Litmus Green – C.O.P. – Terezodu – Diminshing Device – Knives – Dogends – at Riff Haus – Fullerton, CA

Riff Haus Studios in Fullerton is a relatively new all ages venue. They’ve hosted a few Punk shows over the last few months that have helped give them some recognition. Best of all, the shows are completely inexpensive. The most recent Punk show held there was Litmus Green. Outside the venue, it was more packed than I had ever seen it. As more and more people showed up, the show was eventually said to be sold out.

The first band to play was Diminishing Device. They were what I would consider to be crust because of the incredibly fast blast beats and music. The singer had on interesting attire including a mask and a shirt that looked his insides had been hanging out. I found it somewhat frightening when he sang, especially when he opened his eyes real wide, making his mask to stand out even more than it already did.            

Next up was Dogends. Right away they made everyone laugh. They were very entertaining once they got on stage. They were saying jokes, making fun of people and themselves, and just enjoyed using up their time they had on stage. The drummer moved his drum set three different times during their set.  He started off on stage, then on the floor to the side of the stage, and then down where everyone was standing. Dogends were only able to squeeze a few songs into their set.  First they were told they could only play one more song because they only had a few minutes left. Then they were told that their set was over and it was time for the next band to set up. Minutes later Dogends got off stage and everyone exited the venue.

I spoke to someone who works at Riff Haus, and she said the cops were outside because they were over capacity. That was the reason everyone left the venue.  She had also said that if everyone learned to behave, stay quiet, and stay inside when the bands were playing, that maybe they would keep the show going. The main conversations outside the venue seemed to be all about Litmus Green. It was either about how people never thought they would see Litmus Green again or how they had never seen them.

After letting people back in the venue, Knives were up next to continue the show. They looked so familiar but I had never heard of the band Knives.  Later I found out that they are made up of ex-members from Neon Maniacs and Tippers Gore. I really enjoyed their set. It was good old school Punk rock that we all love hearing. I wanted to hear more but unfortunately they had a very short set. The cops showing up took out a chunk of time for bands to play, so everyone’s set was limited.

Finally there was a band playing that we were all mostly familiar with, Terezodu. They pumped the crowd up with their old and new songs. Terezodu fans were singing with the band to the songs they knew, giving them a way to connect to the band as well as their music. Terezodu repeatedly told the crowd to “get lifted”, which I believe referred to a new song they had come out with, but I could be wrong. Their set was fun but still short because of being behind schedule.

Next up was C.O.P., or Citizens On Patrol. C.O.P. is straight up badass. Everyone in the crowd had remained calm for the other opening bands, but as soon as C.O.P. started, everyone went insane. C.O.P. completely changed the atmosphere of the Riff Haus. It was like a jungle inside there. I’ve never seen so many stage divers before. They were literally jumping left and right one right after the other. I had to move from the front to the back because people kept landing on my head and knocking my camera out of my hands. People were no longer just standing around enjoying the music. Now everyone wanted to pit and it just kept growing. I really enjoyed their set and even though they were awesome, I couldn’t wait for Litmus Green to go on.

It seemed like forever while we waited for Litmus Green to actually start playing. They were on stage but spent some time tuning and doing sound checks.  This was Litmus Greens first Orange County appearance since 2002.  Everyone curiously waited for them to start because we had no idea what to expect from them.  We watched Litmus Green set up three different banners on stage, each representing a Litmus Green song. They opened up with “Cockroach”, leading everyone to start a circle pit that pretty much took up the whole venue. This continued for most of the set, but eventually everyone seemed content singing along and appreciating the music.

The singer, Reverend Sean kept bringing out different props every few songs. Fans were going on stage and singing along with him to all their favorite songs. They continued playing songs that we all loved, and at one point people were screaming out, “Play a harmonica song!”  They played “Go Stop” because it features a harmonica. Instead of having a pit, people were just dancing in the empty space, alone or with a partner. Litmus Green looked extremely happy to see just how many fans they still have. They looked like they were having the time of their life reuniting in their hometown of Orange County.  Reverend Sean had a big smile on his face after every song, knowing everyone was having a blast. Although they were given about an hour long set, it just went by too fast. They left the stage, and then came back out to play two more songs. The set-list had “Refuse” listed as the last song, but because everyone wanted them to close with “4-2”, they did just so.

It was a long night of familiar and unfamiliar opening bands. It built up great anticipation for Litmus Green, who managed to play an incredible and unforgettable set.  For those who went to the show, we can now change our stories to how we finally got to see Litmus Green or how awesome it was to see them again.

 

-Corrina P.-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
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