Musink 2013 – Reverend Horton Heat – Lucero – Johnny Two Bags – Vinnie and the Hooligans – The Sparring – at The Orange County Fairgrounds – Costa Mesa, CA

Day three of Musink 2013 hit Costa Mesa, CA hard and fast with a bit more sunlight from the advent of daylight saving’s time earlier that morning. After the rush and heavily Punk-rock fueled first two days of the festival the crowd in attendance seemed ready for the more relaxed nature of band like Lucero and Salvation Town(lead by Johnny Two Bags) would bring to the crowd. The ambiance of the Musink crowd for day three was that a low key family environment.


One of the key family friendly events at the festival was the Skateboard contest sponsored by Active Ride Shop that featured local skaters of all ages. Spectators stood silent in nervous anticipation as the competing skaters each took their respected attempts at landing tricks that are usually only witnessed in professional level competitions.

Sound check for the first band began earlier than the previous two days of the festival; Giving Copper lead singer of The Sparring a chance to speak on their feelings about their own Musink experience. He spoke fondly about how his band would be sharing a stage with legends like Reverend Horton Heat. Copper went further to exclaim that the festival was fun; having gotten the chance to see all the art being displayed Copper praised the massive amount of good artist at the festival. When asked about the crowd and if he was nervous at all Copper joked that the massive crowd (not quite a full house) made him nervous.

Not to be daunted by the smaller crowd The Sparring soon took the stage, and played in the hard Punk style they are known for. The Sparring’s set completed without any issues, and with tracks like “Straitjacket,” and “Bastards” they may have earned themselves a larger fan base.

The Next band to perform was Vinnie & The Hooligans, a last minute stand-in band for Headcat that had to cancel due to illness. Though relatively unknown Vinnie & The Hooligans took the command of the stage and with it the audience through a presence that usually is seen in bands that have been performing for decades. Rick Steff of Lucero stated prior to Vinnie & The Hooligans performing that he was looking forward their set. After Vinnie & The Hooligans left stage Steff went further to state that the band did not disappoint and that he believed they had talent that will take them far in life. As Salvation Town was setting up on stage for their performance Vinnie was asked how he felt about Steff’s positive opinion about the band he responded with “It’s a huge honor to be recognized by other artist, and having put our band together about a year and a half ago we have come a long way.”

Salvation Town lead by Johnny Two Bags wearing a guitar strap that bore his namesake carrying a guitar that has seen many performances was up next. Following a quick introduction dove straight into their music. They played bar room music full of soul and the heart that brought the crowd together over a shot of whiskey and a glass of stout ale. Johnny brought with him to stage the years of musical experience, and towards the end of his set dedicated a song to Costa Mesa, CA and Julie. After Salvation Town’s set the Julie that Johnny dedicated the song two took time to speak answer a few questions.

As it turned out Julie was non-other than Johnny’s step sister Julie Wickersham, who had come to the show as on spur of the moment whim. When asked how she felt about Salvation Town’s performance she exclaimed that she was thankful to be at Musink, and felt touched that her brother would dedicated a song to her.

Lucero was next on stage, and prior to them taking stage Ben Nichols, the bands lead vocalist, took time to answer some questions. When asked how he felt about performing at Musink he stated “We have performed at similar festivals in Texas, and this crowd should be no problem to perform for.” Then when asked what was the most critical crowd they have had to perform for he responded simply with “Warp Tour kids, little 14 & 15 year old kids don’t seem to be fans of our music, but the older tattoo artist here at Musink, we they are fans of what we do.”

Lucero took to the stage, and in typical Lucero fashion proceeded immediately to partake in the libations left for them on stage. Following the drink the bands began their set with a few tracks off of their Women and Work album. The rest of the performance to follow, like all Lucero performance was executed based solely on what the band felt the audience might want to hear. They did however play their new EP entitled “Texas and Tennessee.” Lucero finished off their set to the tune of “Drink Till We’re Gone,” and left the stage telling the audience to stick around for the legends that is Reverend Horton Heat.

Opening with their acclaimed hit “Psychobilly Freakout” Reverend Horton Heat set the tone for what would be the last musical act of Musink 2013. Three songs into bands set Jimbo Wallace introduced who he claimed to be a personal idol of his Deke Dickerson, who would finish off the night with the melodic country tunes with a hint of Rockabilly flavor that he was famous for. Musink 2013 came to a close when Reverend Horton Heat along with Deke Dickerson left the stage. Overall the three day festival in support of the music and tattoo community was a momentous success, and surely those who got the chance to attend the festival counted themselves among the lucky few that got to partake in all that Musink had to offer.

            More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Ryan R.-
Big Wheel Contributor

 

 

 

 

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