Reagan Youth – DFL – Decry – STALAG 13 – SideKick – Skaal – Tartar Control – and Rockous – at The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA

This was a $5 matinee show at the Observatory in Santa Ana. They've had several of them and I've heard that these shows go off. Judging by the line up for this show, I could see why this could be true.

 

The first band was "Raukous", they were a pretty new and upcoming 3 piece band with Ryan Hadley on drums, Max Camp on Bass, and Fern Etcher on Guitar and Vox. Kinda Weirdos with a little SKA thrown in.

Up next was was Tarter Control. A 2 piece band with what looked like a robot as their 3rd member.The robot was their drum machine with the other guys on guitar and vocals. This band had a lot of humor in their music. Great stage performance and good musicianship made Tarter Control a band worthwhile. I don't know how many times the singer jumped off stage or looked like he was throwing a fit on the stage as they played their fast "Dickies" like set. Very entertaining.

Skaal is a very tight mid 80's sounding Punk. Kinda reminded me of Red Beret or Condemned to death but a bit faster.

Sidekick played next and had Scott from Social Task sing their 1st tune which was a Ramone cover of Blitzrig Bop, and the crowd went wild. Scott is a really good front man and he proved it today. Sidekick played a really good hardcore set. Nice tempo changes in their songs and they didn't sound like just another Punk band.

 
Oxnard legends Stalag 13 played next. This was the "In Control" line up minus Ron. They played all of their classic songs and  got the crowd really going. Their singer fits them well and I'm sure Ron would be proud. The two guitar sounds of Blake Cruz and Dave Casillas are one of the best duo guitar players in Punk rock. They play very well together as they did 30 years ago. Larry White is one of the BEST hardcore drummers around and John still looks the same after all these years and rocked it on bass. This band is still powerful and energetic as it was some 30 odd years ago.

Another early 80's punk legend band "Decry" played next. Farrell, the original singer who started it all back in 1981/82 reminds me of Rik L Rik meets Charlie Harper when he's on stage. Decry is very original sounding and have a great debut LP they put out back in the early 80's. I wish they would put out another one, as this band shows a lot of originality and musicianship. Justino and Keith add a lot more to the band than previous members and this is by far their best line up. The new guy Steve Porter adds so much to their presence and it shows when all four are on stage playing together. They still do all of their classics and a few covers (Sonic Reducer by the Dead Boys).

DFL played next and did a very short set. This early 90's punk band played so quick that by the time I got up front...they were done.

Reagan Youth played last and I've never seen them before so I was really looking forward to their set. With only one original member (Paul on guitar), I didn't know what to expect.When they started playing I was really surprised. It didn't sound like your typical Punk band from the early 80's. It was hard but different.

Good musicianship and a unique sound and look made it interesting. Really dense guitar sound and good vocals. Like I said...not your typical Punk sound.

They played a really great set and left the crowd wanting more.

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Michael Vellejo-
Big Wheel Contributor

 

 

 

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