Anesthesia, Mona Lisa
The last time Bad Religion and Social Distortion shared a bill down here in San Diego County, the opening act apparently had to shake down the promoter for gas money. Almost 39 years later, things have changed a bit. This past Friday night the two bands packed in over 10,000 people at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista - a large outdoor venue where I’d previously seen Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Slayer, and Maná.
No metal or rock en español bands tonight, though. Instead it would be two of the most notable 2nd wave punk bands from Southern California unleashing their unique brands of punk and alt rock sharing the stage, on the fourth night of their co-headlining US tour.
Bad Religion hit the stage at 8:20PM to an already full amphitheater and kicked off their set with “Infected,” the third single off their 2nd major label album Stranger Than Fiction - a dud of a song off a dud of an album. But hey, this is a big loud rock show and a sea of fools don’t know any better. Hell, a couple $20 cocktails and a hit from the vape your old lady snuck in under her left titty and that track might even feel good to bang your head to.
Next, the band kicked into the song “No Control” and reminded everyone why from 1988-1991, they were one of the greatest bands on the planet, of any genre. They continued to give us morsels, sparingly, throughout the night: “Do What You Want” off of Suffer, “Anesthesia” from Against the Grain, and “I Want To Conquer The World” and “You” off of No Control. The last of those songs produced the biggest circle pit of the night, by those who paid the premium to slam in the orchestra section.
The album most represented in the set list was Recipe For Hate - their first major label record and their first album that contained more bad songs than good. They played four tracks from it and the crowd in my section responded like they did to every other song they played: with mild enjoyment and semi-rigorous head nodding, followed by raucous wooo’s and applause upon completion.
It’s hard to figure out what to make of this. Is it OG punk bands finally getting their flowers and being recognized for decades of slogging it out in clubs and sticking to their craft throughout the peaks and valleys of popularity? Or are we just coming out in masse and paying a premium to see a bloated Elvis belt out a few more classics before he jailhouse rocks his way into next dimension?
Should we be stoked that punk got here or bummed that it costs a couple hundred bucks to slam within a football field’s distance to the stage?
If we were truly punk, would we even be pondering this?
Anyway, I’m going to go listen to Deadly Struggle and play with my cats.
- ZN