The Adicts – The Dickies – Agent Orange – at The FOX Theater – Pomona, CA

A week of endless drama seemed to surround the presence of Punk In The Fox, which was set to take place at The Fox Theater, Pomona, and several factors were temporarily successful in hindering the possibility of the show's arrival. Earlier in the week, Punk In The Fox was said to be officially canceled, and later, it was unveiled that the show would go on at an alternate venue. The Punk community conveyed frantic reactions via social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and in the midst of the panic, an official announcement was made on behalf of The Adicts that the show would resume back in Pomona! Success! Saturday's Punk In The Fox featured all day performances from several local bands, ultimately leading up to performances by Agent Orange, The Dickies, and the enigmatic and alluring band that truly understands what showmanship is all about, The Adicts.

Punk In The Fox opened its doors at 4pm and featured its first performance of the day within the first 10 minutes. The Fox Theater is so voluminous in size that the event was still not sold out. Outside the venue, a table handled all the ticket sales, and a fairly large stack of tickets was visible, ultimately providing hope to those who had not bought tickets in advance. Two notices were also visible at the table's location, the first was a list of all the bands playing and the times that they would perform on stage. The second notification was that Angry Samoans, The Briggs, and Civet would all no longer be playing the show that day. Several people were understandably upset upon finding out that some of the bands they were anxious to see were no longer playing, but most recovered quickly from their disappointment and made their way through the entrance for the big show. Among the many bands who were set to play, some of the more widely known bands included Blind Nuns, Poop, and Invisible Humans. Once the sun began to set and 8pm neared, the line outside the venue expanded as people rushed to catch some of the bigger names, in this case, Agent Orange, since the band was getting ready to hit the stage and play for their fans.

   Agent Orange

Agent Orange began to perform and had a remarkable turn out as the floor of the venue was ample with bodies and the crowd's drive was electric. The band's Surf Punk style charmed people as they played songs that possessed both fast rhythms and melodic natures. Agent Orange went on to play "Too Young To Die", "Tearing Me Apart", "Living In Darkness", "Say It Isn't True", "Breakdown", "El Dorado", "America", "Bloodstains", and "Everything Turns Grey" among several other songs. Agent Orange's circle pit was the largest of the night and even the most boisterous as the band's fast beats energized those who were on the floor. In the end, Agent Orange bid farewell to their audience by playing "The Last Goodbye", and true to their song, saw the "opportunity to shout the last goodbye" to them.

   The Dickies

The Dickies made their grand entrance and brought humor and laughs to the stage and to the floor as they used props to stimulate the crowd from time to time. Among a few of the band's props, the most satisfying were both the penis puppet and the blow up doll, which raised heads, eyes, eyebrows, and the pitch of people's voices as they hysterically laughed at the band's playful antics. A few of the songs the band played included "Nights In White Satin", "Give It Back", "Manny, Moe, And Jack", "Got It At The Store", "Paranoid", "Waterslide", "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)", "I'm OK, You're OK", and "Poodle Party". The Dickies' circle pits were rambunctious, and one would not expect a Dickies pit to be full of aggressive behavior seeing as how the band's upbeat melodic Punk music doesn't strike anyone as music that fulfills aggressive behavior. Nevertheless, The Dickies' music prompted intense energy in the pit all in good fun and good times. The band ended their set with "Gigantor", and as the band finished their set, cheers and applause echoed across the walls of the vast venue. The Adicts were finally going to be next.

   The Adicts

As with all Adicts shows, the moments before the band actually arrived on stage were filled by nervous clatter and panic on the floor as people pushed and shoved to get good positions on the floor for the band's performance. Once the band's eerie entrance music was cued, everyone knew that the grand finale had arrived and it was time to get ready for a musical performance unlike any other in the Punk Rock scene. As the lights were dimmed and a deep blue light engulfed the stage, Fiddle Dan soon emerged, and his band members followed by taking their places as Fiddle Dan began to play "Ode To Joy" on his violin.

Once "Ode To Joy" had all attention focused on the stage, vocalist Monkey arrived with a colorful outfit that was covered in rhinestones and beads. It was soon difficult to so much as hear your own thoughts inside the venue, because the noise the crowd was making over The Adicts was phenomenal and excruciatingly loud. Once their renowned "Ode To Joy" intro finished, the band immediately went into action and opened with "Joker In The Pack".

Throughout the band's performance, a vivid visual of color and light constantly dominated the venue as the band's theatrics amazed all eyes on the floor. Confetti, party streamers, and deck cards flew and fell gracefully all around the place as Monkey controlled the floor and cunningly created bewildering displays of color and illusion. Monkey's showmanship was intriguing as song after song delivered a whole separate act on behalf of the enigmatic frontman who performed with a sense of mystery and curiosity. The decorative exhibition was one of wonder, and one that was augmented by the equally fulfilling music that fueled the demeanor of the band's onstage illustrations.

   The Adicts performing Naughty Girl

The band performed for over an hour, and within that time, played the majority of their hits and crowd favorites. The Adicts performed, "Numbers", "Troubadour", "Angel", "Chinese Takeaway", "Easy Way Out", "Go Genie Go", and "Life Goes On", among several more from that night. When it was time for male Adicts fans' favorite song "Bad Girl", the band allowed a mob of female fans to jump onto the stage and dance and show off their stuff while the band performed and the audience shouted along, "Naughty naughty girl!" The confetti and good times continued on until The Adicts played "Viva La Revolution", which marked the last song of the band's set. When The Adicts left the stage, the people on the floor remained intact and begged for an encore from the band.

The band returned on stage and was greeted by smiles and cheers as loud as when they originally arrived on stage an hour earlier. The Adicts delivered an encore to their loyal fans and performed "Walk On", "Bad Boy", and "Who Spilt My Beer", all the while still visually performing by unleashing beach balls of all sizes onto the floor and the audience. At this point, audience members stopped pitting and started running all over the floor, chasing all the different beach balls and playing a sort of twisted game of volleyball, Punk Rock edition. Once The Adicts finished their encore, the band members waved goodbye, blew kisses, and finally finished their invigorating spectacle at Punk In The Fox.

The week before Saturday's date, Punk In The Fox's moody break up and reconciliation was a messy conflict that caught massive numbers of people in between as plans depended on whether or not the show would go on. In the true fashion of entertainment, the show did go on and Punk In The Fox was able to appease the public and provide an astounding time for fans of The Adicts, The Dickies, Agent Orange, and the other bands who played that day. The Adicts captivated and mesmerized everyone who had stepped foot inside the venue, and when the show was over and everyone walked out of The Fox Theater, the expressions on people's faces conveyed pure and utter amazement as people staggered to find words that would fulfill the true nature of The Adicts experience. The theatrics and stage-play of the band conquered the audience, but it is truly the music of The Adicts that captured the hearts of their fans, and ultimately united them on Saturday for a night of magic, music, and memories. Think Disneyland's "World Of Color" lives up to its name? Reconsider your opinion and experience The Adicts' own "World Of Color", and you'll quickly realize that nothing comes close to their own spectacular display.

 

-Stephanie M.-
Big Wheel Senior Staff Writer

 

         More photos of the show can be seen HERE

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