Youth Brigade – TSOL – Ill Repute – at The Key Club – Hollywood, CA – January 6, 2010

The night started out like another Punk show in Hollywood: Punks in studded vests and leather jackets waiting in line, people smoking and mingling outside the venue, and security patting down and checking everyone to make sure the venue would be somewhat safe. The old school Punk show that the Key Club hosted featured "Nardcore" legends Ill Repute, and Punk bands TSOL and Youth Brigade, giving the show a definite "old school Punk" atmosphere that would soon erupt into mayhem that would go down in Punk rock history.

Back to Zero presented themselves shortly after Knocked out Cold to a small but animated crowd. The lead singer and guitarist had the persona of Social Distortion lead Mike Ness, due to his appearance and vocals. Despite his Social Distortion-esque style, the band maintained a horror Punk element throughout the set, making them an ideal opening act for TSOL. Back to Zero's music also generated a small, but brutal pit towards the end, concluding their set on a high note.

By the time that Ill Repute hit the stage, the floor seemed to be at its full capacity. The audience had no problem starting an aggressive pit once Ill Repute started their raw, fast, and in-your-face music. The set consisted of my hits, including "Sleepwalking" and "Clean Cut American Kid", dedicated to famous KROQ radio DJ, Rodney Bingenheimer or Rodney on the Roq. The "Nardcore" group also performed a few songs off the album "What Happened Then?" such as "Fuck With My Head" and the classic "Oxnard". The energy of frontman John Phaneuf was undeniable and proved to be highly contagious, as the fans were just as full of zest. They ended their short, but sweet set with their cover of "Cherokee Nation", leaving the crowd sweaty and hungry for more Punk rock music.

When it was time for TSOL, the floor was unbearably hot and crowded; trying to move anywhere in the venue seemed to be a nearly impossible task. Once Jack Grisham appeared with the rest of the band on stage, chaos emerged on the floor. Rather than an organized pit to move around in, people were being pushed and pulled various ways due to the substansial amount of people in the area. Nonetheless, the crowd still appeared to be having a great time, with people stage diving and dancing on stage throughout the set. TSOL performed crowd pleasers such as "World War III", "I'm Tired of Life", "Superficial Love", "Abolish Government/Silent Majority", and "Dance With Me". Inevitably, they saved "Code Blue" for the last song of the night which created pandemonium on the floor. Their set seemed to be the shortest of the night, perhaps because the crowd was so absorbed and happy with the performance.  Despite being tired and dripping with sweat, the crowd was ready for Youth Brigade; Little did everyone know that TSOL would be the last band to perform that night.

A little past 11PM, lead vocalist of Youth Brigade, Shawn Stern took the microphone and announced that the cops were outside the venue and won't allow them to play. My friend and I figured it was just a lead-in to their performance and it was nothing. Suddenly, the lights came on and the microphone stopped working, and we knew it was serious. Shawn told us not to trash the venue because it wasn't their fault, but people were throwing cups in the air in a rebellious manner anyway. Stern took photos with fans inside the venue; a majority of people stayed possibly to take a picture with Stern or to rebel against the cops. A circle pit formed to people singing and chanting the lyrics to Youth Brigade's "Men in Blue". Shortly after, security began telling us to leave the venue. However, as people (myself included) started leaving through the main doors, I heard screams and everyone yelling to evacuate elsewhere. As I was running, I looked back to see what was happening but couldn't make anything out; I started coughing and my friend directed me to put my shirt to my nose when I realized that the police had sprayed tear gas inside the venue, or at least near enough that it could come inside. As the mob began to run up the stairs that lead to backstage, we saw Youth Brigade standing off to the side, with Shawn Stern shaking hands and looking genuinely concerned for the situation.

   Here is what I saw when I got out of there

As we finally got outside through the back door, I saw a person with a video camera interviewing a few Punks. My friend and I continued to walk further from the venue to a mob of people standing off in the street. No one in the area had any idea of what to do or where to go. All of the sudden a flash of light was beaming down on us, and as we looked up we could see a helicopter shining a light on the scene.
After we noticed the helicopter, I heard the familiar screams from inside the venue and once again was running away from the area. People were screaming "TEAR GAS!" and running up the upper level parking structure to hide from the gas and the rubber bullets being shot at us. My friend and I continued to run up the structure to see what was actually happening in the street below. It was shocking; a TON of cop cars were blocking off the street. Broken bottles and cones were also in the blocked off section, along with some Punks wandering around. On the structure, some were throwing bottles at the cops, which caused them to shoot in our direction more. My friend and I decided to leave the parking structure along with some others. We thought it would be best to go around the neighborhood behind the venue to make it on the other side to possibly get to our car. Some rowdy fans were kicking mailboxes and trash cans. As we emerged onto Dohney Drive, we saw a passed out man on the street next to a truck with people trying to get him inside. As soon as we helped him get into his truck safely, we went back to our mission. It was a beautiful thing to see Punks helping other people out, even as a riot was going on. A firefighter told us to get as far away from the scene as possible, but we wanted to leave. So, we crossed the street and found an apartment garage that was next to the parking lot our car was in. We had to climb on the roof of the garage and climb down a tree to the comfort of our vehicle. We zoomed out of the lot, despite security telling us we couldn't.

I left only knowing bits and pieces of what fueled the fire; Reports are claiming the venue oversold tickets and the people who were waiting in line and had tickets became furious and tried to fight bouncers. Although it was a dangerous and scary situation, I can't deny that it was an exciting adventure and even created some fond memories. During the whole fiasco, I couldn't help but to think of the Punk scene back in the 1980's and how they had to deal with this more often, and more brutally. My friend had reminded me that 20 years ago, the police would have just stormed inside the venue and started beating people, no questions asked. It made me realize, no matter how we say we wish we could have a "Punk scene like back in the day", we're fortunate enough to have riots like this become a rarity and that they're safer nowadays. I sincerely hope that the riot doesn't have a negative effect on Punk shows this year and the venues that host them. I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say that when the Key Club announced this "old school Punk" show, no one expected an old school Punk riot to go along with it.

-Sarah K.-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

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