Cat Party – Tragic Ends – Roofie and The Nightstalkers – No Spectators – Joe’s Garage – at the Unity Church basement – Long Beach, CA

I was looking forward to going to this show: touring bands, new venue and lots of friends. Sounds like a good time, right? It was my first time going to the Unity Church, so i was pretty excited about seeing and feeling the vibe. I had heard it was a pretty bad-ass place. So after a nice cruise down to the LBC (Broadway and 4th street), we come to find that parking is a absolute nightmare. There was no pubic parking to speak of and your only chance is finding a spot on the street a mile away. So here, a bit of advice, get to the show early Way early. Its going to take you a good half hour to an hour of driving around to find a spot that isnt two miles away, or that isn't in a tow away zone. You could car pool, or make your friend's mom drive around for hours while you enjoy the show, that works too.

After hanging around out front for awhile and seeing the wiener mobile make a pit stop for some gas, everyone filed in to see the first band. The bands just ended up setting up on the dance floor, pretty cool. There was small delay to find a PA, so they ended up plugging in to a guitar amp and it seemed to work just fine. The first band, Tragic Ends, started their set, they are a touring band from San Francisco with an ultra heavy sound and hardcore roots that got kids movin'. It was hard to make out the vocals with the makeshift Pa and the mic ended up breaking after a few songs. So, instead of ending their set way early, they just yelled as loud as they could. Their best song was their last and it was a good way to end their energetic set.

So, with the broken mic I was wondering how Joe's Garage would play their set. But one of my friends had a mic that worked like a charm. So Joes Garage started their set sporting a fill-in drummer, Jeff (from The Rip Offs and PSA) he's the regular fill-in when the normal drummer can't make it. They start out with "Kid" and Jeff is pretty spot-on. Their set was going pretty well with kids pitting to every song. Then, right before their last two songs, the mic dies. So, mic-less, they end their set with "Zombie Attack" and a G.G. Allin cover "Bite It You Scum". You could hear the crowd singing along which was pretty darn awesome. They ended their set with everyone satisfied.

With another broken mic and another delay, someone shows up with a small PA that looks like it was going to to get the job done. So the other touring band from San Francisco, Roofie and The Nightstalker, was next up. They are a female-fronted band that was a pinch of rock n roll and punk rock. They had a very fresh sound and everyone was into them, pitting and dancing. They gave away Cd's after their set, I was not lucky enough to snag one but i will definitely be getting it from someone who has it.

Cat Party was next, they have a mellow indie sound and they played a pretty mellow set that got heads bobbing. Nice way to calm down some of the more roudy kids. The last band is up next.

Last, but definitely not least, No Spectators is up. After the first or second song, the kids that were hanging around outside came in and got the pit going. They played a new song that I enjoyed a whole lot and then covered Cock Sparrer's "Take 'em All" that fit Ditch's voice pretty well. A Negative Approach song closed out the night with plenty of speed and energy to end their set.

Everyone filed out and went home shortly after. I decided that the Unity Church was one of the better, little underground places I've been to, and its got some great local shows coming up. So go out and check it out its worth it. Check out their myspace for show listings and such.

 

 

-Matt C. / Dead Man Photo-
Big Wheel photographer / Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
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