Sin 34 – Media Blitz – Joe’s Garage – CCD – PSA – at Etnies Skate Park – Lake Forest, CA

September 18, 2009

Recently here in Orange County one of our fellow young punks tragically passed away at the age of fourteen. Hayden Michael Meier was a dedicated member of our scene and was known as a kid with a big heart and a strong loyalty to the people he loved. With this in mind friends and family members came together to celebrate his life at a Punk rock show held at Etnie’s Skate Park in Lake Forest, California. For someone who loved music and the scene as much as Hayden did this seemed like a very appropriate way to celebrate his life.

While bands were playing there was a projector next to the stage displaying pictures of Hayden throughout his life. Media Blitz/CCD drummer, Jeff Salisbury made special patches with a picture of Hayden on them and passed them out for free. Similarly a few people were wearing T-shirts with Hayden’s picture on them and members of the Meier’s family collected money for Hayden’s memorial fund. People of all ages were at the event- skating, slam dancing, hanging out, and having a good time.

The first band that played were called Raunch N’ Pillz and they mostly seemed like a wind- up act, goofing around and playing less than serious songs. There use of the "N" word in there songs was unfortunate and while their intentions were no doubt probably fairly innocent it was considered by many of us to be in bad taste. They were followed by S.M. who are a cool up and coming thrash punk band. They played Agent Orange and Rudimentary Peni covers along with original songs like "Rats Inside" and "Change Your Ways."

The Viktims pulled a gag on the audience by opening their set with a cover of Media Blitz’s "Drop Dead" and then continued their set with original material. Their sound has gotten faster and tighter since they first started about a year ago and Crawford’s drumming sounded especially great. Member’s of C.C.D. took stage wearing yellow and black, keeping with lyrical themes that use bees to talk about society in an abstract and satirical way. Their sound borrows from DRI, Gwar, and Slayer, and it’s always cool to see a band that mixes up things musically and lyrically at the same time. Some members of the audience were also wearing yellow and black to show their support, including one kid who wore yellow and black bondage pants and a yellow shirt with black stripes spray painted on it.

P.S.A. played songs that mixed fast hardcore punk with fast ska parts a la Leftover Crack/Choking Victim. Many members of the audience seemed to enjoy their music, particularly their song called "Nazis Can’t Skank."

Recently Joe’s Garage have become one of the most well known bands in Orange County with their dedication to playing as many shows as possible. This constant schedule of playing shows has paid off well as they are clearly mastering the art of playing their songs. This may have been the best set that they have ever played with their songs being sped up and the band showing an increased confidence in their playing and stage presence. Generally they play a few cover songs, but tonight they played all originals. "The Eye," which is a song about government surveillance, sounded particularly great.

Playing the role of punk rock scene veterans at a show that was otherwise made up of young bands, Sin 34 played a lengthy set of angry punk rock with female vocals. Some of the more memorable songs included "Do You Feel Safe?," "War at Home," "Forgive and Forget," and "Two Words." "Children Shall Not Be Heard" was dedicated to the memory of Hayden and throughout the set a few comments were made about how hard it is whenever we a member of the punk scene passes given the communal aspect of the music and culture. Sin 34 were generous enough to play this show for free before heading to play a bar show in Santa Ana at Malone’s later that night.

Before Media Blitz’s set drummer Jeff Salisbury took the microphone to say a few words about Hayden’s passing which echoed some of the sentiments from Sin 34 about how it’s important to stick together whenever a fellow punk is lost. Media Blitz had the most rowdy response of the night with members of the audience diving off stage, singing along , and thrashing throughout their whole set. They balanced out original material with Black Flag, Gorilla Biscuits, and Beastie Boys covers.

This show was a great celebration of the music and culture that Hayden loved and a way for people to come together in tribute to Hayden’s life. Overall the show had a positive vibe that showed how precious life can be.