the Reebok rockers, but we all got along! I had these kids coming up to me every night who would have never spoken to me or been exposed to our music. We all played for different crowds. Even the punker guys at first were like “I don’t know about these bands with long hair!” But then they’d see Holy Grail and Toxic Holocaust and they would be like “Man those guys rip it up!!”
 

Everyone’s doing something very different, but all very similar in a way.
Exactly ! You look back - Iron Maiden, The Exploited, GBH, Metallica, Motorhead, it’s all very similar, we all just go to different extremes.
 

I noticed you guys through in a cover of “Motorbreath” by Metallica, was that a song you guys had done before or was it something special for this tour?
Yeah! We used to play it like 7 years ago in the middle of another song, were huge Metallica fans. We’ve always kinda been toying around with playing it again, and then we got on this tour, and were like “Ya know what would be perfect.. right at the end of “Coliseum”.. (Dave starts humming the intro to Motorbreath)

So is it harder in 2011 to be a Punk rock band playing the style of Punk that the Krum Bums do? - In the last few years some of the more street punk labels like Punk Core ceased to put out new music full time, bands like The Unseen who were a huge street punk band don’t tour full time anymore and The Warped Tour isn’t exactly a punk rock tour like it once was.. Is it harder to find fans of your particular style..
I think to a degree its more difficult, I think the problem is, really what kinds aren’t doing and I mean it with no disrespect - The kids, they feel that bands owe them something. Where as when we were young, we used to pass around mix tapes, my friends would make something for me, I would make something for them. We’d share with each other, we’d pick up on bands that way - “Hey man check this out, it‘s Civil Disobedience!”. I never went to a show expecting that I would get in for free and as a kid I never went to a show expecting the band to give me a free t-shirt! It was an honor if a band gave us anything for free, a sticker, a patch! I remember all of us, my friends, we’d put our ticket stubs on or (bedroom) walls, we were so excited to go together and buy tickets to see shows. A lot of the younger kids they say they have no money, but they live at home with their parents. We’re on the road, we have no money! People our age, it’s like a funny little saying from Dolly Parton - “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap”
When not in the road I’m home working 3 different jobs, I cook at two different places, I silk screen, anything I can do that involves working at punk businesses, they know what it’s like, they know that I tour, it’s just the way it is, there just isn’t a lot of money in this.

I interviewed Agnostic Front the other night, one of the things they said that struck a chord in me was - when they go out on tour, they’re on tour in support of their t-shirts and not their records. Kids aren’t buying cd’s, they sell more t shirts on the road than albums! Would you say that’s something The Krum Bums could relate to?
Yeah man that’s the truth, were selling t-shirts, that’s where we make our money. And it’s so difficult, also now they download albums.
 

Albums are downloaded before the record even hits stores!
For me still, I fucking like having the vinyl, taking the time to lay the record on the turntable, having the record sleeve with the artwork, I wanna see that little something, and that’s what’s killing me with kids today. I love still to this day is getting to work, making cash and buying a couple of new records!
 

When the Krum Bums are in LA, do you guys hit any local record stores, perhaps Amoeba on Sunset blvd?
DUDE ! I love Amoeba, it’s like right when I get there I totally lose focus on what I came there for. Like I have to write down a list of what I came to get. It’s like all of a sudden you’re six years old let loose in a candy store attached to a Toys R’ Us attached to a Rollercoaster, dude it’s like aaaaahhhhhh!!

 

Earlier in the year at the Punk Rock Bowling Festival in Vegas we had the pleasure of seeing you guys on the main stage, was that you’re guys first time playing there, and how was that experience for the Krum Bums?
It was our first time playing, we’d been there for a few years to just hang out and have a good time. For me it was one of the coolest shows we’d ever done. It was like go big or go home! Shit or get off the pot! For a band like us, were not Dropkick Murphy’s, were not at that level. Though at the same time I felt like it went a little bit slower with bands like us, bands who are straight forward punk rock. We had a really great opportunity from the Stern bro’s who are great guys, and we jumped on it. We told ourselves, when we get up there there’s no standing around!
 

Play it like it’s your last show ever!
Yeah and coming back to LA has been rad, there have been a lot of people who came up to us and told us they last time they saw us was in Vegas at Punk Rock Bowling!

It was definitely great exposure for you guys.
Oh yeah man when I got off the stage I was bleeding! There was like a barrier between the crowd and stage that was at least six feet. I looked at it and thought “Man I don’t know if I’m gonna make it!”

A leap of faith!
A little faith in Punk rock, the punk rock Gods might shine down on me! I didn’t think I was gonna make it, but I swung my body around and the crowd was cool, I didn’t fall, it was really cool. I look forward to it every year because I see literally like 100 people who are in my connected family who I’m really close to, east coast, west coast, we don’t get to see each other but were all there in Vegas at the same time.

What is the rest of 2011 looking like for the band?
We’re gonna be home for 3 weeks and then we fly straight over to Germany. We’ll be there for 5-6 weeks hitting Spain, France, Sweden, Portugal, all over Europe. People like You records is based in LA and In Germany, so we’ll have a lot of support, were real excited.

When you guys get back and start touring North America, is it likely you’ll be touring again and are you guys open to touring with metal bands again?
When we get back we are gonna do 3 weeks, like a DIY punk tour with friends bands, up and down the west coast. The east coast is crazy to tour in the winter, we’re from Texas, we see snow and we start shaking, ahhh! So were gonna tour with different friends bands who are based around the west coast. One of the main things is we had so much fun on this tour, why keep doing the same tour where we just play with Punk bands. We’ve never been about that, we want to tour with different kind of bands, we’d like to play with Municipal Waste.


The Krum Bums with DRI would be an awesome tour.
Yeah! Like what we’ve done on every album, we do what we believe in, do what we feel is right and I don’t want to put The Krum Bums in a box where all we do is tour with Mohawk bands, It’s not what we’re about. I look this way because I look this way, but it’s not my outlook on life. That’s one of the best things about being from Austin, we don’t have barriers between, there are bands like World Burns To Death who are just blasting your face apart, The Lower Class Brats, The Roller who are a total hesher band. We all hang out at the same bars, party together. We go out and there’s a reggae DJ, an 80’s DJ a hip hop DJ, and you’ll have punks, skins getting together having a great time. And that’s one of the things that’s made the Krum Bums the band we are, We’ve never been pushed into “It’s us against them.” - It’s us as people who believe in music - against the rest of the world, we want to live and die for this.
　
Are there any last words for the fans reading out there?
I just want to tell the kids, go to the record store, and instead of buying some video game, well go ahead and buy your video games, but go like once a week and buy a record, support touring bands, go to the shows, buy a t shirt and have a good time! 30 dollars isn’t gonna kill ya, it’s going to a good cause, you’re supporting rock and roll!
 

A huge thank you to Dave for taking the time to invite us into The Krum Bums world.

 

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Stench Radio music play list for the week of September 11, 2011

Top 25  - In no particular order -

Meat Puppets - Lake of Fire
ConvOi! - Big City (Operation Ivy/Merle Haggard)
Nashville Pussy - Johnny Hotrod
The Gun Club - Fire Spirit
Bark Hard - Psycopathic Roach
Diamanda Galas - Let’s Not Chat About Despair
Abandoned - Whore of Babylon
The Nosebleeds - Ain’t Bin To No Music School
Butthole Surfers - The Hurdy Gurdy Man
Stormtroopers Of Death - Sargent D And The S.O.D.
Ed Hall - Hortense Buttermilk
Civil Disgust - Pull The Plug
The Bitchfits - We Bite
Einsturzende Neubauten - Negativ Nein
The Ramones - Chinese Rock
Meat Beat Manifesto - Radio Babylon
Hickoids - It's a Beautiful Thang
Unknown Hinson - In the Trunk of My Cadillac Car
Gary Floyd - Spirit on the Wind
Dropkick Murphys - Barroom Hero
Nervous Gender - People Like You
N.O.T.A. - Justice In America
Death Cult - God’s Zoo
Dinosaur Jr. - Just Like Heaven
Birthday Party - Prayers on Fire

The above list are some of the top played songs on Stench Radio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rancid with H2O – at The Warfield – San Francisco, CA

Almost a year since their charity shows at the Henry Fonda in Los Angeles, Rancid is back with a full-on tour. What made this tour so exciting, in my opinion, was that H2O would be the opening act for select dates on the tour. Luckily, they decided to play for the San Francisco show at the Warfield. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a Rancid fan; while I enjoy a handful of songs, the ratio of dislike to like is pretty large. Nonetheless, I felt this was a show I couldn't miss, so I ventured out to downtown San Francisco to see the two Punk bands.

According to lead singer of H2O, Toby Morse, the band was to go on at 8 o clock on the dot. A few minutes before the scheduled time, not many people were in the main pit area, but as H2O began more people began to flock. The pit was incredibly small; an obvious circle was formed of where it was, but only about 2 to 4 people were in at a time (with a few people jumping and hardcore dancing in the middle, to the dismay of many). When Toby noticed this and called the crowd out on it, it began to grow and become more combative as the night when on, especially during the more popular songs.


H2O's setlist included "5 Year Plan", "I See it In Us", "Thicker than Water", "Still Here", "What Happened?", and "Faster than the World". A few treats of their set consisted of a straight edge pro wrestler named CM Punk coming out and singing "Guilty by Association" with the group, and the guitar player of hardcore band Madball, Mitts, performing for the night. After H2O left the stage, it was clear that they had gained the approval of all the Rancid fans who had no idea who they were before, and that their performance was well worth the ticket price.

The floor was beyond packed and full of people of every age and style. The curtain opened and an image of the intersection of San Pablo and Gilman in Berkeley, otherwise known as the location of the venue 924 Gilman (where Rancid got their start). A pit immediately broke out when Rancid began "Roots Radical", which followed by screams from panicked girls and a frenzy of security guards trying to keep everything under control. As I stated before, I'm not a fan of Rancid, but the crowd's undeniable energy made it bearable. They announced that they would be performing for 2 hours, making the devout fans very happy. After listening to a few more songs (including one of the few I like, "Old Friend"), I decided to leave the show. While I'm sure many enjoyed themselves witnessing Rancid, H2O was a good ending for my night out in downtown.



                   More photos of the show can be seen HERE


-Sarah K.-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

 

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The Damned Show Preview: at House of Blues Los Angeles and Anaheim – October 30 and 31, 2011

UK Punk legends The Damned recently announced a U.S. tour that will find the band performing in southern California just in time for Halloween! The Damned will be out on the road celebrating 35 years as a band and are set to play Damned Damned Damned and The Black album in their entirety.


The Damned formed in 1976 and immediately cemented themselves into rock history as the first Punk band to release a single, a full-length album, and tour the United States all within one year of existing! Lead vocalist Dave Vanian’s Dracula like appearance combined with the bands often tongue in cheek lyrical approach set them apart from the more social and politically charged bands from the UK, which helped to further establish themselves as a unique force. A number of singles and albums were released with much critical praise before the end of the decade making the Damned one of the busiest punk bands just a few years into the genres existence. They were the first Punks to cross genre collaborate as Lemmy of Motorhead often joined the band onstage to perform through out 1979.

By 1980 The Damned’s influence was felt all over the Punk scene as hardcore single handedly birthed itself from The Damned’s 3rd album Machine Gun Etiquette. Not to keep things too simple, elements of pop, psychedelic rock gothic atmosphere, drum loops and loads of keyboard instrumentation found their way into the bands sound further establishing The Damned as the most versatile and experimental punk band around. The Damned continued to find commercial success through out the 80’s with The Black Album, Strawberries, Phantasmagoria and Anything. Singles such as History of the World, Shadow of Love, Grimly Fiendish and Alone Again Or saw the band get support radio stations such as KROQ while promo videos for the above got airplay on formats such as MTV.

It was during the 90s that the Damned were placed on hiatus while members branched out into different projects while Dave Vanian fronted a successful solo rockabilly act known as The Phantom Chords. The new millennium saw a reformed Damned signed to Nitro records and on the Vans Warped Tour recruiting a new generation of fans all summer long. Since then the band have released Grave Disorder and So, Who’s Paranoid?, both of which have been great albums able that hold up next to early Damned favorites.

With the bands 35th year of existence being celebrated this fall, one can expect all the best Damned hits and favorites to be played through out the bands set. Original members Dave Vanian and Capt. Sensible will once again be joined by Pinch, Monty Oxymoron, and Stu West who have all been with the band since their return over a decade ago.

Halloween is always the best time to catch awesome bands, though the holiday is a bit more spooky this year as The Damned will be in town hosting the raddest rock and roll party around. Make sure to get tickets soon as these concerts will sell out, and you don’t want to miss out on such a classic celebration!

 

-Louie B.-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

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