TSOL live at the Casbah in San Diego

In general punk rock reunion shows are often a crap shoot. It seems that a lot of bands get back together in order to make money or resolve some sort of collective mid life crisis. However over the years it has become clear that seeing TSOL is always a good bet. Their success can be attributed to two factors; the first being that they don't try to recreate their chaotic past and the second being that they never take themselves too seriously. If they were to try to be what they were in the 1980's the members of TSOL would either be dead or simply embarrass themselves. If they were to revel in their own egos they would ultimately become a horrible self parody. Instead they do what they are capable of- playing songs that every one loves (whether or not they can completely remember how to play them) and laughing at themselves the whole way through. None of this is said to discount their musicianship as TSOL still have their chops and for the most part they are a tight unit. It just means that if they do have a musical "blooper" they don't freak out or even try to cover it up. In true punk rock fashion they make fun of themselves and if anyone gives them attitude about it vocalist Jack Grisham will make sure to berate them for everyone to see.

On Saturday night the band played a familiar set list of songs like "Abolish Government," "Superficial Love," and "Dance With Me." They also threw in a few more obscure tunes like "Wash Away" and a cover of the Damned's "Politics," which has always seemed like the most appropriate cover that TSOL could do. Of course the club, which was packed despite the lack of fanfare, erupted in slam dancing through most of the set. In between songs every moron in the audience requested "Code Blue" despite the fact that they were promised that the band would play the song at the end of the set as they always do. After fulfilling their promise to play their anthem Grisham stormed off stage and walked a few blocks away before returning to play "Man and Machine" as an encore.

Despite the band's threats to break up we are lucky to have TSOL still doing things the right way- playing their music the way that they want to and keeping their egos in check. As they demonstrated at the Casbah they are not afraid to play small clubs and bars where they have to be close enough to smell the crowd and answer hecklers in the audience. They thrive on this energy and still never disappoint. As long as there is a TSOL punk rock will always be fun.  TSOL MySpace:  www.myspace.com/tsol


-Ditch-

For a photo gallery of past TSOL shows go HERE