Suicidal Tendencies – Sick Of It All – Waking The Dead – at The Fox Theatre – Pomona, CA

Pomona was once again the place to be over the weekend for Punks, Hessians, hardcore kids and skaters who were looking to let loose at a fierce concert at the astonishing Fox Theatre. Danzig and Corrosion of Conformity played the legendary venue just two weeks prior and set the standard for how extreme shows should go down at the large venue, could a bill with Suicidal Tendencies and Sick Of It All raise the bar and set the new standard for the aforementioned venue?

Many who were in attendance did say that “Suicidal brought out the best in the Pomona audience” who managed to rage hard on the dance floor and overwhelm the venue all night long and especially during S.T.’s two hour long set. Before the show reached it’s boiling point there was of course the openers who were heavyweights in their own right and aided in making this show one worth showing up early for.

Waking The Dead had the honor of opening the show and were met with heavy approval as the band features ex S.T. members and a set list that is comprised of No Mercy tracks; the band that Mike Muir fronted during the mid eighties. The band have been on tour with Suicidal and SOIA for the last month and from we’ve heard have been winning over crowds with their brand of crossover thrash metal that leans back to the eighties and adds a modern heavy mosh flavor for metal fans to enjoy. After their set it was safe to say that they had won over those who were not familiar.

New York’s legendary Sick Of It All are no strangers to Pomona as they’ve headlined the nearby Glasshouse regularly since the mid 90’s and have attracted huge disorderly crowds of their own with an appetite for clobberin. Combine their crowd with the socal Suicidal family who were in attendance and you get a dance floor that resembles a friendlier (if possible) prison yard riot. With anthems like “Injustice System”, “Clobberin Time”, and “Skratch The Surface” the floor was a nonstop whirl pool of fists and elbows flying, mix in a wall of death and you have the gnarliest Sick Of It All set and perfect openers for Suicidal.

Their 15 song set was long enough to get things seriously moving but short enough to where the band were never winded, it was ideal for a support band of their stature.

When the lights dimmed signaling the start of Suicidal’s set hundreds of fans overpowered security and rushed to the pit floor making their way right up to the front of the large stage, it was chaotic and a fitting start to the headliners show.

Mike Muir and S.T. then proceeded to work the stage like no other band has before at the Fox, opening with “You Can’t Bring Me Down” a track off the “Lights, Camera, Revolution!” album. The thrashy riffs would ignite the pit into pure disarray and conjure up a hell for security who did their best to stop crowd surfers to no avail, the Suicycos were too much for the venue to handle and there was no stopping em, so security eventually gave up which made for an altogether better experience.

The classic “Institutionalized” was placed early in the set and worked the crowd into a frenzy with its Pepsi Cola themed sing a longs, most fans were drinking beer but they were more than happy to scream lyrics to one of Punk rocks most enduring carbonated tales of adolescent confusion and rebellion.

S.T.’s set also featured a guest appearance by Mike Muir’s young son who started an S.T. chant which was quite a moment for the youngster who looked no older than six or seven years old, we suppose you are never to young to pledge your allegiance. New tracks off the album “13” would find their way into the set list making the performance a diverse one where neither older material or newer material was favored over the other and served as proof that S.T.’s new material is just as good as their late 80’s and early 90’s output.

The set would even feature a drum solo by the amazingly talented Eric Moore who plays his drums like no other drummer in modern Punk or metal today and quite possibly ever!

The set would end with a stage invasion during the “Freedumb Pledge” and bring the show to its final conclusion with over 100 people on stage including the band who never once dropped the beat despite people going absolutely wild all around them. We had never seen this before at such a large professionally run venue, so it made for quite the final impression of the night. Overall Suicidal brought their A-game to Pomona and in return had a crowd bringing the ruckus all night who never ceased in displaying their loyalty to one of our scenes longest survivors.

The Slam City Tour set a new standard for Pomona leaving us with the question, who can possibly top Suicidal at The Fox?

 

 More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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