It's finally here! The coverage of the nationally known Fun Fun Fun Fest begins now!
The Casualties ripped through an intense set with a wide range of songs. The black stage by this point was easily found by foloowing the massive dust cloud kicked up by the pit, which didn't cease until the band finally finished. The Casualties were in great form, they played well, conversed with the audience a bit, the whole nine yards. As they neared the end of their set the did a tribute to the Ramones by covering "Blitzkrieg Bop", which was probably one of the highlights of the entire set. Plus they got a nice wall of death, which completely consumed their half of the stage. They went out on a crowd rallying performance of "Unknown Solider".
Casualties set list
Municipal Waste thrashed their way through a set of hardcore Trash/Metal/Punk. They had a massive crowd, by thi point probably in the thousands range, which made for some intense pit action. They had the entire crowd under their command, with every intense chorus the park would turn into a sea of fists. Special favorites included "Sadistic Magician", "Beer Pressure", which had a trash can filled with beer floating around the crowd. But the best part is as they began their last song, a certain saw wielding member of Gwar came out to attack the singer, and spray the crowd a bit for preperation of what was to come.
The Gories tore through a crazy rockin' Garagey, and even slightly Punky mix. They had an amazing display of what simplicity can do visibly, and audibly. They had 3 members 2 guitars, and drummer; no Bass. They had mid to big sized floor amps, and only about 3 drums. Though they played more on the Garage Rock side they played hard, breaking a string on all 3 guitars they had. The Gories showed some great stage show, and musical skills(whether they would admit it or not)!
Dwarves got on stage and absolutely owned it until the very moment they got off. Within seconds of starting a pit had already erupted, people were crowd surfing, and grabbing for the mic whenever Blag would cast it out into the audiendce. A couple crowd favorites include "Backseat Of My Car", and "F*ck You Up And Get High". They even had the new "sex changed" guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed on stage(just look at the pictures). From there the set was a giant chaotic, non-stop Punk Rock mess. It all immediately stopped when they walked off stage, leaving some girl with a tuning for-like thing making an extra feedback noise. The set left you with thinking "Holy crap. Was I just hit by a truck? A dirty, vulgar, insulting truck?".
The Vandals played through their trademark comedic upbeat melodic punk. They were actually down a member that night. Famous drummer, Josh Freese, was filled in for by a member of Alkaline Trio. The transition appeared seamless. They played tight, and fast(I'm betting that it was because of the Hello Kitty brand guitar). There was a pit and someone in the air at any given time during the set. They plowed through a ton of songs like: "And Now We Dance", "Live Fast Diarrhea", "Oi! To The World", along with a few old ones like "Urban Struggle", and "Anarchy Burger(Hold The Government)". After burning through a long list of songs, and going through some expectedly comedic stage banter; the band went out on the crowd requested "Don't Stop Me Now".
Gwar had by far the biggest crowd by this point. I turned around to take a break after The Vandals, only to find a sea of thousands of people in all directions. Luckily, I was on the far side of the stage, so I could see the band without killing my camera. They definitely didn't disappoint. They had a few old time gangster zombie looking bunch wander out, only to be decapitated by the band with a sword. Obviously massive amounts of staining blood ensued. The band themselves played tight, fast, and hard(I'm sure this comment would please them). They were usually nice enough to allow one song in between blood drenching, but not always... Other random bloood spewing devices include: some sort of roadkill zombie dog thing, some sort of Lady Gaga like "girl" dressed in a toilet costume(the blood came from ripping off her chest flesh), Sarah Palin(chopped in half, and spewed blue blood), and of course frequently the band themselves. By the end everyone had at least one drop of blood,and any crowd surfers or near stage members were completely devilishly red.
Bad Religion was even better than expected. After Gwar ran over their time slot by about 10 minutes, all the left side stage crowd goers were ready, and rabid to see the now 30 year long Punks. They had a massive set list spanning 3 sheets of paper, and ranging from every release(maybe with 1 exception... You know the one). The entire band was extremely tight and energetic. Greg Graffin spent quite a bit of time running around to different parts of the stage, giving each area a bit of extra excitement. Greg Hetson was in as great of form as ever, he's tight and still jumps like a madman. I expected a ranging set, but they really out did themselves. They played a song or two from nearly every album just 1/3 of the way through the set. Highlights include: "New Dark Ages", "Resist-Stance", "We're Only Gonna Die", "No Control", and many more. 30 years doesn't seem to have effected these Punks, at least not for the worst. They still know how to command the stage, play, and sing(possibly even better than they have before). Best yet they know how to stoke out the crowd. The pit and crowd surfing is one of a kind. Very impressive, and something to put on the "Things I Must Do Before I Die" list for BR fans.
OFF! began right on time. After Keith gave the band a short introduction, a fiery onslaught of early Black Flag-esque musical fury. Short, fast, off key, pissed off music. What more can you ask for in Punk? They ripped through about 16 songs including: "Darkness", "Upside Down", along with some yet unreleased ones like "Now, I'm Pissed Off". The crowd wasn't nearly as wild as the day before, but at least they gave the band their undivided attention. As fast as OFF! came(or as fast as their songs are), they left. Best 20 minutes ever.
The Gories tore through a crazy rockin' Garagey, and even slightly Punky mix. They had an amazing display of what simplicity can do visibly, and audibly. They had 3 members 2 guitars, and drummer; no Bass. They had mid to big sized floor amps, and only about 3 drums. Though they played more on the Garage Rock side they played hard, breaking a string on all 3 guitars they had. The Gories showed some great stage show, and musical skills(whether they would admit it or not)!
Dwarves got on stage and absolutely owned it until the very moment they got off. Within seconds of starting a pit had already erupted, people were crowd surfing, and grabbing for the mic whenever Blag would cast it out into the audiendce. A couple crowd favorites include "Backseat Of My Car", and "F*ck You Up And Get High". They even had the new "sex changed" guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed on stage(just look at the pictures). From there the set was a giant chaotic, non-stop Punk Rock mess. It all immediately stopped when they walked off stage, leaving some girl with a tuning for-like thing making an extra feedback noise. The set left you with thinking "Holy crap. Was I just hit by a truck? A dirty, vulgar, insulting truck?".
The Vandals played through their trademark comedic upbeat melodic punk. They were actually down a member that night. Famous drummer, Josh Freese, was filled in for by a member of Alkaline Trio. The transition appeared seamless. They played tight, and fast(I'm betting that it was because of the Hello Kitty brand guitar). There was a pit and someone in the air at any given time during the set. They plowed through a ton of songs like: "And Now We Dance", "Live Fast Diarrhea", "Oi! To The World", along with a few old ones like "Urban Struggle", and "Anarchy Burger(Hold The Government)". After burning through a long list of songs, and going through some expectedly comedic stage banter; the band went out on the crowd requested "Don't Stop Me Now".
Gwar had by far the biggest crowd by this point. I turned around to take a break after The Vandals, only to find a sea of thousands of people in all directions. Luckily, I was on the far side of the stage, so I could see the band without killing my camera. They definitely didn't disappoint. They had a few old time gangster zombie looking bunch wander out, only to be decapitated by the band with a sword. Obviously massive amounts of staining blood ensued. The band themselves played tight, fast, and hard(I'm sure this comment would please them). They were usually nice enough to allow one song in between blood drenching, but not always... Other random bloood spewing devices include: some sort of roadkill zombie dog thing, some sort of Lady Gaga like "girl" dressed in a toilet costume(the blood came from ripping off her chest flesh), Sarah Palin(chopped in half, and spewed blue blood), and of course frequently the band themselves. By the end everyone had at least one drop of blood,and any crowd surfers or near stage members were completely devilishly red.
Bad Religion was even better than expected. After Gwar ran over their time slot by about 10 minutes, all the left side stage crowd goers were ready, and rabid to see the now 30 year long Punks. They had a massive set list spanning 3 sheets of paper, and ranging from every release(maybe with 1 exception... You know the one). The entire band was extremely tight and energetic. Greg Graffin spent quite a bit of time running around to different parts of the stage, giving each area a bit of extra excitement. Greg Hetson was in as great of form as ever, he's tight and still jumps like a madman. I expected a ranging set, but they really out did themselves. They played a song or two from nearly every album just 1/3 of the way through the set. Highlights include: "New Dark Ages", "Resist-Stance", "We're Only Gonna Die", "No Control", and many more. 30 years doesn't seem to have effected these Punks, at least not for the worst. They still know how to command the stage, play, and sing(possibly even better than they have before). Best yet they know how to stoke out the crowd. The pit and crowd surfing is one of a kind. Very impressive, and something to put on the "Things I Must Do Before I Die" list for BR fans.
OFF! began right on time. After Keith gave the band a short introduction, a fiery onslaught of early Black Flag-esque musical fury. Short, fast, off key, pissed off music. What more can you ask for in Punk? They ripped through about 16 songs including: "Darkness", "Upside Down", along with some yet unreleased ones like "Now, I'm Pissed Off". The crowd wasn't nearly as wild as the day before, but at least they gave the band their undivided attention. As fast as OFF! came(or as fast as their songs are), they left. Best 20 minutes ever.
Unfortunately we had to leave after that, but the line-up til then was still quite amazing. Plus, you never know what we'll find. We're still hunting down photos from Suicidal Tendencies, and Descendents.
So, yes it is that time. Pictures!
So, yes it is that time. Pictures!
