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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