The Adicts – The Blanx – P.I.N.s – The Victims – at Key Club – Los Angeles, CA

A few words could be used to describe Punk legends, the Adicts: whimsical, light, revolutionary. However, when it comes to their shows only one word seems to come to mind: theatricality; which is why hundreds of fans gathered to the Key Club to attend the sold out event. People of all ages came more than ready to experience the Adicts, whether they were proudly displaying their Punk attire by yelling at Hollywood Tourist buses, "Welcome to America!" as the visitors from foreign countrys captured photos with puzzled expressions on their faces, or simply conversed with others while they waited for doors to open.

The Victims kicked off the show and performed their set to a style similar to bands such as A Global Threat and the Casualties. Surprising for an opening act, they had a large fan base within the crowd and even created a decent sized pit. Their set pleased the eager crowd and led the way for an evening of intense Punk rock presentation.

Next up were the P.I.N.’s, which stands for Poor Ignorant Nuisance. Hailing from the streets of East Los Angeles, the band prides themselves in playing pure Punk rock music just for the love and passion of it, and prohibits any expensive selling of their merchandise. The band displayed a variety of musical influences, which blended together creates their "ska/punk/hardcore sound". The P.I.N’s songs range from thoughtful songs such as the poverty inspired "Urban War" to sing-a-long chants including "Friday Night".

The Oi! group especially riled things up by throwing patches and demos into the audience, causing aggressive, yet fun pits, and wrapped their set up with a clockwork related track, to pay homage to the Adicts.

   The Blanx – P.I.N.s – The Victims

Hook up with these bands via the web links below
www.myspace.com/blanksthe       www.myspace.com/the_pins       www.myspace.com/the4victims

Washington natives The Blanx were the last band to perform before the Adicts took the stage. Remaining true to a Punk rock attitude, they tore up the stage with songs about the police ("Police Brutality"- naturally dedicated to LAPD), partying ("Beer and Cigarettes"), and most importantly, the Punk scene ("Punks Unite"). Their set proved to be full of vivacity and pugnacity that was infectious to the crowd; during "Punks Unite", a young man donning a huge pink mohawk attempted to crowd surf but was blocked and pushed down by security. Lead singer Mike made a point of telling the crowd he saw nothing wrong with the scene, which was followed by a roar of applause and a disgruntled security guard.

The Blanx maintained a good balance of music and interacting with the crowd, in one case Mike added a hint of humor by failing to adjust the microphone stand properly. Their performance concluded with the band pleaded for one more circle pit and the song "Wild Man".

Before the Adicts came onto the floor, it was apparent that there was little to no room throughout the venue. While waiting, the anticipation was rising in every individual, smiling excitedly at one another or trying to squeeze their way closer to the stage. The bone-chilling music began to tease the audience, causing an eruption of cheers and screams from over stimulated fans. Fiddle Dan stepped on the stage, violin and all, and started the introduction for the night’s festivities. However, any Adicts fan knows that the fun really doesn’t begin until the star becomes visible, and shortly after Monkey appeared followed by confetti.

The crowd went into a complete chaos, and the lack of space combined with the whole floor moving even caused my camera to overheat for a large majority of the night. It was all worth it when Monkey infamously threw out his deck of cards and the band hit the set off with "Joker in the Pack". Monkey’s bedazzled outfit, confetti, and colorful streamers all seemed to have the fans mesmerized as if it was a dazzling Broadway show rather than a Punk concert.

After they performed "Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out" and "Tango", the crowd slightly calmed down from all the gala of the event and somehow found room to create a circle pit to "Easy Way Out", "Numbers", and sang along to every word of "Troubadour". All of the decorations and antics that were up Monkey’s sleeve overwhelmed everyone, and it seemed impossible for anyone to be in anything less than a good mood; this was especially true when the Adicts performed songs such as "Angel" and "I Am Yours" as everyone was arm-in-arm singing along to the sweet melodies.

   Enjoy this video montage as we take you though the entire show

Monkey then announced that a concert would be taking place, and everyone knew it was the moment all the young ladies were waiting for: "Bad Girl". Before Monkey could even officially say it was a dancing contest for the women, they were already crowd surfing up to the stage to embrace and dance for the band. The girls on stage became fanatical over Monkey, kissing him on the lips and attempting to hug and grope him all throughout the song. After the contest and the song concluded, Monkey rewarded the winner with a huge stuffed pink monkey and a few of the girls tried showing more adoration to Monkey by expressing their love and claiming who kissed him first.

The Adicts proceeded on with the show by playing more hits "Chinese Takeaway", "Go Genie Go", and "You’re All Fools"; of course, more goodies such as Chinese takeout boxes and streamers were tossed out by Monkey, whose makeup was rapidly sweating off. The next song, "Viva la Revolution" provided the craziest antics by the fans such as running on stage and had crowd surfers left and right, not giving a care in the world that this hit would soon mean the show would be ending. After their most popular song, the Punk legends played "Let’s Go", "Steamroller", "Crazy", and lastly, "Ode to Joy", with confetti bursting out of every corner. Most of the band left the floor, and it was inevitable that they would perform an encore, as the crowd was not satisfied with such an "uneventful" exit; thus, the Adicts came back on, Monkey in a new outfit. Beach balls and bubbles were being thrown into the exhilarated crowd as everyone sang along to "Who Spilt My Beer?" and "Bad Boy". More bubbles, streamers, glitter and confetti were used up as the Adicts took their final bow and left for good.

Although the Key Club was mainly empty after fans had exited, the stage and floor was covered in glitter, confetti, and cards that had obviously been stepped on and torn. Although it may be a nuisance and take awhile to clean up, its pure evidence that the Adicts show was a huge success. It’s also evidence that seeing the Adicts perform is more than just a mere Punk show, it’s a remarkable experience; and whether you’ve been in the Punk music scene for twenty years or twenty days, everyone can agree that the Adicts provides one with phenomenal entertainment that lives up to the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood.

-Sarah K.-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

           More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

 

See more coverage and video from the other stops on the west coast HERE

Stay up to date on all the latest with The Adicts here: www.myspace.com/adicts
 

 

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