Street Dogs – Devils Brigade – The Interrupters – Jason Cruz and The Howl – at House of Blues – Anaheim, CA

If you weren't at House of Blues - Anaheim on Friday, you missed an awesome show. Kicking off the night was Jason Cruz and The Howl. A side project for Strung Out's front man, Jason Cruz and The Howl has a more Americana feel, with some Jerry Lee Lewis thrown in for flavor.

The small crowd that was gathered focused on the stage, and when they started playing "Blue Jesus", heads started to bounce along to the beat. I love Strung Out, but I think that Jason Cruz has found his musical and vocal niche with this new project.



Next up were The Interrupters, who are based out of Los Angeles. Fronted by Aimee Allen, aka Aimee Interrupter, and backed by the Bivona brothers (Kevin, Justin, and Jesse), this Ska-Punk band blew me away. By the time The Interrupters took the stage, the house was pretty packed.

Aimee is a charismatic singer, and the brothers are tight musicians. During their set, they dedicated  quite a few songs to the bands sharing the bill with them ("Power" was dedicated to Street Dogs). Towards the end, the father of the Bivona brothers came on stage to accompany the band with his trombone; the apple(s) didn't fall far from the tree, as Mr. Bivona rocked the hell out of his horn. (He proved to be the first surprise guest of the evening.)  



Started as a side project of Matt Freeman, Devil's Brigade was the third band of the evening. From start to finish, Devil's Brigade's set was high energy. The growling vocals of Matt kept the crowd entertained, and around the 5th song, the crowd started a (subdued) circle pit.

Before starting "Bridge of Gold", Matt brings out the 2nd surprise guest of the evening--Tim Armstrong. The crowd went ape-shit, and remained that way through the rest of the set. They closed with "Ride Harley Ride", dedicated to "the old people, from back in '94".

The excitement of the crowd was palpable, as we waited for Street Dogs to hit the stage. There was the requisite chanting of "Let's go Street Dogs!" before the curtain was up. As soon as Street Dogs started, the energy was non-stop. "Punk Rock and Roll", "Fighter", and a cover of Steve Earle's "Johnny Come Lately" were just a handful of songs they chose for the evening.

After wishing a "Happy St. Pats to everyone tonight", they started in on "Two Angry Kids". It was shortly after this that a mohawked kid (maybe 9 years old) crowd-surfed to the front, and Mike McColgan brought him on stage. The kid was up there for only a few seconds, before he took a running leap back into the crowd.

After that bit of excitement, McColgan dedicated "Up the Union" to, you guessed it, any union members. Following that, they brought out Jesse Wagner as another surprise guest, and introduced "Drink Tonight" as song for "all the alcoholics out there". They closed out the night with "Final Transmission", dedicated to Cpl. Jordan Stanton.

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

-Anni Thyme-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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