Top

Hootenanny 2013 – at Oak Canyon Ranch – Irvine, CA

July 6, 2013

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 20132013 Hoot Leaves its Teens and Spreads its Roots. Grand old Oak Canyon Ranch was once again the warm and welcoming setting by Irvine Lake for the homecoming of Orange County Punk Rock and Roll mainstays Social Distortion’s seventh run headlining the 19th annual Hootenanny rockabilly, roots music festival, pinup contest and classic car show. 

 

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

A surprising addition to this year’s lineup was San Gabriel Valley’s Gamblers Mark. Their revved up version of Punk rockabilly mixed with surf, ska and a bit of metal featured the only horn section of the afternoon in 6’6 dread-headed trombone troubadour Ruben Durazo, which certainly set the band apart musically and physically from other acts during its Main Stage opening performance, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the several hundred early birds in attendance.

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Texas’ Heavy Southern rock quintet Not in the Face were one of the many highlights of the Steady side stage which featured the most diverse assortment of acts including Red Devil Squadron, Vinnie and The Hooligans, and many more. This stage has been a welcomed recent addition to the Hoot in the past few years.

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Highlights included Orange County’s Seven Year War whose sound is very reminiscent of Epitaph’s glory days and battle of the Bands winner plus best band name of the day in Inland Empire’s Large Mouth Bastards who kept the old-timey jam band feel alive.

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Countrified Crooner and Comedian Roger Alan Wade raised up the most fuss with his twangy, honky-tonk tunes about just a “lil’ poontang” and how “making love to you is like cooking bacon naked.” Donning a country jackass-inspired tee with Jackass in Charge Johnny Knoxville on the edge of the stage showing support in a RAW shirt and reminding all what this celebration of Americana is really about. In the end it is about family and friends with good tunes and cold brews under the sun and that will not change in the Hoot’s 20th run and beyond.

Murder By Death’s set had such beautiful clarity. Their melodious songs swept the audience into a sort of calm trance; the extremely hot day seemed to actually cool down a little. Adam Turla’s voice took us across the states to the quiet calm of an Indiana evening.  

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

The Old 97's were crowd favorites amongst several other great acts that graced the main stages with stellar performances.

Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Natives to the Inland Empire Face to Face made their first appearance at Hootenanny this year. The going on over two decades strong outfit’s leader Trever Keith was very adamant in his appreciation for finally getting on the bill and took time to shout out all those in attendance who go back to the days of the band’s earliest shows in Riverside.  F2F’s set induced the most sing-a-longs of the festival by far and spanned the band’s eight melodic skate-punk anthem filled albums starting with the perfect introduction of “Don’t turn Away” to most recent release “Three Chords and a Half Truth.”
 
Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013

Fresh off another North American tour supporting  latest release “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,” Social D ‘s Mike Ness made his ninth appearance on the Hoot stage which is second to only the honorable Reverend Horton Heat’s 11 showings. Social D kicked the set off with a heavy dose of “Bad Luck” and never failed delivering their boozy and bluesy soul-drenched goods spanning throughout a storied 30-plus year career.
 
Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013
 
Backed by longtime guitarist Johnny "Two Bags" Wickersham and latest bassist Brent Harding with David Hidalgo Jr on drums, Ness was decked in all black with white boots in a possible nod to Tim “Timebomb” Armstrong of last year’s Hoot headliners Rancid as he was in attendance.
 
Hootenanny 2013 - at Oak Canyon Ranch - Irvine, CA - July 6, 2013
 
The cool rabble-rousing ruler kept the between song banter to a minimum, unlike the infamous “Live at the Roxy” recordings though he kept reminding the all ages crowd that his band is fiercely independent and still rolls along without major sponsorship.

Here's to another successful year for Hootenanny in 2013.

         

  More photos of the show can be seen HERE



-Christopher L.-
Big Wheel Contributor

 


 

 

Bookmark and Share
 


Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews

 

Send your comments to the editor HERE


 

Bottom